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

—;236 APOSTOLICITY, OR PETER's PRIMACY.apostlesliip was designed for a temporary purpose : it wastherefore temporary in its nature, and ceased whenever thatpurpose had been served.In the next place, no one couldassume the apostlesliip unless invested with it directly byChrist. The first twelve were literally called by Christ.The appointment of Matthias was by an express intimationof the Divine will, through the instrumentality of the lotand that of Paul, perhaps the most powerful intellect whichhas ever been enlisted in the service of Christianity, by themiraculous and glorious appearance of Christ to him as hetravelled to Damascus. Hence it is, that on this proofthe apostle so often rests the validity of his great office," Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by JesusChrist."* In the last place, it was essential on the part ofall who bore the apostleship, that they had seen the Lord.This renders it impossible that this office could have validlyexisted longer than for a certain number of years after thedeath of Christ. The popes have at no time been verycareful to keep their pretensions within the bounds of credibility; but we are not aware that any of them have evergone so far as to assert that they had received investituredirectly from Christ, or that literally they had seen theLord.It may also be urged with great force against Papists, asBarrow does,f that "if some privileges of St Peter werederived to popes, why were not all ? Why was not PopeAlexander VI. as holy as St Peter 1 Why was not PopeHonorius as sound in his private judgment 1 Why is notevery pope inspired IWhy is not every papal epistle to bereputed canonical I Why are not all popes endowed withpower of doing miracles ?Why did not the Pope, by a sermon,convert thousands? [Why, indeed, do popes neverpreach ?|] Why doth he not cure men by his shadow ? [He* Galatians, i. 1. f Barrow's Works, vol. i. p. 596,t Amongst the other concessions to the spirit of the age which markedthe early part of the pontificate of Pius IX., was that of preaching, which