Transcribed from the 1827 [Third edition] M. Goodwin edition,
A PLAIN STATEMENT
OF THE
DOCTRINES OBJECTED TO
IN THE
CHURCH OF ROME,
ANDTHE
REASONSFAIRLY ASSIGNED FOR SEPARATING FROM
HER COMMUNION.
ByJOSEPH REILLY,
Late a Roman Catholic Student.
“The Ancients are to be followed not onestep further than they follow Truth.”—Just.Mart. c. i. ad. Ant. Imp.
“Prove all things, hold fast that which isgood.”—St. Paul.
THIRDEDITION.
DUBLIN
PRINTED BYM. GOODWIN, 29, DENMARK-STREET.
1827.
p. 2TO THEREADER.
Having never before had anynecessity of appearing before the Public, especially on such anoccasion as this, it is with much reluctance I am, in defence ofmy character, now compelled to give a fair and candid statementof the motives that induced me to leave the Church of Rome; whichI did not do, until I tried every means to quiet an anxious mind,and troubled conscience, and after many private and publicinterviews with my Pastor, each of which only augmented, nay,confirmed my doubts of several of the doctrines of the Church ofRome, (hereafter stated,) because I found by such interviews Ihad nothing from God’s word to rely upon; nothing buttradition and the assertions of interested men to rest my hope ofsalvation upon; and even these when fairly examined couldnot afford me any plausible authority for the articles ofreligion doubted of. I little thought, after having actedas I did, by continuing to meet the Priest at every time andplace he appointed, to remove my doubts of certain doctrineswhich I conceive were unauthorised by God’s Holy Word, andtherefore not taught by our Lord and his Apostles; (theseinterviews I continued, until he candidly told me he was notable to satisfy me, and said he could not blame me to followthe dictates of my conscience.) I say, then, I littlethought that after this I would be obliged to vindicate myselffrom aspersions, resorted to evidently to deter others frompursuing a similar course; that, at the expense of my reputation,they might suppress the general and so much dreaded inquiries ofthe public mind after truth. I therefore lay before thepublic and the candid reader a plain statement of facts, and letmy motives, and necessity for so doing, be my apology for itsinaccuracies.
THE AUTHOR.
p. 3A PLAINSTATEMENT, &c.
Having been intended by my parentsfor a Clergyman of the Church of Rome, I was brought up andeducated for that purpose, under the immediate care of my lateuncle, the Rev. Edmund Reilly. P.P. of Killesandra, until hisdecease in 1814. I persevered, howeve