The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1871-02-19
Protestant InfalHbality.


The New York Tablet, in replying to q
sectarian paper which gioried in neither
possessing unity nor claiming infallloihty'
says:
The World may err in its notions OF the
unity of the Church. Then It's utterances
on the subject have no authority, anu az
or any other mans. That neither 1t nor
the Evangelical Alliance is infallible, ana
that both are f;lllible, we are far from dls-
putipg: but, being fallible, either may be
quite wrong in denying the infaiilbiiity OF
the Supreme Pontitf, when declaring the
Word of God for the Church, and that OF
Gcumenical Councils. What, then, Is the
use of writing or preaching9 1t has, and
can have, nothing to oppose to the 1n1alil-
biity of either, but its own fallible opinion,
and that ia no good reason for denying or
asserting anything. Cannot the Chr'st!d"
World understand that by disclaimng IN
fallibility, it puts itself out OF the category
Of teachers, and declares its Judgment OF
what is or ia not the true God has reveal
ed. a matter oA no possible moment 10
otiers9 But G cd has said He would pour
ont His spirit upon all flesh," and the spir'S
of God is infallible. Then all flesh Is IN, n,
fallible, and as you are flesh you a'ter 81
claim to be infallible. How cores error,
then, and how does it follov shat ropes
a .sna, Io 10 that God I'LL give to the
..na,ahasys on5 hel;evns of His word the
shirt of truth whi"i small ieao 'aehi 1heo
al trn II Very.ood; yet how, since you
she ', nraacj,is or believers of His word
Nav xo. not make a mistake of surprising
III: 81 cit leads you, when in fact it is the
ath spirit But we have the Bible, and
..e Bible is infallble. We also have the
Bible, and had it long ages before the
Alliance was formed, and even before Pro-
was conceived in the brain
of the Wittemburg monk, and you have it
only as you got it from us. If the posses
sion of the Bible makes one infallible, we
were infallible before ever you were heard
of, and our condemnation of you must be
as infallible and final. Yet con-
ceding the Bible is infallible, as it certainly
it follow that you have infallible authority
for what you preach Or believe9 You have
only your own views Or opinions of what
the Bible teaches, and these are fallible.
You may err in your Interpretation of the
Bible, AND in our Judgment, and our judg
ment is not whit more fallible than yours,
you actually do aassh"-.-'s-'-s'''--a.ss
N iaAucky for Protestants that they are
with no surplus of logic, and
shrink from no sophistry, however glaripg.
They would soon come to the end of their
preserve self consistency. We never read
one of their lucubrations against the Papa
cy without being struck with their proud
contempt of reason, or their marvellous in
capacity to reason logically. Only think
of man, not counted non compos or insane
by his neighbors, alleging as an argument
against the infallibility of the Pope, the
fact that "in the Gospel days they
shall all be taught of Cod" just as if
they whom God teaches through His vicar
Al 4
Cannot our Evangelical Alliance people,
who are sharp enough in ordinary business,
even in law and politics, see that their
arguments against the papacy are sheer
sophistry, and prove nothing7 We might
answer them, Cocede argumentum totum,
quid indie? Does Satan blind their eyes, or
Is it that they know that the public they
address demand bold assertion, not sound
argument7 Is it that they rely on the cre-
dulity of the Protestant people, who, as
Clemens Alexandrinus said of the Greeks,
can believe anything and everything but
the truthf Without an infallible teacher,
there CAP be no infallible faith, there can
be only human views, human opinions, or
human guesses, which are worthless; for
in faith only, the absolute truth can be be-
lieved. The fact is, every individual Pro-
| testapt holds himself to be lnfallible, while
he denies infallibiiity to every one else.
oet your houses In OrueT =" Is the 0dV1ce
given by the English Bishop of Carlisle to
the clergy of his diocese in pastoral let
ter he has recently issued. DR.. Goodwin
observes:
l cannot shut my eyes to the possibility
of great change coming sooner or later
over the status of the Church of England ;
she may possibly cease to be an Established
| Church-in some important particulars she
may perhaps already be said to have done
so; and in our own days changes, as we
know from experience, are made so rapidly
that it is we'll at least to be prepared for
that which may occur very soon. AS a
mere matter of opinion, do not think that
the change, if it be made at all, will be
made soon; and weighing advantages and
disadvantages against each other, devout-
y trust that the status of the Church OF
England as an established Church may
long be maintained; but, looking to that
which is possible, and which many thought
full persons deem probable, 1 regard it as
highly desirable that we should accus-
tom ourselves to a kind of action which, in
the case of disestablshed Church, be-
'