Excerpt from The Confessional: Or an Exposition of the Doctrine of Auricular Confession, as Taught in the Standards of the Romish Church Dens' System of Theology is notori ously a standard work in use in Roman Catholic Seminaries; and, if any proof were wanting, no farther evidence could be desired than may be furnished by a perusal of the title page of the edition which lies before me. It is possible; how ever, that this may be denied; for Mr. Hughes, it is said, lately challenged any Protestant minister or layman to pro duce a single case in which the Papists had put Protestants to death, and in open court offered to lay a wager of $1000 to that And the same individualstood up before the New York Common Council, and a multitude of Popish and Protestant clergy, and actually denied the authority of the Rhemish Testament, though it has been published and kept up, edition after edition, for two hundred and fifty-nine years, and has never been disapproved or inserted on the Index Pro bibitory by any Pope, or censor of the Pope. And still more lately, the bull of the Philadelphia bishop pronounced over the late priest, Mr. Hogan, has been de nied, though there are those living who well remember when that gentleman was cursed with bell, book and candle With these recent occurrences before me, I shall not be surprised, if Peter Dens should fall into sudden disrepute with some of his most ardent admirers; and if only this result is gained, i shall be amplyrewarded for the pains I have taken to expose a few of the atrocious doctrines which abound in his system of iniquity. When attempts are made to arrest the discussion of the tendencies of Roman ism by threats and acts of violence, it is no time for Protestant ministers to be si lent, or to shrink from bearing bold and' faithful testimony against the monstrous impieties of that system of delusion, which has done more to ruin souls than any other craft which Satan has ever devised. That God may open the eyes of many of our Roman Catholic brethren, both priests and laymen, is my heart's desire and prayer. God is my witness that the worst I wish them is, that they may come to the know ledge ot' the truth and be saved. J. F. B. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.