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EXPOSURE OF POPERY;
\\TIIl SPECIAL REFEREl'iCE TO
BY THE LATE
lIlDCCCLXXVIII.
FAC-SIMILE OF D! ANDERSON's HAND WRITING.
The following is the closing paragraph of the last lecture _
~NO PRIESTS"- which the Doctor delivered shortly before his
death, in 1872. He had quoted the words in Hebrews X,21.
"And having an high priest over the house of God:'
l.l.\'-;(..iHW:
!AT "ITAlIC,
'Q[v
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY THE EDITOR,
WILLIAlII LOGAN.
e, h' ANY THINK THAT I OVGHT NOT TO MOCK TIlAT WHWH nu:
G!tEAT VENERATION, I ANSWER, THAT NOT ONLY I, BUT ALSO ALL THE
GODLY, OUGH'i' NOT ONLY TO MOCK, BUT ALSO TO CURSE AND DETEST
tives of the City of Gluegow, ill the trust that tl.oy will
find the volume useful as a magazine fro/ll which they
lllay furnish themselves with weapons for the warfare
against a system, than which there is no other more
inimical to the Divine Glory and the interest'> of the
human race." The volume on "The Mass" was inscribed
to the Young Men's Christian Association of Glasgow, at
whose request the Lectures were delivered; and a cheap
edition of this work, of which several thousand copies
were sold, was subsequently issued.
P.\GI::;.
PREFACE, v
INTRODUCTIONBY PROFESSOR CAIRNS, D.D., xiii
INTRODUCTORYOBSERVATIONS, 17
I.
THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE.
PENANCE.
WHAT IS PENANCE? 123
ABsOLUTION, • 124
MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN, 127
"REATUS CULP.E" AND "I{EA1'U'l P<ENLE," 131
CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT ON ABSOLUTION, 1::12
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ON ABSOLUTION, • 133
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND DIVINE GOVERNMENT, 135
CONTRITION, - • 138
CONFESSION, - 141
SATISFACTION, 144
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS, • 149
THE MASS.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS, • 155
I.
THE MAss: ITS PRIEST AND ALTAR, . 160
CONTENTS. XI
II.
P.\GE
III.
TIlE MASS: ITS ELEVAnON, 171
QUOTATION FROM JOHN KNOX, li4
IV.
WORIl:, IS.;
TilE SACHIFICE OF TilE MASS INTERCEPTS THE VIEW OF TilE
PARTIALITY, - 192
TilE SACRIFICE OF TilE MASS INTRUSTS THE SOUL'S SALVA-
V.
THE MASS: ITs COMMUNION BY TilE PRIEST,
VI.
APPENDIX.
NOTE A, p. 193-PuRGATORIAN SOCIETIES, 258
NOTE B, p. 2M-THE POPISH VIEW OF JUSTIFICATION, • 259
NOTE C, p. 234-THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHONTHE ROMANEMPIRE
ANDTHE REVELATIOlS'
OF THE "MAN OF SIN," 262
NOTE D, p. 238-POPE PIUS V. AND QUEEN ELIZABETH,. • 263
INTRODUCTION.
I'
THE Works of the late Dr. WILLIAMANDERSON, here
reprinted, were chiefly delivered in the form of popular
Lectures during the excitement of the "Papal aggres-
sion," more than a quarter of a century ago, and
were published as stated in the Preface. The Lectures
on "The Mass" and on "Penance," which were ad-
dressed, as their author says, "on week-day evenings,
in the City Hall of Glasgow, to an auditory com-
posed chiefly of the operative classes," made at the
time a great impression, and were widely circulated.
They raised their author to the first rank of popular
controversialists in that war with Rome of which he had
been one of the earliest to predict the revival, and
for which he had for many years, both from taste and
from conviction of its importance, made preparations far
beyond the measure even of diligent students of the
Papal question. They were acknowledged by competent
judges to be a real and valuable contribution to Christian
theology; and though they bear, and bear deeply, the
marks of what was local and temporary in the agitation
from which they sprung, such is the acquaintance with
Romish error which they display, and such the vigour of
argument and illustration with which they meet it, and
such also the embodiment of Protestant saving doctrine
which they furnish, in large measure independently of
relation to Papal errors, that DO apology is needed for
reproducing them, any more than any other of the long
series of works, which opposition to Rome, for the last
three centuries, has called forth to enrich our English
theological literature.
INTRODUCTION.
King is, after all, the great secret of their virulent opposition.
But we are not yet done: In believing the gospel, what does a
man believe 1 He believes in a future state of indescribable
happiness and glory, and that he himself is invited to its par-
ticipation. Faith, therefore, must be a principle of heavenly-
mindedness; of insensibility to the seductions, and defiance of
the threatenings of this world ; and of an active well-doing,
in the expectation of the enlargement of that reward of grace
which the Lord will proportion to the various degrees of the
faithfulness of his children.
Illustration similar to the above might evidently be extended
a great length; but let what has been produced suffice as a
specimen of the influence for a holy morality which resides in
faith, and for a vindication of the divine wisdom and holiness
in having ordained it to be the qualifying condition on which a
man is admitted to share the pardoning merits of the Redeemer's
death. Such faith is the seed of all the virtues: she is the
mother of all the graces, as she herself is the daughter of the
Spirit of God. .And were those, against whom we contend in
this argument, honest in professing their concern about morality,
and wise in their endeavours to promote it, they would first
welcome her to a dwelling in their own bosoms, that she might
replenish them with all her holy progeny, and then be earnest
in their pleading with others to give her a similar reception
and entertainment.
There are some, however, professing to admit that such is
the moral influence of faith, who persist in objecting, that since,
according to our own admission, it is rather the seed and germ
of the virtues, and since its principal value lies in its fruits, we
should wait till these fruits be produced, instead of hailing the
penitent with the assurance of his being pardoned, so soon as
he believes. Popery, with its usual inconsistency, considering,
for instance, the peremptory terms of its priestly Absolution,
inveighs strongly against such an immediate deliverance of the
penitent believer's conscience. In answer, then, to the objec-
tion, I remark,
First : God looks at principles and reckons by them, knowing
their mode of operation, and does not need to wait for their
development and results.
Secondly: In his paternal love, God waits for an opportunity
of pardoning his erring child, and embraces it so soon as it is
offered. His child's faith furnishes Him with that opportunity;
THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE. 33
Those of you who are even but partially acquainted with the
history of that Council's Convocation must know, that although
part of its professed design was to rectify gross abuses in the
administration of the Holy Catholic Church, presided over by
the Vicar of Christ, and every bishop and priest of which had
received the Holy Ghost i-yet its principal object was the
repression of that doctrine of Justification by Faith, by which
Luther, as with a battering ram, had shaken the Papacy to its
foundations. Accordingly, having passed with comparatively
little deliberation some preliminary Decrees on the Rule of
Faith and Original Sin, they addressed themselves to the
question of Justification; when all stood with their arrows
sharpened, and their bows bent, eager for the conflict, not witb
Luther alone, but more, in many respects, with one anotber;-
Franciscan with scowling eye defying Dominican, and Dominican
casting back the scowl on Franciscan; and Augustinian scowling
and scowled on by both; while Jesuit despised and was hated
by all the three. Yet tbe§e were the characters from amidst
whom came forth that oracle of the Holy Spirit to which all
Popedom is at present in subjection; and for refusing submis-
sion to wbich, all Protestants will be everlastingly damned, if
the anathema of Rome be not the impotent cursing of a profane
and vulgar bully. This reflection, however, will recur with
greater force when we have seen both what the Council decreed,
and how the Decree was manufactured.
On the day when the subject was introduced to the Council,
the Secretary of the two presiding Legates read a paper which
they had drawn up, the contents of which were as follows:-
"That the Council, having by Divine Inspiration condemned
the heresies which have a respect to Original Sin, the order of
THE POPISH DOCTRINE. 43
For although they must surely make some allowance for his
influencing the meditations of the soul by the Word in private,
yet so small is the allowance,that I do not recollectof a. sentence
throughout the Decrees and Canons which I may quote in
evidence. The general law unquestionablyis, that by means of
the Sacraments the soul obtains that beginning,and increasing,
and repairing of grace, in the power of which it proceeds in
its course, till it obtain, by a re-administration of these rites,
another increase, or repair, without any intervening communi-
cation made at home.
Now, it is not so much the rudeness and unworthiness of
the alleged instrumentality, nor the despite done to the instru-
mentality of the regenerating Word of Truth (1 Pet. i. 23), nor
~e manner in which the constitution of man as a thoughtful
responsibleagent is ignored-it is not so much, I say,these vices
of the system which I would at present expo~ to reprobation,
as the manner in which it represents the saving operations of
the Holy Ghost to be limited to, and made dependent on, the
sacramental quackery of a worthless Priest-but worthless the
best of them-when they render themselvesso vile, by imposing
themselves on the rude mob and the not less ignorant classesof
wealth and fashion, as the only agencythrough whosepotions-
nay, they reserve all the drinking for themselves-through
whose charms of spittle, and oil, and wafers, and spells, and
exorcisms of barbarous Latin, with harlequin dressing, and
wizard singing, and antic postures, they allege that the Holy
Spirit enables them to confer grace and salvation on the soul ~
What less can you say of it than that the imposture is very
damnable1 You have no trueness of heart in you, either for
the glory of God or the interests of man, if you begin to whine
about charity, and do not promptly and heartily curse it, as
being damnable exceedingly. We have seen, indeed, that they
qualify the doctrine of the necessityof these priestly operations,
by admitting that in certain circumstances"the desireof them"
will suffice. Even thus the general rule remains a hideous
enormity. And, be it remembered,that the bastard Puseyite
qualifies still less than the legitimate Papist. Down, therefore,
with all Priesthood! Down with the impostors to the level
of a common Christian discipleship, if that will not rather be
the elevation of them! And down with the imposture itself
to the pit from which it rose! Amen I Amen! cries the Holy
Catholic Church round the whole earth.
THE POPISH DOCTRINE. 99
BA.PTISM.
that the least change was effected on his soul, either in respect
of disposition, or of relation to the Divine government. All
he received was, at best, the confirmation of a faith which
formerly existed, and by which he was previously justified.
On the part of God there was a declaration of the offer or
promise of his being made dead to sin and alive to righteous-
ness j and on the part of him who voluntarily submitted to
the rite a declaration of his embracement of the offer. In
all this there was nothing new. It was only acting over
again, with a little variety in the mode, that which had
frequently been done before-on God's part in his Word,
and on the part of him baptized, when, in prayer at home, or
profession made to brethren, he had doclured his embracement
of what was proffered to him in tho 'Vort!; tho objoct of
the repetition being the establishment of a previously existing
saving faith.
It is thus that both Protestant Predobaptists and anti-
Predobaptists agree, that the ordinance is simply declarative, in
opposition to the dogma, that it is possessed of that efficiency
in working the most astounding of miracles, which Popery
ascribes to its spurious institution, and which I now proceed
to expose.
POPISH VIEW OF BAPTISM.
SALVATION OF INFANTS.
the scene of the Despots and Priests, who have shed the blood
of the saints and trodden down the liberties of men, being
driven away in his ire into everlasting destruction; can you do
the same towards your God, when you place before your mind
the scene of bis sovereignty displaying its glory in the damna-
tion of the infants1 There are others besides Papists who have
Moloch for their God.
Attend now to the Popish Limbo. The more vulgar Papists
represent the nether world as being divided into a great variety
of depa.rtments; but their more accomplished, classical, philo-
sophical theologians, who have rid themselves of all superstition,
limit tbe number to fonr. The lowest department is Hell;
immediately above lies Purgatory; highest is Limbns I'atrum,
or the region of the fathers, where the souls of the Patriarch;;
and all saints who died before the Resurrection of Chrilit wert'
detained, but which He delivered at that time, and conveyed
with Him to Heaven. Ever since, Limbus Pat1'1tm has been
untenanted; the Pope, who holds its key, being puzzled how
to dispose of it. Intermediately, under Limbus Patrum, and
above Purgatory, lies Limbus Infantum, the region of infants
who die unbaptized :-not perfectly dark, but with the least
perceptible light ;-with the climate neither wintry cold nor
summer warm, but temperate, say at 50° of Fabrenheit ;-tens
of thousands of acres, broad and long for the vast population,
all covered over with a kind of creeping, broad-leaved dock-
weed, under which the melancholy infant spirits cower and
weep. Their parents having been negligent about their baptism,
or having never heard of such a thing, or the priest having
wanted intention at the time of performing it, the little helpless
victims are doomed by the Papist's god to suffer for eternity the
punishment, not of sense-no, he is more merciful than that--
but of loss--he must have some gratification of vengeance--i.e.,
not the pains of Hell, but the privation of the bliss of Heaven.
This distinction of the scholastic doctors, betwixt tbe punish-
ments of sense and loss, is an ancient one; but tbe rare genius
of Bellarmine greatly improved it: tbe punishment of Limbo,
he says is on the one hand not so bad as annihilation, but on
the oth~r not much better; Is not that acutely discriminated 1
Remember who Robert Bellarmine is: Facile Princep8, the
None-Such of Popish Divines. And yet, I protest it is superior
theology to that of those Protestants, an opprobrium to the
name, who consign multitudes or children two regions further
110 THE PARDON OF SIN.
PEN A~CE.
* Secunda post naufragium tabula. The words are Jerome's; but the other
member of tbe sentence they carefully lup\lrels; culpam B'impliciUr ctmfitm-
.. simply to confess your fault." That" simphciter " link. their Plank. It
is our simple confession which Jerome celebrates, repudiatinK their complex
and operose performance. Quaere: Doea not Jerome UIlS .. ucunda" in this
-. rather with the meaning which it bears in the phrase .. rei _1IdaI 1"
He could _rcely call Baptiem the first PlaDk afier Shipwreck.
THE POPISH DOCTRINE. 123
but is dismissed home with the assurance that the Priest was
nowise surprised at the revelations which she made, for he him-
self and everybody else are equally wicked; and that she, there-
fore, need not feel disconcerted. And all this he has practised
that he might gratify his prurient nature by mastering himself
of her secrets, debauch her mind by his corrupt insinuations,
and induce her to return again both more frank in her revela-
tions, and eager to learn a little more of that" entertaining know-
ledge of which he has given her an initiatory lesson.
The direct scriptural authority on which the uneducated and
more vulgar of the tribe of spies claim to be put in possession of
every secret of the lives and hearts of their degraded victims
(and through them, of the secrets of their victimized friends),
is that prescription of the npostle, "Confess your faults one
to another" (James v, 16). But the quotation is made so
absurdly, that their wiser men make no use of the passage in
framing their argument. It is not only inappropriate; in the
mouths of the Priesthood it is suicidal. "A bargain be it,
your Reverence," many a penitent who appears at the con-
fessional might well say, "Let us have turn about at the
questions and answers, and see who is the greater rogue."
Accooiingly, though we have frequently seen the Council
summon passages of Scripture from a great distance to their
help, yet, in the present instance, they do not pretend that they
have the direct warrant of a single verse of the Bible, Apoc-
rypha included, for their infamous espionage; and only infer it
from their having received the prerogative to Absolve. Attend
to the manner in which they draw the inference: Penance,
Chap. v., on Confession.
From the institution of Penance, as already explained, the universal
church has always understood that the entire confession of sins was also
instituted by the Lord, and is of Divine right necessary for all who have
fallen after baptism; because that our Lord Jesus Christ, when about to
ascend from earth to heaven, left priests His own Vicars, as presidents and
judges, unto whom all the mortal crimes into which the faithful of Christ
may have fallen should be carried, in order that in accordance with the power'
of the Keys, they may pronounce the sentence of forgiveness or retention of
&ina. For it is manifest that Priests could not have exercised this judgment
without knowledge of the cause; neither, indeed, could they have observed
equity in enjoining punishment, if the said faithful should, have declared
their lins in general, and not rather specifically, and one by one. Whence it
is gathel'ed, that all the mortallins of which, after a diligent examination of
themselYes, they are conscious, must neoessarily bo enumerated by penitents
in oonfellion, even though these sins be most hidden, and oouunitted only
against the last two precepts of the decalogue.
Such is the proof-not the explanation merely, but the only
144 THE PARDON OF SIN.
and who, by this bounty of divine grace, have been made living
members of Christ, the great High Priest. For these by a faith,
inflamed by love, present spiritual sacrifices to God, on the altar
of their own mind; among the which kind of sacrifices all good
and virtuous actions which pertain to the glory of God are to
be reckoned" (Part II. C. vii. Q. 23).
Of the other kind of sacrifice-the propitiatory or expiatory
for the pardon of sin-Christ made an end for ever, by the
oblation of his perfect sacrifice on the cross: and with the
abolition of all such sacrifices, there has necessarily been
abolition of the corresponding Priesthood also, except in the
case of the intercessory part of the office, which our Lord has
ascended on high to conduct within the veil. But Popery
having, to the discredit and dishonour of the perfect and
finished work of Christ, restored a great work of propitiatory
sacrifice, as will afterwards be fully illustrated, has consistently
restored a Priesthood also.
When assembled in Council at Trent, they were deeply
perplexed, through want of Scriptural authority with which
to sustain the pretension. In his enumeration of the office-
bearers of the Church, Paul had mentioned apostles, and
prophets, and evangelists, and pastors, and teachers, but not
a word had he said about Priests, although engaged with a
description of the munificent manner in which the endowment
had been made for the perfecting of the saints, for the work
0: the ministry, and the edifying of the body of Christ
(Eph. iv, 11, 12). This omission of the most important of the
offices, according to the Popish reckoning, was most un account-
aoie, Nor did any other part of the New Testament supply
the lack. " No Priest but Christ," was the constant response
of all its oracles. It was therefore necessary to have recourse
to inference. What then do you imagine, you who are not
already in possession of the secret, may be that passage from
which the majority of the Council determined to infer their
sacerdotal power, and to which every genuine Papist must
believe they were guided by the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost 1 You might guess round the whole Canon of Scripture
in vain, till you came to that last verse which you had not
quoted before, thinking it impossible that that could be the
one. It is these words of the Institution of the Supper, "This
do in remembrance of me." Now, observe, that we have the
direct and explioit authority of Christ Himself for maintaining
K
162 THE MASS:
_0.
Sacrament takes place. ~ Again-" If the consecrated Bosi; diaappear, either
by such a cause as wind or miracle, or by any animal having go1; hold of it,
lI1ld be found, then let ano1;her be oonseorated. "-De Defectibul, d:e.
ITS ELEVATION. 175
will blow that god to the sea; the rain or snow will make it
dough again: yea, which is most of all to be feared, that god is
a prey, if he be not well kept, to rats and mice; for they will
desire no better dinner than white round gods enow. But oh,
then, what becometh of Christ's natural body ~ By miracle it
flies to heaven again, if the Papists teach truly: for so soon
soever as the mouse takes hold, so soon flies Christ away, and
lets her gnaw the bread. .A bold puissant mouse! but a feeble
and miserable god! Yet would I ask a question: Whether
hath the priest or the mouse greater power i By his word it is
made a god; by her teeth it ceaseth to be a god: let them
advise, and then answer.
"If any think that I ought not to mock that which the
world so 10I!-ghath holden, and great princes yet hold, in so
great vene~n, I answer, that not only I, but also all the
godly, ought not only to mock, but also to curse and. detest
whatsoever is not God, and yet usurpeth the name, power, and
honour of God; and also, that we ought both to mock, gainsay,
and abhor all religion obtruded on the people without assurance
of God and his word-having neither respect to antiquity, to
multitude, to authority, nor estimation of them that maintain
the same."
Nobly witnessed, Christ's champion for dear Scotland! Oh I
for an Englishman like thee for England, and an Irishman for
Ireland-yes, even yet.
IV.
hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." Just one
quotation more :-
1 Peter iii. 18. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."
Now, I appeal to you, if that system be not desperately bold
in its defiance of the Scripture, which, in the face of these most
explicit declarations, would derogate from the glory of the
finished work of the Redeemer, by representing it as necessary
that He should sacrifice Himself or be sacrificed over and over
again-I may not attempt the calculation of the millions of
times-since that day at Calvary: and that He be immolated
over and over again, in continuance, millions of times more, till
He return in glury for the judgment of the world. Well,
observe how anxiously Popery multiplies its testimony in proof
that it is such a system, lest we should by any possibility mis-
take its pretensions. There is nothing so clear as that this
Apostasy teaches that the sacrifice at Calvary did not put an
end to sin-offering, unless it be that the Apostles declare that
it most certainly did.
THE MASS AN EXPIATORY SACBIFICE--SOURCES OF EVIDENCE.
offering of them. Papists admit this; and that all the authority
which they have for this part of the observance is the tradition
and practice of the church. Is not this remarkable-that the
most important part of tbeir institution, which all must acknow-
ledge the Sacrifice to be, should be destitute of a Scriptural
warrant: and either that, at the very time our Lord instituted
it, and gave his disciples a pattern of the manner in which they
should observe it, He dispensed with what was most essential,
or that the inspired writers omitted to record it, and left the
tradition to be recorded by-nobody knows whom 1 Is it not
contemptible that these men should pretend that they have
found their religion in the Bible 1 and does not honesty require
of them to acknowledge that their system is of their own device
and fabrication, ana that they have only occasionally taken a hint
from that antiquated volume, when they found it convenient 1
THE SACRIFICE or TIlE AIASS IGNORES CHRIST'S FINISHED WORK.
the same chance that all those who depend on them lose their
salvation, through the spuriousness of the sacraments which
they administer.
Secondly: Though the Bishop who ordains the Priest be a
lawful one himself, the ordination may have failed of communi-
cating the mysterious power, through the Bishop's want of
intention on the particular occasion; so that the Priest, and
consequently all his sacraments, are spurious. I repeat the
quotation of the Canon on the Sacraments in general, of which
sacraments Ordination is a principal one in a Papal Church :-
Canon 11th, "If anyone saith, that in ministers, when they
effect and confer the sacraments, there is not required the
intention at least oC doing what the Church does: let him be
anathema." The doubtfulness of validity which this casts 011
the whole of the sacramental performances of the popish priest.
hood-so that a devout Papist might begin to fear that through
want of intention on the part of the Priest at the sacrament of
his marriage, he may not have been legitimately married to her
he calls his wife, and that all their children may be bastards-
is so alarming, that Pallavicino maintains in opposition to
Father Paul, that the want of intention does not refer to an
internal want of will, but the want of an external appearance
of seriousness in doing the Church's work; so that the sacra-
ment may be valid and efficacious, provided the Priest observe
a due grimace, though at heart he be scorning it as an idle
superstition. There is little doubt that much of the sacramental
work of Popery needs such a defence; but the plea is insuffi-
cient for the following reasons :-lst, It is a burlesque on the
word intention; 2nd, When Oatharinus, Bishop of Minorca,
took the ground at the Council, that the external decorous
celebration of the sacraments was sufficient for their validity,
his speech gave great offence; 3rd, In chapter vi on the Sacra-
ment of Penance, the phraseology is explicit in explaining the
intentiQn as signifying internal feeling-" intention on the part
of the Priest of acting seriously, and absolving truly;" and 4th,
The nature of the case requires that there be will on the part
of the officiator, energetically to cause the forthgoing of that
sanctifying power which has been communicated to him through
the apostolicaJ succession. But, supposing that the meaning of
the Council of Trent is obscure, so long as it is not certain that
they declared external decorum sufficient, the poor Papist is
left in doubt whether his priest was validly ordained, so as to
196 THE MASS:
system, God is our mediator to the saints, and not the saints
our mediators to God." But, as already stated, I make little
of this at present. Supposing that Andrew both sees and hears;
mark what they do for him, and expect from him. First, they
make a sacrifice of Christ for Andrew's honour. They would
not perform Mass on that 30th day of November, but for his
gratification. Secondly, they expect that since they are so
mindful of him, he will return the compliment, and be mindful
of them, by interceding for them. In what way 1 Why, by
praying for them, that God would be well pleased with the
sacrifice of his own Son, which otherwise He might reject.
And thirdly, turning to God Himself, they express their trust
that Andrew's merits will render Christ's sacrifice acceptable.
I appeal to you, brethren, you who know what the Christian
faith is, if it would be easy to fancy anything more blas-
phemous :-Andrew's merits represented as being necessary to
make the Redeemer's sacrifice acceptable to Divine Justice 1
v.
New Law are not necessary to salvation, and that men obtain
of God, through faith alone, the grace of justification: let him
he anathema."
Canon V.-.If any one saith, that these Sacraments were
instituted for the s~ke of nourishing faith alone: let him be
anathema."
Canon V1.-" If anyone saith, that the Sacraments of the
New Law do not contain the grace which they signify; or that
they do not confer that grace on those who do not place
an obstacle thereunto; as though they were merely outward
sigus of grace or justice received through faith: let him be
anathema."
Canon V11.-" If anyone saith, that grace, as far as God's
part is concerned, is not given through the suid Hacrll.ments,
always and to all men, even though they receive them in pro-
per form (rite), but only sometimes, and to some persons [when
faith is in exercise] : let him be anathema."
Canon V111.-" If anyone saith, that by the said Sacraments
of the New Law grace is not conferred ex opere operato (through
the operation operated); but that faith alone in the divine
promises suffices for the obtaining of grace: let him be
anathema."·
(2nd) The Council, having declared its decisions so explicitly
on the efficacy of the Sacraments in general, appears to have
felt it unnecessary to enlarge on the efficacy of the Eucharist in
particular. They, therefore, expend their Decrees and Canons
under this head almost entirely on the subject of Transub-
stantiation. A few sentences, however, occur referring to the
opus operatum, which it will be useful for illustration to quote.
Decree, Cltap 11.-" Christ would also that this Sacrament
• Dr. Dick says that the barbarous phrase opus operatum is utterly
uniutelligible without explanation: which explanation I shall presently
attempt. The Rev. Mr. Waterworth, our living Popish authority, translates
" through the act performed." Mr. Cramp, in his useful Text Book, trans-
lates freely" by their own power." I have translated the barbarism by a
barbarism, as is meet. It is not only fair, however, to the CoanCil, but
useful for illustration, to explain, that they were led to perpetrate the bar-
barism in expre .. ing an opinion opposite to th~t which they condemned,
viz.: that the Sacraments are efficaciousex opere operantis (through the work
of the operator), in which phrase the operator does not signify the officiating
Priest, but the partaking commuuicant, acting faitll, .s our old divines
expreIBed it-au expreB8ionwpioh I reRard as being exoellently significant,
aud which, I contend, is everything but barbarous. I would that more of
0111" metaphyaiolula oomprehended the philotOphy of IICting /ail1l on the
divine promise Nt forth either in the Word or Sacramenta.
204 THE MASS:
which is the greatest; but he would not have perilled the credit
of his judgment by pronouncing that there is no other which
equals this in effrontery.
(1.) Observe, first, their own acknowledgment of what was
the original law and practice. The Council of Trent, in Chap.
i. of its Decree, declares that" Christ the Lord did, in the last
Supper, institute the venerable sacrament of the Eucharist, in
the species of bread and wine." Again, in Chapter ii., that
"from the beginning of the Christian religion, the use of both
species was not unfrequent." And when one of their Bishops
spoke of it as being a heretical custom, they compelled him to
confess and beg pardon on his knees, a member of their inspired
Council though he was.
(2.) Observe, secondly, the manner in which they have
asserted their right to abrogate the law. In Chapter ii.-" It
declares, that this power has ever been in the Church, that,
in the dispensation of the Sacraments, their substance being
untouched, it may ordain, or change what things soever it may
judge expedient, for the profit of those who receive, or for the
veneration of the said sacraments, according to the difference of
circumstances, times, and places. And this the apostle seems,
not obscurely, to have intimated, when he says: 'Let a man
so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers
of the mysteries of God'" (1 Cor. iv. 1).
(3.) Observe, thirdly, how they have exercised this authority.
Chapter i.-" Wherefore, this holy Synod, instructed by the
Holy Spirit, and following the judgment and usage of the Church
itself, declares and teaches, that laymen, and clerics when not
officiating, are not obliged, by any divine precept, to receive
the Sacrament of the Eucharist under both species; and, that
neither can it, by any means, be doubted, without injury to
faith, that Communion under either species is sufficient for
them unto salvation." And farther: Chap. ii.-" Holy Mother
Church, knowing this her anthority, induced by weighty and
just reasons, has approved of the custom of communicating .
under one species; and decreed that it was to be beld as a law,
which it is not lawful to reprobate, or to change at pleasure,
without the authority of the Church itself."
(4.) Observe, fourthly, how the Council, notwithstanding
they claimed the power as above described, obstinately resisted
all 8Olicitatio:tl8 to change tbe existing law, and restore the
ordinance to tbe completeness in which Chriat bestowed it on
218 THE !IASS:
.. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come
except there come a falliug away first, aud that man of sin be revealed, th~
son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called
God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of Go.l,
shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet
with you, I told you these things? And now yo know what withholdetb
that he might be revealed in his time. For tho mystery of iniquity doth
already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he btl taken out of tho
way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord xhnll con-
sume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of >-Ia tan with all
power and sign. and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unright-
eousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie."-:! THESSALONIANS II. a-11.
ABOUT twenty years ago (1830), when endeavouring to expound
the Revelation of John, I felt myself, like many others, shut up
by the principles' of interpretation which I had adopted, to the
belief that Popery would yet revive with great strength of
delusion. Those of you who recollect what was the state of
matters twenty years ago, will, on reflection, see how improb-
able this appeared to the natural judgment. The principles of
civil and religious liberty were asserting their claims with
peculiar energy-education had set ont as it were anew on its
march-and missions, both home and foreign, had risen into
unwonted favour. Nothing could appear more preposterous
to human calculation than that that power of darkness and
despotism should again lift up its head in pride, even on the
continent of Europe, and much less in England and Scotland.
I preached and warned, but it was only in faith, when my
natural understanding was staggered.
Behold in how short a time God's word has been verified!
Scarcely since the times of the Reformation, but, at all events,
since the days of the last of the StUil.l'ts, IlllS Popery made such
formidable pretensions as at the present hour. But, notwith-
standing the prediction of God's word, I am not afraid for
• This Lecture was delivered in the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw's Chapel, Glasgow
all the evening of Sabbath, 8th December, 1850.
228 THE MAN OF SIN.
high altar of St. Peter's, and was hailed with divine honours.
Well, three days thereafter he presented himself aloft on the
balcony of the same edifice, when the oldest cardinal approached
him, and removed from his head the Mitre and replaced it with
the Crown, uttering these words, "Receive the Tiara or triple
Crown, and know that thou art the Father of Princes, and the
King and Ruler of "-the small patrimony of St. Peter in
Italy 1-" King and Ruler of the world." Think, brethren, of
the insolence of that; think of its impotence; but especially,
think of the manner in which that Tiara attracts for his brow
the lightnings of this prophecy, to brand him the Man of Sin
of whom we are in quest, as one who "exalts himself above all
that is called God."
I wish I had an opportunity of deepening your impressions
by detailing a few of those cases in which he has carried, or
attempted to carry, these claims into execution. Among a
great multitude, I had noted for exposition his gift of the New
World, discovered by Columbus, to the king of Spain ;-his
excommunication, and absolving their subjects from allegiance,
and transferring their authority to others, in the cases of Chil-
derio III., king of France; Henry IV., Frederick Barbarossa,
and Frederick n., emperors of Germany; Henry of Navarre
and the Prince of Conde; King John and Queen Elizabeth of
England; and more recently, as experienced or witnessed by
the present generation, his absolving the bishops of France from
their oaths of allegiance to Louis XVIII., and transferring it to
Napoleon Bonaparte. who compelled him, howsoever reluctant,
to anoint and crown him, since he inculcated his claim to be
regarded as the Father of Princes on the minds of his super-
stitious devotees. (Served him right, say I; the big tyrant
coercing the smaller and prouder one.) Also, his recent inter-
ference with the laws of Prussia on the subject of marriage;
and his pending controversy with the government of Sardinia,
claiming that the priesthood, as his sons, should not be amen-
able to the common tribunals of the country, when they might
be guilty of theft, or adultery, or murder-crimes, to the
temptation to commit which the calendar of villainy shows they
are, notwithstanding their holy lineage, by no means insensible.
But what does that signify 1 "It is a most execrable thing,"
said Pascal II., "that those hands which have received a power
above that of angels; which can, by an act of their ministry,
create God Himself, and offer Him for the salvation of the
THE MAN OF SIN. 239
world, should ever be put into subjection of the hands of
kings;" and, finally, the manner in which he has interfered
with our own Government's measures of collegiate education
for Ireland, even when the more respectable portion of his own
clergy deprecated his conduct. None of the cases, however,
does the state of our time permit me particularly to illustrate.
VII. For the same reason I must dismiss, without illustra-
tion, that part of the prophecy in which it is said the Man of
Sin should be characterised by his practice of " lying wonders :"
winking madonnas j the liquefying and curdling of St. J anuarius's
blood j collusions between poor men who yielded to the bribe,
?,nd ~ore infam~us priests wh~ practised the teml~tations,
1Il gettmg up stones of cures of diseases through the virtue of
old bones, old rags, old shoes, and rusty nails. A bit of the
rope with which Judas hanged himself would be prized at
Rome as a miracle-working relic.
VIII. The "deceivableness of unrighteousness" has a very
special reference, I am persuaded, to Jesuit casuistry and lies;
but for the same reason I must forego all illustration. Al-
though, however, time were afforded, would not the producing
of additional evidence be superfluous 1 Have we not already
detected the object of our search 1 Could any portrait of a
criminal enable us to fix on, the guilty one more undoubtingly
than this portraiture by the apostle, which, without making
further comparisons of features, enables us to identify the
Bishop of Rome as being most manifestly the Man of Sin 1
Before proceeding to offer a few remarks on what I consider
to be our duty in the present emergency, I call on you, brethren,
to make these two general reflections :-
First, Feel how secure is our position when we stand by the
Bible as inspired by God. With all his fanaticism, how shrewd
and far-seeing a man Paul must have been, according to infidel
reckoning, that he should have guessed so happily, that, five
hundred years after the time when he wrote these words, out of
that institution of the crucified Nazarene, which at that time
consisted one-half, I should suppose, of slaves, and the other half
of poor men, there should arise such a Power of wickedness and
despotism I Paul guessed it, say you 1 What an imbecile you
are-with your judgment imbeciled by some lust, which makes
you hate the gospel because of its holiness! Christian brethren,
let us never forget that, bad as Popery is, there is something
greatly worse, not only for the future but the present world.
240 THE MAN OF SIN.
p
THE GENIUS AND POWER OF POPERY.
power which Popery has over its victims, though not so subtle
and delusive for many as that which has just been exposed, is
the manner in which it gives them license to commit sin, when
beforehand they meditate on it; and the facile manner in which
it delivers their consciences from a sense of guilt, after the
crime has been perpetrated. This is a heavy charge, but not
heavier than we can far too easily make good.
Imagine, then, in the first instance, the case of an individual
tempted to commit sin-to defraud his master, say, of a sum of
gold. See what meditations Popery affords him for smoothing
his path to the wicked deed.
"First," he says, "I need not trouble myself with any
apprehension that the doing of this will make me a reprobate,
so as to be punished eternally; for the Priest regenerated me
by the sacrament of Baptism. True, I am told, that the grace
then communicated may be effaced by mortal sin. But it
needs a great deal to make a sin mortal. I never knew of any
of my neighbours, howsoever depraved, whom the priests denied
burial in consecrated ground, with prayers which acknow-
ledged them as being dear Christian brethren who had fallen
asleep in Jesus-all in virtue of having received that holy
Baptism. At all events, that which I design to do is certainly
venial. My master is wealthy, and will never miss the two or
three sovereigns; besides, he is a Protestant, and might give
them to some heretical missionary; wbile my purpose is to
spend them convivially with my friends, for the cherishing of
good fellowship. Who would be so cruel as to call that
mortal 1 Well, it is a fixed point, that, though I do it, the
Baptismal grace will not be effaced.
" But, secondly, next Lent I shall confess; and, I doubt not,
with all necessary contrition; for the money will be all gone,
and I shall possibly have lost my place from being detected;
and the priest, seeingme so heart-broken, will be easy on me in
respect of the necessary satisfaction,- and give me absolution.
" I am getting forward in the knowledge of the mystery of iniquity j but
there are several points on which I atill desiderate information: among
others, there is this Satisfaction. The Connoll explains tkat three things
are necessary for the Sacrament of Penance, in order to absolution, viz.:
Contrition, Confession, and Satisfaction. For the Contrition, I know that
snob a .. sorrow of the world as worketh death" is quite sufficient: the
Confession I know to be of such a nature as pollutes the minds both of
penitent and prie.st, and betrays the moat intimate and dearest friendshipL
But a.IthoUChI know that under the head of Satisfaction, the reoital of the
Lord'. Prayer is made a punishment (think of that) equ~y as seU·in1lfoted
THE GENIUS AND POWER OF POPERY. 249
and save them the trouble. Some Protestants wonder how the
Popish laity should submit so slavishly to the priestly dictation.
The wondering indicates much ignorance of human nature. To
the great majority of mankind, exemption from the toil of
thought, and responsibility for forming a judgment for them-
selves, is one of the best of boons; and Popery is most liberal
in the bestowment of it.
The other department of this subject is still more important.
There are two kinds of thinking-s-head-thinking and heart-
thinking: the former consisting of thoughts of knowledge; the
latter of thoughts of holiness, love, and heavenly-minded ness .
.And just in proportion as the latter are more valuable, and
especially prescribed and demanded by the divine luw, dews the
natural mind grudge the rendering of them. Savo UM from
heart-work, is the beseeching cry of corrupt nature. Appoint
us any burden howsoever heavy, any journey howsoever long
and rough, any stripes howsoever sharp and numerous, any
fasting howsoever rigorous, any fine howsoever exorbitant, a.nd
we shall willingly submit, on condition that we be exempted
from work of the heart.
The manner in which Popery ingratiates itself with the
millions, by answering this prayer, does not require a protracted
illustration. When a principal object of our Lord's mission to
this world was the abolition, almost entirely, of external cere-
mony in the worship of his Father, and the establishment in its
room of a pure devotion of the spirit--Popery, with its priest-
hood, and consecrated temples and altars; with its incense, and
sacrifice, and unction, and sacramental charms; with its confes-
sion and oracular absolution; with its penances-its scourgings,
and fastings, and money satisfactions; with its pilgrimages, its
jabbering of words by the bead-roll." itskissings, and crossings,
and genuflexions; with its angel-days and saints' -days, its feast-
days and fast-days-has erected a far more extensive and com-
prehensive order of ceremony than was that of the Levitical
law; and has additionally ordained a vast system of mediatorial
idolatry and image-worship, of which the ancient ceremonial was
free.
And never did carnal Jew, perverting the preparatory insti-
.. The smng of beads on which they count their prayers is called a Rosary,
It consists of five or fifteen divisions, each containing teu amall beads and
one large one. For each of the amall beads an Ave Maria, and for each of
the larger a Paternoster, is repeated. Ten prayers to the Virgin, for every
one to God I
254 THE GENIUS AND POWER OF POPERY.
* When the Papist puts the objection in this form, Where was your
Church before Luther appeared? the old rejoinder of tbe Protestant is
worthy of record for more tban its wit, wben he asked tbe Papist, Where
was your fall6 before it was washed? Another reply to the same effect is-
It was like tbe lost piece of silver, covered with dust; or, like the seven
thousand hidden ones in the time of Elijah. But the best answer is, Sbe
_ in the wild_-. whither the Man of Sin had driven her.
256 THE GENIUS AND POWER OF POPEI\Y.
Q
..
NO,T.ES.
NOTE A, PAGE 193.
PURGATORIAN SOCIETIES.
• Such as Cardinal Pole, the Archbishop of Siena, the' great Contarlnl, Bishop of
Belhmo, the BIshop della CaTa (who was rather pRselonate, howe~cr, honest old man,
when he oeIzed his antagonist in the Council by the beard), ana SerlpllJldo, the
ho1ie8t and moot learned of all their Doctors. Th_ and some more held the
doctrine of J...Wleation by Faith purely ... It was held by Luther, and equally
with JIIm were anbjected to tho eu of tho'Cow>cI1'. aDIlthemaa.
NOTES. 261
then by his sanctifying of Marriage, and at last by his Extreme Unction.
There is no possibility of obtaining the necessary grace except by the
agency of the demi-god priest.
Observe, secondly, the place which providential afil.ictions, penances,
and indulgences, {wId in the system. It is by his own good wor ks
the man must save himself. But since the grace purchased for him by
Christ, and communicated by the priest's sacraments, is not irresistible,
he frequently violates or comes short of his duty. How is this to be
remedied? 1st, By the punishments of Providence. The idea of
fatherly chastisements for the child's profit (Heb. xii. 10), has properly
no place in the grim theology of Popery. All afflictions are bitter
penalties for the expiating of guilt. 2nd, By priest. imposed or self.
inflicted penances-of fastings, scourgings, hair-shirts, spikes in the
shoes, and fines of money, under the name of alms to the poor. A ,ul
what think you is a principal penance-a punishmcnt for the expiation
of sin? Paternosters! And what are these? Repetitions of the Lord's
prayer! Our Father who art in Heaven-to say that is, according to
Popish reckoning, a grievous punishment! Well, I fear it may be that
for others besides Papists, bnt it is monstrous to acknowledge it. 3rd,
By indulgences, paid for to the priest, or bestowed gratuitously by the
Pope, or secured by a pilgrimage to St. Peter's, or elsewhere, or by
saying .Ave Marias before some picture of the Virgin, &c.; these indul-
gences consisting in the trausference of the supererogatory or overplus
merits of the great saints, by which they made the divine Government
their debtor, to the account of the smaller ones; so that they obtain the
remission of a hundred or more years of that purgatorial punishment
which is their due.
Observe, thirdly, that the reckoning made of punishments above is
so unsatisfactory, even to the Popish conscience, that, in violation of
their own fundamental principle, that Christ's sacrifice does not avail
for pardon, but only for securing grace by which the sinner may work
out a pardon for himself-they have been obliged to fall back on that
insulted sacrifice, and make it part of the ground of their hope. Hear
how Dr. Challoner speaks in his "Garden of the Soul," which is a kind of
Pilgrim's Progress to the Papists: when exhorting the sick man he
says, "Beg that God would accept of all your pains and uneasiness, in
union with the sufferings of Jesus Christ, in deduction of the punish-
ment of your sins." This will explain how the sacrifice of the
Mass is sometimes repreaented as propitiating God only the length of
I6curing grace, in the power of which a man may work, so as to gain
his pardon ultimately and entirely himself; and at other times as
securing his ~on directly, without the intervention of his own grace-
262 NOTES.
guided performances. All Masses for the dead are entirely of this
nature; and the same is the power of the sacrament of the Mass, for
the immediate purgation of the guilt of slighter transgressions.
These observations are all that my limits will permit for the guidance
of the student. But study as he may, let no one expect that he will
arrive at a clear view of the consistency of the system. That which
does not exist can uever be discovered.
Before closing the Note, I cannot forbear remarking that many Pro-
testant divines have given Papists a great advantage in the argument,
by ignoring or denying that which is written as with a sunbeam on the
sacred page, viz., that the works of a believer are both rewardable, and
shall be rewarded munificently. Having been justified through faith,
and received into the diviDe family, his good works become the subject
of that reward of grace (as distinguished from the reward of merit)
which a father bestows on a faithful child. Had I not discussed this
matter elsewhere, at great length, I must have made room for
its illustration here, at whatever expense of inconvenience in enlarging
the publication. It is a point of vital importance in many respects, and
among others, in respect of depriving the Papist of his grounds for
boasting, that he alone interprets, honestly and freely, that large portion
of the Scripture promise which eucourages the saint with the prospect,
that his well-doing shall be acknowledged with a great recompense of
reward (See Discourses: No. I. On the Doctrine of Good Works).
.The Kelso Ch"ollicle.-This hook could only have been produced by a strong
mind, well rea.l in our standard theology, and still better read in the """ord
of God, and the deep language of the human heart. It has real !I"il', and is
most instructive and stimulating.
The Ardrossan Hera/d.-No more suggestive or instructive work could be
placed in the hands of working men than this of the eminently practical Dr.
Anderson.
The Dumfries Cou,·ia.-It is absolntely refreshing to note with what a lofty
mien and at the same time with what a wary caution this accomplished
master of theological fence approaches the difficulties of his subject and
disposes of the objections of the doubting or sceptical.
The Northem Ensi!!".-'Ye repeat our warmest commendatiou of this
work, as well ad regards its comprehensive view of an all-impor-tant question,
its thorough evangelical character, and its faithful application to the heart
and conscience of the reader.
The Dumfries Staud((l'd.",-This book teems with thought; t.he Illll~lIage ili
terse-s-at times Bunyan-like in its simplicity, and not seldom t. rilly doqluont ;
and the doctrinal matter. never heavy in itl'lelf, iK richly dl'apt'll w rt.h illuMtl'lL-
tiona drawn from every-day incidents, frum the l':l";:l')oi uf seculur hi'itl)1"y, and
from those of Holy Writ.
The Bermickshir« 1\rrUJ,If.-1'his is a. work of grea.t POWtH' hy one of the moat
original thinkers and st.irriug preachers of the present century. 'VI! ht:'a..rtily
commend it to the Christian Church in all its branches, n.~ II. hook for tilt.'
times, and eminently fitted for gniding inquiring minds to " right knowledge
of a vital truth of Holy Scripture.
The Shetland Times,-To the young, especially, we would most earnestly
say-Read this book.
Second Thousand, Crtnrn. SfO., Cloth Boards, o'tra, 414 pp., price 7s. tid,
PENANCE.
illa~phuil'.~Edinblt?'[lhJoltrnal.-'Ve unhesitatingly award it a place in the
highest rank of controversial writings.
British Banne1'.-The volume is really a valuable one. 'Ve know of
nothing equal to it within the same space.
United Presbyterian llfa[luzine.-Dr. Anderson has done invaluable service
to the cause of Christian liberty and Protestant truth, by the publication of
this outspoken and energetic book.
Evafl!l,licallllayazine.-'Ve very mnch value his work on the Mass. It is
the most practical assault of its kind that has issued from the modern press;
but his volume on Penance -xhibits a still closer acquaintance with .. the
Myste: y of Iniquity," while the argument is sustained and carried home with
a greater variety of power.
The Christia» Journal, -The value of this interesting volume does not
exclusively consist in the thorough Investigution and refuta.tion of the Popish
Doctrine of Penance. It is exceedingly rich in gems of Evangelical Truth.
It is partlcularly so in the exhibition of the doctrine of pardon, and the
ground and mode of a sinner's justification before God.
The Noncon/ormi.,t.-There is a singular originality in it. treatment of a
trite subject, great keenness combined with a strong grasp of the various
topics, and more fresh and powerful thinking than in most, even the best. of
modern theological works. This and Dr. Anderson's former book on Tlte
llrass make up the best contribution of our day to the Popish controversy;
ami place him high among theologians, as an iudependent, clear-sighted,
free, and variously-gifted thinker and writer.
THE MASS.
Rev. Dr. BEGG, Edinburgh, in the Hand Book.-A truly noble performance.
Rev. Dr. YOUNG in the Perthshtre Adt"ertlse1".- 'We know not that there is
a book in the English language, or indeed in any other, which does so much,
in so short a compass, to unmask the Roman apostasy.
Rev. Dr. JOB:;" CAMPBELL in the Christian TVltne"s.-"'e may say with
perfect truth, we possess about two hundred dissertations, scattered through.
out various works upon this subject, but nothing for a moment comparable
to this manifesto of Dr. Anderson.
Rev. Dr. ROBERT VAUGHAN, in the British Qua'rtel'lyReri,w.-Those who
have allY acquaintance with the author. or with his previous publications,
will easily believe us when we pronounce his discussion of the l\Iass to be one
of the most vigorous, well-directed and irresistible assaults ever made on that
citadel of the Apostasy. Throughout, there i. a clearness and force of style,
and an iron-hardness in the pressure of the logical faculty which we feel, as
we read, must be all but irresistible.
Rev. Dr. GEORGEJEFFREY. Glasgow, in his prefatory note to "No Pdests"
-15.000 of which were circulated in 1875.-The tractate is written with
all that remarkable ability, logical acuteness, and precision of diction. which
distinguished Dr. Anderson as a polemic. His zeal for Christ's mediatorial
glory. and his moral indignation against those who would rob Him of his
priestly prerogative, and his people of their God-given rights and liberties,
are heard sounding in every line. Occasionally his moral indignation rises
up to withering scorn, and the argument is like logic on fire. I know
nothing in prillt which gives in shorter compass such a masterly refutation
of all priestly pretensions. The tractate is a clear, scriptural, and convinc-
ing atatement of truth.