The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-04-19

sollt mas corrupted the NOrQ or tod,
! she teaches the commandments of men
for the pure word; and has so disfig-
ured the original gospel of our Lord,
that it can be no longer recognized in
her teachings"
That is for YOU 10 prove"
I am ready to prove it. Indeed. it
needs no proof 1t is notorious. The
world admits il. She has become u
sink of corruption: is full of all man
ner of uncleanliness and filth"
Words. brother; mere words Pause
moment and take a breath, and then
proceed to the proof. When YOU tell
me the Catholic church is corrupt has
! degenerated, You assume primitive
| state from which she has fallen; and
| it is only by comparing her present
state With that primitive state, that
you can determine that she has fallen
| from it What, then, was that primi-
| tive state?'
Il can show what it was from the
| Scriptures
They are not in your possession
| You are not their legal peeker. and
| have no authority to expound their
sense. You can, therefore. make no
appeal to them against the church,
who is in possession, and has pre-
sUmptiveiy. the sole right to interpret
them. She interprets them in her fav-
or, and you are bound to presume her
/ interpretations to be correct. till you
can prove competent authority to
the contrary. This competent author
ity you ape not; for. on any conceiv-
ame hypothesis, at the very worst her
authority is as good as yours can be
at the very best. You must get Il
commission, or at least a presumptive
commission, from Almighty God, as
the legal keeper and eXpounder of the
sacred scriptures, before you can
prove anything from them but your
own arrogance and impudence."
Fl can prove from the early fathers
that the primitive church was essen
italy different from the present Ro-
mish church"
ly tradition"
Yes"
But the church is in possession as
the keeper and expounder of primitive
tradition. as we'll as of the sacred
scriptures. She interprets it in her
own favor. and from it proves that
she conforms perfectly to the primitive
model"
But she misinterprets the fathers
AS matter of fact, it is undenia-
Bile that the fathers may without vio-
lence be interpreted as she interprets
them, and that she rightly interprets
item is to be presumed, till the con-
trary is shown. Moreover. as her au-
thority as the interpreter of primitive
tradition, or of the fathers, is at the
worst equal to yours at the best. you
have and can have no sufficient au-
thority for setting her Interpretation
aside. So the appeal to primitive ira
dition will avail you no more than the
appeal TO the Scriptures: and the fact
that you have no authority TO declare
the sense of either debars you from
all right to appeal to either again
what she declares to be their sense
But she has corrupted the primi-
tive faith"
You cannot say that unless you are
authorized to say what the primitive
faith was She has presumptively the
right to declare that faith, and she
declares that it was what she now
teaches. and therefore she declares that !
she has not corrupted it. You are
bound to presume that she has not,
and must prove that she has. before
you can use an argument which as
sumes that she has. But what was the |
original faith which she has corrupt
ed ?"
There is d great number of doc
trines which she has corrupted. 1t is |
not necessary to mention all. Take, |
for instance, the doctrine of justifica- !
ton. The primitive doctrine was, that |
man is justified by faith alone; the |
Romish doctrine is, that man is justi- !
fed by works
The Catholic doctrine is. that man
is justified by faith and works, mean
ing thereby works done through grace !
purchased for us by the merits of our
Lord; but on what authority do you
assert that the primitive doctrine was,
that man is justified by faith alone?"
The Holy Scriptures.
ION what authority do you assert
that the Holy Scriptures teach it,
why, they teach it,"
You either have authority for say
ing so, or you have not. But you have
not, as is certain from the fact that
you have no authority to keep and eX-
pound the Scriptures. Then you say
it without authority. An assertion
made without any authority is worth
less. and not to be entertained Here
is the answer to every instance of
of doctrine you do or can
allege. In confessing the fallibility of
your sect, you have confessed that you
have no authority from God to teach
his word. Then you have no authority
for declaring what was the primitive
faith, and then none for saying that
the church has corrupted it,
But the Romish church has forfeit
I'd her title to be considered the church
IF God by authorizing superstition and
for evidently no church that
authorizes these can be the church of
God"
To be continued.)