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they have established themselves . " We so far agree with him as to think , that it was an absurdity to strip the Pope of his spiritual supremacy , for the purpose of bestowing it on the sovereign ; and we know not how the King , with all the united wisdom of both Houses of Parliament , can decide more authoritatively on matters of faith , than the Pope with the assistance of his general councils . On this subject we have a long extract from the titular Bishop of Kiidare and LeighhVs Reply to Dr . Magee .
His Lordship next observes , that the oaths call upon him to profess , testify , and declare , solemnly and sincerely , in the presence of God , not merely " that he does not believe in transubstantiation , but that he believes there is no such thing as transubstantiation ; and , moreover , that what he does believe on this point , he believes in the sense in which it is commonly understood by English Protestants . " This , as his Lordship has well expressed , is very like " requiring men to swear to a belief in doctrines which
they know not where to find . " Nothing can be more indefinite than the Thirty-nine Articles and the Church Catechism upon this subject . Many of the old divines seem to hold the same opinions as the Church of Rome . Dr . Andrews , Dr . Lawrence , Archbishop Laud , Bishop Bramhall , &c , all seem to be of opinion that Christ is really present in the Eucharist , and that the only dispute is de modo presentiae . While Lutherans agreed with Catholics in contending for the real presence , the Zuinglians and Calvinists
considered it as a bare figure and memorial of the death of Christ ; and m framing the Articles , the Catechism , and the Rubrics , attempts were made to please and satisfy both parties , till the thing was left so indistinct that it might be understood by Calvinisr , Lutheran , or Catholic , almost as they pleased . Lord S , with every sincere Catholic believes that transubstantiation does take place in the Eucharist in the manner in which it is taught and explained in the Catholic church , *« He believes it because the Church has
always taught it . " Like every other tenet of her creed , " the Catholic Church can trace the belief in transubstantiation up to the very sera of the apostles by an unbroken series of authentic history , by the luminous evidence of those unexceptionable attestators of truth , the fathers of the church . " In proof of this assertion , he has inserted at large in the
Appendix , many quotations from both the Greek and Latin fathers ; but how does it appear that these pious writers meant by the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist , any thing more than what the generality of Protestants meana figurative memorial df the death of Christ , and the purity of heart which his religion inculcates ? The expressions of some arc indeed violently meta- > phorical , but all , or at least the for greater part , capable of this explanation .
" But wh y should we have recourse to the testimony of history and the opinion of the fathers while we have the evidence of the Scripture and the words of Christ himself to guide us ? On this point it is not probable that his Lordshi p $ nd his Protestant antagonists will rnake much progress towards community of opinion . The third objection of his Lordship respects the invocation of the Virgin . M ^ ry and Qther saints which the oaths require him to declare , superstitious and idolatrous , ; whereas , in accordance , with the Council of Treut , our au ^ thor believes that « Uhe saints reigning with Christ offer up their prayers tQ GocJ fqr men ; that it js good and p rofitable s , uppli&njly to invoke them , ^ nd to h&ve recourse ; to their supplication ;* w <\ assistance , \ x \ order to . obtain favou r * from . Gofr trough hi ? JSw Jew Christ
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1828, page 463, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2562/page/31/
