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The One True Church
by Father Arnold Damen
About This Article and Its Author
Father Arnold Damen was born in the province of North Brabant, Holland, on March 20, 1815. He was admitted to the Society of Jesus, November 21, 1837, and was one of the band of young novices brought over to this country by Father De Smet, renowned Jesuit missionary to the American Indians. In his illustrious career, which spanned some fifty years of apostolic work before his death on January 1, 1890, Father Damen and his companions conducted missions in nearly every principal city of the United States. He is said to have been more widely known in this country, and at one time to have exercised personally a greater influence than any bishop or priest in the Catholic Church. Little wonder, for his majestic presence and force of eloquence, Father Damen as a missionary rose to a success that surpassed anything ever before or since known in America. The fiery apostolic zeal of this beloved and pious priest can only scarcely be measured by the twelve thousand conversions to Catholicism for which he was responsible, often receiving as many as sixty or seventy souls into the Church in one day. For it must be noted, too, that in the midst of all this remarkable labor, he also managed to found and to organize the great Jesuit institutions of Chicago that stand today as monuments to his holy memory. What explains the inspiring achievements of Father Damen? As one writer expressed it: "He cared nothing for applause or criticism. He was working to save souls." In other words, his noble accomplishments were the fruits of immense charity. That is, charity in the truest sense: He loved God and his fellow man so much that he would spare no energy or effort that was necessary to wrest a soul from the spiritual error and darkness which would bring about its eternal loss. And to this saintly Jesuit, such was the certain fate always and everywhere present outside the One True Church. Father Damen preached in an age quite recent to our own, when Catholics not only still universally believed but lived by the infallibly declared, immutable constant dogma of the Faith: Outside the Church there is no salvation. This was, in fact, his whole creed and teaching, by which he effectively converted so many We are pleased to reprint Father Damen's compelling sermon, The One True Church, unedited, exactly as it was first published shortly after his death in 1890. In so doing, we have two purposes: One is to recall to our fellow Catholics of whatever rank or dignity within the Church that the unequivocal belief in the doctrine on salvation is not only essential to the recovery of the Faith from the grave errors which now corrupt it, but it is the inseparable mark of the true Church Militant. The second and all important purpose, of course, is to encourage Catholics to place this imperative message in the hands of non-Catholics. By so doing, all of you who help in such apostolic labors will be continuing the blessed work of the venerable priest, Arnold Damen.
The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
May 20, 1976
Feast of St. Bernardine of Siena
"The One True Church, The Only Church That Christ Established, is the Catholic Church."
-Arnold Damen S.J.
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned."
-Mark16:16
I.
My Dearly BelovedChristians:
From these words of our Divine Savior, it hasalready been proved to you, that Faith is necessary for Salvation, and withoutFaith there is no salvation; without Faith there is eternal damnation. Readyour own Protestant Bible, 16th verse of St. Mark, and you will find itstronger there than in the Catholic Bible. Now, then, what kind of Faith must aman have to be saved? Will any Faith do? Why, if any Faith will do, the devilhimself will be saved, for the Bible says the devils believe and tremble. Itis, therefore, not a matter of indifference what religion a man professes; hemust profess the right and true religion, and without that there is no hope ofsalvation, for it stands to reason, my dear people, that if God reveals a thingor teaches a thing, He wants to be believed. Not to believe is to insult God.Doubting His word, or believing even with doubt and hesitating, is an insult toGod, because it is doubting His Sacred Word. We must, therefore, believewithout doubting, without hesitating. I have said, out of the Catholic Churchthere is not Divine Faith; there can be no Divine Faith out of that Church.Some of my Protestant friends will be shocked at this, to hear me say that outof the Catholic Church there is no Divine Faith, and that without Faith thereis no salvation, but damnation. I will prove all I have said. I have said thatout of the Church there can be no Divine Faith. What is Divine Faith? When webelieve a thing upon the authority of God, and believe it without doubt,without hesitating. Now, all our separated brethren outside of the CatholicChurch take the private interpretation of the Bible for their guide; but theprivate interpretation of the Bible can never give them Divine Faith. Let me,for instance, suppose for a moment, here is a Presbyterian; he reads his Bible;from the reading of his Bible he comes to the conclusion that Jesus Christ isGod. Now, you know this is the most essential of all Christian doctrines, thefoundation of all Christianity. From the reading of his Bible he comes to theconclusion that Jesus Christ is God; and he is a sensible man, an intelligentman, and not a presumptuous man. And he says: here is my Unitarian neighbor,who is just as reasonable and intelligent as I am, as honest, as learned, andas prayerful as I am, and, from the reading of the Bible, he comes to theconclusion that Christ is not God at all. "Now," says he, "to the best of myopinion and judgment, I am right, and my Unitarian neighbor is wrong; but,after all," says he, "I may be mistaken! Perhaps I have not the right meaningof the text, and if I am wrong, perhaps he is right, after all; but, to thebest of my opinion and judgment, I am right and he is wrong." On what does hebelieve? On what authority? On his own opinion and judgment. And what is that?A human opinion, human testimony, and, therefore, a human faith. He cannot saypositively, "I am sure, positively sure, as sure as there is a God in heaven,that this is the meaning of the text." Therefore, he has no other authority buthis own opinion and judgment, and what his preacher tells him. But the preacheris a smart man. There are many smart Unitarian preachers, also, but that provesnothing; it is only human authority, and nothing else, and, therefore, onlyhuman faith. What is human faith? Believing a thing on the testimony of man.Divine Faith is believing on the testimony of God.
II.
The Catholic has Divine Faith, and why? Becausethe Catholic says: "I believe in such and such a thing." Why? "Because theChurch teaches me so." And why do you believe the Church? "Because God hascommanded me to believe the teaching of the Church; and God has threatened mewith damnation if I do not believe the Church, and we are taught by St. Peter,in his epistle, that there is no private prophecy or interpretation of theScriptures, for the unlearned and unstable wrest the very Scriptures, theBible, to their own damnation." That is strong language, my dear people, butthat is the language of St. Peter, the head of the Apostles. The unlearned andunstable wrest the Bible to their own damnation! And yet, after all, the Bibleis the book of God, the language of inspiration; at least, when you have a trueBible, as we Catholics have, and you Protestants have not. But, my dearlybeloved Protestant friends, do not be offended at me for saying that. Your ownmost learned preachers and bishops tell you that, and some have written wholevolumes in order to prove that the English translation, which you have, is avery faulty and false translation. Now, therefore, I say that the true Bible isas the Catholics have it, the Latin Vulgate; and the most learned among theProtestants themselves have agreed that the Latin Vulgate Bible, which theCatholic Church always makes use of, is the best in existence; and, therefore,it is, as you may have perceived, that when I preach I give the text in Latin,because the Latin text of the Vulgate is the best extant.
III.
Now, they may say that Catholics acknowledge theWord of God, that it is the language of inspiration; and that, therefore, weare sure that we have the word of God; but, my dear people, the very best thingmay be abused, the very best thing; and, therefore, our Divine Savior has givenus a living teacher, that is to give us the true meaning of the Bible. And Hehas provided a teacher with infallibility; and this was absolutely necessary,for without this, without infallibility we could never be sure of our Faith.There must be an infallibility; and we see that in every well-orderedgovernment, in every government; in England, in the United States, and in everycountry, empire and republic, there is a Constitution and a supreme law. Butyou are not at liberty to explain the Constitution and Supreme Law as you thinkproper, for then there would be no more law if every man were allowed toexplain the law and Constitution as he should think proper. Therefore, in allgovernments there is a supreme judge and supreme court, and to the supremejudge is referred all different understandings of the law and the Constitution.By the decisions of the supreme judge all have to abide, and if they did notabide by that decision why, my dear people, there would be no law any more, butanarchy, disorder and confusion. Again, suppose for a moment that the BlessedSavior has been less wise than human governments, and that He had not providedfor the understanding of His Constitution, and of His Law of the Church of God.If He had not, my dear people, it would never have stood as it has stood forthe last eighteen hundred and fifty four years. He has then established aSupreme Court, a Supreme Judge in the Church of the Living God.
IV.
It is admitted on all sides, by Protestants andCatholics alike acknowledged, that Christ has established a Church; and,strange to say, all our Protestant friends acknowledge, too, that He hasestablished but one Church, but one Church. for, whenever Christ speaks of HisChurch, it is always in the singular. Bible readers, remember that; myProtestant friends, pay attention. He says: Hear the Church, not "hear thechurches" I have built My Church upon a rock", not My churches.
WheneverHe speaks, whether in figures or parables of His Church, He always conveys tothe mind a oneness, a union, a unity. He speaks of His Church as a sheepfold,in which there is but one shepherd that is the head of all, and the sheep aremade to follow his voice; "other sheep I have who are not of this fold." Onefold, you see. He speaks of His Church as of a kingdom, in which there is butone king to rule all; speaks of His Church as a family in which there is butone father at the head; speaks of His Church as a tree, and all the branches ofthat tree are connected to the trunk, and the trunk with the roots; and Christis the root, and the trunk is Peter and the Popes, and the large branches arethe bishops, and the smaller branches the priests, and the fruit upon the treeare the faithful throughout the world; and the branch, says He, that is cut offfrom that tree shall wither away, produce no fruit, and is only fit to be castinto the fire, that is, damnation. This is plain speaking, my dear people; butthere is no use in covering the Truth. I want to speak the Truth to you, as theApostles preached it in their time;
no salvation out of the Church ofour Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
V.
Now, which is that Church? There are now threehundred and fifty different Protestant churches in existence, and almost everyear one or two more are added; and besides this number there is the RomanCatholic Church. Now, which of all these varied churches is the one Church ofour Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? All claim to be the Church of Jesus. But, mydear beloved people, it is evident no church can be the Church of Jesus exceptthe one that was established by Jesus. And when did Jesus establish His Church?When? When He was here upon earth. And how long ago is it that Christ was onearth? You know our Christian era dates from Him. He was born many centuriesago. That is an historical fact admitted by all. He lived on earth thirty-threeyears. That was about nineteen centuries before our time. That is the timeChrist established His Church on earth. Any Church, then, that has not existedthus long, is not the Church of Jesus Christ, but is the institution orinvention of some man or other; not of God, not of Christ, but of man. Now,where is the Church, and which is the Church that has existed thus long? Allhistory informs you that it is the Catholic Church; She, and She only among allChristian denominations on the face of the earth, has existed so long. Allhistory, I say, bears testimony to this; not only Catholic history, but Paganhistory, Jewish history, and Protestant history, indirectly. The history, then,of all nations, of all people, bears testimony that the Catholic Church is theoldest, the first; is the one established by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.If there be any Protestant preacher who can prove that the Catholic Church hascome into existence since that time let him come to see me, and I will give hima thousand dollars. My dear preachers, here is the chance of making money; athousand dollars for you. Not only all history, but all the monuments ofantiquity bear testimony to this, and all nations of the earth proclaim it.Call on one of your preachers and ask him which was the first church, the firstChristian Church. Was it Presbyterian, the Episcopalian, the Church of England,the Methodist, the Universalist or the Unitarian? And they will answer you itwas the Catholic Church. But, my dear friend, if you admit that the CatholicChurch is the first and oldest, the Church established by Christ, why are younot a Catholic? To this they answer that the Catholic Church has becomecorrupted; has fallen into error, and that, therefore, it was necessary toestablish a new church. A new church, a new religion. And to this we answer:that if the Catholic Church had been once the True Church, then She is Trueyet, and shall be the True Church of God to the end of time, or Jesus Christhas deceived us. Hear me, Jesus, here what I say! I say that if the CatholicChurch now, in the nineteenth century, is not the True Church of God as she was1854 years ago, then I say, Jesus, Thou has deceived us, and Thou art animpostor! And if I do not speak the truth, Jesus, strike me dead in thispulpit, let me fall dead in this pulpit, for I do not want to be a preacher ofa false religion!
VI.
I will prove what I have said. If the CatholicChurch has been once the True Church of God, as is admitted by all, then She isthe True Church yet, and shall be the True Church of God until the end of time,for Christ has promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against theChurch. He says that He has built it upon a rock, and that the gates of hellshall never prevail against it. Now, my dear people, if the Catholic Church hasfallen into error, then the gates of hell have prevailed against her; and ifthe gates of hell have prevailed against her, the Christ has not kept Hispromise, then He has deceived us, and if He has deceived us, the He is animpostor! If He be an impostor, then He is not God, and if He be not God, thenall Christianity is a cheat and in imposition. Again, in St. Matthew, 28thchapter and verses nineteen and twenty, our Divine Savior says to His Apostles:"Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of theFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe allthings whatsoever I have commanded you." "Lo," says He, "I, Jesus, the Son ofthe Living God, I, the Infinite Wisdom, the Eternal Truth, am with you alldays, even until the end of the world." Christ, then, solemnly swears that Heshall be with His Church all days to the end of time, to the consummation ofthe world. But Christ cannot remain with the Church that teaches error, orfalsehood, or corruption. If, therefore, the Catholic Church has fallen intoerror and corruption, as our Protestant friends say She has, then Christ musthave abandoned Her; if so, He has broken His oath; if He has broken His oath Heis a perjurer, and there is no Christianity at all. Again, our Divine Savior(St. John, 14th chapter), has promised that He would send to His Church theSpirit of truth, to abide with Her forever. If, then, the Holy Ghost, theSpirit of Truth, teaches the Church all Truth, and teaches her all Truthforever, then there never has been, and never can be, one single error in theChurch of God, for where there is all Truth, there is no error whatsoever.Christ has solemnly promised that He will send to the Church the Spirit ofTruth, who shall teach all Truth forever; therefore, there has never been asingle error in the Church of God, or Christ has failed in His promise if therehas. Again, Christ commands us to hear and believe the teachings of the Churchin all things; at all times and in all places. He does not say hear the Churchfor a thousand years or for fifteen hundred years, but hear the Church, withoutany limitation, without any reservation, or any restriction of time whatever.That is, at all times; in all things until the end of time, and he that doesnot hear the Church let him be unto thee, says Christ, as a heathen and as apublican. Therefore, Christ says that those who refuse to hear the Church mustbe looked upon as heathens; and what is a heathen? One that does not worshipthe True God; and a publican is a public sinner. This is strong language. CouldChrist command me to believe the Church if the Church could have lead me astraycould lead me into error? If the teaching of the Church be corrupt, could He,the God of Truth, command me without any restriction or limitation to hear andbelieve the teachings of the Church which He established? Again: Our DivineSavior commands me to hear and believe the teachings of the Church in the samemanner as if He Himself were to speak to us. "He that heareth you," says He, inHis charge to the Apostles, "heareth Me, and he that despiseth you despisethMe." So then, when I believe what the Church teaches I believe what Godteaches. If I refuse what the Church teaches I refuse what God teaches. So thatChrist has made the Church the organ by which He speaks to man, and tells uspositively that we must believe the teaching of the Church as if He Himselfwere to speak to us. Therefore, says St. Paul, in his Epistle to Timothy, "theChurch is the ground", that is, the strong foundation "and pillar of theTruth." Take the ground or foundation of this edifice away, and it crumblesdown; so with regard to these pillars upon which the roof rests; take them awayand the roof will fall in; so St. Paul says, "The Church is the ground and thepillar of Truth," and the moment you take away the authority of the Church ofGod you induce all kinds of errors and blasphemous doctrines. Do we not see it?
VII.
In the sixteenth century Protestantism did awaywith the authority of the Church and constituted every man his own judge of theBible, and what was the consequence? Religion upon religion, church uponchurch, sprang into existence, and has never stopped springing up new churchesto this day. When I gave my mission in Flint, Michigan, I invited, as I havedone here, my Protestant friends to come and see me. A good and intelligent mancame to me and said: "I will avail myself of this opportunity to converse withyou." "What Church do you belong to, my friend," said I. "To the Church of theTwelve Apostles," said he. "Ha! ha!" said I, "I belong to that Church, too.But, tell me, my friend, where was your Church started?" "In Terre Haute,Indiana," says he. "Who started the Church, and who were the Twelve Apostles,my friend?" said I. "They were twelve farmers," said he; "we all belonged tothe same Church, the Presbyterian, but we quarreled with our preacher,separated from him, and started a Church of our own." "And that," said I, "isthe Twelve Apostles you belonged to, twelve farmers of Indiana! The Church cameinto existence about thirty years ago." A few years ago, When I was in TerreHaute, I asked to be shown the Church of the Twelve Apostles. I was taken to awindow and it was pointed out to me, "but it is not in existence any more,"said my informant, "it is used as a wagon maker's shop now." Again, St. Paul,in his Epistles to the Galatians, says: "Though we Apostles, or even an angelof light were to come and preach to you a different Gospel from what we havepreached, let him be anathema." That is the language of St. Paul, because, mydearly beloved people, religion must come from God, not from man. No man has aright to establish a religion; no man has a right to dictate to his fellow manwhat he shall believe and what he shall do to save his soul. Religion must comefrom God, and any religion that is not established by God is a false religion,and a human institution, and not an institution of God; and therefore did St.Paul say in his Epistles to the Galatians, "Though we Apostles, or even anangel of light were to come and preach to you a different Gospel from what wehave preached, let him be anathema."
VIII.
You see, then, my dearly beloved people, from thetext of the Scripture I have quoted that, if the Catholic Church has once beenthe True Church, then She is yet the True Church. You have also seen from whatI have said that the Catholic Church is the institution of God, and not of man,and this is a fact, a fact of history, and no fact of history is so wellsupported, so well proved, as that the Catholic Church is the first, the Churchestablished by Jesus Christ. So, in like manner, it is an historical fact thatall the Protestant churches are the institutions of man, every one of them. AndI will give you their dates, and the names of their founders or instituters. Inthe year 1520, 368 years ago, the first Protestant came into the world. Beforethat one there was not a Protestant in the world, not one on the face of thewhole earth; and that one, as all history tells us, was Martin Luther, who wasa Catholic Priest, who fell away from the Church through pride, and married anun. He was excommunicated from the Church, cut off, banished, and made a newreligion of his own. Before Martin Luther there was not a Protestant in theworld; he was the first to raise the standard of rebellion and revolt againstthe Church of God. He said to his disciples that they should take the Bible fortheir guide, and they did so. But they soon quarreled with him, Zwingli, and anumber of others, and every one of them started a new religion of his own.After the disciples of Martin Luther came John Calvin, who in Genevaestablished the Presbyterian religion, and hence, almost all of those religionsgo by the name of their founder. I ask the Protestant, "Why are you a Lutheran,my friend?" "Well, says he, "because I believe in the doctrine of MartinLuther." Hence, not of Christ, but of man, Martin Luther. And what kind of manwas he? A man who had broken the solemn oath he had made at the altar of God,at his ordination, ever to lead a pure, single, and virginal life. He brokethat solemn oath, and married a Sister Catherine, who had also taken the sameoath of chastity and virtue. And this was the first founder of Protestantism inthe world. The very name by which they are known tells you they came fromMartin Luther. So. The Presbyterians are sometimes called Calvinists becausethey come from, or profess to believe in, John Calvin.
IX.
After them came Henry VIII. He was a Catholic,and defended the Catholic religion; he wrote a book against Martin Luther indefense of the Catholic doctrine. That book I have myself seen in the libraryof the Vatican at Rome a few years ago. Henry VIII defended the religion, andfor doing so was titled by the Pope "Defender of the Faith." It came down withhis successors, and Queen Victoria inherits it today. He was married toCatherine of Aragon; but there was at his court a maid of honor to the Queen,named Ann Boleyn, who was a beautiful woman, and captivating in appearance.Henry was determined to have her. But he was a married man. He put in apetition to the Pope to be allowed to marry her; and a foolish petition it was,for the Pope had no power to grant the prayer of it. The Pope and all thebishops of the world cannot go against the will of God. Christ says: "If a manputteth away his wife and marrieth another, he committeth adultery, and he thatmarrieth her who is put away committeth adultery also." As the Pope would notgrant the prayer of Henry's petition he took Ann Boleyn anyhow, and wasexcommunicated from the Church. After awhile there was another maid of honorprettier than the first, more beautiful and charming in the eyes of Henry, andhe said he must have her, too. He took the third wife, and a fourth, fifth andsixth followed. Now this is the founder of the Anglican Church, the Church ofEngland; and, therefore, it is that it goes by the name of the Church ofEngland. Our Episcopalian friends are making great efforts nowadays to callthemselves Catholic, but they shall never come to it. They own that the nameCatholic is a glorious one, and they would like to possess it. The Apostlessaid: "I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church"; they never said,in the Anglican Church. The Anglicans deny their religion, for they say theybelieve in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church. Ask them if they areCatholics, and they say, "Yes, but not Roman Catholics; we are EnglishCatholics." What is the meaning of the word Catholic? It comes from the Greekword Catholicus; universal, spread all over the earth, and everywhere the same.Now, first of all, the Anglican Church is not spread all over the earth; itonly exists in a few countries, and chiefly only where the English language isspoken. Secondly, they are not the same all over the earth, for there are nowfour different Anglican churches; the Low Church, the High Church, theRitualist Church and the Puseyite Church. Catholicus means more than this, notonly spread all over the earth and everywhere the same, but it means, moreover,at all times the same, from Christ up to the present day. Now, then, they havenot been in existence from the time of Christ. There never was an EpiscopalianChurch or an Anglican Church before Henry VIII. The Catholic Church had alreadyexisted fifteen hundred years before the Episcopal came into the world. AfterEpiscopalianism different other churches sprang up. Next came the Methodist,about one hundred and fifty years ago. It was started by John Wesley, who wasat first a member of the Episcopalian Church; subsequently he joined theMoravian Brethren, but not liking them, he maid a religion of his own, theMethodist Church. After John Wesley several others sprang up; and finally camethe Campbellites, about sixty years ago. This Church was established byAlexander Campbell, a Scotchman.
X.
Well, now, my dear beloved people, you may thinkthat the act of the "twelve apostles" of Indiana was a ridiculous one, but theyhad as much right to establish a church as had Henry VIII, or Martin Luther, orJohn Calvin. They had no right at all, and neither had Henry VIII, or the restof them any right whatsoever. Christ had established His Church and given Hissolemn oath that His Church should stand to the end of time: He promised thatHe had built it upon a rock, and that the gates of hell should never prevailagainst it; hence, my dear people, all those different denominations ofreligion are the invention of man; and I ask you can a man save the soul of hisfellow man by any institution he can make? Must not religion come from God?And, therefore, my dearly beloved separated brethren, think over it seriously.You have a soul to be saved, and that soul must be saved or damned; either oneor the other, it will dwell with God in heaven or with the devil in hell;therefore, seriously meditate upon it. When I gave my Mission in Brooklynseveral Protestants became Catholics. Among them there was a very highlyeducated and intelligent Virginian. He was a Presbyterian. After he hadlistened to my lecture he went to see his minister, and he asked him to be kindenough to explain a text of the Bible. The minister gave him the meaning."Well, now," said the gentleman, "are you positive and sure that is the meaningof the text, for several other Protestants explain it differently?" "Why, mydear young man," says the preacher, "we never can be certain of our faith.""Well, then," says the young man, "good-bye to you: If I cannot be sure of myfaith in the Protestant church, I will go where I can." And he became aCatholic. We are sure of our Faith in the Catholic Church, and if our Faith isnot true, Christ has deceived us. I would, therefore, beg you, my separatedbrethren, to procure for yourselves Catholic Books. You have read a great dealagainst the Catholic Church, now read something in favor of it. You can neverpass an impartial sentence if you do not hear both sides of the question. Whatwould you think of a judge before whom a policeman would bring a poor offender,and who on the charge of the policeman, without hearing the prisoner, wouldorder him to be hung? "Give me a hearing," says the poor man, "and I will provemy innocence. I am not guilty," says he. The policeman says he is guilty."Well, hang him anyhow," says the judge. What would you say of that judge?Criminal judge! Unfair man; you are guilty of the blood of the innocent! Wouldnot you say that? Of course you would. Well now, my dearly beloved Protestantfriends, that is what you have been doing all along; you have been hearing oneside of the question and condemning us Catholics as a superstitious lot ofpeople, going and telling their sins to the priest; and what, after all, is thepriest more than any other man?
My dear friends, have you examined the other side of the question? No, you donot think it worth your while; but this is the way the Jews dealt with our Lordand Savior Jesus Christ; and this is the way the Pagans and Jews dealt with theApostles, the ministers of the Church, and with the primitive Christians. Allowme to tell you, my friends, that you have been treating us precisely in thesame way the Jews and Pagans treated Jesus Christ and His Apostles. I have saidthis evening hard things, but if St. Paul were here tonight, in this pulpit, hewould have said harder things still. I have said them, however, not through aspirit of unkindness, but through a spirit of love, and a spirit of charity, inthe hope of opening your eyes that your souls my be saved. It is love for yoursalvation, my dearly beloved Protestant brethren, for which I would gladly givemy heart's blood; my love for your salvation that has made me preach to you asI have done.
XI.
"Well," say my Protestant friends, "if a manthinks he is right would he not be right?" Let us suppose now a man in Ottawa,who wants to go to Chicago, but takes a car for New York; the conductor asksfor his ticket; and he at once says: "You are in the wrong car; your ticket isfor Chicago, but you are going to New York." "Well, what of that?" Says thepassenger. "I mean well." "Your meaning will not go well with you in the end,"says the conductor, "for you will come out at New York instead of Chicago." Yousay you mean well, my dear friends; your meaning will not take you to heaven;you must do well also. "He that doeth the will of My Father," says Jesus, "healone shall be saved." There are millions in hell who meant well. You must dowell, and be sure you are doing well, to be saved. I thank my separatedbrethren for their kindness in coming to these controversial lectures. I hope Ihave said nothing to offend them. Of course, it would be nonsense for me not topreach Catholic Doctrines.
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