Page:Delineation of Roman Catholicism.djvu/139

 CroP. IV.] nrra. rm.. 11 the Holy' Ghost in the plenitude of his gifts. After this their decisions, in points of doctrine and duty, being all given by inspiration, were in- fallible definitions, and ratified in heaven. But to establish from this iresage the supremacy of Peter and of his pretended successors, or their infallibility, is contrary to its proper meaning. "The gates of hell (', iads) shall not prevail against it." The expression,gat, of Aad, as used bythe ancient Greeks, Jewish writers, and the seventy interpreters, is not emplwjred to signify the power of heresy, schism, sin, or Satan, but ia consrandy used by them to signif}* the ast, of t. A dead, whether righteous or wicked, or else the entrant. into that place. See this proved by Whitby on the text. Its import, therefore, seems to be that even death itself should not prevail against the genuine members of Christ's church. For ff the words, gates of iad, never signify, in any ancient writer, or any eastern language, her,my or error, to interpret them of a security from error promised to the church, must be to wrest them from their proper meaning. Christ  not, therefore, in this text, promise infallibility, but only o the church. He did not say that his church should never err, but tlmt it should never Besides, wore the gates of hell or the powers of darkness never to pmv,,il against the C]'hurch of Rome, how was it that the Protestant Reformation was effected, the principles of which differ so materially from those of the Church of Rome ? How came the religion of Rome and Papal authority to be expelled from so many states that became Pmteatant ? How is it that she has not retained the superiority which she once enjoyed, or how does it come to pass that she does not now number one half of the nations of the earth which once composed her empire ? We can solve the difficulty: we do not expect that the powers of id/shall fully prevail against the Church of Rome, but we confuteutly believe that the point# of heaven are prevailing, and shall tndly trmmpA over it. .If,,.blr the gates of hell, sin be meant, then the prevalence of sin over the Church of Rome ham been very great. She tells us of twenty-seven mortal sins, any one of which corrupts and destroys the soul; that whoever, whether clergyman or layman, allows himself in act or desire to practise any of these, is not of Christ or his church, but is of the ,ogue of Satan. Such sometimes is the language of some of the an doctors. How much have these sins prevailed agairmt the members of the Church of Rome ? Yet they re still continued mem- bers of the church as if nothing was the matter, and no breach of any of God's commandments is considered so great as to neglect the valn ,apemtitions and muli6ons of the church, by which she has made the oommandments of God o1' none effect. And however bravely some of her sons have resisted immorality, yet it haa berne down the great main of her clergy and people. But if the expre,mion, gat of ll!, means error in point of faith, then tim case of the Church of Rome is equally desperate. The Roman Catholic doctors reject the imputation of novelty; but this appears to be nothing more than an artful flourish in order to keep the vulgar in awe. They teach that should the church believe or teach any doctrine eoutrary to those which Christ taught, the gates of hell would prev �

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