had the Rev. Mr. Dawson been in the country, I would have called on him. However, Mr. Padden thought proper not to come. On being disappointed, I made it my business to wait on Mr. Lyons, to let him know of his coadjutor's neglect, and the inconvenience I felt from his non-attendance: but what must have been my surprise, when I was told by Mr. Lyons, "How could you expect, Sir, that Mr. Padden, or any other Roman Catholic Priest, would enter your house, living, as you are, in a state of adultery ?" I was horrified at his expressions, and asked him, did be mean to say that my children were illegitimate? He replied, "unless you get yourself married by me, or some other Priest, I again tell you, you are no more married to your wife, as you call her, than to the woman you never saw; and further, if your children are not again baptized, they will never enter the kingdom of heaven." This conversation confounded me indeed, and I asked him," Would all who were not baptized by a Priest be damned to all eternity?" He replied, "that they would!" I knew not what to say or think; but told him I could not be persuaded to believe that, and that I should not again trouble him. He then said, " If you send for the Minister, I will make it a public business." This did not prevent me from sending for Mr. Dawson, who arrived in the country two days after the conversation took place. On the Sunday following, this charitable and liberal-minded clergyman, Mr. Lyons, made me the subject of his discourse, and published the same words to an ignorant and superstitious congregation, who rely with confident hope of salvation on every word that proceeds from his lips; and a kind of triumphant fervour seemed to thrill through the crowd, while he, arrayed in his pontifical robes, was denouncing eternal destruction on all except those who belong to his charitable and holy religion. Now, I ask, is it not truly horrible, and miserably calamitous, that such doctrines and impressions should be instilled into the minds of the illiterate population of unfortunate Ireland. After this harangue of the pious Mr. Lyons, who really supposes that the inhabitants of Ennis imagine that he could send them to heaven with a word! (but he is much mistaken,) the greater part of them actually looked on me with abhorrence and disrespect, in fact I knew not what to do or how to act. Thinking 1 must have been wrong in not conforming to the dictates of my pastor, I therefore wrote to him, to point out to me Scriptural proofs for his assertions, and that I would make public submission and apology for my perseverance; but he deigned not to answer my solicitations. God, who waits his proper time, and uses his own means to bring about circumstances, impervious to our limited views, adopted this as the effectual way of convincing me of error. As Mr. Lyons refused, or silently declined giving me the necessary information I required, I considered nothing better calculated for that purpose than the Bible; so that from that time to the present, I made the Scriptures my study, not only with an intention of making myself acquainted with the ways of the eternal Jehovah, but also with the endeavour to find whether my pastor's denunciations were founded on the doctrines of the Bible or not. In the historical part of it, I was particularly struck with God's special favour to his people, and his promises of protection as long as they continued to act according to his directions. And now, may I ask, are not those narratives as comprehensible to the plain and simple, if they be only gifted with com. mon sense, as they are to the most profound theologians? Will not the language of praise and thanksgiving, as found in the Psalms, flow as fervently and as piously from the lips of a poor man inclined to devotion, as from those of the most profound philosopher? And is not the plan of salvation, as founded on the sacrificial atonement of Christ, equally plain and comprehensible to all, even to the ignorant and unlettered, if simply expounded to them; and if they listen with the docility of little children to the unvarnished and unerring truths of the Gospel? These remarks naturally suggested themselves to me, during my perusal of the Scriptures, which commenced about the 17th of October last; and in addition to those, I met with other passages that I took down, in order to reflect on them at greater leisure. And need I tell you, my Roman Catholic friends, that the result of my enquiry was, the renouncing of the errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome? Lest any should think that I came to this important resolution without reflecting duly and seriously upon it, and reading over and over again the Scriptural proofs that warranted my conversion, I shall lay before you these texts, under the different heads, as they immediately counteract the absurd doctrines of the Church of Rome; and let me entreat of you, my dear friends, as you value the salvation of your own souls, to refer to those passages of the Bible, and examine them seriously and attentively before you condemn me for the course I have adopted. The first point I shall assert is, that I cannot find the peculiar doctrines of Popery in the sacred Scriptures, while those of the Protestant religion are all founded on the truths revealed in the New and Old Testaments; and for sake of distinctness, I shall point out the former under six or seven different heads, that my misguided brethren may examine each separately. First-The Church of Rome believes that the worship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, the three adorable persons of the Trinity, in One God, is of no effect, unless the same honour and respect are paid to the Virgin Mary, and Saints, and even that it is right to bow down to crucifixes, contrary to these Scriptures. Exod xx. 3, 4, 5. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me; thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them, &c."-"Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols." Search also Jer. xliv. 16, 17. Acts x. 25, 26. Secondly―The Church of Rome teaches, that her members ought not to exercise their own judgment in matters of religion, but to receive their doctrines from her, and her traditions; also she pretends to infallibility, on which ground their clergy are unwilling their flocks should read the Bible, contrary to these Scriptures, Deut. xi. 18, 19. Mark vii. 9, 13. "And he said unto them, full well ye reject the commandments of God, that ye may keep your own tradition, making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered; and many such things ye do." John v. 39. "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." Acts xvii. 11. 2 Tim. iii. 14, 15, 16, 17. Thirdly-The Romish Church believes, that wretched sinners can do works meritorious in the sight of God, as also derive merit from the intercession of saints, and works of supererogation, and fasting, masses, penance, &c. &c, thereby making the sufferings of Christ of none effect, contrary to these Scriptures, Matt iv. 13. Luke xvii. 10. Rom. iii. 28. Gal. v. 4, 5. Whereas every Christian should believe from these passages, that Jesus Christ, by his death on the cross, has redeemed us from all sin, and that faith in their truth can alone justify a sinner before God, and that, to what Christ has done and suffered, nothing of ours can be added as a ground of justification, without destroying its effect. Fourthly-I protest against five of the sacraments of the Church of Rome, while, as a Christian, I believe, and am sure, that two sacraments only are necessary to salvation, that is, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord, both of which were ordained by himself. Fifthly I totally protest against the doctrine of transubstantiation, inculcated by the teachers of Romanism, as being contrary to what I find in 1 Cor. x. 14, 15, 16, 17. Sixth-The Romish Church believes, that pardon for sins past, present, and to come, may be sold by her clergy; and that it is in their power, unconditionally, to grant forgiveness of crimes of the most heinous nature for money. All these impo sitions, I have discovered to be such, by a diligent study of the book of truth and knowledge, while now, as a member of the true church, I believe that God, in Christ, alone can pardon sin, Matt. i. 21. "And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins;" also 2 Cor. i. 19, 20, 21. I have now stated, as briefly as I possibly could, my reasons for renouncing the errors of Popery, and the foundation on which I rest my hope in becoming a member of the Reformed Church of Christ; and may God of his infinite mercy grant, that I may with sincerity and gratitude persevere in the course I have chosen; and may be put it into your hearts to examine for yourselves, and shew you the way of eternal life! -, April 12, 1827. THE POWER OF THE KEYS. (From Brown's "Comparative View of Christianity.") TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER. SIR-I beg leave to direct your attention to the following Extracts from Doctor Brown's " Comparative View of Christianity, &c." lately published in London, 2 vols. ; as they contain observations which seem well calculated to assist our polemic theologians at the present period. Doctor Brown, Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen, has a high character in the literary world-and the above work has been extravagantly eulogized by the conductors of the Edinburgh Theological Magazine: I say extravagantly, because though the work contains sound doctrine, for the most part, which is generally delivered in correct, and occasionally eloquent language, it is rather deficient in originality, and consequently not fully entitled to an unqualified eulogium. The assumed power of Absolution has not yet been placed in its proper light by any of our modern theologues-it is evidently inconsistent with the Christian scheme, and repugnant to natural theology. The Christian Bishops are NOT successors of the Apostles, but of the Proto-Bishops appointed by them; Episcopal and Apostolical functions were quite different in primitive times. 66 To suppose that a Priest living in mortal sin, or hating his brother," and, therefore according to St. John a child of the devil, can forgive sins, is, I think, monstrously wicked, and monstrously absurd. The following are the observations of Dr. Brown upon this subject, Vol. II, p. p. 191–201. "Our Saviour thus addresses the apostle Peter: "I say unto thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'* The same power he extended, after his resurrection, to all the apostles, in these words: 'Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained,' On these texts chiefly has been founded the doctrine concerning the power of the keys or that of remitting or retaining sins, ascribed to ecclesiastical rulers; a power which, provided it be properly understood and defined, may justly be said to belong to them. Before I consider its nature and extent, as marked in Scripture, it may not be useless to observe, that the name Peter signifies in the original, a rock, to which our Saviour alludes in his reply, but which allusion is completely lost in our language, though exactly retained in the French. Tu es Pierre, et sur cette pierre je batirai mon église. The declaration seems to have been fulfilled by Peter's opening, on the day of Pentecost, the gospel dispensation to persons of so many different countries, and making about three thousand converts by one discourse.‡ What then are we to understand by the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and what by binding and loosing; by remitting and retaining sins? This kind of phraseology was, as has been shown by the learned, very common in the talmudical writings.....It signified among the Jews, or rather their rabbinical doctors, the power or authority to declare, in virtue of their office, what was permitted or forbidden by their law. In allusion to this, our Saviour says elsewhere, 'Wo unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.'§Wo unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge; ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering you hindered.'|| Grotius, in his annotation on this last passage, observes, that it was the practice among the Hebrews, when any one was invested with the power of interpreting the law and prophets, to deliver to him a key as the badge of his office.'¶ Hence, if we ascribe this origin to the words of Christ in the passages in question, we must assign to them an analogical meaning; namely, that by them he conferred on Peter and the other apostles, the office and consequent authority of explaining both to the Jews and Gentiles, what, under the gospel, was lawful, or the contrary; and in this manner, of opening or shutting, as it were, by a key, the gates of the kingdom of heaven. Thus were they constituted his terrestrial vicegerents, the authorized interpreters of his laws, and the infallible arbiters of faith and manners. The doctrine and authority of the scribes and teachers of the Mosaical law were abrogated as no longer obligatory on the followers of Jesus.** His apostles were henceforth to declare to men the entire rule of faith and practice, to teach what was acceptable to God, and to disclose all that was necessary to salvation..... The power of remitting or retaining sins,†† as far as relates to individual cases, and not to the general declarations of Scripture concerning the conditions of salvation, seems also to have been confined to the apostles, who had the faculty of discerning spirits, and of judging of sincere or of feigned repentance. This appears to be confirmed by our Saviour's actions and words previously to his conferring on them this Matt. xvi. 18, 19. + John xx. 23. || Luke xi. 52. Acts ii. § Matt. xxiii. 13. Mos erat apud Hebræos eum cui potestas dabatur legem et prophetas interpretandi, clave data quasi in possessionem muneris mittere.-Grotii Annot. ad Lucam xi. 52. ** Matt. xxiii. 4-13. Luke xi. 46-52. tt John xx. 23. power. 'He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.'* In virtue of this extraordinary gift, Peter was enabled to detect the fraudulent purpose of Ananias and Sapphira, and Paul the malice of Elymas the sorcerer. That those who could descry men's secret thoughts, cure the sick with a word or a touch, and raise the dead, should have been invested with the peculiar power of forgiving or retaining sins, is by no means surprising. When Christ had said to the man sick of the palsy, who had been brought to him, 'Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is it easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine own house. And he arose, and departed to his house.'‡ "Whoever thou art that claimest the power of forgiving or retaining sins at thy pleasure, go and do likewise. Perform miracles as Christ and his apostles did, and we shall acknowledge thy authority. This if thou canst not do, abandon thy presumptuous pretensions. For, together with the miraculous powers, the right, that attached to them have long since ceased.' Our Saviour indeed imparted to all ministers of his gospel in succession, as well as to his apostles, a general commission to preach the word of reconciliation and of the remission of sins in his name, and through his merits. The apostle Paul calls the gospel the word of reconciliation, by which men, their trespasses not being imputed unto them, are reconciled to God.§ But here no mention is made of private absolution. In like manner, Christ, when about to ascend into heaven after his resurrection, thus addresses the eleven and them that were with them: Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.' This declaration belongs to the office of all the ministers of the gospel. To the apostles only, as endowed with the faculty of discerning spirits, seems to have been granted the authoritative power of remitting to İndividuals their sins, in consequence of apostolical knowledge of their internal state, of the sincerity of their faith, and of their acceptance with God. This power seems also to have been withdrawn along with the apostolical commission, and the miraculous gifts which confirmed it. The other power, of declaring to all sincere penitents the word of reconciliation and peace, still remains with the ministers of the church, and will continue till the end of the world. When these observe, in such as are committed to their pastoral care, every mark of a true disciple of Jesus, they may assure them, on the general authority of the gospel, and as far as human discernment can extend, that they are in a happy state, and placed in the way of salvation. To such, on the other hand, as appear destitute of every mark of a sincere penitent, they are bound to declare their danger, and to warn them to 'flee from the wrath to come.' It may not be improper to make some general observations on the nature and end of ecclesiastical offices, which are equally applicable under every form of ecclesiastical government, and equally necessary to its effects and influence. All the authority which such offices give, or which can be claimed by those who exercise them in consistence with the end of their institution, is, that their instruc + Acts v. 1-10; xiii. 8-11. John xx. 22. || Luke xxiv. 33, 46, 47. Matt. ix. 2-7. |