Richmond planet., 1894-04-28
NHO GAN FORGIVE SIN!
A VICTORY FOR GOD
AND THE TRUTH.
The Little Priest Being dead
Yet Speaketh.

Do dog hlm still with after-claps
For tho dame Fortune seems to smile,
And leer upon him for while,
She'll after show him in the nick
OF all his glories dog trick"
The expacted hos bapponOdi What |
said some time ago has really come to !
pass. ''There can be but one issue to
this question; the truth is mighty and it
shall prevail 70 Aud now, kind reader
let me briefly recall to your mind the
subject and history of this discussion,
by which / have erected for the Rev. u.
d. Lewis q monument more durable |
than brass.
Truly after such q noble victory the
"B. d. he writes behind bis name |
ought TO be changed to I'D. D."
On January 18th sent plain state
ment to the PLANET in refutation OF an
assertion made by Rev. Mr. Wells with |
regard to the sacrament of -penance. |
| That gentleman was wise enough not to |
| say word in reply, but allowed the |
case to go by default. Not so however |
| did Bro. Lewis, the self constituted Boan- |
| erges of the Baptist Church. He felt very |
much like the Irishman at DonDy Brook |
Fair. asking some gentleman or other
to oblige him by treading on the tail OF
his coat. Such gents as these are spoil
ing for a fight, till some one at last gets
even with them. After anticipating GER
tain objections, / proved that Christ
had given to his Apostles and their sue
cessors the power to forgive repenting
sinners upon their confession. This l
did.
From Matthew 1918, where
Christ says to his Apostles Amen l
say to you, Whatsoever you shall
bind upon earth shall be bound also in
heaven; and Whatsoever you shall loose
upon earth, shall be loosed also in heav-
en-" In these words, l said, Christ
: promised to his Apostles the power to
forgive sins. During all the time the dis
cussion lnsted my opponent never said
as much as one word about this text:
II al proved the Catholic doctrine
from John 20:21-23 where Christ ad-
dresses his Apostles thus: GAS the Faith
) er has sent me, also send you re-
ceive We the Holy Ghost; whose sims you
shall forgive they are forgiven them,
and whose sins you shall retain they are
retained. These words of our Savior
are so plain, that only by most per
verse and unnatural twisting they can
be made to signify anything else from
What we say. What are the objections
brought against this doctrine? They
ar. chiefly the following.
In the Bibio tSks.S PE-2-c-- Of sin is
attributed TO God "Who is like unto
thee that pardoneth iniquity?''etc. Now
be il remembered that there is not one
: | single passage in the whole Bible In
which i is DENIED that in the words u
John 2U:23 Christ gave to his Apostles
the DOVE 10 forgive sins. In the scrip
lures many things are attributed tc
God directly which are really done
n. through his agents or secondary causes
Witness ihe following: "He is the Lore
that made us''-Ps. "a. Yet we know
perfectly Nell that we have our life iron
others.
Again: ''BehoId the birds OF the air
rs your Heavenly Father feedeth them.
Does this mean that God leeds the bird
!. as the mother or nurse feeds the bah,
'0' with a spoon? Thus [ might go on an'
show by many quotations how Co
il himself is said to do certain things alon
ho which after all his creatures do, @
Ily course through his power. III therefor
it is said that God forgives sins it mus
i. in the first place be remembered tha
ies most passages are from the old lay
.. when the sacrament Of penance ha
vi not been instituted as yet. The passag
quoted from the New Testament are tn
AK words of the enemies of our Lore
er- Secondly, they can be well understoo
th- in the same sense as the passage quote
of above. 'What God does by his minis
ters is also his power"
/, 2.-It is objected that in the scripture
me the forgiveness of sins is attributed t
Ior faith and the blood of Christ. Let m
len repeat what have said already. 1t
in virtue of the blood of Christ aloI
ma that we can expect pardon for sil
ar Faith OF course is necessary as the foul
7 | datiop. for "without faith it is impOss
BILE to please God" and without faith u
81 | one can have that sorrow which Is alWal
necessary to obtain the forgiveness
las sins. Hence this objection has I
zen weight whatsoever.
OF 3-The case of Simon is brought
nld show that st. Peter and the rest OF tt
eep Apostles had not the power we claim Il
au- them. For the sake OF those who ha'
forgotten my answer let me give 1T on
204 more / quote the whole passage. Sa
REQ Peter to Simon: "Thou hast no part n
re- lot in this matter. For thy heart is n
her right in the sight of God. Do penan
No. | therefore from thy wickedness, and pr.
inf. | to God if perhaps this thought OF t.
u. heart may be forgiven thee. For
att thou art in the gall of bitterness ana
the bonds of iniquity. Then Simon 9
swering said: "Pray you Tor me to {
was Lord, tkat none of those things viii
rect YOU have spoken may come upon mt
any Acts 8:21-23. What follows fro
snly this =? Nothing at all against @
~ a Interpretation of John 2O:21-23.
Ahe Without praying to GOd as sim
VINO was asked to do, without true 8
ther sorrow, no sin can be forgiven.
Apostles and their successors. can
l.. give only those who are disposed
Wish it. That Simon had no sorrow,
Sneu S desire of pardon, is plain from the wo
S loe quoted, and history shows us Il
s el Simon never repented OF his sins.
us, olIu words to st. Peter: "Pray you for me
A'~n4 Acei the Lord that none OF those thu
he"1 which you have spoken may come nj
me-" contain no expression OF sorI
or desire of pardon, but merely sur
stitious fear that some evil might be
him, for he had just noticed that
osod Apostles had great power, had
80 given the Holy Ghost ". 1S). lin p
10, ing / might note here that giving
;t;no Holy Ghost as the apostles did q
'eS ,rore 1917 is equal to fOrgiving sins:)
re-S wS. ly then: Simon wished to get free,
'"' from his BIN, but from the PUNIsHMl
As;as How any reasonable man can find
- . objection in the case of Simon aga
Tho our doctrine is hard to see.
4.-Once more it is said that the
Ties did not claim or exercise that po
That the Apostles did claim this pC
is plain from the words OF ST. Pau
'sBnt all things are of God who has
M. conciled us to himself and given Il
Wm the ministry of reconciliation. I'll
= 5:18. The same appears from
H. teaching concerning the effects OF
tism.