An Essay on the Development of Christian DoctrineNewman, John Henry
Religion
An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine
Newman, John Henry
Catholic Church -- Doctrines; Dogma, Development of
One additional specimen shall be given as a sample of many others:--I
betake myself to one of our altars to receive the Blessed Eucharist; I
have no doubt whatever on my mind about the Gift which that Sacrament
contains; I confess to myself my belief, and I go through the steps on
which it is assured to me. "The Presence of Christ is here, for It
follows upon Consecration; and Consecration is the prerogative of
Priests; and Priests are made by Ordination; and Ordination comes in
direct line from the Apostles. Whatever be our other misfortunes, every
link in our chain is safe; we have the Apostolic Succession, we have a
right form of consecration: therefore we are blessed with the great
Gift." Here the question rises in me, "Who told you about that Gift?" I
answer, "I have learned it from the Fathers: I believe the Real Presence
because they bear witness to it. St. Ignatius calls it 'the medicine of
immortality:' St. Irenæus says that 'our flesh becomes incorrupt, and
partakes of life, and has the hope of the resurrection,' as 'being
nourished from the Lord's Body and Blood;' that the Eucharist 'is made
up of two things, an earthly and an heavenly:'[23:1] perhaps Origen, and
perhaps Magnes, after him, say that It is not a type of our Lord's Body,
but His Body: and St. Cyprian uses language as fearful as can be spoken,
of those who profane it. I cast my lot with them, I believe as they."
Thus I reply, and then the thought comes upon me a second time, "And do
not the same ancient Fathers bear witness to another doctrine, which
you disown? Are you not as a hypocrite, listening to them when you will,
and deaf when you will not? How are you casting your lot with the
Saints, when you go but half-way with them? For of whether of the two do
they speak the more frequently, of the Real Presence in the Eucharist,
or of the Pope's supremacy? You accept the lesser evidence, you reject
the greater."
18.
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