degree by most of his correspondents, who are unceasingly commending his excellent work. It will be recollected, that the very correspondent from whose letters I have quoted so largely in this number, puffs him off as a man who understands the subject of religion better than prophets and apostles did; and knows much better how to teach it; for which see the conclusion of my thirty-first number. In fact, he is the champion, if not the oracle, of modern Papists, especially of those who resist the veto; and his writings are highly commended by the bishop of Castabala, the vicar apostolic of the midland district. Now, this said editor and his correspondents, have set themselves down, to revile those who are labouring to give the poor the word of God; and they do not scruple to vilify the Bible itself. It is quite fair to consider them as expressing the sentiments of their brethren in general, unless some other writer of equal authority with Bishop Milner, and Mr. Gandolphy, and the other correspondents of the Orthodox Journal, shall come forward and publicly disavow such sentiments. Such disavowal has not been made by any popish writer in England or Ireland, so far as I know; and as they are well known to be in general hostile to the circulation of the Bible alone, they may be presumed to hold the same sentiments with the writer above quoted. This writer asserts, that the scriptures alone, that is, simply as they were given by the Almighty, cannot possibly be an unerring rule of faith and morals; which is asserting plainly, that the word of God cannot accomplish the object intended by it, without human aid. Nay, from what follows, it is insinuated, that it will do incalculable mischief, if left to be privately interpreted: and the writer has the presumption to say, that this mischief will be chargeable against God himself, if he shall permit his word to be generally read, and to be at the mercy of ignorant and perverse interpreters. No Protestant ever taught that the Almighty has given authority to every man, or to any man, to put upon his word whatever interpretation he pleases. He has given a revelation of his will sufficiently intelligible for the salvation of the guilty, and the instruction of the simple, and persons to whom this revelation is made known by reading the Bible, are in no danger of misunderstanding it, if they really desire to understand it, and pray for divine instruction; for God has promised his Spirit to guide into all truth. The words of God are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Such a knowledge of them as is connected with salvation, is the fruit of divine teaching. Under such teaching, the poor and illiterate, by means of the Bible, are made wise unto salvation. Without such teaching, the holy father of Rome, with all his army of cardinals, priests, and doctors, are no better than mere fools who hate knowledge. "How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my Spirit upon you; I will make known my words unto you.' (Prov. i. 22, 23.) This is a public proclamation of the Author of the Bible. He requires it to be made known to all, without any consideration of the danger of misunderstanding it; and he will secure against such danger by giving his Spirit, and making known his word to all who apply their hearts to such knowledge. I shall resume this subject in my next number. VOL. I.-34 In the mean time, I shall resume this subject in my next number. In the mean time, I request my popish readers to read the Bible. Let them see what it is which their priests are so anxious to conceal from them. If they find it unintelligible at first, let them read on, and they will find what is difficult or obscure in one passage made quite plain in another. The Bible contains the words of eternal life. Christ is in the Bible; and he that finds him finds life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. CHAPTER XXXV. CLAIM MODERN POPISH PERVERSION OF THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY CHRIST TO THE APOSTLES. SATURDAY, March 13th, 1819. PAPISTS tells us that publishing and distributing the holy scriptures is not the way which Christ appointed for the propagation of Christianity. They triumphantly maintain what nobody denies, that Christ commanded his apostles to teach all nations; that "accordingly we find the apostles, immediately after the descent of the Holy Ghost, boldly announcing to mankind, by word of mouth, the truths of religion.' This, I say, is what no Protestant denies: but the popish writer in the Orthodox Journal, on whose letter I am animadverting, adds some words which are not in the commission which Christ gave to the apostles; and of which the apostles themselves were entirely ignorant. These words, and the doctrine founded upon them, are entirely of popish origin. After the apostles, he slips in their lawful successors; and these, he says, are the pastors of the church in every succeeding age. He has not the hardihood to assert, though he evidently means it to be understood, that every priest or pastor of the church is a successor of the apostles; that he is equally commissioned by Christ to declare the "truths of religion by word of mouth;" and that he is equally infallible, or incapable of error, in what he shall declare; at least, that this is the case when these pastors sit in council. If his words have not this meaning, I cannot see that they have any meaning at all. When a dispute,' says he, arose among the faithful respecting the obligation of observing the Mosaic law, was either the Bible, or any other written authority, referred to, as the rule of faith? No the living voice of the pastors of the church was consulted; the apostles assembled in council at Jerusalem, and the affair was terminated by the decision of those who were by divine institution the teachers and guardians of the faith. It is by a similar appeal to the living tribunal of the pastors of the church, that, in every succeeding age, the doctrines once delivered to the saints have been preserved from all mixture of error and human invention. This is the only rule of faith which the scriptures themselves hold out to us, and to which they enjoin implicit obedience, under pain of exclusion from the 66 kingdom of heaven, with heathens and publicans, in case of disobedience." This, it will be allowed, is speaking plainly. Here the authority of the Bible is completely set aside; and, though it may seem a paradox, it is set aside by its own authority. The scriptures themselves hold out" no other rule of faith but the living voice of the pastors of the church! The bare word of a Romish priest, therefore, is the only rule of faith! Du Mans then said truly, in the council of Trent, "the Bible is become useless!" The Bible, according to the Orthodox Journal, has denuded itself of all its authority in favour of the priests. With Protestants the mere statement of such absurdity and impiety is a sufficient refutation; and it would be utterly in vain to attempt to convince the writer by any scriptural argument, because, in his opinion the Bible has surrendered its authority to the pastors of the church; and because the editor, whom he addresses, has written a much better book! Papists would act more like honest men, if they would openly avow themselves infidels, than by continuing to assume the name of Christians, while they vilify and reject the authority of the Christian revelation. 66 The writer on whom I am animadverting, says, we nowhere find it recorded that the Son of God, before he ascended into heaven, either wrote down, or commanded to be written, the doctrines which he delivered for the instruction of mankind." From this we are left to infer that the writing of what Christ taught, was unauthorized by him; that the apostles and evangelists exceeded their commission when they wrote the New Testament; and then it follows, of course, that such writings have no authority when put in competition with the living voice of the pastors of the church, who are the successors of the apostles, who were not commanded by Christ to write his word, but to teach it by word of mouth. Thus Papists invest their pastors with supreme authority in religious matters, and ascribe no authority to the Bible, but such as the pastors choose to allow, and no meaning, but such as they choose to give it. Certainly the priests would have had much easier work to keep the people in ignorance, if the apostles had written nothing; it is evident that they owe them no good will for what they have done, and for the trouble which is daily given them by their writings. Whether Christ commanded his word to be written or not, is of no consequence to us, seeing the apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit did write it. Their writing of it was according to the will of Christ. He promised to send the Spirit to lead his apostles into all truth. Seeing, then, the Spirit led or directed the apostles to the measure of writing the New Testament, it follows that this was a part of the work which Christ appointed them to perform. Besides, we find that Christ did command at least part of the New Testament to be written. I was," says John, "in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest, write in a book, and send to the seven churches which are in Asia," &c. Again, “I am the first and the last; and am alive, and was dead; and behold I am living for ever and ever, and have the keys of death and hell. Write therefore the things which thou hast seen, and which are, and which must be done hereafter." Rev. i. 10, 11, 17-19. Douay Version. And we know that Christ did such honour to the written word of the Old Covenant, as to appeal to it as a witness for the truth of what he personally taught. Surely after the disciples believed that he was the Christ, the Son of the living God, especially after they were witnesses of his resurrection from the dead, they would consider his own simple testimony sufficient to confirm the truth of all that he said. Yet, in fact, he did not rest, nor call them to rest, upon his own simple testimony, though that was undoubtedly true; but he gave an example by which the apostles, and his followers, in all time coming, should try every doctrine by the written word. "And he said unto them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And he said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead the third day and that penance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke xxiv. 44-47. Douay Version. This, of itself, was enough to show the apostles, that their Lord and Master approved of the word written and unless he had given them a special command not to write, they would consider themselves authorized to write down what they had seen, and heard, for the instruction of the church in all ages. Further, it does not appear from the commission which Christ gave to his apostles, that their labours were to be confined to mere speaking "by word of mouth." Go, teach all nations;-Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, are the words of the commission; and the meaning of them evidently is, that the apostles were commanded to make known the gospel,-to publish it to every creature. They were not limited with regard to the means; but left at liberty to speak or write as they had opportunity. My popish letter-writer depreciates the written word of the New Testament, and pleads on behalf of the pastors of the church, the lawful successors of the apostles, that we should rather hear them, because they are commissioned, in all succeeding ages, to teach mankind, by word of mouth, the truths of religion. This argument would have applied with much more force in our Saviour's time on earth, for there had been a regular succession of priesthood from the days of Moses; and there were many traditions taught by the scribes and doctors of the law, which had at least as good authority as any popish tradition; and yet we know that Christ spoke of such traditions, and such word-ofmouth teaching, only to condemn them, as making void the law, and seducing souls to their ruin. I know that the preaching of the gospel-the declaration of divine truth by the living voice, is an ordinance of God, and an ordinance which he has been pleased to honour in a singular manner for the conversion of sinners; but it is only when preachers publish the doctrine contained in the written word, that such a blessed effect follows. I might defy the world to produce a credible instance of conversion to God by any other sort of preaching than that of the truth contained in the scripture. Popish writers always proceed upon the presumption that their If priests are successors of the apostles; and that, of course, they have equal authority, individually or collectively, to decide on matters of faith. If they could prove this, the question would be at rest. they could prove that they are inspired by the Holy Ghost, as the apostles were, in all that they preached and wrote, and when they assembled in council at Jerusalem to give forth their decree respecting the freedom of Gentile Christians from the obligation of the law of Moses;―if, I say, they could prove themselves possessed of the same supernatural and miraculous endowments, we would regard them as successors of the apostles, and infallible teachers of Christianity: but, until they prove this by some sensible sign, we must be excused while we regard them as of no authority whatever in matters of religion; nay, while we consider them as impostors and deceivers, who are employed as the agents of the prince of darkness, to accomplish the everlasting perdition of the souls of those who confide in them. The truth is, the apostles never had any successors; and if they had, we would never look for them among such characters as the Romish priests. Christ gave to his church apostles first; that is, men divinely inspired for the extraordinary work to which they were called, as witnesses for Him, of what they had seen and heard; but, for the permanent edification of the church, and for preaching the gospel, in after ages, he gave pastors and teachers, men whose business it is not to publish any new doctrine, but merely to preach and make known what is already published in the scriptures. I might illustrate this subject at great length; but I believe it is sufficiently intelligible to my Protestant readers and as for my popish readers, I know that all I might write upon it, would be no better than beating the air, for their minds are preoccupied by the idea that the Bible is not a rule of faith, any farther than it has the consent of their priests, who have set up their authority as equal to it, and above it. If, however, I can show that modern as well as ancient Papists are directly opposed to the word of God, and the free circulation of it, I shall have proved, to the satisfaction of every one who regards the Bible as of infallible authority, that popery is antichrist, and that it ought to be abhorred by every Christian. In addition to the evidence already adduced, I shall now bring forward that of a dignitary and renowned champion of the popish faith. This is no less a personage than Dr. Milner, bishop of Castabala, and vicar apostolic of the midland district of England, of whom it is declared, by Mr. ANDREWS, the Catholic vindicator, that he is "the great and unanswerable living historical and theological disputant, Dr. Milner, than whom a firmer or more orthodox divine never breathed." (Cath. Vind. No. X.) This great, unanswerable, and incomparable divine, writes as follows, in his pastoral charge to his clergy, dated 30th March, 1813: "Of late years, you know that numerous societies have been formed, and incredible sums of money raised, throughout the united kingdom, among Christians of other communions, for the purpose of distributing Bibles gratis, to all poor people who are willing to accept of them. In acting thus, they act conformably to the fundamental principles of their religion, which teach that the Bible contains all things necessary for salvation, and that it is easy to be understood by every per |