Part 1

Transcribed from the 1827 [Third edition] M. Goodwin edition by David Price, email [email protected]

[Picture: Pamphlet cover]

A PLAIN STATEMENT OF THE DOCTRINES OBJECTED TO IN THE CHURCH OF ROME,

AND THE

REASONS FAIRLY ASSIGNED FOR SEPARATING FROM HER COMMUNION.

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BY JOSEPH REILLY, _Late a Roman Catholic Student_.

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“The Ancients are to be followed not one step further than they follow Truth.”—_Just. Mart._ c. i. _ad. Ant. Imp._

“Prove all things, _hold fast_ that which is good.”—_St. Paul_.

THIRD EDITION.

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DUBLIN

PRINTED BY M. GOODWIN, 29, DENMARK-STREET.

1827.

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TO THE READER.

HAVING never before had any necessity of appearing before the Public, especially on such an occasion as this, it is with much reluctance I am, in defence of my character, now compelled to give a fair and candid statement of the motives that induced me to leave the Church of Rome; which I did not do, until I tried every means to quiet an anxious mind, and troubled conscience, and after many private and public interviews with my Pastor, each of which only augmented, nay, confirmed my doubts of several of the doctrines of the Church of Rome, (hereafter stated,) because I found by such interviews I had nothing from God’s word to rely upon; nothing but tradition and the assertions of interested men to rest my hope of salvation upon; and even these when _fairly examined_ could not afford me any plausible authority for the articles of religion doubted of. I little thought, after having acted as I did, by continuing to meet the Priest at every time and place he appointed, to remove my doubts of certain doctrines which I conceive were unauthorised by God’s Holy Word, and therefore not taught by our Lord and his Apostles; (these interviews I continued, until he candidly told me he _was not able_ to satisfy me, and said he could not blame me to follow the dictates of my conscience.) I say, then, I little thought that after this I would be obliged to vindicate myself from aspersions, resorted to evidently to deter others from pursuing a similar course; that, at the expense of my reputation, they might suppress the general and so much dreaded inquiries of the public mind after truth. I therefore lay before the public and the candid reader a plain statement of facts, and let my motives, and necessity for so doing, be my apology for its inaccuracies.

THE AUTHOR.

A PLAIN STATEMENT, &c.

HAVING been intended by my parents for a Clergyman of the Church of Rome, I was brought up and educated for that purpose, under the immediate care of my late uncle, the Rev. Edmund Reilly. P.P. of Killesandra, until his decease in 1814. I persevered, however, and having finished the studies requisite for admittance to College, I was recommended to the Rev. Dr. Reilly, Bishop of Kilmore, for admittance on the establishment of Maynooth. I received for answer, that in consequence of the many applications, prior to mine, his Lordship could not then procure me a place; but being desirous for that office, (as intended,) I renewed my application for the American mission, and obtained from my Bishop an “_Exeat_,” and recommendatory letter for that purpose as follows:

“Fargalus, Dei _et Apostolicæ sedis gratia_ Kilmoriensis Episcopus in Hibernia, &c.

“Testamur per presentes, Dominum, Josephum Reilly, nostræ prædictæ Dioecesis alumnum, natum ex legitimo thoro, hactenus ibidem probe, and Chrsitiane vixisse, et multa solidæ pietatis specimina dedisse, cum autem educationis et missionis gratia Americam (seu allo) proficisci decreverit, eundem omnibus et singulis intime commendamus, &c. &c. datum hoc die decimo septimo junii.

“Anno Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, millessimo octingentessimo decimo octavo.

FARGALUS, qui supra.”

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“Fargalus, by the Grace of God, and of the Apostolical See, Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland, &c.

“We testify by these Presents, that Mr. Joseph Reilly of the aforesaid Diocese, legitimately born and brought up, has hitherto lived there in an honest and Christian manner, and has given many proofs of solid piety. But having for his learning and mission’s sake resolved to proceed to America or elsewhere, we earnestly recommend him to all and every one of our brethren, &c. &c.

“Dated June 17th, in the Year of our Lord Jesus Christ 1818.

FARGALUS, qui supra.”

During my preparation to go on said mission, I was informed by several clergymen of the Church of Rome, who had correspondence with the then Roman Catholic Bishop of New York, that no person would be received there as a clergyman, unless well qualified to preach and defend the Gospel; as in that free country every person has the liberty of objecting to any doctrines unauthorized by the Gospel. This led me to apply myself seriously to the study of the Scriptures, in order to be capable of vindicating the religion I was about to teach; to whose sacred contents, till then, I was nearly as great a stranger as to the Koran of Mahomet. Why, oh! why should any person, designed to teach the Christian religion, remain so very ignorant of the foundation of all true and saving knowledge, as if the knowledge of that which alone can make men wise unto salvation, were of minor importance, if not altogether unnecessary? But, alas this is the case with regard to candidates for the Roman Catholic Priesthood.

I also had several conversations with some of my Protestant neighbours, on many of the controverted points of doctrines taught in the Church of Rome, which still made me feel more forcibly the necessity of being well versed in Scripture, in order to be able to withstand and confute every objection that might be raised against my creed, which was the sole object of my pursuit thus far. In the course of my reading the Scriptures, I was particularly struck with our Lord’s last charge to his disciples, as in Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Also the following passages, “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo! I am with you always even to the end of the world,” &c. Mark xvi. 15, 16. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Luke xxiv. 47, 48. “And that repentance and forgiveness of sins be preached in my name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Gal. i. 8. “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel, let him be accursed.” Col. iii. 16. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns,” &c. Acts xiii. 38, 39. “Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this Man is PREACHED UNTO YOU THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, and by him all _who believe_ are _justified from all things_.” Acts v. 31. “Him God hath exalted a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” Compare with Acts x. 43. And Acts x. 35. with Rom. ii. 8–11. “Glory, honour, and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. But indignation and wrath upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile, for there is no respect of persons with God.” “The Gentiles having not the law, are a law unto themselves; their conscience in the mean time accusing or excusing them.”

From all these testimonies of holy writ, I saw with great astonishment, 1st. That to the end of time, every preacher sent of Christ, and really belonging to him, must preach diligently to all people, every thing which He preached, and must not add nor diminish ought, on pain of eternal wrath; and that in the GOSPEL alone are to be found all these things which must be so taught. 2dly. That “repentance and remission of sins,” appear to be the essence of the Gospel. 3dry. That the people are to be informed of this, or “that this is to be made known and preached to them.” That in order to obtain these great gifts of God, and be saved, they must repent, believe in Christ, and earnestly ask them by importunate prayer to God, and to God alone; which if they neglect not, they shall succeed, “for every one that asketh receiveth.” Matt. vii. 8, and vi. 12. “Our Father—forgive us our trespasses,” &c. and thus shall they, according to the Gospel, this message from God delivered them, “be loosed” by the Holy Ghost (whom God given to all who thus obey his Gospel) from all their sins, condemnation, and liability to punishment: and this, through the alone infinite merits and “blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin.” 1 John i. 7. But that such as will neglect or not believe this Gospel, this divine message, “must be bound,” (i.e.) be condemned; and therefore, that it is God himself, not his servants, that will most assuredly confirm to all believers severally, the message thus delivered by his faithful messengers, and will loose or bind them, forgive or condemn them, severally, according to his Gospel; and therefore, that in the Gospel it is no where found, that any power, farther than this, is given to the servants of God. For though Jeremiah was commissioned of God “to build and to plant kingdoms and nations, to pull down and to destroy them,” (Jer. i. 10.–xvii. 7, 8, 10) yet he never did any such thing in whole or in part, actually, but declaratively only; he delivered his message from God, and according as it was obeyed or rejected, so were those to whom it was sent planted or destroyed—rewarded or punished. And in this sense were the apostles, by preaching the Gospel, to forgive sins, to bind and loose; and also to remove, in conjunction with the members, from the society or church, incorrigible offenders, or to receive them again on true repentance. 1 Cor. v. 1, 5.–2 Cor. ii. 7, 10.

4thly. That, whereas Christ commanded his Gospel to be given and carefully taught to every creature, that it might dwell richly in them; so every creature, therefore, should, above all books and things have the Gospel, and that, to prevent this in any wise, it not to obey Christ, but to contravene his will, which would, of course, be the designation of false and antichristian prophets.

To claim, then, an authority from Christ, to prevent even children from hearing, learning, or having the Gospel, (for Timothy from a child knew the Scriptures) is claiming authority from Christ, to contradict himself, which it blasphemy.

Contrasting these impressive charges, which we must believe, and these doctrines and observations so plainly and so legibly contained therein, with many of the present doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome, I found them in my mind so incongruous, that it became a matter of serious and anxious inquiry how to reconcile such mighty difficulties. Hearing that the ancient Fathers had authorised the doctrines and practices of the church, I had recourse to their writings, and to my astonishment found that they had exalted the authority of the Holy Scriptures, and extolled their divine precepts as the only true and unerring guide to eternal happiness.

This led me to inquire the reason why the present Church of Rome, which professes to be the only true, infallible, holy, and apostolic guide to heaven, differed so essentially both from Scripture and the Ancient Church; and why, instead of following the parting injunctions of our blessed Lord, her priests teach many contrary doctrines, to the injury of many piously disposed minds, leading them from the essential truths of salvation, by faith in the atonement alone, to church authorities lately invented, (to say no worse,) which cannot profit, and to ceremonies and forms of worship unknown in the Primitive Church of Christ?

I anticipate the inconceivably awful condition of a dying sinner, knowing scarcely any thing of the religion of the Lord Jesus but what is represented to his senses by the ceremonies of the mass, the gestures of the Priest, and some vague notions he may form from what is repeated for him in a strange tongue, and I could not but conclude that such ceremonies were ill calculated to give sinners a well grounded hope of salvation; and this I was convinced of, even from seeing the Roman Catholics scramble on Sundays after mass for holy water, holy candles, palm, ashes, &c.—I found on the other hand that the Holy Scriptures reveal Jesus Christ to be the _only true_, _and yet_ an _all_ sufficient Saviour.—Acts iv. 11, 12, and Heb. vii. 25. That he is made unto all believers, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,—1 Cor. i. 30. And that they who ask from our heavenly Father for his Son’s sake, shall receive this salvation, and the fruits of their having received it, will be afterwards manifested in their life and conversation.

No Christian will deny that this is the Gospel way of salvation from sin; and if so, why lead the unwary into the labyrinths of useless ceremonies? One who knows the value of souls cannot but feel deep concern and regret for the delusion of a generous, zealous, and unsuspecting people.

These considerations urged me to state some of the many errors which caused me to separate from a people, whose welfare I shall ever have at heart. I have experienced many signal favours from them, and know the unbounded confidence they place in him, to whom they intrust their salvation. My heart’s desire and prayer for them is, that they may be saved; for I bear them record, they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. To them also were committed the oracles of God, but they have preferred the traditions of men, and awfully surrender their Bible, their only unerring guide, and submitted to learn the doctrines of Jesus Christ, not from his holy word and that of his Apostles, but from men in general very deficient in Scriptural knowledge. {9}

Could I address them, it would be thus: Believe no teacher that comes in the shape of man, or angel; but try the spirits; consult the word of God, that cannot deceive you; compare the words and the actions of men with what you read there, and he who comes nearest to the doctrines of Christ, listen to him, for the Apostle Paul has said, “Though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel than that already delivered unto you, let him be accursed.”

From all the above considerations and many others which cannot be contained in the limits of a small pamphlet, a serious impression was made on my mind for years, which was increased by being sometimes called on to defend the doctrine of Invocation of Saints, Purgatory, &c. on all such occasions, I found I had not Scriptural, not even rational arguments to support their authenticity; but being still strongly prejudiced in favour of the mother church, I considered her authority was founded by Jesus Christ, and that doubting of her doctrine, would be a glaring breach of the faith of our blessed Lord.

Let me now for a moment advert to that which held me so long in suspense, namely, being instructed from my infancy to believe, “that to doubt of any article of faith taught by the church, would be dangerous to my salvation;” and this, I know, keeps many from following that plain and most necessary direction of the Apostle, “examine yourselves whether ye be in this faith or not; know ye not yourselves, how that Christ Jesus dwelleth in you, except ye be reprobates.” It appeared a most necessary duty for the Apostle to impress on his flock, to examine themselves, to prove and try whether they were _now_ in the faith or not; whether they enjoyed it, or whether they might not be resting in the name, without the power or practice of experimental religion, as taught by him; he knew the name availeth nothing without the spirit of genuine religion, influencing both the heart and life of its professor. May this salutary, and most necessary command be no longer overlooked; and the mere name (which is but the shadow,) be no longer vainly substituted in its stead.

I again had recourse to Scripture, tradition, &c. to be able to defend her doctrines, but in every attempt to do so, I was secretly forced to feel my incapacity to withstand the convincing truths of God’s word. Here the reader may easily imagine what anxiety of mind I felt, on discovering errors in my mother church, so manifest, that all endeavours to gloss them over with far-strained arguments, and make them appear plausible, to individuals even of ordinary capacities, proved ineffectual, and recoiled with double force on my own conscience. Thus, after various perplexities of mind, I communicated my sentiments to a near relative, (now in College) whom I considered more competent in such important matters, whose superior knowledge I presumed would be capable of removing my doubts, without any further exposure of what I then considered so dangerous to entertain.

Oh! what infatuation—the offspring of prejudice was this; how many blessed religious enquiries are thus stifled by bigotry! How preferable was the conduct of the noble Bereans, Acts xvii. 11. who, when they heard Paul and Silas preach to them the Gospel, searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so, and many of them believed. But the fear of man, a false notion of honour, and a reluctance to forsake a system, though evidently erroneous, and supported by hereditary custom alone, deter many from yielding to conviction. I must say, my friend equally felt the importance of our inquiry; we spent whole days together, comparing the texts of the Douay and Protestant versions; but this proved ineffectual, to support the doctrines I doubted of, and only contributed to increase the anxiety of my mind. The idea of having so many of my relatives connected with the church of Rome from time immemorial, often induced me to imagine my doubts originated in some weakness of mind and want of understanding; it would be endless to describe all the various fluctuations of mind I underwent, and the different means resorted to, to quiet such.

At length, unable to sustain a burdened mind any longer, I went to my Clergyman, the Rev. Mr. M‘Gouran, for whom I had the highest veneration and esteem, stating plainly to him the situation of my mind, and the particular articles of his creed I doubted of; solemnly avowing (which was the case) that I only sought instruction, if I were in error, as I believed I was; for, after reading the Scriptures and a great part of the ancient and modern works on the authenticity of the Roman Catholic Religion, I could find no tenable proofs for these following doctrines, viz. Invocation of Saints, Purgatory, Indulgences, Transubstantiation, Auricular Confession, and the Sacrifice and the Ceremony of the Mass in an unknown tongue, substituted for the Preaching of the pure Gospel; but that, which of all other doctrines shocked and disgusted me most was, the Adoration of the Host, or Wafer, in Masses, Processions, &c. I therefore humbly appealed to him to satisfy me from any part of God’s word on the above articles, declaring to him I wanted only to be convinced of the above doctrines; and if so, I would remain an obedient son of the church during life, or if not, that as my salvation was dearer to me than life, I would separate from his church.—In this the searcher of hearts knows I had nothing in view more than to rest my belief and hope of salvation on Jesus Christ, and to be guided by his doctrines contained in his holy word.

In justice to this Gentleman, I must say he tried every possible means with me, at different times and places, but to no purpose. At length, seeing my uneasiness, and feeling for my situation, he requested me to go to his house, and if he could not succeed in removing my doubts, he would allow me to follow the dictates of my conscience. Accordingly I went repeatedly, and he very patiently heard all my objections to his creed, produced various authorities, chiefly from the Holy Fathers, all inconclusive, and insufficient to maintain the above doctrines. In vain we sought for Scriptural authority from them in any part of the sacred volume; (for such were my convictions, that no inferior or after devised authorities could satisfy my inquiry after truth,) at the same time I asked him, how could I be blamed for separating from him and following the dictates of my conscience? To which he then agreed, and so we parted with the same candour and friendship that ever existed between us, deeply sensible of the favour he had conferred on me, by patiently hearing my objections to the doctrines and practices of his church.

My doubts being now confirmed, the situation of my mind cannot be easily conceived. To follow the dictates of conscience I was fully resolved, God being my helper; yet, I could not but foresee the difficulties that lay before me; my mother a widow, in a great degree dependant on me; my friends and acquaintances who, I knew, did not see or feel as I did, but on the contrary would look on me as mad, and consequently must consider myself as separated from them for life; I felt all this to its utmost extent. I thought on that saying of our blessed Lord, “he that loveth father or mother, or houses or land, more than me, it not worthy of me.” I considered my salvation dearer than all the world beside; with these views and reflections I resolved to commit my cause to him who has said, “cast your burthen on the Lord and he will sustain you,” and leave the event to him, who has also said, “fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him who it able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Thus far, having laid before you, candid reader, and my dear fellow-countrymen, whom, at God knows, I love, a true statement of the origin, progress and confirmation of my doubts of the doctrines I objected to in the Church of Rome, together with the various means I had recourse to for instruction and certainty on these matters, till the final interview as above mentioned. After this I little thought of ever hearing the voice of calumny raised against me, and sinister conjectures put on the motives that induced me to act at I did, this being a matter that could be judged only by him who reads the secrets of all hearts. No slanderous insinuations that could be devised against my person, nor fear as to their consequence where I am known, could induce me to take any notices of such on my account; but I feel myself called upon as a duty I owe to my merciful God and his holy truth, and for the sake of others that may be in similar circumstances, to vindicate the propriety of leaving the Church of Rome, a Church whose doctrines I saw could not be supported by divine truth. And many such I know there are on whose minds the light of truth is beginning to dawn, therefore if this humble, unadorned, yet true statement may prove useful to any of those, the object I have in view will be fully attained, and outweigh all the sneering invectives that may be poured on this artless production.