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| Event 3 - Probation Closes |
| Liberty of Conscience Threatened |
Key Text
“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.” Pope Pius IX,
Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854 |
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.
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
worship,' also 'all such as maintain that the church may not employ force.'
Key Text
'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.'
Recently, John Paul II “urged
Catholics to more vigorously defend their faith against Protestant
sects that have made inroads in Latin America.” CNN,
January 25, 1999
The preceding statements by John Paul II were made in Mexico,
a predominantly Catholic country where Catholics
are already violently persecuting Protestants
while government officials look the other way. |
"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. 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 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 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, 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 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, has 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. (To validate this oft forgotten history see Museo
de la Inquisicion)
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 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 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 Protestant 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. 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.
Key Text
"Howbeit in
vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men." Mark 7:7 |
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 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 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 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.)
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
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. 526-530.)
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.
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, 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 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. 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 note for
page 447.)
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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