Wesley Corpus

I begin with the love of God, the fountain of all that holiness without which we cannot see the Lord. And what is it that has a more natural tendency to destroy this than idolatry? Consequently, every doctrine which leads to idolatry, naturally tends to destroy it. But so does a very considerable part of the avowed doctrine of the Church of Rome. Her doctrine touching the worship of angels, of saints, the Virgin Mary in particular, - touching the worship of images, of relics, of the cross, and, above all, of the host, or consecrated wafer,--lead all who receive them to practise idolatry, flat, palpable idolatry; the paying that worship to the creature which is due to God alone. Therefore they have a natural tendency to hinder, if not utterly destroy, the love of God. Secondly. The doctrine of the Church of Rome has a natural tendency to hinder, if not destroy, the love of our ueighbour. By the love of our neighbour, I mean universal benevolence; tender good-will to all men. For in this respect every child of man, every son of Adam, is our neigh bour; as we may easily learn from our Lord’s history of the good Samaritan. Now, the Church of Rome, by asserting that all who are not of her own Church, that is, the bulk of mankind, are in a state of utter rejection from God, despised and hated by Him that made them; and by her bitter (I might say, accursed) anathemas, devoting to absolute, ever lasting destruction, all who willingly or unwillingly differ from her in any jot or tittle; teaches all her members to look upon them with the same eyes that she supposes God to do; to regard them as mere fire-brands of hell, “vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction.” And what love can you entertain for such? No other than you can believe God to have for them. Therefore, every anathema denounced by the Church of Rome against all who differ from her, has a natural tendency, not only to hinder, but utterly destroy, the love of our neighbour. Thirdly. The same doctrine which devotes to utter destruc tion so vast a majority of mankind, must greatly indispose us for showing them the justice which is due to all men. For how hard is it to be just to them we hate?