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

—404 GENIUS OF THE PAPACY.counterfeit of Christianity,—a most elaborateand skilfullycontriven counterfeit,—a counterfeit in which the form isfaithfully preserved, the spirit utterly extinguished, and theend completely inverted. This counterfeit Church has itshigh priest,—the Pope,—who blasphemes the royal priesthoodof Christ, by assuming his office,when he pretends tobe Lord of the conscience. Lord of the Church, and Lord ofthe world; and by assuming his names, when he calls himself"the Light of the World," " the King of Glory," "the Lion ofthe tribe of Judah,"* Christ's Vicar and God"'s Vicegerent.This counterfeit Church has, too, itssacrifice,—the mass,which blasphemes the sacrifice of Christ, by virtually teachingits inefficiency, and needing to be repeated, as is donewhen Christ's very body and blood are again offered in sacrificeby the hands of the priests of Rome, for the sins ofthe living and the dead. This Church has, moreover, itsBible, which is tradition, which blasphemes the Word ofGod, by virtually teaching its insufficiency. It has its mediators,—saintsand angels, and especially the Virgin ;andthus it blasphemes the one Mediator between God and man.In fine, it blasphemes the person and the office of the Spiritas the sanctifier, because it teaches that its sacraments canmake holy; and it blasphemes God, by teaching that itspriests can pardon sin, and can release from the obligationsof divine law. Thus has Popery counterfeited, and, bycounterfeiting, set aside, all that is vital and valuable inChristianityIt robs Christ of his kingly office, by exaltingthe Pope to his throne ; it robs him of his priesthood in thesacrifice of the mass ; it robs him of his power as Mediator,by substituting Mary ;it robs him of his prophetical office,by substituting the teachings of an infallible Church ; it robsGod the Spirit of his peculiar work as the sanctifier, by attributingthe power of conferring grace to its own ordinances;and it robs God the Father of his prerogatives, byassuming the power of justifying and pardoning men.* Assumed by Pope Leo X. at his coronation.