|
We have already passed in review what seem to be the principal points of
Catholic belief, and now, in order to meet the most common of the
misapprehensions and misrepresentations on these matters, we will here
state, though it may be in part a repetition, some things that Catholics
do not believe.
1. Catholics do not believe that there is any other Mediator
of Redemption than our SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, "For there is no other name
under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved" than that of JESUS
(Acts of the Apostles, iv.12); and when they call the Blessed Virgin or
any other Saint a mediator, it is not in the sense of Mediator of
Redemption attributed to our Saviour, but in the sense of intercessor or
pleader, in which sense any Christian may be called a mediator, whenever
he intercedes, or mediates between God and his fellow-man, as Abraham
and Moses and St. Paul did, and thus prays for his neighbor. God Himself
commanded Eliphaz and his friends to apply to the Patriarch Job that he
should pray for them, and God promised to accept his prayers. Go to my
servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust; and my servant Job
shall pray for you; his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to
you" (Job xlii. 8.) In this sense Moses could also say, "I was the
mediator, and stood between the Lord and you". (Deuteronomy v. 5)
2. Catholics do not believe that the blessed Virgin is in any
way equal or even comparable to God, for she, being a creature, although
the most highly favored, is infinitely less than God. Nor do they claim
for her any power beyond that which she derives from Him; for she is
entirely dependent on God for her existence, her privileges, her grace
and her glory.
The strong, loving expressions used oftentimes by Catholics, which
seem to attribute to the Blessed Virgin more than is here stated, are to
be understood in the limited sense meant by Catholics themselves, as
here explained; that is, in a way consistent with the Catholic teaching
and not in the unlimited, un-Catholic sense which persons not
understanding that teaching may be led to apply to them. These tender
expressions, I say, ought not to be judged of by cold or hostile
criticism, for they spring from fervent, heart-felt devotion and
unmeasured love.
If it were permitted to take offence at expressions which are only
true in a limited sense, surely from those words of Scripture: "I have
said; you are gods" (Psalm lxxxi. 6), one might argue that Holy
Scripture holds certain men to be really gods. From the words of the
Gospel: If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and
wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, . . . . he cannot be by
disciple" (St. Luke xiv. 26), one might pretend that Christ encourages
the hating of parents and other relatives. That direction of our Lord:
"If thy right hand scandalize thee, cut it off" (St. Matth. v. 30) might
be taken to justify self-mutilation. And from the words: "How knowest
thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife;" (I Corinth. vii. 16)
some might argue that according to Scripture, a man can be the saviour
of his wife.
If, therefore, even in the interpretation of Holy Scripture, it would
be wrong to take in the full extent expressions that were meant in a
qualified sense so still more unjust would it be to apply this wrong
principle to expressions found in books of devotion or in religious
poetical compositions, in which a certain latitude to the expansion of a
warm heart is allowed.
It is a common practice among men to use expressions which are true
only in a secondary and limited sense. For instance, a great poet or
artist is spoken of as "divine," mothers often call their children their
little "angels," "kings," and "queens," and are said to "adore" or
"idolize" them, and no one thinks of blaming such tender exaggerations.
And again, in the Marriage-Service in the Book of Common Prayer of the
Established Church of England, the bridegroom has to say to the bride:
"With my body I thee worship".
No one should take offence at these expressions; indeed, it would
seem captious to do so; more especially when the speaker declares his
meaning.
3. Catholics do not believe that there is any authority upon
earth or in heaven that can give leave to commit any sin, even the
least; or that a sin can be forgiven for money; or that a Priest can
give valid absolution to a sinner who does not repent and truly purpose
to forsake sin and amend his life.
4. Catholics do not believe that a man can by his own good
works, independently of the Merits and Passion of Jesus Christ and of
His grace, obtain salvation, or make any satisfaction for the guilt of
his sins, or acquire any merit.
5. Catholics do not believe that it is allowable to break a
lawful oath, or tell a lie, or do any other wicked thing whatever for
the sake of promoting the supposed interest of the Church, or for any
good, however great, likely to arise from it. The false and pernicious
principle that the end justifies the means, or that we may do evil that
good may come, is utterly condemned by the Catholic Church.
6. Catholics do not believe that it is in the power of the
Church to add to the truths contained in the "deposit of faith," that
is, to frame or enforce any doctrine which has not for its source the
written or unwritten word of God, or authority from the same. Nor do
they believe, when the Church makes a Definition in matters of faith,
that this definition or article of faith is a new doctrine; it is only a
solemn declaration and a clearer statement of what was believed, at
least implicitly (that is, in an implied way, or inferentially), in the
time of the Apostles, though some private persons might have doubted of
it.
7. Catholics do not believe that Protestants who are baptized,
who lead a good life, love God and their neighbor, and are blamelessly
ignorant of the just claims of the Catholic Religion to be the one true
Religion (which is called being in good faith), are excluded from
Heaven, provided they believe that there is one God in three Divine
Persons; *that God will duly reward the good and punish the wicked; that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God made man, who redeemed us, and in whom we
must trust for our salvation; and provided they thoroughly repent of
having ever, by their sins, offended God.
Catholics hold that Protestants who have these dispositions, and who
have no suspicion of their religion being false, and no means to
discover, or fail in their honest endeavors to discover, the true
Religion, and who are so disposed in their heart that they would at any
cost embrace the Roman Catholic Religion if they knew it to be the true
one, are Catholics in spirit and in some sense within the Catholic
Church, without themselves knowing it. She holds that these Christians
belong to, and are united to the "soul," as it is called, of the
Catholic Church, although they are not united to the visible body of the
Church by external communion with her, and by the outward profession of
her faith.
Very different is the case of a person who, having the opportunity,
neglects to learn from genuine trustworthy sources what the Catholic
Religion is and really teaches, fearing, that were he to become
convinced of the truth of the Catholic Faith, he would be compelled by
his conscience to forsake his own religion, and bear the worldly
inconveniences attached to this step. This very fear shows a want of
good faith, and that he is not in that insurmountable ignorance which
could excuse him in the sight of God, nut that he is one of those of
whom it is said in Psalm xxxv. 4, "He would not understand that he might
do well."
Fairness, no less than common sense, teaches that a man should study
and examine the teaching of the Catholic Church from Catholic sources
before condemning her. Surely no man ought to reject Catholic doctrine
if he has not made himself well acquainted with them. Nor is is fair to
form a judgment from misrepresentations made by ill-informed,
interested, or prejudiced persons; one should rather, by the study of
authorized Catholic works, judge of the truth with that calm and
unprejudiced mind which the all-important subject of Religion deserves.
Thus having heard both sides, you will be in a state to pass a right
judgment and not in danger of being misled by prejudice.
Our Saviour gave no hope of salvation to the Samaritan woman unless
she entered the one true Church of the tine, saying to her who was
destitute of a sure guide: "You adore that which you know not; we adore
that which we know; for SALVATION IS OF THE JEWS". (St John iv. 22.) So
likewise there is no salvation for any one who, having by God's grace
come to the knowledge of the truth, obstinately refuses to join the true
Church of God.
There was no safety out of the Ark of Noah during the deluge, and no
one can be saved who is in no sense within the true Church, prefigured
by the Ark. According to St. Cyprian: "No one can have God for his
Father who has not the Church for his Mother. If any one could escape
the deluge out of the Ark of Noah, he who is out of the Church may also
escape." (Book on the Unity of the Church.)
It is hard to understand how a Protestant can daily say in the
Apostles' Creed, as many happily do still say, "I believe in the Holy
Catholic Church," without at least a thought arising in his mind, that
perhaps after all the Church which alone is truly Catholic or universal,
both in name and in fact, has more claim on his love and obedience than
his own denomination, which really is not Catholic.
Catholic Belief: A Short and Simple Exposition of Catholic
Doctrine, Chapter XLIV.
(NY: Benzinger Brothers, 1884).
|
