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Show THE CLAIMS OF THE CHURCH The Greek and Protestant Church No Link With Apostolic Church Claim of the Catholic Church Considered Do-natists Do-natists and Novatians. It may be said to the. arguments advanced, showing that the Greek Church separated or with-i with-i drew her allegiance to Home because the Catholic corrupted the faith and separation was necessary, i Should this be so, the Greek church, whilst united to the Catholic, would share in these errors and be ; equally guilty. Whatever effect they had on the - Catholic Church, they had the same on the Greek f church, and in vitiating the former, they would also vitiate the latter and both would have failed, j To become the true church the Greek church would 1 be obliged to unite with some church still retaining y the commission given by Christ to his Apostles. But f it did no such thing. Therefore-its claims, at best, are false. The same reasons that apply to the Greek church apply still stronger to all Protestant I , Churches which were born in the sixteenth cen-I cen-I a.-'' tury. Between either the Greek and Protestant j ' - Churches and the Apostolic Church there is no ? uniting link, and to the commission given they can i ' lay no claim. Protestantism is a human institu- tion, founded by man, and only little over three V and a half centuries old. It is in no manner or way united with any church which dates from the Apostles. We are aware of the claims of the Protestant Church, that the true Church always .subsisted, but not always as a visible body; hence j a commission does not necessarily descend to any v .special Church, but is partaken of by all. This objection avails nothing, as it takes the word Church in an entirely different sense from that of a congregation of Christian pastors and teachers, and in which sense it is visible. It witnesses the i fact of revelation, but this it could not do if it were invisible. To divide truth among the different 5 church organizations would mean to destroy unity ! and dissolve truth itself. The Church commis- ? sioned by Christ was commanded to teach all na tions and individuals. This command conveys a corresponding obligation on the part of nations and individuals; namely, to listen and to obey that teaching. But this would be impossible in case the Church was invisible. All the leading reformers were members of the Catholic Church acknowl-l acknowl-l edged the supremacy of the Pope up to the time of ? the protest. In protesting against the abuses which I then existed in the human side of the Church, they separated from her communion and lost their title I to the commission given by Christ to his Apostles, f They are, then, without a comission, and without I a commission they have no right to teach, for how can they teach unless they be sent by God Himself? But one Christian Church more remains, and , her claims to the rightful inheritance of the com mission given by Christ to his Apostles are worth considering That is the Catholic Church. She was not born in the sixteenth century, nor did she i : spring into existence in the ninth century. She h was born when Christ was born in a stable at Beth- lehem. She not only antidatcs all Christian 't Churches, but she antidates the Bible itself. She was executing the mandate of her Founder, teach-J teach-J ing pagan nations, baptising in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost long before the entire I Xew Testament was written. She is the church of t history, and for twenty centuries has been so close- 1 ly allied with all important facts and great events f that in all the centuries her history is interwoven j . with the history of the times. She alone goes back . in an unbroken chain, without a missing link, to the days of the Apostles, and is the only church that can rightfully claim to have inherited Christ's commission com-mission to His Apostles, and consequently the only v Christian Church in which we can look for or ex- f pect to find true teachers. . When Christ instituted His Church, he com-misioned com-misioned the Apostles as a corporate body to teach in His name. It can be historically shown that the ministry of the Catholic Church, as a corporate body, is as identical with the Apostles as the administration ad-ministration of the government of the United States under the presidency of William Taft is identical with that of George Washington. Whilst it may be said "There is nothing in a name," yet the fact that the name Catholic adopted by the Apostles, the original corporators, is still retained, is a presumptive argument of the identity of the Roman Catholic Church with the Apostolic Church. The Donatists, who spread the error of the Novatians regarding the invalidity of certain baptisms 311 called themselves Catholics, Cath-olics, but in history they are known only as Donatists. Do-natists. They, who would still call themselves 1 Catholics, and not being members of the Roman i Catholic Church, only provoke a samile. If a V stranger, in any part of the world, should ask to be directed to a Catholic church, no matter by y whom, from the newsboy up to the highest official, i he will be directed to the Roman Catholic church. ' .y This proves that by the common consent of all I f that name is hers by usage. j "ji The successors of St. Peter down to Piux X I j rari C 0Ftahlished historically as easily as the suc- - cessors of George Washington down to William Taft. This establishes the unity of the corporate body down through the centuries, and as a neces- sary consequence its identity. Admitting, then. that the Christian religion is a supernatural religion; re-ligion; that Christ was God, . founded a Church, and commisisoned his Apostles to teach all nations, the conclusion is inevitable, namely, that the Catholic Cath-olic Church inherits that commission. She is the i legitimate' successor of the synagogue and her his-' his-' torv nu evact counterpprt of the former, and lhosi who refuse to admit her claims jt l;ke the Gentiles who apostatized from the synagogue. A grave question and serious problem is this for all who believe they have a soul to save, and that beyond the portals of death is an abode, either of eternal bliss or woe. Religion should not be considered lightly, as something suitable to one's fancy or taste, to be changed at will, but as a matter mat-ter of grave importance.. The command to "hear the church," coupled with the warning, "Beware of false teachers," solves the problem of life and leaves the solution between the Catholic Church and Atheism. 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