Lectures On The Evidences Of Catholicity
Subtitle: delivered in the Cathedral of Louisville
Publisher: John Murphy & Co.
Published: 1870
Language: eng
Number of pages: 440
Table of contents: title: CONTENTS.; title: PREFACE 1; title: LECTURE I. — INTRODUCTORY.; title: ON RELIGIOUS INQUIRY — ITS OBLIGATION AND DUTIES.; title: Words of Christ explained — A command and a promise — Both universal in their application — Religious Inquiry — Its obligation — Whence it arises — Religious indifference — Its absurdity — and manifold evils — Latitudinarianism — Exclusive salvation — Sectarianism — What are its causes — and how is it to be remedied? — The principles which should guide Religious Inquiry — and the spirit which should pervade it — Freedom from prejudice — Humility — Persevering prayer — Fenelon — Recapitulation and prayer 18; title: LECTURE II.; title: THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION — ITS NATURE AND ATTRIBUTES.; title: God earnestly desires the salvation of all mankind — And has provided sufficient means of salvation for all — His goodness and mercy — Grace and free-will — Why some are saved and others lost — Saving truth — Contained in the Religion of Christ — State of the world before its establishment — Pagan philosophy powerless — Man a slave — Freed only by the Christian Religion — Its nature, properties, and objects — Theory of fundamental and non-fundamental doctrines — Christianity rests on a fact — Summary evidences of this fact — Leading characteristics of the Christian Religion — Four great guiding principles developed — Will heathens be saved — Recapitulation — The Church — Its nature, office, and purpose — Object of these Lectures — Importance of the investigation — Prayer 81; title: LECTURE III.; title: THE APOSTOLIC COMMISSION — THE RULE OF FAITH — THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF CATHOLICITY.; title: The Commission — Its general scope — Its objects most difficult of attainment — Its four distinctive characteristics — It embraces two things — The argument stated — Its positions evolved — Division of the subject — The inquiry narrowed down to a simple question of fact — The Rule of Faith — The Protestant and Catholic Rules stated — Strong presumptive evidence against the former — Its positive difficulties — She scriptural arguments in its favor examined — A popular theory exploded — The Inspiration, canon, version, and interpretation of the Bible — What is faith? — Can an act of faith be made consistently with the Protestant Rule? — The vicious circle — Scriptural proofs of the Catholic Rule — Both rules tested by the four great principles laid down in the previous Lecture — Recapitulation — The conclusion reached — The first evidence of Catholicity 56; title: LECTURE IV.; title: THE APOSTOLIC COMMISSION — ITS FULFILLMENT — THE SECOND EVIDENCE OF CATHOLICITY.; title: The argument stated — Two facts to be proved — The first fact — Summary history of Protestant Missionary Societies — Their estimated income — Number of Bibles and Tracts published — Number of converts made — Paucity of result — Dr. Wiseman — The American Board — The mission at the Sandwich Islands examined — And that of Oregon — Reasons for the failure of Protestant missions — The great cause of this failure — Catholic missions — A cavil mot — The conversion of the world progressive — Conversions of nations during the early ages — An objection answered — Progressive conversion of the Northmen — Missions of the middle ages — And of the sixteenth century — Reaction of the reformation — The losses through it more than retrieved by Catholic missions — Modern Catholic missions — Great leading feature of Catholic missions of every age — Reflection — Parallelism — The conclusion reached — The second evidence of Catholicity 91; title: LECTURE V.; title: MIRACLES — THE THIRD EVIDENCE OF CATHOLICITY.; title: Text explained — Miracles a sure criterion of truth — Various definitions of a miracle — Those of Hume and Locke exploded — That of Bishop Hay adopted — How to distinguish a true miracle — Four principles to guide us — The issue between Catholics and Protestants — Has the age of miracles ceased? — Objections and cavils met — Presumptive evidence for the continuation of miracles — Positive evidence — The testimony on the subject sifted — Add found to possess all the characteristics of truth — The process for the canonization of saints analyzed — Its slowness and extreme rigor — Incident — Miracles of St. Francis Xavier examined and vindicated — Objections against them answered — The argument resumed — Conclusion — Third evidence of Catholicity 181; title: LECTURE VI.; title: CATHOLICITY AND UNITY — THE FOURTH EVIDENCE OF CATHOLICITY.; title: Recapitulation — The truth plain — But often obscured by passion and prejudice — Necessity for distinctive characteristics or marks of the true Church — Their qualities developed — Those assigned by Protestants examined — The Church visible — Her marks palpable — Those of Catholicity and Unity inferred from the words of the Commission — Each of them three-fold — That of Catholicity established by the prophecies of the Old and the testimonies of the New Testament — Unity essentially connected with Catholicity — Application of these marks as tests of the true Church — The question simplified — A popular objection answered — Relative extension and numbers of the Catholic Church and of all dissenting communions — The tree and its branches — Religious statistics — Test of Unity — No Unity out of the Church — Number of Protestant sects — Divisions and subdivisions — A necessary consequence of the Protestant Rule of Faith — A quibble answered — General council of Protestant sects — And one of the Catholic Church — A picture of Catholic Unity — The College of Propaganda — The conclusion reached — The fourth evidence of the Church — Striking facts of early Church history — The Church of all ages and of all nations. 164; title: LECTURE VII.; title: SANCTITY — THE FIFTH EVIDENCE OF CATHOLICITY.; title: The Nicene Creed — Holiness a mark of the true Church — In what it consists — It does not exclude scandals — Scriptural evidence — Holiness applied as a test — Tendency of distinctive Protestant doctrines — Standard of Holiness among Protestants — Their ascetical works — Care for the poor — The fashionable church — Picture of a Protestant church — And worship — Religious instruction — Protestant sacraments — The "holy sabbath" — Influence of private interpretation, justification by faith alone, predestination, and other doctrines — Aversion to mortification — Practical fruits of Holiness — Protestant saints — Character of the Reformers — Moral and religious condition of Protestant countries — Statistical facts — Catholic standard of Holiness — Influence of Catholic doctrines — Morals — Worship — And sacraments — Every want of man amply provided for — Objection from imputed immorality — St. Augustine's answer — The Roman Pontiffs — Excommunicating sinners — Merciful spirit of the Church — Treasures of ancient Sanctity — Modern Catholic saints — Love for the poor — Hospitals and asylums — Heroic charity — Protestant and Catholic missionaries compared — A tacit tribute to Catholic Sanctity — Sisters of Charity — Conclusion — Fifth evidence of Catholicity 194; title: LECTURE VIII.; title: APOSTOLICAL ANTIQUITY — THE SIXTH EVIDENCE OF CATHOLICITY.; title: Text from Jeremiah explained — Appropriateness of its warning to our own times — A divided Christianity — Its evils deplored — The remedy left by Christ — The mark of Apostolicity unfolded — And applied as a test of the true Church — The Greek and oriental churches — The argument stated — A cavil — Antiquity of Protestantism — Theory of an invisible Church — Its manifold absurdities — Sleeping witnesses — Theory of a regular succession of dissenters from Rome examined — A heterogeneous ancestry — A striking coincidence — Theory founded on the assumption that Protestant- ism is the Religion of the Bible — The illustration from washing the face — The age of Protestantism folly settled — Apostolical antiquity of Catholicity established by historical facts — The line of Roman Pontiffs — The unbroken succession — Tertullian and St. Irenseus — Other ancient fathers — Objections answered — Macaulay's testimony — The allegation that the Catholic Church changed the original doctrine disproved — The dark ages — Specifications called for — Motto of the early Church — Mr. Hallam and the council of Trent — The origin of the Greek schism — Doctrines of the present Greek church — The promises of Christ — The conclusion — The sixth evidence of Catholicity 229; title: LECTURE IX.; title: INFALLIBILITY OF THE CHURCH — THE EIGHTH EVIDENCE OF CATHOLICITY.; title: Text explained — Importance of the principle it involves — Doctrine of Infallibility — What it is not — What it is — Popular objections solved — The seat of Infallibility — The Pope and a general council — Councils of Constance and Basle — Can many fallibles make an infallible? — The charge of reasoning in a vicious circle answered — And retorted — The whole question depends upon a fact — Presumptive evidence in proof of this fact — Four great principles applied to its elucidation — The Apostolic age — Infallibility in possession at its close — Positive evidence — The promises of Christ addressed to St. Peter — And to the other Apostles — Testimony and reasoning of St. Paul — The spotless Bride of the Lamb — St. Cyprian — Recapitulation — The seventh evidence of Catholicity — St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine — Conclusion 261; title: LECTURE X.; title: TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF THE CHURCH — THE EIGHTH EVIDENCE OF CATHOLICITY.; title: Two Scriptural texts applied to the Church — Her early trials — The persecutions — Ancient slanders and mobs — The cross of Constantine — The triumph of the Church — Her conflict with ancient heresy — The heretics of the first three centuries — Historical sketch of Arianism — The northern invasions — Condition of the Church during and after them — Pagan and Christian Rome — The Crescent and the Cross — Alleged darkness and corruption of the middle ages — Scandals — The great schism of the west — The reformation — Its violent action and sudden reaction — Macaulay — A parallel between the history of Arianism and that of Protestantism — The French revolution — The test of Gamaliel applied — The indestructible Church — Eighth evidence of Catholicity 292; title: LECTURE XI.; title: CHURCH GOVERNMENT — THE PRIMACY — THE NINTH EVIDENCE OF CATHOLICITY.; title: Recapitulation of previous Lectures — The power of the Christian ministry threefold — The governing power in the Church also threefold — The latter established by presumptive evidence — An objection answered — Origin of this power divine — Its fountain not the people — Scriptural proofs — Not personal to the Apostles — Organization of Church government settled by Christ — Bishops, priests, and deacons — Scriptural testimonies — Those of some early fathers — The Argument stated — And developed — The Primacy — Three propositions laid down — The first of these established — Primacy of St. Peter — Objections met — The precedent set under the old law — Reasoning from analogy — And from the nature and objects of the Church — Positive proofs from the New Testament — Minor circumstances and incidents — The promise of the Primacy — The rock and the keys — Confirming the brethren — The promise redeemed by Christ — Feeding the lambs and the sheep — Recapitulation — The argument resumed — And continued to the next Lecture 819; title: LECTURE XII.; title: CHURCH GOVERNMENT — THE PAPACY — THE NINTH EVIDENCE OF CATHOLICITY (concluded).; title: The Roman Church — Its early fame — Recapitulation of preceding Lecture — The second proposition stated and proved — The third proposition — Already virtually admitted by our opponents — A cloud of witnesses — Why Rome was selected as the seat of the Primacy — St Peter at Rome, and first Roman bishop — The chair of Peter — The Roman episcopacy and Primacy not incompatible — The alleged silence of the New Testament — Roman Pontiffs always viewed by Christian antiquity as the successors of St. Peter — The testimony of the first three centuries — The coses of Popes St. Victor and St. Stephen — The ancient patriarchates — The first eight general councils — The sixth canon of Nice — The Isidorian Decretals — Testimonies of ancient Greek and Latin fathers — The opponents of the Papacy, ancient and modern — Alleged abuses of the Papacy — Its uncompromising character — The charge of persecution — Balancing accounts — Temporal power of the Popes — Their prohibiting divorces and rebuking powerful tyrants — Charge that the Papacy is despotic repelled — The nature of Church Government under the Papacy — Appeals to prejudice and passion — The true issue — Recapitulation — The Ninth Evidence of Catholicity — A fuller definition of the Church 361; title: LECTURE XIII.; title: SIX OTHER EVIDENCES.; title: Recapitulation — Other evidences — Whence did Protestants derive the Bible? — A special providence to account for its preservation, akin to the tenet of Infallibility — Furnishing a satisfactory account of the Bible — Settling its canon — And proving its inspiration — The Religion of the Bible — What interpretation of it is consistent and uniform? — Who accepts all its doctrines? — And in their plain and natural sense? — Extreme unction — Which interpretation is more conformable to the genius of Christianity — Doctrinal mysteries — Things hard to flesh and blood — Immutability of doctrine — Losing England — Chinese Rites — Union of all the sects against Catholicity — Its source and principles — Estimated by analogy and by Scriptural principles — Leading features of the anti-Catholic crusade in this country — An honorable exception — The Protestant ministry a lucrative profession — The Fifteenth and last Evidence of Catholicity 386; title: LECTURE XIV.; title: RECAPITULATION — THE PARALLEL — CONCLUSION.; title: Becoming little children for Christ's sake — Faith a gift of God — Vouchsafed only to the humble — Object of this concluding Lecture — Drawing scattered lights to a focus — Rapid analysis of the evidences contained in the thirteen previous Lectures — St. Augustine's reasons for being a Catholic — Our own still more ample and conclusive — The Parallel between the two lines of reasoning in support of Christianity and Catholicity — Prophecies of the Old and New Testaments — Ancient types and figures fulfilled in the Catholic Church alone — Miracles — Rapid propagation of Christianity — Its beneficial influence on morals — The number of its martyrs — Its stability and permanency — No infidels among Christians in Catholic times — But many now in Christendom — Appe — Conclusion — Prayer. 417