FACTS
of FAITH
(Part
D)
By CHRISTIAN EDWARDSON
(Revised) Copyright, 1943
THE UNITED STATES IN PROPHECY
p 234
-- A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE -- We
have now seen that " the first beast " of Revelation 13: 1-10
represents the Papacy, and that it received its "deadly wound"
in 1798, when the Papal States had been abolished, Rome declared a republic,
and Pope Pius VI taken a prisoner into France where he died in "
captivity," August 19, 1799. (Revelation 13: 3, 10.) The prophet
then sees "another beast coming up." Verse11. Knowing that
a "beast" in prophecy represents a "kingdom " (Daniel
7: 23) we must conclude that a new nation was to come up about 1798.
In 1754 John Wesley, in his "New Testament with Explanatory
Notes," applied the beast of Revelation 13: 1-10 to the Papacy,
and then wrote the following note under the eleventh verse: "
Another . . . beast. . . . But he is not yet come, though he cannot
be far off; for he is to appear at the end of the forty-two months of
the first beast. And he had two horns like a lamb-a mild, innocent appearance.
" -- p . 427.
In locating this
new nation let us notice the following points in this prophecy:
(1) When
the prophet saw the papal beast go "into captivity (Revelation
13: 10), he " beheld another beast" "like a lamb"
"coming up." Verse 11. A lamb is not full grown. This
nation, therefore, would be coming up, and not be full grown in 1798,
when the papal beast went into captivity.
(2) While
the four beasts of Daniel 7: 3, and the first beast of Revelation 13:
1, all came up from " the sea," which in prophecy means
"peoples, and multitudes" (Revelation 17: 15), the second
beast of Revelation 13: 11 came "up out of the earth,"
indicating that, while the former kingdoms arose in countries populated
with peoples and multitudes, this latter nation was to rise in new territory,
not formerly occupied.
p 235 -- (3)
The dragon of Revelation 12, and the first beast of Revelation 13, both
had crowns, but this beast had none, which would indicate that it was
to be a republic, having no crowned head.
(4) It would
exercise its power "before" the papal beast (verse
12), showing that it is not a Catholic nation, nor counted as part of
the papal confederacy, therefore it would naturally be a Protestant
nation to begin with.
(5) It would
be a great nation, for it was equal in power to the Papacy.
Verse 12.
(6) And
yet its principles were to be lamblike, mild (verse 11), or as the Danish
and German have it: "Like the lamb," -- "Christlike.
And Christ advocated two great principles: First, separation
of church and state. He said: "Render therefore unto Caesar
the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's."
Luke 20: 25. That is, keep the two separate. Second, religious
liberty. He said: "If any man hear My words, and believe not,
I judge him not." John 12:47. "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
Matthew 7: 1.
It is evident that
only one nation answers to all these specifications: the United States
of America. It became an independent nation in 1776, and was not full
grown in 1798, having only thirteen states, compared with forty-eight
now. Its peaceful growth and principles of liberty answer also to the
predictions of this prophecy.
The words "coming
up" used in Revelation 13: 11 mean to "spring
up, as plants." -- T. S. Green's Lexicon, p. 9.
And G. A. Townsend says: "The
history of the United States was separated by a beneficent Providence
far from this wild and cruel history of the rest of the continent, and,
like a silent seed, we grew into empire." -- " The New
World Compared with the Old," p. 635. Hartford: 1870.
The principles
of Romanism had taken such deep root in the human heart that although
the Puritans had come to this country to seek liberty of worship for
themselves, they soon established a state religion, and persecuted dissenters
most bitterly.
p 236 -- In
several of the Colonies good citizens were put in the stocks for not
going to church on Sunday; they were mercilessly whipped, or even put
to death, for differing from the established religious belief.
Many of the nobler
minds had grown tired of political tyranny and religious bigotry, and
determined to throw off both yokes in one stroke. On June 7, 1776, Richard
Henry Lee introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress at Philadelphia,
Pa., declaring, " That
these United Colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent
States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown,
and that all political connection between them and the state of Great
Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved." A committee,
consisting of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger
Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, was appointed to draft a formal Declaration,
which was penned by Mr. Jefferson, and on June 28, Congress proceeded
to consider it. The discussion that followed was a tremendous struggle.
On July 2, Lee's resolution was voted, and finally at 2: 00 P.M., July
4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was voted, and the bell in
the tower of Independence Hall, where they were assembled, rang out
the joyful news. This bell bore the now prophetic inscription, "Proclaim
liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
Leviticus 25: 10.
"In all the
colonies, indeed, the Declaration was hailed as the passing away of
the old world and the birth of the new." -- "Great Events
of the Greatest Century," R. M. Devens, p. 29.
The noble men who
framed the Declaration did not ask for toleration. They understood the
fundamentals of true liberty, and declared: "We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal;
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That
to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed." Sacred
truths these are,
p 237 --
written in Independence Hall. "Within
that temple was born a nation, in whose destiny were wrapped the interests
of Liberty and
of Civilization to the end of time."' -- Id.. p. 31.
The Federal
Constitution, adopted September 17, 1787, and ratified by the several
states between December 7, 1787 and May 29, 1790, has this statement
in its preamble: "We,
the people of the United States in order to . . . secure the blessings
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America."
Still some friends
of religious liberty, who had so long suffered persecution, feared that
the Constitution did not sufficiently safeguard liberty of conscience,
and they wrote to George Washington in regard to it. The following is
his reply, dated August 4, 1789:
" If I could
have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed
by the convention where I had the honor to preside might possibly endanger
the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would
never have placed my signature to it; and if I could now conceive that
the general government might ever be so administered as to render the
liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no
one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers
against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every species of religious
persecution. For, you doubtless remember, I have often expressed my
sentiments that any man, conducting himself as a good citizen and being
accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected
in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience."
-- " History of the Baptists," Thomas Armitage,
D. D., LL. D., pp. 806, 807. New York: 1890.
TOP
A month later,
September 23, 1789, the first ten Amendments to the Constitution, also
called the Bill of Rights, were approved by Congress. By December 15,1791,
they had been ratified by ten states, and were declared in force. The
first Amendment reads: "Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof; or abridging
p 238 -- the
freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
In the prophecy
this beast "had two horns like a lamb." Dr. Alexander Cruden
gives many examples in his Concordance to show that "the
Scripture mentions the horn as the symbol of strength. " -- Art.
"Horn," p. 291. And the real strength of this republic
has been its two great principles: civil and religious liberty
-- a state without a king, and a church without a pope. G. A. Townsend,
speaking of the real secret of power in this country, says: "'In
view of this unparalleled progress and combination, what are the little
toys with which we vex ourselves in Europe? What is this needle gun,
we are anxious to get from Prussia, that we may beat her next year with
it? Had we not better take from America the principle of liberty she
embodies, out of which have come her citizen pride, her gigantic industry,
and her formidable loyalty to the destinies of her Republican land?"
-- "The New World Compared with the Old," p. 462.
TOP
The secret of our
power at home, and our influence abroad, was the citizens' love for,
and enthusiastic devotion to, their country, which guaranteed liberty
to all, instead of oppression by taxation and religious despotism, as
had been the rule in former ages.
As the principles
of liberty and the inherent equality of all men, enunciated in the Declaration
of Independence, and in the first Amendment to the Federal Constitution,
spread in Europe, people became awakened to their God-given rights.
Mr. Townsend says: "Since
America was discovered she has been a subject of revolutionary thought
in Europe. . . . Out of her discovery grew the European reformation
in religion; out of our Revolutionary War grew the revolutionary period
of Europe." -- Ibid., pp.462, 463.
The prophet saw
these two powerful horns on the lamblike
p 239 -- beast,
and thinking men today have also caught the vision of their power in
the world.
A
SAD CHANGE -- We wish we could close the picture here, and
leave its unmarred beauty lingering in our minds; but, sad to say, there
is another chapter to it that must be read. The prophet continues: "He
spake as a dragon." Revelation 13: 11. A nation speaks through
its laws. This prophetic statement, therefore, reveals that a great
change in policy is to come over our beloved country. The "dragon"
is a symbol of pagan Rome, that persecuted the early Christians during
the first three centuries. (Revelation 12: 1-5, 11.) And a similar persecution
will be inaugurated against the "remnant" church, for we read:
"The dragon was wroth with the woman [church], and went to make
war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God,
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12: 17. And
he has "great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short
time." Verse 12. Here we see what is meant by speaking "as
a dragon," and we also see upon whom this persecution will come;
namely, upon commandment-keepers.
This prophecy also
reveals what influence will be brought to bear upon our lawmakers and
people to produce this sad change. We have already seen that "the
first beast" of Revelation 13: 1-10 represents the Papacy, and
by reading the eleventh and twelfth verses we see that the effort of
the lamblike beast will be to cause "the earth and them which dwell
therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed."
That is: The whole trend is Romeward, therefore it must be Rome that
is working in disguise to bring about such a trend. And now as to the
facts in the case. We quote the following from Roman Catholic sources:
At the Centennial
Conference of American Catholics, held in Baltimore, November, 1890,
Archbishop Ireland said: "Catholics
of the United States are called . . . to make America Catholic. . .
. The church triumphant in America,
p 240 -- Catholic
truth will travel on the wings of American influence, and with it encircle
the universe." -- " The Pope and the New Era,"
pp. 222, 223. London: W. T. Stead, 1890.
A letter from Rome,
dated October 14, 1894, says: "
The United States of America, it can be said without exaggeration, are
the chief thought of Leo XIII. . . . A few days ago, on receiving an
eminent American, Leo XIII said to him: 'But the United States are the
future; we think of them incessantly.' . . . That is why Leo XIII turns
all his soul, full of ideality, to what is improperly called his American
policy. It should be called his Catholic universal policy." --
" Catholic Standard and Times" (Philadelphia), November
3, 1894; quoted in "Protestant Magazine," October, 1913, p.
441. TOP
The report of "
the third Washington conference " says: "Our
purpose is to make America dominantly Catholic." -- "The
Mission Movement in America," issued from the Catholic University,
Washington, D. C., June, 1909.
" It seems
to me that the main support of Protestantism comes from the United States
and England. . . . If we put an end to this effort in England and the
United States by making these nations predominantly Catholic, we will
have removed the chief obstacle to the conversion of the world to the
true faith. . . . A vigorous effort in the United States at this time
will reduce the opposition to an insignificant condition. . . . In the
course of another century, the [Protestant] sects will be a study for
the historian and antiquarian along with Arianism." -- Extract
from a letter in "The Missionary" (Roman Catholic),
Washington, D. C.: May, 1910; quoted in. " Protestant Magazine,
Vol. II, p. 22.
This Catholic movement
has already made such progress in England, that, with a little careful
manipulation, its leaders anticipate very little opposition in the future.
(See " History of the Romeward Movement in the Church of. England,"
London: 1900, and "The Secret History of the Oxford Movement,"
London: 1899, both by Walter Walsh; and "The Oxford Movement
in America, " by Rev. C. E. Walworth, New York: 1895;
p 241 -- also
"The Jesuits and the British Press," by Michael J.
F. McCarthy).
Now the "
Catholic Action " is focused on America, not in an antagonistic
way, but quietly, in wisely planned, systematically organized, and well
directed efforts along numerous lines, so as to gain favor among Protestants,
and not to be suspected as propaganda. And, remarkable as it may sound,
Protestant leaders and people are totally asleep on the Catholic question,
even more so than the Huguenots were in France before the St. Bartholomew's
Massacre.
Dr. E. Boyd Barrett,
for many years a Jesuit, and still a Roman Catholic, as far as the author
knows, has the following to say about the plans of his church: "
In theory, Catholic Action is the work and service of lay Catholics
in the cause of religion, under the guidance of the bishops. In practice
it is the Catholic group fighting their way to control America,"
-- "Rome Stoops to Conquer," p. 15. New York: 1935.
"The effort,
the fight, may be drawn out. It may last for five or ten years. Even
if it last for twenty-what is twenty years in the life of Rome? The
fight must be fought to a finish -- opposition must be worn down if
it cannot be swept away. Rome's immortal destiny hangs on the outcome.
That destiny overshadows the land.
"And in the
fight, as she has ever fought when battles were most desperate in the
past, Rome will use steel, and gold, and silvery lies. Rome will stoop
to conquer." -- Id., pp. 266, 267. TOP
In a communication
from Vatican City, published in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press,
November 4, 1936, we read: "
Pope Pius feels that the United States is the ideal base for Catholicism's
great drive. . . .
" The Catholic
Movement, Rome's militant organization numbering millions all over the
world, will be marshaled direct from Rome by Monsignor Pizzardo -- next
to Pacelli the Holy See's shrewdest diplomat and politician -- instead
of by the local
p 242 -- bishops
as before. The priest's education is to be thoroughly revised and modernized
-- with special attention to modern propaganda methods. In addition
there will be established in each country a central bureau, responsible
only to Rome, to combat red agitation with every political weapon available.
. . . The church must fight, and at once.
"Coughlin has
shown us the way of getting at the modern man. He has embarrassed us
by showing and using the political power of the church so openly. .
. . We know how to tackle America today, and that is our most important
problem at the moment.
"Pacelli is
contacting the American cardinals and leading Catholic personalities
. . . . to explain the Vatican's plan for the new crusade . . . . The
Catholic political organizations in the large cities, like Tammany Hall,
will give the church a good lever. Those contacts are also being carefully
inspected by the pope's minister.
"The Vatican
itself resembles a general staff headquarters preparing plans and arms
for a big offensive. Since the time of the Counter-Reformation, churchmen
say, no such extensive reorganization of personnel and propaganda methods
has been undertaken. The whole world-wide net of Catholic organizations
and sub-organizations is being contacted directly from Rome and cleared
for action. The church is to be adjusted to modern political, social,
and cultural conditions. " -- p. 10, col. 3, 4, used by permission.
This article speaks
of Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, then papal secretary of state, coming from
the Vatican to effect the above mentioned reorganization. He toured
the United States "in a chartered airplane." Christian
Science Monitor says: "The
visit of a high Roman prelate to the United States on the eve of an
election is as unprecedented as it is delicate. " -- Oct. 2,
1926.
This Catholic plan
of conquest was well understood years ago. An illustration in Harper's
Weekly of October 1, 1870, pictured the pope pointing to America
as "The Promised Land." TOP
MAKING
AMERICA CATHOLIC
p 243
-- The
Roman hierarchy knew that the older Protestants, who had read about
the persecutions of the Dark Ages, and who knew some of the inside workings
of the papal church, would never become Catholics. Rome's hope lay in
capturing the younger generation. If the Papacy could cover up those
dark pages of its history, when it waded in the blood of martyrs, and
could appear in the beautiful modern dress of a real champion for liberty,
as a lover of science, art, and education, it would appeal to the American
youth, and the battle would be won.
The Jesuits, who
through years of experience in Europe, have become experts in molding
young minds, are now establishing schools everywhere, that are patronized
by thousands of Protestant youth. They have also undertaken the delicate
task of Romanizing the textbooks of our public schools, and books of
reference, in order to cover up their past, and to whitewash the Dark
Ages. That Romanists desire to cover up their past record of bloody
persecution is acknowledged by that honorable Roman Catholic author,
Alfred Baudrillart, Rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris. After
giving a frank statement of the many persecutions of which his church
is guilty, he says in the words of Mgr. d'Hulst: "'Indeed,
even among our friends and our brothers we find those who dare not look
this problem in the face. They ask permission from the Church to ignore
or even to deny all those facts and institutions in the past which have
made orthodoxy compulsory."' -- " The Catholic Church;
the Renaissance and Protestantism," Alfred Archeveque Cardinal
Baudrillart, pp. 183, 184.
ROMANIZING
TEXTBOOKS -- In
the first place, all general histories used in our public schools and
high schools had to be revised to eliminate every
p 244 -- trace
of the objectionable features from their pages. Plain historical facts
of the Middle Ages, -- such as the popes' interference with public government
(as in the case of Henry IV, Emperor of Germany, A. D. 1077, and King
John of England, A. D. 1213); the persecution of Waldenses, Albigenses,
and Huguenots; the Inquisition; the sale of indulgences; and the Reformation,
-- all had to be eliminated or rewritten so as to exonerate the Papacy,
and brand its opponents simply as political offenders and revolutionists,
who suffered at the hand of the civil government, instead of being persecuted
by the Church for their religion.
Such radical changes
could never have been accomplished so quietly if Protestantism had not
been asleep. At times it became necessary to create public sentiment
against a certain textbook through newspaper articles written by some
learned Catholic professor, and then pressure was brought to bear on
school boards to eliminate it, substituting for it a Romanized book.
Thus Swinton's " Outlines of History" was thrown out
of the schools, and "Anderson's History" was blacklisted,
but later revised according to Catholic wishes, and brought back to
take the place of Swinton's. Myers's " Medieval and Modern History"
was also censored. At first the author refused to change it, claiming
"history is history," but later it was revised and came into
quite general use for a time. Not all of this was done in the dark.
As one example of protest we refer the reader to Senate Document on
Public Hearing before the United States Committee on Education and Labor,
Friday, February 15, 1889, and Friday, February 22, 1889, on "
Senate Resolution No. 86:* Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States Respecting Establishment of Religion and Free Public
Schools," which unmasks some of this work. We shall now point out
two of the vital changes made in our textbooks:
The Catholic Church
will never acknowledge the Reformation of the sixteenth century as a
reform, but brands it as a " revolt " against the authority
of the pope, and as a "revolu-
* -- "
Liberty, " Vol. V, No. 3, Third Quarter. 1910 pages 30-32. TOP
p 245 -- tion."
A sure earmark, therefore, of all Romanized textbooks is the fact that
they never speak of the Reformation as a work of reform but as "the
Protestant Revolt," "the Protestant Revolution," ",the
so-called Reformation," or "what is called the Reformation."
Let any one look it up in the schoolbooks used by his children, and
see for himself.
To give the readers
who may not have seen the textbooks used in our schools today an idea
of what the Protestant children are taught, we shall take the
"History of Western Europe," by Professor J. H. Robinson,
as an example. It has the following chapters on the Reformation of the
sixteenth century: chapter
24, " Germany Before the Protestant Revolt "; chapter 25,
"Martin Luther and His Revolt Against the Church"; chapter
26, "Course of the Protestant Revolt in Germany"; chapter
27, "The Protestant Revolt in Switzerland and England." Chapter
25 says: "As Luther became a confessed revolutionist, he began
to find friends among other revolutionists and reformers." --
p. 393. Chapter 28 takes up the effort of the Catholics to
destroy the Reformation by a counterreform, by the work of the Jesuits,
and the bloody persecution of Protestants in Spain, in the Netherlands,
and France. This chapter is entitled:
"The Catholic Reformation," and yet it comes the farthest
from deserving the title of reformation of all the above-mentioned chapters.
In these Romanized textbooks the historical facts of the Middle Ages
are entirely reversed. The way the last-mentioned chapter extols the
Jesuits shows who has put their stamp on the book.
Senator Thomas E. Watson truthfully says: "In
the public schools the Catholics have stealthily introduced textbooks
written by Jesuits; and your children are being taught that the Roman
church was misunderstood in the past; that its doctrines are not fatal
to humanity and gospel religion; that its record is not saturated with
the blood of innocent millions, murdered by papal persecutors, and
that there never was such a monstrosity as the alleged sale of papal
pardons of sins.
"Educate youth
in this Catholic way, and the consequences are logical." --
" Roman Catholics in America Falsifying History
p 246 -- and
Poisoning the Minds of Protestant School Children," p. 5. Thompson,
Ga.: 1928.
SALE
OF INDULGENCES -- Histories used in the public schools in
the United States up to the year 1900 were opposed by the Roman Catholic
Church on the ground that they were not stating the truth about "indulgences."
These histories simply stated that Martin Luther began the Reformation
by opposing Tetzel's sale of indulgences, which is a historical fact.
"An
Introduction to the History of Western Europe,"
by Professor J. H. Robinson, says: "It
is a common mistake of Protestants to suppose that the indulgence was
forgiveness granted beforehand for sins to be committed in the future.
There is absolutely no foundation for this idea." -- p. 391.
Ginn and Co.: 1903.
This statement
is copied on page 311 in "A General History of Europe,"
by Robinson, Breasted, and Smith, a textbook quite generally used of
late. We shall leave it with the reader to judge whether such statements
actually represent the Protestant conception of "indulgences,"
or whether they are part of a program to cover up historical facts;
and we would respectfully ask: Are not American youth entitled to know
the unvarnished facts of history? TOP
The historical
facts about "indulgences," gathered from unquestionable sources,
are found on pages 162-172 of this book. It is here shown that the idea
of "indulgences" had so degenerated between the eleventh and
the sixteenth centuries, that they were actually sold for money. Tetzel's
"Indulgences" read: I "absolve
thee . . . from all thy sins, transgressions and excesses . . . and
I restore thee . . . to that innocence and purity which thou possessedst
at baptism; so that, when thou diest, the gates of punishment shall
be shut, and the gates of the paradise of delight shall be open."
-- Coxe's "House of Austria," Vol. I, p. 385. London:
George Bell and Sons, 1906.
p 247 -- REVISING
BOOKS OF REFERENCE -- The next step in the papal plan was
to revise all books of reference, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries,
and larger historical works, so as to mold the minds not only of pupils
but also of teachers and of preachers. An example of this is seen in
the revision of the New International Encyclopedia. The editor
of the Catholic Mirror (at that time the official organ
of Cardinal Gibbons), in a lengthy editorial, dated October 28, 1905,
tells of how the publishers of that Encyclopedia co-operated with the
Jesuits in revising it. He quoted the following letter from the Rev.
Thomas J. Campbell, S. J., which he had just received: "Dodd,
Mead and Co. sent their representatives to us, and not only expressed
a desire to avoid misstatements in their encyclopedia, but asked for
some one to excise whatever might be offensive. . . . Mr. Conde B. Pallen
took the matter in hand, and was afforded full liberty to revise and
correct not only the topics which dealt professedly with Catholic subjects
but those also which might have even an indirect bearing on them. .
. . The firm has done all in its power to make it acceptable to Catholics.
" -- Quoted in "Liberty," Vol. V, No. 3, pp.
34, 35. Washington, D. C., 1910.
After this was
done, every effort was made to get this New International Encyclopedia
into the hands of all Protestant ministers in this country, who were
unaware of its Romanized features. Its molding influence was soon seen
in the striking similarity in viewpoint (on many subjects) between the
Roman theology and that of the Protestant pulpit and press, and this
is becoming more so now after practically all encyclopedias have been
Romanized. Even Webster's Dictionary has not been allowed to
speak its old familiar truths any more. We read: "Time
was when complaint was common that injustice was done to the Catholics
in ' Webster's Dictionary.' There is no room for such a thing in the
new ' Webster's International Dictionary,' issued by G. and C.
Merriam Co., Springfield, Mass., because Vicar-General Callaghan, of
the diocese of Little Rock,
p 248 -- has
revised and edited everything appertaining to the church." --
"Freeman's Journal" of New York, May 28,1892.
Since then a Catholic official has been regularly connected with the
editorial staff, whenever a new revision was made, as can be seen in
the preface of later editions.
Suppose, in the
next encyclopedia, we ask brewery officials to edit everything pertaining
to temperance and the liquor question, and ask the officials of Wall
Street to edit all that pertains to capital and labor, would we then
get a more correct and unbiased representation of these subjects? We
ask why, then, should Roman Catholic officials edit everything pertaining
to the Protestant controversy with Rome?
At the First American
Catholic Missionary Congress, held at Chicago, November 17, 1908, Dr.
William McGinnis outlined the program of the International Catholic
Truth Society for making America Catholic: (1) by Romanizing
our schoolbooks, (2) by revising our books of reference, (3)
by controlling the daily press, (4) by capturing the libraries.
He said in part: "A
few years ago the publishers of an encyclopedia in twelve volumes entered
the office of the Truth Society and said: ' We realize there are many
misstatements and errors regarding things Catholic in this work, but
we put the whole edition in your hands and will accept every correction
you make and every addition which you wish to insert.' . . . So, likewise,
one of the largest publishing houses of the United States, a house that
supplies perhaps one third of the textbooks used in the public schools
of America, asked that certain books might be examined and erroneous
statements and unjust charges against the Church be corrected. . . .
And we are happy to say that in practically every case these misrepresentations
of the Church that otherwise would have gone into the minds of millions
of children were courteously corrected by gentlemanly authors."
-- " The Two Great American Catholic Missionary Congresses,"
pp. 427, 428. Chicago: J. S. Hyland and Co., 1914. TOP
Many Protestant
parents would not send their children to Catholic parochial schools,
but they will allow them to be taught
p 249 -- the
same thing from Romanized textbooks, without any protest!
We ask, What made
the afore-mentioned publishers so anxious to have the Catholics revise
the public schoolbooks and encyclopedias, which they intended to publish?
Why did they not go to some Protestant organization to have the books
revised? Was it because Protestants are not educated? Certainly not!
But these publishers knew from experience, that, unless the books were
Romanized, Catholic societies would stir up such opposition against
their use, that it would result in financial loss to the publishers.
Dr. McGinnis tells the secret when he relates how he had urged the Knights
of Columbus to " wake up"
and "form a committee,"
to examine the "histories
of education in use in high schools and normal schools."
He says: "The spirit
of Knighthood was not dead in that Council, the subject was investigated,
the book I had quoted from was the textbook of the class, and, after
much discussion, it was removed from the curriculum of the school."
-- Id., pp. 423, 424.
Any one who will
take the trouble to examine the textbooks used in our public schools
before 1900, and compare them with those used after this Romanizing
propaganda began, will discover the fact that the Romanizing features
have been introduced gradually into a series of textbooks, the
one taking the place of the other as fast as the public could assimilate
the Catholic sentiments and phraseology, and the same is true regarding
books of reference.
MUZZLING
THE PUBLIC PRESS -- Dr. McGinnis also spoke of their plans
regarding the daily papers. He said: "We
may consider briefly the program of the International Catholic Truth
Society in reference to two great agencies in the formation of the minds
and hearts of the great American people, -- the press and the public
libraries,
"Our daily
press . . . mold[s] the thought and influence[s] the will of the country
. . . . We do demand that the great Catholic Church, in her saving doctrines
and in her marvelous activities,
p 250 -- should
be brought more prominently before the American public." --
Id., p. 419.
Dr. McGinnis further
stated that arrangements had been made with the Vatican for Catholic
reporters all over the world to furnish material for the "Truth
Society" to be used in the daily press, and then he says: "With
a membership of two or three thousand scholarly, zealous priests and
laymen, and the headquarters of the Society acting as a clearing house,
calumnies would not remain unanswered, misstatements of doctrines would
be corrected. " -- Id., pp. 420, 421. TOP
"We realize,
moreover, that refutations and corrections, valuable though they be,
are not sufficient. We want to carry the campaign a little farther.
We want to make of the press of this country a positive agency in the
dissemination of Catholic ideas. . . . We are now furnishing on the
first and third Sundays of each month one column or a column and a half
of positive Catholic matter to daily papers. . . . But the 'Notes and
Comments' . . . deal with such topics as the conversion of some distinguished
scholar, the life work of a recently deceased Catholic who was eminent
in the domain of physical science, archeological discoveries bearing
upon Christian doctrine, important congresses abroad. . . . If the demands
of our people prove that the new feature is appreciated, the 'service'
will become weekly, and it will bring light and sympathy for things
Catholic to many millions of readers." -- Id., pp. 421,
422.
" The demands"
must have proved successful, for instead of this " new feature
" appearing weekly, articles and notes seem to appear almost daily.
Though it is legitimate for religious denominations to make use of the
public press, for them to muzzle the freedom of the press is not legitimate!
When large religious organizations parade their great number of adherents
and bring pressure to bear on the press, threatening nonsupport if the
other side appears in its columns, while they monopolize them with their
own propaganda, such organizations lose the respect of thinking people.
p 251 -- CAPTURING
THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES -- At the before-mentioned Catholic
Congress plans were also laid for making the public libraries agencies
in their propaganda. Dr. McGinnis says: "Another
force, second only to the school and the press in shaping the thoughts
of the nation, is the public library system of the United States. .
. . I ask why, in the name of the God of truth, is the great Catholic
Church excluded from the shelves of the public libraries of the United
States? . . . Create a strong, legitimate demand for Catholic literature,
and the public libraries will meet the demand." -- Id.,
pp. 422, 423.
But how did that
Congress propose to "create" this strong "demand"
for Catholic books? Here is their scheme: They will supply their people
with lists of books to be asked for at the libraries, and when several
hundred or thousand people have called for the same books, it will create
a demand.
"The demand
for such literature must be brought to the public libraries. We wish
to emphasize the fact that the demand must be made in good faith --
the books are called for at the library because the man wants to read
them. The International Catholic Truth Society will supply general and
special lists of books, and the Spiritual Director . . . will . . .
designate appropriate works for individual members. From this widespread
bona fide demand for Catholic works at public libraries three results
will follow. [It will help the members.] Their work will be instrumental
in placing these books within the reach of' the great non-Catholic American
public, who will thus have some opportunity to find out what the Church's
doctrines and practices really are, and finally the increased circulation
of such literature will be a well-deserved and much-needed stimulus
to Catholic writers." -- Id., p. 424. See also "Catholic
Digest," March, 1937, pp. 126, 127, and "America,"
September 13, 1913, pp.547, 548.
Mr. Michael J.
F. McCarty, of England, gives us some interesting facts regarding a
similar work done by Jesuits in England. He says that they suppress
books of Protestant authors, and
p 252 -- bring
to the front those of Catholics, and as a result of this systematic
work, he says: "Many
Protestant authors are forced to speak favorably and kindly of Romanism.
. . . The publication of books containing friendly allusion to Protestant
Christianity has almost ceased in England, [while the other kind of
books] floods the country." -- " The Jesuits and the
British Press," p. 52. Edinburgh and London:1910. TOP
But, in addition
to this, the Jesuits always have a man, either a priest or a layman,
on the committee of almost every public library in Great Britain.
"The Jesuits'
man comes provided with two lists, a black list, which includes every
well-known book, ancient and modern, adverse to Romanism; and a white
list of new books especially favorable to Romanism which he submits
beforehand to the librarian, and eventually succeeds in getting placed
in the library." -- pp. 50, 51.
It is quite evident
from our investigation of the facts that the Jesuits are the same in
America as in England. Besides this, the few remaining books from the
days when it was not so unpopular to state the unvarnished facts about
medieval history have been diminishing in number by being worn out or
purposely destroyed.
CENSORSHIP
OF BOOKS -- Those who write histories today have more source
matter on ancient history, but less on medieval, than historians had
four hundred years ago; for after the Reformation had fully aroused
the papal church to action, her emissaries, especially the vigilant
Jesuits, searched out and destroyed every evidence that was damaging
to her. When Bishop Gilbert Burnet, D. D., prepared to write his "History
of the English Reformation," he became surprised, while searching
among court records and public registers, to find so much missing, till
he finally discovered the cause. He says: "In
the search I made of the Rolls and other offices, I won-
p 253 -- dered
much to miss several commissions, patents, and other writings, which
by clear evidence I knew were granted, and yet none
of them appeared on record.
"But as I continued
down my search to the fourth year of Queen Mary, I found in the twelfth
roll of that year, a commission which cleared all my former doubts,
and by which I saw what was become of the things I had so anxiously
searched after. We have heard of the expurgation of books practiced
in the Church of Rome; but it might have been imagined that public registers
and records would have been safe; yet lest these should have been afterwards
confessors, it was resolved they should then be martyrs; for on the
29th of December ' in the fourth year of her reign, a commission was
issued out under the great seal to Bonner, Bishop of London, Cole, Dean
of St. Paul's, and Martine, a doctor of the civil law, [which commanded
the destruction of] divers compts, books, scrolls, instruments. . .
.
"When I saw
this, I soon knew which way so many writings had gone." -- "
History of the Reformation of the Church of England," 2-vol.
ed., Vol. I, Preface, p. xiii. London: 1880.
Let no one, therefore,
say that statements in older histories are not true because we cannot
now find sources to prove them. TOP
The reader may
not know that back of all this activity stands the Roman Curia, one
department of which is the Sacred Congregation of the Index, which meets
at Rome on stated days to decide what books are forbidden, and to make
lists of them, called "The Index of Prohibited Books."*
The writer has examined two editions of this "Index," one
early edition, and their latest one of 1930 by Pope Pius XI. Some books
are permanently forbidden, while others are forbidden until certain
corrections are made in them, which explains the revisions of our schoolbooks,
for the "Index" says: "Can.
1396. Books condemned by the Holy See are prohibited all over the world
and in whatever language into which they may have been translated.
* -- See
"Romanism and the Republic," by Isaac J. Lansing, pp.
221-223. Pope Benedict XV, on March 25, 1917, transferred this work
to the " Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office"
-- "Index of Prohibited Books," p. xxxi.
p 254 -- "Can.
1397, Sec. 1. It is the duty of all the faithful, particularly of clerics,
or those holding high positions and noted for their learning, to denounce
any book, they may consider dangerous, to the local Ordinaries, or to
the Holy See. . . .
"Sec. 3. Those
to whom such denunciations are made are bound in conscience not to reveal
the names of the accusers.
" Sec. 4. Local
Ordinaries, either directly themselves, or through the agency of capable
priests, are in duty bound to keep a close watch on the books that are
published, or sold, within their territory. . . .
" Can. 1398,
See. 1. The condemnation of a book entails the prohibition, without
especial permission, either to publish, to read, to keep, to sell, to
translate it, or in any way to pass it on to others.
"Sec. 2. A
book which has been prohibited in any way may not be republished, unless,
after the necessary corrections have been made." -- "
Index," of 1930, pp. xvi, xvii. Vatican Polyglot Press.
The Catholic
Encyclopedia has this to say about the " Censorship of Books":
"In general, censorship
of books is a supervision of the press in order to prevent any abuse
of it.
"The reverse
of censorship is freedom of the press." -- Vol. III, p. 519.
This "supervision
of the press" extends also to articles written in magazines and
newspapers, and among the special organizations working in this field
is the International Catholic Truth Society, and the Catholic International
Associated Press. Reporting the Louisville federation convention of
the latter, Michael Kenny, S. J., in America (a Jesuit
weekly) for August 31, 1912, says of their Catholic Press Bureau: "
We have it in our power to compel our papers, the thinking machines
of the people, to tell the truth and refrain from transmitting slanders
on Catholic matters. We can prevent the wells at which the people drink
from being poisoned. We can, following the lead of the Austrian Catholic
Congress, establish a
p 255 -- Catholic
International Associated Press,* and to accomplish this object every
Catholic of the right spirit, reading in the daily papers calumnies
of our religion and the most brazen justification of the robber bands
who drive our religious from their homes
and confiscate their property, should be willing to contribute a tithe
of his possessions. All this and more can be accomplished by federated
action. . . . Marching shoulder to shoulder with the spirit of soldiers
on the battlefield at the call of the Church, we can successfully combat
the organizations of her enemies and make this an era of Catholic manhood."
-- "America," August 31, 1912, p. 486, article by
M. Kenny, S. J. TOP
As a result of
this organized effort no newspapers in the United States will accept
any news that reflects unfavorably on the Catholic Church or its propaganda
in this country, while news unfavorable to Protestants is printed.
* -- The
Register ( Roman Catholic), Denver, Colo., April 3, 1938, announced
the formation of the United Catholic 0rganizations Press Relations Committee,
to keep vigilant oversight over newspapers and magazines.
AMERICANISM
VERSUS ROMANISM
p 256
-- Some say: What
of it! Are not Roman Catholics as good as Protestants? Yes, certainly
they are. As individuals there is no distinction before the law, and
as neighbours they are loved and respected. We, however, are not speaking
of individuals, but of a church organization that claims certain
rights of jurisdiction in civil affairs, and whose avowed principles
are diametrically opposed to liberty of speech, liberty of press, and
religious liberty in general, as understood by the founders of this
republic and incorporated into its fundamental laws. This we shall now
prove (1) from official Catholic documents, (2) from the
actual application of their principles to civil governments.
OFFICIAL
CATHOLIC DOCUMENTS -- Pope Leo X111, in an encyclical letter,
Immortale Dei, November 1, I885, outlines "the,
Christian constitution of states," by saying that "the
state " should profess the Catholic religion, and that the
Roman pontiffs should have "
the power of making laws."' "And
assuredly all ought to hold that it was not without a singular disposition
of God's providence that this power of the Church was provided with
a civil sovereignty as the surest safeguard of her independence."
He says of the
Middle Ages: " [then]
church and state were happily united." -- " The Great
Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII," pp. 113, 114, 119. Benziger
Bros., 1903.
"Sad it is
to call to mind how the harmful and lamentable rage for innovations
which rose to a climax in the sixteenth century, . . . spread amongst
all classes of society. From this source, as from a fountain-head, burst
forth all those later tenets of unbridled license. . . .
" Amongst these
principles the main one lays down that as all men are alike by race
and nature . . . that each is free to
p 257 --
think on every
subject just as he may choose. . . .In a society grounded upon such
maxims, all government is nothing more nor less than the will of the
people . . . .
"And it is
a part of this theory . . . that every one is to be free to follow whatever
religion he prefers, or none at all if he disapprove of all. . . .
"Now when the
state rests on foundations like those just named -- and for the time
being they are greatly in favor -- it readily appears into what and
how unrightful a position the Church is driven. . . . They who administer
the civil power . . . defiantly put aside the most sacred decrees of
the Church . . . .
"The sovereignty
of the people . . . is doubtless a doctrine . . . which lacks all reasonable
proof." -- Id., pp. 120-123. TOP
The theory "that
the church be separated from the state," Pope Leo further
calls a "fatal error,"
" a great folly, a sheer injustice," and
" a shameless liberty. " -- Id., pp. 124, 125.
In his next encyclical
letter, of June 20, 1888, he calls it "
the fatal theory of the need of separation between Church and state,"
" the greatest perversion of liberty," and "
that fatal principle of the separation of Church and state." --
Id., pp. 148, 159.
In his letter of
January 6, 1895, he says:
"It would be very erroneous to draw the conclusion that in America
is to be sought the type of the most desirable status of the Church,
or that it would be universally lawful or expedient for state and church
to be, as in America, dissevered and divorced. . . . She would bring
forth more abundant fruits if, in addition to liberty, she enjoyed the
favor of the laws and the patronage of the public authority. "
-- Id., pp. 323, 324.
Among the many
authorities that could be cited, we have chosen that of Pope Leo XIII,
because he is not a medieval, but a modern, exponent of papal doctrines,
which no Roman Catholic would deny. Any one familiar with the phraseology
of the Declaration of Independence and the Federal Constitution cannot
help but see in the expressions of Pope Leo a declared
p 258 -- opposition
to the fundamental principles upon which our government is founded.
He urges his followers not to be content with attending to their religious
duties, but "Catholics
should extend their efforts beyond this restricted sphere, and give
their attention to national politics. " -- Id., p. 131.
"It is the
duty of all Catholics . . . to strive that liberty of action shall not
transgress the bounds marked out by nature and the law of God; to endeavor
to bring back all civil society to the pattern and form of Christianity
which We have described. . . . Both these objects will be carried into
effect without fail if all will follow the guidance of the Apostolic
See as their rule of life and obey the bishops." -- Id.,
p. 132.
"Especially
with reference to the so-called 'Liberties' which are so greatly coveted
in these days, all must stand by the judgment of the Apostolic See.
" -- Id., p. 130.
In his encyclical
letter of January 10, 1890, on "The
Chief Duty of Christians as Citizens" (id., pp. 180-207)
he urges all Catholics to put forth united action in politics
in order to change the governmental policies so as to bring them into
harmony with papal principles. He says: "
As to those who mean to take part in public affairs they should avoid
. . . leading the lives of cowards, untouched in the fight. . . .
"Honor, then,
to those who shrink not from entering the arena as often as need calls,
believing and being convinced that the violence of injustice will be
brought to an end and finally give way to the sanctity of right and
religion. " -- Id., pp. 199-201. TOP
They are urged
to support (in elections) only those men who will stand by the principles
of union of church and state: "The
Church cannot give countenance or favor to those whom she knows to be
imbued with a spirit of hostility to her; who refuse openly to respect
her rights; who make it their aim and purpose to tear asunder the alliance
that should, by the very nature of things, connect the interests of
religion with those of the state. On the contrary, she is (as she is
bound to be) the upholder of those who are themselves imbued with the
right way
p 259 -- of
thinking as to the relations between church and state, and who strive
to make them work in perfect accord for the common good. These precepts
contain the abiding principle by which every Catholic should shape his
conduct in regard to public life. In short, where the Church does not
forbid taking part in public affairs, it is fit and proper to give support
to men of acknowledged worth, and who pledge themselves to deserve well
in the Catholic cause, and on no account may it be allowed to prefer
to them any such individuals as are hostile to religion. . . .
" Whence it
appears how urgent is the duty to maintain perfect union of minds."
-- Id., p. 198.
"Union of minds,
therefore, requires, together with a perfect accord in the one faith,
complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman
Pontiff, as to God himself." -- Id., p. 193.
"The political
prudence of the Pontiff embraces diverse and multiform things; for it
is his charge not only to rule the Church, but generally so to regulate
the actions of Christian citizens. . . . The faithful should imitate
the practical political wisdom of the ecclesiastical authority. "
-- Id., p. 202.
"But if the
laws of the state are manifestly at variance with the divine law, containing
enactments hurtful to the Church, . . . or if they violate in the person
of the supreme Pontiff the authority of Jesus Christ, then truly, to
resist becomes a positive duty, to obey, a crime." -- Id.,
p. 185.
"If, then,
a civil government strives . . . to put God aside, . . . it deflects
woefully from its right course and from the injunctions of nature. Nor
should such a gathering together and association of men be accounted
as a commonwealth, but only as a deceitful imitation and make-believe
of civil organization." -- Id., p. 181.
These are the exact
statements of Pope Leo XIII, taken from his authentic records, published
by the Catholics under the seal of the Church; and they show, that the
Papacy stands for the same principles today as it did in the Dark Ages.
How truthfully the Pontiff says:
"And in truth, wherever the Church has set
p 260 -- her
foot she has straightway changed the face of things." -- Id.,
p. 107. TOP
A letter from the
Vatican outlining the plans of Pope Leo XIII respecting the United States
was published in the New York Sun, July 11, 1892, and contains
the following significant statement: "
What the church has done in the past for others, she will now do for
the United States. . . . He [the pope] hails in the United American
States, and in their young and flourishing church the source of new
life for Europeans. . . . If the United States succeed in solving the
many problems that puzzle us, Europe will follow her example."
-- " New York Sun," July 11, 1892; quoted in "Liberty,"
1907, No. 4, p. 10.
How remarkably
this coincides with the prophetic prediction: "His deadly wound
was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." Revelation
13: 3. Yes, it is true that
"as America, the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the
Papacy in forcing the conscience and compelling men to honor the false
sabbath, the people of every country on the globe will be led to follow
her example." -- " Testimonies," Vol. VI, p.
18. This country led the world from despotism to liberty,
and it will lead the way back.
The doctrine of
Pope Leo XIII is the doctrine of the Catholic Church, and it is taught
in her schools in the United States. One of their schoolbooks,
" Manual of Christian Doctrine, by a Seminary Professor,"
printed by J. J. McVey, Philadelphia, 1915, and carrying the sanction
of the Catholic Censor and the seal of the Church, has this
to say concerning the " Relations of Church and State ":
" Why is the
Church superior to the state?
"Because the
end to which the Church tends is the noblest of all ends.
" What right
has the pope in virtue of his supremacy?
"The right
to annul those laws or acts of government that would injure the salvation
of souls or attack the natural rights of citizens.
p 261 -- "What
then is the principle obligation of the heads of states? TOP
"Their principle
obligation is to practice the Catholic religion themselves, and, as
they are in power, to protect and defend it.
"Has the State
the right and the duty to proscribe schism or heresy?
"Yes, it has
the right and the duty to do so.
"May the state
separate itself from the Church?
"No, because
it may not withdraw from the supreme rule of Christ.
"What name
is given to the doctrine that the state has neither the right nor the
duty to be united to the Church to protect it?
" This doctrine
is called Liberalism. It is founded principally on the fact that
modern society rests on liberty of conscience and of worship, on liberty
of speech and of the press.
"Why is Liberalism
to be condemned?
"Because it
denies all subordination of the state to the Church."-- pp.
131-133.
We respectfully
ask: With such avowed principles taught in Catholic schoolbooks, would
it be safe to allow Romanized textbooks to be used in our public schools?
Pope Paul IV sets
forth this same papal doctrine. We read: "On
February 15, 1559, appeared the Bull Quum ex apostolatus officio
of which the most important heads are these:
" (1)
The Pope as representative of Christ on earth has complete authority
over princes and kingdoms, and may judge the same.
" (2)
All monarchs, who are guilty of heresy or schism, are irrevocably deposed,
without the necessity of any judicial formalities. They are deprived
forever of their right to rule, and fall under sentence of death. If
they repent, they are to be confined in a monastery for the term of
their life, with bread and water as their only fare.
" (3)
No man is to help an heretical or schismatical prince.
p 262 -- The
monarch guilty of this sin is to lose his kingdom in favor of rulers
obedient to the Pope." -- " Life and Times of Hildebrand,"
Arnold Harris Mathews, D. D., p. 288. London: 1910.
Later papal encyclicals
show the same attitude toward Protestants. Here is a sample from the
encyclical of Pope Pius X. Speaking of the Reformation of the sixteenth
century, it says: "That
tumult of rebellion and that perversion of faith and morals they called
reformation and themselves reformers. But, in truth, they were corrupters,
for undermining with dissensions and wars the forces of Europe, they
paved the way for the rebellions and the apostasy of modern times, in
which were united and renewed in one onslaught those three kinds of
conflict, hitherto separated, from which the Church has always issued
victorious, the bloody confficts of the first ages, then the internal
pest of heresies, and, finally, under the name of evangelical liberty,
a vicious corruption and a perversion of discipline unknown perhaps
in mediaeval times." -- "Encyclical Letter of Our Most
Holy Lord Pius X," quoted in Supplement to "The Tablet,"
June 11, 1910, p. 950. London: England.* TOP
APPLICATION
OF PAPAL PRINCIPLES TO CIVIL GOVERNMENT -- The
Jesuits in this country endeavor to make us believe that it is not within
the pope's domain to "meddle
with the civil allegiance of Catholics " or to interfere
with a ruler's governing of his subject and that, should any pope "try
such interference, he would be going beyond the limits of his proper
authority; Catholics would be under no obligation to obey him -- nor
would they obey him." -- "The Pope and the American
Republic," by J. E. Graham, p. 3. But it is understood
that this is only "mission" literature written for the American
people, who can best be won by such sentiments, and that it does not
apply to Catholic countries; nor will it apply to our own when conditions
here can be changed.
* --
For further evidences that the Papacy claims the right of interfering
with the affairs of civil governments, see " The Middle Ages
" Henry Hallam LL.D., F.R.A.S., Vol. 1, chap. 7, Parts I, II.
p 263 -- KING
HENRY IV VERSUS POPE GREGORY VII -- We do not suppose that
such writers have forgotten the claims of so many popes that civil magistrates
are not exempt from the rule of Christ, or from the governing power
of His Vicar, and that "the church never changes." Nor can
any well-read man have forgotten that Pope Gregory VII on the twenty-second
of February, 1076, excommunicated Henry IV,
"forbade him to govern Germany and Italy, dispensed all his subjects
from the oath of allegiance they had taken to him, and forbade every
one to obey him as a king." -- "Life
and Times of Hildebrand," A. H. Mathews, D. D., p. 109. London:
1910. Pope Gregory VII wrote the following letter on September
3, 1076: "To
All the Faithful in Germany, Counselling them to Choose a New King:
" Gregory .
. . to all the . . . bishops, dukes, counts, and all defenders of the
Christian faith dwelling in the kingdom of Germany . . . Henry, king
so-called, was excommunicated . . . he was bound in bondage of anathema
and deposed from his royal dignity, and that every people formerly subject
to him is released from its oath of allegiance. . . .
"Let another
ruler of the kingdom be found by divine favor, such an one as shall
bind himself by unquestionable obligation to carry out the measures
we have indicated." -- "Records of Civilization Sources
and Studies," edited under the auspices of the Department of
History, Columbia University," Vol. XIV, pp. 105-107.
Any person who
had any dealing with the excommunicated king became thereby himself
excommunicated. If the king did not secure release from this "
band " within a year, he was to lose his kingdom and be put to
death, or if he repented after the year he passed he would be imprisoned
in a monastery, and fed with bread and water till his death, and this
finally became his fate. Henry had to set out across the dangerous Alps
in midwinter. "The cold
was intense, and there had been heavy falls of snow, so that neither
men nor horses could advance in the narrow road alongside precipices
without running the greatest risks. Never-
p 264 -- theless,
they could not delay, for the anniversary of the King's excommunication
was drawing near." The men walked, and the queen was placed in
"a kind of sledge made of oxhide, and the guides dragged [it] the
whole way." At last they arrived at Canossa, where the pope temporarily
abode. TOP
" Then, in
the penitent's garb of wool, and barefoot, the King appeared before
the walls of the fortress. He had laid aside every mark of royalty,
and, fasting, he awaited the pleasure of the Pope for three days. The
severity of the penance was enhanced by the coldness of the season.
Bonitho speaks of it as a ' very bitter' winter, and says that the King
waited in the courtyard amid snow and ice. Even in the presence of Gregory
there were loud murmurs against his pride and inhumanity." --
" Life, and Times of Hildebrand," pp. 126-128. At
last through the intercession of others the pope admitted the king and
released him of the excommunication, January 28, 1077.
Pope Gregory VII
himself acknowledged the whole proceeding with evident satisfaction
in a letter to the princes of Germany, dated January 28, 1077, in the
following words: "At
length he came in person with a few followers to the town of Canossa
where we were staying. Not a sign of hostility or boldness did be show.
All his royal insignia he laid aside, and, wretchedly clad in woolen
garments, he stood persistently for three long days with bare feet before
the gate of the Castle. Constantly and with many tears he implored the
apostolic mercy for help and consolation until he had moved all who
were within hearing to such pity and depth of compassion that they interceded
for him with many prayers and tears. They expressed wonder at the unusual
hardness of our heart, and some even insisted that we were exercising,
not apostolic severity, but the ferocious cruelty of a tyrant."
-- " Parallel Source Problems in Medieval History,"
F. Duncalf, Ph. D., and A. C. Krey, M. A., p. 89. New York and London:
1912.
And yet the pope
had the audacity to extract from the humiliated king the promise of
a meeting among the princes of Germany, where "the pope as judge"
was to decide whether
p 265 --
Henry was to be "held
unworthy of the throne according to ecclesiastical law" or not.
(Id., p. 51.) And finally the pope excommunicated Henry
the second time, March 7, 1080, and a new king, Rudolph of Suabia, was
elected, the pope sending him a costly crown. Civil war ensued, which
deluged Germany in blood, and Rudolph, the king of the papal party,
was slain. This is not an isolated case.
"When, in the
year 1119, Calixtus excommunicated Henry V, the Pope also solemnly absolved
from their allegiance all the subjects of the Emperor." -- "
Life and Times of Hildebrand," p. 284.
OTHER
POPES MEDDLE IN POLITICS -- On May 24, 1160, Pope Alexander
III excommunicated Frederic Barbarossa, "and released his subjects
from their allegiance." Pope Innocent III " deposed and reinstated
princes and released subjects from their oaths " as if he were
a universal ruler. In 1208 he placed the whole kingdom of England under
"interdict," excommunicated King John in 1209, and deposed
him in 1212, releasing all his subjects from their allegiance to him,
and invited King Philip of France to occupy England in the name of the
pope. John was finally forced to surrender the kingdom into the hands
of the pope, to be returned to him as a fief. The barons, displeased
with such transactions, forced the king to sign the "Magna Charta,"
a document of liberty. But the pope declared it null and void. TOP
"The Emperor
Frederick IIwas excommunicated by Gregory IX; his subjects were released
from their allegiance, and he was deposed by Innocent IV [in 1245].
Boniface VIII, who meddled incessantly in foreign affairs, [explained
the pope's] two swords [to mean, that the temporal sword of] the monarch
is borne only at the will and by the permission of the Pontiff."
-- Id., p. 286.
MODERN
RULERS WALK THE ROAD TO CANOSSA -- One more example of a
later date may be of interest. For centuries France had been under the
controlling power of the
p 266 -- Papacy,
and in the Revolutionary period she attempted to shake off the shackles.
But, the fetters were so strong and the chains so heavy, that she found
herself unable to do so, till finally the Association Law of 1901 and
the Separation Law of 1905 granted religious liberty to all denominations
alike. Rome, however, does not want liberty, but sole control, and so
her thunderbolts were hurled against the "injustice" of France,
till the impression was created that Rome was fighting for "liberty."
It is the same old story. The Papacy always feels oppressed where it
is not given a free hand to control. F. T. Morton (member of the Massachusetts
bar) says: "It
is not in defense of religious liberty the pope is attacking
the French republic, but because the republic has placed all religious
bodies alike under the regime of religious liberty, equality, and toleration,
and this he calls the law of oppression." -- "The Roman
Catholic Church and Its Relation to the Federal Government,"
p. 110. Boston: 1909. See also "Papal Attack on France," in
the Nineteenth Century Magazine, April, 1909, and "Papal
Aggression in France," in Fortnightly Review, October, 1906.
In a Catholic
booklet, Rev. J. T. Roche, LL. D., says
of the French law: "Three hundred million dollars' worth
of property has been swept away by a single legal enactment, because
the French laity did not have an influential, efficient, and vigorous
press to protest against this colossal injustice. The Cardinal Archbishop
of France a few weeks ago made the statement, that if one tenth of the
money put into churches and religious institutions, had been expended
on their Catholic press, this property would never have been confiscated.
This utterance has been well borne out by the results already achieved
in Germany. That country today has over two hundred Catholic daily papers,
and a great number of weekly and monthly periodicals. It has a great
lay society, the Volksverein, which devotes its energies to the upbuilding
of the press. . . . From end to end of the country, the people are kept
in touch with what is going on in govern-
p 267 -- mental
as well as church circles. There is unity of thought and action. . .
. It has become a universally accepted axiom amongst us, that the church
in any country is no stronger or weaker than its official press."
-- " The Catholic Paper," pp. 9, 10; printed by "
Catholic Register and Canadian Extension." Toronto, Can.:
1910.
Attorney F. T.
Morton quotes the following from newspaper clippings concerning a mass
meeting of nearly 8,000 Catholics, held in Brooklyn, N. Y., Feb. 3,
1907, to protest against the Separation Law of France:
"Even Bismarck had to pass on his way to a metaphorical Canossa."
-- " The Roman Catholic Church," p. 114. Boston:
1909. TOP
The Roman Catholic
weekly, The Tablet,
of London, March 21, 1914, pp. 440, 441, has an article on
"French Catholics and the General Elections," which we wish
we had space to copy in full, as it shows the way, leaders in the Roman
church instruct her people, and marshal them in mass in times of elections.
We quote: "'
Catholics have had their duty in this matter long ago placed before
them by the Pope: to unite together under their Bishops on the
platform of religion.' . . .
" ' Catholics
above all things' was to be their motto.
" The only
purpose was to form a vast association of Catholic citizens to act together
for ends which he summed up as follows: -- ' What we want is religious
peace (1) by the revision of the laws which have attacked our
liberties, and (2) by an understanding between the State and
the Head of the Catholic Church.' . . .
" In accordance
with these principles it was determined to constitute at once a Committee
to multiply organizations which would group Catholics together for this
work, and that action should be taken as far as possible in the forthcoming
electoral struggle.
" The call
to united action thus sounded finds a strong reenforcement in the pastorals
of the Bishops. Thus Cardinal Andrieu, Archbishop of Bordeaux, has reminded
his flock that
p 268 --
they should use
their votes, and that in doing so they are bound in conscience to vote
only for those candidates who shall have promised to respect the rights
of God and the Church. ' Those ' declares His Eminence, ' who decline
to make this promise are undeserving of your confidence, and if, from
fear or from self-interest, you vote for them, you make yourselves responsible
before God and men for the harm that may be done by their sectarianism
to our religion and to our country.'
" Cardinal
Dubillard, Archbishop of Chambery, has written in the same sense. Even
still stronger is the note struck in a Joint Pastoral issued by the
six Bishops of the Province of Bourges. They open by declaring that
with the elections in view it is their right and their duty to speak
about them to their people, who are under an obligation, not only to
vote, but to vote right. ' To vote is not an indifferent, because it
is a political, act, for politics cannot escape from Christian morality
or claim independence seeing that conscience is binding in public as
well as in private life.' . . .
" Catholics
have gone to the ballot as individuals, disunited and without a programme.
This time they should unite on behalf of the interests of religion.
Now more than ever before united action is necessary sub vexillo
Christi. . . . The Bishops proceed to lay down the line of conduct
to be followed by Catholic electors: to refuse to vote for all candidates
who shall take their stand on the laws described as secular and intangible;
to vote unhesitatingly and without arriere pensee [mental reservation]
for every Catholic candidate -- Republican, Royalist, or Imperialist
-- because he is a Catholic, and determined above all to defend and
demand the rights of God and of the Church; to vote for those Liberal
candidates who give a satisfactory pledge to support the Catholic claims.
From this it will be seen that the laymen's movement is in full accord
with the directions of the Bishops. " -- pp. 440, 441. TOP
Now, as the Roman
Catholic Church rests one of its main propositions on the fact that
it is the same the world over, and never changes, and seeing that it
is governed in every
p 269 -- country
by the same rules of the Roman Curia, with the pope at its head, we
know that the same regulations apply to the United States as to the
Republic of France. As an illustration of this fact we find that, when
the Poles of Milwaukee, Wis., in their city election of 1912, voted
the Socialist ticket, the Roman Catholic paper, Western Watchman,
of April 11, 1912, commented thus:
" We are sorry for the Poles. It is a shame that their clergy have
them not under better control. " -- Quoted in "Protestant
Magazine," December, 1913, p. 568. When Mr.
T. J. Carey of Palestine, Texas, in a letter to Archbishop John Bonzano,
the Papal Delegate, of Washington, D. C., dated June 10, 1912,
asked: " Must I as a
Catholic surrender my political freedom to the Church? "the
Archbishop answered in a letter dated June 16, 1912:
"You should submit to the decisions of the Church even at the cost
of sacrificing political principles. " -- Frontispiece in "Protestant
Magazine," August, 1913. Many other incidents could be cited
if space permitted.
Let no one, therefore,
claim that the Catholic Church is not active in politics. As a sequel
to this Catholic Action in France, we read in
the Minneapolis Journal, December 7, 1920, in the report of a
sermon by Dr. P. B. Donally, 0. M. 1. (Catholic) of London, England,
preached at the Pro-Cathedral in Minneapolis, the following
significant words: "'
The Church, Christ's Masterpiece.' . . .Amid the universal crash of
nations, thrones, and doctrines, she is the one moral force that remains
standing.
"Protestant
England sends its ambassador to the Pope of Rome. Lutheran Germany,
through her representative at the Vatican, seeks light and counsel from
the Vicar of Christ. And the infidel government of France has walked
the road to Canossa."
We have seen the
reason why the Republic of "France has walked the road to Canossa";
namely, through the activities of Catholic bishops, and their organizations,
in elections. As sure as that same power is operating in other countries,
they too will walk the road to Canossa. What a delight it seems for
the
p 270 --
leaders of the Roman church to look back to the grand scene at Canossa,
and see a mighty king standing with bare feet in snow and cold for three
days, begging the pope to allow him to rule his own country. This is
the Roman ideal, it appears. We could continue this subject by relating
Rome's fight against government officials of Spain, Mexico, etc., bringing
its activities in politics up to date, but space forbids. To sum up:
Rome is unchanged in principle, and will do today what it did in the
Middle Ages, whenever opportunity offers itself.
The World War gave
the Papacy a new hold on the nations of Europe.
Mr. Michael Williams, an eminent Catholic editor, says:
"Before the World War . . . there were few national representatives
at the Vatican." But now "a spiritual movement such as the
world has not seen since the Crusades or the conquest of the Roman Empire
by the earlier members of the same church [has taken place]. In that
movement the laity are participating in close co-operation with the
ecclesiastical leaders." -- " Current History Magazine,"
Aug., 1926. And what a change has taken place! TOP
"A total of
thirty-one countries now maintain official diplomatic relations with
the Vatican. . . . To this number it is expected here both France and
the United States will be added. . . .
"As a consequence
the Vatican is today in diplomatic relations not only with all of the
great Catholic countries of the world and most of the Protestant nations,
but it has succeeded in entering into semi-official relations with several
of the great nations with other religions, such as Turkey, Japan, and
China." -- By mail from Rome, printed in Minneapolis "
Tribune," April 10, 1921.
Such pressure was
brought to bear on the smaller nations not having diplomatic relations
with the Vatican, that Latvia felt the need of having a " pull
" there too. " The
papal authorities agreed to extend their recognition to Latvia and to
make Riga the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop, provided the government
of Latvia would turn over to the archbishop the Cathedral of Riga. Though
the cathedral had been in the con-
p 271 --
tinuous possession
of the Lutherans for more than three hundred years, the government accepted
the condition of the Vatican." Bishop
Edgar Blake, in New York "Christian Advocate," Sept.
23, 1926.
Now the Vatican
is strongly urging the United States to begin diplomatic relations with
the Holy See. We read in a New
York Herald-Tribune-Minneapolis Journal
cable for April 15, 1934: "Rome,
April 14. -- The 'preparation' by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
of a favorable public opinion now appears to be considered at the Vatican
. . . of a resumption of diplomatic relations between the United States
and the Holy See. . . . The Roosevelt administration has progressed
from a merely friendly attitude to a definite willingness to dispatch
a minister to the Holy See as soon as the American public -- and especially
Congress -- can be put into the frame of mind to accept the step.
" The frequent
and amiable contacts of the President and Archbishop Cicognani, Apostolic
Delegate to Washington, are said to have done much to prepare the ground,
but at the Vatican the greatest hope is pinned to the clear-cut assurance
which Postmaster General James A. Farley gave the Pope when he was received
last August. " -- Minneapolis "Journal," April
15, 1934.
What this diplomatic
relation will cost this country in concessions to the Vatican, time
alone will tell. We venture to say that it will be of a different nature
from that of Latvia, and infinitely greater in its consequences! But
Protestants seem to be so fast asleep that they do not even dream of
danger. Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox says: "Our
greatest national dangers arise from our lamentable apathy; as this
arises mainly from our ignorance. While men slept, says our Saviour,
the enemy sowed tares. And if ' the price of liberty is eternal
vigilance,' it ill becomes the heirs of such a boon, from such ancestors
as ours, to lose or even to peril the freedom which was purchased by
them at the cost of blood.
p 272 -- Nor
will any thing like indifference suit the occasion. America expects
every citizen, as Christ every Christian, to do his duty. And to omit
this -- on any pretense -- is criminal. It is suiting and serving the
enemy. It is servility and subserviency to the common foe. Sleep
on, says Rome, and we will have you! We need do nothing,
but only omit to do our duty, and we act for him; and our ruined posterity
may remember only to accuse us, only to execrate our memories. Shall
we then be indifferent, and so abet the interests of antichrist? What
could we do more truly to favor the worst adversary of this most noble
and desirable nation?" -- " The History of the Popes
to A. D. 1758," Archibald Bower, Esq., with Introduction by
Rev. Samuel Hanson Cox, D.
D., p. xi of Introduction. Philadelphia: 1844. TOP
THE
JESUITS
p 273
-- The "Society of Jesus," commonly called
" the Jesuits," is a secret order of the Roman Catholic Church,
founded August 15, 1534, by the Spaniard, Ignatius Loyola, and sanctioned
by Pope Paul III, September 27, 1540. Loyola had received a military
training, and when he later became an extreme religious enthusiast,
he conceived the idea of forming a spiritual militia, to be placed at
the service of the pope. The
Jesuit T. J. Campbell says: "
They are called the Society or Company of Jesus, the latter designation
expressing more correctly the military idea of the founder, which was
to establish, as it were, a new battalion in the spiritual army of the
Catholic Church." -- The Encyclopedia Americana, art.
"Jesuits."
ORGANIZATION
AND RULES OF THE SOCIETY -- Loyola organized his Company
on the strictest military basis. Its General was always to reside at
Rome, supervising from his headquarters every branch scattered over
the world. Theodor Griesinger says: "Its
General ruled as absolute monarch in all parts of the world, and the
different kingdoms of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America lay at his feet
divided into provinces. Over each province was placed a provincial,
as lieutenant of the general, and every month it was the duty of this
provincial to send in his report to his General. . . . From these thousands
of reports the General was in possession of the most accurate, information
regarding all that was going on in the world. Moreover, by means of
the Father Confessors at the various Courts, he was initiated into all
the secrets of these latter. [The officials] had to be careful to report
nothing but the exact truth, [for] each one of them was provided with
an assistant who was also in direct com-
p 274
-- munication with
the General, [who checked the reports of the one against the other.]"
-- " History of the.Jesuits," p. 280. London: 1892.
The Abbate Leone, after personal investigation, writes:
"Every
day the general receives a number of reports which severally check each
other. There are in the central house, at Rome, huge registers, wherein
are inscribed the names of all the Jesuits and of all the important
persons, friends, or enemies, with whom they have any connection. In
those registers are recorded . . .facts relating to the lives of each
individual. It is the most gigantic biographical collection that has
ever been formed. The conduct of a light woman, the hidden failings
of a statesman, are recounted in these books with cold impartiality.
. . . When it is required to act in any way upon an individual, they
open the book and become immediately acquainted with his life, his character,
his qualities, his defects, his projects, his family, his friends, his
most secret acquaintances." -- " The Secret Plan of
the Order," with preface by M. Victor Considerant, p. 33. London:
1848.
Similar registers are also found in the offices of the
provincials, and in the "novitiate houses," so that when one
Jesuit follows another in office, he has at his finger tips the fullest
knowledge of the most secret lives of those for whom he is to labor,
whether they are friends or foes. The Abbate Leone says of his secret
investigation of this fact: "The
first thing that struck me was some great books in the form of registers,
with alphabeted edges.
" I found that
they contained numerous observations relative to the character of distinguished
individuals, arranged by towns or families. Each page was evidently
written by several different hands." -- Id., p. 31. TOP
Those who enter
the Jesuit society spend two years of "noviceship," and then
take the "simple vows." After several more years of intensive
training, they take the fourth vow, by which they pledge themselves
under oath to look to their General and their Superiors as holding "the
place of Christ our
p 275
-- Lord,"
and to obey them unconditionally without the least hesitation.
The Jesuits being a secret order, they did not publish
their rules. How then can we be absolutely sure about these regulations?
Dr. William Robertson
says: "It
was a fundamental maxim with the Jesuits, from their first institution,
not to publish the rules of their order.* These they kept concealed
as an impenetrable mystery. They never communicated them to strangers,
nor even to the greater part of their own members. They refused to produce
them when required by courts of justice." But
during a lawsuit at Paris, in 1760, Father Montigny committed the blunder
of placing the two volumes of their " Constitutions "
(the Prague edition of 1757) in the hands of the French court.
"By the aid of these authentic records the principles of their
government may be delineated." --" History of Charles
the Fifth," Vol. II, p. 332. (See also "History of
the Jesuits," Theodor Griesinger, pp. 435 - 439, 474-476.)
The author was so fortunate as to have the privilege
of carefully reading "The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus."
He saw a Latin edition of 1558, and an English translation of it printed
in 1838, together with the three Papal Bulls: 1. The Bull of
Pope Paul III, given September 27, 1540, sanctioning "The Society
of Jesus." 2. The Bull of Clement XIV, abolishing the "Society,"
July 21, 1773. 3. The Bull of Pius VII, restoring it, August
7, 1814. We shall now quote from " The Constitutions,"
thus presenting first-hand evidence of their Rules: "It
is to be observed that the intention of the Vow wherewith the Society
has bound itself in obedience to the supreme Vicar of Christ without
any excuse, is that we must go to whatever part of the world he shall
determine to send us, among believers or unbelievers." -- "Constitutious,
" pp. 64, 65.
"Displaying
this virtue of obedience, first to the Pope, then to the Superiors of
the Society . . . we . . . attend to his
* -- "
The Constitutions" was preserved only in handwritten manuscripts,
and allowed only to a few select members of the Society; and when these
books finally were printed, they were not for the public.
p 276
-- voice, just
as if it proceeded from Christ Our Lord; . . . doing whatever is
enjoined us with all celerity, with spiritual joy and perseverance;
persuading ourselves that everything is just; suppressing every repugnant
thought and judgment of our own in a certain obedience. . . . Every
one . . . should permit themselves to be moved and directed under divine
Providence by their Superiors just as if they were a corpse,
which allows itself to be moved and handled in any way. . . . Thus obedient
he should execute anything on which the Superior chooses to employ him.
" -- Id., pp. 55, 56.
It is this corpse-like obedience, required of
all its members, that has made the Jesuits such a power in the world.
Rene Fulop-Miller in his book: " The Power and Secret of the
Jesuits," commended by Father Friedrich Muckermann, leading
Jesuit writer of Germany, and Father Alfonso Kleinser, S. J., and the
Deutsche Seitung, Berlin's leading Catholic organ, says:
"The
Society of Jesus represented a company of soldiers. Where 'duty' in
the military sense is concerned, as it is in the Society of Jesus, obedience
becomes the highest virtue, as it is in the army. The Jesuit renders
his obedience primarily to his superior . . . and he submits to him
as if he were Christ Himself." -- " The Power and Secret
of the Jesuits," pp. 18, 19. TOP
"So the Jesuits
seek to attain to God through 'blind obedience.'
"Ignatius requires
nothing less than the complete sacrifice of the man's own understanding,
'unlimited obedience even to the very sacrifice of conviction.' "
-- Id., pp. 19, 20.
He taught his Jesuit members by a complete " corpse-like
obedience" to be governed by the following principle: "'
I must let myself be led and moved as a lump of wax lets itself be kneaded,
must order myself as a dead man without will or judgment." --
Id.; p. 21.
" It was the
obedience of the Jesuits that made it possible to oppose to the enemies
of the Church a really trained and formidable army." -- Id.,
p. 23.
"For, within
a short time after the foundation of the order,
p 277
-- the Jesuits
were acting as spiritual directors at the courts of Europe, as preachers
in the most remote primeval forests, as political conspirators, disguised
and in constant danger of death; thus they had a thousand opportunities
to employ their talents, their cleverness, their knowledge of the world,
and even their cunning." -- Id., p. 26.
JESUITS
DECIDE ON THEIR MISSION -- Loyola first planned to convert
the Mohammedans of Palestine, but finding himself entirely unprepared
for that work, and the road blocked by war, and finding, after his return
to Paris, that the Protestant Reformation was turning the minds of men
from the Roman church to the Bible, he resolved to undertake a propaganda
of no less magnitude than the restoration of the Papacy to world dominion,
and the destruction of all the enemies of the pope.
The Jesuit T. J. Campbell says: "As
the establishment of the Society of Jesus coincided with the Protestant
Reformation the efforts of the first Jesuits were naturally directed
to combat that movement. Under the guidance of Canisius so much success
attended their work in Germany and other northern nations, that, according
to Macaulay, Protestantism was effectually checked. In England . . .
the Jesuits stopped at no danger, . . . and what they did there was
repeated in other parts of the world. . . . The Jesuits were to be found
under every disguise, in every country.
"Their history
is marked by ceaseless activity in launching new schemes for the spread
of the Catholic faith.
"They have
been expelled over and over again from almost every Catholic country
in Europe, always, however, coming back again to renew their work when
the storm had subsided; and this fact has been adduced as a proof that
there is something iniquitous in the very nature of the organization.
" -- The Encyclopedia Americana, sixteen-volume edition,
Vol. IX, art. "Jesuits." 1904. TOP
Loyola's plan of operation was to have his emissaries
enter new fields in a humble way as workers of charity, and then begin
to educate the children and youth. After gaining the good will
p 278
-- of the higher classes of society, they would, through
their influence, secure positions as confessors to the royal families,
and advisers of civil rulers. These Jesuit Fathers had been skilfully
trained to take every advantage of such positions to influence civil
rulers and direct them in the interest of the Roman church, and
to instill in them, that it was their sacred duty to act as worthy sons
of the Church by purging their country from heresy. And when war against
" heretics " commenced, the Jesuits would not consent to any
truce till Protestantism was completely wiped out.
At the time Loyola and his "knights " took
the field, the Protestant Reformation had swept over the greater part
of Europe, and one country after another was lost to the Papacy. But
in a short time the Jesuits had turned the tide. The Netherlands, France,
and Germany were swept by fire and sword till the very strongholds of
Protestantism were threatened. The Protestant countries were finally
forced to combine in the Thirty Years' War to save themselves from being
brought back by force under the papal yoke. (See "History of
the Jesuits," T. Griesinger, Book II, chap. 2.)
THE
ABOLITION OF THE JESUIT ORDER -- As long as this war of extermination
was waged against Protestantism, the assistance of these daring "knights
" was accepted, but when they continued to meddle in politics,
and to gather the civil reins in their own hands, the Catholic princes
at length became aroused to their danger, and complaints began to pour
into the Vatican from various heads of Catholic states. Finally, Pope
Clement XIV, after four years of investigation. felt compelled to abolish
the Jesuit Order. In his "Bull of Suppression," issued July
21, 1773, he wrote, that repeated warnings had been given to the Society
of "the most imminent dangers, if it concerned itself with temporal
matters, and which relate to political affairs, and the administration
of government." It was "strictly forbidden to all the
members of the society, to interfere in any manner whatever in public
affairs." Clement then
p 279
-- cites eleven popes who " employed without effect
all their efforts . . . to restore peace to the Church " by keeping
the Jesuits out of "secular affairs, with which the company ought
not to have interfered, " as they had done "in Europe, Africa,
and America." The Pope continues: "
We have seen, in the grief of our heart, that neither these remedies,
nor an infinity of others, since employed, have produced their due effect,
or silenced the accusations and complaints against the said society.
. . . In vain [were all efforts.]" -- "Bull of Clement
XIV," in "Constitutions of the Society of Jesus,"
pp. 116, 117. London: 1838.
"After so many
storms, troubles, and divisions the times became more difficult and
tempestuous; complaints and quarrels were multiplied on every side;
in some places dangerous seditions arose, tumults, discords; dissensions,
scandals, which weakening or entirely breaking the bonds of Christian
charity, excited the faithful to all the rage of party hatreds and enmities.
Desolation and danger grew to such a height, that . . . the kings of
France, Spain, Portugal, and Sicily, -- found themselves reduced to
the necessity of expelling and driving from their states, kingdoms,
and provinces, these very companions of Jesus; persuaded that there
remained no other remedy to so great evils; and that this step was necessary
in order to prevent the Christians from rising one against another,
and from massacring each other in the very bosom of our common mother
the Holy Church. The said our dear sons in Jesus Christ having since
considered that even this remedy would not be sufficient towards reconciling
the whole Christian world, unless the said society was absolutely
abolished and suppressed, made known their demands and wills in
this matter to our said predecessor Clement XIII."-- Id.,
p. 118. TOP
"After a mature
deliberation, we do, out of our certain knowledge, and the fulness of
our apostolical power, suppress and abolish the said company.
. . . We abrogate and annul its statutes, rules, customs,
decrees, and constitutions, even though confirmed by oath, and approved
by the Holy See. . . . We
p 280
-- declare . .
. the said society to be for ever annulled and extinguished."
-- Id., pp. 119,120.
"Our will and
meaning is, that the suppression and destruction of the said society,
and of all its parts, shall have an immediate and instantaneous effect."--
Id., p. 124.
"Our will and
pleasure is, that these our letters should for ever and to all eternity
be valid, permanent, and efficacious, have and obtain their full
force and effect. . . . Given at Rome, at St. Mary the Greater, under
the seal of the Fisherman, the 21st day of July, 1773, in the fifth
year of our Pontificate." -- " Bull for the Effectual
Suppression of the Order of Jesuits." Quoted in "Constitutions
of the Society of Jesus," p. 126.
We now respectfully ask: Can any Roman Catholic doubt
that the pope is telling the truth about the Jesuits? If he is telling
the truth, can we be blamed for feeling that there is a Jesuit danger,
after that society has been reinstated and has labored incessantly for
more than a century, and is unchanged in principle?
When we reflect upon their past history, and remember
that the Jesuits have been expelled from fifty different countries,
seven times from England, and nine times from France, and from the Papal
States themselves, there must be a reason why civil governments, Catholic
as well as Protestant, have found it necessary to take such steps. Only
in countries such as the United States, where they are allowed to carry
on their work peaceably, we hear little of them. But some day Americans
may wake up to find our present generation completely Romanized, and
our boasted " liberty " a thing of the past. The prophet declares:
"And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in
his hand; . . . and by peace shall destroy many." Daniel
8: 25. Any one desiring to know the historical facts should read the
"History of the Jesuits," by T. Griesinger, and "The
Roman Catholic Church," by F. T. Morton, pp. 167, 168.
"The end justifies the means." This
maxim is generally attributed to the Jesuits, and while it might not
be found in just that many words in their authorized books, yet the
identical
p 281
-- sentiment is found over and over again in their Latin
works. Dr. Otto Henne an Rhyn quotes many such sentiments from authorized
Jesuit sources. We quote from him the following: "Herman
Busembaum, in his 'Medulla Theologiae Moralis' (first published
at Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1650) gives this as a theorem (p. 320): Cum
finis est licitus, etiam media sunt licita (when the end is lawful,
the means also are lawful); and p. 504: Cui licitus est finis, etiam
licent media (for whom the end is lawful, the means are lawful also).
The Jesuit Paul Layman, in his ' Theologia Moralis,' lib. III.,
p. 20 (Munich, 1625), quoting Sanchez, states the proposition in these
words: Cui concessus est finis, concessa etiam sunt media ad finem
ordinata (to whom the end is permitted, to him also are permitted
the means ordered to the end). Louis Wagemann, Jesuit professor of moral
theology, in his ' Synopsis Theologiae Moralis' (Innsbruck and
Augsburg, 1762) has: Finis determinat moralitatem actus (the
end decides the morality of the act)." -- " The Jesuits,"
pp . 47, 48. New
York: 1895. TOP
"But the mischief
is that the whole moral teaching of the Jesuits from their early days
till now is but a further extension of this proposition, so redoubtable
in its application. " -- Id., pp. 49, 50.*
Rene Fulop-Miller
says of the Jesuits: "In
actual fact, the Jesuit casuists deal with two forms of permissible
deception: that of 'amphibology' and that of reservatio mentalis.
'Amphibology' is nothing else than the employment of ambiguous terms
calculated to mislead the questioner; 'mental reservation' consists
in answering a question, not with a direct lie, but in such-a way that
the truth is partly suppressed, certain words being formulated mentally
but not expressed orally.
"The Jesuits
hold that neither intentional ambiguity nor the fact of making a mental
reservation can be regarded as lying, since, in both cases, all that
happens is that 'one's neigh-
* -- See
also -- " The Power and Secret of the Jesuits," Rene
Fulop-Miller, pp.150-156; and "The Secret Plan," the
Abbate Leone, p. 155.
p 282
-- bor
is not actually deceived, but rather his deception is permitted only
for a justifiable cause." -- " The Power and Secret
of the Jesuits," pp. 154, 155.
The Jesuit Gury gives examples of this; among others
he says: "Amand
promised, under oath, to Marinus, that he would never reveal a theft
committed by the latter. . . . But . . . Amand was called as a witness
before the judge, and revealed the secret, after interrogation.
" He ought
not to have revealed the theft, but he ought to have answered: ' I do
not know anything,' understanding, 'nothing that I am obligated to reveal,'
by using a mental restriction. . . . So Amand has committed a grave
sin against religion and justice, by revealing publicly, before the
court, a confided secret." -- "The Doctrine of the Jesuits,"
translated by Paul Bert, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Professor
at the Faculty of Sciences (in Paris), pp. 168, 169, American edition.
Boston: 1880.
Alphonsus de
Liguori, the sainted
Catholic doctor, says in "Tractatus
de Secundo Decalogi Proecepto," on the second [third] precept
of the decalogue: "One
who is asked concerning something which it is expedient to conceal,
can say, ' I say not,' that is, ' I say the word " not " ';
since the word ' I say' has a double sense; for it signifies ' to pronounce'
and ' to affirm': now in our sense ' I say' is the same as 'I pronounce.'
"A prisoner,
when lawfully questioned, can deny a crime even with an oath (at least
without grievous sin), if as the result of his confession he is threatened
with punishment of death, or impnsonment, or perpetual exile, or the
loss of all his property, or the galleys, and similar punishments, by
secretly understanding that he has not committed any crime of such a
degree that he is bound to confess.
" It is permissible
to swear to anything which is false by adding in an undertone a true
condition, if that low utterance can in any way be perceived by the
other party, though its sense
p 283
-- is
not understood. " -- The Latin text, and an English translation
of the above statements are found in "Fifty Years in the Church
of Rome," by Father Chiniquy, chap. XIII, and in "Protestant
Magazine,"
April, 1913, p. 163. TOP
Violations of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth
commandments are justified by many leading Jesuit writers, according.
to many quotations from their books, cited in " The History
of the Jesuits," by Theodor Griesinger, pp. 285-304, 478-488,
508-616, 670, 740; and in Gury's "Doctrines of the Jesuits,"
translated by Paul Bert; and in "The Jesuits," by Dr.
Otto Henne an Rhyn, chap. V.
Theodor Griesinger quotes from eight prominent Jesuit
authorities, who advocate that it is permissible to kill a prince or
ruler who has been deposed by the pope. Here are a few samples: "In
the 'Opuscula Theologica' of Martin Becan, at page 130, the following
passage occurs:
"'Every subject
may kill his prince when the latter has taken possession of the throne
as a usurper, and history teaches, in fact, that in all nations those
who kill such tyrants are treated with the greatest honor. But even
when the ruler is not a usurper, but a prince who has by right come
to the throne, he may be killed as soon as he oppresses his subjects
with improper taxation, sells the judicial offices, and issues ordinances
in a tyrannical manner for his own peculiar benefit."'
" With such
principles Father Hermann Buchenbaum, entirely agreed, and, in the'Medulla
Theologia Moralis,' permission to murder all offenders of mankind
and the true faith, as well as enemies of the Society of Jesus, is distinctly
laid down. This 'Moral Theology' of Father Buchenbaum is held
by all the Society as an unsurpassed and unsurpassable pattern-book,
and was on that account introduced, with the approval of their General,
into all their colleges.
"Imanuel Sa
says, in his aphorisms, under the word 'Clericus': ' The rebellion of
an ecclesiastic against a king of the country in which he lives, is
no high treason, because an ecclesi-
p 284 -- astic
is not the subject of any king.' 'Equally right,' he adds further, 'is
the principle that anyone among the people may kill an illegitimate
prince; to murder a tyrant, however, is considered, indeed, to be a
duty.'
"Adam Tanner,
a very well known and highly esteemed Jesuit professor in Germany, uses
almost the identical words, and the not less distinguished Father Johannes
Mariana, who taught in Rome, Palermo, and Paris, advances this doctrine
in his book 'De Rege' (lib. i., p. 54), published with the approbation
of the General Aquaviva and of the whole Society, when he says: 'It
is a wholesome thought, brought home to all princes, that as soon as
they begin to oppress their subjects, and, by their excessive vices,
and, more especially, by the unworthiness of their conduct, make themselves
unbearable to the latter, in such a case they should be convinced that
one has not only a perfect right to kill them, but that to accomplish
such a deed is glorious and heroic.' . . .
"But most precise
are the words of the work, so highly prized above all others by the
Roman Curie, 'Defensio Fidei Catholicoe et Apostolicoe [Defence
of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith]' of the Jesuit Suarez, which appeared
in Lisbon in the year 1614, as therein it is stated (lib. vi, cap. iv,
Nos. 13 and 14): 'It is an article of faith that the Pope has the right
to depose heretical and rebellious kings, and a monarch dethroned by
the Pope is no longer a king or legitimate prince. When such an one
hesitates to obey the Pope after he is deposed, he then becomes a tyrant,
and may be killed by the first comer. Especially when the public weal
is assured by the death of the tyrant, it is allowable for anyone to
kill the latter.' TOP
"Truly regicide
could not be taught by clearer words. . . . The sons of Loyola . . .
declared that a more learned, or God-fearing book, had never appeared.
. . . Indeed, from this time forth no Jesuit professor whatever wrote
on moral theology, or any similar subject, without adopting the teaching
of Suarez." -- " History of the Jesuits," pp.
508-511.
Can any one doubt that the Jesuits have faithfully carried
p 285
-- out this "Article of Faith," wherever they thought
it advisable, when he reads of the many attempts upon the life of Queen
Elizabeth of England; of the "Gunpowder Plot" to murder James
1, and to destroy the "Houses of Parliament" in one blast;
of the assassination of William, Prince of Orange; of the attempts upon
his son, Maurice, Prince of Orange, and upon Leopold I of Germany, by
agents of that Society? We could refer to the "Holy League "
of 1576, sponsored by the Jesuits, for the purpose of uniting Catholic
Europe to crush Protestantism, and the assassination of Henry III and
Henry IV of France in the interest of that scheme. "The
Jesuits were, indeed, the heart and soul of the Leaguist conspiracy.
" -- Id., p. 210. See also pp. 508-608.
If the political activities of the Jesuits, of which
Pope Clement XIV complained so pathetically, are not a serious problem
to civil governments, then why were the Jesuits expelled from so many
states, Catholic as well as Protestant, as the following table shows?
Francis T. Morton, Member of the Massachusetts Bar, gives the following:
"
JESUITS EXPELLED FROM
|
Saragossa
|
1555 |
|
Touron and Berne |
1597 |
La
Palinterre |
1558 |
|
England
again |
1602 |
Vienna |
1566 |
|
England
again |
1604 |
Avignon |
1570 |
|
Denmark,
Venice, etc. |
1606 |
Antwerp,
Portugal, etc. |
1578 |
|
Venice
again |
1612 |
England |
1579 |
|
Amura,
Japan |
1613 |
England
again |
1581 |
|
Bohemia |
1618 |
England
again |
1584 |
|
Moravia |
1619 |
England
again |
1586 |
|
Naples
and Netherlands |
1622 |
Japan |
1587 |
|
China
and India |
1623 |
Hungary
and Transylvania |
1588 |
|
Turkey |
1628 |
Bordeaux |
1589 |
|
Abyssinia |
1632 |
the
whole of France |
1594 |
|
Malta |
1634 |
Holland
|
1596 |
|
Russia |
1723 |
|
|
|
Savoy |
1724 |
p 286 -- TOP
Paraguay |
1733 |
|
From
entering Saxony |
1831 |
Portugal
Sept.3, |
1759 |
|
Portugal |
1834 |
Prohibited
in France |
1762 |
|
Spain
again |
1835 |
France
again |
1764 |
|
Rheims
(by the people) |
1838 |
Spain,
colonies, and Sicilies and Naples |
1767 |
|
From
entering Lucerne |
1842 |
Parma
and Malta |
1768 |
|
Lucerne
again |
1845 |
All
Christendom, by bull of Clement XIV July 21, |
1773 |
|
France
again |
1845 |
Russia |
1776 |
|
Switzerland |
1847 |
Sardinia,
Vienna, France again |
1804 |
|
Bavaria
and Genoa |
1848 |
Canton
Grisons |
1804 |
|
Papal
States, by Pius IX, Sardinia, Vienna, Austria |
1848 |
Naples
again |
1810 |
|
Several
Italian States |
1859 |
France
again |
1816 |
|
Sicily
again |
1860 |
Moscow,
St. Petersburg, and Canton Soleure |
1816 |
|
Spain
again |
1868 |
Belgium |
1818 |
|
Guatemala |
1871 |
Brest
(by the people) |
1819 |
|
Switzerland |
1871 |
Russia
again |
1820 |
|
German
Empire |
1872 |
Spain
again |
1820 |
|
Mexico
(by the viceroy) |
1853 |
Rouen
Cathedral (by the people) |
1825 |
|
Mexice
(by Comonfort) |
1856 |
Belgium,
schools |
1826 |
|
Mexico
( by Congress) |
1873 |
France,
8 colleges closed, |
1828 |
|
New
Granada since |
1879 |
Britain
and Ireland |
1829 |
|
Venezuela |
1879 |
France
again |
1831 |
|
Argentine
Republic |
1879 |
|
|
|
Hungary |
1879 |
|
|
|
Brazil |
1879 |
|
|
|
France
again |
1880." |
-- " The
Roman Catholic Church and Its Relation to the Federal Government,"
pp. 167,168. Boston: 1909.
Those who feel that the foregoing facts constitute no
danger to American civil and religious liberty, would do well to remember
that the Jesuits carry on an extensive educational program in this country,
and that, according to their textbooks, their principles of civil government
are diametrically opposed to the American ideas of separation of church
and state. See their
p 287
-- "Manual
of Christian Doctrine, by a Seminary Professor," pp. 131-133.
Philadelphia: 1915.
The author has stated the foregoing facts, not because
of any enmity towards Jesuits as individuals, nor to Catholics in general,
but only from a feeling of responsibility to enlighten the American
people regarding a public danger. We can truly love the persons, while
we warn-people against their dangerous tendencies. If we did not sincerely
love everybody, we would not be true Christians. (Matthew 5: 43-48.)
Jesus loves the sinner, while He hates his sins; and we must have the
mind of Christ. (Philippians 2: 5; 1 Corinthians 2: 16.)
To those who wish to study this subject further we recommend
the careful reading of the following books, besides those referred to
in this chapter: "History of the Jesuits," by Andrew
Steinmetz, London, 1848. "History of the Jesuits,"
by G. B. Nicolini, London, 1854; "Secret Instructions of the
Jesuits," translated from the Latin by W. C. Brownlee, D. D.,
New York, 1841; "The Footprints of the Jesuits," by
R. W. Thompson; "The Jesuit Enigma," by E. Boyd Barrett;
"The Programme of the Jesuits," by W. Blair Neatby,
London, 1903; "Provincial Letters," by Blaise Pascal,
New York, 1853; "History and Fall of the Jesuits,"
by Count Alexis de Saint-Priest, London, 1861; "Political Life
of an Italian," by Francesco Urgos, Battle Creek, Mich., 1876;
and "The Jesuit Morals, collected by a Doctor of the College
of Sorbonne in Paris," translated into English, London, 1670.TOP
THE
MARK OF THE BEAST
p 288
-- In Revelation
13:16 the Apostle John has penned these significant words: "And
he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free
and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their
foreheads." What is this mark? It must be of great importance to
understand this, for Jesus gives us a solemn warning against receiving
the mark. (Revelation 22: 16; 14: 9, 10.) Some claim that it is the
mark of the labor unions; but the "small" cannot belong to
them, neither are the "rich," or capitalists, members of labor
organizations. Others say this prophecy refers to the peculiar "
handshake" of the Freemasons; but the "bond," or slave,
and the "small," or children, cannot become members of that
organization; and yet all these will receive the mark of the beast.
(Revelation 13: 16.)
This mark must
belong to religion, for it has to do with "worship" (Revelation
13:12), and it must have originated with the Papacy, for it is "his
mark" (Revelation 15: 2), and yet it must be something both Catholics
and Protestants agree upon, for "all" will receive it (Revelation
13: 12, 16). It is something in which not only the people but also "the
earth" on which they dwell, can show obedience. (Revelation
13:12.) There is but one thing that answers to all these specifications;
namely, Sunday-keeping. Sunday is a religious institution that originated
with the Catholic Church, and yet Protestants agree to keep it, and
we shall now show how the earth can have a part in receiving the mark.
God required "thy
manservant," "thy stranger," and "thy cattle"
to rest on His holy Sabbath (Exodus 20: 10); that is, no work should
be allowed in a field of which we have control. And because the Jews
did not obey this, the Lord declared: "I will scatter you among
the heathen. . . . and your land shall be
p 289 -- desolate
. . . . Then shall the land rest, and enjoy her Sabbaths; . . . because
it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it." Leviticus
26: 33-35. And so the Jews were taken into captivity to Babylon for
seventy years. (Jeremiah 17: 27; 2 Chronicles 36: 20, 21.) Generally
speaking, the people of this world have not allowed the earth to rest
on God's holy Sabbath for six thousand years, therefore He will lay
it desolate for one thousand years, to give it the rest man has denied
it. (Jeremiah 4: 23-25; Revelation 20: 1, 2.) TOP
We have now seen
that God wants the earth as well as the people to rest on His holy Sabbath.
But the Roman Catholic Church has put herself on record as flatly denying
God's claim. Father Enright declares: "The
Bible says: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,' but the Catholic
Church says: 'No, keep the first day of the week,' and the whole world
bows in obedience." -- " The Industrial American,"
Harlan, Iowa, Dec. 19, 1889.
When our government,
under pressure from the churches, shall by law enforce the papal Sunday
in open violation of God's command, so that the people rest on Sunday,
and work their land on the Sabbath, then "the earth and
them which dwell therein" will yield obedience to the papal power.
(Revelation 13: 12.)
Some will ask how
a day can be a mark in a person's forehead or hand. But we read
in Exodus 13: 3, 4, 9 that a day can be "for a sign unto
thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes." But
some one will ask how this "mark" can be received by some
only "in their right hand," while others receive it "in
their foreheads." (Revelation 13: 16.) That is easy to see. Many
people tell us: "We know that the seventh day is the right Sabbath,
but we have to work on that day or lose our jobs." Such people
have no Sunday-Sabbath in their mind, or forehead, because they do not
believe in it; but their "hand" obeys it, and so they receive
it in their hand. There are others who see the seventh day is the true
Sabbath in the New Testament, but they love their old friends and their
old ways more than the unpopular truth, and wish they did not have to
obey it.
p 290 -- Now,
as God cannot accept unwilling service, He will no longer impress them
with the importance of obeying it. God's Spirit is grieved away, and
another spirit steps in unnoticed and leads them against the truth.
"Because they received not the love of the truth. . . .
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie."
2 Thessalonians 2: 10, 11. (We have an example of this in 1 Kings 22.)
After rejecting the truth they become enthusiastic believers in the
false Sabbath, and thus they receive this mark "in their foreheads."
WHO
RECEIVES THE MARK? -- On the other hand, people who have
never heard the facts presented, but innocently keep Sunday, thinking
it is the right day, are not receiving the mark of the beast by so doing,
for God does not hold a person responsible for light that he has never
had opportunity to hear or reject. Let us illustrate this fact:
An earnest Christian
is the owner of a dry-goods store, and has sold a woman ten yards of
cloth. Later she comes back with it, claiming that it is too short.
He measures it again, and finds it full length, but, as she insists
that it is short, he buys a new yardstick, and placing both side by
side he finds his old one an inch short. In amazement he exclaims: "My
grandfather was an earnest Christian, and he used this yardstick, and
so did my godly father. They were unwittingly stealing, and died without
repenting of their sin; they are lost! " He reflects a moment,
then adds: "No! I saw them die triumphantly in Christ - they are
saved. And I have had blessed seasons with Jesus during these twenty
years I have used this old yardstick. If they could be saved using it,
and I could serve God acceptably all these years, I will continue to
use it hereafter!" But can he be saved while knowingly breaking
one of God's commandments? He could have been saved, if his attention
had not been called to it. But can be now continue to use the short
yard measure and remain a true Christian?
Christ says: "If
I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they
have no cloak for their sin " TOP
p 291 -- (John
15: 22); and Paul declares: "The times of this ignorance God winked
at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:
30). "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not,
to him it is sin." James 4: 17. Seeing that God's law is His measuring
rod, or standard for moral conduct, and that the Papacy has cut off
part of it, so people innocently have followed a faulty rule, and Christ
has not attributed this sin to His people till they had opportunity
to know better. But when His last message of mercy is being heralded
to the world, all are given their choice as to whom they will serve,
and those who refuse to listen to His message are as responsible as
though they had heard it. (Revelation 22: 14; 14: 12; Luke 11: 31; Proverbs
28: 9.)
All will admit
that Christ has a perfect right to choose any "sign" He desires,
and when He sets forth the Sabbath as the sign, or mark, of His authority
and of His sanctifying power, we should accept it with pleasure. (Ezekiel
20: 12, 20; 9: 4-6.)
THE
PAPACY SELECTS ITS FLAG --
On the other hand the pope claims to be Christ's representative
on earth, having authority to act in His name, so that
"the sentences which he gives are to be forthwith ratified in heaven.
" -- Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XII, art. "Pope,"
par. 20, p. 265.
Any one who makes
counterfeit money tries to make it as near like the genuine as possible.
And when Christ has chosen the Sabbath as His sign, the Papacy, in selecting
a counterfeit sign, would naturally choose one as near like the genuine
as possible, and so it took the very next day. And after having changed
the day of rest from the seventh to the first day, the Papacy would
naturally point to such a vital change in God's law as evidence of its
power; for no one could validly change God's moral law without being
authorized to act in Christ's stead.
Hence if, after
we have carefully searched the New Testament, and found no command there
for the change of the day,
p 292 -- we
still rely on the custom of the church by keeping the Sunday, we thereby
acknowledge the authority of the church that made this change. The Roman
Catholic Church sees this point and uses it as a challenge to Protestantism,
as the following quotations from the Roman Catholic authorities will
show:
Rev. Stephen Keenan
says: "Q -- Have
you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute
festivals of precept?
"A -- Had
she not such power, she could not have done that which all modern religionists
agree with her; -- she could not have substituted the observance of
Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the
seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority."
-- " Doctrinal Catechism, " p. 174. New York: P.
J. Kenedy and Sons, 1846. TOP
Rev. Henry Tuberville,
D. D., says: " Q --
How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy-days?
"A -- By
the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants
allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping
Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same
Church.
"Q --
How prove you that?
" A -- Because
by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Chruch's power to ordain
feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by
her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power. " -- "
An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, " p. 58. New York:
Kenedy, 1833.
J. F. Snyder, of
Bloomington, Ill., wrote Cardnial Gibbons asking if the Catholic Church
claims the change of the Sabbath "as a mark of her power."
The Cardinal through his Chancellor, gave the following answer: "
Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. It
could not have been otherwise, as none in those days would have dreamed
of doing anything in matters spiritual and ecclesiastical and religious
without her. And the act is a mark
p 293 -- of
her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters." (Signed)
" H. F. Thomas, Chancellor
for the Cardinal." "Nov. 11, 1895."
We will now let
the Catholic Church tell when it changed the Sabbath day. Here
is its answer:
"Q. -- Which
is the Sabbath day? A. -- Saturday is the Sabbath day. Q.
-- Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? A. -- We
observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the
Council of Laodicea (A. D. 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday
to Sunday." -- " Convert's Catechism," Rev.
P. Geiermann, p. 50. London: 1934. Sanctioned by the Vatican, Jan. 25,
1910.
"The Catholic
Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant,
by virtue of her Divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday."
-- " The Christian Sabbath," p. 29. Printed by the
"Catholic Mirror," the official organ of Cardinal Gibbons,
Baltimore, Md., 1893.
Kindly notice how
often Catholic authors refer to the fact that there is no Scripture
proof for Sunday, but that it rests solely on the authority of the Catholic
Church. Rt. Rev. John Milner says: "The
first precept in the Bible is that of sanctifying the seventh day: '
God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.' Genesis 2: 3.
This precept was confirmed by God in the Ten Commandments: 'Remember
the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. The seventh day is the Sabbath
of the Lord thy God.' Exodus 20. On the other hand, Christ declares
that He is not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Matthew
5: 17. He Himself observed the Sabbath: 'and, as His custom was, He
went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.' Luke 4:16. His disciples
likewise observed it after His death: ' They rested on the Sabbath
day according to the commandment,' Luke 23: 56. Yet with all this
weight of Scripture authority for keeping the Sabbath, or seventh day,
holy, Protestants of all denominations make this a profane day,
and transfer the obligation of it to the first day of
p 294 --
the week,
or the Sunday. Now what authority have they for doing this? None
whatever, except the unwritten word, or tradition, of
the Catholic Church." -- "End of Religious Controversy,"
p. 89. New York: P. J. Kenedy, 1897. TOP
The Brotherhood
of St. Vincent de Paul says: "'
The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt
not do any work.' (Exod. XX. 8, 9). . . . Such being God's command then,
I ask again, Why do you not obey it? . . .
"You will answer
me, perhaps, that you do keep holy the Sabbath-day; for that
you abstain from all worldly business, and diligently go to church,
and say your prayers, and read your Bible at home, every Sunday of your
lives.
"But Sunday
is not the Sabbath-day, Sunday is the first day of the week;
the Sabbath-day was the seventh day of the week. Almighty God
did not give a commandment that men should keep holy one day in seven;
but He named His own day, and said distinctly, 'Thou shalt keep holy
the seventh day': and He assigned a reason for choosing this day rather
than any other -- a reason which belongs only to the seventh day of
the week, and cannot be applied to the rest. He says, 'For in six days
the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and
rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day
and hallowed it.' Almighty God ordered that all men should rest from
their labor on the seventh day, because He too had rested on that day:
He did not rest on Sunday, but on Saturday. On Sunday, which is the
first day of the week, He began the work of creation. . . . Gen.
2: 2, 3. Nothing can be more plain and easy to understand than all this;
and there is nobody who attempts to deny it. . . . Why then do you keep
holy the Sunday, and not Saturday?
"You will tell
me that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian
Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. Changed! but by whom? Who has authority
to change an express commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken
and said, Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day, who shall dare
p 295 --
to say, Nay, thou
mayest work and do all manner of worldly of business
on the seventh day; but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead?
This is a most important question, which I know not how you can answer.
"You are a
Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and the Bible only. .
. . The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the Ten Commandments;
you believe that the other nine are still binding; who gave you authority
to tamper with the fourth?
"We blame you
not for making Sunday your weekly holy-day instead of Saturday, but
for rejecting tradition, which is the only safe and clear rule by which
this observance can be justified." -- " Why Don't You
Keep Holy the Sabbath-Day?" pp. 2-4, 8. London: Burns and Oates.
Found also in " The Clifton Tracts," Most Rev. John
Hughes, D. D. TOP
"That the Church
has instituted the Sunday as the Lord's day instead of the Sabbath .
. . shows forth her great power which she solemnly received from Christ."
-- " Manual of the Catholic Religion," p. 186.
Dr. Martin Luther
and Melancthon felt the stinging force of this Catholic argument in
proof of the power of the papal church, although they knew that the
time had not then come for a Sabbath reform. Dr. Eck, disputing with
Luther, said: "lf,
however, the Church has had power to change the Sabbath of the Bible
into Sunday and to command Sunday-keeping, why should it not have also
this power concerning other days? . . . lf you omit the latter, and
turn from the Church to the Scriptures alone, then you must keep the
Sabbath with the Jews, which has been kept from the beginning of the
world."-- " Enchiridon," pp. 78, 79. 1533.
Calling attention
to this Roman Catholic assumption of authority, the Reformers said:
"They
also point out, that the Sabbath is changed to Sunday, contrary as it
seems, to the Ten Commandments; and there is no example over which they
make more ado than the change of the Sabbath. Great, they assert, must
be the power of the
p 296 -- Church,
when it can grant release from one of the Ten Commandments." --
" The Augsburg Confession," art. 28, in "Book
of Concord," p. 79. (Norwegian ed., printed in Christiania,
1882.)
At the great Council
of Trent (1545-1563), which was called to determine the "doctrines
of the Church in answer to the heresies of the Protestants" (Catholic
Encyclopedia, Vol. XV, art. "Trent," p. 30), the question
of the authority of the church over that of the Bible was decided in
the following manner: "Finally,
at the last [session] opening on the eighteenth of January, 1562, their
last scruple was set aside; the archbishop of Reggio made a speech in
which he openly declared that tradition stood above Scripture. The authority
of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scripture,
because the church had changed Sabbath into Sunday, not by the command
of Christ, but by its own authority. With this, to be sure, the last
illusion was destroyed, and it was declared that tradition does not
signify antiquity, but continual inspiration." -- "Canon
and Tradition," Dr. J. H. Holtzman, p. 263. ("Source
Book,"pp. 603, 604.)
After the Jesuits
were expelled from England in 1579 they determined to recapture that
country, and at their school at Rheims, France, they translated their
New Testament from the Vulgate Latin into English in 1582. (Their Old
Testament was printed at Douay, 1609, so that their whole Bible has
come to be called the Douay version.) In
their English New Testament, translated from the Vulgate Edition
of 1582, printed in New York, 1834, we read on page 413, note on the
Apocalypse 1: 10:
"And if the
Church had authority and inspiration from God, to make Sunday, being
a work-day before, an everlasting holyday: and the Saturday, that before
was holyday, now a common work-day: why may not the same Church prescribe
and appoint the other feasts of Easter, Whitsuntide, Christmas, and
the rest? For the same warrant she hath for the one she hath for the
other." TOP
Thus we see that
the Roman Catholic Church always and
p 297 -- everywhere
points to her change of the Sabbath as the mark, or evidence,
of her having the power and inspiration from God to legislate in Christ's
stead for His church on earth, and that this power is vested in the
pope. Pope Leo XIII says: "
We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty." All
must yield "complete
submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff,
as to God Himself. " -- " Great Encyclical Letters,"
pp. 304, 193. And Pope Gregory says of the power of the pope:
"Hence
he is said to have a heavenly power, and hence changes even the nature
of things, applying the substantial of one thing to another -- can make
something out of nothing -- a judgment which is null he makes to be
real, since in the things which he wills, his will is taken for a reason.
Nor is there any one to say to him, Why doest thou this? For he can
dispense with the law, he can turn injustice into justice by correcting
and changing the law, and he has the fulness of power." -- "
Decretals of Gregory" (R. C.), Book I, title 7, chap. 3.
Gloss on the Transfer of Bishops.
The Roman "Decretalia,"
an authentic work on Roman ecclesiastical law, says of the power of
the pope: "He
can pronounce sentences and judgments in contradiction to the right
of nations, to the law of God and man. . . . He can free himself from
the commands of the apostles, he being their superior, and from the
rules of the Old Testament.
"The pope has
power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things,
even the precepts of Christ." -- "Decretal, de Translat.
Episcop. Cap."
"The Pope's
will stands for reason. He can dispense above the law; and of wrong
make right, by correcting and changing laws." -- Pope Nicholas,
Dist. 96; quoted in " Facts for the Times," pp. 55,
56. 1893.
"THE
MARK OF HIS NAME" -- We
have now seen that the pope claims to be the "Vicar of the Son
of God " on earth; to have authority to act in His name.
p 298 -- And
as proof for this claim he points to the fact that he has changed the
Sabbath into Sunday. How conclusive! He must be authorized as Christ's
"Vicar" in order to validly make such a vital change in God's
moral law. That is imperative! The Sunday-Sabbath is therefore the proof
or mark of his "vicarship"; it is "the mark of his name."
Revelation 14: 11. When once a person has become aware of the wording
of this text (Revelation 14: 11), it becomes impossible for him to exchange
this explanation of either the " mark " or the " name
" for some other. For the creation of the Sunday-Sabbath by the
Papacy constitutes the mark, or proof, of the pope's being invested
with authority to act as "Vicar of the Son of God." This "mark"
and this "name" fit together as prepared by the divine hand
of prophecy, and no others do. Catholics can therefore appeal to Protestants
in the following way: Sunday-keeping
"not only has no foundation in the Bible, but it is in flagrant
contradiction with its letter, which commands rest on the Sabbath, which
is Saturday. It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus
Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday. . . . Thus the observance
of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite
of themselves, to the authority of the Church." -- " Plain
Talk About the Protestantism of Today," from the French by
Segur, p. 213. Boston: 1868. TOP
While God did not
attribute this sin to His people in former ages, when they had not been
enlightened on the subject, we are now approaching the final struggle
between Christ and the restored Papacy, and it behooves us to show under
which flag we have decided to stand. For example: In times of peace,
no serious results would come to an alien in this country, if, on his
holiday, he should hoist his native flag. But if our country was at
war with his homeland, and he then should tear down the "Stars
and Stripes," and trample on it, while he hoisted his own flag,
it would be an entirely different matter. And so now, while Christ and
Antichrist face each other in the last deadly struggle, it becomes a
serious matter to hoist the enemy's flag, while
p 299 -- trampling
on the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel!
The papal power
was "to continue forty and two months" (Revelation 13: 5),
and, as the Bible reckons thirty days to a month, this period would
be 1260 prophetic days (Revelation 11: 2, 3). And a day in prophecy
stands for a year. (Ezekiel 4: 6.) Thus we see that the papal supremacy
would continue for 1260 years. We have already seen that this period
began in 538 and ended in 1798 A. D. (See pp. 52-60.) At that time the
pope, who had for centuries driven God's people "into captivity,"
was himself to "go into captivity," the prophet declared.
(Revelation 13: 10.) And when the hour struck, to which God's prophetic
clock had pointed for 1700 years, the pope had to "go into captivity."
Rome was taken by the French on February 10, 1798, the Roman Republic
proclaimed on the fifteenth, and on the night of the twentieth, Pope
Pius VI was hurried off "into captivity," where he finally
died at Valence, France, in 1799. Napoleon had previously given orders
that no new pope was to be elected in his place.
"No wonder that half Europe thought Napoleon's veto would be obeyed,
and that with the Pope the Papacy was dead." -- " Modern
Papacy," Joseph Rickaby, S. J., p. 1.
But this prophecy
also foretells its restitution. The prophet declares: "His deadly
wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast."
Revelation 13: 3. (Compare 17: 8.) A new pope (Pius VII) was elected
March 14, 1800, and, as J.
Rickaby further states: "Yet
since then, the Papacy has been lifted to a pinnacle of spiritual power
unreached, it may be, since earliest Christian history." --
Id., p. 1.
Especially since
the days of Pope Leo XIII the healing of the "deadly wound"
has been steadily progressing. On February 11, 1929, the pope once more
became a civil ruler (a king). Some day he will attempt to assume his
ancient authority over the nations of earth, and then the world will
realize that the Papacy is unchanged in spirit, that it will do today
just what it did in the Dark Ages.
p 300 -- We
shall now see what God will do for those who have been faithful to Him
in this time of apostasy, and have not deviated from His word, while
the whole Christian world has gone astray. But let all remember that
we cannot follow what is easy and popular, and expect to stand under
God's protection. It was the ark of Noah -- the object of so much scorn
and derision from the world -- that finally became the means of rescue
to all who stood faithfully by it under taunt and ridicule. And so now.
(Luke 17: 26.) God always uses unpopular truths with which to test His
people and gather out the honest in heart, and He will protect His own
in the time of trouble. TOP
They "shall
abide under the shadow of the Almighty," safe "from the noisome
pestilence." As a hen protects her brood in a storm, so "He
shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust:
His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be
afraid for the terror by night [night raids by airplanes]; nor
for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh
in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand
shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall
not come nigh thee, . . . neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."
Psalm 91: 1-10.
God will reveal
that He still lives and reigns, and the world shall yet see that He
puts a difference "between him that serveth God and him that serveth
Him not" (Malachi 3: 18), just as He did during the plagues of
Egypt (Exodus 8: 22, 23; 9: 4; 10: 23; Isaiah 4: 5, 6). "His truth
shall be thy shield and buckler." Psalm 9l: 4. (Compare John 17:
17; Colossians 1: 5; Psalm 119: 142, 151.)
According to the
new covenant promise, the Holy Spirit is to write the law of God in
the heart of God's children., (Hebrews 8: 8-10; 2 Corinthians 3: 3.)
But it must be put "into their mind" before it can be written
"in their hearts" (Hebrews 8: 10); and as they have been looking
at a mutilated law, the missing part must be restored before the Holy
Spirit can write it in their hearts. And so the message comes to "bind
up the
p 301 -- testimony,
seal the law among My disciples." Isaiah 8: 16.
While the nations
are moving toward Armageddon, while angels are about to release the
winds of war but have been admonished to hold a little longer, another
angel comes with the "seal of the living God, " saying: "
Hurt not the earth. . . . till we have sealed the servants of our God
in their foreheads," so they shall be able to stand during the
terrible time of trouble just ahead. (Revelation 6: 17; 7: 1-3). The
Lord revealed the same scene to Ezekiel. He saw the destroyers coming,
but a man clothed in linen (a symbol of purity, Revelation 19: 8) went
before them to "set a mark upon the foreheads of " God's people,
after which the destroyers were told to "slay utterly old and young.
. . . but come not near any man upon whom is the mark." Ezekiel
9:1-6. This mark, or sign, is the Sabbath. "I gave them My Sabbaths
to be a sign between Me and them." Ezekiel 20:12, 20.
As Christ viewed
His people on the earth, and found them without "the seal of the
living God," He commanded the winds of war to be held in check
"till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
"Revelation 7: 1-3. They were God's servants, but lacked the seal.
In Ezekiel 9: 4-6 and 20: 12, 20 it is called God's "mark,"
or "sign," while in Revelation 7: 1-4 it is called His "seal."
God's "name" will be written in the foreheads of His people.
(Revelation 14: 1.) In God's law His name is found only in the fourth
commandment. The fourth commandment, which enjoins the keeping of the
seventh-day Sabbath, is the seal of God which the Holy Spirit places
in the minds and hearts of His people.
The day of wrath
is fast approaching. God's people will needa shelter during Armageddon.
But God will not do miracles to protect the willfully disobedient. The
Lord is greatly grieved over the situation, and complains that His watchmen
are not preparing the people "to stand in the battle in the day
of the Lord." Ezekiel 13: 5. Compare Ezekiel 22: 26, 30; Isaiah
58: 1, 2, 12, 13; 56: 1-5, 10, 11; Hebrews 10: 26, 29. " But the
Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children
of Israel." Joel 3: 16. TOP
THE
IMAGE TO THE BEAST
p 302
-- EARLY EFFORTS TO UNITE CHURCH AND STATE --
In Holy
Scripture Christ Jesus is repeatedly spoken of as the Lamb of God. Bible
prophecy represents America by a similar symbol, which "had two
horns like a lamb." The word of God informs us, however, that this
peace-loving power, despite its lamb-like principles, eventually would
say "to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an
image to the beast [the Papacy], which had the wound by a sword,
and did live." Revelation 13:14. The Papacy was formed by a union
of church and state, which resulted in the persecution of dissenters.
An "image," or " likeness," to the Papacy in America
would be a union of church and state, or a co-operation between them,
as in the days of papal Rome. And, seeing it is to be "an image
to the beast, " it cannot be the beast itself, but must be an effort
started among Protestants, who desire the aid of the state to enforce
some of their dogmas. For nearly three quarters of a century Protestant
churches and civic organizations have been at work to create just such
a relation between church and state in the United States.
In 1863, representatives
of eleven Protestant denominations convened at Xenia, Ohio, and organized
a federation, with the avowed purpose of placing the name of God in
the Federal Constitution. This National Reform Association declared
in Article II of its constitution: "The
object of this Society shall be to . . . secure such an amendment to
the Constitution of the United States as will declare the nation's allegiance
to Jesus Christ and its acceptance of the moral laws of the Christian
religion, and so indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place
all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on
an undeniably legal basis in the fundamental law of the land."
-- " American State
p 303 -- Papers,"
William A. Blakely, p. 343. Washington, D. C.: 1911.
Their official
organ: The Christian Statesman, (1888) points out their
reason for such an amendment to the Federal Constitution in the following
words: "
We need it to correct our most unfortunate attitude under the First
Amendment, which restrains Congress from prohibiting the free exercise
of any false religion." -- " Facts for the Times,"
p. 165.
That is, the First
Amendment to the Federal Constitution, which safeguards religious liberty,
must be made null and void by their proposed amendment, just as the
eighteenth amendment was nullified by the twenty-first.
Rev. M. A. Gault,
a district secretary of the organization, said: "Our
remedy for all these malefic influences is to have the government simply
set up the moral law, and recognize God's authority behind it, and lay
its hand on any religion that does not conform to it." --
" The Christian Statesman," Jan. 13, 1887; quoted in
"Facts for the Times," page 166. TOP
Jonathan Edwards,
another of their speakers, said: "We
want state and religion, and we are going to have it. . . . So far as
the affairs of the state require religion, it shall be religion, the
religion of Jesus Christ. . . . We use the word religion in its proper
sense, as meaning a man's personal relation of faith and obedience to
God. Now we are warned that to engraft this doctrine upon the Constitution
will be oppressive; that it will infringe the right of conscience; and
we are told that there are atheists, deists, Jews, and Seventh Day Baptists
who would suffer from it. These all are, for the occasion and so far
as our amendment is concerned, one class. . . . What are the rights
of the atheist? . . . I would tolerate him as I would a conspirator."
-- " Religious Liberty in America," C. M. Snow,
pp. 266, 267.
The Lord's Day
Alliance is another organization working for the same ends. In their
"Lord's Day Papers" (Milwaukee, Wis.), No. 117, p.
4, they say of those who do not sanction their
p 304 -- propaganda
for Sunday laws: "That
anarchistic spirit that tramples on any law that one does not like needs
to be completely crushed."
JOINING
HANDS WITH CATHOLICISM -- The
Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America has also interested
itself along the same lines, and has co-operated more or less with the
other two organizations. November 21, 1905, twenty denominations met
in New York, and invited the co-operation of the Roman Catholic Church
to help solve these civic questions. Another meeting was held in Chicago,
December 4 -9, 1912, where representatives of thirty-two denominations,
having a constituency of nearly 18,000,000 people, met in council. The
Inter-Ocean of December 7, 1912, reported:
"FEDERAL COUNCIL
OPENS ITS DOORS TO THE CATHOLICS
"WORD PROTESTANT
IS STRICKEN FROM COMMITTEE REPORT ON OBJECT OF ASSOCIATION OF CHURCHES.
"The Federal
Council of Churches of Christ in America took one of the most important
forward steps in its history when it adopted a resolution presented
by the executive committee eliminating the word Protestant from the
report of the committee, and virtually threw down the bars and invited
the Roman Catholic Church of America to join the council, and lend its
titanic strength toward solving the common problems of the church. "
-- Quoted in "Review and Herald," Jan. 9, 1913.
A strong resolution
for the enforcement of Sunday laws by civil government was then adopted.
In forming the
Papacy during the fourth and fifth centuries the Catholic bishops, in
conjunction with the state, enforced the pagan Sunday as one of the
first steps in uniting church and state, thus producing what prophecy
terms "the beast." And now in forming "an image to the
beast" the Protestant and Catholic clergy will again make Sunday
laws the entering wedge in their attempt to enforce religion by law,
because Sunday legislation constitutes the neutral ground for co-operation
between Catholics and Protestants, and in this work they seek
p 305 -- each
other's assistance. Rev. S. V. Leech, a Protestant Sunday advocate,
said in an address at Denver, Colorado: "Give
us good Sunday laws, well enforced by men in local authority, and our
churches will be full of worshipers. . . . A mighty combination of the
churches of the United States could win from Congress, the state legislatures,
and municipal councils, all legislation essential to this splendid result."
-- " Homiletic Review," November 1892; quoted in
"American State Papers," William A. Blakely, p. 732.
Washington, D. C.: 1911. TOP
Rev. Sylvester
F. Scovel, a leading National Reformer, says: "This
common interest [in Sunday] ought to strengthen both our determination
to work, and our readiness to co-operate with our Roman Catholic fellow
citizens. . . . It is one of the necessities of the situation."
-- " Views of National Reform, Series Ove," Bible Students'
Library, No. 3, pp. 85, 86. Oakland, Calif.: Jan. 15, 1889.
"Whenever they
[the Roman Catholics] are willing to cooperate in resisting the progress
of political atheism, we will gladly join hands with them." --
" Christian Statesman," Dec. 11, 1884.
The Catholic Lay
Congress, held in Baltimore, November 12, 1889, said: "We
should seek an alliance with non-Catholics for the purpose of proper
Sunday observance. " -- Quoted in "Religious Liberty
in America," C. M. Snow, pp. 283, 284.
When the great
Federation of Catholic Societies was organized in 1906, they said: "
The Federation is a magnificent organization that is bound to root out
prevailing and ruling national evils; a patriotic undertaking in which
Catholic and non-Catholic may join hands." -- "The Catholic
Union and, Times," Aug. 2, 1906; quoted in " Signs
of the Times," July 8, 1908.
The following resolution
was adopted by the Boston Archdiocesan Federation of Catholic Societies:
p 306 --
"We are unalterably
opposed to any relaxation of the Sunday laws. Sunday is a day of rest
to be devoted to the praise and service of God. We hold the safest public
policy at present is to adhere to the rigid observance of the laws now
safeguarding the sanctity of the Lord's day." -- "Boston
Pilot," official organ of Cardinal O'Connell, March 16,1912.
In 1910 forty-six
Protestant denominations co-operated in an effort to reunite all the
Christian churches in the world, and fifty-five commissions were appointed
to attend a world's conference. They were to have been sent in September,
1914, to different countries to explain the plan, but the World War
delayed it. Another effort was made in 1917, when delegates from "many
denominations, including Protestant Episcopal, Baptist, Lutheran, and
Presbyterian," met at Garden City, N. Y., where they received a
letter from Cardinal Gasparri, Papal Secretary of State; and in 1919
three Episcopal bishops were sent to Rome to interview the pope on this
question of church union, for Pope Benedict XV had already (1917) started
a "move for reunited Christianity."
The daily papers
reported in January, 1930, that a plan for a world federation of Lutheran
churches was being worked on by a sub-committee of the National Lutheran
Council at New York. Reports at that time stated the federated church
would be headed by a world executive comparable in administrative respects
to the Roman Catholic pope. Decorah Posten (Norwegian)
for January 21, 1930, gives a similar report. So "federation "
and " consolidation " are in the air.
EARNEST
MEN SEE THE DANGER -- God-fearing
men in different denominations, who see the trend of the times, fear
the consequences. Dr. A.
C. Dixon says: "The
purpose of this 'lnter-church' movement seems to be to make a great
ecclesiastical machine which will dominate all smaller bodies. It is
an attempt to form a papacy without a pope; and, if evangelical truth
is to be sacrificed or compromised, such a papacy without a pope will
be no improvement upon the
p 307 --
present ecclesiastical
machine which has its center in Rome." A front-page article
in the "Baptist Messenger," June 23, 1920. Oklahoma
City, Okla. TOP
Dr.
George A. Gordon, Pastor of Old South Church, Boston, says:
"The
church was united once, the holy Catholic Church throughout the world,
and what was it? -- An ineffable tyrant, denying freedom over its whole
broad domain and crushing the intellect and the spirit into a dead uniformity.
. . . Your one holy Catholic Protestant American Church would give me
much uneasiness if it should come into existence tomorrow." --
"Review and Herald," May 11, 1913.
How clearly these
God-fearing men, and many others we could have quoted, see the trend
of the Protestant church in forming " an image to the beast "
and even seeking the aid of the Papacy in their efforts to form a "
holy Catholic Protestant American Church," that could control the
state as the papal church did during the Middle Ages!
As long as a church
has a living connection with Christ, its true Head, and is loyal to
His written word, she is supplied with divine power to do His bidding
(Matthew 28: 18-20; Acts 1: 8; 5: 32; Romans 1: 16; John 1: 12), and
feels no craving for the power of the state to enforce its teachings.
But when apostasy has robbed it of its divine power, and the power
of love (2 Corinthians 5: 14) has been exchanged for the love
of power, it usually seeks the aid of the civil arm. All attempts
to secure the enforcement of religion by civil laws is therefore a confession
of apostasy from apostolic purity.
A
MIRACLE -WORKING POWER -- Whenever God has sent a message
of reform to prepare His people for some great crisis, the archenemy
has always tried to counterfeit it. When Moses was sent to deliver Israel
from Egypt, Jannes and Jambres withstood his message by counterfeiting
his miracles. (Exodus 7: 10-13, 22; 8: 6, 7; 2 Timothy 3: 8, 9.) And
so it was when the message of Christ's first coming
p 308 -- was
given. In these last days God has promised to send a message in the
power and spirit of Elijah to prepare His people for " the coming
of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." (Malachi 4: 5.) The
devil knows this, and so he will counterfeit this message. The prophet,
in speaking of the United States, says: "He doeth great wonders,
so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight
of men [as Elijah did]. And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth
by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight
of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that they
should make an image to the beast, . . . and he causeth all . . . to
receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads." Revelation
13: 13-16. Thus we see that this country was to become a miracle-working
power.
It was here in
the United States that modern Spiritism originated in 1848. And it is
working miracles. But what is the source of this miraculous power? We
will let the leaders of Spiritism answer this question. In
Spiritten [a Norwegian Spiritist periodical], for December 15,
1889, page 2, we read: "Spiritism
is the serpent in Paradise offering man to eat of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil."
To understand this
statement we must remember that God told man not to eat of this tree
or he would "surely die," but Satan assured Eve: "Ye
shall not surely die." Genesis 2: 17; 3: 4. And Spiritists have
based their belief on the devil's words, claiming that people at death
do not actually die, but simply pass into the spirit world. Moses Hull,
a leading teacher and lecturer among them, makes this point clear. He
says: "A
Truthful Snake. . . . In answer to the question, ' Who, then, are we
to believe -- God or Satan?' I answer, The facts, in every case in the
Bible, justify us in believing Satan, he has ever been truthful; that
is more than can be said of the other one. . . . It was not the devil,
but God who made the mistake in the Garden of Eden. . . . It was God,
and not the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning." --
" The Devil and the Adventists," pp. 15, 16. Chicago:
1899.TOP
p 309 -- I
must ask pardon of the readers for quoting such blasphemous words, but
the only fair way of revealing the true nature of Spiritism is to allow
its followers to speak for themselves. In later years, however, Spiritism
has changed its face, but not its heart, by professing
Christianity; and in that garb has succeeded in getting into the churches.
Some startling revelations have been unearthed of late years regarding
the work of Spiritism in the different churches all over the world.
Many in these churches have felt the emptiness of formalism, and have
craved spiritual power, but have been unwilling to get it by the way
of the cross. Humble confession, heartfelt repentance, and straightening
up of wrongs done to neighbors is a road too narrow for many to walk;
unpopular truths, which cut across their selfish path of ease, are unwelcome
to them; but Spiritism in its Christian form offers the desired power
without such sacrifices, and the easy road is accepted with eagerness
by many. (Compare Mark 8: 34, 38; Acts 5: 32; Matthew 4: 3-10; 2 Thessalonians
2: 9-11; Matthew 24: 24.) They mistakenly accept spiritual power and
miracles as evidence of their being right with God (Matthew 7: 21-23;
Luke 9: 55), but God's children cannot thus prove whether a movement
is true or false, for the enemy can work, miracles. Judge I. W. Edmonds,
a noted Spiritist, says of his daughter: "She
knows no other language than her own native tongue, the English, except
a little French she learned in the girls' school; and yet she has talked
in nine or ten different languages, often a whole hour at a time, with
the same ease as a native. Quite often strangers in their native tongue
hold conversation with their spirit friends through her. " --
"Spiritualism Before the Judgment Seat of Science,"
p. 42.
In the near future
Spiritism will influence people in America to form a union of church
and state. When this is accomplished, the Papacy will step in and take
charge of it. Thus every effort to form this union is helping the Papacy
to power. This is so strikingly pictured by the prophet Zechariah that
we must take the space here to refer to it.
p 310--
THE WOMAN IN THE EPHAH -- The prophet saw "an ephah"
(which is a fitting symbol of the business world) and "a woman
that sitteth in the midst of the ephah." Zechariah 5: 7. A woman
in prophecy symbolizes a church, and in the book of Revelation this
woman is called "the mother" church, which is "drunken
with the blood of . . . the martyrs of Jesus." It is also represented
as "that great city" on "seven mountains." (Revelation
17: 5, 6, 9, 18.) M'Clintock
and Strong says :"The
city of Rome was founded . . . on the Palatine Hill; it was extended
by degrees, so as to take in six other hills. " -- Encyclopedia,
art. "Rome." This woman is said to be trading in
all kinds of "merchandise": linen, silk, wine, flour, sheep,
chariots, and souls of men. (Revelation 18: 12, 13.) A more striking
picture of the Papacy could hardly be given, for no advantage in the
business world escapes her vigilance. She always seeks to place her
members in strategic government positions, and at advantageous labor
posts.
The ephah, in which
this prophetic woman sat, was covered with "a talent of lead,"
and when this cover was lifted the " wickedness " was seen,
or, as the Septuagint has it: " This is the iniquity." (Zechariah
5: 7, 8.) And just so, when the Reformation of the sixteenth century
pulled off the cover, "the mystery of iniquity" was seen in
all its "wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2: 7, 8.) But the prophet
saw the cover placed back on again, and, through the efforts of Jesuits,
this covering-up work is being accomplished. "Two women" are
next seen who "lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven."
(Zechariah 5: 8, 9.) That is, after the true nature of the papacy has
been concealed, the miracle-working power of Spiritism in some
Christian form, and fallen Protestantism (these two women) will
raise the Papacy to the sky. TOP
"Then said
I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and
it shall be established, and set there upon her own base."
Verses 10, 11. It was "in the land Shinar" that the former
tower of Babel was built, as a man-made way to
p 311 -- heaven,
so as to avoid the judgment of God in case of another Flood. The builders
called it "Babil," "Gate of God," but God called
it "Babel," "Confusion." It was around this tower
that the city of Babylon was built; and it stands as a synonym for a
man-made way of salvation; and for this reason the Roman Catholic Church
is called "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER." Revelation 17:5.
Even Cardinal Gibbons declares: "'Babylon,'
from which Peter addresses his first epistle, is understood by learned
annotators, Protestant and Catholic, to refer to Rome." -- "Faith
of Our Fathers," edition of 1885, p. 131; and p. 106 in "Eighty-third
Revised Edition" of 1917. It is natural, therefore,
when the prophet speaks of the Papacy's being established "there
upon her own base," that he should symbolically refer to
it as "the land of Shinar," or Babylon. (Zechariah 5: 10,
11.) Thus we see, that, through the cooperation of modernized Protestantism,
and Christianized Spiritism, the Papacy will be brought back to power.
This is so aptly stated by another author that we give the quotation
here: "
When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the
hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp
hands with Spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold
union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution
as a Protestant and Republican government, and shall make provision
for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know
that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that
the end is near." -- "Testimonies," Vol. V,
p. 451.
Then the "deadly
wound" will be fully healed (Revelation 13: 3), and in her restored
relationship to the kings of the earth, the Papacy will exclaim in the
pride of her power: " I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall
see no sorrow." Revelation 18: 7. But, as pride and "a haughty
spirit" go before a fall, her glorying will be short, for she shall
"go into perdition." Verse 8; 17: 8. Thus we can better understand
the seven heads of the beast. The Papacy is said to be one "of
the seven" heads, and yet it is "'the eighth" (Revelation
17: 11), because, as one of the
p 312 -- seven
it received its deadly wound, and when this is healed it comes back
as the eighth in rotation, while in reality it is only one of the seven
coming back to life and power. (Compare Revelation 13: 3 with 17: 8,
11.)
"THAT
NO MAN MIGHT BUY OR SELL," -- "And
that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark." Revelation
13: 17. We have seen that the Papacy has adopted Sunday as "a mark
of her ecclesiastical power and authority," and the Protestant
organizations have also adopted this mark, as the following quotations
show: "
This day [Sunday] is set apart for divine worship and preparation for
another life. It is the test of all religion." -- Dr.
W. W. Everts, in Elgin (Ill.) "Sunday Convention,"
November, 1887. TOP
"When the people,
through their representative, legalize the first day of the week
as a day of rest and of worship for those who choose so to observe it,
it is a sign of the Christian nation." From a sermon
reported in " Christian Oracle," January 12, 1893.
The Puritans in
the United States made Sunday "
a sign between them and the heathen world around, and, to a large extent,
it has continued to be a mark of American religion to the present
day. " -- Rev. J. G., Lorimer, in "Christian Treasury";
all quoted in "Signs of the Times," April 1, 1908.
When these large
religious organizations, that are so vitally interested in Sunday enforcement,
combine in their efforts, it is not remarkable that they should attempt
to deprive dissenters of their natural rights of attaining their livelihood,
for we have seen that this combination is making " an image to
the beast" (Revelation 13: 14 -17); and the beast, or Papacy, did
this very thing. At the Synod of Tholouse, A. D. 1163, it made the following
decrees against Sabbath-keepers: "The
bishops and priests [were] ' to take care, and to forbid, under the
pain of excommunication, every person from presuming to give reception,
or the least assistance to the followers of this heresy, which first
began in the country of Tholouse, whenever they shall be discovered.
Neither were they to have any deal-
p 313 -- ings
with them in buying or selling; that by being thus deprived of the common
assistance of life, they might be compelled to repent of the evil of
their way. Whosoever shall dare to contravene this order, let them be
excommunicated, as a partner with them in their guilt. As many of them
as can be found, let them be imprisoned by the Catholic princes, and
punished with the forfeiture of all their substance."'
Stirred by this
decree, King Ildefonsus of Arragon banished all Waldenses in 1194. "
He adds:
'If any, from this day forwards,
shall presume to receive into their houses, the aforesaid Waldenses
and Inzabatati, or other heretics, of whatsoever profession they be,
or to hear, in any place, their abominable preachings, or give them
food, or do them any kind office whatsoever; let him know, that he shall
incur the indignation of Almighty God and ours; that he shall forfeit
all his goods, without the benefit of appeal, and be punished as though
guilty of high treason." -- " History of the Inquisition,"
Philip Limborch," pp. 88, 89. London: 1816.
That the "image
to the beast" will actually duplicate the work of the Papacy also
in this respect is seen from the following utterance, among many others
we could quote: Dr. Bascom
Robins, in a sermon on the "Decalogue," preached in
Burlington, Kansas, Sunday, January 31, 1904, said: "
In the Christian decalogue the first day was made the Sabbath by divine
appointment. But there is a class of people who will not keep the Christian
Sabbath unless they are forced to do so. But that can be easily done.
We have twenty million of men, besides women and children, in this country,
who want this country to keep the Christian Sabbath. If we - would say
we will not sell anything to them, we will not buy anything from them,
we will not work for them, or hire them to work for us, the thing could
be wiped out, and all the world would keep the Christian Sabbath."
God, who knows
the end from the beginning, has foretold that they would do this very
thing, so " that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the
mark." Revelation 13: 17. But will
p 314 -- God
forsake His faithful children in this trying hour? Oh, no! "He
that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye." Zechariah 2:
8. As a loving Father He will step forward to the protection of His
children. (Psalm 103: 13.) And His enemies will find that "it is
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews
10: 31. TOP
When the world
refuses to permit God's people to "buy or sell," He will send
drought and famine, so that the wicked will have little or nothing to
sell, and will be unable to buy because their money will be worthless.
The seven last plagues will be God's answer to man's challenge, as the
ten plagues of Egypt were His answer to the haughty challenge of a Pharaoh
against His message in ancient time. (Exodus 4: 22, 23; 5: 2.) With
men suffering from sores and fever, and no water to drink, while the
sun is scorching them with great heat (Revelation 16: 1-9), causing
the most terrible drought the world has ever witnessed (Joel 1: 10-20),
the earth will be in a deplorable condition (Isaiah 24: 1-6), and people
"shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall
come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves,
and curse their king, and their God" (Isaiah 8: 21, 22). And they
will turn against the rich (James 5: 1-5), who will " cast their
silver in the streets " to appease the angry mob, but "their
gold shall be removed " (Ezekiel 7: 19). They hoarded millions,
and cornered markets, while working people were suffering, till at last
the storm has gathered around their well-filled palaces, and too late
they make an attempt to save themselves from the long-pent-up wrath.
The laws that
deprive God's people of their rights, and thus force them out of the
cities, seem to them a calamity, and many surrender the truth to support
their families. But what appears to be such a calamity is a blessing
in disguise, for it drives them out of the cities in time to escape
this terrible labor-revolution. Some day we shall find that no hardship
comes to God's loyal children but what is absolutely necessary to their
salvation. Those who make it their undeviating practice to put God's
will first in all their plans and habits of living,
p 315 -- can
safely trust Him for the rest. (Matthew 6: 33; Philippians 4: 19; Isaiah
43: 2.) Driven from the cities, they flee to mountain fastnesses and
solitary places, where angels supply their needs, as Elijah was fed.
"Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." Isaiah
33:16. Oh, we have a wonderful God. "Blessed are all they that
put their trust in Him." Psalm 2:12.
God's loyal children
will be fed by angels, while the world is starving. The fondest hopes
of God's people will be realized: "Thine eyes shall see the king
in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off."
Isaiah 33: 17, 18. No pen can describe that thrill of joy when we shall
meet our dear Saviour and our loved ones, and be taken home to that
beautiful land that knows no heartaches, no farewell scenes, no funeral
trains. (John 14: 1-3.)
The great question
for each one of us to settle is whether we will have our citizenship
papers in order when King Jesus shall come to claim His own. The reader
might ask what papers are required for citizenship in that kingdom.
To answer that question satisfactorily, we must remember that sin
has caused all the anguish, sorrow, and trouble in this world, and
that God's heart of infinite love has been wrung with pain for suffering
humanity. He has therefore decided that sin, with all its trail of woe,
shall not be permitted to enter His eternal kingdom, and that all who
enter that blissful home must part company with sin.
But sin is inbred
in man, and forms a part of his very character, so that he cannot, by
his own efforts, extricate himself from its toils. (Jeremiah 13: 23;
Romans 7: 15, 18-24.) Christ, however, stands ready to free us from
our sins. He will deliver us if we will let Him do it. (Matthew 1: 21;
John 1: 12.) But He will not use force, even in things that are for
our own good, for He has created man a free moral agent, and respects
his choice. (Isaiah 1: 18; Revelation 22: 17; 1 John 1: 7, 9.) A complete
surrender to Christ is therefore necessary, that He may change our desires,
affections, and characters so we can enjoy the society of the pure and
unselfish inhabitants of that happy land.
End
of Book.
TOP
2002