The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-12-04

The Ecumenioal Council
at Rome.


Ing, November 2Sth, 1850, In Ghe
| First PresbJ terian ChuFoh By
| Rev. u. W. FIaher.
ISHr-And !ho Apostles and Eld0ra ClmO
Acts 1870.
THE srH OF DRcRMnRR,
On the sIhI OF DeCeInber, 1881. the
dogma q the ImmaculAls Conceplion
o. the virgin Mary was proclalmell n
tome. In keeping with the character
o. tue church over which the Pope pre-.
SIDES anu which pays go large Dor.
Liun OF Us devotions to the mother OF
our Lord, Plus TX, seems ever blnoato
nave regarded that % q red.letter day
IN his calendar, For instance, on the
return 0tthlB Anniversary In 1861, he
Issued his famous EncyclIcal letter,
which has well been called q general
Indictment OF the nineteenth century,
Tor In II he set himself and, % far as
ne could, hlA church also, against the
freedom, OF the prass, the Undergraduates
OF church and state. marriage an q civil
contract, aecular education, and other
lor the best features OF the age In which
1--WE live. Thl4 year, the lreturiiA oiithe
Sth oil Decemper q 10 be Blgn9lIz ed ,by.a
IstIll more Important event. VT ID ihe
meeting Of what is called the Ecu mem
ical Council, which the Pope has sum.
moned atthe City Of Rome. " .g91
REASONS RoRsPEAKrNa OF THE CouEo1L.
According TO previous announce.
ment, propose 70 speak 10 YOU this
evening In regard to this Council. Nv
main reason for this 10 the conceded
Importance, of the event, II Ia now
more than fhree hundred years since
such body has convened, The last
Council was that Of Trent, which as.
aembled for the purpose Of meeting the
crisis produced by the Reformation and
sat at intervals from 1916 to 1868, Ac.
cordlnI 10 Roman Catholic reckoning,
which recognizes eleven more Councils
Of this sort than are acknowledged by
the Greek Church, only eighteen or nine.
teen such bodies eVarl have met. The
uncommonness2 OF the event therefore
OF Itself would lend TO iE an air OF i'm.
portance. But In reality It deeply ar.
fects a large portion OF our race, The
millions OF Romanlsts acknowledge, Mt
leastto certain extent, itS authority
TO consult and decide for them In mat
ters OF religion. Even II they regarded
It. with as little reverence aa do most
Pfoteatants, the assembly OF nine hun.
dred high dlgnitaries-men Of intellI.
gence and lnfluence-for the purpose OF
considering such questions as are like
ly TO COME before this body, would still
be an occurrence which no thoughtful
person would pass without notice. /
desire to speak TO you this evening on
this subject 30 that you may intelli-
gently watch the progress OF this Coun.
Gil. The Pope himself, indeed, has In
vlted such discussion. When issulng
the call for this body he also urged
Pedestrians and :others to avail them
selves OF this occasion TO return to the
bosom Of his church. We do not pro-
pose TO accept his invitation, but we do
intend to assign some OF our reasons
for declining. IN..s .-E
l may add that In this community,
no Romanist ought 10 object 10 the
public discussion OF such topics In Pro-
tesIant pulpits. Have We not for a
number Of years had plenty OF lectures
aud sermons on the other Bide2 Some
eminent Jesuit father then a learned
doctor OF divinity and then couple
OF Converts from Professionalism to 10.
maniSm,-like 80 many 9olIRths OF
th,-have boldly come forth to de-
fend their system and attack ours.
Surely they ought not TO object II q lit
tie David now and then huIls Q few
pebbles from the brook against their
mail.clad bodies. While wishing to
avoid personal controversy as far as
possible, l expect, whenever there
seems TO he call for 1t, as long as oc.
Gupy this pulpit, to speak as fully and
as unequlvoCally In regard TO the errors
OF Romanlsm rs with reference 10 any
other false system.
WHAT Is AN RCUMEN1uAL GoUNorLe
Before We proceed 10 consider the
Council at Rome IL Is necessary for us
to asttlain our minds what 10 meant by
such a body. 1t Is technically distin-
guishel aA ecnme7licdL. This term Is
derived from the Greek, and literally
means the whole habitable world. It
came also ainOng the Greeks 10 have
the narrower sense OF the world as in~
hablted by them; and among the Ro-
mans, Of the boundaries Of their em-
pire. lneceleslastlea dsag 10 IT Al knilleb
Lh6 entire Christian .World. "a council
iH called eCumenical or general In
church history to distinguish II from
other Inferior bodies OF the same sort.
The .gratiations are first o. diocesan.
second q proviicidE third a pdtTidTchdL,
fourth u Nationut. and fifth an GciIn,enis
cat or general council. This last IL sup.
posed To- consist Of O representation Of
the whole Christian worlds The others
cover smaller dislricts.-, .--..--.
EssENTIALsiNANEuu COUNCIL.
According to Roman Catholics the
| q re In To- To-.
ed In such u body: 1.t1t rests for It's
ScriptuTal authority mainly ION the
model Of the synod ut Jerusalem, To-
which the text refers. 2. Az we have
seen already, 1t must represent the unl>
veraal church. 8, 1t must be- called,
presided over directly or Indirectly and
It's decisions ratified by the Pope. 4.
Freedom Of discussion and OF voting
must be secured. s. In matters OF doc
trine It's DEGREES are lnfallible.
r'i UNSETTLED QUESTIONS 10 rd
It will be remarked that some ques.
lions which vitality Affect the action OF
such bodies are left undecided. One OF
these is, Who are entitled 10 sltf Is 1t
merely the bishops, N In modern
times2 or shall other high dlguitaries,
and even priests, be admitted, al in en-.
Gent days2 [See Sohaf. vol II. p. 500.
This Is question about which the
practice In tie Romish church has DIFF.
fered. Another question is, How
shall the vote be taken? Should
It be -by-a an actual call OF the
whole house az In more ancient days,
or shall Il be by nations as In more
modern tlmesT For example, are the
bishops Of the United, States each TO
vote FOR himself, or.is the vote Of them
all TO be cast solid either In favor or
against q question, they first having de-
clded what the vote shall be? '[For
discussion OF this point In the Council
OF Constance, see Glllelt's Life and
Times AoG Huss; Vol, 1n page 1851, $685.
In an iniallible body this ought frat to
be infallIbly decided. Again, what shall
be sufficient to pass . decree : Villa
majority suffice, and II! 90, q majority
In what senseH A majority Of all the
members : or o majority OF oil present
At that sittlng2 Or must the vote be
unanimous, and II 80, unanimous In
what sense7 [0f Romish authorities,
BellamIne favors q majority as SUM-
client. Du Pin Doct. ch l, 8. Canus,
Salmeron and others, demand unanim-
| INaF.W 4 IN