New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1894-03-28
THE CATHOLIC STAND POINT
Vim. Sheran of st. Paul Takes Exception
to an Article in the Review.

/
this week from VIM. Sheran, of ST. Tho
mas Seminary, in answer to an article on
Chow Sin Entered the World'' which ap-
peared in this paper some weeks ago.
Lack OF space prevents its camplete pub
lication this week:
| Editor, Revlew,-Some words in the
nature OF a reply may be allowed to an
orthodox reader who finds in your ex-
cellent journal an amusing article on
the entrance of sin into MAJ. It is a
musing when one considers his statements
in the light of history and his arguments
in the light of logic. It is painful, too,
when one reflects on the harm done to
truth by historical inaccuracy aud illog-
ical conclusions. As his article insists so
strongly On facts, by all means let US
have facts, and keep feeling in the back
ground. Feeling and prejudice whether
inidel or otherwise should have no place
! Ill ooNiA q NioCooo1Ou, dhNi, uAAANO youl
correspondent, I will give them no place
in my review of his article. I will re-
view it from a catholic standpoint not
alone because the catholic church is the
apostolic one, but because the catholic
position in referance to Biblical ques-
tions is the only position consistent with
right reason.
So much prefaced, I proceed at once
to your correspondents first statement
''the dogma which lies at the bottom of
the orthodox church is the idea of the
inheritance of sin and total depravity."
From catholic standpoint total depravi-
ty is not nor never was dogma of reli-
gion. It was invented by the ex-monk
and fallen. priest, Martin Luther, and
first saw the light in the fifteenth CEN
tury. Calvin adopted it into his creed,
Catholics agree with infdels that such a
dogma has no warrant In Scri pture and
that it is equally condemned by the
council of Trent, by common sense and
by experience. The inheritance of sin
is. however, part of catholic doctrine );
but your correspondent is misinformed
when he attributes its origin to the coun-
Gil of Carthage or Ephesus in 437. It
was part and parcel of the catholic faith
when Tertullian lived 16O-24O A. D.) ;
for he wrote in his second book against
Marcian as follows: ssThus everywhere
Christ seeks force-captured Adam, treads
the path himself where death makes
ruin, erpels the death by sin conc,eved
simultaneously s0ith seed Of fish; He is
ready to cleause all and aive back to
| their Maker the many whom inherited
SIN hath scattered. ut was catholic faith
when Justin Martyr lived (9O-14S A. d. :;
for in his dialogue with Tryrhs he thus
| writes: "Christ submitted to be born
and crucifed not because He needed such
| things but because of the human race
| a0hsch from Addna had fallen uaader the
poa0er of death and the guile Of the SER
pe'st and each one Of whtch shares in the
| original trGnsgresston.' 1t was the
catholic faith at the time of the apostles;
for St. Paul in his epistle to the Romans
which all critics admit as genuine, states
it in the clearest manner: ssTherefore as
| by one man sin entered into the world
and by sin death, so death passed unto
all men in whom all have sinned ut was
the catholic faith before line of the
| New Testament was written; for our
Lord said to his apostles: go therefore
and preach the Gospel to all nations
Ebaptizing them. ''Why baptism unless
for the remission of sin! Other testi-
mony is bourne by the Old Testament.
Take the fifteenth psalm: 81 eyas BE-
gotten IN. siaa and IN Sun did ma mother
co1acieUe me. Take Jeremiah: s.Before
I sanctifed thee' Wherefore such sanctif-
ication if Jeremich had not inherited sin!
Other christian writers who lived previ-
Gus to the time of the Council Of Garth
age ore Origin, Clement, Polycary, Epi-
phanius, ranacus, Tat:au, Papias, Theo-
philvs, Ignatius and Pantacnus; all of
whom either directly bear. out the quo
tations cited above, as any one knows
who has consulted the Latin or Greek
manuscripts. How in the face of such
overwhelming testimony can your cor
respondent assert that the doctrine Of
inheritance of sin was framed by ST.
Augustine or became the belief of the
church at the Council Of Carthage2 Is
he not aware that Council cannot
change or add, and has never changed or
added one doctrine Of the catholic church?