Interesting Items by John Norton Loughborough

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jun 29, 1876

Interesting Items.

By John Norton Loughborough

Having recently read a Catholic work, written by the Jesuit Weninger, entitled “Protestantism and Infidelity,” published in Cincinnati, in 1864, I copy some items which may be of interest to the readers of the Signs:—

“The Catholic church is the only means of salvation for men.”—Preface, p. 6.

“Americans, I do not mean to flatter you; but I may safely assert that there is no nation upon which the Catholic church looks with more tender solicitude than upon yours; none more worthy the labors of priests and people for their conversion.”—Preface, p. 6.

“Trusting to the guidance of the Catholic church, the lowest and the most ignorant among the faithful is as secure of his faith, as certain of the way of salvation, as the highest and the most learned. Through his own special pastor, placed over him by his bishop, every Catholic is in communion with his bishop, and through the bishop in communion with the legitimate successor of St. Peter, on whom Christ himself conferred the care and guidance of his whole flock.”—pp. 19, 20.

“With or without the Bible, learned or unlearned, the Catholic is secure.”—p. 29.

The Methodist Conference under Wesley, in 1770, declared publicly that the reason of the fearful, universal immorality then prevailing, was the widespread opinion that “Christ had annulled the moral law, and that evangelical freedom dispensed with the ten commandments. ”—p. 92.

“Martin Luther said, ‘What do I care for six hundred Augustines and Jeromes? With the Bible in our hand we can judge the Fathers, the apostles, and even the church.’”—pp. 163-4.

“Tell me why you baptize infants, though there is not a word about infant baptism in the whole Scriptures! and why you do not wash one another’s feet, although Christ apparently commands the practice as necessary for salvation? Christ said to Peter, ‘If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me,’ and to all the apostles, ‘You also ought to wash one another’s feet.’ You administer infant baptism and omit the other practice, because the tradition of the Catholic church has taught you that the baptism of infants is necessary for their salvation, but the washing of one another’s feet was not commanded as an indispensable rite. Relinquishing the letter of the Bible on these points, and throwing yourself back on tradition, why do you mention that the Bible is the only rule of faith? Your practice as well as your theory is inconsistent with itself.”—pp. 170, 171.

“Alphonso of Aragon once had the audacity, in his philosophical pride, to utter the blasphemy that if he had been present at the creation of the world, he would have given God many a good advice. He had scarcely ended when a fearful thunderstorm arose, vivid flashes of lightning struck nearer and nearer around the palace; the king was terrified, and retracted his blasphemy.”—pp. 175, 176.

“God has no need of our advice. He has given us the Scriptures as one of the channels of our faith, and as such it is a precious gift; but not as a rule of faith, for it is so evidently unfit for that purpose.”—pp. 170, 172.

“The Catholic church places some restraint on the indiscriminate reading of the Bible in the modern tongues, and does not generally allow it, unless the translation is accompanied by authorized notes explanatory of obscure or difficult passages. In so doing she acts with wisdom, for it is clear from all past experience, that misinterpretation of the Bible may lead to the most terrific consequences, subverting faith, morality, and public order. But to say that the Catholic church puts any obstacle to the reading of the Bible, with authorized explanatory notes, and by those who can derive profit from it, is a most injurious calumny.”—pp. 204, 205.

In referring to the second commandment as quoted against their practice with images, he says: “The text limits its own meaning: ‘Thou shalt not adore them nor serve them.’ Do Catholics adore, do they serve images? They do not. To honor images as we do, to keep them in our houses and churches, is not to adore them. You cannot condemn us, unless you are willing to condemn God, for God ordered two cherubs to be placed in the temple upon the ark.”—p. 210.

On the matter of the priest drinking the wine and simply giving the wafer to the communicant he says: “One of the reasons is, that in giving communion under the species of wine to a large number of people, it is hardly possible to avoid irreverences; another is the scarcity of wine in many countries.”—p. 222.

On using Latin in their service, he argues, “A dead language always remains the same. It secures in her service, all the world over, the same uniformity that exists in her faith. In Asia, Africa, Australia, America, wherever a Catholic priest may travel, he finds the same missal and ritual. . . . The Latin language is the better adapted to the dignity and sanctity of divine offices, as it is placed beyond the criticism of the crowd, while the vernacular could not escape the cavils of those who pay greater attention to form than to substance. . . . If the native tongue were used, it would be of little benefit to the people. In many cases it would be impracticable for the priest to read loud enough to be understood by the whole assembly.”—pp. 222-224.

“With regard to persons born in Protestant countries and validly baptized, who, from want of instruction and opportunity, have never come to the knowledge that the Catholic church is the only true church of Christ, if they have never committed a mortal sin, or have atoned for their sins by perfect contrition, united to a sincere desire of doing all that God may require of them, they will be saved in the ordinary way, as members of the Catholic Church. Such persons are in reality Catholics; they have entered the church by valid baptism, and are only outwardly separated from her communion by inculpable error.”

“According to Catholic doctrine there is but one baptism; it is always valid, whether administered by a Christian, Jew, infidel, or heathen, provided it is conferred with the rites established by Christ, and with the intention of conferring what Christ has instituted; every man who is thus baptized becomes, at the moment of his baptism, a member of the Catholic church. It is true that Protestants are generally baptized on being received into the Catholic church, this is done because outside of the Catholic church, baptism is often invalidly administered.

“In some countries, there are large numbers of Protestants validly baptized, who are invariably ignorant of the true church; they are members of the Catholic church, and without knowing it die in the Catholic communion.

“. . . ‘Heathens who are in error inculpably, and serve God to the best of their ability, according to the light that they possess, and are ready to do all that Heaven may desire of them, will certainly be saved. They may never receive the baptism of water, but for them what is called in the Catholic church the baptism of desire is sufficient. By the baptism of desire they become members of the true church of Christ, the Catholic church, and are saved only as members of her communion.

“. . . ‘In other words there is only one way to Heaven, but there are several ways that lead to the Catholic church, for beside the baptism of water, there is the baptism of blood, or martyrdom suffered by an unbaptized person for the faith of Christ, and the baptism of desire of which I have just spoken.’”—pp. 237-240.

“The Catholic church, however, does not teach the rigid doctrines of Puritans and other denominations in England and America, whose views about the observance of the Sabbath are Jewish rather than Christian. The church, in virtue of the power which she has received from Christ, abolished the Jewish Sabbath, and substituted Sunday in its stead, in commemoration of the most glorious mysteries of our redemption. Sunday being instituted to commemorate mysteries of joy, the church has mitigated the rigor of the Jewish Sabbath, and does not forbid as sinful, decent recreations indulged in on that day.”—p. 257.

“Gregory XVI. used to say, ‘Out of the Roman States there is no country where I am Pope, except the United States.’ In Catholic countries, as the numerous concordats prove, the church in many respects has her rights restricted; here she is legally free, the only concordat she asks is your constitution. Indeed, all she asks in any country is her freedom, not concordats; she has no need of concordats when she is free.”—p. 262.

“A Roman journal, some time ago, expressed the opinion that one of the most glorious enterprises for the Catholic church to engage in at this day, is the conversion of the United States to the Catholic faith.”—p. 270.

Arguing in favor of eternal torments, he quotes no Bible, but says, “As compared with infidels, believers in everlasting punishments possess an immense preponderance of learning, talents, genius, as well as an incalculable majority of numbers. . . . Indeed, infidels put themselves in opposition to the whole of mankind, for the eternity of hell has been the uniform belief of men in all ages. The civilized, the barbarian, and the savage, Jews, Mahomedans, pagans, all tribes and tongues, of which there exists any record, have agreed in that belief, dreadful and mysterious as it is.”—pp. 317, 318. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.