The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-04-26

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! primitive faith, and then none for say
I But the Romish church, replied
James, has forfeited her title to b,
! considered the church of God by au
thcrizing superstition and idolatry, TO
evidently no church that authorizes
| these can be the church of God
John Milwood begins this weeks in
stallment with the reply which follows
XIV.
That is something to Your purpose
and you will be entitled to a iudgmen
| if the evidence sustains you. You take
now, the only ground from which yoi
can legitimately frame an argumen
against the church. Every previou.
ground you have taken has been un.
| tenable, because it required the author.
! ity to maintain it which were contest
! ing and which you had not, and were
obliged to presume to be in the church
| herself. You undertook to prosecute
her under the law of grace and failed
! for want of a court of competent jul
risdiction. AS she is presumptively
the supreme court, under the law OF
grace, you could under that law instl-
tute no process against her; for &c
| had only to plead want of jurisdiction
The only possible way of prosecuting
her is under the law of nature, and il
is only by proving her to have violated
some precept of that law that you can
obtain judgment against her The law
of nature falls, to some extent. under
the jurisdiction of reason. and reason,
10 that extent, is its legal keeper and
judge, and has the right to sit in judg-
ment on its infractions. AS the law of
nature and that of grace both have
the same origin, are enacted by tbs
same sovereign lawgiver, and as the
latter confessedly presupposeS the
former and confirms it, it can never
authorize what the former prohibits.
any more than the former can author
ize what the latter prohibits, unless;
We may suppose, what is not suppoS-
able, that God may be in contradiction
with himself The law of grace trans
cends the law of nature, but does not
and cannot enjoin what it forbids As
superstition and idolatry are undenia-
bly, forbidden by the law of nature, If
you prove that they are authorized, or
in any sense sanctioned by the church.
you prove that she Is not and cannot
be the church of God. But she does
not authorize or sanction them; she
strictly forbids them. Thus, in her
catechism for children she teaches the
child to ask and answer:
What is forbidden by this Cthe
firsD commandment"
TO worship false gods or idols; or
to give anything else whatsoever the
honor which belongs to God.
What else is forbidden by this
Commandment
All false religions; all dealings with
the devil; and inquiring after things to
come, or secret things, by fortune
teIlers or superstitious PRACTICES
What else ,"
".All charms. Spells and heathenish
observation of omens. dreams and such
like fooleries.
Does this commandment forbid the
making of images?'
a" Tt forbids the making them so as
TO adore them; that is, it forbids max
ing them our gods
Does this commandment forbid all
honor and veneration of saints and
No; we are to honor them as Gods
special friends and servants, but not
with the honor which belongs to God
"'And is it allowable to honor relics.
clucifixes and holy pictures?
Yes; with the inferior and rela-
tive honor. as they relate to Christ
and his saints, and are memorials of
them.
MAY we, then, pray TO relies and
images?' "ro
-" No; by no means; for they have no
life or sense to hear or help us
Here, then is evidence enough that
the church denies your charge. The
burden of proof is on you, and you
must prove her guilty of superstition
and idolatry."
And 1 am ready to prove it. The
reformers charged her with idolatry,
and we have never ceased from their
day to reiterate the charge"
But a lie, though million times
is none the less a lie. Nobody
disputes that Protestants have accused
he church of idolatry, but that is not
to the purpose. You must prove your
3 allegation"
why. you might as we'll ask me to
grove that there is a sun in the heav-
ems. All the world knows that the
church of Rome is sunk in the greatest
and the foulest superstition"
Words, words, brother; give me the
proofs
Proofs, You need no proofs. The
'act is undeniable, and nothing but
he grossest impudence on the part of
he Romish church could ever dream of
1enying it."
mo advance in the argument.
,rother. Have you yet to learn that
he unsupported assertions of a man
Who admits that he speaks without au-
hority are not proofs? Here is the
hurch, on the one hand, teaching her
hildren, in the very first lessons she
caches them. to abhor idols and all
practices; and here are
gu. on the other hand. accusing her
If superstition, and that wrost and
! ost abominabIe species of supersti-
ion-idola try--shc in possession to be
resumed to be the church of God. and
-ou presumptively Il rebel against God.
md a calumniator. until you make
-ood your charge. Prove, then. the
barge, or withdraw it,"
THE reformers proved it, the great
st and best of our writer's have as
erted ii: it is a question settled. res
diudicata. Has it not entered into
istory? Do you not read it in the very
IL mentary book for children? Look at
he great and enlightened state of Mas
achusetts! She prohibits by law all
ectarianism in her admirable system
{ schools. and the Introduction into
hem of any books which show any
4 eference for one, religious denomina-
ion over another; and yet she does not |
estate to permit the Introduction of I
ooks which teach that Papists are
1olators and image worshipers. Have |
e not. in every land where We had the /
over, prohibited the Roman worship? /
Why have we, the only friends of re- |
gious liberty why have we. who have |
CURED out our treasure and our blood /
, redeem the world from papal tyran- i
V and superstition, why have we done /
bis, but for the reason that we have !
OF dared tolerate superstition and |
iolatry?
why did the Jews. Gods chosen
eople, through whom the Messiah
as TO come, and who were hourly ex-