72 



SAINTS. 



of discipline, as the Catholic writer of the article 

 Heilirje, in the German Conversations-Lexicon. 

 Without further statement of the views of Catho- 

 lic writers, among whom, as may be imagined, a 

 great many shades of opinion prevail on this subject, 

 from the enormous absurdity by no means unfre- 

 <|iiently maintained that saints are persons who 

 liiive led a life so much more virtuous than was ne- 

 y to obtain happiness in another state, that 

 this surplus of virtue is made operative by their in- 

 tercession for the salvation of others, down to the 

 view of the German writer just mentioned, we refer 

 the reader to the decree of the council of Trent, as 

 the acknowledged orthodox basis of the veneration 

 of saints, images, relics, &c. It is explicitly stated 

 there, that Jesus Christ is the only Redeemer and 

 Saviour ; but that it is " good and useful suppli- 

 antly to invoke saints, and to resort to their prayers 

 and assistance ;" that they pray fof men ; that their 

 bodies are to be venerated by the faithful ; and 

 that the images of Christ, of the Virgin Mother of 

 God, and of other saints, are to be also venerated ; 

 " not that it is believed that any divinity or power 

 resides in them, on account of which they are to be 

 worshipped, or that any benefit is to be sought 

 from them, or any confidence placed in images, as 

 was done formerly by the Gentiles, who fixed their 

 hope in idols ; but that we honour the subjects re- 

 presented, when we kiss their images, or uncover 

 our heads before them," &c. This is accompanied 

 with the usual anathema against all who teach or 

 profess contrary doctrines. But so much depends 

 upon the true understanding of the decrees upon 

 these points, and so easy is it to put various in- 

 terpretations on human language, that we shall give 

 that part of the decree of the twenty-fifth session 

 of the council of Trent, which relates to the sub- 

 ject of this article in the original.* The Catholic 

 theology has two different words for the veneration 

 of saints, and that of God and the Mediator, the 

 former being called dulia, the latter latria, and the 

 church must watch that the former does not dege- 

 nerate into the latter. How much the worship of 



* " Mandat snncta Synodus omnibus Episeopis, et> eaeteris do- 

 cendi miinus curamque, sustinentibus, ut juxta Catholicse et 

 Apostolicae Ecclesiae usum a primaevis Christianas religionis 

 temporibus rereptum, sanctorumque Patrum consensionera, et 

 sacrorum Conciliorum decreta, in prirais de Sanctorum inter- 

 cessione, invoeatione, Reliquiarum honore, ct legitimo ima- 

 ginum usu, fideles diligenter instruant, docentes eos, Sanctos, 

 una cum Christo regnantes, orationes suas pro hominibus 

 Deo offerre; bonum atque utile esse suppliciter eoa invocare: et 

 ob beneficia impetranda a Deo per Filium ejus Jesum Christum 

 Domihum nostrum, qui solus nostor Redemptor et Salvator 

 flst, ad eorum orationes, opem, auxjliumque confugere ; illos 

 vero, qui negant Sanctos, oeterna felicitate in cojlo fruentes, in- 

 vocandos esse : ant qui asserunt yel illps pro hominibus non 

 prare ; vel eorum, ut pro nobis etiam singulis orent, invoca- 

 tionem esse idololatriam, vel pugnare cum yerbo Dei, adversa- 

 ri'ine honori unius mediatons Dei et hominum Jesu Christ!; 

 vel stultum esse in ccelo regnantibus voce vel mente suplicare, 

 impie sentire. Sanctorum quoque martyrum, et aliorum cum 

 Christo viventium sancta corpora, quae viva membra fuerunt 

 Christ!, et templum Spiritus sancti, ab ipso ad aeternam vitam 

 sii-Htanda et glorificanda, a fidelibus vencranda esse, per quae 

 multa beneficia a Deo hominibus prsestantur : ita at afflrmantes, 

 Sanctorum Keliquiis venerationem atque honorem non deberi, 

 vel eas, aliaque sacra monumenta a fidelibus inutiliter honorari, 

 atqnn eorum ppis impetrand.ie causa Sanctorum memorias frus- 

 tra frequentan. oinnmp damnandos esse, prout jampridem cos 

 damnavit, et nunc etiam damnat Ecclesia. Imagines porro 

 Christi, Deipar.-e, Virginia et aliorum Sanctorum in templis 

 praesertim habendas, et retinendas : eisque debitum honorem et 

 venerationnm irnpertiendam ; non quod credatur inesse aliqua 

 in iis dhtettu, vel virtus, propterquam sint colendae : vel quod 

 ab eis sit aliquid petendum : vel quod fiducia in imaginilms sit 

 figenda veluti olim fiebat a Gentibiis, quae in idolis, spem suam 

 collorabant ; sed quoniam honos qui eis exhibetur, refertur ad 

 prntotypa, qn.-p illae repraeseiitmit : itaut per imagines, quas os- 

 culamur, ci roram quibus en put aporimns et procumbimus, 

 Christum adoremus, et Sanctos. quorum illae simuitudinem ge- 

 runt, venpri'mnr, id quod Conriliorum, jirapsertim vero seciindw 

 Nicsenre Syuodi, decretls contra imatrinum ommcnatores est 

 MadtmB." 



saints, and the great variety of hiiman i haracters 

 which thus became objects of veneration,contributed 

 to the diffusion of Christianity in the middle ages ; 

 how it brought Christianity into connexion with the 

 fine arts, by affording the most copious store of 

 religious subjects to the genius of artists ; and how 

 the worship of the Virgin Mary became a very ac- 

 tive element in the religion of the middle ages, as 

 it still is a prominent feature in the Roman Catho- 

 lic faith would be highly interesting to consider ; 

 but our limits will not allow it. 



The Catholics regard their notions on the subject 

 of saints as supported by different parts of the 

 Bible, e. g. Timothy ii. 12, various passages in the 

 Apocalypse, Jeremiah xv. 1 and 5, Luke xvi. 9, and 

 the writings of many of the early fathers, as Origen, 

 who wrote in the third century (1 de Orat., n. 11, 

 and several other places of the same character) : for 

 the in vocation of the saints, they refer chiefly to Gen- 

 esis xlviii. 16, John xii. 26, xvii. 20, and many pas- 

 sages in early Christian writers. The Protestants 

 object to the whole doctrine, and allege that even 

 Christ himself said, " There is none good but one, 

 that is, God ;" that not only is the idea of saints, as 

 intercessors, no where contained in the Bible, but 

 that it originated centuries after the establishment 

 of Christianity; that it is against the chief doctrine 

 of Christianity, which declares all men to be sinners, 

 and to be saved only by Christ ; that it is impious 

 to imagine God like an earthly king, who is influ- 

 enced by the suggestions of those around him ; that 

 Christ's mediation is founded either on an atone- 

 ment, which is the more general opinion, or on his 

 bringing the gospel to men ; and that it can be 

 clearly proved that many saints, now so considered, 

 never existed, but were the offspring of ignorance, 

 mistaking, e. g. a Greek word in a church inscrip- 

 tion for the name of the saint to whom the church 

 was dedicated, and that others were of very equivo- 

 cal characters ; * that fraud evidently sometimes had 

 part in the creation of saints ; and that a doctrine, 

 which has led, for centuries, and so universally, to 

 such gross superstitions, as Catholics themselves 

 admit, have often arisen from the doctrine of saints, 

 notwithstanding these superstitions are not suppor- 

 ported by the council of Trent, must be highly 

 dangerous ; for the essential question with regard 

 to every law and doctrine, is not For what was it 

 intended? but How does it operate? It Protes- 

 tants do not see that the Bible contains any divine 

 command which could fairly lead to the invocation 

 of saints, and to the supposition of their intercession 

 for men with God, still less do they find any ground 

 for the veneration of relics. The doctrine of saints 

 seems to us to have essentially originated from 

 the virtues displayed by the martyrs. Heroism 

 in suffering always remained the most common 

 ground of saintship, as, in fact, is natural, since the 

 great Prototype of Christianity became such by his 

 sufferings. When the gospel had filled the heart of 

 believers with the hope of an eternal life of felicity, 

 death soon came to be considered as affording oc- 

 casion foi joy rather than sorrow to the friends of 

 the departed. Cyprian pronounces this opinion 



Doctor Keichlin Meldegg, Catholic " professor ordinarius " 

 of ecclesiastical history, and "temporary dean of the theological 

 faculty at Freiburg, savs, in his Proposals for Reformations in 

 the German Catholic Church, " The old Roman breviary, cram- 

 med with fictitious or much coloured anecdotes of saints, with 

 repetitions that weary, with passages of indecorous import. &c. 

 requires a thorough revision." In another passage ne says, 

 " Some masses are founded on stories not sufficiently proved, 

 or palpable fictions, as the mass of the 'lancea Cliristi,' tike 

 ' inventio crucis,' &c." 



