The Irish standard., 1898-04-02

laws. The power Of dispensing the mys-
teries Of God and governing the church
was given not to all Christians, but to
the apostles alone and to them whom
they ordained in their room. Then also
in Peter, their head and chief, he COM
manded to feed the flock. that is. to gov
ern all the Christian commonwealth.
"such being the one ever living church
of God and delineated in holy writ and
obeyed through all Christian antiquity,
it is needless to ask which church to-
day answers faithfully to this descrip-
tion. There is one church that does,
and there is but one. That church is
the Roman Catholic church. She alone is,
and has been from the beginning, one,
because, II for no other reason, she alone
has existed from the beginning. All
other churches at one time shared her
membership. If she was not the one
church Of Christ, they were wrong in
belonging to her. If she was the one
church Of Christ, they were wrong in
deserting her. Or again, If she was not
the one true church, they, when going
out from her, should have Joined them
selves to that one true church, which,
then as ever must have existed some-
where in the world. But they joined no
church. Therefore they are equally
wrong.
"Now the grave question arises, does
the Catholic church hold that all Chris
tians who are not of her fold, are by
that very fact foredoomed to everlasting
damnation? AS in what I have hitherto
said, have followed closely the teach
ing Of our Holy Father Leo XIII. in his
encyclica1 'on the unity of the church,
SO in reply to this question l shall give
the answer of his illustrious predecessor
Plus TX. In virtue of divine command,
faith in the whole teaching of Jesus
! Christ is necessary to salvation. Should
any man knowingly and willingly reject
this teaching he is thereby guilty of the
sin of unbelief, and is not in the way of
salvation. Further than this the church
does not go. Hear the words of the
holy father in his allocution of Dec. 9,
1854: God forbid that we should dare
to set bounds to the mercy of God, which
is Infinite God forbid that we should
wish to fathom the secret counsels Of
God, for they are inscrutable. While we
hold as of faith that outside Of the apos-
tolic Roman church no one can be saved,
yet still wo must equally hold as certain
that they who are ignorant of the true
religion, If that ignorance be invincible
Gnvoluntary), are not on that account
| guilty of sin before the Lord. Now
when we consider in men the variety Of
race, of country and of mental ability,
| who can designate the limits where this
| ignorance ceases to be involuntary and
begins to be culpable. While we dwell
on this earth let us most firmly hold the
Catholic doctrine-one God, one faith,
one baptism. To push our inquiry fur
ther were impious. Let us pray rather
| in charity that all nations be converted
| to Christ. For the arm of the Lord Is
not shortened nor will the grace Of God
fail them that sincerely wish and ask
| for it,
| "Leibnitz charged the papal church
with being more lax than other Christian
| In or, %I1 a
salvation for unbelievers and even for
pagans.
Indeed the Westminster confession of
faith says: The visible church is the
kingdom Of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
house and family of God, out of which
there is no ordinary possibility of saliva
tion.'
THE eighteenth Of the thirty-nine ar
ticles of the Church of England says:
They also are to be accursed that pre-
sumo to say that every man shall be
saved by the law or sect which he pro-
fesseth; so that he be diligent to frame
his life according to that law and the
light of nature
"The Belgic confession, Article 27.
says: We believe that this holy as
sembly and congregation is the assembly
of the saved, and outside of it there is
no salvation, etc.
| "The later Helvetic confession is still
more unequivocal. Article 13 says: eve
hold therefore that all who take part in
such acts (the worship Of the Catholic
church) separate themselves and cut
themselves off from the body of Jesus
Christ
"We brethren, know with the certainty
of divine faith that in communion with
the successor of Peter, the vicar OF
Christ, we are in the one true church OF
Christ. Condemning no individual. but
with charity to all, we must by orr
lives, and by our prayers to the throne Of
grace, aid all men our brothers to come
to the knowledge of the truth, that there
may once more be one fold and one
shepherd. Then will the prayer of our
Lord Jesus Christ be realized"
l