STRANGE DOCTRINES AT ALL SAINTS' CHURCH.

Manawatu Herald, 2 March 1899, Page 2

STRANGE DOCTRINES AT ALL SAINTS' CHURCH.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MANAWATO HKBALD. . ■ Sir, — I learn that at yesterday even* ing's service at AH Saints' toe new I vicar taught the exploded figments of Apostolic Succession, and that a 11 priest " has power to absolve from sin. A successor of the apostles is he 4QQ who teaches the doctrines which the apostles taught ; and even if it were possible (which it is not) for a minister*' of the Church to trace his lineal descent from the apostles, yet he is bound to teach the doctrines of the apostles, for one of them said: " Though we, or an angel, from Heaven, preach any other gospel onto you than that which we have prea^d unto you, let him be accursed. r> v? The apostles never preached absolution (pardon of sin) by a priest, and there is not a trace in the Bible of the exercise of such power by any one of the apostles. Even when Christ forgave sin, He admitted that it was easy to my : " Thy sins be forgiven thee, and considered the Pharisees were TO» titled to proof of His power to fbrgiWj sins. He therefore performed a miracle before them. He did not touch the man to heal him, but merely said to the sick of the palsy, " Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house ;" am tit* man did it. Christ called upon them to infer, that if by words only He could heal a sick man, His words " Thy sins be forgiven thee" were no empty words, but that He had power on earth to forgive sins. If the vicar claims that he has power to absolve from sin, let him prove his claim by performing a miracle as Christ did. The claim of this power by the priesthood only goes back to 1268 a.d. Before this time priests did not use the forms of absolution " I absolve thee, 1 ' but " Christ absolve thee." The form of absolution . contained in the old penetential canons of the year 963 was a prayer : " The Almighty, who created the Heaven, and the. earth, and every creature, have mercy upon tfcee, and grant thee forgiveness of all thy sins." We read in the Bible "Who can forgive sins, but God only ?" and wev also read " It is God that justifieth." To justify means to pardon. Christ came to remove all obstacles to a free and immediate access of a soul to God for pardon; the vicar would tferust a ■ " priest " between a soul and God, and make pardon depend upon the will of a "priest." The apostolic doctrine was salvation by faith, and not by absolution of a, " priest." We read : " Whosoever believeth in Him (Christ) shall receive remission of sins," " All that believe are 1 justified," " Being justified by faith, we *< have peace with God." If God had given to any class of men power to absolve the sinner. He would have qualified them, by giving them power to read the human heart, and would have made them infallible in the exercising of such power. It is almost incomprehensible that at the close of the 19th century anyone >t can be found claiming that God has made the salvation or damnation of His creatures to depend upon the giving or withholding of absolution by a priest. I am, &c, J.T.Ray. Foxton, March a, 1890,.