Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-04-17

ye eat My flesh and drink MY blood" are
TO be understood figurativsly; bat Roman
lists contradict this father, and teach that
in the Eucharist we eat the real body of
our Lord and drink His blood We now
offer the testimony of Eusebius, of Caesarea
the father of Church history" And we
shall quote from bis work entitled, EVAN
gelical Demonstration" in which he aims
10 prove that the Christian religion ia
demonstrsbly true. This work consisted
oftwenty books of which only ten have
been preserved. And these were trans
lated into Latin by Donatus and published
at Rome or Venice in 1893. The testimony
Of this father is strongly in favor Of Pro,
testsnt teaching In referring to the holy
Sacrament in book 8, Chapter 1st, he
says, HE gave to His disciples
the symbols Of Divine economy, command
ing the image of his own body TO be
made" Again, in the last chapter OF book
first, he says: ''They ii. e., the disciples
received command, according to the con-
stitution OF the New Testament, to,,make q
memorial of this sacrifice upon the table.
By the symbols of His body and healthful
blood" Eusebius speaks of the elements
in the holy sacrament a. symbols"
symbols of His body and blood" and de-
clsres that the disciples were commanded
to employ these as memorial" OF the
Saviour's sacri6cial death. He does not
say, "a Romsnists tell us that Christ "em-
powered and commanded the Apostles, and
through them the Catholic Bishops and
priests, to change bread and wine into His
| body and blood. 1t is evident that this
father knew nothing Of this monstrous
| change called tIansubstlntiatiou. Thus
we might go on with this class of evidence
did time permit, bat before closing we
shall add the words of Gelasius, Bishop
of Rome, in the fifth century. He was
writing against the Eutychians in
his day, who denied that the two
natures of Christ were united in one
persons; hut held that the humanity of
our Lord was taken into the divinity after
bis ascension. In his work on the two na-
lures Of Christ, Gelasius says, Certainly
the sacraments Of the body and blood of
the Lord, which We receive, are a divine
thing. because by these we are made par
takers Of the divine nature. Nevertheless,
the substance or nature of bread and wine
cease not 10 exist; and assuredly the image
tllu Sllllltluut vi llt DOuJ Vi SuilSS
celebrated in the action of the mysteries.
Here he declares most emphatically that
the elements are ''the image and simili- |
tuder of Christ's body and blood; and af |
firms that there is no change of substance
10 the bread and wine. But the Church OF
Rome teaches that the substance Of the |
bread is changed into the substance of the |
BODY of Christ, and the substance OF the |
wine into the substance Of His blood. And |
1t has been asserted by some, that this
work on the two natures or Christ, from
which have just quoted was not written |
by Pope Gelasius but by Gelatius c. zicsn1s;
nut DuPin in his Ecclesiastical history |
vcl. l, page $40 declares it to be the
work of Pope Gelasius. Now take |
these utterauces of the fathers together, and !
not one of them give any cOuntenance
whatever to the cherished dogma OF the |
Church of Rome. She claims the unaui. |
nous consent OF the fathers, and must have
il. in order to prove her position, and ye; |
as we see, the fathers rise up one by one In |
open court and testify against her. Her |
arrogant claim is supported by neither the |
Word of God nor tradition. She is weighed |
in her own balance and found wanting. |
But suppose on the other hand they had |
the testimony Of the fathers. What, ask, |
would all this amouut to as long as this
dogma is contradicted by the plain teach
ipg OF Christ and His inspired Apostles?
The word of G., d is the all-sufficient and |
only infallible rule to guide us i'll matters
of faith and morals. And every creed that |
will not stand the test Of Gods imperish-
able truth is necessarily false, and as men
love their immortal souls they should re-
iect all such teaching as unworthy OF belief.
But this doctrine is not only unscripturai,
but it clearly cOntradicts our senses. We
are told that only "the species OF bread aud
wine remain in the sacrament because the
substance is changed into the body and
blood of Christ" Now, after the words
Of conservation have been pronounced our
senses still testify that the bread is bread
aud the wine is wine. The four senses,
sight, taste, smell and touch unanimously
declare the bread to be bread and the
wine to be unchanged. But if, as the
RomanistH teach, there is in the Sacrament
a real change OF substance, then 1t follows
that our senses have conspired to deceive
US. And if they are unreliable in this
case, then it follows that they may mislead
us in other matters, and we shall find our
selves liable to be deceived by ten thou
sand impositiOns. Aud if indeed it be true
that we can neither trust our eyes nor our
ears, then it follows that we cannot trust
our faith, for the Apostle expressly de-
clares that faith cometh by hearing and
hearing by the word OF God. Then l at-
firm, and think all persons whose minds
are unbiased will join me in the afhrma-
ton that if our senses are 10 be trusted, then
the doctrine of Reconsideration must
necessarily be false. But again this dog
ma not only c0ntradicts our senses, but
it outrages reason and common sense, and
involves the plsinest contradictions aud
absurdnies. To assume that the Master
took His body and gave it whole and entire
to each of the disciples, aud that eaca one
of them received and swallowed him down
their threats, when all the time, Christ
was standing before them ia maniiestly
absurd Again, to assume that the very
same body of Christ which is this moment
at the right hand of the Father in heaven,
is also in ten thousand different places on
earth, at one and the same time Is equally
impossible and absurd. Again, to assume
that the body of Christ is resting quietly,
upon the altar, that it is being carried
about in solemn procession, that it Is being
worshipped by some and deyoured by
others in the same moment OF time, Is a
monstrous assumption and direct contra
diction. Again, 10 assume that the body
Of Christ is contained in crumb of bread,
that it can be corrupted by the process Of
digestion, that it can be consumed by the
flames or devoured by bird or mouse is
not only contrary to reason but absolutely
blasphemous. Again, to assume that the
wine is changed into the blood of our Lord
i 10 say that His blood will excite man to
delirium and frenzy, that it will tempt HIM
10 self.destructiOn and bring him at last to
a druukard's grave and shut him up in a
drunkard's hell! But 10 rid themselves Of
these insurmountsble difficulties, Roman
lists raise the cry of my stery and fall back on
the omnipotence of God. And to all such
We would say as did Cicero of old, when
ron oappnt hrinu srnur arupmeut IN O