PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Systematic Theology — Volume 3
Hodge, Charles, 1797–1878 · 407,138 words · 462 reading sections
§ 19.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. ROMISH DOCTRINE. 677
Apology says : " Idem effectus est verbi et ritus, sicut praeclare dictum est ab Augustino, sacramentum esse verbum visibile, quia ritus oculis accipitur, et est quasi pictura verbi, idem significans, quod verbum. Quare idem est utriusque effectus." 1 At other times, however, Luther, as appears from the passages above…
880 wordsSECTION 362§19. J THE LORD'S SUPPER. ROMISH DOCTRINE. 679
being by the almighty power of God changed into his body and blood. As at the feast in Cana of Galilee, the water was changed into wine, so in the eucharist, the bread and wine are changed into, and remain the body and blood of Christ. This doctrine is thus set forth in the Canons of the Council of Trent : — " 1. Si q…
791 wordsSECTION 363§19.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. ROMISH DOCTRINE. 681
and as his soul is in like manner connected with his divinity, it follows that the whole Christ, body, soul, and divinity, is present, and is received orally, i. e., by the mouth, by the communicant. " Docere autem oportet, Christum nomen esse Dei, et hominis, unius scilicet personse, in qua divina, et humana natura co…
925 wordsSECTION 364§19.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. ROMISH DOCTRINE. 683
They further teach that baptism, which precedes the eucharist, conveys all the saving benefits of Christ's redemption ; they there- fore cannot make the eucharist essential, and consequently they cannot, without contradicting Christ or themselves, interpret John vi. 48-65 as referring to the Lord's Supper.1 Appeal, of…
955 wordsSECTION 365§19.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. ROMISH DOCTRINE. 685
great error, that secured the transfer of the greater part of the land and wealth of Europe into the hands of the clergy and gave them almost unlimited power over the people. Withholding the Cup from the Laity. The Romish Church admits that this is contrary to the original institution of the ordinance, and to the usa…
779 wordsSECTION 366§19.] % THE LORD'S SUPPER ROMISH DOCTRINE. 687
substantiam, in veram ejus corporis, et sanguinis substantiam convertit." x On this statement it may be remarked in passing, that if the ministers are not the real offerers, they are not real priests. A priest is one appointed to offer sacrifices. But ac- cording to the theory, the officiating minister in the service o…
922 wordsSECTION 367§19.] THE LORD'S SUPPER. ROMISH DOCTRINE. 689
Malachi i. 11, in which the universal spread of the true religion is predicted by saying that from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, " in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering." 1 Protestants reject the doctrine that the eucharist is a true pro- pitiatory sacrifice, …
983 wordsSECTION 368§ 19.1 THE LORD'S SUPPER. ROMISH DOCTRINE. 691
5. The doctrine of the sacrificial character of the eucharist, is an integral part of the great system of error, which must stand or fall as a whole. Romanism is another gospel. It proposes a different method of salvation from that presented in the word of God. It teaches that no one can be saved who is out of the pale…
919 wordsSECTION 369§ 20.] PRAYER. 693
universe, prayer becomes irrational and impossible.1 Secondly, God, however, although a person, may dwell far off in immensity, and have no intercourse with his creatures on earth. Prayer, therefore, assumes not only the personality of God, but also that He is near us ; that He is not only able, but also willing to hol…
1,019 wordsSECTION 370§ 20.] PRAYER. 695
terms of a real interchange that takes place between the parties — the two terms of a sequence, in fact, whereof the antecedent is a prayer lifted up from earth, and the consequent is the fulfilment of that prayer in virtue of a mandate from heaven." 1 Prayer also supposes that the government of God extends over the m…
936 wordsSECTION 371§ 20.] PRATER. 69T
when He himself rose by his own power from the grave. To say that these facts never occurred, simply because, according to the ephemeral theory of the hour, they could not occur, is the infinite of folly. It is a thousand fold more certain that they oc- curred than that the best authenticated facts of history are true.…
921 wordsSECTION 372§ 20.] PRAYER. 699
determined by any inexorable fate. A fatalist cannot consist- ently pray. It is only on the assumption that there is a God, who does his pleasure in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, that we can rationally address Him as the hearer of prayer. In like manner it is assumed that there is no such …
926 wordsSECTION 373§ 20.] PRAYER. 701
eludes all converse with God either in the form of praise, thanks- giving, confession, or petition ; all the ascriptions of glory to Him, as well as all direct supplications addressed to Him, come under this head. The Apostles prayed to Him while He was yet with them on earth, asking of Him blessings which God only cou…
950 wordsSECTION 374§ 20.] PRAYER. 703
was afraid to lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, and said, God be merciful to me a sinner. Such language is often regarded as exaggerated or hypocritical. It is, however, appropriate. It expresses the state of mind which can- not fail to be produced by a proper apprehension of our chara…
981 wordsSECTION 375§ 20. J PRAYER. 705
is manifested as the only Saviour of men. To act in the name of any one is often to act by his authority, and in the exercise of his power. Thus our Lord speaks of the works which He did " in his Father's name ; " that is, by the Father's authority and in the exercise of his efficiency. And of the Apostles it is fre- q…
945 wordsSECTION 376§ 20. J JPRAYER 707
Public Prayer. The public services of the sanctuary are designed for worship and instruction. The former includes prayer and singing ; the latter, the reading the word of God and preaching. These ele- ments should be preserved in due proportion. In some churches, instruction is made entirely subordinate to worship; tw…
880 wordsSECTION 377§ 20.] PRAYER. 709
world. There is the power of ideas, true or false ; the power of truth ; the power of love and human sympathy ; the power of con- science ; and above all, the Supreme Power, immanent in the world as well as over it, which is an intelligent, voluntary, per- sonal power, cooperating with and controlling the operations of…
388 wordsSECTION 378STATE OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH.
§ 1. Protestant Doctrine. The Protestant doctrine on the state of the soul after death includes, first of all, the continued conscious existence of the soul after the dissolution of the body. This is opposed, not only to the doctrine that the soul is merely a function of the body and perishes with it, but also to the …
865 wordsSECTION 379§ L] PROTESTANT DOCTRINE. 715
tuted differently from what we are, may not be cognizant of its activity. It is enough, however, that the theory in question is extra-scriptural, and therefore has no authority in matters of faith. It is no less evident that according to the pantheistic theory, in all its phases, which regards man as only one of the t…
938 wordsSECTION 380§ 1J PROTESTANT DOCTRINE. 717
wicked in their prosperity, but to look to God as their portion ; they were led to say, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee ; " and " I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." In the Old Testament, the right- e…
987 wordsSECTION 381§1.] PROTESTANT DOCTRINE. 719
the Old Testament assume that men are in some way or other to live after death. Even in the Pentateuch this is taken for granted. It is not taught, but assumed as a self-evident truth, immanent in the consciousness of the people." x 6. It is to be remembered that we have in the New Testament an inspired, and, therefor…
1,030 wordsSECTION 382§1.] PROTESTANT DOCTRINE. 721
ducees, that the Pharisees were on his side. They believed that the soul was in its nature immortal ; that the righteous only are happy after death, and that the wicked are eternally miserable. That the Jews derived their doctrine from their own Scriptures is plain, (1.) Because they admitted no other source of religio…
956 wordsSECTION 383§ I.] PROTESTANT DOCTRINE. 723
" the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." They walked by faith, and not by sight. They lived with their eyes fixed on the unseen and eternal. It was the future that filled their vision and elevated them above the present. They " died in faith, not having received the promises, but having se…
1,538 wordsSECTION 384Part 384
If, therefore, there be nothing in the nature of the soul incon- sistent with its separate existence ; if the body be not a necessary condition of its consciousness or activity ; if its probation termi- nates at death ; if the perfection of Christ's work precludes all necessity of future satisfaction for sin; and if th…
335 wordsSECTION 385§1.J PROTESTANT DOCTRINE. 727
Our Lord constantly teaches concerning those who believe in Him, (1.) That they are not condemned. They are no longer under the sentence of the law. (2.) That they have eternal life. That the effect of the union between Himself and them, consum- mated by faith, is that they partake of his life in a sense analo- gous to…
1,011 wordsSECTION 386§1] PROTESTANT DOCTRINE. 729
that the soul is furnished with a body of which the Scriptures make no mention, and of the existence of which we have no evi- dence. The Bible knows nothing of any human body save that which we now have, and that which we, are to have at the resur- rection ; the one natural, the other spiritual. The third interpre- tat…
924 wordsSECTION 387§2.] THE SLEEP OF THE SOUL. 731
tion. The best of scientific men teach with regard to life, or vital force, that it is not the result of material combinations, but that such combination is necessary to its manifestation. " We recognize that these [vital] phenomena," says Professor Nichol- son, " are never manifested except by certain forms of matter,…
926 wordsSECTION 388§ 3.] PATRISTIC DOCTRINE. 733
terval of which the soul was unconscious, would, for it, have no existence. The archbishop for himself thinks that the arguments on the one side are as strong as those on the other. The two considerations which seem to him to favour the doctrine of the sleep of the soul between death and the resurrection, are, first th…
926 wordsSECTION 389§3.] PATRISTIC DOCTRINE. 735
pious dead from their prison ; and that they were the redeemed captives of whom the Apostle speaks in Ephesians iv. 8-10, as led by Christ into heaven. (3.) That those who die in the Lord since his advent, instead of being admitted into heaven, pass into the same place and the same state into which the patriarch passed…
963 wordsSECTION 390§8.] PATRISTIC DOCTRINE. 737
all that the passage in question clearly teaches. Men may doubt and differ as to what Christ did during the three days of his so- journ in the invisible world. They may differ as to who the spirits in prison were to whom he preached, or, rather, made proclamation (iKrjpv£ev) ; whether they were the antediluvians ; or, …
949 wordsSECTION 391§3.] PATRISTIC DOCTRINE. 739
there is a state intermediate between death and the resurrection in which believers are less glorious and exalted than they are to be after the second advent of Christ, but what is the nature of that state. Are believers after death with Christ? Do their souls immediately pass into glory ? or, are they in a dreamy, sem…
928 wordsSECTION 392§8.] PATRISTIC DOCTRINE. 741
The common views on this subject are perhaps fairly repre- sented in the elaborate work of the Honourable Archibald Camp- bell, on "the doctrine of a middle state between death and the resurrection." 1 He thus sums up the points which he considers himself to have proved to be the doctrine of the Bible, of the Fathers, …
925 wordsSECTION 393§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 743
the Greek Church unto this day, and was the opinion of the greatest part of the ancient Church both Latin and Greek ; and by degrees was, in the west, eaten out by the doctrine of purga- tory and invocation of saints; and rejected a little above two hundred years ago, in the Council of Florence." It appears, therefore…
878 wordsSECTION 394§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 745
tion. This doctrine is explicitly stated in the symbols of that Church, and defended by its theologians. Cardinal Gousset, for example, says that original sin, of which all the children of Adam are partakers, is the death of the soul. Its consequences in this life are ignorance or obscuration of the understanding, feeb…
885 wordsSECTION 395§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 747
eternal fire ; the former, the simple loss of the beatific (or intui- tive) vision : " Poena originalis peccati est carentia visionis Dei, actualis vero poena peccati est gehennae perpetuae cruciatus."1 On the following page he says, " We will go still further, and say with St. Thomas, that although unbaptized infants …
884 wordsSECTION 396§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 749
few, however, even of true believers, according to Romanists, enter at death. The advocates of the doctrine of an intermediate state, as has been shown, assert that none of the human family, whether patriarch, prophet, Apostle, or martyr, is admitted to the vision of God when he leaves the body ; and that none of the w…
868 wordsSECTION 397§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 751
the pain produced by fire. We will add that, according to Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas, whose opinion is generally adopted (dont le sentiment est assez suivi), the pains of purgatory sur- pass those of this life : " Poena purgatorii," says the angelic Doc- tor,1 " quantum ad pcenam damni et sensus,. excedit omnem p…
1,010 wordsSECTION 398§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 753
vention of purgatory with the primitive custom of praying for the dead, it is not in communion with her that any can seek comfort from this rite." * The early Christians prayed for the souls of Apostles and martyrs, whom they assuredly believed were already in heaven. It was not, therefore, for any alleviation of their…
1,020 wordsSECTION 399I 4 ] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 755
rasalem, who says : " Deinde et pro defunctis Sanctis patribus et episcopis, et omnibus generatim, qui inter nos vita functi sunt, oramus, maximum hoc credentes adjumentum illis animabus fore' pro quibus oratio defertur, dum sancta et tremenda coram jacet victima ; " 1 that is, " Then we pray for the holy fathers and t…
1,048 wordsSECTION 400§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 757
Arguments against the Doctrine. 1. The first, most obvious, and, for Protestants, the most de- cisive argument against the doctrine is, that it is not 'taught in the Bible. This is virtually admitted by its advocates. The most that is pretended is, that having adopted the doctrine on other grounds, they can find in Sc…
1,024 wordsSECTION 401§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 759
to both the priest interferes. Neither can be remitted without his intervention. The eternal penalty is remitted in the sacra- ment of penance. The latter is exacted, mitigated, or dispensed with at the discretion of the Church, or its organs. As to the remission of the eternal penalty the intervention of the priest is…
928 wordsSECTION 402§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 761
Satisfactory to the Church as evidences of repentance, and satis- factory to God's justice, are two very different things, which Romanists have confounded. Besides, how does it follow, be- cause the visible Church has control of the discipline of its mem- bers, in this life, that it has control of the souls of men in t…
973 wordsSECTION 403§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 763
for what they taught He taught. St. John, therefore, says, " He that knoweth God heareth us ; he that is not of God, heareth not us." (1 John iv. 6.) Nevertheless, although Christ required all men to hear his Apostles as though He himself were speaking ; yet no man was bound to hear them unless they preached Christ's g…
925 wordsSECTION 404§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 765
of the incestuous man whom the Church in Corinth allowed to remain in its fellowship, Paul determined to do what he cen- sured the Church for not doing ; that is, in virtue of his apostolic jurisdiction extending over all the churches, he excommunicated the offender, or, delivered him to Satan, that he might repent. (1…
921 wordsSECTION 405§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 767
fact, that afflictions are so often compared to a furnace* and the trials of God's people are said to be by fire. " The fire," says the Apostle, " shall try every man's work, of what sort it is." With the ancient Persians fire was sacred. It became an object of worship, as the symbol of the divinity ; and elemental fir…
1,032 wordsSECTION 406§4.] DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 789
Fliigge J says : " This anathema was the less effective because the eastern views on this subject differed so much from the western or Church doctrine. The former, or Origen's doctrine, contem- plated the purification of the greatest sinners and of the devil himself ; the Latin Church thought only of believers justifie…
760 wordsSECTION 407CHAPTER n.
THE RESURKECTION. § 1. The Scriptural Doctrine. By the resurrection is not meant the continued existence of the soul after death. The fact that the Sadducees in the time of Christ, against whom most of the arguments found in the New Testament in favour of the doctrine of the resurrection were di- rected, denied not on…
861 wordsSECTION 408§1] SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE. 773
except in the sense antithetical to spiritual death, which is not now in question. The same is true of the psychical body, if there be such a thing. It does not die, and, therefore, cannot rise again. The same may also be said of a new body furnished the soul when its earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved. (2.…
955 wordsSECTION 409§1.] SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE. 775
which was dead ; not of something of the same nature, but of the very thing itself. And all the passages already quoted as prov- ing the resurrection of the body, assume or declare that it is the same body that rises. It is our present " mortal bodies ; " " our vile body ; " it is " this corruptible," " this mortal ; "…
948 wordsSECTION 410§1.] SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE. 777
Secondly, in works of art sameness of substance holds a very subordinate part. The Apollo Belvidere once lay dormant in a block of marble. The central portion of that block containing every particle of matter in the statue was not the Apollo of the artist. Could every particle clipped off, be restored, the substance wo…
970 wordsSECTION 411I J.] SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE. 779
resurrection remains unclothed. Dr. Lange, whose imagination often dominates him, teaches that the soul was created to be in- carnate ; and therefore was endowed with forces and talents to that end. In virtue of its nature, it as certainly gathers from sur- rounding matter the materials for a body, as a seed gathers fr…
964 wordsSECTION 412§1.J SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE. 781
ery intimation given in Scripture on this subject, tends to sustain this conclusion. Every time Christ appeared to his disciples not only before, but also after his ascension, as to Stephen, Paul, and John, it was in human form. Origen conceited that, because the circle is the most perfect figure, the future body will …
1,469 wordsSECTION 413Part 413
principle of animal -life which men have in common with the brutes ; and sometimes the soul in the ordinary and comprehen- sive sense of the term ; the rational and immortal principle of our nature ; that in which our personality resides ; so that to say " My soul rejoices," or, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful," is eq…
514 wordsSECTION 414§2.] HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE. IBS
ture spiritual. If the face of man formed out of the dust of the earth often beams with intelligence and glows with elevated emo- tions, what may be expected of a countenance made like unto that of the Son of God. If then our future bodies are to retain the human form ; to be easily distinguished by those who knew and…
926 wordsSECTION 415§2.] HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE. 787
According to the Hindu system men have not to wait for the conclusion of one of these great cycles to be absorbed in the Su- preme Being. By a life strictly conformed to prescribed rules, and by a process of complete self-abnegation, they attain a state in which they are lost in the Infinite as drops of rain in the oce…
1,372 wordsSECTION 416SECOND ADVENT.
§ 1. Preliminary Remarks. This is a very comprehensive and very difficult subject. It is intimately allied with all the other great doctrines which fall under the head of eschatology. It has excited so much interest in all ages of the Church, that the books written upon it would of themselves make a library. The subje…
357 wordsSECTION 417§1.] PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 791
pass. Although such predictions may be variously misinterpre- ted before their fulfilment ; yet when fulfilled, the agreement be- tween the prophecy and the event is seen to be such as to render the divine origin of the prophecy a matter of certainty. Thus with regard to the first advent of Christ, the Old Testament pr…
858 wordsSECTION 418§8.] PERSONAL ADVENT OF CHRIST. 793
the ground with the corpses of Sennacherib's host ; when its storm swept Jerusalem as with fire, and bore Israel into bondage ; when its sword came down upon Idumea and was bathed in blood upon Edom. « The day of the Lord ' is another term of precisely- similar import. It occurs in the Old Testament about fifteen times…
943 wordsSECTION 419§3.] PERSONAL ADVENT OF CHRIST. 795
they held his coming as the great object of expectation and desire. Indeed Christians are described as those who " are waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. i. 7) ; as those who are " looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God* and our Saviour Jesus Christ " (Tit. ii. …
1,012 wordsSECTION 420§3.] PERSONAL ADVENT OF CHRIST. 797
It is unreasonable, therefore, as it is agreed, to expect anything like a literal fulfilment of these New Testament prophecies. To this it may be answered, (1.) That in the Old Testament the Messianic period is described as a whole. The fact that the Messiah was to come and establish an everlasting kingdom which was to…
925 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1872). Text from OCR of an original Internet Archive scan; OCR may contain recognition errors.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.