LECTURE FIRST.

THE PRETENSIONS OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMERS IN REGARD TO THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.

"I have not written to you as to them who know not the truth, but as to them who know it; and that no lie is of the truth."-1 E. ST. JOHN ii. 21.

ON

N a former occasion we have considered at some length the religious revolution commonly called the Protestant Reformation, with its results upon faith, morals, and society. The subject is of the highest importance, and demands the careful examination of every sincere mind. It is terrible in matters of religion to be the victim of falsehood. We were able to show conclusively that the Reformers were in many cases depraved by their own teachings, and that infidelity and immorality were the legitimate fruits of their rebellion against the received Christianity. It is an evil tree which brings forth evil fruit; it is an unholy system which is founded upon untruth, and which depends for its dissemination upon dishonesty.

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This argument alone is sufficient to convince the true mind, since it is founded on the first simple principles of logic.

The subject which we propose for your consideration during this Advent is connected with the conclusions of our former lectures. Still, it is of sufficient importance to demand a particular attention. The Holy Scriptures were taken by the early Reformers as the pretext for their departure from the received Christian creed, and the foundation of their erroneous doctrines. They even charged upon the Catholic Church the neglect and contradiction of the Scriptures, and professed in the light of the inspired word to restore Christianity to its primitive purity. Their descendants have ever since claimed the Bible as their peculiar property, and rely upon it for their doctrines; while by it they seek to justify their practices. They would represent that their creed is the only Scriptural one, and that the faith of the Catholic Church has come from the corruption of the inspired writings, and wilful disobedience to their teachings.

It will be the purpose of these lectures to enter upon this subject briefly, but at the same time satisfactorily; and we shall endeavor to show where the truth lies. We shall proceed to expose the facts of the controversy, to manifest what Protestantism has done with the Bible, and to demonstrate the logical

ground upon which its Scriptural pretensions stand. The simple plan of our argument will be to set forth, first, the false pretensions of the Protestant Reformers in regard to the Bible; secondly, the doctrine of the principal Protestant churches, with its logical fruits and conclusions; thirdly, the actual history of the Bible among the Reformers and their children; and, lastly, the doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church.

As in former lectures, we shall advance the testimony of leading Protestants, and facts admitted by their own writers. Although these discourses are popular, and make no pretension to the dignity of a theological treatise, yet, as they contain the outline of an unanswerable argument, we humbly hope they may produce an effect upon some minds which are tired of mere assertions and logical contradictions. To this end we earnestly implore the assistance and blessing of the Divine Spirit, without whose inspiration nothing can avail in word or work. He can make use of the meanest instrument, and write living and life-giving characters upon the willing heart.

This evening's lecture divides itself naturally into two parts, in which we shall first consider the pretensions of the Protestant Reformers in regard to the Bible, and, secondly, show their dishonesty and untruth.

I.

The pretensions of the Reformers may be reduced to these three: first, that the Holy Scriptures were generally unknown to the people, and even to the priesthood; secondly, that the Catholic Church had suppressed them and prevented their use; and, thirdly, that on the ignorance of the written word of God was built the Papal authority with its whole system of faith.

Let us consider these pretensions, one by one, as they were made the pretext of religious and civil revolution.

1. It is a standing assertion, disproved many times, but still as often reasserted, that the discovery of the Bible led to the Reformation. Martin Luther, the leader among his fellows, was the happy man who made this discovery. He was a student of the University of Erfurt, where he had been two years, when "one day," says D'Aubigné, "he was opening the books in the library, in order to know the names of the authors. Books were then rare, and it was to him a great privilege to profit by the treasures united in this vast collection. One volume which he opened in its turn struck his attention. Up to that moment he had never seen anything like it. He read the title. It was a Bible-a rare book, and unknown at that

time. His interest was vividly excited. He is filled with astonishment at finding more in this volume than those fragments of the Gospels and Epistles which the Church had selected to be read to the people on the Sundays of the year. Till then he had thought that they were the whole word of God; and behold! here are so many pages, chapters, and books of which he had no idea.”* "The Bible that had filled him with such transport was in Latin. He read and re-read, and then, in his surprise and joy, went back to read again. The first gleams of a new truth arose in his mind. Thus has God caused him to find His holy word! For the first time, perhaps, this precious volume has been removed from the place that it occupied in the library of Erfurt. This book, deposited on the unknown shelves of a dark room, is soon to become the book of life for a whole nation. The Reformation lay hid in that Bible." The English historian Milner repeats the same story, and in nearly the same words: "In the second year after Luther had entered into the monastery, he accidentally met with a Latin Bible in the library. It proved to him a treasure. Then he first discovered that there were more Scripture passages extant than those which were read to the people; for the Scrip

*D'Aubigné, Vol. I. p. 197.

† lbid., p. 198.