The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-01-19

AnQ 30 lODR ae tpc Dhptisnoi oSi
remains in the Prayer-book in its pres.
ent form, that teaching will 60 op,' - il
has done 20 alarmingly Of late, to In
crease and prevail more and more IN
the Church. Z . ~ 4 :.
Again, there are expressions in the
Payer. book which give countenanc..
at least, TO the notion OF g. Prlehhood
in the Christian Church and OF sac
rifice in the Lord's Supper.
Now il there is any truth PLAINLY
taught us in the word OF God, then il IL
there plainly taught, especially in the
Epistle OF the Hebrews, that our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ, is the one
per Iect. everlasting, ever sympathizing,
and allsuficieut Priest Of His people
and that they need no other-that His
death upon the cross was a fulL per-
feet, and complete sacrifice for the
.ins OF the whole world, offered once for
all and never 70 be repeated-and that
priests and sacrifices have been dis
tirctly and forever abolished in the
church on earth.
And ye, the opposite notion,
uuscri ltural as it is 10 doc
triue and corruptins IN prac-
tice, trds countenance at least, In
Prayer.book in the following IN
stances: .:.........
First OF all, it constantly applies to
the the ministers OF the Church the
name, Priests. -.
Then, in the service for ordaining
them, the Bishop uses this language
Receive the Holy Ghost. for tue Office
anG.work OF Priest in the Church oi
God, now committed 10 be .hy TIE inir
position OF our hsnds Wbose sins
thou dost forgive. they are forgiven
and whose sins thou dot retain, they
are retained" (There is here 40 alter
nate form allowed, but a majority Of
the Bishops use the form / have given }
Then, in the stated services OF the
Church there is a Declaration OF Alb
solution or remission Oh sins, to be made
by the Priest alone, the people kneel-
ing"
And then, in the service for the "In-
stitution OF ministers into the Parishes
or Churches" a service adopted by the
General Convention of the Church and
now found, whether rightly or not, in
every Prayer book, the table used for
the administration OF the Lords Sup
per, is spoken OF as an "altar," the min
listers relation 10 the people OF his
charge te aesc.iJe,i 2s "Sacerdotal cons
nection between him and them" ard
he is invested with power ito perform
every act of Sscerdotal function among
them"
Now in regard TO the form OF words
ouoled above from the Ordination Ser-
vice, let il be remembered that no such
words were used in the Church
Of Cnrist. in the !ordainiug OF her
ministers, for more than thousand
years after the Apostles time, and that
It was not until the Church OF Rome
had begun to assert her high claims,
and in the days Of her grossest cor.
ruptiou, that che impously presumed
to use them.
ln regard to the word Priest" let it
be remembered that the inspired writers
oil the New Testament seem scrupu-
lousy to have avoided applying the
term in any way, directly or indirectly,
literally or even fguratively, to the
ministers Of Christ. So true is THE, 80
divinely guided were they in guarding
this poiut, that no writer o. any age, so
far as ! know, has ever claimed to have
iouud one passage in the New Testament
which even in the remotest way, applied
the term Priest or Priesthood 70 the
christian ministry. Yet in the face o.
this tact, and contrary to Gods word,
the Prayer-book constantly calls them
Priests.
l know the word Priest is said to be
contraction io the Prsyer-book. for
Presbyter. But Priest is plain Eng
llsh word, and has a plain Eoglish
meanrug. 1tmeans one who has verify
a "eacerdotai junction to perform" an
expiatory sacrifice to make, and the
real blood OF come slain victim to offer
unto God. The word is never used by
any English-speaking people, or in any
English book, except in the Prayer
book, in any other sense.
Can we be surprised then, when
the Prsyer-book calls the min
lister OF the Protestant Episco.
pal Church Priests and uaes
such language 10 regard 10 their Office
that many ot them come 10 look upon
themselves, and their people to look
upon them, as really Priests. and their
office as a priestly office, and the Lords
Supper as a sacrifice and the Lord
body and blood as in some form offered
in that sacrifice? Or can We wonder
when such language is used in the
Prayer book 10 investing the ministers
OF the Church with the office OF PresI,
that the doctrine and practice OF priestly
confession and absolution should claim
q r;ghttul place in the Church. ? Or
can we hope to get rid of the teaching
and the error. until we get rid Of the Ian.
gusge which teaches the error2
III The third is the absolute impos,i-
JiGty of getting rid of these Objectionable
expressions in the services of The Prayer
book
| use the expression absolute imp pos.
sibility" advisedly. and am indebted 10,
to use IN this con Lecuon 10 Bishop Pot
ter, OF New York. In 1869, when Ger.
tain 10 uuovations in doctrine and ussge
OF a Romish character were being bold.
iy propagated in the church and were
fast bringing its Protestant and scriptu.
raj character into distrust and reproach
aud when. in consequence. there was q
movement on loot which, il not arrested
must end IN disrupIon OF the church
nine OF the Bishops met in New York
to couier together as to what WAS to b
done to avert the danger The result
OF their conference was "the conviction
that. If alternate phrRses ol