Free Republic

Secession of Father Chiniquy 1399. Father Chiniquy found the Catholic Church to be false, and left it to become a Protestant. Father Chiniquy did not voluntarily leave the Catholic Church, but was suspended and degraded for misconduct on many occasions, and excommunicated despite repeated piteous appeals for reinstatement as a priest.1400. Catholics say that Pastor Chiniquy was expelled from their Church, but Archbishop Buchesi, of Montreal, wrote as follows on Jan. 10th, 1899, to Chiniquy's son-in-law, the Rev J.L. Morrin: Sir:I hear that Mr. Chiniquy is very seriously ill, and that he may soon die. Although he separated from...

Gibbon the historian 1396. Gibbon, the historian, became a Catholic despite parental opposition. He did, and apparently sincerely. He was but sixteen years old at the time.1397. Yet he went back to Protestantism, and then to a vague sort of atheism. He did, but I deny that he did so because he really proved the Catholic Church untrue.1398. Was his a guilty renunciation of the true faith? Yes. Horrified by his conversion to Catholicism, his father packed him off to Lausanne to board with a Swiss Calvinist pastor named M. Pavillard. M. Pavillard loyally set to work to bring Gibbon...

The peculiar case of Lord Halifax 1393. Why did not the late Lord Halifax, though apparently so near to Rome, become a convert to your faith? I admit that his case is more difficult than that of Gladstone. Lord Halifax was a convert to Catholic teaching and forms of worship. But Catholic discipline and jurisdiction were beyond him. He was so absorbed by the idea that the Anglicanism he loved was somehow or other part of the Catholic Church that his judgment was clouded on the one point as to whether he should abandon the Church of England and...

Why Gladstone refrained 1392. If the truth of the Catholic Church is so clear, why did such an intelligent man as W. E. Gladstone remain entrenched in Protestantism? It was certainly not because Protestantism is true, nor because Catholicism is false. Nor was it because Gladstone was intelligent. Both Newman and Manning, fellow Protestants with Gladstone, were equally intelligent, yet both became Catholics. We must remember that religion implies much more than merely intellectual conviction. It is deeply psychological, involving a yielding of mind and heart and will. Reluctance on the part of any one of these factors can prevent...

Conversion of Cardinal Newman 1391. Did not Cardinal Newman lose faith in the Catholic Church before he died? No. During his own lifetime the rumor was published by the "Globe" newspaper that he had been disillusioned by Catholicism, and was going to return to the Church of England. Newman at once had his denial published in the same paper. He wrote saying, "I have not had one moment's wavering of trust in the Catholic Church ever since I was received into her fold. I have no intention, and never have had any intention, of leaving the Catholic Church and becoming...

From Protestantism to Catholicism 1388. Why are you so particularly hard on Protestantism? I have no more reasons for the discussion of Protestantism than for the discussion of any other form of religion. But Protestants are more numerous than others in this country, and consequently more questions are submitted from the Protestant viewpoint than from others. Were I in a country where the Greek Orthodox Church is in the ascendancy, my discussions would have to do chiefly with the differences between Greek Orthodoxy and Catholicism. The Catholic Church is the same everywhere, but she has not the same problems to...

Buchmanism or the "Oxford Group Movement" 1375. I have been asked to join the Group Movement for the discussion of religion and the sharing of problems. Could you tell me something about this Movement? Members of the "Oxford Group Movement" go in for what they call "Life-changing," or rapid emotional conversions. Small groups meet together and share out their personal and individual religious experiences, even to public confession of secret sins. Each is expected to be guided by the Holy Spirit in future conduct, and to aim at "a maximum experience of God." The movement is really a new...

Witnesses of Jehovah 1351. Are the Witnesses of Jehovah an offshoot of the Russellites? They are rather a continuation of the Russellites. The present leader of the Witnesses of Jehovah, who calls himself Judge Rutherford, is but the successor of Pastor Charles T. Russell, who founded the movement.1352. Russell was a pious, devout Christian, and a faithful follower of Christ. Pastor Russell was born in America in 1852. He was first a Congregationalist, then dabbled in Seventh Day Adventism, and finally set up for himself as a prophet announcing the Second Coming of Christ. His piety was not true...

Liberal Catholics 1346. Was the lapse of the Liberal Catholics from Roman Catholic unity a recent event? The so-called "Liberal Catholic Church" never lapsed from unity with Rome for the simple reason that it never was in union with Rome. Its origin was as follows:In 1875 a Colonel Olcott and a Madame Blavatsky founded a Theosophical Society in New York. Later this society was joined by a Mrs. Annie Besant, and still later by a Mr. Leadbeater, an ex-Anglican clergyman. The doctrine of these Theosophists at first was very nebulous, and incorporated much from ancient Indian philosophies. In the beginning...

British Israelism 1336. What is your opinion of British Israelism? It is a non-Christian substitute for religion based upon an unbridled imagination, a denial of history, and a perverted sense of patriotism which would like to exalt the British Empire and the United States of America at the expense of other nations. It is really a freak religion which goes to the opposite extreme from the position adopted by Judge Rutherford. Where Judge Rutherford declares that the British Empire and America are Satan's organizations, the British Israelites declare that they alone constitute God's chosen people on the face of...

Christadelphians 1335. I have been asked to join the Christadelphians. Could you give me some information concerning them? The Christadelphian sect was founded in America by a man named John Thomas, who lived from 1805 till 1871. He was a member of an American sect called the "Disciples of Christ" or the"Campbellites," founded by Alexander Campbell, an ex-Presbyterian minister, in 1827. Thomas, reading the Bible with his own peculiar mentality, decided that the whole of Christendom had gone astray, including the Campbellites, and therefore decided to become a freelance Bible teacher. He taught that the doctrine of the Trinity...

Christian Science 1328. What is your judgment of Christian Science? I regard it as a violation of Christian teaching as well as of science and reason. Those good people who take it up so enthusiastically have not lost their attachment to a vague Christian sentiment, but they have lost their grip on the fundamental truths of Christianity, and have no real idea of science and the demands of logic. Mrs. Eddy, the accepted prophetess who gave this new religion to the world in 1875, denied that Jesus is the Eternal Son of God made man. Mr. H. A. L....

Spiritualism 1318. How does the Roman Catholic Church view Spiritualism? On April 24th, 1917, the Holy See issued the following decree: "It is not lawful to assist at any spiritualistic meetings, conversations with spirits, or manifestations of spirits. It matters not whether a medium be present or not, nor whether the meeting seems to be above board and apparently conducted from motives of piety. A Catholic may not be present at such meetings even as an onlooker, let alone asking questions of departed spirits and listening to their supposed replies."1319. How do you account for the supernatural powers of...

Salvation Army 1312. Does the Catholic Church recognize the Salvation Army as in any way representative of genuine Christianity? No. As a religious body the Salvation Army is a form of Protestantism which the Catholic Church cannot but reject. It was founded by William Booth, an ex-Wesleyan minister. Disagreeing with Methodist ways, he left the Wesleyans in 1861 to become an independent evangelist. In 1865 he and his wife began to devote themselves to street preaching and rescue work in the slums of London. In 1877 he organized his converts into the Salvation Army, with himself as General, with...

Catholic Apostolic Church or Irvingites 1308. Do you recognise the "Catholic Apostolic Church" of the Irvingites? We recognize it merely as a comparatively new Protestant sect which really commenced its existence in 1835.1309. How did this Church originate? Its history must begin with the Rev. Edward Irving who was born in 1792. Irving became a Presbyterian minister who preached with great success in Glasgow and London. He was of a mystical turn of mind, and got deeply interested in Biblical prophecies. As a result he began to preach the imminent coming of Christ, enkindling considerable excitement.In 1833 he was deposed...

Plymouth Brethren 1305. Who founded the Plymouth Brethren? This sect owes its origin to a Rev. John Nelson Darby, who was an Anglican clergyman in Ireland. He was an extremely Low Churchman, very Protestant in his outlook, and with a horror of the Catholic Church. Disgusted by the growing High Church tendencies associated with the Oxford Movement, he left Anglicanism in order to become a Protestant evangelist unattached to any Church. A pronounced "Bible-only" man, he began to preach a strict literalism in the interpretation of Scripture, even of the most mystical and symbolical passages. In 1827 he began to...

Seventh Day Adventists 1301. In observing Sunday instead of Saturday the Roman Catholic Church is at variance with Scripture. If Holy Scripture insisted that followers of Christ must observe Saturday, and not Sunday, then the Catholic Church would indeed be at variance with Scripture. But the Bible nowhere so much as hints that the followers of Christ must observe Saturday.1302. If one wants the religion of Christ, he must become a Seventh Day Adventist. If one really wishes for the religion of Christ, he certainly could not become a Seventh Day Adventist. If you believe in Christ, you must believe...

Baptists 1297. I am a Baptist, and I believe that St. John the Baptist himself was the founder of our Church. You are mistaken in that; and in any case such an origin would be of no real value for one who professes to be a Christian. The New Testament insists that we must follow Christ, not St. John the Baptist. For the preaching of John the Baptist was essentially a preparation for Christ. He himself told his followers not to remain his disciples, but to become disciples of Christ. "He must increase," he said, "and I must decrease." To...

Church of Christ 1293. Is not the "Church of Christ" the only true name for a Church mentioned in the Bible? No. Christ described His Church in very many significant ways—all of which apply to the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church only.1294. The "Church of Christ" was established on the Day of Pentecost. The true Church of Christ commenced then, but not what are called the Protestant "Churches of Christ." These can be traced back to a Rev. Alexander Campbell, who was born in 1788, and who was originally a Presbyterian. As Mr. Campbell grew up, he pressed...

Methodism 1292. Are not Methodists very sincere people? Many of them are. There are sincere people in every Church. But the Methodist Church cannot be the true Church of Christ. Traced back historically, it merges into Anglicanism. In 1728 John Wesley was ordained as an Anglican clergyman. He gathered together a group of earnest Anglicans who met for study and prayer, and who lived according to such strict rules that they were called"Methodists." They had no intention of leaving the Church of England. In 1738 John Wesley began his campaign as a revivalist preacher, and the hostility of Anglican...