The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-03-20
TaIRD LrsrEN LECTURE,
delivered BY Blshop RaIn at the Cathe.
dRaI Yesterday.

dfth Yesterday.
The Cathedral was again crowded yester.
day afternoon With an attentive and appre-
elatiye audience, The Bishop was untisu.
ally happy in the delivery Of his lecture, .
brief synopsis Of which Is given.
The subject OF this lecture was: "Truth
Its Nature and Prospects.n The Bishop read
the definition OF faith given by st, Padi,
Heb, II, l. u thence declaring that Il Is the
foundation Of our hope, and the evidence OF
revealed truths The argument Of the lee.
tuEe was that without q living, infallible
authority, such ~ that OF the Catholic
church, faith Is not possible In the ordinary
economy Of Gods dealings with men. The
ultimate reason why we believe the truths OF
religion Is the vefaCity Of God; but God
does not Immediately and personally
address us and teach US those truths,
but communicates them TO US through the
medium which represents Him and speaks In
His narne We know that Gods Yeracity Is
pledged for the truth Of doctrine, when we
are assured otitby the authority which God
has deputed to represent Him. The messen-
ger sent by God 10 teach In His name must
prove his mission; this proved, he must be
heard aud Obeyed. In the early church men
gained knowledge Of the truths revealed by
God by listening TO the Apostles, who proved
that God had sent them 10 pteachln His
name. Faith, then, meant receiving the
word Of God through those to whom Christ
said: "Go, teach all nations. He that be.
lieveth [what you, my messengers, preach
shall be saved. He that belleveth not shall
be condemned" Bat whatEa was then It
must be still, II must still mean as
Senting to doctrines made known
by God through living, competent
authority. But those who are outside the
Catholic Church have no such authority to
submit to. They profess to believe the holy
scriptures TO be the word Of God; but Is
not this belief but an hereditary prejudice
Does any Protestant really believe that iron
can be made to swim by holy man casting
u twig on the water above 1t? protestant
Bible, II Kings VII II he does believe,
why? There Is an essential difference be.
tween submitting TO living authority, and
protesting to believe q book. From the for
Incr there is no appeal; In the latter case the
reader makes himself the judge OF what the
book means In word one obeys the otllel
assumes the role OF master. Obedience f0s
tiers humility and other Christian virtues
whilst independence fosters pride and all the
vices that follow In its wake. Those who
hold that there Is now no Twins
authority-no body OF teachers tC
whom obedience In matters Of reli
ion Is due, must conclude that faith |.
notfn our day what IL was in days OF the first
Christians. But II faith Is now the same vir
tue which 1t was in Apostolic times; II II
means receiving the word OF man as the wore
Of God, because Gods messenger Il Thess IL
49, then Is faith possible in the Catholic
Church alone; for this is tM only church tina
claims TO inherit the infalliblc authority con
ferred by Christ on the first teachers Of Hi.
religion. The Bishop exhorted his Catholic
brethren TO thank God every day for the gif
OF faith, and those who were not Catholics t
pray for this great gift, and be readyto make
any sacrifices in order to secure it.
The certainty which attends that unshuker
certainty, will be discussed on next Sunday
| evening.