The Faith
By: by the Rev. Mark McNeal.
Publisher: R. Washbourne
Published: 1880
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 432
Subjects: Catholic Church -- Doctrines.; Faith.
Table of contents: title: CONTENTS; title: Section I.; title: Enlightenment of the present age - Modern spread of Catholicism parallel to that of Christianity in the early ages - Diffusion of troth the source of multitudinous heresies - Origin, nature, and development of heresy in general, and of Arianism in particular - Imperial patronage its principal support - Necessary dependence of heresy on secular aid - Athanasius the great opponent of Arianism - Failure of all attempts at compromise or conciliation - The persecution of emperors and the assaults of heresiarchs alike unable to subvert the truth - The Macedonian, Nestorian, and Eutychian heresies successively condemned - immense fertility of heresy at all times - Mutual hostility of the various sects - Appeal of each to Scripture and antiquity in support of its tenets, and denunciation of all who differ from them - Opinion the sole basis of their several systems - Contrast between the Catholic Church and heresy - Stability, unity, and unchangeability of the Church - Identity of her doctrine at all times and in all places - Her internal harmony and charity p. 1; title: Section II.; title: Teaching of the Fathers on controverted points - Witness of eminent Protestant divines to the truth of Catholic doctrines - Clear language of inspiration on such points - The Seven Sacraments vouched for by Scripture, taught in the writings of the Fathers, and assented to by the reformers themselves - Refusal of some Anglicans to accept this testimony as conclusive - Their desire for a Convocation to settle disputed points - Unavoidable failure of such a scheme - Private judgment, the basis of Protestantism, antagonistic to dogmatic teaching - The religious system of Kongo - The Church's unity a note of her Divine origin - Sanctity another note of the true Church - The imperfections of individuals no invalidation of the Church's claim to sanctity - The moral writings of Protestantism no sufficient stimulus to piety - Superiority of the spiritual works of Catholicism - The seal of her children a witness to the Divine origin of the Church - Desirability and necessity of rites and ceremonies - The Church accused of excess in ceremonial, and of idolatry and superstition - Falsity of suoh accusations p. 50; title: Section III.; title: Justification of the Church's method in educating her priests - Use of the Breviary - The spirit of the Church exemplified in the lives of the saints as contained in the Divine office - Extreme care with which the process of canonisation is conducted - Sanctity of life demanded by the office of an Apostle - Absence of this requisite in the case of the so-called reformers - Charges brought against religious orders - Imitation of their external practices by Protestants in our own day - Refutation of the generally received opinion respecting the Jesuit system of morality - Impossibility of the Church's ever countenancing deceit - Absurdity of the statement that the confessional promotes vice - Salutary nature of the influence it exercises - Requirements for confession - The use of confession sanctioned by the formularies of the Established Church, but repudiated by it in practice - Protestants not without certain virtues - Their patriot observance of Sunday, and ready response to benevolent appeals - Heroic virtue unknown to them - Loss of the spirit of Catholicism - The Catholic Church no enslaver of the intellect - Her office in restraining its licence and promoting real progress - Honest research must lead to conviction of the truth - Charges of cruelty and tyranny brought against the Church - The Inquisition - The due exercise of ecclesiastical authority not to be - confounded with tyrannical oppression - Submission to the existing Government invariably inculcated by the Church - Pacific conduct of Pius IX p. 100; title: Section IV.; title: The Church's claim to Catholicity - Meaning of this term - Catholicity exclusive of sectarianism, and therefore inapplicable to Protestants - Apostolicity of the Church - The possession of an unbroken succession from the Apostles indispensable to the infallibility of her decisions, and the maintenance of her spiritual supremacy - Testimony of the Fathers on this point - Inability of heresy to counterfeit these four notes, via. Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity, and Apostolicity, or to deny them to the Church - Their presence is declared to be fortuitous - Disunion aviating in the Anglican body - The power of deciding on controverted points disclaimed by its rulers and prelates - Denial of the fundamental truths of religion, the result of rejecting the - authority of the Church - Absurdity of the Protestant position - Difference of opinion distinct from diversity of belief - The tractarian movement - Wrong done to the Church by the misrepresentations of her adversaries - Catholicism alone meets the exigeicles of human nature p. 165; title: Section V.; title: Catholic Christianity the completion and fulfilment of Judaism - Testimony of history to the successive victories of the Church over every fresh persecution - A similar outcome of the present struggle in Germany may be anticipated - Germany indebted for her Christianity and civilisation to the very religion she now seeks to suppress - The policy of her Government towards the Church aggressive, not defensive - Overthrow of the Papal supremacy its ultimate object - The temporal power an integral part of the constitution of the Church - The training of ecclesiastics a better preparation for ruling than the education ordinarily given to princes - Character of the late Pontiff p, 229; title: Section VI.; title: The Catholic Church only opposes the secular power when it infringes on the spiritual domain - Relative position of Church and State - Limits of ecclesiastical jurisdiction - The infallibility of the Pope renders him a supreme teacher, not an absolute monarch - Respect for the throne never long survives reverence for the altar - State of affairs in Italy - Precedent afforded by the French Revolution - Heresy never permitted to hold sway in France - Catholicism the Christianity of antiquity - Her Founder at all times the chief object of infidel hatred - Weakness of the morality of philosophers in comparison with the maxims of the Gospel - Testimony of Freethinkers to the sublimity and consistency of the Church's doctrines, and the elevating nature of her ceremonies - The principles of Atheism and Deism degrading to humanity and prejudicial to society - Powerlessness of oppression to stamp out the vitality of Catholicism - Proof afforded by the history of Ireland - The revival of the faith in England in a great measure the work of Irish and French refugees - Recent conquests of the Church, as received by Protestants - Invective and misstatement the only resource of the Utter p. 25$; title: Section VII.; title: Effect produced by tbo proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception - The definition of dogma an occasion for heresy to take a definite form - Heresy at all times the off-spring of pride and the parent of confusion - Contrast between the multiplicity and diversity of Protestantism and the unity, dignity, and unchangeability of Catholicism - Failure of the Conference of Worms, owing to the disunion of its members - Conduct of Cranmer - Hit character contrasted with that of the Venerable Bede - Meaning of the terms Saint and Father of the Church - The rejection of tradition and authority by Protestants makes a chaos of Christianity - The fixity of Catholic doctrine and the indestructible vitality of the Church due to her upholding of order - Ancient MSS. attest the identity of her teaching - The use of Latin a valuable aid to the Catholic Church - The Greek schism - The maintenance of faith intact excludes the possibility of compromise with error - The authority of the Sovereign Pontiff the corner-stone on which the edifice of Catholicism rests p. 303; title: Section VIII.; title: Immense power of journalism - It is seen to contend in vain against the Divinely established Church - The hostility of public opinion lessened by the conversion of some of the Church's most inveterate foes - Testimony of Macaulay and Chateaubriand to the indestructibility and beauty of the Catholic Church - The Church a promoter of intellectual and artistic progress, and the mainstay of social order - The means of grace indispensable to the spiritual life supplied by her alone - Relation of grace to free will - This doctrine clearly defined and expounded by the Church only - Charges of obstructiveness and intolerance continually brought against the Church - The obedience she demands from her children not inconsistent with true liberty - Acceptation of the doctrines, but repudiation of the authority of Rome by the Ritualists - Their position illogical and untenable - Their isolation from the body to which they belong - Probable withdrawal from them of State protection p. 344; title: Section IX.; title: The confessional and the use of the Cross invariably awaken hostility - Reason why this is so - Freedom of the Church's teaching on these, as on all other points, from novelty or contradiction - Canon Ryle upon Catholicism - Agreement of the varying sects on one point, viz., to denounce as preposterous and absurd the received belief of millions in all ages - The Catholic Church alone merits the confidence of mankind - The assertions of Protestants create prejudice against her clergy, but fail to disprove her celestial origin, or the high virtues she inculcates - Exultant speech of the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Church Congress - Witness of Luther to the truth of the Catholic religion - Test applied by Henry IV. of France p 380; title: Section X.; title: Catholicism not, like Protestantism, obnoxious to change, or subject to human caprice - Indifference or infidelity the logical outcome of Protestantism - Eulogy of the Church of God - Discordant views of Protestants respecting the Scriptures - Victory of the faith, though oppressed, persecuted, and arraigned before tribunals - The preponderance of evidence in favour of Catholic claims - The decision of upright judges would necessarily be on her side were her cause debated in a Court of law - Strong argument against itself afforded by the internal discord of Protestantism - Faith mystified, morality undermined, order overthrown, and error multiplied by the reformers - Impossibility that there can be more than one Divinely appointed way of salvation, one Divinely established Church upon earth - Infallible result of honest, prayerful research in leading inquirers to the one true fold - Peace of conscience in life, and serenity at the hour of death, found in the Catholic Church alone - Conclusion p. 405