LESSON FORTY The False Mediatorial System

The True and False Systems Contrasted

1. In the true system the Mediator is both God and man; but in the false system the mediator attempts to take the place of God, but is only man. John 1:1, 14; 1 Timothy 2:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.TDOC 103.1

“The priest stands as a mediator between God and man.” The Pilot (R. C.), Boston, May.29, 1915.TDOC 103.2

2. He who is the mediator in the true system is the eternal Son of God who was the mediator in the original creation; but in the false system a man professes to take the place of God. Hebrews 4:14. (See Lesson 31.)TDOC 103.3

“We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.”-Pope Leo XIII, in an encyclical letter dated June 20, 1894, “The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII,” p. 304.TDOC 103.4

3. In the true system the offering is Christ himself, who offered himself once for all; but in the false system a wafer is offered which it is claimed has been changed into the body of Christ, and therefore is the same as the sacrifice on Calvary. Hebrews 9:25, 26.TDOC 103.5

“The mass is the sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood, offered to God, under the appearances of bread and wine.”-“Manual of Christian Doctrine,” by a seminary professor (R. C.), p. 438.TDOC 103.6

“The holy sacrifice of the mass does not differ in its essence from the sacrifice offered up upon Mt. Calvary. As we find on Calvary and in the mass the same identical victim and the same principal offered, Jesus Christ, the two sacrifices are essentially the same.”-“Catholic Belief,” Rev. Joseph Fad di Bruno, D, D. (R. C.), p. 101.TDOC 103.7

4. In the true system the sanctuary is in heaven; but in the false system every Roman Catholic church is regarded as a sanctuary. Hebrews 8:1, 2.TDOC 103.8

“The real presence of our divine Lord in the blessed eucharist makes every Catholic church a tabernacle of the Most High.”-The True Voice (R. C.), Omaha, Nebr., April 18, 1913.TDOC 104.1

5. In the true system the priest is Christ himself; but in the false system a man is priest, who claims authority to act in the person of Christ. Hebrews 3:1; 5:5; 6:20; 7:26; 10:21.TDOC 104.2

“The priest is the man of God, the minister of God, the portion of God, the man called of God, consecrated to God, wholly occupied with the interests of God; he that despises him, despises God; he that hears him hears God; he remits sins as God, and that which he calls his body at the altar is adored as God by himself and by the congregation. This shows Jesus Christ as God-man [italics his].”-Catholic Doctrine as Defined by the Council of Trent,” Rev. A. Nampon, The Story of Jesus, 543 (R. C.).TDOC 104.3

6. In the true system the law of God as given from Sinai is written in the heart; but in the false system the law of God is changed into the law of the church, and various precepts are added. Hebrews 8:6, 8, 10.TDOC 104.4

“Ques.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?TDOC 104.5

“Ans.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”—“A Doctrinal Catechism,” Rev. Stephen Keenan (R. C.), p. 174.TDOC 104.6

NOTES:

In connection with this lesson read, on the “mass,” pages 295-300 of the “Source Book,” giving special attention to the following quotations: “A Propitiatory Sacrifice,” page 295; “Some Canons On,” page 296; “Compared with Calvary,” page 297; “Christ Adored In,” page 298; “Relation to the ‘Continual Sacrifice,’” page 299.TDOC 104.7

On the “priesthood,” read pages 389-393 of the “Source Book.”TDOC 104.8