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Show FAITH MISJJMSTOOD J Catholic Doctrines Exaggerated Unjust I Hatred Her Claims to Truth Sustained by Historical Evidence Decay of the Ancient Priesthood Satan's Promise, "Thou Shalt Be Gods," Always Good Pride of Intellect an Infectious Malady Dethrones All Classes Men's Hearts Easily Deluded. If theuc is one dominant trait standing: out prominently above all others in the attitude of anti-Catholics,, it is ignorance. Select most any I one of the important teachings of the Church, bring it up for discussion, and you -will find a deplorable de-plorable lack of proper light on -the doctrine in (l 4 question. Added to ignorance, a great deal of un-, un-, . . just hatred is manifested by a portion of the non- j Catholic world to the claims of the Church, not- withstanding1 that the scriptures and human his-. his-. ' t- tory coupled to tradition substantiate no creed so i " vi-V completely as they do the Holy Roman Catholic - - Church. In fact, it may be truthfully asserted Y that they support no other religion in its claims of being the organization erected on the rock of St. Peter's faith, but the latter Church. The events ) occurring in the history of the Catholic Church are inseparable from a narrative of the world since I the time of Christ. ! In every age since the fall of man the identi- f cal argument that Satau used to seduce our first f parents f rem their love and loyalty to God has ! " been exercised against the truth. The various ) heretical sects that originated among the He- brews vented arguments opposed to all obedience, and any human authority except individual reason, s At the time when the Messiah began to preach and . work His miracles, these sectarians were saturated with pride and the infallibility of the frail intel-1 intel-1 led. Nor did this condition prevail among the Pharisees and Sadducoes alone, but an. incredible number of duly accredited priests who had vowed I to Jehovah to be humble servants of the people had i ' lost their zeal, piety and humility. But these priests kept within the law and the synagogue for : appearance's sake, although they were filled with the same heresies as the sectarians. They sought V for the plaudits of men; they preserved ardently and openly their intimacy with the proud, the great and the wealthy; they assumed the airs of I . masters, forgetting the sublime humility of Abra- t ham and Closes; they strutted through the public r '-, daces with the commandments on their. foreheads; ):; when they fasted they-wore long faces so that all i might know that they were fasting and they de- , spised the poor. Was it any wonder that they J' urged the populace on to crucify the lowly and ( poverty-stricken Carpenter? Of course, there , still remained a vast multitude of priests who were true to their ideals. Yet it is a terrible condemnation con-demnation of God's own ehosen Israelite priesthood priest-hood that Avhen lie selected His dearest friends and Apostles He took lhe commonest and most i despised laymen He could possibly rind in all the f,., nation fishermen, publicans and slaves! I What wrought all this? What terrible powers of evil dragged down the .Jewish priests, serving Pwith God's seal of authority on them, from the , great altitude lhat they occupied immediately after the Levitical priesthood was instituted. 'i Pride of intellect and position. Slowly, as the i years revolved, infidelity followed fast in their I wake until this splendid body of men. whom Al- i h mighty God sanctified and placed in the world to , , ' wisely rule His people, bad reached such a low lev- .v4. fl rl of degradation and unmasked hypocrisy that they could not recognize their long promised and " """J expected Savior ami Creator when He looked ".v. v them in the face in the sweet vales of Israel. Rut ' why should we pity the blindness of that age ( Why should we imagine lhat this generation could not manifest the same sinful stupidity if a like occa- sion should arise? The same mental darkness that f God sends to associate with intellectual pride and the placing on a pedestal of infallibility weak and ignorant human reason is now rampant throughout through-out the world, obscuring the un of truth and casting a depressing shadow over the earth, except ex-cept when a momentary ray of light reveals, fast approaching, sinister eovuts. The above is simply the argument antagonistic .to a certain devastating condition. Why .is the Catholic Church rejected ? Because of the power i of Satan to beguile the hearts of men. When the , devil alienated Adam and Eve from their duty he i said: "Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and I evil." So said the reformers to the sixty million j Catholics who followed them. ''The command you suppose that God lias given you, and which you imagine you must keep, is despotic. It cripples ? your energies, degrades your nature, enslaves its L affections. What ? Has Christ said, Ye must obey the. Church lest ye die? Nonsense. Do not credit such rubbagc. God docs not desire you to bp ) slaves. Obey nothing but your own reason and desires. de-sires. Be emancipated from any human being's commandment, whether parent, bishop or priest."-It priest."-It is the same voice of the serpent as of old. Sometimes he urges different sophisms. He says again: ''Do not permit anyone to interpret the Bible for you. Such a course enslaves you. One man has as much right to explain the scriptures as another. The human reason is infallible." The Bible proves many things conclusively.-They conclusively.-They are the Incarnation; the Seven Sacraments; C the honoring of the Mother of God; the estflblish- mcnt of one Church and that the violation of the s ten commandments will cause terrible punishment to ensue. They also prove the existence of evil spirits and a kingdom of sorrow for their habitation, habita-tion, but they nowheres or nowhise permit1 individual indi-vidual interpretation and the creating . of sects. ''Many wrest the scriptures to their own damnation," damna-tion," says St. Peter in one of his letters. The Catholic Church is attacked by .Satan's insidious power in this manner also. ''The Church is dangerous dan-gerous to the state." Iler children founded or assisted as-sisted in the foundation of all civilized nations. "She is hostile to liberty." The Catholic Church gave her money and the blood of her children's veins in the battle for human liberty. ''It obscures ob-scures the dignity of human nature; it docs not respect the rights of man; it denies private judgment; judg-ment; tyrannizes over the free-born mind; and is in the way of intellectual progress." Such are the insinuations of the cunning serpent, though he well knows that the Catholic Church was the mother of intellectual progress ; that she erected the first great universities of the. world; that her ' Popes fought with powerful king's for the rights of man. and that it raised women and all human nature to the highest pinnacle of dignity, and honor. Oh. how great is Satan's power to blind the hearts of men and lead them to disobedience, disloyalty and ruin. IilCARDO. |