Sermons of the Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul: With a Memoir of His LifeBaker, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius)
Religion
Sermons of the Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul: With a Memoir of His Life
Baker, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius)
Baker, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius), 1820-1865; Catholic Church -- Sermons; Sermons, American -- 19th century
The utmost that can
be said of them is, that they affirm and exact episcopal
ordination as requisite to a complete conformity to the polity
established by the Apostles. They do not, however, assert, or
require their clergy to believe, the necessity of apostolic
succession to the being of a Church. Their standards are so
constructed as to afford a shelter and a warrant to those who
hold this and several other Catholic doctrines and principles.
These doctrines are not, however, officially put forward as a
term of communion, or a condition for ordination. The official
doctrine of a Church is limited to that which it exacts by
authority and under penalty of its teachers to hold and profess.
It comes down to the lowest level of doctrine, which its teachers
can hold, and still be reputed sound and orthodox clergymen. Now
a very low Protestantism is all that even High Church bishops can
exact from candidates for the priesthood or the episcopacy.
"Anglo-Catholic" doctrine is nothing but the tolerated opinion of
a certain party. Therefore, on these "Anglo-Catholic" principles,
and according to the doctrine and decisions of the Greek Church,
the Protestant Episcopal Church is schismatical and heretical,
because she enforces nothing by her authority beyond
Protestantism, which is heresy according to that standard of
doctrine which was universally acknowledged before the
"separation of the East and West," and accepted both by Greeks
and "Anglo-Catholics." According to those principles, then, which
would condemn the Roman Church of heresy and schism, all
Episcopal Churches in the world have fallen away from the unity
of faith established by our Lord, and the Catholic Church exists
no more.
{54}
Hence, even an "Anglo-Catholic," if he would not be driven into
the arms of pure Protestantism, and consort with those followers
of Luther and Calvin who are disowned by Bishop Griswold and his
associates, are forced to make common cause with Rome and her
Catholic communion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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