The Divine Plan of the Church The Divine Plan of the Church: Where Realised, and Where Not Fr. John MacLaughlin, 1901 Contents Dedication vii Preface ix Author’s Preface xi The Key to the Building 1 I Non-Catholics and the Divine Plan 9 II There Was a Plan 14 III The Antiquity or Eternity of That Plan 26 IV The Divine Foreknowledge in the Light of Which That Plan Had Its Origin 33 V What the Divine Plan Was 36 VI That Plan Contained an Element of Indefectibility 48 VII Infallibility 61 Three Inferences 84 Inference II 93 Inference III 108 Part II The Divine Plan Not Realised in the Church of England I Normal Life and Attitude of the Church of England as a Teacher 118 II Testing the Claims of the Church of England by the Nature and Extent of the Apostolic Commission 125 III Testing Her Claims by Examining the Chief Characteristics of Her Constitution 128 Section III 145 Characteristic IV.—She Is Bound to Recognise the Sovereign and the State as Having the Sole Power to Appoint Archbishops and Bishops, Even the Archbishop Who Is to Be Regarded as Her Chief Representative 159 Recapitulation of Part II 173 Appendix 177