The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-08-18

i
could judge him myself but leave this
judgment to yoor decision. SHALL FOR
GIVE HIM AS SOON AS YOU GRANT HIM
FORGIVENESS. He is my enemy but
shall admit him to my friendship as soon
as you declare him worthy I shall open
the gates of heaven to him as soon as yot
free him from the chains of sias and he'll"
page S2.)
You may say that the possession of
such power as this really makes God
of the priest. Well, our author does not
hesitate to claim for himself equality of
power with God. He says:
"God has placed on his (the priest's)
finger the ring of authority and power
He has given the priest the ALMIGHTY
POWER of forgiving sins" page s4.)
10 have the power to create new
worlds is to partake of Gods own omnip-
otence, but to have the power of forgiv-
ing, of destroying sin, is TO HOLD THE
VERY PLACE OF GoD HIMSELF, it is to
perform one of the greatest works of
Gods almighty power" page S5)
This self-exaltation, (for you must re-
member that it is a priest claiming this
power for himself, and not some blind
devotee claiming it for him) by which a
mere creature arrogates to himself the
power and authority of Almighty God is
surely sacrilegious enough-but what
shall l say of the language that follows
in which this priest declares that in the
celebration of the Mass, God himself be-
comes subject to the authority and con-
troll of the priest?
The eternal, Omnipotent God, in
whose presence the pillars of heaven
tremble, that God before whom the earth
and all that dwells thereon, before whom
the boundless universe with all its count
less suns and planets, before whom all
created things are but as drop of water,
as a grain of dust, as if they were not
that God OF Infinite majesty and glory is
SUBJECT TO THE PRIEST. He instantly
descends from heaven IN OBEDIENCE TO
THE VOICE OF HIS PRIEST" page 95.)
There is a man who opens at will the
gates of heaven who speaks to the eter-
nal Son of God, and at his voice the God
OF heaven desce1ads on Garth and SUBJECTS
HIMSELF TO HIS CONTROL" page 90.
when we see weak sinful man DOS
sessing power over God himself, possess
ing power to bear Him, to place Him, to
give Him to whom he wills, we cannot
help exclaiming in amazement, % won
drous mirraclel o unheard of power ="
page 97)
And when we hear "a weak sinful
man arrogating to himself this power,
for which there is not the shade of
shadow of authority in the word of God,
we are painfully reminded of that "man
OF sin whose coming Paul predicts in his
I'd epistle to the Thessalonians, "who op-
poseth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshipped
so that he as God sitteth in the TEMPLE of
God, showing himself that he is God"
After following this writer thus far, our
readers probably think that nothing he
can say will be extravagant enough to
surprise them, but there are two or three
passages that will even yet startle them.
First to be told that Christ did not die
to redeem the world but to establish the
priesthood will amaze them. And vet
here it is:
SO sublime is the dignity of the priest
hood that in order to establish It our
Lord Jesus Christ had to die. To RE-
DEEM THE WORLD, IT WAS NOT NECESSARY
THAT OUR LORD SHOULD DIE. 4 sin0Le
drop Of HIS sacred blood, q SINGLE TEAR.
O SINGLE PRAYER of HIS aOouZd have salf
feed; but IN order to ESTABLISH THE
PRIESTHOOD oar Lord had to1ie." page
98)
And SO we are told by this "clear, sound
orthodox" divine that Christ did not die
to redeem the world-that he could have
redeemed the world with a single tear or
a single prayer, but he died to establish
the priesthood thought the doctrine
that Christ died to redeem the world was
the foundation of all Christianity. II /
was the doctrine of Paul, of st. Angus
tine, of all the fathers. But the Catholic
Church is progressive. 1t has discovered
that Christ did not die to redeem the
world. Well, what next?
"To forgive sins, to cause the Holv
Ghost to dwell in the soul, to change
bread and wine into the body of God are
miracles that can be performed only bv
God himself Now the priests perform
these miracles every day and conseouent-
ly they may truly be said 10 be oods.
And st. Gregory Nazianzen is right in
saying the priest IS God on earth and
his mission is to make gods of his fellow
men," page 1O9)
Asingle quotation more as to the honor
and obedience which this "sound" and
10 Orthodox" rorioot o1o;,,- e. 1:--1e - I !