14 And king Herod heard of Mm: (for his name was spread abroad :) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth them- selves in him.
15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.
16 But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded : he is risen from the dead.
* The concluding verse in this passage, together with one in the Epistle of James (James v. 14), is generally quoted by Roman Cath- olics, in support of their pretended sacrament of extreme unction. A moment's reflection will show that neither this text nor the other referred to, is any proof at all.
In both cases the anointing with oil is expressly connected with the healing of those anointed. Extreme unction, on the contrary, is an anointing administered to a dying person, when there is no hope of his recovery.
This discrepancy between the anointing of the apostolic times and the anointing practised by the Church of Rome, is so glaring, that some of the ablest Romish controversalists have been obliged to ac- knowledge, that " extreme unction" is founded on church authority, and not on the authority of Scripture. Lombardus, Bonaventura, Bellarmine, Jansenius, and Tirinius, are all mentioned by Calovius as being of this opinion.