lint me councils do a?irm titat the Scx?ptures teach that there are seven sacraments, we readily allow. But then there is no t)mmage of Scripture, properly interpreted, that teaches 8o, as we have noticed already; and the (?ouncil of Trent could find no such text, though her divines affected to prove that the seven sacraments were instituted by the a. uthority of Jesus Christ. In support of their number of seven, nothing could be adduced by them but uncertain tradition and fanciful .Mmlo?es. It was argued, i?or iustance, that seven is a pe?ct ?um/?, since there are ? days in the week, Jdv?t ?'cd/m? t?*tud?, dmd/y ?/,?, A?e. pbnetr, &c. �But Liebermann, a modern Roman divine, who must have seen that this reasonin s was invalid, maintains that the authorit? of the church or council is of itself sufficient, seeing she is infallible in her decisions. On the first canon of the Council of Trent on the 8acramenta, (de crementis,) he founds the following sweeping argument: "This decla- ration of the general council should suitlce, according to the strict laws of method. For we have proved in our Catholic Demonstration that there is only one true church of Christ; that she was called catholic IP/the consent of all; that she wsa governed by the Hob/Spirit; that the deposits of faith was intrusted to her, and to her it belonged to de. cide controversies of faith by suit INFALLIBLS P2CISION-" Thus they argue in the vicious circle; for when Scriptured'afi8 them the? run to the authority* of the church, and when the latter appears to be unsound they run back to Scripture. So by frequently ? t/t?r grotrod they keep up appearances. (4.)/2r?sc?. Their argument here is, that because their church now holds the 8even sacraments this number wsa always he]d. The qood seuse of the reader will here see that this i8 a miserable evasion. But those who would see all that can be said on this topic may consult (5.). Natm*?d mm/o?#. From the analogy* that is supposed to exist between natural and spiritual life, Thomas Aquinas argued that there were seven sacraments. The Florentine fathers, in their decree of F. ugenius IV., employ the same emblems of analogy*. ?le RomaIt catechism, with gre?t plausibility, follows in suit, whose edition of the 9upImsed analogy* we gi?, with some abridgment, after Bailly. The following is the celebrated analog,/: "In orde, to exist, to preserve e?lMnce, to contribute to his own and the public. good, seve?i things seem neeea8? to man. 1. To be born. 2. To grow. 3. To be nurtured. 4. To be cured when sick. 5. ?*hen weak to be strength- eued. 6. As far as regards the public weal, to have magistrates in- vested with authority to govern. 7. And finally, to perpetuate himself and his species by legitinmte offspring. Analogous, then, as all these tb2ngs obviously* are to that life by* which the soul lives to God, we discover in them a reason to account for the number of the sacraments. ?. Bap '.t?m is the gate to all the other sacraments, by which we are born again to Christ. 2. Confirmation, by which we ..?gr?w up and are strengthened in the grace of C?I. 9. The eucharist, the true bread
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