smack them round the back of the head "no bruises to show"
It is far more glorious for the Messiah that the Jews should be the
specators and even the instruments of His glory, besides that God had
reserved them.
708. Prophecies.--The time foretold by the state of the Jewish people, by
the state of the heathen, by the state of the temple, by the number of
years.
709. One must be bold to predict the same thing in so many ways. It was
necessary that the four idolatrous or pagan monarchies, the end of the
kingdom of Judah, and the seventy weeks, should happen at the same time, and
all this before the second temple was destroyed.
710. Prophecies.--If one man alone had made a book of predictions about
Jesus Christ, as to the time and the manner, and Jesus Christ had come in
conformity to these prophecies, this fact would have infinite weight.
But there is much more here. Here is a succession of men during four
thousand years, who, consequently and without variation, come, one after
another, to foretell this same event. Here is a whole people who announce it
and who have existed for four thousand years, in order to give corporate
testimony of the assurances which they have and from which they cannot be
diverted by whatever threats and persecutions people may make against them.
This is far more important.
711. Predictions of particular things.--They were strangers in Egypt,
without any private property, either in that country or elsewhere. There was
not the least appearance, either of the royalty which had previously existed
so long, or of that supreme council of seventy judges which they called the
Sanhedrin and which, having been instituted by Moses, lasted to the time of
Jesus Christ. All these things were as far remove
Is the connection you need a SatNav to find the bedroom?
--
MrBitsy
Are you for hire? Sure nice to end up with a society of violence ... oh,
shit, too late
Argh! I just KNEW that Supernanny was a big fat fake, holding in all her
emotion but then coming to a group like this to let out her true
feelings. Bitch.
705. Proof.--Prophecies with their fulfilment; what has preceded and what
has followed Jesus Christ.
706. The prophecies are the strongest proof of Jesus Christ. It is for them
also that God has made most provision; for the event which has fulfilled
them is a miracle existing since the birth of the Church to the end. So God
has raised up prophets during sixteen hundred years, and, during four
hundred years afterwards, He has scattered all these prophecies among all
the Jews, who carried them into all parts of the world. Such was the
preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ, and, as His Gospel was to be
believed by all the world, it was not only necessary that there should be
prophecies to make it believed, but that these prophecies should exist
throughout the whole world, in order to make it embraced by the whole world.
707. But it was not enough that the prophecies should exist. It was
necessary that they should be distributed throughout all places and
preserved throughout all times. And, in order that
She was very weak a considerable time before she died, having pined away
with famine and thirst, so that her flesh seemed to be dried upon her
bones; and therefore could say but little, and manifested her mind very
much by signs. She said she had matter enough to f
Two supernatural foundations of our wholly supernatural religion; one
visible, the other invisible; miracles with grace, miracles without grace.
The synagogue, which had been treated with love as a type of the Church, and
with hatred, because it was only the type, has been restored, being on the
point of falling when it was well with God, and thus a type.
Miracles prove the power which God has over hearts, by that which He
exercises over bodies.
The Church has never approved a miracle among heretics.
Miracles a support of religion: they have been the test of Jews; they have
been the test of Christians, saints, innocents, and true believers.
A miracle among schismatics is not so much to be feared; for schism, which
is more obvious than a miracle, visibly indicates
Is. xlix: "Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken, ye people, from afar: The
Lord hath called me by my name from the womb of my mother; in the shadow of
His hand hath He hid me, and hath made my words like a sharp sword, and said
unto me, Thou art my servant in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, Lord,
have I laboured in vain? have I spent my strength for nought? yet surely my
judgment is with Thee, O Lord, and my work with Thee. And now, saith the
Lord, that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob and
Israel again to Him, Thou shalt be glorious in my sight, and I will be thy
strength. It is a light thing that thou shouldst convert the tribes of
Jacob; I have raised thee up for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest
be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. Thus saith the Lord to him whom
man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers,
Princes and kings shall worship thee, because the Lord is faithful that hath
chosen thee.
"Again saith the Lord unto me, I have heard thee in the days of salvation
and of mercy, and I will preserve thee for a covenant of the people, to
cause to inherit the desolate nations, that thou mayest say to the
prisoners: Go forth; to them that are in darkness show yourselves, and
possess these abundant and fertile lands. They shall not hunger nor thirst,
neither shall the heat nor sun smite them; for he that hath merc
SECTION X: TYPOLOGY
642. Proof of the two Testaments at once.--To prove the two at one stroke,
we need only see if the prophecies in one are fulfilled in the other. To
examine the prophecies, we must understand them. For if we believe they have
only one meaning, it is certain that the Messiah has not come; but if they
have two meanings, it is certain that He has come in Jesus Christ.
The whole problem then is to know if they have two meanings.
That the Scripture has two meanings, which Jesus Christ and the Apostles
have given, is shown by the following proofs:
1. Proof by Scripture itself.
2. Proof by the Rabbis. Moses Maimonides says that it has two aspects and
that the prophets have prophesied Jesus Christ only.
3. Proof by the Kabbala.
4. Proof by the mystical interpretation which the Rabbis themselves give to
Scripture.
5. Proof by the principles of the Rabbis, that there are two meanings; that
there are two advents of the Messiah, a glorious and an humiliating one,
according to their desert; that the prophets have prophesied of the Messiah
only--the Law is not eternal, but must change at the coming of the
Messiah--that then they shall no more remember the Red Sea; that the Jews
and the Gentiles shall be mingled.
6. Proof by the key which Jesus Christ and the Apostles give us.
643. Isaiah 51. The Red Sea an image
1851 Cor. 1:22, 23. "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after
wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified."
[186]"But full of signs, full of wisdom; you the Jesuits, what you wish is a
Christ not crucified, a religion without miracles and without wisdom."
18710:26 "But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep."
188"Not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye... were filled."
18916. "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.
Others said: How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?"
[190]John 9:17, 33. "What sayest thou of him? He said, He is a prophet. If
this man were not of God, he could do nothing."
191Mark 9:39. Nemo est enim qui faciat. "There is no man which shall do a
miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me."
192Ps. 138:24. "And see if there be any wicked way in me."
193Luke 22:66. "Art thou the Christ? tell us."
194John 5:36. "The works which the father hath given me to finish... bear
witness of me." John 10:26-27. "But ye believe not, because ye are not of my
sheep... My sheep hear my voice.
[195]"What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee. (They
do not say: What doctrine do you preach?)"
196John 3:2. "No man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be
with him."
[197]"The Lord, making manifest his presence, upholdeth them that are his
own portion."
198"And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven."
199Matt. 12:39. "An evil generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no
sign be given to it."
200"And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, why doth this generation
seek after a sign?"
201"Mark 6:5. "And he could there do no mighty work."
202John 4:48. "Except ye see... ye will not believe."
2039. "In signs and lying wonders."
When awakenings first begin, their consciences are commonly most
exercised about their outward vicious course, or other acts of sin; but
afterwards are much more burdened with a sense of heart-sins, the
dreadful corruption of their nature, their enmity against God, the pride
of their hearts, their unbelief, their rejection of Christ, the
stubbornness and obstinacy of their wills; and the like. In many, God
makes much use of their own experience, in the course of their
awakenings and endeavors after saving good, to convince them of their
own vile emptiness and universal depravity.
919. These are the effects of the sins of the peoples and of the Jesuits.
The great have wished to be flattered. The Jesuits have wished to be loved
by the great. They have all been worthy to be abandoned to the spirit of
lying, the one party to deceive, the others to be deceived. They have been
avaricious, ambitious, voluptuous. Coacervabunt tibi magistros.228 Worthy
disciples of such masters, they have sought flatterers, and have found them.
920. If they do not renounce their doctrine of probability, their good
maxims are as little holy as the bad, for they are founded on human
authority; and thus, if they are more just, they will be more reasonable,
but not more holy. They take after the wild stem on which they are grafted.
If what I say does not serve to enlighten you, it will be of use to the
people.
If these are silent, the stones will speak.
Silence is the greatest persecution; the saints were never silent. It is
true that a call is necessary; but it is not from the decrees of the Council
that we must learn whether we are called, it is from the necessity of
speaking. Now, after Rome has spoken, and we think that she has condemned
the truth, and that they have written it, and after the books which have
said the contrary are censured; we must cry out so much the louder, the more
unjustly we are censured, and the more violently they would stifle speech,
until there come a Pope who hears both parties, and who consults antiquity
to do justice. So the good Popes will find the Church still in outcry.
The Inquisition and the Society are the two scourges of the truth.
Why do you not accuse them of Arianism? For, though they have said that
Jesus Christ is God, perhaps they mean by it not the natural interpretation,
but, as it is said, Dii estis.229
If my Letters are condemned at Rome, that which I condemn in them is
condemned in heaven. Ad tu
I shall lose it then, Lord, for on Thy assurance I believe their malice.
"No, for I, by whom thou learnest, can heal thee of them, and what I say to
thee is a sign that I will heal thee. In proportion to thy expiation of
them, thou wilt know them, and it will be said to thee: 'Behold thy sins are
forgiven thee.' Repent, then, for thy hidden sins, and for the secret malice
of those which thou knowest."
Lord, I give Thee all.
"I love thee more ardently than thou hast loved thine abominations, ut
immundus pro luto.
"To Me be the glory, not to thee, worm of the earth.
"Ask thy confessor, when My own words are to thee occasion of evil, vanity,
or curiosity."
I see in me depths of pride, curiosity, and lust. There is no relation
between me and God, nor Jesus Christ the Righteous. But He has been made sin
for me; all Thy scourges are fallen upon Him. He is more abominable than I,
and, far from abhorring me, He holds Himself honoured that I go to Him and
succour Him.
But He has healed Himself, and still more so will He heal me.
I must add my wounds to His, and join myself to Him; and He will save me in
saving Himself. But this must not be postponed to the future.
Eritis sicut dii scientes bonum et malum.98 Each one creates his god, when
judging, "This is good or bad"; and men mourn or rejoice too much at events.
Do little things as though they were great, because of the majesty of Jesus
Christ who does them in us and who lives our life; and do the greatest
things as though they were little and easy, because of His omnipotence.
554. It seems to me that Jesus Christ only allowed His wounds to be touched
after His resurrection: Noli me tangere.[99]