The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-03-08
Che Cwc Brothers. f. Ry S Srsstss
Controversial Dialogue Between Presbyterian and His
Catholic Brother Leading Up to Formers Conversion

( Il do not admit that J offered to
prove, and I am able to prove from
| the holy scriptures, that our Lord
/ founded no such church as the Rom
| ish.''
1T is certain that you can introduce
no passage of scripture which express
/ iy, in so many words, declares that our
! Lord founded no such church. If. then
| YOU can prove it from the scriptures
| at all, you can prove it only by means
| of the interpretations you put upon the
| sacred text. But at any rate. and on
any conceivable hypothesis, the church
has as much right to interpret the sa-
| cred text as you have. and her inter-
pretations have. TO say the least. as
! nigh authority as. granting you all you
ask, yours can have. But she inter-
: Drets the word in her favor and. ac-
cording to her interpretations of the
word. 1t is clear and undeniable that it
is in her favor, and that our Lord did
found such church as she claims to
be. Since. then. your interpretations
can never be a sufficient motive for
setting aside hers, for they at best can
| be under no better than hers at worst,
| l. follows Z necessarily that you can
never, under any hypothesis, prove
from church as she assums to be. All
this | could say, even waving the ar
gument from prescription. But | do not
waive that argument. You have con-
ceded that the church was in posses
sion. She is, then, presumptively what
she claims to be. Then her interpreta =
lions are presumptively the true inter-
pretatiOns, and yours against her pre-
sumptively false. For you to say, then.
that no such church was ever institu-
ter is a plain begging of the question,
nd
struct against her, drawn from the holy
scriptures"
But | may disprove the claims of
the Romish church by proving posi-
lively that some other church is the
one actually founded by our Lord"
Internationally; but you cannot
plead at one and the same time an
adverse title, and that no such title
was ever issued. If you plead that
there was no such church ever insti-
tuted, you are debarred from pleading
an adverse title; for you plead that the
church has no title. because none was
ever issued. If none was ever issued
there can be none in an adverse claim
ant On the other hand, if you plead
an adverse title, you concede. what you
have denied, that our Lord did insti-
tute such a church as the Catholic
church claims to be; that the title she
possesses has been issued and vests
somewhere. This changes the whole
question. There is no longer any con-
troVersy between us as to the fact
whether our Lord did or did not found
church in the sense alleged. but sim
ply question whether it be the Roman
Catholic church or some other"
Grant that our Lord did found such
church as is pretended-and 1 pc
Ijpyp in q HOLY thnIin CHI &c
we'll as you-stilI 1 deny that it is the
Romish church"
You join a new issue, then, and
plead now, not title, but an adverse
title?''
BE it so for the present"
And what is the adverse claimant
you set up against Romeo"
The church of which by Gods grace
1 am unworthy minister
That is to say. the Presbyterian"
Yes. The Presbyterian church is the
visible Catholic church. out of which
there is no ordinary possibility of sal
vation.''
So says the Westminster confession
OF faith. But which Presbyterian
church do you mean?"
81 do not understand you
There are, you know, brother, quite
a number of Presbyterian churches: for
instance in Scotland, the Kirk. by law
established, the Free Kirk and the Sc
ceders; in this country the Old School,
the New School, and the Cumberland
Presbyterians; in England. the Presby-
terrain Dissenters. for the most part
Unitarian; and on the continent. the
Dutch Reformed. the Reformed Ger
man, the Genevan. and the French
Huguenots, all virtually Presbyterian
churches, and very generally fallen in
to socinianism, rationalism, 'deism. or
transcentalism. Which of these, not
to mention several others, is the one
you mean?''
(To be Continued.)