er."
[642:1]

Though the Catholics were a compact body, forming the bulk of the
Christian population, their system failed to absorb all the professors
of the gospel, or perhaps even greatly to check the tendency towards
ecclesiastical separation. In their controversies with seceders and
schismatics, their own principles were more distinctly defined; and, as
they soon found that they were quite an overmatch for any individual
sect, their tone gradually became more decided and dictatorial. But the
theological position from which they started was a sophism; and, like
the movements of a traveller who has mistaken his way, every step of
their progress was an advance in a wrong direction. Some of the more
prominent errors to which their theory led may here be enumerated.

I. The theory of the Catholic Church recognized an odious ecclesiastical
monopoly. Pastors and teachers are "for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ;"
[642:2] and yet a sinner may be saved without their instrumentality. The
truth when spoken by a layman, or when read in a private chamber, may
prove quite as efficacious as when proclaimed from the pulpit of a
cathedral. That kingdom of God which "cometh not with observation" is
built up by "the Word of His grace;" [642:3] and so long as the Word
exists, and so long as the Spirit applies it to enlighten and sanctify
and comfort God's children, the Church is imperishable. The evangelical
labours of the pious master of a merchant vessel have often been blessed
abundantly; and among the tens of thousands afloat upon the broad
waters, who seldom enjoy any ecclesiastical ministrations, may be found
some of the highest types of Christian excellence. Though regularly
ordained pastors are necessary to the growth and well-being of the
Church, such facts shew that they are not essential to its existence.
But, according to the Catholic system, they are the veins and arteries
through which its very life-blood circulates. All grace belongs to the
visible society called the Catholic Church, and of this grace the
Catholic ministers have the exclusive distribution. Without their
intervention, as the dispensers of divine ordinances, no one can hope to
inherit heaven. No other ministers whatever can be instrumental in
conferring any saving benefit. Was it extraordinary that individuals who
were supposed to be entrusted with such tremendous influence soon began
to