The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-12-01

DIVISION, without any corruption In even
the least particle.
Here is indeed an "abyss of the most
astounding prodigies but the most as
founding prodigy of all is how any sane
man can ever bring himself to believe all
this nonsense For notice what man is
required to believe.
First, he must believe what is directly
contrary to all the testimony of his senses.
Here is what his senses all tell him to be
bread. He places it under the most pow
erful microscope and examines it and it
has every appearance of bread. He sub
Jects it to the most rigid chemical analy-
sis, and he finds every element of bread.
He tastes it, smells it, handles it, and
every sense testifes that it is bread He
eats it and it passes as bread through all
| And yet he must believe that it is not
bread, but it is human flesh. Now l beg
you to mark that this is case in which
the senses are cognizant of their proper
objects; and if they can be deceived into
the belief that flesh is bread, and that
blood is wine, then they cannot be trust
ed to testify about anything, and all the
stress laid in our courts of justice upon
"eyewitness" is futile, since man s senses
may deceive him upon the simplest of all
questions, that of the difference between
bread and meat or between wine and
blood. This first prodigy is therefore a
monstrous one, and one without paral-
lei in all nature or redemption-for there
is no other case under heaven in which a
man is expected to believe what is direct
ly contrary to all the testimony of his
senses. He must in many cases believe
what is above or beyond the reach of his
senses, but never In any case what is di-
recty contrary to them. And it is evil
dent that this doctrine is not of God, for
God made our senses to be to us the vera
cious and competent witnesses upon
whose testimony, carefully obtained and
verified, we may build with implicit con-
fidence.
Second, man must believe what is
directly contrary to his reason. The very
fundamental principle upon which reason
builds is that every property must have
some substance in which to inhere How
can it be a property unless there is some
thing of which it is the property And
yet this man distinctly tells us as his
fourth prodigy" that these properties
of color, taste, smell, etc., remain without
any substance in which they inhere,
without being united to anything"
There is whiteness but nothing white
the bread is not white for there is no
bread-the body of Christ is not white
for flesh is not white There is taste but
nothing that is tasted, and smell but
nothing that is smelled, and touch but
nth haf nhal
nit that our reason which testifes that
beneath every property there is a sub
stance, can deceive US, and we have 70
proof of the certainty of anything in this
world. What an absurdity to believe
that there can be hardness and nothing
hard, whiteness and nothing white,
sweetness and nothing sweet, and yet this
is the absurdity of this doctrine OF tran
substantiation.
Third, this doctrine is contrary to
the very nature of things in holding that
the whole body blood and divinity of our
Lord is not only in each wafer but in
every crumb of each wafer. Now re-
member that our Lord had perfect hu-
man body with it's full measure of warm
human blood and how can all that BODY
and all that blood be found, not fgura-
lively or symbolically, or representative
ly (for this the author says Is "blas-
phemy'O, but really and truly in every
particle of every wafer that is consecrated
all over the world. 1t is impossible in
the nature of things. And since the
body is confessedly material, and the
blood material, how can they be whole
and entire in ten thousand places at the
same time And last of ali notice that
this author gives as his last prodigy"
that when the wafer is divided, sit is not
the body of Christ that is divided" What
is it then? Not the bread, for there is no
bread-what then? Why hear our saga
cious author: cit is the species or APP
pearance of bread that is broken or d.
vided." Well, have heard of great
many breakages and divisions, but this
is the first time ever heard of an, an
pearance submitting to that operation.
And when the record was made by the
Evangelist that our Lord "having bless
ed the bread, brake i" our wise Father"
ought to have been behind to whisper,
" Nay Matthew, do not say brake 1t, say
brake the appearance of it,
Here then you have boldly and plainly
stated by this author the doctrine Of tran
1