lie. Transubstantiation furnishes to Satan the loudest boast-covers human reason with the heaviest shame -gathers the darkest cloud over the word of God— and insults the Triune Jehovah with the basest and boldest abomination. Again and again I would say, Christians, beware of it; Roman Catholics flee from it; since "it is not a light thing, it is for your life," even the life of your souls! Forced from these entrench ments, finding themselves wholly unable to defend the monstrous fable, either upon the ground of scripture or reason, the advocates of the Papacy make their escape into that "refuge of lies" to which they are SO attached, but which affords them not one moment's security except from opponents who are ignorant and ill-informed; they fly to the fathers, pretending that this blasphemous absurdity was maintained by the early Christian writers; a more gross and impudent libel upon the dead than which the annals of the world cannot furnish, as every one acquainted with their works will testify. Archbishop Cranmer (who was roasted to death for not believing this abomination) said to his merciless murderers,-" If you will adduce a proof of the corporeal presence in the Eucharist, out of any one divine who lived within a thousand years of our Saviour's resurrection, I will consent to the Roman Catholic doctrine." They could not, but they burnt him to ashes notwithstanding, The Roman Catholic communicants are to swallow D دو their wafer-god whole, and the reason assigned for their not being allowed to chew the host is, because " a bone of him shall not be broken." But the real cause of the Romish priests enjoining this practice is lest their dupes, by constantly tasting the flour and water, should believe their own senses, and reject the enormous lie imposed upon them. But to this it may be replied, that since they are besotted enough to distrust one sense, that of sight, why not another, that of taste? Dear reader, when we consider the absurdities involved in this awful doctrine, can it create surprise that the partially awakened Papist should so frequently become a sceptic? If Roman Catholics consider the swarms of Atheists in Italy and tell me whether their unreasonable and contradictious doctrines, their forged miracles and counterfeit legends, have not in all probability produced this effect? Can any Roman Catholic imagine he is possessed of one particle of common sense, when he devours the object he previously adored! And I do conscientiously call upon such Roman Catholics into whose possession this book will find its way, either honestly to acknowledge their disbelief of transubstantiation, or to reconcile the following contradictions of necessity implied therein : That bread should be turned into the substance of Christ, and yet not anything of the bread becoming anything of Christ! That bread should be turned into nothing, and at the same time and with the same action, turned into Christ, and yet Christ should be nothing! That the same thing at the same time should have its just dimensions, and at the same time not have them! That the body of Christ, which is much greater, should be contained wholly and in its full dimensions, without any alteration, in that which is lesser ! That the same thing at the same time should be wholly above itself, and wholly below itself, within itself and without itself, on the right hand and on the left hand, and round about itself! That the same thing at the same time should move and lie still! That one and the same thing at the same time should be divided and yet undivided! That a thing may be and yet be nowhere! That there should be no certainty in our senses, and yet that we should know something certainly, and yet know nothing by our senses! That, that which is, and was long ago, should now begin to be! That, that something should be really and truly in a place, and yet want locality! Thus the Roman Catholic must either renounce his idol of profession to believe that there should be length, and nothing long-breadth, and nothing broad-thickness, and nothing thick-whiteness, and nothing white-roundness, and nothing round— weight, and nothing heavy-sweetness, and nothing sweet-moisture, and nothing moist-fluidity, and nothing flowing-many attractions, and no agentmany passions, and no patient. This is to say, that there should be a long, broad, thick, white, round, heavy, sweet, moist, flowing, active, passive nothing. THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS CANNOT BE PROVED FROM SCRIPTURE. HAVING fully examined transubstantiation in the abstract, and demonstrated it to be absurd, irrational, unscriptural, and impossible, we proceed a step further and view it in relation to the Mass, which constitutes the primary act of public worship, and which distinguishes the Church of Rome from all other churches in the world. If this be found wrong, then she is rotten at the very core, corrupt in her very essence, and, from her assumed infallibility, incapable of reform, and must be forsaken altogether. All who have deserted her pale have cast off the mass as pernicious, abominable, and idolatrous. That we may understand this, and come to a proper conclusion, it is necessary to know what the mass is, and whether it be in accordance with the will and word of God. In the mass there are three leading things, which embrace all the minor particulars-the sacrifice, the ceremonies, and the worship. As it regards the sacrifice of the mass, the substance of what is said concerning it is this—that the conse crated host or wafer is Christ, really and truly-that Christ is thus presented as a sacrifice-that this sacri fice is an unbloody one, and that it is expiatory for the sins, both of the living and the dead. Hence it is considered the centre of all spiritual exercises, the soul of a devout life, a sacrament superior to all others, the source of all grace, the end of all devotion, the highest offering which earth can present to heaven, and must be accompanied with the most excellent and sublime worship. That we may not lose ourselves in a multitude of words, let us reduce it to this simple point,-that the sacrifice offered in the mass, or representation of the host to God, is the identical sacrifice of Christ. This is the point simply to be considered; and that we may do so aright, let us here quote the 31st Article of the Church of England as presenting my creed on this subject, by way of contrast. "The offering of Christ once made, is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual, and there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone. Wherefore the sacrifice of masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the priests did offer Christ for the quick and dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits." This article is simple, com prehensive, strong, and scriptural. mass necessarily must be false. that the mass is a "blasphemous If it be true, the That it is true, and fable and dangerous deceit," I proceed now to prove in a very summary |