“I. Christ founded a church.
“II. Christ founded one church, one only: not a corporation of national churches, not a federal union of churches, but literally one church.
“III. That one church of Christ was intended to be the only spiritual guide, on earth, of Christians.
“IV. That [this] church had the promise of endurance and of guidance until the end of the world.
“V. That [this] church was the beginning of the church known historically as the Catholic Church.”
Of course this is very old ground; but Mr. Dix goes over it in a way that ought to induce earnest Protestants of any denomination to follow him.
Here is an excellent hit:
“A word is in many mouths—Ultramontane—intended to represent extreme views of papal rights. Now, I care not whom you select among the defenders of the powers of St. Peter and his successors, you will find the attributes ascribed by any such writer to the successors of St. Peter not so strong as the single commission of our Lord to his apostles recorded in the New Testament. The most ultramontane writers that I know of are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The only difficulty which any one finds in the interpretation of the words of our Lord referring to his church is because those words are so plain and direct. They so clearly set forth the amplest prerogatives ever claimed for the Church of Christ that many people seem to believe that they cannot mean what they seem to mean, and, therefore, must be explained away.”
We hope this short essay will meet with the success its ability deserves. We regret, however, to say that while the plainness of its language is a great point in its favor, its style is open to improvement.