The-papacy-its-history-dogmas-genius-and-prospects-wylie

—192 UNITY OF THE CHURCH OF ROME.afterwards show, that Church will not concede to them,that even within the pale of Popery there may be foundmembers of the Church of Christ, and heirs of salvation.But the Church may be viewed in its external aspect, inwhich respect it is called the Church visible, which consistsof all those throughout the world who profess the true religion,together with their children. These are not twoChurches, but the same Church viewed under two differentaspects. They are composed, to a great degree, of thesame individuals. The Church visible includes all who aremembers of the Church invisible ; but the converse of thisproposition is not true ; for, in addition to all who aregenuine Christians, the Church visible contains many whoare Christians onlv in name. Its limits, therefore, are moreSuch are theextensive than those of the invisible Church.views generally held by Protestants on the subject of theChurch. From these the opinions held by Papists on thisimportant subject differ very materially.Papists hold thatthe Church of Rome is emphatically tlie Church;* that sheis the Church, to the exclusion of all other communities orChurches bearing the Christian name. They hold that thisChurch is ONE ; that she is catholic or universal ; thatshe is INFALLIBLE ; that the Roman pontiff, as the successorof Peter and the vicar of Christ, is her visible head ; andthat there is no salvation beyond her pale.The Church, say the Papists, must possess certain greatmarks or characters. These must not be of such a kind asto be discoverable only by the help of great learning andafter laborious search ; they must be of that broad andpalpable cast that enables them to be seen at once and by* Perrone uses the term Church sometimes in a restricted sense, to denoteonly the clergy who have been vested in infallibility, and sometimesin a more enlarged sense ; but even that larger sense is restricted to thosecongregations of the faithful whose oversight is managed by lawful pastorsunder the Roman pontiff. (Perrone's Prselectioncs Theologicoc, torn. i.p. 171.)