When God first created man, He imprinted on his heart the light of reason, which (whether aided by revelation or not, it is not necessary here to enquire) taught him his duty to his God, to his neighbour, and to himself. This light was also imprinted on the hearts of his descendants; but as man fell from God by sin, the light of this natural law was greatly impaired, both in the hearts of our first parents, and of all their descendants. The light of this natural law, though much impaired by Adam's fall, is, and ever has been, imprinted on the hearts of all, and is, and ever has been, the foundation of all moral rectitude. The imperfection of this natural law was, before our Saviour came, supplied by the aid of revelation, which Almighty God communicated to mankind, at various times, through His chosen servants. But at last, the Almighty was pleased to send His only Son from heaven to earth, to supply the deficiency of this natural law, and to teach mankind, in the most perfect manner, their duty to God, to their neighbour, and to themselves. Hence our Saviour beautifully says, "He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it," that is, He came to supply the imperfections of the natural law, caused by Adam's fall, and to teach us, in the most perfect manner, our duty to our God, to our neighbour, and to ourselves. Hence, for this purpose He became man, and united our humanity to His divinity. In this God-man, were concentrated all the treasures of divine wisdom and knowledge; and to this God-man, were given all power in heaven, and on earth. It is plain, therefore, as our Saviour beautifully says, He came to be the way, the truth, and the life to all mankind; that is, He came to be the way, by showing us the true way of heaven, which had been darkened, and obscured by the sin of our first parents; He came to be the truth, by revealing to us those supernatural truths, which the natural law did not reveal, and by revealing to us more clearly those truths, which the natural law revealed only obscurely; and lastly, He came to be our life, by communicating to mankind His graces, by which they were enabled to practise the truths, which this divine law taught, and thus, by the knowledge, and faithful practice of this divine law, to arrive at last at the kingdom of heaven. Hence, fully sensible of this truth, the Apostles are continually in the Scriptures reminding us, on the one hand, of man's fall, and the sad consequences of that fall; and on the other hand, of our liberation from sin, and of the abundant blessings we have received, by redemption through Jesus Christ.
Now, that mankind in every age, might be partakers of these abundant, and spiritual blessings, Jesus Christ was pleased to found a Church, and to invest this Church with the same spiritual powers, which He had received from His heavenly Father. This Church, through Jesus Christ, was to be the infallible source of all spiritual knowledge, and of all spiritual grace; in short, it was to be the visible, the infallible, and the incorruptible Church of all ages, with the world for its boundaries, and time for its duration.
I will now, give you a short description of this Church of Christ; attend, and I will tell you, in as few words as I can, what this Church always was, and really is. Catholicity, or Christ's Church, began with our Saviour, received her mission, her powers, and her doctrine, from Jesus Christ. She has been distinguished in every age, for the unity of her faith, and the sanctity of her doctrine, for the universality of her extent, and the apostolicity of her origin. No earthly consideration, could ever induce her, to swerve one iota from the sacred deposit, and unity of faith, delivered to her by Jesus Christ. Hence, whenever she found any in her communion, either layman, priest, or bishop, or even a whole nation, wishing to change, or add to, or diminish one tittle of the faith, delivered by her heavenly founder, she at first, like a tender mother, expostulated with them, appealed to the grounds and truth of her faith, and traced it to the mouth, either of our Saviour or His Apostles; but if they disregarded her tender expostulations, she then, as St. Paul did the incestuous Corinthian, cut them off from her communion, and showed them, when her faith was at stake, she feared neither the frowns of individuals, nor the strength of nations. Every article of her faith is so holy in itself, and so conducive to true holiness, that she challenges her greatest adversaries, to show the smallest stain in any part of what she really teaches, and the most convincing proof of their being unable to do so, is, that not daring to attack her true doctrine, they, by calumny and misrepresentation, lay things to her charge which she even detests and condemns.[J] And then, after combating a phantom of their own creation, exult in an easy and decisive victory. From the dawn of Christianity to the present day, there has not been a nation converted to Christianity, but what was converted by her zealous exertions, nor is there a religion under the sun except hers, that can prove that any of her members, were ever honoured on account of their virtues, and sanctity, with the name of saint. She can look back through eighteen centuries, and shew that the unity and sanctity of her doctrine, are the very same in the nineteenth century, as they were in the first century. She can trace a long succession of popes, even to the first pope, who was St. Peter. She can present you a long catalogue of learned and polite nations, of scholars, philosophers, and divines, of generals, statesmen, and princes, of saints, martyrs, and confessors, who looked upon her faith as their best inheritance, a treasure which they held more dear than life itself. In short, she can prove, that she is now that Church, which our Saviour first founded on a rock, against which, He promised, that the gates of hell should never prevail, and that He, and His Holy Spirit, should remain with it, teaching it all truth, until the end of the world. Hence, she has passed through the stormy trials of eighteen centuries, which would have long since shivered any human institution into atoms, and now stands forth, ever fresh and vigorous, in all her pristine strength, but silvered with the venerable hoar of ages.
This is a short description of the visible, infallible, and incorruptible Catholic Church of Christ; I will now show you how this Church was formed, and how it was to be perpetuated, from age to age, with the world for its boundaries, and time for its duration. The Prophet Daniel foresaw this Church, when he said (Dan. c. ii.), "The God of heaven should set up a kingdom, which should never be destroyed." And our Saviour (Matt. xvi.) informs us, that He is the maker and builder of this Church. Hence He assures us, that as He Himself was sent by His Heavenly Father to preach the Gospel (Luke iv. 18.), so He, also, sent His Apostles: as My Father hath sent Me, I also send you. (John xx. 21.) For this purpose He revealed to His Apostles all the divine truths which He had received. "All things," says He, "whatsoever I have heard of My Father, I have made known to you." (John xv. 15.) He then gave them a commission, to teach all these truths to all nations. "All power," says He, "is given to me in heaven and on earth: go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and behold I am with you all days, even to the end of the world." (Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.) But when our Saviour gave these commands to His Apostles, He at the same time, imposed upon mankind a strict obligation, to hear and learn His gospel from the Apostles. Hence He says to His Apostles, "He that heareth you, heareth Me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me, and he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that sent me." (Luke x. 16.) But whilst our Saviour, imposes upon mankind the necessity of hearing His Apostles, he pledged His infallible word, that they should never lead the people astray, or teach any false doctrine. For this reason, He promises that He will send down His Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, to teach them all truth, that He and His Holy Spirit will remain with them for ever, teaching them all truth, and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against them. (John xv. Matt. xvi.)
That this absolute, and infallible authority of preaching and teaching, was not to be limited merely to the persons of the Apostles, nor merely to the period of their ministry, but was also to extend to their successors in office, and to all future ages, I will now prove. Our Saviour tells His Apostles, that they are to go, and teach all nations, and that He will be with them, even until the end of the world; and that the Spirit of truth, shall remain with them for ever. Now, as the Apostles, did not teach all nations, in their own persons, and were not to continue on earth, until the end of the world, it was manifest, that the commission was not to be confined to their persons, but was to be given to their office, that is, to them and their successors in office, who shall continue until the end of the world, to complete the great work of teaching all nations, which the Apostles first began. That this was actually the intention of our divine Saviour, we learn in positive, and distinct terms, from these words of St. Paul: "And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some pastors, and doctors for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." "That henceforth we may be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive." (iv. 11, 14.) Such is, most Reverend Gentlemen, and such always was, the visible, the infallible, and incorruptible Church of Christ, which was to be perpetuated from age to age, with time for its duration, and the world for its boundaries.
Oh, but you will reply, this Church once fell into error, at least so say the first Reformers. If, most Reverend Gentlemen, I were to assert that you all once committed murder, you would very sharply ask, when, where, and how? And if I could not prove when, where, and how, I think you would deem me (and justly too) a very near relation to the father of lies. Now, your first Reformers said, indeed, that the Catholic Church once fell, but most unfortunately, they forgot to prove when, where, and how. As, therefore, these first Reformers, forgot to prove these most essential circumstances, you must excuse us Catholics, if we prefer God's infallible word, to the mere ipse dixit of these first celestial lights of the Reformation. You know God says, heaven and earth, shall pass away, but His word shall not pass away.
But you will, perhaps, answer, really they must have been strange beings to have asserted, that God's infallible Church had fallen, and not to have been able, or at least to have forgotten, to prove such a bold assertion. Do you know, I was just thinking the same; and, therefore, I beg to introduce a few of these beings to your notice: and I know none, that has a greater claim to our first notice, than Martin Luther, both for the originality of his spiritual doctrines, and for the sublimity of the celestial revelations, with which he was honoured. And mind, had not Luther and his disciples, left the most incontestible testimony of what I am about to advance, it would really have outraged and defied all credibility.
Well, then, know, and never forget, that Martin Luther, the first luminary of the Reformation, had a conference with the devil, in which Martin assures us, that he was convinced by the devil's powerful argumentation, that the Popish Mass was a heap of idolatry. The following are the words of this angel of light on this subject: "Being awakened at midnight, the devil began to dispute with me, according to his custom. "Listen to me, Master Doctor," said he: "do you consider that, for fifteen years, you have said mass almost every day? What, if all this while, you have been guilty of idolatry, and, instead of adoring the body and blood of Christ, have adored only bread and wine?" I answered him, that I was a priest lawfully ordained by the bishop; and that having, from a principle of obedience, discharged my ministry with a sincere intention of consecrating, I saw no reason to doubt the validity of the consecration. "True," replied Satan; "but in the Churches of Turks and Heathens, is not everything done in an orderly manner, and in the spirit of obedience? Does that authorize their worship as orthodox, and perfectly correct? What, if your ordination were null, and your consecration as vain and useless as that of Turkish priests, in the exercise of their ministry, or of the false prophets under Jeroboam?" Here (adds Luther) I was seized with a violent sweat, and my heart began to beat in a strange manner. The devil is very artful in adjusting his reasoning, and he also pushes his arguments with great force; he has a voice, strong and rough, and is so pressing in his objections, one after another, as scarcely to allow you time to breathe. Hence, I can conceive, how it has repeatedly happened, that persons have, in the morning, been found dead in their beds. In the first place, he may suffocate them; he may also, by his method of disputing, cause such a trouble in the soul as to render her unable to make any further resistance, and thus she may be compelled instantly to leave the body; which has nearly been my own case, more than once."
After this preface, Luther mentions five reasons which the devil alleged against the sacrifice of the mass; reasons extremely frivolous in themselves, but which Luther considered of sufficient weight to justify his yielding to them, saying to those who might blame his conduct, that "if they had heard the devil reasoning in the same forcible manner as he had done, they would take care not to appeal from his arguments to the practice of the Church, and the usages of antiquity, which would never satisfy them." This conference may be seen in three different editions of Luther's works, printed by the care of his disciples, viz., (Wittemberg, T. 7, p. 479. Jenæ, Ed. Germ. per Thomas, p. 82. Attenberg, T. 6. p. 86.)
Really, most Reverend Gentlemen, this is a very strange history. Certain, however, it is, that Luther omits nothing to persuade us of its truth: for he mentions the very words which the devil used, the tone of his voice, the nature of his arguments, the impression which the conference made on his body and soul, which sometimes follow from debating with this king of the lower regions.