Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1894-09-13

promise of the Father which you have
heard saith He) by My mouth. y
Acts l. ".
These passages amply prove that both
he messenger and the message are from
God. Here we have the stamp of the
sender affixed as a seal to the door OF
every important phase of the earthly life
Of our Lord. Here we have certainty
guaranteed from on high; not figuratively
but literally so.
THIRD QUESTION.
Was infsllibility given to the church of
Christ? The church of Christ was esta b.
lished as the guardian OF religion and he
medium for communicating 1t with its
benefits to those for whom it WAS in
tended, all mankind. Hence 1t was The
medium of the work of salvation, and the
only medium known on earth to man.
Therefore it must have received what is
essential to that purpose, certainty guar
anteed from on high. priori, then, we
see it must have received infallibility
But we have the proofs of this in our
Lords own words.
The last thing recorded in the gospel of
st. Matthew is the commission given to
the apostles "All power is given to me
in heaven and in earth" said our Lord,
by way of preamble. Then.-"Going
therefore, teach We all nations-and be-
hold, am with you all days even to the
contamination OF the world The same
in st. Mark runs thus ye into the
whole world and preach the gospel unto
every creature. He that believeth and is
baptized, shall be saved but he that be-
lieveth not shall be condemned. st.
Mark XIV, XIV. xvi. Again-"He that
| heareth you, heareth me."-St. Luke X.
xvi. "And l send the promise OF my
| Father upon you: but stay you in the
city, till you be endowed with porer
from on hi9h.-St Luke xxIv, xix.
|
this passage: .'He said, therefore,
to them again: Peace be to you.
As the Father hath sent me. also
send you. When he had said this he
| hreathed on them; and he said to them
| Receive We the Holy Ghost
| From these texts we see that the
apostles, who We're the teaching church,
had the same mission as that of Christ
that their voices were as His; that faith
in their teaching was necessary to sal
walton; that they had the promise OF the
Holy Ghost; that Christ was with them,
and would SO continue till the end OF
time Surely this shows that infallibility
was given to the church, The visible
outward sign appeared on Pentecost,
when the promise OF Christ was fulfilled
"And there appeared to them parted
tongues as it were, OF fire, and it sat upon
every One OF them. And they were filled
with the Holy Ghost" Acts II, iii, ".
Again, st. Matthew-xv1 viii. And
say to thee: that thou art Peter: and
upon this rock / will build my church,
and the gates OF hell shall not prevail
against it" What are the gates OF hell?
Error. Therefore, on the authority OF
the infallible One, error cannot prevail
against the church. Hence she is inc
fallible.
Finally, St John-xIv xvi, xvii. And
| will ask the Father, and He shall give
you another Paraclete, that He may abide
with you forever The Spirit of Truth. y
| The Lords prayer must be heard il is for
the Spirit OF Truth; and that Spirit is to
abide in His church forever. Surely that
is infalibilitv.
FOURTH QU ESTION.
Does infallibil!ty now exist in the
world9 That quest ion may be answered
by asking another: Is the religion Of
Christ nov in the world? Evidently it is
Then infallihility must be in the world.
For We have seen that infallibiity was
essential To the relig Of Christ. Age
does not change essentials. Somew here.
then, among Christian bodies, lufalli-
bllity must exist.
FIFTH QUESTION.
Well, il so, where is it? Among all the
various bodies of men, who glory
in the name of Christ, but one body i
found which claims infallibility All he
rest repudiate il. Therefore, If il be in
the world at all, only that body has it,
since no rivals appear in the matter. II
would certainly be absurd 10 suppose any
body gifted with infallibility which re-
pudiates that quality. The lnfallible
church, then, is the Catholic church; for
she is the only claimant But some one
may say, Il admit that the apostles were
so gifted. The testimony you advance is
difficult to deny. But do deny hat in
fallibility noU exists on the earth II
that view be admitted, then, in that case
7 y, t...s
or the gates of hell (error) have prevailed.
But the Lords promise or prophecy can
not have been in vain. Therefore the
church does exist and the rock endures.
There is here, mo such word fail
We have certainty guaranteed from on
high.
Is there any section of the church so
blessed; or are there any individuals to
whom infallibility properly belongs? As
the Christian religion is embraced in he
knowledge Of the things of faith and Of
the moral law, according to the teaching
OF Christ; and as the missioff is to those
whose duty is to teach all ma
TONS" it becomes evident that in
fallibilty properly belongs, in an
especial manner, to that portion of the
church sent TO teach. Hence the teaching
church, the successors OF the first apostles,
the bishops OF the world united in legit-
innate council. are held nfallible.
But aside from that onsiderat ion. there /
is one individual who is in himself by
virtue OF his office, the guardian of that
Jewel without price" The pope, the
fat her of the universal church, is the rep
resentative of Christ in his Office, and as
his position is unique so is his necessity
The pope must be infallible. For the
whole church, which We have proved to
be infallible, is bound to accept the
teaching Of the pope. Therefore he must
be infallible; for it would be absurd to
suppose an infallible church bound to
follow man who is fallible. But here
are the texts OF holy scripture which sus-
tain this position. Thou art Peter and on
this rock ! will build my church, and the
gates OF hell shall not prevail against it"
st. Matthew XVI xviii. The apostles [
name had heretofore been Simon. Here
the Lord changes the name, and changes
It with purpose evident from the text
For Peter" as is well known, means
rock. Substitute, then, for Peter" the
words rock, and the meaning of the
ig ri ri hat Dat.r