The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-12-10
DISCUSSES DOCTRINE
Of AVAILABILITY
Father Conway Delivers Another In
teresting Lecture ON Tcnets OF
Roman Catholic Church.

tereSt1ng Lecture on TenetS OF
Roman Catholic, Church.
In his series OF lectures on church
doctrine at the Sacred Heart Cathe-
dral, Father Conway lectured last
night on ''rhe True Christianity" He
said in part:
I'VE saw the other evening that
Jesus Christ was divine, infallible
teacher, speaking with authority unto
all the nations the revelation Of God
Tonight we ask, Is there upon earth
representative Of Christ, divine as
He was divine. infallibie as He was
infallihle. and speaking with authority
as lie spoke?
''Once you admit that Jesus Christ
came on earth to witness infaliibility
to divine truth. to interpret infallibly
the divine law, to pardon men their
offenses and to give them the divine
clety on earth which represents Him
must teach as He taught. infallibly;
must pardon as He pardoned. with
n osoiute certainty. and must give men
the divine life in this world and the
world to come.
III We turn to the Scriptures as a
historical record OF what Jesus said
and did, we find clear evidence thar
Christ selected certain of His disciples,
whom He called apostles. to be the
teachers of His revelation, and that
He conferred upon them the powers
He Himself possessed He sent them
to preach the Gospel TO the whole
world commanding men to believe
them under penalty of he'll and prom
Using to keep them from corruption
within and safeguard them from at
tacks without by His abiding
presence and the power of the Holy
Ghost
Listen to His words. All power is
given to Me In heaven and on earth.
Going. therefore, teach We all nations
Teach them TO observe all things what
soever / have commanded you; and.
behold. I am with you all days, even
TO the contamination of the world. Go
we into the whole world and preach
the Gospel to every creature. He
that believeth not shall be condemned.
AS the Father hath sent Me. also
send you. He that heareth you, hear
eth Me, and he that despiseth you
despiseth Me: and he that despiseth
Me, despiseth Him that sent Me. The
spirit OF truth shall abide with you
and shall be in you. He will teach
you all things
THE churches Of outside Christi
anity all disciaim infallIbility, and
by that very fact are powerless to
teach men the revelation OF God. II
a fallible church professed to teach
divine truth. how can men with GER
tninty profess that Ii gives them the
true Gospel? II the revelation 1t
voices Is simply matter of opinion.
now hard to distinguish and again
hard to understand IL It may mean
different things to different men and
different ages, II might as well never
have been made. For the interpreter
OF Gods truth must be as divine as
the truth Itself or 1t cannot command
the respect or the allegiance of any
thinking man.
The Catholic Church alone of all
the churches claims to be infailible
and. therefore. Is the only church
teaching as Jesus taught. authorize
lively. She says to our age ms He
said TO His: Believe this. for Il Is
"a divine teaching: do this. for it is
a divine commandment
Only One Church.
There are many passages in tho
New Testament---there are many pas
sages in the writings Of the early
fathers-which declare explicitly that
there is only one church of Christ;
that all the brethren are united to-
gether in strong bond Of faith. wor-
ship. government and law: that
whereas heresies and schisrns are GER
tain to arise, the authors thereof are
guilty of treason to Jesus Christ st.
Paul writes: Careful to keep the
unity of the Spirit and the bond OF
peace. One body and one Spirit, az
you are called in one hope of your
calling Ono Lord, one faith. one
baptism. BE OF one mind. having
the same charity, being of one accord.
in sentiment
ITO us the reformation In the sense
Of a secession from divine society
IN order to form new churches is i'm
possible. No matter what may have
been the lives OF Catholics. clerical
or lay. no matter how lax in discip-
line or weak in religious devotedness
men. may have In their unfaithfulness
'bacome, ~tare promises CT. Chr!st make
II clear that secession from the society
He founded must always be wrong
and sinful. You do not destroy a
city because corrupt officials are in
power for a time; you do not cut down
good apple tree because some rot
ten apples are to be found beneath its
branches.
Judgment Versus Principle.
Private Judgment Is good thing
in itself. but 1t has no right to deny
principle. an historical fact or a
divine law. The common Judgment
of perpetual teaching church is a
divine guarantee against the errors
vagaries and prejudices OF an uncer-
tain and changeable private opinion.
The papacy was Christ's divine safe
guard against heresy and schism; the
Holy Eucharist was the Lords divine
presence. abiding In the church to
keep 1t united with Himself in the
fire OF Hts love. In denying both OF
those. the sixteenth century robbed
the religion OF Christ of Its dearest
re-