The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-12-18
ST. PHTHR.
THE R0MAN RCH
Eloquent Discourse BY Rev. Or. Sunderland.

Rev. Dr. Sunderlsnu, phstot on the -Four. .
and.a.hsi street Presbyterian church, recently
delivered the following eloquent discourse
upon the Roman Church. We publish tho
members OF his cong alton and others who .
heard It when delivered;
"Aad I say also unto thee that thou art Peter,
and upon nj. rock will build my Church. -
Ths Roman catholics depend upon this text .
In endeavoring to maiutain their views OF the
estsblishment and authority Of the Church. 4
can be to US satisfactorily proved
I. That the rock means Peter.
Q. That Peter planted the Church at Rome.
Q. That the Roman Pontiffs are BY Divine |
right his legitimate successors.
10 regard to tho nrst, we take the ground
that II the phrase this rock" can be supposed
for one moment, or 10 the remotest sense what. .
ever, to refer to Peter, 1t refers In an equal
sense to the other apostles, And to all the be-
levers In Jesus, but that 10 fact And in truth
It does NOT and cannot mean Peter In the Romih
sense at all.
In regard to the second, we take the ground
that Pee, new. ,eas al Rome, and tina, he never
siuce the day that Il was founded.
In regard to the third, we take the ground
s ns IL once Of tns Heo Pssn
any dynasty Of French or English kings, and
that the whole pretension that they arc, Is a
fspt.don, asluiIon which Is destined to di'sP
But you will perceive that we cannot go
over this entire discussion In . single dis.
sour,smws, ssnnot even a aoacn Spon the ls
| to-day strictly to the nrst. And We must here
| premise that the materials Of the discussion
ssr. isiga Cleared ,S 50 sas !ss ssso ss%
divines, that now-s.dsys one 10 entitled to but
little credit IN conducting the argument 90
mouth ssa Il. row 81 eRa.ass % GP ss and
| abundant. The proposition then which we
are to consider and eonfute to-day 10 this;
~ 49, lt ~ ID lit nat. - I.
Of making him th foundation, the absolute
foundation OF the visible Church OF Christ on
earth.
In opposition to this assumption but | can
| only enumerats the drst eleven. i must pass
them BY without development I. I need the
| tine to spend upon the twelfth and lssti
I. The hrst 10 an argument drawn from the
pathological significance Of the terms Pefroi
.. The second is drawn from the gramms,i
cal construction OF the text. The pronOun
"this," tsnte, Is never applied to the person
8. The third 10 from the Greek idiom Pciro,.
masculine, Peira, feminine; and they are not
intercha geable.
particles hafi and Raj here used, aud as think
| so demonstrated by Mr.. s. ID. Williamson, o Z
this city, in a recently-published pamphlet,
entitled "Prephos," m to be entirely unan'
s. The arh is from the usage OF Scripture
terms or names In the original tongues The
piled to Christ, and nowhere else to Peter or
any Of the apostles or members OF the Church.
o. The sixth IL from the metaphorieal Allu.
sion. Christ often used mtidhony, but never
!. The seventh is from the law OF assocla-
tion Of IDEAS, which was another marked fcs-
ture OF Chrisps style OF discourse.
8. The eighth 10 from the comfy oflanguAge.
II refers to the reciprocal mode OF address In
.. The ninth is drawn from the character
and history Of the Apostle Peter as presented
In the New Testament.
10. The tenth Is derived from "the gift OF the
keysn-the grant Of authority, which was sub.
sequently extended to all the apostles.-Matt
xviiil6, and John xx:s9.
IL. The eleventh 10 taken from the express
and unequivocal teaching Of the Bible 10 re-
spect to the bars on which the Church Is es.
tablished; Cor. iii:ll shows that Christ Is
"a The twelfth argument Is derived from
Romsnist, and the very heid into which we
.o%pssse sSorst. ai.e os By nu.,.n
OF the Roman Catholic Church In this city
some months since, he distinctly afiirm, that
"the true Interpretation Of this passage can
be gathered with certainty only from the
tradition Of the Christian Church" And BY
~ q the oh na he nesa; The
: early and later times: He then goes on to
say that "the early fathers are In Tact unsn.
, imous 10 affirming that Christ designated
Simon Peter as the rock on which he was to
: build his Church, and this Is suppleme nj ed
by the assertion that the same opinion !.
Of any note.1 And then, to leave no doubt, he
Of the snoisn. fathers and Of the more modern
unequiyocaily and irreiutably supports the
pretensions OF the homish church 10 respect
they have built upon It. And thus, so to
+ speak, he has brought his witnesses into court
: and elected from them what be deemed sum
| nN N nd la(f hs
S.:p.ss 70 VIZ. is.y ,siat /. he true is,f q
bearing Of u upon the assumption OF III,
-hsn "a party as. i1s,odussd his witass's.
MAKE Against mrs sias "nd lot me slde OF ~
Y peseh or reject them. '' "''""' e''He' '"'
%t.aon 'he Sear 10 Is,ner y quote,
. ms,ns ,hs 9oiio,yinr i.nan. n"e w suueu ~
!. thins oonc.sisS f,oS1 pef{s, 81, wa an
= liz tsocS on ,Shi,h ~. re,rnh WIZ sy ',
sns tbs noge, ~ ian.sns .nn h,nn " os JUL,
"a On ssr,h ~ Az .ss, o,".k ~ nes,e'
at aS on eisss, una Ono Thss n III, ih h "a an
d ThW,,,p nS. me &c a. WI puiiu ~
Q NJ, ~ hSSh,ssSs " "ee WI" give 'h'
!, "a far The evidence for P,n,sv. noyv Ia, =,
Tsn,ntIi me'hins On me o.he6 siae; Inls sam
SohD tSs .,or,t. of nny,n,pqs yiN~ ST
u | hre..t .nd 70 whom .lo,. A.. 1 81 ,ol :, y.
on, ~, trs,to, J"Ss. ~ m. 'ae ho,u p1,n'e
IN. snosties :. i,,iiv in.,,nc,.S ~, ~ ,ns
70 in .aswsr ~ tbs ni3ee,ion ~ n. h.,.,is "
tho.s .nostIs. ,ysss comnsrs,I,nIv 49,, W
men. anu Just peioie ne hAu hau, Wh
e eau oeheVe mat those men were ignorant @
y snytnlng, whom me Lofd gave TO be teacher
hAyine eaeh OF them IN MS company aud dii
elpiesnip, 70 wnom ne explained, when apaf
VAN them, Whatever was obscure " An
nus, oy nertulllshs testimony. the Who'll
soneae o. the Ap9sies was placed 10 the sam
. eaesoy remslous teaehers' no one bein
superior 70 the o'hef: .,
AsAn, IN vol p 900, commenting on MI
veIy passage, Mnt. XVI. ne explains tha
the iouhuing o. the Church upon him 10 jus
. s9uvMent 70 the pui!uinB OF the Chureh b
MN mat ~, retet. Ana again, in vol. .,
so1, ne shyE OF snce ne declares himself
wise aehlteet, we henee discover that eou
Muctot o. uVlhe uiseipine 70 hgoihed D.
. Jehovahi LOT, says ne, ! VIII remove iroi
Judes, among other things, ths wise arehitre
VINO vas aui himself then destined havin
70 oe Iemovsu from Experimentation udsisi
20 tne oullalng up OF Chfis.isnity, as abou
Lying uowh the oue foundation, which !
OhTlh i-sinee 10 reference 10 ms, and BY N
ZANE prophet, Jehovah says! Behold lay !
zion \ hone, precious and honorable, and WHIT
soeyer shall believe 10 HIN shall not be con
. founded Except as God acknowledge him
sell the builder OF the earthly work, he ma
. not aisnify eoncerning his own Christ VIII
d foundation those n