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LECTURE THE FIRST.

THE OBJECT AND METHOD OF THE LECTURES ON THE RULE OF FAITH.

2 CORINTHIANS vi. 1.

"Brethren, we exhort you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.”

Ir is difficult to say, my brethren, whether the Church of God, in proposing to the meditation of the faithful the epistle read in the liturgy of this day, from which these words are taken, had you principally in view, or us, to whom is committed the ministry of His word. For, on the one hand, you are exhorted, not only that ye receive not the grace of God in vain, but farther, that you give offence to no man, lest thereby our ministry should be blamed. But while these words seem intended to exhort you, especially at this holy season, to attend to those instructions which are delivered for your edification, it must be owned, that the greater portion of the epistle is mainly directed to teach us, what are the qualities whereby the word of God should be recommended, and our ministry distinguished.

And, in the first place, we are commanded to show ourselves worthy ministers of Christ in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the armour of justice, on the right hand and on the left; that is to say, that clothing ourselves, as in mail of proof, with our conviction of the truth of all those doctrines which we deliver, we should stand forth, ready to encounter any opposition which they may meet; that we should urge, with all our strength, and with that energy which the word of God must always inspire, those truths which it has committed to our charge. But, while we are commanded thus to preach with power, it is expressly enjoined us, also, to preach in sweetness, and in long-suffering, and in the Holy Ghost; that is, to avoid any thing, in what we deliver, which could, in any wise, hurt the interests of virtues dearest to the Son of God. Whatever may be the strength and energy with which we endeavor to deliver our doctrines, they should be so tempered with meekness and gentleness, as to wound and hurt the individual feelings of no man. But there is yet a third quality in our ministry, prescribed by the Apostle,

which seems most particularly adapted to the circumstances of these times; and it is, that we should preach our doctrines through good report, and through evil report, through honor and dishonor; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet known. That is to say, we must expect, that while some, indeed, will listen to us in the spirit of sincerity, and kindness, we must expect from others only an evil report of that which we shall deliver. With many, our preaching will gain for us rather dishonor than credit: for, however conscientious we may be in delivering doctrines, of whose truth we are firmly convinced, we must expect to be treated by many, perhaps even by those that hear us, as merely practised and cunning deceivers. It is thus prepared, therefore, and having fully before me these consequences, which the apostle of God has enumerated, and thereby has forewarned us of, that I open, this evening, a course of instruction whereunto what I am now delivering may serve as a general introduction.

I have, for the present, undertaken to address myself to one point only; to the examining, in a series of evening lectures, the fundamental principles of the Catholic and Protestant religions; in other words, the essential ground of separation between our Church, and those friends and fellow-countrymen whom we would gladly see cemented with us in religious unity. For this purpose, I will explain, in the simplest manner possible, the grounds whereupon we ground our faith, on which we build the doctrines which we profess; I will examine, in other words, whether we are justified in admitting, as the groundwork of all that we believe, an authority, a living authority, established by Christ in his Church, with his security against error-in contradistinction to that principle which admits of no supreme, infallible authority in doctrine, save the written word of God.

Now it is merely to this course-which may occupy, perhaps, six or seven lectures-that I wish, this evening, to preface some remarks, upon the object which it will have in view, and the method in which they will be conducted.

First, as to the object which I propose to discuss. If you ask any of our brethren who are separated from us, why it is that they are not Catholics, undoubtedly you will receive a multiplicity of answers, according to the peculiar character of each one whom you interrogate. But I have no doubt that the essence and substance of each reply would be this-that the Catholic Church is infected with innumerable errors, having engrafted upon the revelations of Christ many doctrines untaught by Him,

which are, consequently, but the invention of man; that she has adopted many principles of morals and practice, directly at variance with those which He and his apostles inculcated; so that, however truly she may have been once joined to the true and universal Church of Christ, she has allowed herself to be separated from it, by allowing such errors gradually to creep into her creed, and then sanctioning them, with her usurped authority, as divine.

But if you were to press the inquiry still closer, I am sure you would find the whole of these various grounds gradually reduced to one. You would be told, that the great besetting sin of the Catholic Church is, having rejected God's written word in his Scriptures as the only rule and authority of faith; so much so, that the different corruptions, so often laid to her charge, have only been produced by the admission of the false principle, as it is called, of human authority; and that, consequently, all other accusations are but minor points, which merge entirely in this

one.

It is evident, therefore, that the question between us and Protestants, divides itself into two; the one being a question of fact, the other of right. For, whether each of the various instances, commonly produced, is to be considered a corruption, an invention of man, or contradictory to the true revealed word of Christ, whether any Catholic dogma or practice, as transubstantiation, or confession, or purgatory, is to be pronounced a deviation from that which our Saviour instituted; such questions form matters of separate consideration, involving distinct facts, each whereof may rest upon its own peculiar proofs. But, if you proceed to examine the ground whereon these are upheld, and find that Catholics maintain them all exclusively by the same principle, of their being taught by an infallible authority, vested in the Church; it is evident, that all these various independent questions of fact are united, and concentrated in one: that is, in the inquiry, whether there be any authority which could sanction them, and upon which we are justified in believing them.

This is an important consideration: because it must be manifest, that, if we establish that right whereon, alone, we base all particular doctrines; if, in other words, we can prove that, besides the written word of God, an infallible authority exists, and always has existed, in the Church-which, being under the guidance of God, cannot be deceived in sanctioning any thing as having been revealed by Him—assuredly, we likewise make good all those different points, on which we are charged with having

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