ON THE EUCHARIST, ADDRESSED TO A Member of the Church of Rome, FORMERLY A PREACHER IN THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. BY E. O. PHINNEY, A. M., M. D. δι Οράς γὰρ ὡς οὐ περὶ μικρῶν ἐἰσὶν ἡμῖν ὁι λόγοι· ἀλλ ̓ ὃν τινὰ Thou seest that our reasonings are not about things of small importance, but in what BALTIMORE: PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY D. H. CARROLL, METHODIST BOOK DEPOSITORY. 1880. Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1880, BY E. O. PHINNEY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. PREFACE. Circumstances, which it is not needful here to detail, induced the writer of the several Letters comprised in this volume, to investigate the claims of the Church of Rome to the example of the early church, in proof of the antiquity of her peculiar teachings. As it respects her visible worship, no one of her dogmas is second in pretentious importance, to that which respects the Eucharist. "Numerous as are the differences between the Catholic and Protestant religions," says one of her earnest advocates, "we may safely assert, that not one is more frequently discussed, or made the touchstone of the two systems' respective claims, than their doctrine respecting the Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist." And this writer expresses the belief, that more persons are brought to the faith of his church, by satisfying their minds with the Catholic belief respecting the Sacrament, than by being convinced upon many other subjects. Accordingly, we find the believers of a physical change, advocating it as an essentiality, and the sacrifice of the Mass, as the distinctive mark of the true Church of God. Should the dis cussion of this subject, and the presentation made, in these communications, contribute somewhat to the exposure of error, and the vindication of the truth, the object of the writer will be realized. |