All Articles For Contending for the Faith

In conclusion, as far as our presentation of the Lutheran view of the Lord’s Supper is concerned, we would make a final observation, namely that it is not clear exactly what the Lutherans mean when they speak of the benefits which are derived from the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. On the one hand, Luther commonly represents its special benefit to be the forgiveness of sins, which is received only when faith is exercised. This effect, then, is not due to what is in the sacrament received by the mouth, but to the Word as received by faith.

Another attribute of the church of God is its holiness. As one might expect, also Rome maintains the holiness of the church. This lies in the nature of the case. Scripture speaks only too plainly of the holiness of the church of God, and Rome must maintain this attribute of the church. However, Rome does not speak of the holiness of the church in the same sense as it is set forth by the Protestant view. When Rome speaks of the holiness of the church it refers, in the first place, to a liturgical, ceremonial holiness, consisting in this that...

It is evident that Rome’s conception of the holiness of the church is, first of all, to be understood as referring to a liturgical, ceremonial holiness, consisting in this that the church, as institute, possesses the proper form of worship and the proper use of the sacraments, through which the Lord works holiness in the believers as through these powerful means and instruments of Divine grace. And, in the second place, Rome refers to personal holiness, although we must remember that this holiness does not necessarily have to be the possession of all or of most within the church, but...

Although we must yet call attention to the Reformed conception of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, we may now present, in brief, the three. Protestant theories of this means of grace. As far as the Zwinglian theory is concerned, that has been commonly defined as the commemoration theory, according to which the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is merely a remembrance feast, a remembrance of the death of our departed Friend.

What Roman Catholicism means when it speaks of the holiness of the Church is evident from the articles or answers which we quoted from “Radio Replies by the Fathers Rumble and Carty.” The holiness of the Church refers to its holiness in its Founder, Christ Jesus, its teachings, sacramental system of grace, and in its members. Rome, of course, identifies with Protestantism also every sect that has its origin in Protestantism, regardless of the fact that that sect is completely unworthy to be called Protestant. True Protestantism, we understand, maintains the Word of God, the holy Scriptures, and does not...

Concluding our articles on the Lutheran view of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the following quotation or quotations from the History of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff may be of interest to our readers. In these quotations we obtain a picture of Luther’s attitude toward those whom he called the sacramentarians toward the end of his life, and this certainly confirms that the blame for the split in the ranks of Protestantism must be laid at the door of the German Reformer. We quote from Volume VII of this work of Schaff, pages 654, ff. 

We wish to continue with our quotations from Volume II of the Radio Replies by the Fathers Rumble and Carty. It is our desire and wish to expose the Romish desecration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as set forth in its doctrine of transubstantiation, also and particularly as that church attempts to maintain this conception upon the basis of Holy Writ. It is well that we understand the absurdity and wickedness of this conception which is called by our confessions a gross and accursed idolatry. 

According To The Fathers (continued) Philip Schaff, in his “History of the Christian Church,” discusses in Vol. II the period of the Church from 100 to 311 A.D. In Chapter 138, pages 516 ff., he calls attention to the Holy Scriptures and the Canon as viewed during this early period of the church in the new dispensation.

In chapter 2 of Book II of his Institutes Calvin discusses the freedom of the will. He begins this chapter with the remark: Since we have seen that the domination of sin, from the time of its subjugation of the first man, not only extends over the whole race, but also exclusively possesses every soul, it now remains to be more closely investigated, whether we are despoiled of all freedom, and, if any particle of it yet remain, how far its power extends.

We were busy, in our preceding article, with the attribute of catholicity of the church. We had quoted from the Dogmatics of Dr. H. Bavinck in connection with this attribute, and had begun to quote from the “Radio Replies” by the Fathers Rumble and Carty, which we consider extremely interesting, inasmuch as they may be considered to give us an accurate presentation of this subject. We will now continue to quote from these Radio Replies, Volume I. 498. Whence do you get the name Roman Catholic? The word Roman is derived from the fact that St. Peter established the headquarters...