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Romanism is now
regarded by Protestants with far greater favor than in former years.
In those countries where Catholicism is not in the ascendancy, and
the papists are taking a conciliatory course in order to gain
influence, there is an increasing indifference concerning the
doctrines that separate the reformed churches from the papal
hierarchy; the opinion is gaining ground that, after all, we do not
differ so widely upon vital points as has been supposed, and that a
little concession on our part will bring us into a better
understanding with Rome. The time was when Protestants placed a high
value upon the liberty of conscience which had been so dearly
purchased. They taught their children to abhor popery and held that
to seek harmony with Rome would be disloyalty to God. But how widely
different are the sentiments now expressed!
The defenders of the papacy declare
that the church has been maligned, and the Protestant world are inclined
to accept the statement. Many urge that it is unjust to judge the church
of today by the abominations and absurdities that marked her reign
during the centuries of ignorance and darkness. They excuse her horrible
cruelty as the result of the barbarism of the times and plead that the
influence of modern civilization has changed her sentiments.
Page 564
Have these persons forgotten the claim
of infallibility put forth for eight hundred years by this haughty
power? So far from being relinquished, this claim was affirmed in the
nineteenth century with greater positiveness than ever before. As Rome
asserts that the "church never
erred; nor will it, according
to the Scriptures, ever err
" (John L. von Mosheim,
Institutes of Ecclesiastical History,
book 3, century II, part 2,
chapter 2, section 9, note 17), how can she renounce the principles
which governed her course in past ages?
The papal church will never relinquish
her claim to infallibility. All that she has done in her persecution of
those who reject her dogmas she holds to be right; and would she not
repeat the same acts, should the opportunity be presented? Let the
restraints now imposed by secular governments be removed and Rome be
reinstated in her former power, and there would speedily be a revival of
her tyranny and persecution.
A well-known writer speaks thus of the
attitude of the papal hierarchy as regards freedom of conscience, and of
the perils which especially threaten the United States from the success
of her policy:
"There are many who are disposed to
attribute any fear of Roman Catholicism in the United States to bigotry
or childishness. Such see nothing in the character and attitude of
Romanism that is hostile to our free institutions, or find nothing
portentous in its growth. Let us, then, first compare some of the
fundamental principles of our government with those of the Catholic
Church.
"The Constitution of the United States
guarantees liberty of
conscience . Nothing is dearer
or more fundamental. Pope Pius IX, in his Encyclical Letter of August
15, 1854, said: `The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in
defense of liberty of conscience are a most pestilential error--a pest,
of all others, most to be dreaded in a state.' The same pope, in his
Encyclical Letter of December 8, 1864, anathematized `those who assert
the liberty of conscience and of religious
Page 565
worship,' also 'all such as maintain that
the church may not employ force.'
"The pacific tone of Rome in the
United States does not imply a change of heart. She is tolerant where
she is helpless. Says Bishop O'Connor: 'Religious liberty is merely
endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to
the Catholic world.'. . . The archbishop of St. Louis once said: 'Heresy
and unbelief are crimes; and in Christian countries, as in Italy and
Spain, for instance, where all the people are Catholics, and where the
Catholic religion is an essential part of the law of the land, they are
punished as other crimes.'. . .
"Every cardinal, archbishop, and
bishop in the Catholic Church takes an oath of allegiance to the pope,
in which occur the following words: 'Heretics, schismatics, and rebels
to our said lord (the pope), or his aforesaid successors, I will to my
utmost persecute and oppose.'"--Josiah Strong,
Our Country,
ch. 5, pars. 2-4.
It is true that there are real
Christians in the Roman Catholic communion. Thousands in that church are
serving God according to the best light they have. They are not allowed
access to His word, and therefore they do not discern the truth.[*
Published in 1888 and 1911. See
Appendix.]
They have never seen the contrast between a living heart service and a
round of mere forms and ceremonies. God looks with pitying tenderness
upon these souls, educated as they are in a faith that is delusive and
unsatisfying. He will cause rays of light to penetrate the dense
darkness that surrounds them. He will reveal to them the truth as it is
in Jesus, and many will yet take their position with His people.
But Romanism as a system is no more in
harmony with the gospel of Christ now than at any former period in her
history. The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or they would
discern the signs of the times. The Roman Church is far-reaching in her
plans and modes of operation. She is employing every device to extend
her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and
determined
Page 566
conflict to regain control of the world,
to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has
done. Catholicism is gaining ground upon every side. See the increasing
number of her churches and chapels in Protestant countries. Look at the
popularity of her colleges and seminaries in America, so widely
patronized by Protestants. Look at the growth of ritualism in England
and the frequent defections to the ranks of the Catholics. These things
should awaken the anxiety of all who prize the pure principles of the
gospel.
Protestants have tampered with and
patronized popery; they have made compromises and concessions which
papists themselves are surprised to see and fail to understand. Men are
closing their eyes to the real character of Romanism and the dangers to
be apprehended from her supremacy. The people need to be aroused to
resist the advances of this most dangerous foe to civil and religious
liberty.
Many Protestants suppose that the
Catholic religion is unattractive and that its worship is a dull,
meaningless round of ceremony. Here they mistake. While Romanism is
based upon deception, it is not a coarse and clumsy imposture. The
religious service of the Roman Church is a most impressive ceremonial.
Its gorgeous display and solemn rites fascinate the senses of the people
and silence the voice of reason and of conscience. The eye is charmed.
Magnificent churches, imposing processions, golden altars, jeweled
shrines, choice paintings, and exquisite sculpture appeal to the love of
beauty. The ear also is captivated. The music is unsurpassed. The rich
notes of the deep-toned organ, blending with the melody of many voices
as it swells through the lofty domes and pillared aisles of her grand
cathedrals, cannot fail to impress the mind with awe and reverence.
This outward splendor, pomp, and
ceremony, that only mocks the longings of the sin-sick soul, is an
evidence of inward corruption. The religion of Christ needs not such
attractions to recommend it. In the light shining from the cross, true
Christianity appears so pure and lovely that no
Page 567
external decorations can enhance its true
worth. It is the beauty of holiness, a meek and quiet spirit, which is
of value with God.
Brilliancy of style is not necessarily
an index of pure, elevated thought. High conceptions of art, delicate
refinement of taste, often exist in minds that are earthly and sensual.
They are often employed by Satan to lead men to forget the necessities
of the soul, to lose sight of the future, immortal life, to turn away
from their infinite Helper, and to live for this world alone.
A religion of externals is attractive
to the unrenewed heart. The pomp and ceremony of the Catholic worship
has a seductive, bewitching power, by which many are deceived; and they
come to look upon the Roman Church as the very gate of heaven. None but
those who have planted their feet firmly upon the foundation of truth,
and whose hearts are renewed by the Spirit of God, are proof against her
influence. Thousands who have not an experimental knowledge of Christ
will be led to accept the forms of godliness without the power. Such a
religion is just what the multitudes desire.
The church's claim to the right to
pardon leads the Romanist to feel at liberty to sin; and the ordinance
of confession, without which her pardon is not granted, tends also to
give license to evil. He who kneels before fallen man, and opens in
confession the secret thoughts and imaginations of his heart, is
debasing his manhood and degrading every noble instinct of his soul. In
unfolding the sins of his life to a priest,--an erring, sinful mortal,
and too often corrupted with wine and licentiousness,--his standard of
character is lowered, and he is defiled in consequence. His thought of
God is degraded to the likeness of fallen humanity, for the priest
stands as a representative of God. This degrading confession of man to
man is the secret spring from which has flowed much of the evil that is
defiling the world and fitting it for the final destruction. Yet to him
who loves self-indulgence,
Page 568
it is more pleasing to confess to a
fellow mortal than to open the soul to God. It is more palatable to
human nature to do penance than to renounce sin; it is easier to mortify
the flesh by sackcloth and nettles and galling chains than to crucify
fleshly lusts. Heavy is the yoke which the carnal heart is willing to
bear rather than bow to the yoke of Christ.
There is a striking similarity between
the Church of Rome and the Jewish Church at the time of Christ's first
advent. While the Jews secretly trampled upon every principle of the law
of God, they were outwardly rigorous in the observance of its precepts,
loading it down with exactions and traditions that made obedience
painful and burdensome. As the Jews professed to revere the law, so do
Romanists claim to reverence the cross. They exalt the symbol of
Christ's sufferings, while in their lives they deny Him whom it
represents.
Papists place crosses upon their
churches, upon their altars, and upon their garments. Everywhere is seen
the insignia of the cross. Everywhere it is outwardly honored and
exalted. But the teachings of Christ are buried beneath a mass of
senseless traditions, false interpretations, and rigorous exactions. The
Saviour's words concerning the bigoted Jews, apply with still greater
force to the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church: "They bind heavy
burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but
they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." Matthew
23:4. Conscientious souls are kept in constant terror fearing the wrath
of an offended God, while many of the dignitaries of the church are
living in luxury and sensual pleasure.
The worship of images and relics, the
invocation of saints, and the exaltation of the pope are devices of
Satan to attract the minds of the people from God and from His Son. To
accomplish their ruin, he endeavors to turn their attention from Him
through whom alone they can find salvation. He will direct them to any
object that can be substituted for the One who has said: "Come unto Me,
all ye that labor and
Page 569
are heavy-laden, and I will give you
rest." Matthew 11:28.
It is Satan's constant effort to
misrepresent the character of God, the nature of sin, and the real
issues at stake in the great controversy. His sophistry lessens the
obligation of the divine law and gives men license to sin. At the same
time he causes them to cherish false conceptions of God so that they
regard Him with fear and hate rather than with love. The cruelty
inherent in his own character is attributed to the Creator; it is
embodied in systems of religion and expressed in modes of worship. Thus
the minds of men are blinded, and Satan secures them as his agents to
war against God. By perverted conceptions of the divine attributes,
heathen nations were led to believe human sacrifices necessary to secure
the favor of Deity; and horrible cruelties have been perpetrated under
the various forms of idolatry.
The Roman Catholic Church, uniting the
forms of paganism and Christianity, and, like paganism, misrepresenting
the character of God, had resorted to practices no less cruel and
revolting. In the days of Rome's supremacy there were instruments of
torture to compel assent to her doctrines. There was the stake for those
who would not concede to her claims. There were massacres on a scale
that will never be known until revealed in the judgment. Dignitaries of
the church studied, under Satan their master, to invent means to cause
the greatest possible torture and not end the life of the victim. In
many cases the infernal process was repeated to the utmost limit of
human endurance, until nature gave up the struggle, and the sufferer
hailed death as a sweet release.
Such was the fate of Rome's opponents.
For her adherents she had the discipline of the scourge, of famishing
hunger, of bodily austerities in every conceivable, heart-sickening
form. To secure the favor of Heaven, penitents violated the laws of God
by violating the laws of nature. They were taught to sunder the ties
which He has formed to bless and gladden man's earthly sojourn. The
churchyard contains millions of
Page 570
victims who spent their lives in vain
endeavors to subdue their natural affections, to repress, as offensive
to God, every thought and feeling of sympathy with their fellow
creatures.
If we desire to understand the
determined cruelty of Satan, manifested for hundreds of years, not among
those who never heard of God, but in the very heart and throughout the
extent of Christendom, we have only to look at the history of Romanism.
Through this mammoth system of deception the prince of evil achieves his
purpose of bringing dishonor to God and wretchedness to man. And as we
see how he succeeds in disguising himself and accomplishing his work
through the leaders of the church, we may better understand why he has
so great antipathy to the Bible. If that Book is read, the mercy and
love of God will be revealed; it will be seen that He lays upon men none
of these heavy burdens. All that He asks is a broken and contrite heart,
a humble, obedient spirit.
Christ gives no example in His life
for men and women to shut themselves in monasteries in order to become
fitted for heaven. He has never taught that love and sympathy must be
repressed. The Saviour's heart overflowed with love. The nearer man
approaches to moral perfection, the keener are his sensibilities, the
more acute is his perception of sin, and the deeper his sympathy for the
afflicted. The pope claims to be the vicar of Christ; but how does his
character bear comparison with that of our Saviour? Was Christ ever
known to consign men to the prison or the rack because they did not pay
Him homage as the King of heaven? Was His voice heard condemning to
death those who did not accept Him? When He was slighted by the people
of a Samaritan village, the apostle John was filled with indignation,
and inquired: "Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from
heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?" Jesus looked with pity
upon His disciple, and rebuked his harsh spirit, saying: "The Son of man
is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Luke 9:54, 56.
How different from
Page 571
the spirit manifested by Christ is that
of His professed vicar.
The Roman Church now presents a fair
front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible
cruelties. She has clothed herself in Christlike garments; but she is
unchanged. Every principle of the papacy that existed in past ages
exists today. The doctrines devised in the darkest ages are still held.
Let none deceive themselves. The papacy that Protestants are now so
ready to honor is the same that ruled the world in the days of the
Reformation, when men of God stood up, at the peril of their lives, to
expose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and arrogant
assumption that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the
prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than
when she crushed out human liberty and slew the saints of the Most High.
The papacy is just what prophecy
declared that she would be, the apostasy of the latter times. 2
Thessalonians 2:3, 4. It is a part of her policy to assume the character
which will best accomplish her purpose; but beneath the variable
appearance of the chameleon she conceals the invariable venom of the
serpent. "Faith ought not to be kept with heretics, nor persons
suspected of heresy" (Lenfant, volume 1, page 516), she declares. Shall
this power, whose record for a thousand years is written in the blood of
the saints, be now acknowledged as a part of the church of Christ?
It is not without reason that the
claim has been put forth in Protestant countries that Catholicism
differs less widely from Protestantism than in former times. There has
been a change; but the change is not in the papacy. Catholicism indeed
resembles much of the Protestantism that now exists, because
Protestantism has so greatly degenerated since the days of the
Reformers.
As the Protestants churches have been
seeking the favor of the world, false charity has blinded their eyes.
They do not see but that it is right to believe good of all evil, and as
the inevitable result they will finally believe evil of all good.
Page 572
Instead of standing in defense of the
faith once delivered to the saints, they are now, as it were,
apologizing to Rome for their uncharitable opinion of her, begging
pardon for their bigotry.
A large class, even of those who look
upon Romanism with no favor, apprehend little danger from her power and
influence. Many urge that the intellectual and moral darkness prevailing
during the Middle Ages favored the spread of her dogmas, superstitions,
and oppression, and that the greater intelligence of modern times, the
general diffusion of knowledge, and the increasing liberality in matters
of religion forbid a revival of intolerance and tyranny. The very
thought that such a state of things will exist in this enlightened age
is ridiculed. It is true that great light, intellectual, moral, and
religious, is shining upon this generation. In the open pages of God's
Holy Word, light from heaven has been shed upon the world. But it should
be remembered that the greater the light bestowed, the greater the
darkness of those who pervert and reject it.
A prayerful study of the Bible would
show Protestants the real character of the papacy and would cause them
to abhor and to shun it; but many are so wise in their own conceit that
they feel no need of humbly seeking God that they may be led into the
truth. Although priding themselves on their enlightenment, they are
ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power of God. They must have
some means of quieting their consciences, and they seek that which is
least spiritual and humiliating. What they desire is a method of
forgetting God which shall pass as a method of remembering Him. The
papacy is well adapted to meet the wants of all these. It is prepared
for two classes of mankind, embracing nearly the whole world--those who
would be saved by their merits, and those who would be saved in their
sins. Here is the secret of its power.
A day of great intellectual darkness
has been shown to be favorable to the success of the papacy. It will yet
be
Page 573
demonstrated that a day of great
intellectual light is equally favorable for its success. In past ages,
when men were without God's word and without the knowledge of the truth,
their eyes were blindfolded, and thousands were ensnared, not seeing the
net spread for their feet. In this generation there are many whose eyes
become dazzled by the glare of human speculations, "science falsely so
called;" they discern not the net, and walk into it as readily as if
blindfolded. God designed that man's intellectual powers should be held
as a gift from his Maker and should be employed in the service of truth
and righteousness; but when pride and ambition are cherished, and men
exalt their own theories above the word of God, then intelligence can
accomplish greater harm than ignorance. Thus the false science of the
present day, which undermines faith in the Bible, will prove as
successful in preparing the way for the acceptance of the papacy, with
its pleasing forms, as did the withholding of knowledge in opening the
way for its aggrandizement in the Dark Ages.
In the movements now in progress in
the United States to secure for the institutions and usages of the
church the support of the state, Protestants are following in the steps
of papists. Nay, more, they are opening the door for the papacy to
regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she has lost in the Old
World. And that which gives greater significance to this movement is the
fact that the principal object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday
observance--a custom which originated with Rome, and which she claims as
the sign of her authority. It is the spirit of the papacy--the spirit of
conformity to worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions above
the commandments of God--that is permeating the Protestant churches and
leading them on to do the same work of Sunday exaltation which the
papacy has done before them.
If the reader would understand the
agencies to be employed in the soon-coming contest, he has but to trace
the record of the means which Rome employed for the same
Page 574
object in ages past. If he would know how
papists and Protestants united will deal with those who reject their
dogmas, let him see the spirit which Rome manifested toward the Sabbath
and its defenders.
Royal edicts, general councils, and
church ordinances sustained by secular power were the steps by which the
pagan festival attained its position of honor in the Christian world.
The first public measure enforcing Sunday observance was the law enacted
by Constantine. (A.D. 321; see
Appendix.)
This edict required townspeople to rest on "the venerable day of the
sun," but permitted countrymen to continue their agricultural pursuits.
Though virtually a heathen statute, it was enforced by the emperor after
his nominal acceptance of Christianity.
The royal mandate not proving a
sufficient substitute for divine authority, Eusebius, a bishop who
sought the favor of princes, and who was the special friend and
flatterer of Constantine, advanced the claim that Christ had transferred
the Sabbath to Sunday. Not a single testimony of the Scriptures was
produced in proof of the new doctrine. Eusebius himself unwittingly
acknowledges its falsity and points to the real authors of the change.
"All things," he says, "whatever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath,
these we have transferred to the Lord's Day."--Robert Cox,
Sabbath Laws and Sabbath Duties,
page 538. But the Sunday argument,
groundless as it was, served to embolden men in trampling upon the
Sabbath of the Lord. All who desired to be honored by the world accepted
the popular festival.
As the papacy became firmly
established, the work of Sunday exaltation was continued. For a time the
people engaged in agricultural labor when not attending church, and the
seventh day was still regarded as the Sabbath. But steadily a change was
effected. Those in holy office were forbidden to pass judgment in any
civil controversy on the Sunday. Soon after, all persons, of whatever
rank, were commanded to refrain from common labor on pain of a fine for
freemen and
Page 575
stripes in the case of servants. Later it
was decreed that rich men should be punished with the loss of half of
their estates; and finally, that if still obstinate they should be made
slaves. The lower classes were to suffer perpetual banishment.
Miracles also were called into
requisition. Among other wonders it was reported that as a husbandman
who was about to plow his field on Sunday cleaned his plow with an iron,
the iron stuck fast in his hand, and for two years he carried it about
with him, "to his exceeding great pain and shame."--Francis West,
Historical and Practical Discourse on
the Lord's Day, page 174.
Later the pope gave directions that
the parish priest should admonish the violators of Sunday and wish them
to go to church and say their prayers, lest they bring some great
calamity on themselves and neighbors. An ecclesiastical council brought
forward the argument, since so widely employed, even by Protestants,
that because persons had been struck by lightning while laboring on
Sunday, it must be the Sabbath. "It is apparent," said the prelates,
"how high the displeasure of God was upon their neglect of this day." An
appeal was then made that priests and ministers, kings and princes, and
all faithful people "use their utmost endeavors and care that the day be
restored to its honor, and, for the credit of Christianity, more
devoutly observed for the time to come."--Thomas Morer,
Discourse in Six Dialogues on the Name,
Notion, and Observation of the Lord's Day,
page 271.
The decrees of councils proving
insufficient, the secular authorities were besought to issue an edict
that would strike terror to the hearts of the people and force them to
refrain from labor on the Sunday. At a synod held in Rome, all previous
decisions were reaffirmed with greater force and solemnity. They were
also incorporated into the ecclesiastical law and enforced by the civil
authorities throughout nearly all Christendom. (See Heylyn,
History of the Sabbath,
pt. 2, ch. 5, sec. 7.)
Page 576
Still the absence of Scriptural
authority for Sundaykeeping occasioned no little embarrassment. The
people questioned the right of their teachers to set aside the positive
declaration of Jehovah, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy
God," in order to honor the day of the sun. To supply the lack of Bible
testimony, other expedients were necessary. A zealous advocate of
Sunday, who about the close of the twelfth century visited the churches
of England, was resisted by faithful witnesses for the truth; and so
fruitless were his efforts that he departed from the country for a
season and cast about him for some means to enforce his teachings. When
he returned, the lack was supplied, and in his after labors he met with
greater success. He brought with him a roll purporting to be from God
Himself, which contained the needed command for Sunday observance, with
awful threats to terrify the disobedient. This precious document-- as
base a counterfeit as the institution it supported--was said to have
fallen from heaven and to have been found in Jerusalem, upon the altar
of St. Simeon, in Golgotha. But, in fact, the pontifical palace at Rome
was the source whence it proceeded. Frauds and forgeries to advance the
power and prosperity of the church have in all ages been esteemed lawful
by the papal hierarchy.
The roll forbade labor from the ninth
hour, three o'clock, on Saturday afternoon, till sunrise on Monday; and
its authority was declared to be confirmed by many miracles. It was
reported that persons laboring beyond the appointed hour were stricken
with paralysis. A miller who attempted to grind his corn, saw, instead
of flour, a torrent of blood come forth, and the mill wheel stood still,
notwithstanding the strong rush of water. A woman who placed dough in
the oven found it raw when taken out, though the oven was very hot.
Another who had dough prepared for baking at the ninth hour, but
determined to set it aside till Monday, found, the next day, that it had
been made into loaves and baked by divine power. A man who baked bread
after the ninth hour
Page 577
on Saturday found, when he broke it the
next morning, that blood started therefrom. By such absurd and
superstitious fabrications did the advocates of Sunday endeavor to
establish its sacredness. (See Roger de Hoveden,
Annals,
vol. 2, pp. 528-530.)
In Scotland, as in England, a greater
regard for Sunday was secured by uniting with it a portion of the
ancient Sabbath. But the time required to be kept holy varied. An edict
from the king of Scotland declared that "Saturday from twelve at noon
ought to be accounted holy," and that no man, from that time till Monday
morning, should engage in worldly business.--Morer, pages 290, 291.
But notwithstanding all the efforts to
establish Sunday sacredness, papists themselves publicly confessed the
divine authority of the Sabbath and the human origin of the institution
by which it had been supplanted. In the sixteenth century a papal
council plainly declared: "Let all Christians remember that the seventh
day was consecrated by God, and hath been received and observed, not
only by the Jews, but by all others who pretend to worship God; though
we Christians have changed their Sabbath into the Lord's Day."--
Ibid.,
pages 281, 282. Those who were tampering
with the divine law were not ignorant of the character of their work.
They were deliberately setting themselves above God.
A striking illustration of Rome's
policy toward those who disagree with her was given in the long and
bloody persecution of the Waldenses, some of whom were observers of the
Sabbath. Others suffered in a similar manner for their fidelity to the
fourth commandment. The history of the churches of Ethiopia and
Abyssinia is especially significant. Amid the gloom of the Dark Ages,
the Christians of Central Africa were lost sight of and forgotten by the
world, and for many centuries they enjoyed freedom in the exercise of
their faith. But at last Rome learned of their existence, and the
emperor of Abyssinia was soon beguiled into an acknowledgment of the
pope as the vicar of Christ. Other concessions followed.
Page 578
An edict was issued forbidding the
observance of the Sabbath under the severest penalties. (See Michael
Geddes, Church History of
Ethiopia, pages 311, 312.) But
papal tyranny soon became a yoke so galling that the Abyssinians
determined to break it from their necks. After a terrible struggle the
Romanists were banished from their dominions, and the ancient faith was
restored. The churches rejoiced in their freedom, and they never forgot
the lesson they had learned concerning the deception, the fanaticism,
and the despotic power of Rome. Within their solitary realm they were
content to remain, unknown to the rest of Christendom.
The churches of Africa held the
Sabbath as it was held by the papal church before her complete apostasy.
While they kept the seventh day in obedience to the commandment of God,
they abstained from labor on the Sunday in conformity to the custom of
the church. Upon obtaining supreme power, Rome had trampled upon the
Sabbath of God to exalt her own; but the churches of Africa, hidden for
nearly a thousand years, did not share in this apostasy. When brought
under the sway of Rome, they were forced to set aside the true and exalt
the false sabbath; but no sooner had they regained their independence
than they returned to obedience to the fourth commandment. (See
Appendix
.)
These records of the past clearly
reveal the enmity of Rome toward the true Sabbath and its defenders, and
the means which she employs to honor the institution of her creating.
The word of God teaches that these scenes are to be repeated as Roman
Catholics and Protestants shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday.
The prophecy of Revelation 13 declares
that the power represented by the beast with lamblike horns shall cause
"the earth and them which dwell therein" to worship the papacy --there
symbolized by the beast "like unto a leopard." The beast with two horns
is also to say "to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make
an image to the beast;" and,
Page 579
furthermore, it is to command all, "both
small and great, rich and poor, free and bond," to receive the mark of
the beast. Revelation 13:11-16. It has been shown that the United States
is the power represented by the beast with lamblike horns, and that this
prophecy will be fulfilled when the United States shall enforce Sunday
observance, which Rome claims as the special acknowledgment of her
supremacy. But in this homage to the papacy the United States will not
be alone. The influence of Rome in the countries that once acknowledged
her dominion is still far from being destroyed. And prophecy foretells a
restoration of her power. "I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to
death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after
the beast." Verse 3. The infliction of the deadly wound points to the
downfall of the papacy in 1798. After this, says the prophet, "his
deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast."
Paul states plainly that the "man of sin" will continue until the second
advent. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8. To the very close of time he will carry
forward the work of deception. And the revelator declares, also
referring to the papacy: "All that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him, whose names are not written in the book of life." Revelation 13:8.
In both the Old and the New World, the papacy will receive homage in the
honor paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the
authority of the Roman Church.
Since the middle of the nineteenth
century, students of prophecy in the United States have presented this
testimony to the world. In the events now taking place is seen a rapid
advance toward the fulfillment of the prediction. With Protestant
teachers there is the same claim of divine authority for Sundaykeeping,
and the same lack of Scriptural evidence, as with the papal leaders who
fabricated miracles to supply the place of a command from God. The
assertion that God's judgments are visited upon men for their violation
of the
Page 580
Sunday-sabbath, will be repeated; already
it is beginning to be urged. And a movement to enforce Sunday observance
is fast gaining ground.
Marvelous in her shrewdness and
cunning is the Roman Church. She can read what is to be. She bides her
time, seeing that the Protestant churches are paying her homage in their
acceptance of the false sabbath and that they are preparing to enforce
it by the very means which she herself employed in bygone days. Those
who reject the light of truth will yet seek the aid of this self-styled
infallible power to exalt an institution that originated with her. How
readily she will come to the help of Protestants in this work it is not
difficult to conjecture. Who understands better than the papal leaders
how to deal with those who are disobedient to the church?
The Roman Catholic Church, with all
its ramifications throughout the world, forms one vast organization
under the control, and designed to serve the interests, of the papal
see. Its millions of communicants, in every country on the globe, are
instructed to hold themselves as bound in allegiance to the pope.
Whatever their nationality or their government, they are to regard the
authority of the church as above all other. Though they may take the
oath pledging their loyalty to the state, yet back of this lies the vow
of obedience to Rome, absolving them from every pledge inimical to her
interests.
History testifies of her artful and
persistent efforts to insinuate herself into the affairs of nations; and
having gained a foothold, to further her own aims, even at the ruin of
princes and people. In the year 1204, Pope Innocent III extracted from
Peter II, king of Arragon, the following extraordinary oath: "I, Peter,
king of Arragonians, profess and promise to be ever faithful and
obedient to my lord, Pope Innocent, to his Catholic successors, and the
Roman Church, and faithfully to preserve my kingdom in his obedience,
defending the Catholic faith, and persecuting heretical pravity." --John
Dowling, The History of
Romanism, b. 5, ch. 6, sec.
Page 581
55. This is in harmony with the claims
regarding the power of the Roman pontiff "that it is lawful for him to
depose emperors" and "that he can absolve subjects from their allegiance
to unrighteous rulers."--Mosheim, b. 3, cent. 11, pt. 2, ch. 2, sec. 9,
note 17. (See also
Appendix
.)
And let it be remembered, it is the
boast of Rome that she never changes. The principles of Gregory VII and
Innocent III are still the principles of the Roman Catholic Church. And
had she but the power, she would put them in practice with as much vigor
now as in past centuries. Protestants little know what they are doing
when they propose to accept the aid of Rome in the work of Sunday
exaltation. While they are bent upon the accomplishment of their
purpose, Rome is aiming to re-establish her power, to recover her lost
supremacy. Let the principle once be established in the United States
that the church may employ or control the power of the state; that
religious observances may be enforced by secular laws; in short, that
the authority of church and state is to dominate the conscience, and the
triumph of Rome in this country is assured.
God's word has given warning of the
impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will
learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to
escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are
exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in
the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in
the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated.
Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further
her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she
desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall
soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is.
Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur
reproach and persecution.
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