TheMysteryofIniquity 10083803 PDF

T H E
M YSTERY OF I NIQUITY ;
ROMAN
ISM NOT CH
RIST NITY
IA .
B
X
b
R EV . JE SSE S . G I LB E R T , A . M .
,
Of th e Newa rk M E . Confer ence .
NE W
A RK N J
WA R D
.
, .
TI C HENO R , P R I NTE R S A ND P U BLI S HE R S .
1 8 72
E nt e e d
r a cc o din g to A
r ong e i t h y e 1871
ct of C r ss n e ar .
By WA R D T I C H E N O R
t W h in g ton
,
In t h e offi e
c of th e Lib i n f C ong e
ra r a o r ss, a a s ,
C O N TE NTS .
P R EF A C E ,
C H A P TER I .
THE I S S UE ST A T E D ,
C H A P T E R II .
A GL ANC E AT T HE P A S T
C H A P T E R III .
S H ALL T HE B I BLE B E OU R G UI D E ?
C HA P T E R IV .
Ho w HA S R OM E T R E A T E D T HE B I BL E ?
C HA P T E R V .
THE T E S T A PPL IE D .
C H A P T E R VI .
THE G R E A T US U RPE R ,
4 CONTENTS .
C H A P T E R VII .
T HE MAS S ,
C H A P T E R VIII .
C ONFE S S ION .
CHAP TE R I X .
P U RGAT O R Y ,
C H A P TE R X .
To W HOM S HALL WE P RAY
C H A P T ER XI .
C E L I BA C Y ,
C H A P T E R X II .
T HE C ON V E NT S YS T E M ,
C HA P T E R X III
M INO R F O LL IE S ,
C HAP T E R X IV .
D R UNK WI T H B L OO D .
C H A P T ER X V .
R OME IN P R O P HE CY
C H A P T ER X VI .
T HE P E R I L OF T HE HOU R ,
P R EFA C E .
T HE auth o r
that mu h c ha s
o f th e
alrea d y b een
p re s ent treatis e
w ritten
is w ell
an d p rinte d
a w a re
on
the s u bje c t of R o mani s m . Ever s in c e the m o m o r

abl ed ay when Luther naile d h is c elebrate d the s e s
to the d o o r o f t he Wittenb erg Cathe dral ,
b u s y p en s
h ave b een a t wo k r exp o sin g the fo lly of Pap al do c
trine an d Pap al p ra c ti c e . M u c h that ha s b een

w ritten h a s , h o w ever g o ne ,
out of p ri nt an d b e c o m e
o b s o lete b e c au s e it
,
no l o n g er b ears on the e xis tin g
s tate of the co ntro vers y . The S
p iTi t of R o me h a s
never been c hange d b ut her m o d e ,

of o p erati o n in ,
this co untry a t lea s t ,

ha s b een g reatly m o difie d
w it h in t h e p a s t ten years . Wanin g in the Old
w o rl d the idea
,
- ha s b een co n c eived that the P a p al
6 PREFAC E .
t hr o ne m a y so me da y b e ere c te d on th e r ui n s o f th e
Ameri c an R ep u b li c . To ca rry out thi s b o l d plan

no exp en s e w ill b e d eeme d to o great an d ,
no to il to o
s evere . C ur p ub l ic sc h o o l sy s tem m u s t b e d e stro ye d ,
o ur ri gh t s o f p er s o n an d pr o p e rty inve s te d ,
o ur hall s
of le gislati o n a nd c o u rt s of ju s ti c e b ro u g ht un d er
the co ntro l of R o mis h infl u e nc e ,
o ne c ita d el o f o ur
li b er tie s a ft er a n o ther tak e n an d d es t ro ye d un til we ,
are bro u ght un d er the co m plete d o mini o n of R o me ,
an d are c h a n g e d fro m a n a ti o n of intellig en t free

men to a n a ti o n of b lin d an d helple s s Pa p al s lave s .
Thi s ne w asp ec t of thin g s ren d ers it ne c e s s ary

that we h a ve the a dva nta g e of fre s h an d a dd iti o n a l
lig ht . It mu st b e sh o w n that the s pirit of R o me is
s till the S ame that ,

sh e is ever the enemy o f c ivil an d
reli gi o u s li b er ty an d that un d er a s milin g ex terio r
, ,
a nd fa ir p r o mis e s ,
sh e c o n c eal s d a rk a nd d ee p d e
s ign s . M u c h that ha s b een w ritt e n on the s u bje c t
of R o mani s m w ithin th e p a s t tw enty -
five year s is
either to o learne d an d elab o ra te fo r g eneral c ir c ula

tio n ,
or el s e to o abu sive an d s en s atio nal to g ain
PREFACE .
7
g e n e ra l c re d en c e . Th e a uth o r h u m b ly h o p e s that
he h a s met a real w a nt of the ti me s . The p re s ent
w o rk is no t d e si g n e d to be an exh a u s tive treatment
of the s ubje c t but sim ply ,
t o furni s h a b ri ef manual
o f th e p a s t hi s t o ry an d p re s ent s tatu s of the R o man
is tic co ntro ver s y . Great p a in s have b een taken to
s e c u re ab s o lute a c c ura c y of s tatement an d ,

t o do
ju s ti c e in every c a s e to m a int a i n o p
th o s e who p o site
view s . Ho w w ell the p r o p o s e d o bje c t h a s been a o
co m plis h e d mu s t b e left to the rea d er to d etermine .
Tru s ting th a t so me g o o d may be wr o u g ht by the

w o rk no w off ere d to the p u b li c prayin g
,
fo r the
divine b le s sin g on th o s e s till kep t in the d a rkne s s of
R o manis m an d l o o kin g earne s tly

,
fo rwar d t o the
time w hen the man o f s in s hall b e d e s tr o y e d an d
Je s u s rei gn s u p reme o ver the nat io n s ‘
of the earth ,
the auth o r co mmi t s thi s the re s ult ,

of mu c h to il an d
s tu dy ,
to the thinking men an d w o men of the lan d .
V E R ON A , N J . . J S
. . G .
C HAP TE R I .
TH E I S S U E S T A TE D .
W e do no t l ook on th e Pop ish s ec t a s a r el ig ion, ba t ra th e r as a
h iera rchica l tyr a nny u nder a cl oa k of r e l igion , cl o th e w ith th e spoil s d

of th e c w il p ow er , w h ich it h a s a sa rp e d to its e f, c ontr a ry to O
l W
S a/e io wr s own
’
do ctrine —M I L T ON
.
”
.
HE R E are elements o f devot i on i n t he char

acter o f man so deep seated an d universal
,
-
,
that som e form o f rel i gi on is ren dered i mpera

tive A sort o f intuiti ve beli e f in the ex i stence
.
o f a Supreme Being and a future state impels ,
all men to acts o f adoration T ravelers ha v e .
met w i th tribes and races existi ng in a fearful ,
state o f phy s i cal and moral degra d ation : but

n one have been foun d without some form o f
rel i g i ous beli e f an d so me form o f worship T he .
belie f is o ften vague and absur d the form o f ,
wors hip low an d revolting : but still the fact

2
IO THE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
remains that men are everywhere instinctively

,
impelle d to acts o f devotion T he st a rs o f .
heaven t he beasts o f the earth an d the fruits o f

, ,
the fiel d have all b een the o bjects o f human

,
adorat i on I n Ju d ah w a s God known : his

.
na me was great in I srael b u t the Persian ,
i gnorant o f the true Go d bowe d b e fore the ,
setting s un wh i le th e E gy p tians gravely a d ored

,
cats an d cows an d the streets o f Athens were

,
”
filled w i th carve d di v i niti e s .
I n addition to th i s general belie f in the ex

iste n c e O f a Supreme Being and a future state ,
there is an almo s t un i vers al convicti on o f sin ,
lead i ng men to offer sacrifice an d to look in some

way fo r s alvati on Hence in all a ges an i mal
.
,
sacrifice has been common among the heathen ,
an d fo r four thous an d years was o ffere d by a

p orti on o f the human family by Div i ne di rection .
If then we are a fallen si n ful race how impor

, , ,
tant that we seek the D i vine favor in the d iv i nel y

'
a ppoi nte d way ? A mista k e here may be fatal .
Who dare a s sert that in relig i on it matters not ,
what a man bel i eves so long as he is s in cere ?

,
THE I S S UE S T A T E D .
I t is not so in other matters If we take poison

.
,
d eem i ng it to be foo d our sincerity a n d igno

,
rance w i ll not save us fr o m the natu ral c o ns e

q u e n c e s o f our folly I.n a h un d re d matters ,
there is a way wh i ch see meth right unt o a ma n ,
”
but t he end thereof are the way s o f death .
The que s tion o f what is ri g ht an d wrong in

rel i gi o u s belie f becomes i mportant a n d pres sing
, ,
as the i nterests and value o f t h e soul rise

superior to the interests an d value o f the b o d y .
If all men were agree d as to the ri ght me t h o d o f

rega i ning the Divine fav o r and i mage it wou l d .
nevertheless be our duty seri ously to ponder

w h ether mankin d had fo und the p a th o f truth
but when we remember that the worl d i s di vided
in t h e s e th ings th at men profess opp o s ite and
,
exclu sive creeds how i mportant and s olemn

,
becomes the question What is truth

, The
population o f the world at the present ti me
may b e estimated a t and the
religiou s con d ition o f th e worl d may be re pre
sente d in round numbers as follows : I dolaters ,
Christians , M oham
I2 T HE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
me da ns , Jews ,
M or
mons ,
By C hristi ans we mean those who pro fess to

,
d eri ve the i r d octrines fro m and to b e followers

,
o f C hri s t Those that have been classifie d under

.
the ge ne ra l n ame o f Christ i an s do not however , ,
all ag ree either in practi ce or in doctrine .
U nder th i s term h ave been inclu d e d !impr o perly ,
we h o pe to s how ) those who follow the fa i th o f

,
Rome T hese number ab out

. re
gar d the Pope as the i r sole head a nd in fallible

gui d e while al l other s are denounce d as vile
,
heretic s an d witho ut reserve given over t o end

,
.
les s d amnat i o n The cree d to which all bi shops

.
,
eccle si a s tic s an d teachers i n the R omi s h C hurch ,
mu st give public as sent calls it sel f T hi s true

,
”
cathol i c faith out o f which n one can be saved
, .
Within the past fe w years fearful anathema s

have been fulminate d from the Papal throne ,
again s t all who dare to do the i r own thinking .
O ne o f the pre decessors o f the p re sent Pop e ,
in a celebrate d bull h a s s aid We declare and

, ,
dete rmine it a principle abs olutely necessary to

T HE I S S UE S TAT E D . I3
salvation that a l l human be ings are subject to th e

Pope If the high claims o f this arrogan t
C hurch are true a l l Protestants will surely be
,
forever damned . Luthe r C alv i n Wesle y White

, , ,
field Locke N ewton L eighton H owar d a re

, , , , ,
beyond all question i n hell : while Newman

,
H all B i s hop Simpson Dr Mc Co s h and thous

, , .
,
an ds o f devoted men who are seek i ng to serv e

,
G o d and to d o goo d must be on the wa y

,
N ow .
,
the Church o f R ome claim i ng fo r i tsel f the nam e

,
”
“
Catholic holding that b e yond its pale the r e
,
can be n o p ossibil i ty o f salva tio n looking upon ,
”
all othe r rel i gious bodies a s pestilent sects “
,
that are to be denounced an d destroyed chal ,
l e n ge s the in v estigat i on o f all thi nk i ng men To .
i nve s tigate these cla im s is the o b j ect o f t h e

present treati se If we find them sustai ned we
.
”
mu s t lo s e no ti me i n hid ing ourselves under the

pro tecting shadow o f Rome but if we find them
a b s urb and false no contempt w i ll be too sev e r e
,
fo r t h e C hurch that has dared to put them forth .
We shall endea v or t o carry on our i nvestigat i on ,
i n a Christian and can d i d sp i ri t We propose to .

I4 THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
S how that R o manism is in no s en se C h ristianity ,
t hat it is a forei g n hostile power the un failing ,
fo e o f all true religi o n who s e rise progre s s

, , .
persecution s a nd final overthrow have all b ee n

W
,
portraye d in Holy rit .
We pr o p ose to s how th at the d octrines an d

spirit o f R oman i sm are in d irect confl i ct with
the d o ctri ne s an d S pir i t Of the Bi b le that it s ,
hi s tory is dark an d blood stained that it is the

-
,
M an o f Sin to b e de s troyed Ba b ylon to be

” “ ”
W
,
” ”
“
thrown d own and the Great
, hore to be
“
”
“
ju d ge d . We a re well aware that we sh a l l ,
not meet the views o f that large cla s s o f

persons who look on Romanism as one fo r m
,
of Chri st i anity among m a ny others or who , ,
ha v ing g iven little or no atten tion to the subject ,
regar d all denunciation s o f Popery as unchr i sti an ,
”
b ecau s e there is goo d in all religi ons and
“
,
”
goo d an d b a d in all churches If these goo d
.
n ature d people coul d onl y get a peep behin d “
”
the s cene s an d b eh o ld the internal w o rkings
,
an d moral s o f Romani sm they w o ul d s o o n fin d

,
s ome more worthy object on whi c h to b e sto w

T HE I S S U E S TAT E D .
5
t he i r overflowing chari ty There is another class

.
that will take exce p tion to t h e view s set fort h in

this book I mean that cla ss o f wh o m Fa the r
.
M orrell an d Dr E we r con st i tute the fitt i ng re pre

.
s e n t a tiv e s These men are pro fe sse d ly Protes

.
”
t a n t ye t harp on the F ailure o f Pr o testanti s m
, ~
“
,
an d a s fa r a s they d are mimic the way s an d ,
form s o f Romani s m E very now an d then some

.
o f th e m mu s ter up coura g e to i d ent i fy them
s elves with the church that they have s o long
a dmire d an d a l l lover s o f out spoken truth re

,
.
j o i ce t hat anothe r like Ju d a s I s cariot has gone

, ,
to h is own place ”
While however we hol d
.
, ,
an d maintain this view o f the R oman Catholic

Churc h w e woul d n ot i m i tate her bigotry an d
,
narrow min d e d ne ss Let it be remembere d that

-
.
i n the s e hig h an d exclusive claim s the C hurc h o f ,
R ome stan d s alone like M ilt o n s Satan ,

By ’
,
”
s i n exalte d to so h i gh p re eminence N o o t her
-
.
religiou s b ody claim s to b e the janit o r o f Heaven .
Th e charity that th e y withhol d from us we ,
exten d t o them fo r while we cannot fail to per

,
c e iv e t hat the great ma ss o f Romani s t s are

16 T HE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
l i ving in s i n an d without C h rist W e cannot ,
for g et th at F enelon Pa scal and Ma sil l o n wer e

, , ,
in c o mmunion w i th the C hurch o f R o me Thes e .
were saints not b ecau s e t h ey were R oman C at h

,
ol io s but in S pi te o f the f act T hey we re lik e

, .
th o se flowers that grow up fro m the b o s o m o f a

dead an d d ecaying tree T he writer o f thi s .
-
book ha s met w i t h some mem b ers o f the R omi s h

C hurch whom he had every rea s on to believ e
,
were s i ncere Chri sti an s But all th i s proves

.
n othi n g in favor o f R omani s m A man may b e .
saved while a member o f the Church o f Rome i n ,
t h e s ame manner and fo r the same reason that a ,
heathen living up to the light o f rea son an d c o n .
'
s c ie nc e w il l be saved Go d i s no re specter o f
.
p er s o ns but in every nati o n he that feareth Hi,

m
”
a n d worketh righteousnes s is accepted with Hi m
, .
W
”
We shal l u se the word C hurch when Speaking
o f Popery only by way o f accommo d ation
,
e .
d o not believe that it is a church any more than ,
M ormoni s m or M oha mme d ani sm can be called a

church I t is m o re o f a pol i tical than it is an
.
eccle si astical bo d y But as i t claims to const i

.
C HAPT E R II .
A G L A NC E A T TH E PAST .
Ask for th e ol d pa ths .

— J ER . vi .
, 16 .
E AR L Y every o ne kn o ws that the C hurch o f

Rome boa s t s o f it s antiquity and in a tr i
W
,
u mph a n t tone asks u s

,
here the Protestant
,
“
”
religi o n w a s be fore Luther ? To an swer th i s
que sti o n will b e the object o f the pre sent chapter .
Let it be remarked however that the arg ument

, ,
drawn from antiquity do e s n o t carrymuch we i ght
W
with i t after a l l Ju d ai s m is o l d er than Roman
,
.
i sm an d Heatheni sm ol d er than either

, e wil l , .
h owever examine the claim s o f an tiquity s e t up

,
by R omani s m an d se e how well they are sus

,
t a in e d b y S cri pture and hi story To b e o f any .
v alue t he a n tiquity o f the Church o f Rome must

,
be equal t o t hat o f the N ew Te s tament else i t ,
can not be the Church o f C hrist and h is Apo stles .

A GLA N C E A T T HE PA S T .
9
That a society o f C hri s tian s exi ste d i n the C ity

o f R ome in t h e time o f Paul no o n e will d eny
, , .
Bu t di d they s et u p the same claims hol d to the ,
s am e d octr i nes an d pract i ce s that are now main ,
t a in e d by the Papacy If they d id not if t h ey

.
,
maintained view s an d practice s the very op p o site ,
t hen the C hurch now having i ts central powe r at
Rome is not the s ame with the s mall ban d o f

“
believer s gathere d there in the time o f Paul ,
any more than mid night I s one with noon d ay .
We kn o w what the Church o f Ro me t eaches

a t the present ti me — w e find it in her catech i s ms ,
prayer bo o ks in the wri t ing s o f her lea di ng men

-
, ,
in the canon s and d ecree s o f the C ouncil o f

T rent Perhap s it would b e b est just at thi s
.
,
po i nt to present a brie f s ummary o f her teac h

,
i ng that we may have it fo r re ference i n the

,
future : S h e b elieve s In comm on w i th us in God

, ,
the F ather God t h e So n an d Go d the H oly

, ,
—
Gh o s t ; in the i ncarnat i on death an d re surre c
t i on o f Jesu s Chri s t the final ju d gme n t and a
, ,
future state o f rewar d an d pun i shment But on .
thi s found ati on o f truth a va s t superstructure o f

,
20 THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
false d octrine an d absur d practice has been

erected Here is a summary o f Papal belie f as
.
,
/
concocte d b y t h e C ouncil o f Trent an d iss u e d in ,
the form o f a bull in December 15 64 !ala s fo r , , ,
the boaste d antiquity ) by P o pe P i us IV This

, .
i s the cree d be fore allu d e d to to which all bi s h

,
O ps ecclesiastics an d teachers in the C hurch o f

,
Rome must g iv e publ i c as s ent I most firmly!
a d mit an d emb race aposto lic and eccle si astical

tra d itions and all other consti tutions an d o b se r
,
vances o f the same C hurch ; I also a d mit the

sacre d Scriptures accord ing to the sense which
the holy mother C hurch h a s held an d d oes hol d ,
to whom it belo ngs to ju dge o f the true sense ,
and inte rpretation o f the Holy Scri ptures ; nor

will 1 e ver take or interpret them o the rwi s e
than accord ing to the unan i m o us consent o f the
fathers . I pro fess also that there are truly an d
, ,
properly seven s acrament s o f the ne w law in sti ,
t u t e d by Je sus Chr i st ou r Lo r d and fo r the s a l ,
v ation o f mankin d though all are not nece ssa ry

,
fo r every one namely : ba p t i s m confirmation

, , ,
eucharist penance e xtreme unction orders and

, , , ,
A GLA N C E AT THE P AS T . I
m atri mony , an d tha t they c o n fer g race ; an d o f

these b aptism confirmat i on an d or d er cannot b e
, ,
r eit er a ted w i th o u t sacr i le g e I do al s o receive

.
a n d admit the ce remonies o f the Cathol i c C hurch ,
rec ei ved an d approve d i n the administration o f

a l l the above sa i d sa craments I receive an d
.
e mbrace every one o f the th ings wh i c h

have been d efined an d declare d i n the h oly
Council o f Trent concerning si n and ju s ti ficati on .
I profess likewi s e that in t he ma s s is o ffere d to

, , ,
God a true pro pe r an d propitiato ry s acrifice fo r

,
the living an d the d ead ; an d that in the most

holy s acrament o f the eucharist there is truly , ,
really an d su b sta ntially t h e bo d y an d b lood

, ,
together w ith the s oul and di vin i ty o f o ur Lor d

Je s us Christ ; and that there is made a c o nver
s i on o f the whole s u bs tance o f the bre a d int o t he
body ; an d o f the whole sub stance o f the wine
i nto the blood which conver si on the C atholic
,
Churc h calls tran substantiati on I con fess also .

, ,
that unde r e i ther kin d alone whole and entire

, ,
Christ an d a true sacrament i s receive d I con .
s t a nt l y hol d that there is a purgatory and that ,
3
THE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
souls d etaine d the rein are helpe d by the su ffrage s

o f the faith ful L i kew i se that the saints reign
.
i ng together with C hri s t are to be honored and

invocate d that the y offer prayers to God fo r u s
, ,
an d that t heir rel i cs are to be venerated I .
most firmly a s sert that the i mage s o f C hrist and ,
o f the mother o f God ever virg i n an d al s o o f ,
the other saints are to b e b a d a u d retai ne d and

, ,
‘
that d ue honor an d veneration are to be gi ven

to them I al s o a ffirm that the po w e r o f in dul
.
ge me o s was le ft by Chri s t in the C hu rch a nd that ,
the u se o f them is most wholesome to C hri s ti an

people I acknowle d ge th e holy catholic an d
.
.
apostol i c R oman Church the mother an d mi s tress

,
O f all churches ; a n d I promise and swear tru e
obe d ience to t he Roma n b i shop the successor o f ,
St Peter prince o f the Apostles and v i car o f

.
,
Jesus Chri st I also pro fe ss an d un doubte dly

.
rece i ve all other things d el i vere d define d and , ,
declare d by the sacred can o ns an d ge ne ral coun

o il s,
an d part i cularly by the holy C ouncil o f
Trent ; and l i kewise I also c o ndemn reject and
, ,
a nathematize all th i ngs contrary thereto and al l ,

A G LANC E A T T HE PA S T . 23
heres i es whatsoever condemne d rejected and ,
a nathemati zed by the Church Thi s true cath .
o l i c faith out o f which none can b e saved whi c h

, ,
I now freely pro fess and truly hol d I A B , ,
, ,
promise , vow and swear most con s tantly to hold ,
a n d pro fe ss the same whole an d entire with, ,
Go d s as sistance to t he end o f my li fe ; and to

’
,
procure so fa r a s l ies in my power that the

, ,
same shall be held taught an d preache d by all

, ,
wh o are under me or are entruste d to my care

, ,
by v i rtue o f my o ffi ce s o help me Go d an d thes e

, ,
”
h oly gospels o f God Amen ,
.
N ow we know wh at are the teach i ngs o f

Roman i sm can we tell what was mainta i ned b y
,
the pri mitiv e soc i ety o f beli evers at Rome ? If

we do we can soon settle the que s ti on o f anti
“
W
,
q u it y. e l l if we d o
,
not know w h at t h e y
taught we know what was taught them
, .
T here was quite a long letter wr i tten to the m

by the Apostle Paul which has come down to ,
our day Paul is go o d authority ! even if Peter

.
,
w a s the re i gn i ng Pope ) but when i t is remem

,
bered that both par t i e s admi t that t his let t er

,
was insp i re d an d that i t is a portion o f Holy

,
Scripture it s auth o rity as umpire in the ca se

,
becomes su p reme Well let u s look at it Do

.
,
.
we fi n d anything in it a b o u t extreme uncti on »
pe nance in d ulgence s t ransubstantiati on the wor

, , ,
sh i p o f Mary t h e adoration o f sai nts a nd i mages ?

,
Anything ab o ut purgatory ma ss es fo r t h e dea d , ,
the pre eminence o f the R o man Church the su

-
,
pr e m a c y o f S t Peter con fe
. ss i on or w orsh i
,
p in ,
an unknown tongue N ot a S i ngle wor d from

beginn i ng to end The greatest heretic coul d
.
h ave done n o worse N ay more there a re some

.
,
things i n thi s in spir e d letter that must h ave a

curiou s sound to R oman C athol i c ears I won d e r .
that they have never su spected Paul o f be i n g a

Prote s tant No d oubt but that they woul d had
.
,
he lived a n d written a fe w centuries later b u t i n ,
’
Paul s time there w a s nothing in the C hurch at
,
R o me to prote s t again s t He could s a y I

, .
,
“
thank my Go d thro ugh Jesus Chri s t fo r you all ,
that your faith is s p oken o f throughout th e whole

”
world S houl d any o n e write such a letter at
the present d ay to the peop l e in Rome he would ,
26 T HE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
whosoever S hall call u p on the name o f the L o r d

”
shall be saved This is too ba d What is to
. .
become o f the poor priest s w i th t heir con fes sio n

,
boxes indulgence s and ma s se s fo r the d ead

, ,
Th e poor old Pope h a s j u s t been hurl ing thunde r

bolts o f wrath against all not in communi o n with
”
t he Apo s tolic See an d here Paul tell s us that
,
if we call on the name o f the L o rd we s hall ’
”
be saved . O ther pa s sage s m ig ht b e a dd uce d ,
Sh o wi ng h o w little Paul knew o f the d ogma s and
doings o f Popery Le t such declarations a s

.
t hese b e compared wit h the h i s tory and practices
o f Romanism H im that i s we a k i n the fa i th

‘
“
.
,
”
receive ye .F or the Ki ngdom o f God i s n o t
meat an d d r i nk but righteou sness and peace
, , ,
”
an d j oy in the H oly Gho st Besi d e the lette r
.
to the Romans Paul wrote a number o f others

, ,
as also di d Peter an d John T hese letters both .
Roman C atholic s an d Protestants bel i eve to b e

i nspire d an d pl a c e i n the Canon o f Scripture
, .
But they all ru n l i ke the E p i s tle to the R om a ns .
N othing ab o ut purgatory mass penance relic s, , , ,
prayers to sa i nts N othing is sa i d o f the C hurch

.
A GLA N C E AT T HE P A S T . 27
at R ome as being uperior in p o wer o r d igni ty

s
to the Church at C o rinth Ep hesus or Je rusalem , .
Peter lays no claim to any super i ority o ver his

brethren call s hi ms el f an el d er an d permits
,
”
,
Paul to with stan d him to the face .
No w we are prepared to retort and to ask ,
Romani sts where their reli gion was when Paul ,
Pet er Jame s an d Joh n wrote their letters to the

,
several churches The R oman C atholic faith is

.
old we a d mi t but then it is not o l d enough If

, , .
we take a j o urney d o wn the centuries in or d er ,
to get at the true faith we w i ll not stop S hort o f

,
Chri st and his apostles We are d etermine d not .
to l os e our way among the councils an d fathers

but to purs ue our inqu i r i es until we reach the
fountain head N ow we are p repared to a n swer
W
.
,
the question ,
here was the Protestant religio n
“
be fore Luther We reply where i t alway s ,
w a s s t i ll is an d ever will be : in the B i b le

, , .
T he Prote s tant reli g i o n is n othin g new I t is .
simply the religi o n o f the Bible n o thing more ,
an d nothing les s We a s k the Rom an i sts where

.
t he i r reli gi o n is and what i t is a nd we are

, ,
po i nte d to Papal b ull s t o decrees o f C o unci l s

, ,
and to the s ayings o f t he father s A sk u s the .
same que s tion and we p o int to t h e B ib le Fr o m

,
.
i t we de rive our d oc t rine s an d m o ral s Hi st o ry .
informs u s how t h e Papal corruption was br o ught

about We can t e l l when the fiction o f purga
.
tory w a s invente d when that o f the ma ss an d so

, ,
on all thr o ugh the chapter o f sh a me ful a n d

s hamele ss imp o sition s No t o nl v can we p o in t
.
to the Ne w T e s tament as th e fo un d ation o f o u r

faith an d p ractice but we have ample p r o o f o f
,
an exte rnal kind o f the long continue d u ninte r

, ,
ru t e d an d pure exi stence o f our faith o n earth

p ,
.
D r Breckinridge has well put th i s point :

. The “
fact is if the R oman Catholic C hurch ha d never

,
exi s ted in the worl d we would have abu ndantly

,
mo re proo f o f the pure s ucces s ion o f the C hurch

o f G o d on earth t h an we have no w
,
Becau se .
the chie f o bjects o f her exi s tence have been to

bani sh the Scripture s t o corrupt the church to
, ,
d egrade the human race to kill the saint s o f ,
Go d and to cover the earth w i th palpa b le dark

,
nes s H ow vast an d ho w glorious would have

.
A GLA N C E A T THE P AS T . 29
been the liv ing monu ment s to God erecte d in ,
whole nati on s which that c h urch h a s butchere d

that woul d n o w s tand forth to ble s s o u r e y e s if ,
she had never ex i s te d ! Ala s ! our hearts sink

within us when we contemplate the evil she has
done and dwell o n the pro b able con di tion o f
,
the human race at thi s mom ent but fo r the d i re

, ,
influence o f the Lati n C hurch Y et the very .
brea d th o f her errors an d crimes a ffor d s us

evidence o f the continue d exi stenc e o f t h e truth ,
i n the h earts and lives o f tho s e who resi ste d her

sway or di ed be neath he r strokes T he A fr i can
,
.
churches o f the early ages the vari ou s Asiat i c

!
,
churches espec i ally the N e st o ria ns the Greek

, ,
church the Ca l de e s i n I rel and the Waldense s

, ,
i n the South o f E urope the M orav i ans and ,
Bohemians in the e a s t o f E ur o pe the writing s o f ,
the early Greek a n d Latin fathers the army o f ,
martyrs h ave hande d down to us evi dence o f

,
the constant exi s tence o f those who did not h o w

the knee to Baal — Pa pis m in the Un it e d S ta te s
'
p g
a e 32 .
God ha s always ha d a people to serve Hi m .

3 0 THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y
Trut h has never been quite bani she d from the

’
e arth . O f this s u c c e s sio n w e are prou d We ,

.
care but little fo r that boa s te d cha i n over which

R o mani s ts an d Hi g h Churchmen make so great -
a n a d o every link in which i s covere d w i th rust

,
a n d b lood but we do glory in the succes sion O I

fa i th ful witnes s e s fo r the truth M any a long .
c e n tury has the true church abode in t h e w i l d er .
n ess but s h e has never yet become extinct

, S he .
h a s lived all through the dark and stormy past ,
i s a d vancing fro m one v i ctory to another and

“
shall yet b ecome the j oys o f the whole earth .
Popery h a s burned men and women and b i b l es ,
but the eternal truth o f God cannot be burned ,
with fire boun d by chains or drowned i n flood

, , .
No re o din g b ras s d cay

m a rb l e a nd c r e ,
An d l ik e t h e g rav e s m m o ry p a s s away
’
, r e ,
Th e w o k s o f m a n in h e it
r i s j st r ,
a s u ,
Th i s f t n t d st
’
th
e r au il t y
or nd ra ,
a re ur o u
B t t t h d ivin fo e v e r s t an d s s e u e
u ru e r c r ,
It s h e a d a s g u a r d e d a s it s b a se is s u re ;
F i x e d i n t h e r o l l i n g fl o o d o f e n d l e s s y e ar s ,
Th e p il l ar o f t h e e t e rn al t r u t h app e ar s ,
Th e ra vin g S t o rm a n d d a sh in g w a v e d e fi e s ,
Bu il t b y t h t A a r c h i te ct who b u il t t h e skie s .
C HAPT E R I I I .
S H ALL THE BI BLE BE C U R GU I D E ?

To th e l a w a nd to th e t estionony — I S A I A H v iii 20
.
”
. .
Thy w or d is a l aonp u nto any fee t, a nd a l ight u nto any p a th ”

.
P S AL M c xix . 105 .
HE g reat quest i on between Roman C athol i cs

and Protestant s is S imply this Is t he !
B i ble s uffic i ent as a rule o f faith an d gui d e to ,
sal vat i on ? W e say that i t is They say th at .
i t is not Prov e that the B ible alone is su f

.
fi c ie nt ; that it i s possible fo r us to read stu d y ,
an d understand the Bible without the a i d o f ,
popes fathers or counc i ls a n d a comple t e victory

, ,
is soon secu re d N 0 Roman Catholic has eve r

.
dared to de fe n d th e d octr i nes and ri tes o f his

church by a simple appeal to the pu re word o f
Go d S ma riu s in his Poi nts o f C ontroversy
.
“ ”
,
!a R oman C ath o li c work recently publish ed )

s t arts o ff w i th a chapter enti tled T he Bib l e ,
3 2 THE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
not the only R ule o f F aith and Practice Les t .
s ome may think that our opponent s are mis re re

p
s ente d I w i ll qu o te from a standard Roman
,
—
Catholic wo rk M ilner s En d o f Controversy ’
The C ath o l i c r ule o f fa i th as I s tated be fo re

“
, ,
is n o t merely th e w ritte n wo r d of G o d b u t the ,
w ho l e w o r d
f o G o d, b o th writt en a n d u n w r i t te n ;
in othe r wo rd s ,
S c r iptu r e a nd tr a dit io n , an d the s e
ex
p o u n de d a n d e x
pl a i n e d b y th e C a th o l i c Ch u r c h .
This implie that we have a tw o fo l d r u l e or l a w

s -
, ,
and that we have a n in te rpre t e r or j u dg e to

e x l a in it an d t o d eci d e upon it in all d oubt ful
p ,
” —
points .En d of C o n tro ve rs y pa g e 80 ,
.
The italic s a re tho s e o f the auth o r quoted .
There is a very sh o rt way by which to d ecide

the que s tion now fairly be fore us T he Bi b le is .
in sp i re d I n o ther word s Go d is i ts author

, , .
M en wrote it ; but God gui de d the pen an d kept

them from all erro r Thi s is a d mitte d b y b oth
.
partie s N o wwhat does the Bible s a y o f itsel f?

.
Doe s it claim to be man s only in fallible an d all ’
su flic ie n t gui d e ? If i t doe s the matter i s se t ,
tl e d .I n the 2d e pistle to T i mothy 3 d cha p ter ,

you that the whole business o f th e Scriptures

—
bel o ng s to the C hurch sh e ha s preserved them ,
she vouches fo r them an d she alone and by the

, ,
help o f trad i ti on authoritatively explains them

, .
H ence it is impos sible that the rea l sense o f

,
Scripture should ever be against her and h e r

d octrine ; an d hence o f course I might quash
, ,
every objecti on wh i ch you may d raw from any

pas s age in it by t h i s short r eply Th e C hu r ch ,
u n de r s ta n ds th e pa s s a g e dife r e n t l y f ro m y ,
o u
th e refo re y o u m is t a ke i ts m e a n ing
W
.
Shades o f hately d e fend us ! I s not th i s a

,
perfec t gem o f fair and conclu si v e reasoning ?

I w o n d er that he ever wrote anything on the
subject when th e matter can b e settled wit hout
,
the exercise o f though t or argument B ut he .
gives us the reason : N evertheless as c ha r ity

“
,
b e a r e th a l l thing s a n d n ev e r fa il e th I wil l fo r
, ,
the better sati sfying o f you and your frien d s ,
quit my vantage ground fo r the present an d ,
an swer d i stinctly to every text not yet a nswere d

by me which
,
a ny of you gentlemen , or which
S H ALL T HE B I BL E B E OU R GUI D E ? 35
Dr Porteu s himsel f ha s brought against the

.
,
C atholic meth od o f religion .
T he d ogmatic manner i n which Dr Mi lner .
a ssume s the very matter in di scussion an d then ,
triumphantly talks about leaving his vantage “
”
roun leads us to i mag i ne that if he ha d lived
g d ,
a fe w centuries ago h e would have employe d

,
weapons more to his l i k ing than are logic and

S cripture Rome has o ften found that fire and
.
s word are no mean allies ; but o f this more anon ,

.
We wi ll return to our examination o f S cripture ;

n o r will we allow Dr Mi lner to rul e th i s d i vin e
.
wi tness out o f court An d Scripture too s hall

.
, ,
S peak fo r itsel f untrammeled by th e say i ng s o f the

,
fa t he rs or by the decrees o f cou n ci ls

, A Chri s .
tian c hurc h was foun d e d by S t Paul in the city.
o f Be rea We read that when t he apo s tles

”
preached to them not s atisfied even w i th th e ir

,
t esti mony , they search e d the Scriptures d aily

“
”
whethe r these things were so St range to .
relate th i s conduct on the i r part was com

,
mended ; an d they were pronounce d more

n oble than t he u nthinking i nhab i tants of Thes
3 6 T HE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
salonica The preachi ng o f the apostles mi gh t b e

.
i nvestigate d in the l i ght o f Scripture ; but now

we m ust rece i ve with unque s tion i ng faith the
teaching o f every little upstart o f a pri est ,
th o ugh he b e too ignorant to read correctly a

S i ngle line o f the orig i nal Greek or H ebrew .
St Luke i n his pre face to the book whic h bear s

.
,
h i s name gives us the reason why he wrote

,
I t seeme d good to me al s o having ha d per ,

.
fe e t understan ding o f all things from the very

first to write unto the e i n order most excel l ent
, ,
T heoph i lus that th ou mightest know the c o r

,
t a i nty o f those things w here i n thou hast been

”
i nstructed Ah ! then tra di ti o n i s not the mos t
.
reliable thing in the worl d ; and i n order to

u
know the certainty o f d i vine th i ngs we must ,
have recourse to t he written word .
I think that we have pursued this l i ne o f thoug ht

long enough Scrip ture claims to be an in fall i b l e
.
guide ; an d in no place allows to tradi ti on a Share

in this h i gh prerogative Co nsi d er what t ra di
.
ti on is Peter and Paul be fore t h ey d i e i nstruct

.
,
s ome o f their pu p il s in matte rs not ment i oned in

S HAL L T HE B I B L E B E OU R GUI D E ? 37
S cr i pture
,
or stated too obscurely t o b e un d e r
stood T hese before they d ie in struct others
.
, ,
.
T he se a gain tell somebody else : and so the

,
t rad i t i on is passe d along thro u gh eighteen cen

t urie s o f turmoil and confl i ct An d this i s the
.
”
“ unwr i tten word equal in importance and
,
author i ty to the H oly B i b le i tsel f Away w i th .
suc h absur d blasphemy T rad i tion either merel y

.
accords with Scripture or else it must flatly con

t ra dic t it. If it merel y acco rds w i th Scripture ,
why is i t o f such high value ? The same virtue

may be claimed fo r thousan ds o f worthy C hr i s
t i an teachers If i t contradicts Scr i pture it
.
,
mu s t be o f the Dev i l But says another i t in

.
, ,
forms us on those po i nts upon wh i ch Scr i pture is

si lent T h en i t must go beyon d Scri pture an d
.
,
what S hall we do with those solemn words o f t he

beloved di sciple : If any ma n s h all a d d unto
these th i ngs God shall add unto h i m the plagues
,
”
that are wri tten in this book ! Rev xx i
. i . .
,
But says another i t does not contrad i ct or go

, ,
beyond S c ripture ; i t si mply explai ns Scri pture .
But i s Scripture s o o bscure that we must take

3 8 T HE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
this d i fficult an d roundabout way to get a t its

meaning ? S o Roman C atholics say Inde e d o n e .
,
o f their mo st em i nent authors tells us that The

S c ripture is not o f itsel f demonstrat i vely clear in
,
po i nts o f fir s t rate importance ; an d the divine

law l i ke human law s w i thout an authorized
, ,
inte rpe te r must ever b e a sou rce o f doubt and

,
”
contention .
This simply amounts to saying that traditi on

is clearer than Scri pture N ow If Paul Peter
.
, ,
James an d the other apostles coul d preach in a

clear and i nte l l i gent manner why in th e name o f
,
common sen s e could they n o t wri te in a clear an d

intelli gent manner M en u su a l l y t a ke more car e
in wr i ting than th ey do i n speaking M ore than
,
.
this they wrote by inspiration I think then

, .
, ,
t h at we can get along very well w i thout trad i

tion The Scriptures are a b le to make us wi se
.
”
unto salvation .
O ne more po i nt must be cleared up be fore we

proceed w i th our d iscuss i on Who sh all interpret
.
th e Bible ? T he C hurch o f Rome clai ms to b e

t h e sole interpreter o f this sacre d vo h ime Sh e .
S H A LL T HE B I BL E B E OU R GUI D E ? 39 .
W
must do the orld s thinking in this respect ’
.
T his claim we re fu s e to recognize We clai m .
that every man has not only th e r i ght to rea d

but to interpret thi s B ook I n thi s glor i ous em . . ~
ployment we ma y have the ai d o f Go d s Hol y

,
’
Spiri t . If any o f you lack W I s do m let him ask ,
o f God that g i veth to all men liberally a nd u p

, ,
»
”
b ra ide th not ! James . i Let us se e how
.
,
the rule o f the Romis h Church will work A .
poor S inner reads in the N ew Te s ta ment such

g rac i ous invitati on s as these : Come unto me all ,
ye that labor an d are heavy laden an d I w i ll -

,
”
give you re s t An d the Spirit and the br i d e
.
“
say come An d l et him that h eareth say

.
come An d let h i m that is ath i rst come And

. .
whosoever w i ll l e t him take the wate r o f

,
”
l i fe freely N o w be fore h e can form any ide a
.
,
as to the mean i ng o f th i s he mus t find out ho w,
the Church understands it how all the Popes , ,
councils an d fathers h ave interprete d it T hen if .
h e fi nds i n all c h urc h h i story a Si ngle di ssenti ng ,
v oice he must forever re ma In In aw ful u nc e r

, ,
t a i nty fo rthere must b e according to the creed

'
,
of the C ouncil o f Trent th e unani mous consent ,

“
o f the h o ly father s
”
Does not this shut us o ff
.
fro m ever kn o wing the will o f Go d ? But says ,
t h e R oman Cat h olic do you not k now that

,
No
prop hecy o f the Script ure is o f any private i nte r
”
p re t a tio n T his is a correct Scr i ptural quota
tion we admit : b ut let us look at i t Y o u will
,
.
find it in 2d Peter i 20 Let us take context

W
. .
,
an d all . e have also a more sure word o f
prophecy : whereunto ye d o well tha t ye take

hee d as unto a light that shineth in a dark place
,
.
,
until the d ay d awn an d t he d ay s tar ari se in

,
your hearts : knowing th i s fir s t that no prophecy ,
o f the Script u re i s o f any pr i vate interp retat i on .
F or the proph ecy came not in ol d time by t he

will o f man ; but holy me n o f God spake as the y
”
were moved by the H oly Ghost .
N otice three th ings : F irst the remarks o f t he ,
a postle o nly re fer to t he proph etic parts o f

S cr i pture .Second we are urge d to tak e
,
“
”
hee d to !that i s cons i der ) the su bjec t o f
, ,
prophecy T hir d the reason assi g ne d why it i s

.
,
not o f private i nterpretation i s that i t came not ,

di scussion ,
we shall cling to the Bib l e . T his
the rule o f our fa i th an d pract i ce
Mo st w o n dr o u s b oo k!
can dl e o f t h e Lo r d
b r ig h t
S t a o f e t e n it y t h e n l y s t ar
r r , o
B y wh ich t h e b a k o f m a n c o l d n av ig at e
r u
Th e a o f l ife a n d g i
se , t h e o s t s f b l is s
a n c a o
S ecur el y ; n l y s t a r w h i ch
o se n t im e ro o ,
An d n i t s d k n d t
, o ar b l d wa t e s s til l
a ro u e r ,
A s ge n ti
e ra d i ft in g s l o w l y b y
on ,
r
S u cce e d e d g e n e at i o n t h e w a
r y ,
r ra
O f h eav e n s o w n l igh t a n d t o t h h il l s o f Go d
’
,
e ,
Th e e v e l a s t in g h il l s p o in t e d t h e s in n e s eye
r ,
r
’
.
”
C HAP TE R I V
HO WHAS R O ME TR EATED THE BIBLE
For I testify u n to every man tha t h ea re th th e wor ds of the

h
p p cy
r o e o f th is book . If a ny ma n sh a ll a dd u n to th ese things,
Go d sha l l ’
aa d u n to h im th e pl a gu es tha t a re writ ten in this b ook
A nd if a ny ma n sh a ll ta ke a wa y f ro m th e words o
f th e b o o k f o
t h is pr oph ecy, Go d sh a ll t a ke wa y h is pa r t ou t of th e hooh

a ,
o
f f
l i e
a n d fr om th e th ings which a r e wr itten

a nd o u t
f
o th e h ol y city,
in th is hoo h .
— R EV
”
. xxii .
,
—
18 19 .
HE B i ble is G o d s great gi ft o f l ove and ’
mercy to a lost an d dy i ng world I t wa s .
designe d to e xi st fo r a l l time and to be read ,
by all men I t teach es us how to escape from

.
s i n death and hell

,
I t contains such a r i ch .
wo rl d o f hid d en treas u re that centuries o f de ,
vont study h a v e not revealed all i ts meaning ;

wh i le at th e same ti m e the g reat plan o f sa l
, ,
vati on so cl early reveale d that the most

is ,
S Impl e n ee d not go estray Milli ons h ave feasted .
on its h e a v e nl v t ruth a n d d i e d with i ts preci ou s

'
,
words o f promise on their tongues I t has .
brought c om fort to th e br o ken hearted mourn e r

“
-
,
peace to the burdene d consc i ence and trouble d

heart o f the p o or Sinner Wel l has one o f .
’
I srael s sweet s i ngers s a id
Pre cio u s Bib l e ! w h at a t reasu r e
”
D o e s t h e w o r d o f Go d affo r d
Al l I wan t fo r l ife o r pl e a s u r e ,
Fo o d a n d m e dicin e sh ie l d a n d S wo r d ;
,
Le t t h e wo rl d a cc o u n t m e p o o r ,
H av in g t h is I n e e d n o m o re .
”
Gu i lty false a n d cruel must b e the system

, , ,
that will degrade i n a ny way this sacre d vol

u me s trive in any way to shut i t out from the
h eart s and home s o f the people We call then .

, ,
in t h e name o f our s i n bur d ened and s u ffer i ng

-
human i ty the Church o f Rome to answe r fo r

W
,
her treatment o f thi s Divine Book e charge .
t h e R o mish C h urch w i t h having degraded cor
W
,
r u t e d and mi s tran s late d the Bible e charge

p .
her with the crime o f making the Bible a se a le d

book by claim i ng to be its only expositor
, .
With the crime o f retarding i n every pos

S ible way the c i rculation a nd rea di ng o f t h e
,
Ho w HAS R O M E T R E AT E D T HE B I BL E ? 45
B i ble To sum up the w hole i n a s i ngl e sen

.
tence we charge the Romish Churc h w i th be i ng

,
a t a l l tim e s , a nd in e v e ry
p o ss ib l e w a y , th e inv e t
era te e ne Ho l y Bibl e Can th i s charg e

my of the
W
.
be susta i ned ? e Shall see I t h a s alrea d y .
bee n S hown that the Roman Catho l i c C hurch

e xalts trad i ti on to a n e qual foot i ng with Scrip
t ure This h a s bee n proved by w i tness e s

.
taken from the Ro mis h Churc h i tsel f I t i s .
a well known fact an d o ne wh i ch no i ntel

-
,
l ige nt person whether a Romanist or a Pro

,
‘
testant woul d e v e r think o f deny i ng I s n o t

,
.
this degrading Scriptur e ? If we should mak e

the dogge re l o f old M other Goos e a text
book i n our schools an d colleges woul d i t not ,
j ustly b e cons i dere d as an i nsult to t h e wr i t i ng s
o f o u r ph iIO S O ph e rs and scient i sts ?

?
I t has also been shown from Roma n Cathol i c

authori ty that thi s Churc h cla i ms to be the only
rel i able expositor o f Scripture DOe s not th i s i n .
e ffect make i t a seale d book ? Let Dr Mi lne r

W
.
answ e r e are happy to re fer the reader to

.
th is tr e ati s e because the work o f Mil ner i s a sort

,
5
of stan d ar d amon g R oman Cathol i cs as the wr i

tings o f C alvin are to th e Presbyterians or t h e ,
wri tings o f Wesley a n d Watson amo ng M eth '
odists H e says : . Th e C hu r c h do e s n o t dic ta te

an ex
p os i tio n o
f th e wh o l e Bi bl e , b ec a u s e she , ha s
no tr a di tio n c o n c e r nin
g a v e ry g re a t pr opo rti o n o
f
it.
— ”
E n d o f C ontro v ersy page 109 , .
Well things hav e come to a pre tty pass ~
W
, ,
i n dee d e dare not as we value our eternal

.
,
i nte rest interpret a sin gle passage o f Scr i pture

W
,
fo r oursel v es e mu s t trust all to the in fallible

.
chu rch But this i n falli ble church itself d o e s not

.
know anything about a ve ry g re a t propo rtio n o f ” “
the Bi b le I ha v e just been look ing again at the

.
work o f Dr Mi lner I thoug h t that I must have

. .
made a mistake the a nno u nc c me nt i s so astonish

,
in g But no there it is i n black an d wh i te on

.
, ,
the l o9th page o f his book Any one may get .
”
and rea d it A very great proporti on o f the
.
Bible can never be un d erstoo d Why was it .
wri tte n? Let t he infalli b le churc h reply But .
why ma y we not understan d i t Did not God

intend that we Should un derstand i t ? We a re
Ho w HAS R OME T R E A T E D T HE B I B L E ? 47
tol d that all S cri pture is profita b le : but what

goo d can i t d o u s if it is impo ss ible fo r u s to
,
u n d er stand it ? Are we unable t o s ecure t h e a i d

o f the Divine Sp irit and is thi s the reason why
we may not understan d it ? N o fo r G o d de ,
clares him s el f ever w i lli n g t o be s to w thi s p rice

‘
l es s gi ft What then is the rea s on ? Alas w e

W
.
,
_
ha v e n o tra di tio n .h o is willing to receive
such ab s urd an d bla sphemou s teaching ? Who is

w i lli ng t o foll o w a guide so blind an d intolerant ?
To the Roman C ath o lic the Bible mu s t ever
rema i n a seale d book H e d are not interpret
.
the si mple s t pas s age until he has secure d the

,
“
unan i mous consent o f the holy fathers T hose
w ho know much ab out the teach i n gs o f the holy
fathers mu s t laugh at the id ea o f getting the i r
,
”
unan i mous consent But we c harged t h e
C hurch o f R ome with hav i ng corrupte d the
B i ble Let us look at th i s fo r a short time I n
. .
many l a rge fam ily B i bles between the O l d and

,
N ew T e s taments there are place d fourteen vol

,
umes called the Apocrypha T he word a po c ry .
pha i s derived from the Greek Apo lcra pha an d ,

48 THE M YS T E RY OF INIQUI TY .
means h idden m y sterious T here is no reason

,
.
why thes e books should be boun d together with

th e O ld an d N ew Testament Any one can see .
that they form no part o f Scripture T hey do .
not claim to be inspired T hey are not foun d in .
any catalogue o f canon i cal wr i tings ma d e dur i ng

the first four centu ri es a fter C hr i st Th e Jew i sh .
C hurch neve r re c e l ve d them as a part o f th e

Canon Chri st ne v er quot ed them neither d i d
.
,
any o f the apostles T hose books contain stat e

.
ments at variance with history sel f contra di ctory ,

-
,
and oppose d to the doctri nes an d precepts o f

S crip ture These book s the Roman C athol i c
.
Church has exalted to a place in the sacred

C anon T his was d one by th e Council o f T rent
.
i n the l 6th century ! The n e xt time a R o ma n is t

.
a s ks m e w he re my r e l ig i o n wa s b efo r e Lu th e r , I
a m g o ing to a sk him , wh e r e his f

a ith w a s b efo r e
th e C o u n c i l f
o Tr en t
) .
I s not th i s a gross corrupti on o f Scripture

Why th e Bible is a very small part o f the rule
,
o f faith an d prac t ice adopted by the Church o f

,
Rome By the t i me we get through w i th tra di ti on

.
,
5 0 THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
C a tho l ic C hu r ch h a s n e ve r u b l ish e d a Bib l e

p .
Th i s may seem a sweep i ng and unc har i tab l e

charge b ut it is nevertheless true We unde r
,
.
.
stand by a Bible the pure unadulterate d wo rd

, ,
o f God publishe d i n the language o f the people

, ,
wi thout note or comment Commentaries a re .
good eno ugh in the i r place but commentaries are ,
’
not Bibles B arnes N otes Clark s an d Ben s on s
.
,
’ ’
Commentaries are not Bibles If you went to .
purchase one o f them you wo ul d not ask fo r a ,
B ib le N ow the Romish Church has publ i shed a

.
,
vers i on o f the Scr i p t u re s but they have taken ,
good care to counteract i ts mani festly Pr o te sta nt

to n e by append i ng a l arge addition o f Papal
,
comment .
T hey have never dared to g i ve the pu re word

o f Go d to the peop l e What would you th i nk if
.
Pre s b yte rians and M etho di sts should re fuse t o

p u blis h a B i b le unless i nterlarde d w i th Cal
,
v a nistic or Armen i an comments Woul d you not

say that th ey were afrai d o f the B i ble Th i s
Romi s h version o f the Scri ptures is called the
D ouay B i ble because made at a town o f tha t
,
Ho w HAS R O M E T RE A T E D T HE B I B L E ? 5 !
na m e i n F rance E very scholar knows that it is

.
a poor a f fa i r compare d w i th our common E nglish

B i ble and that i t contains many gros s i nac
,
cu ra c i es N or could it well be otherw i se Th e

. .
v ers i on o f the Bible in common use amon g t h e

Protestants was made in England under t h e
, ,
reign o f K i ng James i n the year 1 6 1 1

,
I t was
.
a care fu l translati on o f th e origi nal Greek an d

H ebrew mad e by a large number o f w i se and
,
goo d men T he Douay Bible is a translati on o f

.
the Lat i n Vulgate not o f the Greek a n d H ebrew

,
.
I t i s a translati on o f a tra nslati on Thi s Lat i n

.
Vulgate is i tself a mixed and i mperfect affa i r I .
w i ll s i mply mention one gross m i stranslation as

W
,
a spec i men o f th e rest .e fre quently mee t
with the word repentance i n the N ew T estament .
I t is a translati on o f the Greek word Me ta n o ia ,
and expresses one o f the conditi ons o f salvation .
I t is a very i mportant word I n the Douay .
B ib l e it i s translate d doing pe n a n c e Fo r th i s
, .
tran s l at i on there i s no earthly warrant They .
m i gh t as wel l hav e ren d ered it da n c e a gi g D r . .
N e vi ns justly remarks I t wou l d see m as if th ey

were a nxious to a v oi d the use o f any wor d wh i ch

e x p ressed or im p l i e d either s o rr o w or a m e n dm e n t ,
a n d there fo re they fix on the phrase do ing

p e n a nce . I am mi s taken if these translators
ha v e not a solemn a ccoun t to give This si ngl e .
ren d ering if it were the only exceptionable o ne

, ,
woul d be as a millstone about the neck o f that

t ranslation Just think o f the false impression
.
,
an d that on a point o f the highest mo ent ma d e m ,
on the minds o f so many m illions by this one

e greg i ously erroneous vers i on ”
Th o ug hts o n
.
Pope ry page 1 13
,
But the Church o f R ome
.
does not want the people to have the word o f

Go d in any for m : an d d oes not e v en look wi th
fa v or on the general c i rculation and read i ng o f
the Douay Bible As many may at first be
.
tempte d to question th i s statement we will go to

a RO IIl l S h work fo r proo f and once more appeal
,
”
to the E n d o f Controversy
“
H ence the .
“
C athol i c Church requ i res her pasto rs who are to ,
preach and expoun d the wor d o f God to stu d y ,
this second p art o f her rule no les s than the

first part w i th unrem i tti n g diligence ; a nd she
,
Ho w HAS R OME T R E A T E D T HE B I BL E ?
53
e n c o u r a g es th o s e o
f he r fl ock , wh o a re
p p
r o e rl y
qua l ifi e d a nd f dispo s e d, to re a d it or the ir e di fic a
”
ti o n. N otice two thin gs first rea d ing the B i ble , ,
is not require d as a Christian d uty I t is merely .
e nc o u ra g e d S e con d o nly a fe w can ever enjoy

.
,
this privilege : those who a r e properl y qu a l ifi e d

“
”
a n d dis o se d
p T h i s extract may
. be f ound on
th e 99th page o f Dr M ilner s celebra te d work
’
. .
But again h e tells us that The C athol i c clergy

must and do empl o y no s mall porti on o f t he i r
, ,
t ime every d ay i n rea d ing d i fferent port i ons o f

, ,
holy writ But no such o bl igati on is generally

.
i ncumbent on the flock that is on the l a ity ; i t i s , ,
suffic i ent fo r them to hear the word o f God from

those w h om God has appointe d to announce a nd
expla i n it to them wh ether by sermons or cate , ,
c h isms or other good books or i n t h e tr i bunal o f

, ,
”
penance Page 3 11
. .
T his d oes not look a s though Rome favore d

much the free circ ulati on an d read i ng o f the
B i ble But h i story give s us a d d i t i onal facts I n
. .
t h e 1 1th century Pope Gre g ory V II th e patron

! , .
s aint o f Am e rican b i shops forme rly return d

) e
thank s to Go d becau s e the deca d ence o f the

,
Latin to ngue ma d e t he ol d Latin Bible u nfa

miliar to th e people In 1229 the Council o f .
Toulouse in its 14th canon forb i ds th e la i ty “
to have i n their p o ss es si on any copy o f the b o o k s

o f the O ld and N ew Testament except the P s alter , ,
an d such portion s o f them a s are c o ntaine d in the

Brevi ary or the Hour s o f the V ir g in : an d mos t
,
-
”
stri ctly for bid s the s e works in the vulgar tongue .
The C ounci l o f Ta rra c o ne 124 2 ordere d a l l , ,
vers i ons o f the B i b le that were in t he lang u age

,
o f the peo p le to be brought to the b ishops an d

,
burnt I n the T en Rule s Conce rning Pro

.
“
”
h ib it e d Book s d rawn up b y or d er o f the
,
Counc i l o f Trent an d approve d by PO pe Pius

,
-
IV we find in rule II I that vers i on s o f the O ld

.
,
.
Te s ta ment may be all o wed only t o pious and “
”
learne d men at th e di s cretion o f the Bi sh o p In .
r ule IV the free c i rculation o f the B i ble is

.
d eclare d to b e hurtful i n t he extreme ; pe rm i s

sion to read it mu s t b e o b tai ne d o f the b ishop or
i nqui sitor an d all book s ellers s ell i ng it to u n
,
.
a uth o ri ze d p er s o ns are to be punished .

Ho w HAS R O M E T R E AT E D T HE B I BL E ? 55
The position o f R ome on this subject h a s never

changed I n . a n d 1 824 ordinances ,
.
were issue d from the Pa p al throne against t h e ,
diffusion o f the pure Word o f Go d In the

W
.
August number o f the C a tho l ic o rl d fo r the year

1 86 8 the b urn i ng o f Protestant tran slat i ons o f
,
the H oly Bible is bol d ly justifie d E nou g h has

.
been said to show that the Church o f Rome is

the dea d ly to e o f the B i ble As Protestants we
.
,
a re prepared to boldly announce that we w i ll

neve r give up ou r right to rea d and study th e
B i ble fo r ourselves We will have i t in our
.
publ ic shools in our fam i lies an d i n our churches

,
, .
It i s t o o prec i ous a b ook to be easily given up

“
Rome had better b eware how she touches this ,
the M a g na Ch a r ta o f our Spiritual freedom We .
liv e i n a B i b le lan d and i n a Bible age

,
.
C HAP TE R V .
TH E TE S T A P P L I ED .
Ye sh a ll know th em by th e ir f ru its .
”—M ATT . vu .
,
16 .
Ou t of th ine own mou th w ill I j u ged th e e .

” -
L UKE x ix .
, 22 .
M EN ma y use the same term ,

to it a widely d i fferent mean i ng T here
but yet attach
.
are fe w words i n o ur language employed in so

ma ny d ifferent ways as the wor d ,
C hurch ”
.
Roman Cathol i cs d i ffer widely from Protestants

i n their view o f the C hurch o f C hrist Roman .
is t s cla i m t h at Jesus C hr i st establi s he d a visible
ecclesi asti cal organization i n commun i on w i th ,
—
wh i ch salvat i on is certain out o f whic h it i s ,
i mposs i ble We do not deny the existence o f a

.
v is i ble church but claim that The C hurch !or a

,
“
par t o f it) i s the re where the wor d an d the sacra

ments are ; and the soc i ety in which the one i s
pre a ch e d and th e othe r admi n i s ter ed is a legiti mate
,
s ame in government the same In d octr i ne and

, ,
—
the same in worship the same in every age and
i n every lan d : while Protesta nts are d ivided up
into a vast nu mber o f discor d ant an d h osti le
sect s Th i s boa s t howe v er has b ut little fo u nda
.
, ,
ti on i n fact. The simple truth is that change

a fter change has taken plac e in the gove rnment
and worship o f the church ; one d octrine after
another has been adde d to the faith while b e
»
tween the various monasti c or d ers an d part ies ,
th e re has b een fa r more difference an d hostility

than exi sts bet ween the var ious denomi nations
o f Protestantism .
Suppose we look fi rst at the matter o f govern

ment . The Pope is th e great central power i n
—
Romani s m hence i t is very properly called
,
Popery H e is the v i car o f Chri s t the Head o f

.
,
t he C hurch and in i llu s tra t ion o f his sup posed

,
—
p o wer over three world s H eaven E arth and ,
—
H ell wears a triple crown What can be more
.
i mportant in the government o f the church than

the manner o f electing a Pope ? Well suppose ,
it can be S hown that the Church o f Rome ha s

T HE T E S T A P PL IE D .
59
greatly varie d in the manner o f s electi ng the

s ucces s ors o f S t Pete r
. will it not look b a d fo r
,
the boa s te d unity ? Let u s take Ma imb o u rg th e ~
W
,
great Jesuit hi storian fo r our gu i de

,
e d o this
.
t hat our o ppone n ts may n o t charge us with u n
fairne s s .According to Ma imb o urg the firs t ,
Pope s electe d his own s ucce s so r Then fo r the.
next fi ve cent uries sometimes the people alone

, ,
someti mes the clergy alone an d s ometi mes the

,
people an d clergy conj o i ntly electe d a P o pe by a

,
plurality o f votes H ere are five di fferent way s

.
O f choos i ng a H ead fo r the C hurch T hen fo r .
the next twenty years no Pope coul d be chosen

w i thout the consent o f the re i gn i ng pri nce By .
an d by the Gothi c k i ngs cut th e matter short by

,
selecti ng the Po ntifl wi thout consulting e i ther

’
people or clergy At the present t i me the Pop

. e ,
is electe d by the C ollege o f Car d i n als : but we

m i ght show by continuing our s tu dv of th i s Jesuit
h i s tori an that be fore the pre s ent manner o f se
,
le e ti ng a Pope was fixed upon there have bee n

,
thirty fundamental variati ons in thi s i mportant

matter Another cur i ous reflecti on must come i n
.
60 T HE MYS T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
r i ght here . In 1 1 81 the car d inals b e gan to

assume the sole power o f electing a Pope F or .
e leven centuries they ha d no voice whatever in
the election o f a Pope Fo r the last five centu

.
ries they hav e ha d all to say in the matter Fo r .
e leven centuries those wh o m Christ appo i nte d t o
select his representative ha d no v o i ce in that

e lection ; or fo r more than five centuries th s
oe
whom Christ neve r called to this authority hav e
t aken v i olent p o ssessi on o f it an d thrust out the ,
true electo rs Alas fo r us po o r d i vi d e d Protest

.
,
a nt s ! We have no t rouble in selecting a h ea d

fo r th e church W
e all agree that Chr i st is t e
.
h
gre a t He a d o f the c hu rch But n o t only ha s
. . .
there been great di ffe rence among Roma ni sts in

t he m a n ner o f selecting a head fo r the churc h ,
b u t t here h a s o ften b een n o small amo un t qf

tr ouble in ascertaining who the real hea d was .
Any o ne at all acquai nted with church history

ha s h e a rd o f the g r e a t w e s te rn s c his m
'
Gregory .
X I died in t he year 13 78 F rom that ti me unt i l

. .
t he year 1447 there were always two

,
and at o ne ,
!
time three ri val popes O ne party h a d a Pope

.
THE T E S T A P PL IE D . 6 !
reign i ng in Rome an d the other party had a Pope

,
reigning in Avignon .
Th i s bears rather heavi ly on the unity a rg u

m ent . Another s tar tling fact rema i ns to be
,
men t i on ed: N ot only has the churc h had two

and even three heads at a time but more than ,
once has had no head whatever A fter the d eath .
o f Pope Leo I X t h e papal throne was vacant

.
,
fo r an entire year After the death o f N icholas

.
I V it w a s wi thout an occupant fo r t wo year s

.
,
and t hree months ; and aga i n stood emp ty a fter

the death o f Bene d ict X I fo r e l even months . .
M any other such cases might be mentione d We .
have re ferre d to the great western s chism I t .
may be w ell to s tate that o f this s ch i sm M aim

bourg s ays : I t w a s the tw en ty nin th which
“ -
s eparate d the C athol i c comm union and divide d ,
b e twe e n dilfe r e n t h e a ds the s ame church to which , ,
by all laws human an d divine there s h o uld have

, ,
”
b een b u t one a nd that i n one person
, G l or io u s .
Un ity I n fact the Church o f R ome is w ith o u t a

.
,
h e a d e v e ry time a Pope di e s fo r there is always

,
a n interval b e fore an o th er PO pe can be elected .

’
Can it be that Chri s t s true church can s ome
times have three or four hea d s at once and then ,
a g ain have no head whatever ? We Protestants

th in k that the church can have but one hea d an d ,
that that head is C hri s t Jesus the ever living

,
a n d ever b l e sse d S aviour o f men .
W hich o f the t wo b elie fs d o you regar d a s th e

most sen sible ? We h ave S pok e n o f t h e change
that has come over the gov e rnment o f t he Rom
is h C hurch ; let u s now look at the doctri nes o f
this church and see if there has b een any change

there T h e gre at stre ngth o f the Roman C ath
.
olic C hurch lies in i ts supposed i n falli b ility .
Y et str a nge to Sa y never be fore the d ecree o f

,
the late E cumenical Council have the Romish,
theologians been able to locate th i s i n fallibility .
Some have p lace d i t i n the general counc i l with the

Pope at the head while a fe w have a s cri b e d it
,
to the Pope alone Archbi s h op Purcell in his

.
,
celebrated controversy with Ale xander C ampbell ,
di stinct l y repu di ated any belie f in the in fall i b i l i ty

o f the PO pe alone . Dr Mi lner in his book on
.
,
the papal controver s y distinctly says that no

,
T HE T ES T APPL I ED 63
mem b er o f the Roman C atholic Church is

require d to bel i eve in the individual in fallibi lity
o f the Pope Y et i t has just been d efine d as a
. ,
do gma a nd those who re fuse to believe it are

,
prono unce d anath e ma .
‘
I t is extremely diflic u l t to see how thi s d ecre e
h a s any log i cal force If the Council is fall i b l e
.
,
Why may it not err i n pro nouncing th e Pope to be /
infall i ble ? If the Pope pronounces himse l f t o be

i n fallible , we are then in a most r id iculous c i rcl e .
The Pope is infa l l ib l e b e c a u s e h e de c l a r e s hims e lf

so ; a nd his de c l a r a tio n is tru e b e c a u s e h e is in
fa Such
l l ib l e . i s the sublime logic o f R ome .
T a ke the dogma o f the immaculate concepti o n o f

the Virgin M ary T h i s wa s never requ i red or
.
defined as an article o f faith un ti l Dec ember 8th ,
1 85 4 .Dr M ilner wr i ting i n the be ginn ing o f

.
,
t h e present century said o f i t : ,

The church “
does no t dec id e the controversy concerning t he

conception o f the B l es se d Virg i n and several ,
other di s pu t e d points becau s e sh e sees n o thing

,
abso l utely clear an d cert a in concerning them ,
e i the r in the wr i tten or the unwritten word an d ,

64 T HE M Y S T ERY OF INIQUI T Y .
t h ere fore leave s he r o wn chil d ren to form t heir

”
own O pinion s concernin g them But if any one
“
should now dare to Sp eak o r write against the

dogma o f the i mmac ulate concepti on he would ,
at once b e give n over to endless d amnation . .
Thi s quotation from Dr Milner i s intere s t i ng

.
,
because it admits that there are controver sies

and d isputed points even in the church claim
“
i ng never to vary in the sli ghtest particular .
Ho w c a n Romi sh writers claim the attri b ute o f

unity fo r a church th e history o f which is a h i s
,
tory o f successive corruption and change ?

The Apocrypha and Vu l gate an d trad i tion
, ,
were not exalted to canonical authority unt i l the

sixteenth century The use o f the Latin tongue
.
in worship to the exclus i on o f t he vernacular was ,
introduce d i n the sevent h century Tra ns ub sta n

.
tia t io n wa s fi rst t aug h t in t h e e i gh th century an d
made no small commot i on In the eleventh the

.
,
Lor d s Supper was mutilate d by the establish

’
.
ment o f communion in one kind I n the twel fth ,
the d octrine o f Seven S acraments was firs t

taught T he do c trines o f the meritorious virtu e
.
fa mil v ”
among thems elve s Hi story acqu aints
,
us with long an d b i tter contest s b etween the

F ranciscan s a n d the Domin i cans The Je suit s .
have o ften b een com plaine d o f to head quarters -

,
a n d were abol i s hed by C lement X IV i n 1773 .

, ,
but re store d by Pius V I in 1814 There is now

.
,
.
no small amount o f di scor d between the Gallican

an d the U ltramontain p artie s S o much fo r the
.
unity in the Roman Catholic C hurch The .
sec o nd te sti ng attrib ute or mark o f the true

church clai med by R ome is !d o not laugh)
W
,
s a n c ti t
y . hile absolute s anctity can only
belong to the true inv i si b le ch u rch yet it is the ,
design o f pure religi o n t o make men ho l y Be ye .
”
h oly is Go d s great comman d
’
With o ut holi
.
ne ss no man shall see the Lor d ”

A s y stem o f
.
fai t h that w o rks no chan g e in the heart and ,
effects no re fo rmation in the li fe cannot b e o f ,
Go d s d evi si ng N ow we a fli rm o f R o m anism
’
.
,
that it h a s even no te n d ency to make men holy .
T he fact tha t n o w an d then we di scove r a s a int

w i thin her pale does not re fute the charge fo r
, ,
i sol ate d ca s es o f moral rectitude have occurred

T HE T E S T APPL IE D . 67
even among the heathen The Pop e s them selves

.
have often been mon sters in human form Th i s .
is a d mitte d e v en by papal writers The bishops .
an d p riests present a recor d if p o ssi b le still

, ,
d arker Say s Dr R uter in h is C hurch History

. .
, ,
S peaking o f the seven t h century : Almo st eve ry “
crime which di sgrace s humanity entered i n to the

”
dark catalogu e o f clerical vices The centuries
.
that fo llow present no change u ril e ss fo r the ,
worse Those wh o think that priestly morals

.
have im p rove d in mo d e rn time s woul d d o well to,
c o nsi d e r the sa d case o f E dith O Go rma n or the ’
abduction o f M ary Ann S mith with it s dark ,
record o f l i e s an d forgery The s e some may

.
,
say are only spots upon the sur face yet they a re
, ,
dar k and d eep enough to reve a l the corruption

that must lurk w i thin If any reader o f this
“
book d oubts the charge o f corrupt teaching an d

p r a c t ic e l e t,
him O btai n and p e e
rus De n s Th e o l ’
og y or the S e c r e t a Mo n i ta
, o f the Jesu i ts Som e .
parts o f the former work are so obscene that no ,
publisher dare gi ve them to the worl d i n an E nglish

form . He wo ul d be subject to indic t ment und e r
the law against i n d ecent literature T he S e c re ta .
Mo nita conta ins the s ecret law s and r e gulation s

Of the S ocie ty o f J esus o r Jesuit s and form a n
‘
e xh i b ition o f d epra vity a n d h elli s h te a ch i ngs,
a bsolutely appall i ng to contem p lat e What c a n .
we expect from such teacher s an d s uch teach i ng

”
“
Like priest like peo ple
,
If the blin d lea d .
“
the blind b oth shall fall into the d itch

,
”
The .
most d egra d e d a nd d eprave d o f our populace a re

'
in open an d full communion with the b o asted

“
M other C hu rch ”
An d never d oes Rome e l e
.
l
v a te in the me ntal o r moral scale tho se who ‘

-
,
throng her alt a rs O f this we see the proo f

.
‘
e very d ay I t is safe to affirm t hat o ne th i r d o f

.
-
the crime committed in this country 1s committ ed ,
by Roman Catholi cs .
T he history o f t he Romish Church is one long ,
d a rk record o f b loodshed oppres si on hypocri s y , ,
a n d wro n g An d t o day there is no Si gn o f any

.
,
"
change fo r the b e tte r : nO ma nife sta tio n s o f
:
'
'
z
Spiritual li fe l I t is still mum b ling the m i s ty

.
t radit i ons o f th e pa st still e ncircle d in medi e va l

,
sh a d o ws ,
an d st il l pouri ng forth a s tre a m o f
‘ “
“
-
T HE T E S T APPL IE D . 69
corrupt teaching that b ear s death an d d e solation

,
on every poi sone d wave H ear the te s timony o f

.
one who has recently d rank o f this stre am an d ,
te s te d b y a sad experience the pre s ent spiritual

con dition o f R omani s m R ev Ed war d Hu s ban d
. .
,
who le ft the C hur c h o f E n gl a n d fo r the C hu rch

o f R o me ,
recentl y cam e back again an d in a ,
publi c letter states s o me o f his experie n ce s dur

ing h is s ojourn amo ng the R o man i s t s h e re ve r
.
“
W
I went I w a s fo rced b y w hat I s a w a n d h e a r d to
m a ke a co mp ari son b etween the in d ivi d ual spirit
u a l it y o f min d in th o se I ha d le ft b e hin d me in
the An glican C athol ic Chur ch an d t ho se I foun d

,
I n the R o man C atholic C hurch The re sult w a s

.
that I knew there w a s fa r m o r e S pi ri tuality fa r ,
m o r e personal pi et y fa r mor e holiness am o ngst

,
the m ember s o f t h e Church o f E nglan d than

m
am o n gs t th o se o f the Ch u rc h o f Ro me An d this .
w a s ! in the fir s t i n s tance ) not the fault o f in d ivi d
u a l s but o f the s y stem in which t h ey were b e I n

,
g
e d uc a te d
. T hey had ce rtain fo rm s a n d ce re
mon i e s to keep a n d pe rform an d they did t hem
,
because it was t h e i r d uty to do them an d whe n

they ha d accompli s he d this dut y they flattere d ,
t hemselves that all was rl gh t in t he sight o f Go d .
They w o r shipe d him with their lip s but i n too .
many c a se s their heart s were fa r from h im .
Dur in g the fo ur or five mont hs I was a Roman

Catho l ic I hardly e ver hear d the name Jesus
,
devoti o nally mentione d I t was always t h e

.
‘
na me o f O ur La d y She w a s the R y ug z a m‘
'
. t
'
e c c a t o ri a m n O t Chri st to the Rom a n C athol i c

’
p , ,
i n practice th ough I hope in t heory that it may

,
be otherwise The i r churches instea d o f soun d

.
,
»
ing out the sweet n am e o f Je sus rang with the ,
holy name o f M ary : until her name which as a , ,
member o f the C hurch o f E n gland I love d an d ,
honore d s o highly b ecame S horn o f nearly all its

,
attractivene s s becaus e o f the frig htful abu s e to

wh i ch i t was subj ect e d I n e v e r fe l t my soul so
.
’
stirre d an d fired with i n dignation as w hen I saw

the gl ory an d supremacy o f our only Sav i our
Jesus trample d upon b y the M ariolatry o f Rome .
I n short it was the s ense that I had le ft Jesus

,
beh i n d me ! so to speak ) in t h e Churc h o f E ngland

_ ,
that drove me to her commu nion again I felt .

T HE T E S T APPL IE D .
7!
that M ary w i th all her bles se d nes s was a poor

, , ,
poor excha nge fo r the un fathoma b le love o f

Jesu s And search where I wou l d 1 coul d not
.
,
fin d him in the dev o tions o f the R oman C athol i c

”
C hurch except in th e b ackground
,
.
If sanctity is an attribute O f the true church ,
s urel y the C hurch o f Rome will have a di f fi cult
ta s k in maki ng good her high clai ms The third .
mark o f the true c h urch g i ven b y Romis h wri ters

i s that o f Catho l ic i ty or un i versality O ur s is .
“
t h e C atholic that is the universal church there

, , ,
”
fore it must be the true one is their great argu
,
ment Th i s attribute does i ndee d belong to the

.
true inv is i ble C hurch o f C hrist We are all one .
i n him But th i s t rue church has no one com

.
munit y on earth an d has no o ne v i sible ruler

,
.
T he R omi s h Q h urc h p rou d ly clai m s th e title

‘C athol i c ” fo r her s el f and thus assumes th e
,
very p o i nt in d i s cuss i on But if universal why

.
,
does she not i nclude us H ow I s I t that b eyon d ,
her pale there are mill i o ns o f truly pious so u ls

, ,
serving Go d an d working to extend his Ki ng

,
d o m ? T he l i ves o f these are at least as holy , , ,

their wor d as g o o d an d the i r d eath s a s peace ful

,
as th o u g h they were i n com munion with the

C hurch o f R o me The Church o f R ome is n o .
m o re entitle d t o the name C a t h o lic than the ,
Greek C hurch the C hurc h o f E n g l an d o r t he

, ,
M eth o di s t Epi s copal Church A p art cann o t be .
the who l e But let o u r o pp o nents S p eak fo r

.
themsel ves The t rue church is Catholic : o r

.
“
Universal in three s everal respects : as to pe rs o ns ,
a s to l a c e s an d a s to t im e I t con s i sts o f th e
p ,
.
mo s t n u m e r o u s b o dy of Chris ti a n s it is m o re o r
les s difiu s e d wh e r e ve r C h ris tia n ity pr e va il s an d
,
it has vis ibl y e x is te d e v e r s in c e th e tim e of the

o s tl e s — E
’
d C 1 79
a
p . n o
f o n tr o v e r y p g
s , a e .
Let us look at the three p oints name d F irst ,
the R omi s h Church is C atholic b ecau s e it c o n ,
”
S i st s o f the most n u merous b ody o f Chri s ti ans .
In o th e r th e mo s t n u m e ro u s
w o r ds i t c o n s is ts o
f
“
b o dy q
"C h r is ti a n s ,
”
th e r efo r e i t in c l u des a l l th e
Ch ris ti a ns . Gl o r io u s l og ic S e c o n d, it is m ore or
l e s s difiu s e d w h e r e v e r C hris ti a n ity pr e v a il s

But .
the same may b e sai d o f the Pre sb yterian

W
,
Bapti s t O I M etho d i s t E p i scopal Church

,
-
'
e .
74 THE MY S T E RY OF INIQ UI T Y .
Church In th i s country thi s boaste d apo s t ol i c

,
chair i s a universa l laughi ng stock John Wesley .
was fo r many years incline d to h ig h church -
views : but a fter a care ful i nvesti gation o f th e

subject he was compel le d to adm i t that Apos
,
“
fi
t o l ic S u c c e s s io n is a c tio n whic h no ma n e v er di d
or c a n
pr ove But.on this
’I
subject more anon .
R ome is thus condemne d by her own assu mptions .
We can turn her weapons against h er a nd by the ,
tests that she lays down S ho wthat she is no t the

,
true Church o f Christ .

C HAPT E R V I .
THE GR EAT U SUR PER .
Wh’
o opp os e th a n d exa l teth h imself a bove a ll th a t is ca ll e d Go d,
or tha t is wor sh ip e d; so th a t h e as i
God s tte th in th e templ e o f God,
sh e w ing hims elf th a t h e is God .
”
2T HE S . ii . 4 .
I“
V E R Y system o f fa it h has its great centra l
head : the source from w hi c h i t emanates ,
and the recogni zed authority in all matters

o f di spute Rom a ni s m has s uch a ce n tral
.
hea d What C hrist is to the C h ristia n M o

.
,
h a mmed to th e bel i ever in the Koran Brahma t o ,
the Hi n d o o or Bri gham Y oung to the M ormon

, ,
the Pop e is to the Roman Catholic H is d evo .
tion is directe d to R ome rather than to Bet hlehem

or Calvary T he p o wer o f t h e Pope in spiritual
.
m a tters i s regar d ed a s supreme : and as the i nter

es ts o f the soul are superior to th e inte r e sts o f
the body he is suppose d by many R oman i sts to

,
ha v e supre me powe r over states an d pri nces .

H e is the great H ea d o f the C hurch an d from ,
his in fallible teaching there can be no appeal ,
H e is the Vi c ar o f Chri s t an d carrie s the keys

,
o f Heaven an d H ell . He is calle d by the most

blas p hem o u s o f titles bla s phemou s b ecause the y
,
belon g o f right only to Diety : an d is approache d

with the mo s t a bject a d oration His ble ssing i s .
s ought a s t h e greate st o f boons wh i le h is curse ,
is suppo se d to convey unnumbered woe s Such .
are the vi ews, and s uch the practice o f the Ro

mi sh C hurch on this subject .
I t is well known th a t these enormo us cla i ms o f

‘
power an d d ominion are b uilt up on the sup

,
p o s e d s upremacy o f St Peter a n d on the as

.
,
s umption tha t each re i gn i n g Pope is h is d i rect
s ucces s or
. We propose to Show that Peter
n either claime d nor exercise d any supremacy over
t h e other d i sciples : and that if he di d the Pope ,
cannot prove that he is his succes s or The pas .
sage o n wh i ch R omani sts base th eir high cla i m s

fo r the Papacy is M att xvi . An d I
.
,
“
s a y unt o thee That thou art Pe ter an d upon th i s

, ,
r ock I w i ll build my c hurch an d the gates o f

,
THE GR E A T U S U RP E R .
77
Hell s hall n o t prevail against it An d I w il l .
g ive unto the e the key s O f the Kingdom o f

H eaven ; an d whatsoeve r th o u shalt bin d on
earth shall be bound i n H eaven ; an d what s oever
,
thou shalt loose on earth shal l be loosed in

”
H eaven . O n this text the entire superstructur e
o f Papal dom i n i on has been erecte d The keys .
an d the rock i s the i r un failing argument F rom .
the b old an d decided manner i n which they con

t inu a l l y quote these words one w o uld not be l e d
,
to s uppose that the argument derive d from them

and the fa lse meaning ascribed to them ha d ,
been expose d an d re fute d a thousand t i mes .
Y et s uch is the fact We m u st use Scrip t ure t o

, .
explain S cripture A concor d ance is o fte n bette r

.
than a commentary The v ers es preceding t h e

.
text I n dispute furni sh a key to its succe ssful l n

,
t e rpre ta tio n ,
W hen Jesus came i nto the coasts o f C e s area

Philli p pi h e asked hi s d isc iples say i ng : Whom
, ,
do men say that I the S o n o f M an am

, An d ,
they sa i d : Some s a y that thou art John th e

Baptist ; some E lias an d others Jeremiah or o ne
, ,
THE MY S T E RY OF INIQ U I T Y .
o f the prophets He saith u n tO them But w hom

.
,
s a y ye t hat I am And Simon Peter an swere d

a n d sai d : Thou art the C hri s t the So n o f the ,
l i ving Go d An d Je s u s answere d an d sai d unto

.
h im : Ble s se d art thou S im o n Bar j o na fo r fle s h

,
-
,
a n d blo o d hath n o t revealed i t unt o thee but my ,
Fathe r which is in heaven An d I say unto .
thee that thou art Peter etc No w wh a t is th e

,
”
, .
,
r o ck ? All h i nges on this IS i t Peter or t he .

,
glorious confess i on o f our Lord s Divin i ty th a t ,

’
,
Peter ha d ju s t made ? We thi nk t hat it is the

l atter .
1 The Greek wor d pe tr o s or Pete r does n ot

.
mean a rock but a stone or li ttle piece o f a r o ck ;

, ,
but pe tr a !o f which o u r Lor d s ays U pon this ,

“
p e tr a I will buil d my does mean a

ro c k N ow a real rock is super i or to a mere
.
s tone or a little p i ece o f the rock

,
A ga i n pe tr os .
,
is a mascul ine noun but pe tra is feminine Ho w

, .
then can Peter be re ferred to as the r o ck on

wh i ch the church is bu i lt ? H e can not be the
rock and yet only a small p i ece o f the rock a t
,
the same ti me .
THE GR E A T U S U RP E R .
9
2 Ch rist is in other pa s sages ex p re s sly d e

.
, ,
c l a re d to be the foun d ation or roc k on which t h e
church is built '

F or othe r foun d ati o n can n o
.
“
ma n l a y th a n that is laid which is C hrist Jesus ”

, .
1 Cor i ii 11 . .
, .
3 A rock implies courage an d immovab ility

.
,
when employe d as a metap hor : but Peter was

proverbially impulsive an d fi ckle T he gate s o f .
hell s ofa r prevailed against him that he denied ,
h i s M a s ter with oaths and curses T hrou g h fear o f .
the Jews he also re fuse d to mingle at Anti och w i th

,
the Genti le conve rt s an d was O penly w i thstoo d t o ,
the face b y Paul Becau se he was to be blam

.
“
”
ed . S e much fo r the rock N ow what about .
,
t h e keys Why our Lord gave them t o Peter

, .
The Bible says so an d that i s enough fo r u s Pro ,
t e st a n t s An d I will give unto the e the k e ys o f

. .
”
the Ki ngdom o f H eaven This is one o f the fe w .
pas sages th a t R o man C ath o lics a r e willing to ad

mit is easy to be un dersto o d But what a re
‘
W
.
,
keys fo r ? h y t o u n l ock a n d open a door i s

,
one the uses to which they ma y be put ; and

of
the O nly other use that I eve r heard o f i s to l oc k

‘
80 T HE MY S T E RY OF I n go U I TY .
it again Well t o which u se d id Peter put the

.
,
k ey s ? H e o pene d the King d o m o f Heaven

“
,
that is the G o spel C hurch or C hri stian d i spen sa

, ,
t i o n t o b Ot h Jew s an d Genti le s He preache d th e

,
.
fir s t s erm o n a nd was the in strument o f maki ng

,
the fir s t c o nverts amo ng eac h With o ne key he .
O pened the Kingd o m O f H eaven to the Jew s an d ,
wi t h the o ther t o the Ge n tile s Thi s w a s a d i s .
'
tinction con ferre d o n Peter it is true ; b u t it w a s

,
nece s s ary that s o me one o f the twelve sh o uld

b eg in the b usine ss o f preaching the G o spe l The .
whole twelve c ould not turn the keys a n d o pen

t h e d o or s
”
Ne vin s o n Pope ry pa g e 45 But
W
. .
,
who has the p o wer o f the key s n o w ? h v no

o ne . W
hat coul d they do with th e key s if they
ha d them ? Peter opene d the d oor an d it i s ,
n ever t o be cl o s e d If a d o or is un l o cked an d
.
opene d a n d is neve r to be shut again who care s

, ,
wha t become s o f the keys ? But Roman Ca t h o

li o s sa y that th o s e key s signi fy the a u t h o rit v con
ferre d on the Church a n d e specially on the ,
P opes The key s have been pa s sed along from

.
one to another until they have reache d o l d Pi u s

,
thing s Whats o ever then the d i sciple s as the

.
, , ,
ins pire d teacher s o f the Chu rc h sh o ul d d eclare ,

~
to be for b i dd en to men on the earth s houl d b e ,
fo rbi dd en b y heaven and what s oever t h ey should

,
permit to b e d o ne shoul d be law ful in th e sight

,
'
.
o f heave n T hi s power however belongs only

.
, ,
to the a p os tle s and no more to Peter than t o all

,
the re st Peter never claime d any supremacy

.
over his brethren H e snfi e re d hi msel f to be

.
O penly rebuked by Paul He wrote two e nc yc l i

.
cal or general epistles ; b ut they bear no re s em

blance t o tho s e i ssue d by Pius I X or any other .
,
’
o f those cla i ming to be S t Peter s succes s or s . .
H e commence s his ep i stle Pete r an Apo s tle “
W
,
”
o f Jesus Chri s t hy what is the matter with
.
,
the man H e claim s no supremacy w h ateve r

over h is b rethren fo r Paul frequently began his
W
,
epistle s i n the s ame way hy doe s he n o t say

.
,
“
Peter Primate o f t h e Apostolical College
, ,
”
Supreme a n d I n falli b le H ea d o f the C hurch .
etc . Th i s would b e somewh at in the style o f a

mo d ern Pope But in the first vers e o f th e fi fth
.
chapter o f his first letter we find a st i ll stronger,

T HE GR E A T U S U RP E R . 83
declarati on : The elders which are among you I

”
e xhort who am al s o an elder
,
I d o not w o nder
.
that while the letters an d speeches o f Pius I X .
ma y be read b y any one t he two letters o f

Peter !Pope Peter they woul d say ) cannot be
, ,
read by a Ro man C athol i c layman without the ,
a d d i t i on of notes and co mments I do not .
wonder that wh i le t he let t ers an d bul ls o f P i us

I X may be understood by anyb o d y that whil e
.
,
pr i vate i nterpretati on is allowe d here th e church ,
and tradition can alone explain the letters o f

p o or Peter Bu t Peter was i nspire d by the H oly
.
Ghost All ad mit this To what conclusion

. .
t h en are we dri ven ? Why that Pete r w i t h in

,
S pirati on is a poorer an d more careless writer

,
than Pius IX a nd all other P o pes are without i t !

W
.
hat an abs u r d an d bla sphemou s doctrine .
We are no t through with this matter o f the

first Pope ye t Pe ter wa s m a rrie d T h i s is bad
. .
fo r a PO pe N ot even a common priest i n the

“
Romi sh Church d are take a wi fe But there can

, .
be no mi s take about the case o f Peter T he .
New Te s tament tell s us that his w i fe s mother ’

wa s very ill a fe v er a nd tha t Je su s r e s to r e d

with ,
h e r to h e a l th If sh e ha d only d ie d there w o uld

.
,
have been no trouble I wonder if Roman .
Cath o lic s do not wish that s he had died .
R oman i st s tell u s tha t Peter di d not live w i th his

wife after he b ecame P o pe : but the Bible give s
,
u s no such intelligence The R oman C ath o lic

.
C hurch tells u s that it is in d e b ted to tra d ition fo r

this preci o u s p i ece o f in formati o n N ow it is .
,
very nice to have tra d it i on to appeal to I t is

.
such a dim s ha d owy thin g that if it were

, ,
as s erted that tra d iti on tea c he s u s that the moon

i s ma d e o f gre e n cheese it would b e di fficult t o
,
d irectly disprove it But we Pr o te stant s are

.
cruel enough to fling tra d ition asi d e and keep ,
the d i scussio n centere d aroun d the Bible Peter .
then was a marrie d man an d l i ve d with h is wi fe

,
like a respectable Chri s tian S om e may b e u n

.
reasona b le eno ugh to think that thi s is much bet

ter than to l i ve a s many o f the Po p e s hav e
,
d o ne in s i n ful relat i on to th e wive s o f o thers

, .
Y ou s e e when a man l eave s the infallible chu rch ,
there i s n o telling what queer notion s he may

THE GR E A T U S U RP ER .
5
entertai n . Again the Pope must res i de at

,
Rome : but we have no good reason to bel i e v e

t hat Peter ever saw t h e city o f Rome The .
Bi b le tell s us n othing about it S o they fall .
back on tr a ditio n ag ain Tradition says that .
Peter was Bi s hop o f Rome an d t hat he d ied in ,
that c i ty I n the wor d s o f an em i nent author

.
,
w e t h ink that : T ra di ti on mu s t be treate d as a

“
n otori o us l i ar to w h om we give no cred i t u nless

, ,
what he s ay s i s confirmed by some one in who m

we can rely If it b e a ffirme d by h i m alone we
.
,
must s uspend our bel i e f unti l we obtain b etter

” ’
test i mo ny . T he story o f Peter s v i s i t to Rome
i s mixe d up with so much abs urd i ty as to utterly
W
,
destroy our faith in the whole transaction e .
are tol d fo r instance that he went th ere ch i efly

, ,
to O ppo s e Simon the magician T hat a t t heir

, .
first meeting S i mon flew up into the a i r i n t h e

, ,
sigh t o f the whole c i ty that the D evil fri ghte ned ,
by the name o f Jesus let h i m fall to the groun d

, ,
by which fall he broke h i s legs and s o on , ,
a d n a us e um T hey w i ll Show you to day i n Rome

.
-
,
th e place wh ere Peter kneeled on the occa s ion ,

an d a stone marked with the bloo d o f S imon ;

We must rece i ve a hundred such stories if we ,
admit Peter to have been at Rome fo r they all re s t

,
on the same author i ty We will conclu de what

.
we have to say on the Supremacy o f Peter b y ,
adducin g s o me more S cripture testimony on the

su bject W
e d eem thi s a better gui d e than tra d i
W
.
t ion . e rea d o f a s t rife among t h e apostles as
to who amon g them should be greate s t And .

“
there was also a str i fe among them which o f ,
them shoul d be accounte d the g reatest An d he .
sai d unto them the kings o f the Gentiles exercise

,
l or d ship over t hem ; and they that exerc ise

authori ty upon th em are calle d bene factors But .
ye shall not be so : but he th at i s greatest among

you let him be as the younger and he that is
, ,
”
ch i e f as he that doth serve ! Luke
. xx i i 24 25 .
, , ,
T hree questions at once occur which we ,
wil l lea v e Roma ni sts to answer Fi rst if o ur.

,
Lord by the figure o f the rock an d keys ha d just

, ,
g i ven the suprem acy to Peter wh y shoul d there

,
be any di spute among the apostles as to who ,
should be chie f? Secon d why did not our Lord

,
THE GR E AT U S U RP E R .
7
a n s wer plainly t hat Peter should b e chie f if such ,
wa s h i s d esign ? Thir d how does the s tatement ,
o f our Lord a s to the lack o f lordsh i p an d

,
a utho ri ty am o ng the disciples agree W i th the ,
claim s o f the Papacy

S everal events in the history o f the early
C hristian C hurch as rec o r d ed i n the Acts o f the
,
Apo s tles are very difficult to understan d if

, ,
Peter was the first Pope .
F irs t Peter in company w i th John was sent to

, ,
t h e newly conve rted C hurch in Samar i a b y the
o ther apostles N ow when the apostles whi ch

.
were at Jerusalem hear d that S amaria ha d re

c e iv e d t h e W
ord o f G od they sen t unto them ,
Peter and John .

”
Acts viii 14 -
.
,
.
Th i s looks b ad fo r
’
Peter s supremacy . He
m u s t ha ve f o rg o tte n a b o u t th e k ey s .
Secon d The C hurch d i d n o t rece i ve w i th u n

,
q u e stione d faith the teach i ng o f Peter .
O n the contrary : When Peter was come up“
t o Jerusalem t hey that were o f the circumc i s i on

,
c onten d e d with h im say i n g Thou wentest in to

,
men uncircumcised and did s t eat w i th them

,
.
B ut Peter rehear se d the matter fr o m the begin

”
n i ng an d ex p oun d e d it by order unt o them
, .
Acts xi 2 4 .
—
,
Thi s looks worse yet T hey
. .
“
co nten d e d with Peter N ow s urely h e will
”
.
, ,
flouri sh the key s an d fall back on in fall i bility

,
.
No t a b it o f it H e doe s n o t even pronounce

.
them An a th em a
“ ”
but re h ear sed the matter
,
“
from the b eginning an d ex p oun d e d it b y order

W
,
”
unto them . ell they certai nly had b etter
,
success than some o f their fellowheretics in a fter -
ages Poor Luther was excommunicated Hus s

W
.
,
wa s b urne d the bod y o f,

i ckli ff w a s dug up
a n d given t o the flame s an d all fo r conten d “
,
in g with tho s e who cla i m to be the literal suc

c e s s o rs o f St Peter . .
Third The fir s t Gene ral C ouncil o f the

,
Church was held at Jerusalem Peter made a .
speec h b u t Ja me s pre sid ed an d pronounce d the

, ,
deci sion . S e e t h e fi fteenth chapter o f Acts .
Verily the B i ble is a hard book to un d e r s ta n d

, ,
if we m u st reconc il e it to the claims an d teach

ings o f R o manism Let us hear the conclus i on
.
o f th e whole matter .
Pete r to Pius I X is exhi b ite d in triumph b y the

.
,
R omi s h C hurch . Thi s l o o /e s very con vi ncing .
If naughty Protestants only wo u l d cease to ques

t ion and e x amine everything and trust to tradi ,
t i on an d the I n falli b le Church — there would be

no more trouble What is the u s e o f in fallibility
.
if you have to st 0p a nd prove everythi ng ? They

might as well be without it Suppo se we lo ok at .
th i s b oa s te d cha i n a little S omeh o w we have .
c ontracted a very ba d hab i t o f l o o ki n g into mat
ters an d things fo r ourselves and feel very little ,
fear o f papal curses O ne thing must be remem

.
bere d a b out th i s chain To be o f a ny value it

'
.
must be complete If a s in g le link i s b roken the

.
,
c hain is o f no more use Well then if Peter was

W
.
, ,
the first P o pe who succee d ed him ?

,
h o was
the secon d Pope ? S t Cl em e n t say some S t

.
, .
Lin u s say others

,
.All start o ff w i th Peter but ,
t h e very next step i s uncertain The fathe rs do .
not a gree about it Tu rt ul l ia n says that S t C le

. .
me nt s ucc e e d ed Peter ; wh i le other fathers b e

stow this honor on St Linus N ow we cannot. .
, ,
a ccord i ng to the Churc h o f Rome explain a ,

THE G R E A T U S U RP E R .
9 l
single pas s age o f the Scripture unles s we have the ,
unan i mous consent o f the holy fathers N ow .

,
s uppo s e we apply the same rule to this papa l
chain I t is a poor rule tha t wil l not work in

.
more than o n e way H ave not things come to a

.
pretty pass T he very first link in this chain is

b roken .N 0 one can tell who w a s the s econd
Pope We might go on and show that the way
.
ro w s da rk e r an d d arke r a s we a d vance ; b u t we
g
will wa i t until they fin d the m i s si ng l i nk . I t
” “
m i ght s eem cruel to keep up the i nve s tigation .
The Church o f Rom e has a d o ctri ne calle d in

”
tention t hat ca sts a still deeper gloom about
,
this chain If in admin i stering a sacrament the

.
.
administrator intends t o bestow the grace i t i s ,
accomplished no matte r what the character o f

,
the recip i ent If on the other hand the a d m i n

.
, ,
is t ra t o r does n o t inten d to bestow t h e grace it is ,
w i thheld i n the s ame strange an d arbitrary man

,
ner N ow suppo se we knew that St Clem ent

.
, .
and n o t S t Linu s o r S t Linu s and not S t Cle

.
,
. .
ment succ e eded St Peter ; suppose the h i s tori c

, .
char a cter o f thi s famous ch a in i s all righ t how ,

are we to know that each rei g ning P o pe was a

l i teral successor o f St Peter ? F or if in or d a i n
.
ing a Pope the admi n i strator d id not in te nd to

,
o rdain t h e matter was not accompli sh e d an d the

, ,
p oor man w a s no PO pe after all Thi s makes .
”
“
con fusion wor se con fo un d ed I t h a s b ee n .
s hown in a previous chapter that the b o aste d
s uccess i on has frequently b een i nterrupte d by
vacations and schi sms I t has frequently been .
decree d by counc i ls that all tho s e or d inati ons

,
a re null and v o i d in wh i ch t h e pe rs o n to be o r
,
z
dained s ecure d h i s elevat i on by fraud or bribery .
No w we kno w that the pope d o m h a s often bee n

,
o b ta i ned by ju s t such un fair means H ere then

.
.
, ,
is another way in wh i ch s ucce ssion has been in

.
t e rr u pt e d Accor d ing to th e R o mish d octrine

.
,
no heretic can tran s m i t episc o pal or pr i estly

power to another T hi s looks b a d fo r the suc
.
ce ss ion a s many o f the P o pes have been hereti c s

, .
Pope Lib re iu s was a n Arian ; Anastasius was a

N e storian ; H onorius w a s a M onothelite ; John
XX taught that the souls o f the p ious when re
.
,
lease d from the bo d y woul d not see God be fore ,

T HE GR E AT U S U RP ER .
93
the Day o f Ju d gment ; J o hn XX III bel i eved .
that the soul d ie d with the bo d y This is a ffi rm

.
e d o f him by the Council o f Const a nce M any .
o f the Popes have been men o f the vilest charac
te r
.
C an we b el i eve that Go d would call s uch men

to pres i de over h i s C hurch and teach his truth ?
,
M ons trou s Roman Cathol i cs t hemselves a d mi t

that one tenth o f the Popes have disgrace d the
-
'
o ffi ce Alas fo r this boaste d cha i n ! I t i s broken

.
at a hundre d po ints an d all covered with ru st and

,
bloo d Well has B i s h op Janes said

. H e who
would trace his ecclesias tical pe d i gre e up to t he
chair o f Peter,must wade through slime a nd blo o d
”
to his very neck . We will now conclude what
we have to sa y o n this branch o f the subject b y ,
summing up our reasons fo r re fusing to b el i eve i n

this boasted succe ssi on .
l .T he l i st o f re i gning Popes presented by

t h e C hurch o f R o me has no hist o ric value .
2 T he s ucces s ion s h a s been interrupted by

.
long an d repeate d vacation s .
3 And also by v i olent an d freque nt schis ms

.
.
9
94 THE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
4 Accor ding to the d octrine o f intenti on

.
“
,
many o f those occupy i n g the papal throne may ,
ne ver have been or d aine d to the o ffice .
5 M any o f th e Popes have b een heret i cs

.
,
an d accor ding to the Romish C hurch no here tic ,
can p roperly transm i t pr i estly or e pi scop al

powe r .
6 M any o f the Pope s have obtained the office

.
by frau d and bribery ; an d this according to th e

,
v iews o f our opponents i s enough to render the i r

,
ord i nation void .
7 M any o f the Popes have been men o f v i le

.
character .
CH APT E R V II .
THE MA S S .
Tea ch ing for do ctrines th e comma ndmen ts of men .

” —MA TT . xv . 9 .
AV I NG
II
cleared away the false rule s o f
fa i th an d practi ce adopte d b y the R omi s h
,
C hurch a nd esta b li she d our right to rea d an d

,
under s tan d the Bible an d arg ue from it alone

,
h a v1ng shown by their own tests that the Rom i sh ,
c o rpo ra t l o n i s not the true Churc h o f Chr i st and ,
d emon s trate d the unrel i able nature o f the i r

b oa sted succession : we are now prepared to
e xamine their fal se teach i ngs and corrupt d o ings
’
i n the ligh t o f Go d s holy word We w i ll begin
.
w i th what they are pleased to ter m the M a s s .
T he wor d i s not i n the Bible Th e y had to .
invent i t If you went to one o f thei r churches

.
when they we re celebratin g mass you woul d ,
hardly th i nk that i t was intende d to represent

9 6 T HE MY S T E RY on INIQUI T Y .
the humble s cene i n the little upper chambe r at

Jeru s alem or i n o th er word s that i t was the
, ,
Lo r d s S uppe r
’
True they have the brea d !in the
.
,
form o f a wa fer b ut we let that pas s ) and the

, ,
w i ne : but here the re s em b lance cea se s They .

,
however do not regar d it as b read an d wine ;

,
but as the b o dy a nd b l o o d s o u l a n d divinity o f

,
the Lord Je su s C hrist This they e a t a n d drink

. .
Surely this must be a P rotestant misre pre se nta

,
t i on N0 here i t i s i n the catechi s m

.
,
Q Wh . at i s the h oly euchar i s t ? A ! t i s a .
sacrament which con ta i ns the b o d y an d blo o d

, ,
soul and di vi n i ty o f Jesu s Chri st under the forms ,
and appearance o f bread and wine .
Q I s i.t not b read and wine w h i ch is first put
upon t he altar fo r the celebration o f mas s ? A .
Y es ; it I S always bread an d w i ne till the pri est

pronounces the wor d s o f consecration d uri ng
mas s
What
.
Q .happens b y these wor d s ? A The .
bread is change d into the bo dy o f Jesus C hrist

’
an d the wine in to his b lood .
Q What .is th i s change called ? A I t is .

call ed the b u rning a r tic l e in the Church o f R ome .
Thousand s have been b u rne d an d torture d

beca u se they woul d not believe it But we are .
not throu g h with the enorm i tie s o f th e mass .
A fter pro fess i ng to turn the bread and W i ne i nto

Jesu s C hr i st !this i s simply a shorter way o f
,
stating it) the pri e st c l aims to offer him up in

sacr i fice This they cal l the un b loo d y s acri fice
.
”
o f t h e ma s s . This is no Pr o te stant s l ander .
Rea d the canon s o f the C ouncil o f Trent on th i s

subject
‘C anon 1 If any one shall s a that a true
.
y ,
and proper s acrifice is no t offered to Go d i n the

ma ss ; or that what is to be o ffere d is nothing
else than g i v i ng C hrist to eat ; let him be
accur se d C a non 2 If any one shall s a y that
. .
,
‘
by the se wor d s Do this fo r a comme moration o f
m e C hri st d i d not appoint h i s apo s tle s pr i ests
’
'
, ,
or di d no t orda i n that they an d othe r pr i es ts

s hould o ffer h i s bo d y an d blood : let him b e
accur s ed .
I s not this i n direct v i olation o f the o ft mad e -
d eclarati o n o f Scripture that Jesus was o n c e

,
T HE MA S S .
99
o ffere d and then completed the work o f human

,
redemption ? Does it not g i ve the l ie to the

dying words o f Jesus H e d eclare d tha t i t wa s
finished Rome says i t has b een going on ever
.
,
since and w i ll continue to the end o f time

,
.
”
Then an u nbl o o dy sacr i fice
“
d oes not a g ree ,
very well with the decl aration o f Scripture th at

”
without she ddi ng o f blood i s no remiss i on .
”
Ca i n offere d an un b loo d y sacrifice b ut there ,
was no divine recognition o f i t He went fo rth .

,
however to slay his brother an d so has Roman

, ,
”
i sm wit h its unbloo d y sacrifice more than
,
“
,
once stai ned i ts altars w i th the blood o f heret i cs .
Accord i ng to the Rom i sh doctrine C hri st h a s

been offered milli ons o f times A little ignorant .
,
pri est can cause the Savi our o f the World to be

o fl e re d whenever he pleases T he sacrifice .
on Calvary is not enough We are pr epared .
now to he a r o f almost any absur di ty in co nnec

t i on with the mass ; and need not wonder to h ear
that Roman Catholi cs worship the consecrate d
wa fer Y es .
,
t h ey actually fall d own and wor
s hi p i t The . pri est l i fts i t up to the peop l e and ,
IO O THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
crie s ,
“
Ec c e Ag n u s De i qu i te l l it m u n di pe c c a ta
,
B e h o l d th e La m b f o G o d, th a t t a k e th a w a y th e s in
”
o
f t h e w o rl d The co
. n gregation fall down and
w o r s hip it crying , M e a c u lpa m e a c u lpa me a
, , ,
m a x im a c u lpa — My j au l t my fa u l t my ve ry g r e a t
, ,
”
f a ul t . Then they walk u p an d e a t it Do the very .
he athen go ahea d o f this ? Di d ever a heathen

make a go d consecrate him wor s hip h i m an d then
, , ,
turn ar o un d an d eat him ? They tell u s that it

i s not the wafer they wor s hip b ut tha t the wafer
W
-
ha s b een turne d int o the bles s e d Saviour e .
have j u s t s hown that this is impos sible I n fact i t .

,
n eeds no s howing There it i s still a wa fer If

.
, .
we c a nn o t b e l i e ve o u r s e n s e s we c a nn o t b e l ie v e,
a n y th in
g T
. hey th i n k that i t is the blesse d
Savi our ; but then that does not m a ke it so o r ,
e xem p t them from the charge o f idolatry All .
idolatry i s fo un d ed o n i gn o rance This moreover .
i s willful ignorance All they have to d o i s to

.
believe the i r sense s .
O ne more folly remains to b e cons i dered i n

relation t o thi s s ubject The C hurc h o f R o me
.
w i thholds the cup from the laity T hi s w a s .

| O2 THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
as performe d in a Romish C hurch We m i ght .
well say ,
“
Lo o k on thi s pic t ure an d then on
,
,
”
that . I woul d love to see t h e man who could
trace any connecti on or resemblance between the
two If th i s was the only c o rruption intro d uced
.
by the R o man C ath o lic C hurch it were eno ugh ,
to sink her forever li ke a mill stone b enea th the

,
-
,
waves o f the se a But we s hall fin d much more

.
to excite holy in d i gna tion ere we finish our inve s

,
t iga tio n o f her abom i nati ons .

C HAP TE R V I II .
C O NF ES SIO N .
Every cr ime ,
as I h a ve st a te d b efor e which th e Ro mish Church
,
s a n c tion s , a n d a l mos t a l l th e immo l it i es of its me mb er e ith er or ig

ra s,
n a te in or h av e so me conn e ction w ith Au r wu l a r Confession .

—HO
”
G AN .
T is a p eculiar feature in the economy of Re

I manism that i t perverts an d mi sg uides ele
,
ments i n human nature that originally are goo d ,
an d beneficial F or instance i t is natural fo r a

:
.
,
soul when bur d ene d beneath a loa d of s i n an d

,
guilt to con fes s this s i n an d misery an d to cry

, ,
”
out ,
Go d be merci ful to me a sinner T he ,
.
Romi sh Church at this po i nt com es i n between ,
the soul an d its Sav i our an d sen d s the trembl i ng .
sinner to the priest to him his S i n s must be con

fesse d and through him pardon mu s t be rece i ve d
, .
All thi s sounds very strange to Protestant ,
ears yet i t i s the unchanging doctr i ne and da i ly

,
‘
,
| O4 THE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI TY .
p ractice o f the R o m a n C atholic C hu rch We .
pre fer to s tate their d o ctrine s in the language o f

their o w n s tan d ar d s that n o ne may ch a rge us
,
-
with un fairne ss o r m i srepresentati on I t is difli .
cult to s tate fairly the view s o f an o pponent ,
unless you d o i t in his own language .
Well here it is : Whoever shall affirm t hat

,
“
the con fe ss i on o f every sin accor d ing to t he cus,
tom s o f the Church i s i mpo ssible an d merely a

, ,
human tra d ition wh i ch the pious should rejec t ;

,
or that all Christians o f bot h sexes are not , ,
boun d to o bserve the same once a year accor d ,
i ng to the c o nst i tution o f the great C ounc i l o f

Lateran ; an d there fo re that the fait hful in
, ,
Chri s t are to b e persuade d not to con fess in Lent ,
C o u nc il of Tre nt de
”
Let h i m b e accur s e d .
cre e s. C anon 8 S ess x i v

, . .
If these con fe ssions were ma d e to Go d we ,
would interpose n o objection !though what man

could recount an d spec ify every s in that he had
ever comm i t te d but they a re ma d e to a priest
W
,
a fellow man a fe l l o w s in n e r
-
,
-
e all a d mit t hat
.
s i n should be con fessed ; b ut common s ense would

THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y
any farther The R o mani st s are welcome to a l l

.
the c o mfo rt an d support they can get fr o m i t I .
know that the R omani s ts quote the well known -
”
pa ssage C o n fe ss your faults one t o an o ther ;
,
“
but thi s im p lie s something mutual I t bears not .
the s malle s t re s emblance to con fes sion a s p ra e

tice d i n the Rom i sh C hurch Doe s t h e priest tu rn
.
aroun d an d con fe ss to h is pari s h i oners ? If not ,
ho w can i t be calle d con fessing one to anothe r “
Auricular con fes sion is an i nsult to C hrist He .
is the great the o n l y M e d iator between G o d a nd

W
,
man . h y then nee d the prie s t inter fere

, ,
Chri s t says to men C ome unto me

,
but R o m e
say s : Y ou must go to the pr i est ; he is to you
”
in th e place o f God We o bject to R o mish
.
con fe ssion t hat it is absurd

,
.
1 have not sinne d a g ainst the priest but against ,
Go d If a ch i ld s h oul d sin against his father

.
,
would he go to a neighbor with his con fe ssion ; or

to m ake the illustrati on stron g er would he g o to ,
a brother who h a d s inne d equally with him sel f?

,
S uppose they con fe s s to each other an d forg i v e ,
each other will that satis fy the father

,
R o man
C ONFE S S ION . 07
ists tell us that partie s must repent b e fo re they

can o b t ain ab s ol u ti o n ; that the priest cannot fo r
give them until they do repent ; well if they sin ,
c e re l y re p ent will n ot Go d forgive them and

, ,
then w h o care s whether the pri est forgives or

not ? At the very best auri cul ar con fess i on i s ,
u s eless F acts w i th which every one ough t to

”
.
,
be acqua i nted compel us to urge another o b j e c

,
tion a gainst con fession It is imm o r a l in i ts te n

.
de n c i e s a n d r es u l ts As Romanists stoutly d eny

.
this and urge the contrary we will take spec i al

, ,
pains to p rove it I t pro d uces i mmoral i ty both

.
in the con fe ssor and i n the confessed I t pro .
duces i mmorality in the con fes s or The min d o f .
th e priest becomes a S ink fo r the recept i on and
retenti on o f all sorts o f moral corru p t i on H e .
mu s t li sten month after month an d year a fter ,
year to the mo s t d isgu s ting details o f all sorts o f

,
vice . O l d men an d ch i l d ren young men and ,
maidens must pour i nto h is attentive ear a reci

, ,
tal o f their thoughts de sire s and mo st secret , ,
sin s Thi s surely cannot have a very refining

, , ,
or sancti fy i ng influence .
Then the se c ret s o f the con fe ssi o nal mu s t ne v e r

be divulge d The p riest mu s t carry them fo r
.
ever in h is o w n b o s om Rather t han reveal any .
thin g ma d e kn o wn in con fe ssion he mu st st e e p to ,
l v ing and pe rjury Here is th e proo f : Peter

.
De n in h is The o l o gy whic h is the cla s s b o ok in

, ,
-
M aynooth C ollege in I relan d and in other Ro , ,
mish s chool s has the following o n the d uty o f

, ,
c o n fe s sions in th i s re Spe c t : C a n a c a s e b e g ive n

,
in whic h i t is l a wfu l to b re a k the

f s e c r e cy o th e
c o n e s s io n
f 7 Answe r: N one can be g i ven ; a l
though the li fe or salvation o f a man or the ,
d e s truction o f the commonwealth woul d depen d

W
,
thereon . h a t th e n o ug h t a c o nfe s s o r to a ns w e r
.
,
wh e n in te r r og a te d re spe c ting a ny tru th whic h h e
kn o w s o nl y f by A n s wer
s a cr a m e n ta l c o n e s s io n
H e ought to answe r that he does not knowit ; r
an d if nece ssary to confirm t hat b y an o ath

, , .
O bj . It is not l a wfu l to l i e in a ny c a s e b u t th e
f
c o n e s sor l ie s , b e c a u s e h e kn o ws th e t ru th th e r e
he fi
o ug h t n o t rm by th tha t whic h
fo re , to c on a n oa
i s n o t tr u e
/
Ans The minor pre po sitio n is d e

. .
nied ; b ecau se s uch con fe ss o r is inter ro gate d as a

“ 0 THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
a man o f fle sh an d b loo d an d pa ssion

, , He r .
warm breath is upon his cheek I nto his ears .
she pour s her most secret thoughts a nd desires .
No thing m u s t b e c o n c e a l e d C o ul d the d evil .
him sel f invent anythin g b etter su i ted t o ruin

both soul and b o d y ? History is not silent on
this su bject : I n S pain Pope Paul I V uttere d
“
,
.
h is b ull against the crime o f s olicita n t s o r o f ,
tho s e prie s ts who in the act o f con fe ssi o n s o lici t

,
t h e pers o n con fess i ng to in d ecent acts When .
thi s bull w a s introduced into Spa i n every person ,
who ha d been solicited wa s instructe d within ,
thir t y d ays t o rep o rt to the inqu i sitions 80

, .
great w a s the nu mber o f female s who went to the

palace o f the inqu i sitor i n the city o f S eville only ,
to reveal the c o n d uct o f the i r i n famous c o nfe s

sor s that twenty notari e s a n d as many i nquis i tors
, , ,
were appointe d t o n o te d own the i r several info r

mation s But t hese be i ng fo un d i nsuffi cient sev
.
,
eral perio d s o f th i r t y d a ys w a s app o i nte d an d ,
the matter was finally given up an d the whole ,
matter termin ate d where it began ”

El l io tt o n .
R o m a nis m , Vo l . II , pa g e 3 23
. .
C ONFE S S ION .
T his i s a p i cture o f R omi s h mo rality as d evel

oped in the con fessional that may well make ,
every lover o f his lan d an d his kin d trem b le with

ala rm .
I will conclude th i s b ranch o f my subj ect by

giving some extracts from the wr i tings o f the
Rev L J N olan once a pop i s h priest but now
. . .
, ,
a Protestant min i ster : During the la st three “
years th at I disc h arged t h e d uties o f a R omish

cler g yman my heart o ften s huddered at the i d ea
,
o f enteri ng the con fes sional The t hought s o f .
the many cr i mes I had to hear ; the growing

‘
d oubt upon my ml n d that con fession wa s a nerro

n e o u s doctrine that i t tende d more to har d e n
,
t han t o recla i m t he heart an d th at through i t ,
1 shoul d be rendere d i nstrumen tal in m i n i ster i ng

destruction to sou l s were o ften considerat i ons to
,
me in the hour s o f my reflection The recit a ls o f .
t h e mur d erous acts I had o ften heard through
th i s in i quitous tr i bunal ha d cost me many a rest

,
less n ight and are still fixed wi t h horror i n my

,
memory But the m ost aw ful o f all considera

.
ti on i s th i s that through th e con fessional I had

,
THE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
b ee n freque ntly a
ppf
r i se d o in te n de d a s s a ss in a
tio ns an d m o s t d ia b olical con spiracies an d s till ,
from the un g o d ly inj unction s o f s ecrecy in the

Romi sh cree d lest a s Peter Den says the con
, ,
‘
,
fe s sio n a l sh o ul d become o d i o us I d are d n o t g i ve

,
’
the s lighte s t inti mati o n to the marke d o u t victim s -
o f s laughter . But thou g h my heart now trem

ble s at th e recollections o f the mur d erou s act s ,
still d uty obliges me to procee d and enumerate

one or two instances o f t he cases allude d to .
The fir st is t he ca s e o f a person who w a s bar b ar

o u sl y mur d ere d and with who s e inten d e d assa s
,
s in a t io n I b ecame acquainte d at con fe s s ion O ne .
o f t h e five conspirator s all o f wh o m were s worn to

!
comm i t the horr i d d eed ) broached to me the
,
b l oo d y con spiracy in t h e confessional I im .
pl e re d him to de si st from his intentions o f b e c o m

ing a n accompl i ce i n so d iabolica l a d e si gn but
ala s ! all advice was u seless no d i s s ua sion could

!
prevail ; his dete rmination was fix e d an d his only ,
reason fo r hav i ng d iscl o se d the aw ful machina

tion to his con fe ssor s eemed to have ori gi nate d
,
from a h ope th a t his w ic ke d de s ig n wou l d b e h a l

“ 4 THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
b i shops an almost absolute control over the peo

ple I t is the chain that binds them to t h e throne
.
o f papacy . F r o m early childhood their most ,
secret thoughts have b een confi d ed to the priests ,
the whole hi s tory o f their lives have been com

mit te d to them an d s hall they d are to rebel ?
,
M ay God in h i s mercy soon remove thi s great

plague spot from American soil
- .
C HAPT E R I X .
P UR GAT O RY .
—L U K E
\
T
o-day thou sha l t b e with me in pa ra di se .
”
xxiii .
, 43 .
Th e s ain t s w h o die of C h ri st po ss e ss d,
’
En t e r in t o im m e di a t e re s t
Fo r t h e m no fu r th e r t e s t re m a in s,
Of pu rgi n g fi r e s a nd r
t o t u r in g p ain s .
OU will not fi nd the wor d purgatory i n “
t h e B i ble R ome cannot express her doc

.
trines an d cu s toms in scriptural language S h e .
has been compe l le d to invent a terminology o f

h e r own M ass rosary pope e xtreme un ction
.
, , , ,
chrism acolyte and a host o f other words

, , ,
very fam ili ar to Romi sh ears may be found in a ,
di ctionary but not in the B i ble A form o f

, .
“
”
s ound words is o f great value b ut nevertheless , ,
if th e th i ngs themselves could only be found in

T HE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
W
the ord o f G o d we woul d not o bject so strongly
,
to the use o f new terms But the wor s t o f it i s

.
,
that the d octrine s an d cu stom s sig ni fie d by the se

wor d s canno t b e foun d in the B ible Thu s it is
,
.
with the doc t rine o f p urgato ry T he Bible does .
n o t give it the fainte s t sha d ow o f su p p o rt But .
what is this purgatory a b out which we hear so

,
much from R omanists an d o f wh i ch we can fin d

,
no trace in t h e Bi b le ?
I t is not Heaven I t is not H ell They do
’
. .
not mean by it the d octrine o f the interme diate

,
s tate ,
in which so many w orthy Pr o testants
b elieve the p lace where d ep a rte d Spirit s wait
,
the re surrecti on fr o m t h e d ea d an d the great d ay

,
o f ju d gme n t T hey b elieve in purgatory a s a

.
place w here the souls o f departe d R o man C ath

e li e s go to be pur i fie d and prepare d fo r H eaven .
I t is n o t fo r Protestants They mu st go direct

.
to H ell It is a place o f l it e ra l fi r e o f fe a rful

.
,
p a in
. Roman C atholic writer s make its t o rments
as g reat an d terrible as are tho se o f H ell But .
then you ma y e scape from purg a tory while in ,
Hell there g leams no h e pe This seems to be .

IS T HE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
not hav i n g fully s ati sfie d fo r the puni shment d ue

to their mor t al sin s A To purga to ry till they
. .
,
h ave made full sati sfaction fo r them an d then to

'
H eaven
N ow what fo un d ation h a s this d i vi si o n o f sins
int o m o r tal and v en i al sin s thi s i d ea o f mak i ng ,
s ati sfaction fo r s in b y su ffer i ng i n the worl d to
come in the word o f God ? Simply none what

,
ever S till the very Dev i l him sel f can quote

.
,
Scripture an d we do not won d er when we le a rn

, ,
that Romani s ts make a faint S how o f de fen di ng

“
their favor i te doctrine fr o m the Bible I t is b ut .
natural that they shoul d Protestant teaching .
has inspire d so much love and reverence fo r the

B i ble that they must fo r the sake o f public
,
O pini o n make s ome show o f proving their do e

,
trines by it E ven tra d ition an d the fa t hers are

.
not quite enough So they g i ve u s a fe w pas.
sages o f Scripture T hey re fer to 1 Cor iii 13

. . .
, ,
14 1 5
,
E ve ry man s work shall be ma d e man i
.
“ ’
fest fo r the day s h all declare it because it s h all

, ,
be reve ale d by fire : an d the fire shall try every

man s work o f what sort it i s If any man s
’
,
.
’
P U RGAT O RY .
work abi d e which he hath b uilt thereon he sh a l l ,
receive a rewar d If any man s work shall b e.

’
burne d he sh all su ffer loss : b ut he himself shall

b e save d yet so a s b y fire
,
.
Thi s fire h o wever is not a s the fire o f purga

, ,
t ory is supposed to be to puri fy men s souls but

’
, ,
to try e ve ry m a n s w o rk Eve ry m a n s w o rk is
’
.
’
t o be trie d : but purgatory is only gotten up fo r
t h e benefit o f good Roman Cathol i c s Poor .
Protesta n ts have no such chance o f salvati on

a ft er d eath I t d oes not sa y that persons are
.
saved by fire but only so a s b y fi r e that is

,
— , ,
with great diflic ul t y By care fully rea di ng the .
t ext and context any one may understand this,
beautiful pa ssage o f Scripture A goo d man .

“
,
w h o on the precious fo un d at i on o f Jesus Chr i st

, ,
bu i l d s worthle s s material s such as wood hay , , ,
stub b le , s h all suffer the lo s s o f h is works yet he ,
h i msel f s hall be save d though with g reat d i th ,
culty s o a s by fi re
,
— Ne v ins o n Pope ry pa g e 155
.
’
.
, .
M att v 25 26 is urge d in favor o f purgato

. .
, , ,
ry “
Agre e wi t h thine a d ver s ary q uickly whil s t ,
thou art i n t he way w i th hi m ; lest at any t ime

l 2O THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
t he a d ver s ar y d eli v e r thee to the ju d ge a n d th e ,
ju dg e d eliver thee to the offi c er an d t he n b e c a s t,
in to p ri s on V eri ly I sa y u nto thee t h o u s hal t

.
, ,
by no mean s c o me o ut thence till th o u ha s t pai d

the utterm o s t farthi ng .
Thi s tex t ha s ab o ut as much t o do wi t h p urga

t o ry a s t he man in the m o on To pre sent a clear .
expositi on o f it is the very b e st way to re fute

the fal se doctrine th at h a s been foun d ed up o n it
W
.
T his I will do by quoti ng from he do n s inval ’
u a hl e commentary : “
The who le is a symbolical
repre s entat i on o f divine ju d gment a s is shown ,
b y the next verse in which ju stice without me rcy

,
is infle x ib l y d eclare d .T he A dve rs a ry s tan d s

fo r o u r offended Go d Q u
. i c kl y an d th e w a y
s tand fo r the brie f perio d o f our proba t ion The .
Ju dg e i s the S o n o f M an at his coming The afi .
c e r is the ju d ic i al a n g el M att xxv 3 1 The

. . .
, .
r is o n is He l l S enti m ent : repair every wr o n g

p .
be fore divine justi ce inflict puni shment to the

”
utm o s t. I s no t this exp o si ti on c l ear simple , ,
b eauti ful To wh a t straits must men be reduced

when they pre ss this text into the servi ce o f
| 22 THE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
T hird that the p er s on s to whom thi s preachin g

,
w a s sent was the ante d iluvian s

,
F o urth that .
,
the pris o n wa s the eart h on which they then

l i ve d S o clear is it that thi s text g i ve s n o sup
.
,
.
p o rt to the doctrine o f purgatory that a num b er ,
o f R o man C atholic writers have them s elve s given
i t up e
. W
ha v e now examine d the texts o f
S cr i pture put forth in favor o f thi s horrid doc
trine Let us look fo r a mom ent at the clear
.
Scrip ture t e s timo ny a g ainst i t I hardly k now .
where to begin s o numerous are the d eclarations

,
o f S cripture that bear again s t the exi s tence o f a
purgat o ry fo r de p arte d s pi rit s R emem be r that .

,
th i s purgatory is fo r Go d s chil d ren The b lood ’

.
o f C hri st is not enough Sin mu s t be b u rnt o ut

.
i n fire not wa s he d away in Jesu s b loo d Paul

,
’
.
sai d : I am in a strait betwixt two having a de ,
sire t o depa rt an d be with C hri st which is bet ,
ter.
”
Phil i 23 Th i s doe s n o t look much a s
. .
,
.
thou g h he expecte d to ste p in purgatory

W
.
“
e kno w that if our earthly house o f th i s
ta b ernacle were d i ssolved we have a build ing o f ,
Go d a hou s e not made with han d s eternal in th e

, ,
P U RGAT O RY . | 23
'
heaven s . Cor v 1 S omehow thi s pa s

2 . .
,
.
sage does n o t look much in the d irec tion o f pur
g a t o r
y . I n an o ther place we are tol d that to be
”
a b sen t from the b o d y is to b e present with
th e Lor d Is th e Lo r d in pu rg a t o ry A v e l ce
from heaven d eclares that the dead in the Lor d
are blesse d an d that they rest from their la
,
“
”
bours . What k i n d o f rest coul d a person ob
tain if racke d by the pai n s o f purgatory ? This
i nquiry might be conti nue d much lo nger b ut ,
enough h a s been p re s ented t o S how that the Re

mish fiction o f purgat o ry has no foun d ation in
Scripture Prayers fo r the dead grow out o f
.
the d octrine o f purgatory Th i s is one o f the .
ways by which the unhappy souls escape If .
they are poor and have n o rich friends to pay fo r

,
mas se s an d prayers th ey mus t remain i n purga

,
tory un til they suffer e nough to atone fo r t heir

s ins But if they have r i ch fr i ends to s e e that
.
masse s are s ai d fo r th e repose o f the i r souls

“ ”
,
their d eparture may be hastened T he prie s ts .
seem to know all about the state o f departe d souls .
E lse why do they say masses fo r the repose o f a

| 24 T HE MY S T E RY or INIQUI T Y .
d eparte d soul fo r a sea so n an d then give the ,
matter u p ? If the s oul is n o t in purgatory ,
the s e prayer s are useles s an d had b etter b e ,
offered in behal f o f some o ne el se And why d o .
they cea se sayin g mas se s unles s they kn o w that

,
the soul is li b erated ? To do th is would b e

cruel Y et ma ss es are n o t s ai d fo r e ver fo r the
.
repose o f a s oul S ome only have a mas s sa id at

.
the funeral O thers again keep it up fo r s everal

.
, ,
months or a year
,
All thi s s eem s strange
. .
Surely the pri est s mu s t know when t o s top when

, ,
the so ul is li b erate d But the n , h ow do the y

.
,
kn o w Would it not b e aw ful if they stopped

too soon an d le ft the s o ul in torment
,
Another
curiou s thing about t hese prayers fo r the d ea d is ,
that they wait so long sometimes They d o not , .
keep rig ht at it until the work is done Some

, .
time s m o nth s an d even years in t ervene b etween

, ,
the mas s es .
I t may be very nice fo r fr iend s o n earth to

have th i ngs d one in this qu i et genteel way ; b ut ,
how abou t the p o or soul in purgatory ? I think

that I should want them to hurry up .
l 26 T HE MY S T E RY or INIQUI T Y .
of
f, an d to reach t hem he must wa d e t hrough
smoke an d fla me N o wonder that we never
.
hear o f a R oman Cathol i c d y i ng s ho u ting ha ppy !

“
De ath fo r h i m ha s a fear ful sting an d the grave ,
is robe d in blackness H ow d i fferent when a .
Christian dies H is lips ma y b e wet w i th the

.
de w o f the vale an d h i s cold che ek s kisse d by

,
the S pray o f Jordan ; yet all is well Jesus .
wa i ts to receive h i m an d the host s o f glory e n

,
camp about his dying pillow .
Su r e th e l a st e n d
O f th e go o d m a n is pe a ce . Ho w cal m hi s e xit
Nigh t de WS fa l l n o t m o r e cal m l y o n t h e gr o u n d ,
No r w e ary Wo rn o u t Win ds e xp ire so so ft

,
- ”
.
I t has o ften been my priv i lege to stan d by t h e

bed S i d e
-
of d epar t i n g saints and w i tn es s the ,
c a l mn e s s a n d p eace wi t h wh i ch they looke d fo r
ward to the l ife b eyon d .
O ! Rome thou hast s h ut out the li g ht o f Beth

l e h e m s star and replace d t h e skeleton cro wn on
’
,
Death s d ark b row We ma y alm o st sa y o f thee

’
.
,
a s the legends o f th e Rabbi say o f C ain that the ,
flowers wither at thy touch an d the earth turns ,

P U RGAT O RY . 12 7
black b eneath thy trea d The difi e re nc e between

.
thy teach i ng an d the teaching o f the Bibl e i s best

shown in the hour o f d eath I hope the rea d er .
will trust to C hrist and not to R ome The pr ies t

,
.
may s tan d at your dying be d w i t h hallowe d oil , ,
hol y water cruci fix an d bea d s ; yet these w i ll

,
giv e your soul no peace an d comfort But Jesu s .
will make you r d eath a transit i on to joys nu

known .
W ell h a S the poet sa id

Oh ch an g e oh , w o n d ro us ch an ge !
B u r St a re th e pr iso n b a rs
T h is m o m en t t h er e , s o l o w ,
So a n g o n iz e d, a n d now
Be y o n d t h e st a rs .
O ch an ge st u p e n d o u s c h an g e
Th e re l ie s t h e s o u l l e s s cl o d,
Th e s u n e t e rn al b r e ak s
Th e n e w i m m o r t a l wak e s
W ake s wit h h i s Go d .
C HAPT E R X .
TO WH O M S H A LL WE P R AY ?
Le t y o u r r equ es ts be ma de know n u n to God .

” —P HI L . iv .
, 6 .
Pray e r i s t h e Ch rist i an s v it
’
a l b reath ,
Th e C h ri s t ia n ’
s n at i ve a ir
Hi s w a t c h wo r d a t t h e g a t e s o f d e a th ,
He en t ers H e av e n b y p r ay er .
Montgome ry .
RA YE R is the great duty o f the C hri s t i an

li fe N o man can lea d a p i ou s li fe w i thout
.
praying any more than he coul d su stain physical

,
li fe w i th o ut eating Prayer is the first i ndica

.
t i on o f the ne w li fe the first act o f the awakened

,
soul : while the la s t words o f the expiring s aint

are o ften breathe d in prayer Prayer is a .
gol d en threa d woven b y the shuttle o f faith all

, ,
through the warp an d woo f o f the C hristian li fe .
T he question then to whom Shall we pray

,
is
one o f great i mportance A m i stake he re may .
| 3 0 THE MYS T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
pa troness a n d prote ctre ss may watc h over us ,
writing t o you an d lea d o u r min d b y her

, ,
heaven l y i nfluence to th o se counsel s which may

,
prove most s alutary to C hri st s flo c k ’

.
’
Towar d the conclu sion o f the same letter h e

s ay s : But that all may have a succes sful and
“
happy i ss ue let u s raise our eyes to the most

,
b le ss e d V i rgin M ary who al o ne destroys h e re

,
S ie S who is ou r greatest hope ye a the e ntire

, , ,
”
gr o und O f our hop e .
T his is high praise to bes tow on a creature .
She !the Virgi n M ary ) is our only h e pe its

W
,
”
“
entire groun d hat room is le ft fo r Jesus
.
,
whom Protestants who have no infallible pope

,
to guide them are wont to regar d as the g reat

W
,
foun dation o f a l l their hope s ? e will now
gi ve the Litany o f the B lesse d V irgin

“ ”
a ,
.
r i gmar o le o f nonsense and b lasphemy t o be ,
foun d i n nearly all Romi s h b o o ks o f d evotion
”
THE L ITANY O F THE BL ES S ED vi R Gi N .
We fly to thy patronage O holy mother o f

“
,
G o d ! Desp i se not our peti tions in our n e c e s

To WHOM S H ALL W E PRAY ? I3 !
s it i es b ut d eliver u s fro m a l l dangers 0 ev e r

, ,
gloriou s an d ble ss ed virgin !

Lor d have mercy on us .
C hr i s t ! have mercy o n us .
Lor d ! have mercy on us .
Chr i st ! h ear us C hrist ! graci ously hear us

“
. .
God the F ather o f H ea v en h a ve me rcy o n u s , .
God the S on Redeemer o f th e world ha ve

, ,
me r cy o n us .
H oly T ri n i ty one God h a ve me rc y

, , on u s .
H oly M ary ,
H oly moth er o f God ,
Ho l y v irgin o f v i rgi ns ,
M other O f C hrist ,
M o the r o f d i vine grace ,
M other most pure ,
M other mo s t chaste ,
M other u n de fi l e d ,
M other unviolate d ,
M other mos t am i able ,

M other mo st adm i rable ,
M other o f o u r Creator ,
M other o f our Redee me r ,

Virgin m o st pru d ent

Virgin mo s t venerable ,
Virg in m o st power ful ,
Virgin m o s t renowned ,
Virgin mo st merc i ful ,
M other most faith ful ,
M irror o f ju stice ,
S eat o f Wi s d o m ,
Cause o f our joy ,
Spiritua l ve ssel ,
Ves s el o f honour ,
Vessel o f s i ngula r d evot i on ,
Mysti cal rose ,
T o wer o f ivory ,
H o u se o f gold ,
Ark o f the covenant ,
Gate o f Heaven ,
M orn ing star ,
H ealth o f the weak ,
Re fuge o f s i nners ,
Com forter o f the a flflic te d ,
H elp o f Chri sti ans ,
Q uee n o f angels ,
| 34 T HE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
that H e i s the only way o f entrance the one great ,
door .
S he is the M orning S tar not C hr i st as we , ,
read in R evelation s I am th e bright and

.
“
morn i ng — Rev xxii 16 She is the . .

, .
”
“
H ealth o f the weak not C hr i st the Great , ,
”
Physician S he is the R e fuge o f sinner s the
.
“
,
”
C om forter o f t he a fflicted the H elp o f Chris ,
”
t ians I s not th i s gross i dolatry pure c r e a tu r e
.
,
w orship ?
I t i s true they use Pray fo r us ; the form , “
but then they mean be our advocate i nte rcede

, , , ,
fo r us ; and t hey do this because o f her s upposed

mer i ts When we ask fo r the prayers o f our
.
l i v ing frie nds we make no mention o f a d vocacy

,
or merits We th i nk a fter all that i t i s most

.
, ,
e ffectual when we pray fo r ourselv e s So their

,
.
ple a will not ho l d goo d T hey cannot exonerate .
themselves from the charge o f i d o latry T hey .
degrade the L ord Jesus by introduci ng a new

mediator and i ntercessor But the Bible d eclares .
that T h e re i s one God and o ne med i ator b e

,
“
,
T O WHOM S H ALL WE PRA Y ?
tween Go d and men the man C hrist Jesus , .
1 Tim ii 8
. .
,
.
But they are not content with appealing to the

Virgin M ary They want a ny quant i ty o f
.
”
“
string s to their b o w If one s aint is well a .
,
hun d re d saints are better S o they have a L i t .
any o f Saints
A wh o le string o f saints are invite d to act
as our mediators T here seems to b e har d ly
.
any room fo r Christ whatever Y et the Bible .
declares that he is the o n l y M e dia tor I s i t not .

,
then gross and sh a meles s i d ol a try fo r those call

, ,
i ng themselve s C h r i stians thus to invoke the ,
whole host o f heaven ? But they g i ve the Virgin

M ary t he pre em inence To her t hey not onl y
-
.
pray but s ing Y e s they s i ng to he r T he i r

, .
,
.
t emple s resoun d w i th her song s o f praise .
F r o m t he 3 3 4th page o f the Roman M issal I ,
subjoin a Specimen o f th i s fo rm o f i dolatry
O , hol ym o th e r o f o u r Go d !
To t h e e fo r h e l p w e fly
D e sp ise not th is ou r hum b l e pray er ,
Bu t a ll ou r w an t s s ppl y u .
l g6 T HE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
O gl o rio u s Virgin e v er b l e st , ,
D e fe n d u s fro m o u r fe e s ;
Fro m t h r eat e n in g d an ger se t u s free ,
An d t e rm in at e our wo es .
”
According to this hym n the Virgin M ary is ,
th e source to which they fly fo r help She sup .
plies the i r wants protects them from their e nem i es

, ,
a n d t erminates their sorrow s I am glad that I .
a m not a R o man Cathol i c H ere is ano t her o f .
the i r hymns to the Virgi n

AVE MA R I S S T ELLA .
H ail t h o u r e spl e n de n t st ar
,
Wh ic h sh in e th o e r t h e m ain ’
Bl e st m o th e r of our Go d,
e ver Vir gin Q e e n
An d u .
H ail h appy g at f b l i
, e o ss ,
Gree t e d b y G b rie l s to n g e
a
’
u
Nego tia te ou r p ea c e,
And ca ncel Eve s wrong ’
.
Loosen th e s inn er ’
s b on ds ,
Al l e v il s d r iv e a w ay ;
B r n g l ig h t
i u n to t h e b l in d ,
An d fo r all gra c e s p ray .
E xert th e m o th e r s care ’
,
An d u s t h y ch il d en o w n r
To Him n ve y o p ay er
W
co ur r ,
ho ch o s e t o b e th y So n .
of Jesus and i s now in Heaven But is that a ny

,
.
reaso n why we should wo rship he r ? IS it any

reason why we s houl d pray to he r s ing to ,
her d e dicate c h urches to her an d a d ore h e r

.
,
i mages a n d p ictures ? T h i s creature worship ,
this adoratio n o f Mary an d the saints ru n s all ,
through t heir preachi ng the i r praye r books

, ,
the i r newspapers The worsh ip o f the creature

.
has s u pplante d the worsh ip o f the Creator .
Le t us see how th i s worsh i p o f and prayi ng to ,
S a i nts looks in the l i ght o f S cripture

,
Th i s i s .
the great te s t Be fo re it the idolatry a nd super

.
s tit io n o f Rome melt away like d ew on the moun
ta ins We have alrea d y s een that we are i nv i ted

.
to make our want s k nown u nto G o d an d that ,
there can be o nly one me diator between him and

”
us “
t he man C h r i st Je su s Praye r is most
.
ce rta i nly one method o f worship S i nging i s .
anothe r N ow th e R oman i sts pray an d S ing to

.
,
Mary a nd the saints ; hence they worship th e m .
H ow this does agree with the solemn declaratio n ,
T hou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him

-
,
”
only shalt thou serve M att i v 10
. . .
, .
. T O WHOM S H AL L W E PRA Y ? I39
H e re is a not h er passage t h at ou g ht to make

R o man i st s trem b le w i th fear an d gu i lt : Le t no “
man b eguile yo u o f your rewar d i n a voluntary

humi l i t y and wor sh i pping o f angels i ntru d i n g ,
i nto those thin g s which he hath not seen vai nly ,
”
pu lle d up by his fleshy mind C ol i i 18
. . .
,
.
E lijah di d not seem to be acquainted w i th

the Rom i sh ways fo r he sai d to Elisha
,
Ask ,
“
what I S hall do fo r thee be fore I be taken aw a y

from thee .
”
K i ngs ii .
,
If E lijah expected to b e praye d to in a future

state what wa s the nee d o f th is admoniti on ?
,
P e te r !Roman i sts regar d h i m as their F irst Pope ) ,
s eems to hav e been a b i t o f a Protestant ; fo r

whe n C ornelius fell down at his feet an d w o n ,
shippe d him Peter ra i sed him up an d sai d

, ,
“
Stand up ; I mysel f am a ma n T his is not
.
”
much a fter the ma nner o f modern Po p es

N ow if we are no t to wo rship saints when on
,
the eart h why s hould we worship them w hen

,
taken to H eaven ? But we have a c a se i n t h e

B i ble where the worsh i p o f a saint in H eaven
was directly rebuke d an d forb i d d en John the .
,
| 4O THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
bel ove d di s cip l e fell d o wn to a d orn t h e angel

,
show i n g unt o him the heavenly glory ; but he

sai d unto him S e e th o u do it no t ; I am thy fe l
,
low servant and o f thy brethren that have the

-
,
te stimony o f J esu s ; wo r shi p Go d Re v xix 10 .

”
. .
,
.
If all the an g els and s aint s feel and act like

thi s o ne hal f o f th e p raying d one in R oman
,
-
C athol i c C hurches ha d much b etter b e omitted .
As fo r the wor shi p o f M ary C hrist treated her ,
"
with k i ndnes s an d re spect l o v e d he r a s his ,
mother but ha s never in d icate d that s h e should

,
be worshippe d or praye d to never announce d ,
he r as the Q ueen o f Heaven or as a mediator ,
bet ween him and us So fa r from thi s he seems

.
,
t o have guarde d his fo llowe rs aga i nst exces si ve
reve rence fo r her .
“
O ne s ai d unto him Behold thy mother and ,
t hy b rethren stan d wit h out d esiring to S peak ,
with thee But he an s were d an d said unt o them

.
that told him Who is my mother a n d who a re

,
my brethren ? An d b e s tretche d forth his hand

t o war d s his d isci p les an d s ai d : Behold my
,
mother an d my brethren ! F or w hosoeve r shall

142 T HE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI TY .
the Lamb in the midst o f the throne but makes

‘
n o mention o f M ary whom Roman i sts regar d as

,
’
hea v en s great queen T his wa s certa i nly a ve ry
.
grave e missio n .
T he rea d er may now see the great d i ffe rence

between Romanism and Protestantism on th e sub
j e c t o f prayer We. have only the gr e at and t h e
glorious God to pray to a nd feel that we nee d,
no other refuge Romanists direct a great part

.
o f their praying to M ary to t h e sa i nts an d

,
angels We only pray to Go d becau se we hav e

.
,
no Scriptural warrant fo r pray i ng to any othe r .
Be ing This groun d has been already g one over

. .
1 w i ll only a d d that we have one ins tance in th e

New T estament o f praying to saints T he r i c h .
man praye d i n hell but his prayer was n e v e r

,
answe re d T he Roman Cathol i cs are welcome

.
to get all the a id they can from this Si ngle case

o f praying to sa ints We shoul d hardly know
.
how to p ray to t h e saints even if we w i she d to

, ,
If we S houl d pray to th em i n a general way it ,
woul d be a random sort o f work We fear th at .
we woul d n ot gain m uc h by the O pe rati on as i t ,

To W HOM S H A L L W E PR A Y ? | 43
migh t be w i th them as it i s with their brethren

on earth that what is e v erybo d y s bus i ness
,
’
,
”
s oon comes to be re g ar d e d as nobody s busin ess
’
.
If we do not pray in th i s general manner but ,
s elect i nd i v id ual saints we ought to k now just

,
w h o are i n he aven and who are n o t But this

.
'
w e do not know n o r will we know who are i n

,
h e aven unti l we get there ourselves . God alone

can l ook down into the h uman heart an d tel l ,
wh o a re t ruly lovin g an d serv i ng him N ow .

,
suppose we shoul d make a mistake and p ray to ,
s ome on e not in heaven o f what ava i l W ould o ur

‘
p rayers be ? But wa ivi ng this d i ffi culty how ,
a re we to know that the sa i nt to w h om we pray
h ears us ? T he saint s are not omn i present The .
di stance b etween t h e m a nd us i s very great an d ,
how do we know that a saint can hear a thousan d

prayers a d dre s se d to him from a thousand parts
,
o f the earth at the same t i me ? Bes i des all th i s ,
praying to saints is a v ery roundabout way o f

getti ng access to ou r hea ve nly F athe r . hy not W
g o at once to God ? H e lo v es to have us com e
I44 T HE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI TY .
to h i m invites an d even urge s us to come I n

,
.
fact we have a s ta n ding invita tio n

W
.
,
h y n o t then impr o ve it ? F or these an d

, ,
many other rea s o ns we pre fer to pray t o Go d

only We l o ve the saints an d angel s We love
. .
to t hink o f the ti me when we may fell o w shi p

with them b ut we d o not pr a y to them We do
, .
not w o rship them We n ever worshippe d t hem

.
when on the e arth an d do no t feel i ncl i ned to

W
,
wor sh i p them no w that they are i n heaven e .
have never felt any lo ss fr o m thi s acti on .
We have always foun d Go d an all suffic ie nt -
F rien d . W
e n e ver expec t to exhau s t t h e fountain
o f D i v i ne goodness We have yet to learn that

.
Romanists bear the i lls o f l ife with more calm ,
ne s s or trust in Go d than Protestants We w i ll .
conclu de th i s chapter w ith a bri e f re futation o f

the argument s commonly a d vance d by Roman
C ath o li cs in d e fence o f the i r saint worship .
I t has been sai d that we o u ght t o worsh i p the

saints b e c a us e o f the i r supernatural excellence
'
.
,
But mere excellence is no groun d fo r a d orati on ,

| 46 T HE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
approached by us that the saints are more human

, ,
etc Thi s we flatly deny The N ew Testamen t

. .
everywhere spea k s o f Jesus as tender an d lo v ing .
H e can be touche d with the feel i ng o f o ur

“
in fi rmitie s A fe w more arguments might b e

.
mentioned but as they are a b out like thos e

,
already given the rea d er will not require their

,
examination The C hurch o f Rome stan d s

.
charge d with gross id olatry She worships t h e

.
creature more than S h e does the Creator T h i s .
is a mill stone that will yet Sink her beneath the

-
waves o f oblivion M ay God hasten th e t i me

. .
He r dark shadow come s between the soul and

Go d at every turn S he sen d s her ch il d ren fo r
.
ai d and grace to nearly everything but God .
M ay God in h i s own good time reveal hi msel f to

,
th em and b r i ng t h em out into the ligh t

,
.
C HAPT E R X I .
C ELI BAC Y .
Ma rr i a ge is h onora b l e in a ll .
” — HE B . xiii .
,
A b ishop , th en, mu s t b e b l a mel e ss, th a h u s b a nd of o ne wife .

’
1 TIM iii . .
,
2 .
Let th e dea con s b e th e h u sb a n ds of one wife ,

r u l ing th eir ch il dren
a nd th e ir o wn ho u s es w e ll .
— 1 TI M
”
. iii .
,
12
.
D o m e s t i c h a ppin e ss t h o u o n l y b l is s,
O f P ara d i s e t h a t h a st s u r v iv e d t h e fal l
, .
HE lov e o f on e man fo r one woman ,
and the l i fe l ong union o f such d evote d

-
hea rts i n the holy estat e o f matrimony is a most

, ,
b l essed and a d ivi ne i nsti tution T h i s benign .
ordinance escaped the wreck o f Ed en an d has ,
b een handed down to us E ven this pure an d .
h ea v en orda i ne d i nsti tuti on has not escape d th e

-
,
w i thering touch o f Roman i sm O ne would th i nk .
that so fair a flower m ight have been allowe d to

bloom and flourish unharmed ; b u t it has not been
| 4 8 T HE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
the case Rome teaches that there i s a holier a

.
,
more exalte d s tate than that o f marriage I t i s

,
.
better says R ome to live in a single than in a mar

, ,
rie d s tate Surely th is looks like an improvement

.
,
On the w o rd o f Go d M an has b ecome pure r tha n

.
his M aker T he tenth canon o f the C ouncil o f

.
Trent on the subject o f marr i age rea d s as fo l

W
,
lows : hoever s hall a ffirm that the conj uga l

“
state is to be p re ferre d to a l i fe o f vi rginity o r

celibacy and that it is not better and more condu
,
.
cive to happ i ness to remai n i n Vi rg i n i ty or c e l ib ,
acy th an to be marr i e d let him be accursed

,
”
,
.
T he i r catechism puts it in th i s form : The “
wor d s increase an d multiply whic h were uttere d ,
by Almigh t y God d o not i mpose o n every i nd i

,
vi dual an obl i gat i on to marry ; t hey declare the

ob j ect o f the i nstitution o f marri age ; and no w
that the human race is w id ely d iffused not only ,
is the re no law render i ng marriage obligatory ,
but on the contrary virginity i s highly exalte d

.
,
an d strongly recommen d e d i n Scr ipture as Su ,
perior t o marriage as a state o f gre a ter pe rfe c

,
”
tion and holines s .
| 5 0 THE MY S T E RY O F I NI Q U I TY.
”
sary to speak reproach fully I t is declared
.
h onorable in all ; an d is espec i ally enj oine d on

those who take holy or d ers .
The first miracle o f C hr i s t was performe d at a

weddi ng ; and from the relations o f husban d an d
wi fe a re drawn many tender an d b eau ti ful i llus
t ra tio ns setting forth the union between Christ
,
and his people .
T he m ore I s e e o f Ro mish folly and t h e mo re ,
I contrast i ts teach i n g s with the Bible the less ,
d o I wonder that they d i slike so much to s e e t his

blessed bo o k c i rculate d and r e ad What would .
Roman C athol i cs think if taki ng up th e B i ble

, ,
they shoul d read that marriage is H onorable in

”
all o r that a bishop must be th e h u sb a n d o f
,
“
”
”
one wife ? If th e C hurch o f Rome wi shes to
retain its hold upon t h e people i t had b e t t e r c o n
,
'
tinne its ol d pla n o f keeping the Bible away

from them We give them cred i t fo r see i ng and
.
care fully guar d i ng their weak point Fo r the .
s ake however o f u s Bible loving Protestants

, ,
-
,
an d that great regard fo r the Bible which per

v ades the enti re comm u n i ty they do make a fa i nt
,
C E L I B AC Y . I5
show o f de fen d ing their d octr ine from the Bible .
T hey well know that in order to make converts

‘
from th e ranks o f Protestantism they must pre ,
ten d to have some little regard fo r the Bible .
F or their own people they ha v e a much more

di rect an d pleasi ng m etho d The v oice o f the
.
I n fall i ble Church is enough fo r them .
Well fo r the sake o f us Protestants they try

, ,
to d e fend the i r horr i d doctr i ne o f cel i bacy from

the B i ble I t is a s orry sort o f de fence but
.
,
n one o f u s woul d be likely to d o any better if ,
we h a d so poor a cause and so l i ttle to susta i n it .
T hey appeal to the first epistle o f Paul to th e

Co ri nth i an s the seventh chapter
, e admit
. W
t hat in th i s chapte r there are s ome expres si ons
that seem to fa v or a s i ng l e state But the ex .
plana t ion i s very easy T he C hurch was soon to

.
undergo a terrib l e persecution ; even then to be a

C h ri sti an b rought reproach an d p eril . I n such
a state o f things common pru d e n ce woul d sug g est
great caution in entering upon the married state .
As we have be for e sa id no man i s obl i gated to

,
marry an d it may o ften be a quest i on o f great

,
| 5 2 THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
moment whether it be best to enter upon marr i ed

,
li fe or to remain sin gle S uch was the state o f

, .
things in the mind s o f many when Paul wrote ,
to the C hurch at C ori nth The key to t he whole .
chapter is given i n the 26th verse : I s uppose “
”
thi s i s goo d fo r the pre sent di stres s Y et even .
,
under these circum s tances he d oe s not command ,
a ny man or cl a s s o f men to abstain from mar

, ,
ria ge but expressly d eclares tha t it is law ful fo r

,
all So much fo r the argument dr awn fr o m the

.
seven th chapter o f Corinthians .
Sometime s M att xix 12 is quote d in fa vor o f

W
. .
, ,
Romi s h celibacy e rea d in thi s ver s e that

.
,
There be eunuchs which have ma de them s elves ,
eunuch s fo r the King do m o f Heaven s s ake ” ’

.
T he s e however are rare and special cas es I t

, , .
may someti mes happen that me n are calle d to

some wor k that they can per form better if free
from the care o f a family .
The reade r will recall the case o f Bi s hop

Asbury an d the early American M etho d ist
preachers a s fu rn i shing a go od i llu s tration o f th e
,
fact ju s t state d I n those d ay s o f severe toil and

’ ‘
.
i nterpretation o f th i s passage we might a rgu e ,
‘A n imal li fe is sustained by aliment not so t h e

an gel i c l ife t here fore to abstai n from foo d as fa r ,
as po ssi ble i s in the same degree to make one s

,
’
sel f an angel El l io tt o n R o ma nis m Vo l I I

.
’ 7’
,
. .
,
p g a e 3 85
W will not pursue

.
e this in v estigat i on i nto the

Bible argument in behal f o f cel i bacy any farthe r .
O ne or two more p a ssage s m i ght ‘ be given a s ,
sometimes quoted by Roman i sts ; but be fore they

can by any means be pressed i nto the s e rv i ce o f
R omanism th ey m u st receive so fanciful an inter
,
p re t a tio n and ,
be so grossly perve rted that to ,
formerly con si d e r them and re fute th e mean i ng ,
force d upon them would be an insult to the in ,
t e l l ige n c e o f th e reader W e o bject then to th e

.
, ,
Popish doctrine o f cel i bacy tha t it ha s no ,
su pport or foundation in Scripture We object .
als o that i t is ab surd A l l men ought to be as .
h oly as they can If c e l ib a c v i s a holier s tate

.
than matri mony no ma n o u ght to be married

,
.
Well suppose we all practi ce celibacy T here

,
.
wou l d soon be none le ft to argu e concerning

C E L I BA C Y . l 55
wh i ch i s the better wa y : unless we adopte d the

.
practice o f R ome an d allowe d fornication

, ,
because too pure to enter upon matrimony Thi s .
may see m a severe charge b ut we appeal to well ,
known facts If F at her Walsh the woul d b e

.
,
-
seducer o f M iss E di th O G o rma n had taken to

’
,
h i msel f a w i fe he would soon have b een hurried

,
out o f the church an d ministry : but as he only

attempte d t o ruin a poor and d e fenceless nun he ,
i s now and always h a s been an orda i ned pr i est i n

the Romish C hurch .
All the pun i shmen t h e received was a remo v al

from one parish to another I think I can under
.
stand why the C hurch o f Rome forbid s it s pri ests

to marry If they marry and rear fam ilie s they
.
, ,
w i ll form soc i al an d polit i cal ti es They will .
cease to b e the mere tools o f t he Pope They .
will contract a love o f country a n d the g reat ,
bin di ng power o f th e Papacy w i ll be broken .
As i t is now t he y c a n e a sily b e trans ferred from

, ‘
one country to another or employe d to g reat a d

,
vantage as spies and politic i an s This gives the .
Pope an immense powe r .

We o bject t o celibacy a s maintaine d and pra c

tice d i n the R oman C ath o lic C hur c h that it pro ,
d uce s a fearful am o unt o f licenti ou s ne ss I t h a s .
done th i s in the p a s t an d i t is d oing it to d ay

, .
A tree is kn o wn b y its fruit s If celi b acy is .
su c h a holy s tate it o ugh t to fill the earth w i th

,
ble ssi ng The voice o f hi story tel l s a very di ffer

.
ent s tory .
I n t h e t hir d cent ury C ypr i an compla i ns b i tter

l y o f the con d uct o f the celibates o f his day .
H e tells u s that m ales and females occupy the

same b e d although livi ng under a vow o f c e l ib
,
acy I n the fourth century C hrysostom adm i ts

.
,
o f c o n d uct i n the pro fes s e d virgins o f his day as ,
gro s s as that d e s cr i be d by C ypri an .
U da l ric bi shop o f Aug u s ta who flourished

, ,
several centuries later tells u s : That Gregory

,
the Great by h i s d ecree deprived priests o f the i r

, ,
wive s ; when S h o r t ly after h e comman d ed that

, ,
some fi s h should b e ca u ght from the fi sh p on d s the -

,
fi s hers in s tead o f fish foun d the hea ds o f s ix

, ,
thou san d in fants that had been d rowned i n t he

pon d ”
. Th ese h e tells us were bo rn from t he
, ,
“
CHAPT E R X II .
THE C O NVENT S Y S T EM .
God h a th ma de ma n w r igh t bu t th ey h a ve sought ou t ma ny

inventions .
—EE C
”
. v ii .
, 29 .
A S the Church o f Rome ascribes great merit

to a l i fe o f celibacy so l ikewise s he ascribes ,
great merit to a li fe o f solitude T he great .
doctr i nal error at the foun dation o f t hese false

v i ew s o f human li fe i s that the atonement o f ,
C hri st is n o t in it s elf su fficient to sa v e the soul .
I t must be supplemente d by penance and s el f in -
flic te d pain in this li fe and the fires o f purgatory,
i n the li fe t o c o me Prote s tants b elieve that the

.
followers o f Chri s t mu s t o ften bear the cross o f

su ffering an d p a in ful toil in th i s li fe ; but they do
not believe that Chri st i ans shoul d seek fo r su ffer
ing or that they s hould inflict i t upon them
,
selve s . N either d o they regard Christi an

suffering an d toil as vicarious or in any way as ,
THE C ON V EN T S Y S T EM . | 59
add i ng to the perfect work o f Chr i st Romani st s .
seem to think that the more m i sera b le we are in

thi s world the happier we w il l be in the next
, .
T hey think t hat human su ffering may become

vi cariou s an d trans fer mer i t to others by making
, ,
t he soul o f the su fferer advance i n sacrifice and
puri ty beyon d the requirements o f the law o f

Go d.
Thi s surplus o f holiness an d go o d works con ,
s tit u t e what t hey are plea s ed to call the Celes

”
tial Treasury o f I n d ulgence s an d is g enerou sly
,
retaile d by t he H oly F ather in pri ces t o suit the

pockets o f the various purchasers We can now .
very easily un d erstan d the r i se o f the convent

sys te m We see the nature o f the foun d ation on
.
which it rests .
Th e heart o f man is g i ven to pride T he .
B i ble plan o f salvati on does not flatter th i s proud

—
h eart sin must be c o nfe sse d a n d forsaken eternal
x
li fe must be received as the free and unmerited

gi ft o f God All this i s very repuls i ve to the
.
proud and unrenewed heart M an would e a r n .
salvation H e would b a g] it H e would rather

. .
l 6o T HE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
get it i n any way than as a free an d unmeri ted

,
gf
i t V
. ery early in the hi s tory o f th e C hristian
C hurch d i d thi s sel f ri g hteou s spirit begin to
,
-
mani fe st i t self E ven in the li fe time cf Paul

.
-
,
the My s tery o f I niquity began t o w o rk O nce .
havi ng c o mmenced this vile cancer o f monkery

,
continued to Sp rea d un t il it threatene d to eat

,
away the last remaining semblance o f C hri stian

i ty Says Dr R uter i n his C hurch Hi story
. .
,
” “
,
speak i ng o f t h e fourth century : A nother branch

o f superstition which d aily increase d was M onk
, ,
ery ; the actual esta b lish ment o f wh i ch is to be

date d from the fo urth century N umbers seized by .
,
a fanati cal Sp i rit volun tarily inflicte d upon them

,
selves the severest s u fferi ngs an d were content ,
to be d epri ve d o f every earthly good I n this .
solitary state like their leader the i lliterate An

, ,
t h o ny they rejec te d learning as useless if not

, ,
pernicious an d pro fes s e d to be occup i e d solely i n

,
silence me d itation and prayer When however

, .
, ,
they were formed into regular societi es they em ,
ploye d some part o f thei r t i me in stu d y T he i r .
melanch o ly mo d es o f li fe prepared and qualified

| 62 T HE MY S T E RY or INIQUI T Y .
Tours propagate d monkery so rapi d ly in Gau l

, ,
that h is funeral is sai d to ha v e been attende d by

n o le s s than two thousan d monk s The numbers
.
o f the s e d elude d people an d the veneration paid

,
to them w e re such a s t o induce them someti mes

to conce i ve them s elves superi or to the law s th e ,
execut i on o f wh ich they freque n tly su spended ,
and ventured with impunity to snatch criminals

from the hands o f justi ce while on their way to
execution ”
. Chu r c h His t ory pa g e s 75 76
, ,
.
I n the next century matters grew sti ll worse .
O f monkery in this century Dr R uter says ,

.
The appro b at i on o f mona s t i c i nstituti ons w a s

not only extens i vely d i ffu se d and num b ers made
,
unhap p y from the d e fection o f the i r relations ,
an d the c o nsequent loss o f their support but th e ,
more ju d icio u s p art o f th e commun i ty had the

m o r tifi c a t io n to observe that as t h e num b ers who
,
embrace d the state o f monac hism se nsi b ly in

crea s e d so al so monastic folly increased in the
,
same pr o portion I n the beginning o f thi s cen

.
tury a n e w o rder o f monks w a s in stitute d by a

person o f the n ame o f Alexan de r who obtai n e d ,
T HE C ONV EN T S Y S T EM . 63
the name o f watchers from their metho d o f per

,
formi ng d i vine service wi thout any interm i ssi on .
T hey d ivi d e d themselves into three classes which ,
relieved each other at state d hours an d b y that

means continued without any interval a perpetual
, ,
cour s e o f divine ser vice Among the M ysti cs

.
,
many not only a ffected to res i de w i th w i ld and

savage beast s but im i tated their manners Wit h
, .
a ferocious aspect they traverse d th e gloomy

deserts fe d upon herbs and grass or r emaine d
, ,
moti onless i n certain places fo r several years ex ,
pose d to the scorch ing heat o f the mid day sun -

,
o r to th e ch i lling blast o f t h e noctu rnal air Al l .
conversat i on w i th men was studiously avoide d by

these gloomy fana ti c s who frequently concl uded
,
their li ves by an act o f v i olent madnes s or shut ,
t hemselves up i n narrow an d miserable dens to ,
h owl out th e re mainder o f the i r wretch e d e xis

tence Ch u r c h His to ry pa g e 101 ,
.
I t woul d be an easy task to follow out the d e

v e l o pme nt o f this m i s era b le s upe rstit i on during
the succee di ng centuries I t s ti ll ex i sts in the

.
Church o f Ro me M en an d women sti ll thi nk

’
“
.
16 4 T HE M Y S T E RY or INIQUI T Y .
t hat they can plea se God and secure a high place ,
in Heaven by shutting them s elve s up from the

,
bu sy world an d spen d i ng their years in undis

,
t u rb e d seclu sion Two things however are over

.
, ,
lo o ke d .
F irst T hey d o not e s cape temptation by rush

,
i ng into the cloister o f some convent They .
take w i th them our frai l an d imper fect human

nature The human heart is t h e same i n c o nvent
.
an d i n hall T he dev i l our soul s arch enemy

.
,
’
,
cannot be S hut out b y gate s and b ars .
S ec o n d ly They l o s e n o ble O p portunities fo r

,
doin g g o o d S o me nun s we know lea d bu sy

.
, ,
live s among the sick an d su ffering ; but other s are

calle d cloi s tere d nun s an d n ever leave the c o n
,
vent even fo r the pur p o se o f public worship

,
No w what right has any one pro fe ssing to b e

, ,
a foll o wer o f Je su s t o s hut himsel f u p in useless

,
an d ingloriou s so litu d e ? A d mitting that even

cloi stere d nuns do n o t lea d live s o f utter u s ele s s
,
ne ss h o w much more g o o d mi ght be accompli s he d

,
if freed from the vow s an d fetters o f convent
l i fe !
| 66 T HE M Y S T E RY OF I NIQUI T Y .
All C hri sti a n s w a nt to be as holy a s it i s poss i ble

fo r them to be Well suppose we all go into
.
,
convents an d become monks an d nuns what is to

,
.
become o f a worl d perish i ng in s i n

The convent system is cruel I t tramples .
on the purest an d best instincts o f t he human

heart I t takes young an d impulsive creatures
.
,
fills the1r m i nds w i th glow i ng conceptions o f th e

puri ty an d b l iss o f c o n ve nt l ife binds the m by .
,
the most aw ful o f v ows to a lo v eless and dreary,
l ife .
The fals e step ha s been t aken S oon the .
b right d reams are dispelled Sleep ing on c o m .
fo rt l e ss be d s in narrow cells getting up at fou r ,
o clock i n mid winter an d a complete se v eranc e

’
-
,
from all human loves ; with ghostly fathers ,
prie s tly b rothers jeal o us sisters a nd a snappish

, ,
old super i or fo r mother is foun d to b e a nything

,
but r o mantic and pl e a sm g Repentance comes

“
.
too late The fatal vow has been taken and

.
,
death alon e can brin g relie f .
Thackeray in h i s Ir is h S ke tch B o o/s has sai d

, ,
s ome truth ful words Would that all th i nk ing

.
T HE C ON V E R T S Y S T EM . | 67
to ente r upon convent li fe m i ght rea d and ponder

,
the m. Re ferring to the U rsuline convents at

Black Rock near C ork he say s : I n the grill e
, ,
“
i s a l i ttle w i cket an d a ledge be fore it I t is to

, .
th i s w i cket that women are brough t to knee l ;

and a b i shop is in a chape l on the other Side and ,
takes the i r hands i n his and receives the i r vows

, .
I ha d ne v er seen the li ke be fore and felt a sort ,
o f shu d der i n look i ng at the place There rests .
t h e gir l s knees as she o ffers hersel f up and fo r

’
,
swe ars the sacre d a fl e c tio n s which God gave her ;

there she kneels an d d enies forever the b eauti ful
—
duti es o f her being no ten d er maternal y earn
i ngs n o gentle attachments are to be had from
her or fo r her — there she kneels an d comm i ts
su i cide upon her heart 0 honest Marti n Luther

.
,
t hank God you came to pull that in fernal wic k e d , h
—
unnatural altar d own that cursed Pagani s m .
I came out o f the place quite si ck ; an d look i ng

b efore me there thank God ! was the blue spi re
, ,
o f Min k s t o wn church s oaring up into the free

,
sk y a river in front roll i n g away to th e sea

li be rty sunshine all sorts o f gladness and motion
, , ,
r o undabout ; an d I couldn t but thank Heaven

’
fo r i t an d the Be i n g whose service i s freedom

, ,
an d w h o h a s g iven us affection s that we may u se

them not sm o ther an d kill them ; an d a n o b le
w o rl d to live in that we may a d mire it a n d H im
,
w o ma d e t
h i — n o t S hrink fr o m it a s t h ough we
,
—
d are d not live there but mu s t turn our back up o n
,
it an d its bounti ful Provi d er .I d eclare I think , ,
fo r my part that we h a ve a s much rig ht to per

,
mit S u t t e rism in I n di a as to all o w women i n the

U n i ted Ki ngdom to take these w i cked vows or ,
Cath o lic b i s hop s to receive them ”

.
These convents it must b e remembered are

, ,
shut out from public in spect i on N o one can .
enter them or have any interv i ew with any o f

,
the i r i nmate s unles s allowe d so to do by th e

,
Rom i s h author i ti es in charge .
A fe w years a go a motion was made i n the

B ritish Parliament and carrie d by a small major
,
i ty to appo int a commit tee to inqu i re int o con

,
v e n t u a l and mona s tic i ns titutions I n re ferring to

.
the agitatio n growing out o f the question the Lo n

W
,
do n a tc hm a n justly ma d e the fo l low i ng remarks

| 7O THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
you ng woman to some con v ent prison inF rance -

.
Ha pp ily the pursuit o f her frl e n ds an d her own

,
v igor o us resi stance b a ffle d the attempt ; but no :
o n e who hear d he r cr ie s fo r help resounding
thr o u g h the hotel where her S p iritual g uardians

d etaine d her fo r the ni g ht coul d well believe
,
‘ ‘
that this b ri d e o f heaven vol u nta ril y sough t
’
the re fuge o f the cloister ’
W
.
I n this country they are no bette r

, e .
sincerely hope t h e t i me will come when these

inst i tuti o ns will be annual l y inspecte d by o fficers
app o inte d expres s ly fo r th i s purpose e ln . W
spect pri sons and lunat i c asylu ms w hy not ,
in spec t c o nvent s ? God o nly knows how many

’
like M a ry Ann S m i th have bee n abd u cte d an d

,
confine d i n them : or how many woul d fa i n b e

resto re d to s o c i ety an d l i berty if they only h a d
the opportunity If the se wor d s o f warnin g
.
shall lea d any to turn a s i d e from the snare e re ,
they take the fa t al a n d unnatural vows upon

them or s hall i n any way ha s ten the time w h en
,
these pri s o ns shall be inspecte d by proper o fficers ,
t h e author will be a mply repa id fo r all h i s to i l .

CH AP TE R X I II .
M I NO R FO LLIES .
Th e Moth er of Ha rl o ts cmct A b ornin a tions of th e Ea r th .

”
R EV . x vii .
,
5 .
N compar i ng t he d octr i nes and doings o f

I R omani s m with the teaching o f H oly Wr i t
, ,
W
we cannot fail to perce i ve a wide d eparture from
-
S criptural s i mpl i city e have gone over muc h

.
o f th i s gro u nd but hav e not yet co mplete d t h e

,
l i s t o f Papal ab o mi n ations W i sh ing to make .
this b o ok rather a brie f manual on the sub j ect o f

Romanism than an exten d ed and exhaustiv e
,
t reatise ; an d having yet to co nside r the pos i

t i on o f Rome in prophecy its crue l and blood ,
thirsty persecut i ons the d anger w i th wh i c h i t

,
th reatens our nati onal li fe togethe r w i t h it s ,

‘
certa i n a n d utter overthrow we will compress ,
our examination o f some remain i ng Rom i sh

l 72 T HE M Y S T E RY OF INIQ U I T Y .
abom i nat i on s i nto the S pace o f a single chapter .
O f course a mere outli ne can only be given We .
hop e that many o f our readers will be led to

make a thorough com p ari son o f R omi s h d o i ngs ,
with the p ure and in falli b le w o rd o f God

Those who d o th i s will never fo llow in the foot
,
s te p s o f Doane Rogers or Dr Stone ; unless

,
.
their des i re o f notoriety an d g ai n i s greater than

t heir love fo r truth If you Sh oul d go to worship
.
in s o me R o man C atholic Church you woul d find ,
it a very d i fferent a ffai r from a Presbyter i an ,
Baptist M etho d i s t or any O t her t ruly Protestant

, ,
Church Perhaps the first thing to attract your

.
attention woul d b e a little vessel filled w i th

,
water !o ften not o ve r clean ) an d fastened to the

,
-
wall in the vestibule T h i s i s the fa r famed h o l y

.
-
w a te r . A little salt a nd a fe w other i ngre di ents

are put in s ome common wa t e r a bles sing is ,
,
a dd e d by t h e priest or bishop and behol d ! we

,
have h oly water

“
This holy water is put to
-
many d ifferent u ses and is suppose d t o possess

,
un t ol d meri ts I t is s uppose d to keep away th e

.
Devil p revent S ickness and to war d o ff harm o f

,
1
an d Spri nkles them i n the na me o f the F ather ,
an d o f the Son and o f the H oly Ghost Som e,

.
t i mes the v i sitor at Rome w i ll see a Splend i d

equipage dr i ven up attende d by outride rs in , ,
elegant livery to have th e hor s es thus Sp rinkled

,
with holy water all the pe o ple remaining u n ,
covere d till the ab sur d an d di sgusting cerem o ny

i s over O n one occas i on a tra v eler observe d a
.
country man whose beast hav ing received the

,
holy water se t o ff from the church door at a

,
galop but ha d scarce l y gone a hundre d yards

,
be fore the ungainly an i mal tum b led down w i th

h i m and over its head b e rolle d i n to the d ust
,
.
H e soon however rose a nd so d id the horse

, , , ,
w i thout e i ther seem i ng to have sustaine d muc h

i nj ury The priest looked on an d though h i s
.
,
—
blessi ng ha d faile d he was not out o f c o u nt e ,
nance ; while some o f the bystan d ers said that

but fo r it the horse an d its r i der might have
,
broken the i r neck s ”

Do wl ing s His to ry of R 0 .
’
ma n ism , pa g e s —
1 1 7 1 18 .
No w what war rant i n the Bi b le can we find

,
fo r S uch d egrading cerem onies such absurd ,

o
Mi R O R FO L L IE S . I75
superst i t i on ? I t is not enough to s ay that the

Bible d oes not con d emn i t We s hould have .
some po sitive foundation on which to rest it ,

.
M any th ing s are not forbidden i n the Bible ,
simply because when the Bible was com p ose d ,
these modern follies were unknown But i t does .
no t see m to fit i n with the general sp i rit o f t h e
B i ble When the Bible i s silent upon a po i nt o n

.
which we seek in formation we test the matter by ,
a n appeal t o its general spirit and tone N ow .

,
th e general t one o f the Bible i s O ppose d to such
O perations H oly water was u nknown to th e

.
Je wi sh pri est unknow n to Chri s t an d to his

,
a ostles We can trace the orig i n o f th i s super

p -
.
st it io n to no very flatter i ng source I t is mani .
fe stl y transmitted from Pagan i sm Roman Ca t ho .
l i c wr i ters t h emselves have been compelle d to

admit th i s Th i s matter o f hol y water may b e
.
deeme d by some as a t hing Of small importance ;

but it serves to i llustrate the corru pti o n s and
follies o f Romani s m Passi ng n o w with i n the
.
church we find i t filled w i th i mages an d pictures

,
of M ary and the saints . T o thes e th e peopl e

176 T HE Y S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y
M .
kneel and before them at least they en g age in

, , ,
prayer Thi s certa i nly has a very heatheni s h

.
an d i d o latro us appearance We c a n har d ly get .
away from the impres si o n that we are in s ome

heathen temple R o mani s ts tell u s that the i r
.
peop le only pray b efo re them and not to them ,
that the wor ship given t hem is only o f a relative

an d s ec o n d ary kin d & c but a fter all it l o o ks at
, .
lea s t very much like i d o latry an d we hav e bee n ,
”
warned to a v o i d even the a pp earance o f evil “
.
Let u s put the lan g uage o f the C o uncil o f Trent

W
,
an d that o f the o rd o f Go d S i d e b y S i d e t h a t , ,
we ma y c o mpare the m Thi s is the la n guage o f

.
the Council : I mo s t firm l y a s sert that the

“
,
i mage s o f Chri st o f the m o th e r o f Go d ever

, ,
vir gin an d al so o f the saint s ou g ht to b e had

, ,
an d retaine d an d that d ue h o no r an d veneration

,
is t o b e given them Thi s is the lan guage o f the

.
’7
W o rd o f G o d : Th o u s halt n o t ma ke unto thee any

“
graven image o r any likene ss o f a ny t hing that is

,
in he a ve n a b o ve o r th a t is in th e e arth b eneath or
, ,
tha t is in th e w a t e r u n de r the e ar t h : Th o u shalt

”
n o t b o w d o wn thy sel f t o t h em n o r s erve them
.
,
.
With this si n gle alterati o n it s e rves a s ex a ctly

,
fo r all the purpo s e s o f the popish a s i t d id fo r t he

pagan wor s hip fo r w h ich i t was b u i lt F or a s
“
, .
i n the ol d temple every on e might fin d the God

,
o f his country an d ad d re s s him s el f to that deity

, ,
wh o s e reli g ion he w a s m o st devoted to ; s o it is

th e s ame thing n o w ever y one choo s es the patro n
whom he likes be s t ; and one may see her e
d i fferent serv i ce s going on a t the same ti me at
di fferent altars with d i stinct co ngregations roun d
,
them just a s the inclinations o f the people lead

,
t hem to the wor s hip o f this or that part i cular
sain t — .Do w l ing s His tory of R o m a n ism pa g e

’ ’
,
1 24 .
Papal Rome see ms to b e a s m uch gi v en to

i d olat ry a s ever wa s pagan R ome In a d d iti o n
.
to the ven eration o f images an d pi ctures Rom e ,
teache s her fo llowers to adore the r e l ics o f th e

s aints t h at is their b o n e s c l o thing h a ir & c
, , , , N0 , .
Roman C at h olic C hurch can b e c o ns e c r a te d ”
unle ss some s acre d relic s are stored i n i t I t .
may b e a very s mall relic a tooth a toe nail a

, ,
-
,
hair a d r o p o f th e bloo d or a pr es e rve d te a r

, ,
MINO R FO LL IE S . 179
r om
f th e but
eye so lo n g as it has been declare d
g enu i ne by the Pope an d p lace d with the
,
usual
ceremon i e s i n th e altar o f the church it will ,
s u fli c e
. The reve rence i n which these relics are
held is v ery great and t hey even go beyon d ,
holy wate r in their power to work miracl es AS .
e ve ry church in order to b e con s ecrated must

, ,
have some rel i c the d eman d fo r them and th e

, ,
hun t i ng after them has been i mmense I t i s s ai d .
that the re are as many p i eces o f the tr ue cross

i n d i fferent parts o f E urope a s would supply a ,
t own w i th fuel fo r an entire w i nter We are .
rem i nded o f the story o f the showman who ,
exhib i ted the swor d with w hich B alaa m smote h is

a ss. The rustic cr o wd gazed i n m ut e admiration ,
and the showman was hav i ng it all h is own way ,
when a gentleman present called h is att ention to

the fact that Balaam di d not have any s wo rd b u t
, ,
_
only wi she d fo r one N o th ing a b a s he d the show

‘
.
,
man repl i ed This i s the one fo r which he

,
“
”
wishe d . T h i s cer tainly was not a very reliable
or valuable relic yet a s go o d a s thou sands ex
,
h ib it e d b y the C hurc h o f R ome I t is very .

180 T HE MY S T E RY or INIQUI T Y .
di fficult to see what advantage can be d erived

from the po ss e s s i o n and stu d y o f these rel i c s ,
even if they were a l l g enuine I n what way can .
th e toe nail o f St Peter a drop o f St Paul s

- .
, .
’
b l o o d o r s o me o f the bear d o f Jo hn the Bapti s t

, ,
excite o u r d ev o tion or make us any holier

, ,
even if we are sure that we have them in our

po s se ssion ? But how can we ever know that
these old bone s e t c ever did belong to any o f
,
.
,
the sai nts ? There is no external d i fference b e

tween the bones o f St Paul an d the bones o f.
,
Juda s I scar i ot ; none between the s kull o f S t .
Peter and that o f the impenitent th i e f I t is true

,
.
we can ge t the dec i s i on o f th e Pope T h i s ma y .
s atis fy devote d Romanists but will hardly con ,
vince the great outs i de world We need not .
w o nder that R oman C atholic countries abound i n

infi de l s. Let the Churc h o f R ome pull down i ts
pagan images a n d pictures throw away i ts old ,
b ones an d o ther ri d iculous rel i c s an d if i t doe s ,
not s ecure obed i ence it may possibly comman d

,
re s pect H av ing cons i dere d the holy water at

.
th e door the i mages and p i cture s on the wall

, ,
182 T HE MY S T E RY or INIQUI T Y .
'
in the temp le s o f the heathen

b e h e l d it . V irgil ,
S peaki n g o f the Paphian V enu s s ay s ,
He r h u n dr e d al t a Wit h g a rl a n ds c ro w n e d
rs th e re
’
A n d ri c h e st in c e n s e sm o k in g b re a t h e aro u n d
Sw e e t o d o r s — .
”
fl l n 1 420
’
.
,
.
“
U n d er the p agan e mpe ro r s th e u s e of in c e n s e ,
r a n y pu rpo s e of r e l ig i o n iva s th o ug ht s o c o n tr a ry
f o
t o th e o bl ig a tio n s of C hris ti a n i ty that in their , ,
p er s ecutions the very

,
metho d o f trying a nd c on
v ic tin g a Christian wa s by requirin g him only to

,
t h row the least gra i n o f i t in t o the censer o r on ,
the altar U n d er the C hristian emperors on the

.
,
other han d it was looked upon as a rite s o pe o u

,
l i a r l y h e a th e n is h that the very places or h o u s es

,
where it coul d be prove d to have been d one were , ,
by a law o f Th e do siu s confi s cate d to the g overn,
ment I n the old b a s r e l iefs or p i eces o f scul p

.
-
,
ture we never fail to see a boy i n a sacre d ha b it

, ,
which was alway s white attending on the priest , ,
with a little chest or box in his han d s in which ,
this i ncen se was kept fo r the u se o f the altar An d .
i n the s ame m anner still i n the Church o f R ome , ,

there is always a boy in a sur p lice wai ting o n the

prie st at t he altar with the sacre d u ten sils ; among
,
the rest the Thuri b ulum or ve s sel o f incen s e , ,
which the p riest w i th many ridiculou s motion s

,
an d cros sings wave s several times as it is s moking

, ,
aroun d an d over the al tar in d ifferent par ts o f ,
the s erv i ce Do w l ing s His to ry of R o m a n is m

.
’
,
p g
a es 1 15 , 1 1 6 .
C an dles will also b e observe d by the curious

v isitor burning u p on the vari ous altars The s e .
are not fo r the purpo s e o f illuminat i on as they ,
a re kept b urn i ng I n the da y time H ere we have -

.
another innovation upon p rimitive worsh i p drawn ,
from the abominations o f heathenism T hi s cus .
t o m H ero d otu s tells u s was first i ntroduce d by

, ,
the E gyptians M any o f the early writers ex

.
pose the folly o f th i s heathen practice Th e y .
”
l ig h t up c a n dl e s to G o d, say s Lo it o n tiu s a s if ,
“
He l iv e d in th e da r k an d d o they not d e s erve to

pa ss
f or m a dm e n who o
f er l a mps to th e fl u th or a n d
Gi v e r fo l ig h t
If any reader of th i s book doubts t he co rrect
ness o f t h e a c c o u nt he re given o f Rom ish worship ,
let him step int o the neare st R o man C atholic

church and veri fy the matter fo r him s el f If the
, .
image s an d pictures the co s tly robe s an d g l itter

,
i ng altar s t h e can d le s incen se an d h o ly water

, , ,
the opera ti c music an d gay p roce ss ion s d o not ,
remin d him o f so me g o rgeou s p ageant o r heathen ,
temple we will be very much mi s taken Turn

, .
i ng fr o m the s e matter s t o the wor s hi p itsel f we ,
are a s to ni she d to hear t he prie s t rea d the service

i n a s trange a nd u nfamiliar tongue I t
. i s Latin ;
fo r thi s is the language o f the C hurch o f R ome .
I n this d ea d and to the ma sses o f the peo p le fo r

, ,
g o tten to ngue t he R om i sh service is sai d O ne

, .
woul d th i nk that if an un k n o wn t o ngue were to

b e empl o ye d it woul d be He b rew o r Greek the
,
—
language in whic h the Wor d o f God was first wr i t
ten But R o me s ay s that Latin is to b e pre
.
ferre d and Rome cla i ms to be in fall i ble A .
cur s e is pronounce d upon all wh o affirm t hat Mass

shoul d be performe d in a ny other ton g ue As fo r .
ou r part we d o not s e e the nece ssi ty o f per form

.
in g any part o f d ivine serv i ce in any other th an

the language o f the people Paul says . In t he
THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
tion to appeal to and be i ng !i n h i s own e stima

,
t i o n ) i nfallible has added five more

, .
These five are Confirmation Penance E xtreme , ,
Unction Holy O r d er a n d M atri mony

, Co nfi rma .
ti o n is t he ir c e re mo ny o f receivi ng persons into

.
full commun i on with the church The Bishop is .
the a d mini s trator T he candi date s knee l be for e

.
him A chr i sm made o f oil o f ol iv es and balsa m

.
, ,
an d consecrate d by the b i shop is put on t he fac e ,
o f the person in the form o f a cross th e b i shop ,
say i ng : I Sig n thee w i t h the S ign o f the cross

“
,
and I confirm th ee w i th the chrism o f sa l va tio n in ,
the name o f the F ather and o f the Son an d o f the

, ,
H oly Ghost A l i ttle blow on the cheek is some

.
times added T his they s a y is to teach them to

.
, ,
bear t h e trial s an d persecutions Of the worl d with

C hristian calmness an d fortitude .
No w if this was s impl y the i r manner o f re c e iv

,
ing members into the church although we should ,
much pre fer some other meth od we woul d yet ,
have no controversy w i th them on the su bject but ,
when they give it sacramental qual i ti es w e feel ,

compelled to oppo se it a s unsound and u nsc rip

tural They base it on the laying on o f the han d s
.
o f the apostle s several t i mes mentione d in the

,
N ew Testament ; b ut thi s w a s fo r the bestowment

o f special and extraordinary gi fts The gi ft s have .
cea se d and there fo re the ceremony

,
E very .
sacra ment must have i ts appointment from C hri s t ,
consist i ng b oth o f an outward sign an d word s o f

i nsti tut i on But thi s ord inance o f theirs has none
.
o f these T he s i gn wh i ch they use is oil T heir

. .
wor d s o f consecrat i on are I S ign thee with the

,
Sign o f th e cro s s anoint thee with the chr i sm o f

,
“
h ealth in the name o f the F athe r an d o f the Son

, , ,
an d o f the H oly Ghost But none o f these have

.
’
their instit ution fr o m Christ or his apostles We .
read in d ee d that th e apo stle s u se d impo sit i on o f

, ,
hands but never o f chrism o r oil I n d ee d ,this

,
.
super s titio u s device w a s not then i n u se being ,
brought in l o n gafter by Sylvester who is reporte d ,
by Da mascus to have been the deviser o f chrism .
El l io t on R o m a n is m , pa g e s —
23 2 23 3 .
Penance i s the performance o f some task gi ven

by th e prie s t in con fe s s i on !a s the saying o f so
,
ma ny fl ve M a r ia s o r Pa te r No s te rs ) by which ,
sati s faction is made fo r sin T his matte r o f con .
fe ssio n an d the true meth o d o f obtaini n g pardon ,
h a s alrea d y been g o ne o ver Je sus Chri st d ie d

.
fo r all men an d all who w ill may obta i n par d on

,
thro ugh faith in him N othin g that we can do

.
,
will a d d t o the per fect w o rk o f C alvary Extreme .
U n c t i o n is the fu n n ie s t cerem o ny i n the C hur c h

o f R o me . There is n o t hing funny in the o cca si o n ,
fo r i t is given to those a b out to di e but the i de a ,
o f anointing the bo d y o f a d ying man i n or d er ,
t o help him elude the gra sp o f the Devil is s u ,
re me l ri d icul o u s The ceremony c o n s i s ts in

p y .
an o inting the dying m an w i th oil that h a s b een

b les sed b y the b ishop the oil b eing a p plie d to t he
,
ey e s,
e a r s n os e
,
m o uth han d s an d sometime s to
, , ,
the ki dn e ys No w where is t h e scriptural fo un

.
,
d ati o n fo r all t h i s We are pointe d it is true to , ,
the case ment ione d by S t Jame s but the an o i nt.

,
in g in this case was g i ven wi th re ference to the

cu re o f the sick ma n whe reas R o manist s ne v e r
,
gi ve extreme un c tio n while there re mains any

hope o f li fe The anointing practice d b y the
.
190 T HE M YS T E RY or INIQUI T Y .
bewail the prevalence o f civil an d religi o us li b erty ,
and w o ul d if they cou l d put b ack the world i nto

, ,
the d a rknes s o f the mi dd le age s Like certa in .
dea d ly plant s P o pery thrive s be s t in d arkne s s

,
an d i n gl o o m The li g ht o f p rogre ss an d liberty

.
wi l l b rin g d eath t o her d ark an d d ee p d e sign s .
Let the pe o ple have the light o f knowle d ge let —

them learn to rea son fo r them selve s an d the —
power o f R o me will b e fo rever b roken .
I will conc l u d e thi s ch a pter by re ferring to one

more o f the ab o mi nati o ns o f R omani sm I mean .
the pretended power o f w o rki ng miracles This .
po w e r w a s given to the apo stle s a s the cre dentials

o f the correctne ss o f the i r me s s a ge and the reality
o f their com mi s sion As the church became

.
establishe d an d receive d fo r a gui d e the Ne w

,
T estament miracle s gra d ually d i s ap peare d and

, ,
soon ceas e d t o exi s t at all Th i s p o wer the Ro

.
man C athol i c C hurch h a s never cea se d to claim .
If,however we examine her b oa s te d miracle s by

,
the u s ual te sts the y s o o n d i s a pp ear The mira

,
. .
cles o f the Bi b le are d ignifie d an d b e n e fi c e n t .
T he miracles o f Romani s m are a b s ur d i n the high

MINO R FO LL IE S .
9 1
est degree The miracles o f the Bi ble are well

.
:
atte s te d b y competent w itne sse s The mira c les .
o f R o mani s m are u natteste d except b y th o s e pre ,
ten d in g to e fle c t them A fe w o f th em may b e .
name d fo r the am u seme n t o f the reader Dog s .

,
a ss e s an d b e e s fo r the b e n efit an d c O
,
n v e rs io n o f
heretic s have a d ore d the sacre d ho s t M any mir

, .
acles are a s cribe d t o St Dominic A knight to . .

,
whom he pre s ente d a ro sary b ecame so holy tha t ,
every time he dropped a bead he behel d an ang e l

convey i t to the Virgin M ary who magn ifie d i t , ,
an d with the whole string b uilt a palace upon a

mountai n in Para di s e When Dominic entered .
the c i ty o f Th o ul o us e all the bell s o f the city rang

,
t o w elcome him untouche d by human han d s
W
.
,
h en a n u r s ing b a b e he r eg u l a r l y o b s e rv e d f a st
da ys , a nd w ou l d g e t o ut f
o be d a nd l ie u on
p th e
g r o und a s a
p They will
e na n c es h.ow you at Lo
retto in N aple s a house in which the Virgin
, .
M ary is sa id to have been b orn an d will gravely

i n form you that t his hou s e was carrie d thro ug h th e
a ir b y a n e l s from N azareth to Loretto , a fe w cen
g ,
t u rie s ago .
O ur wh o l e book might be fille d w i th these a b

”
surd lying won d ers an d thousands yet would
,
“
rema i n u n t o ld .
I s not R ome well calle d th e Mother o f harlots

“
”
a n d abomination s o f the earth N 0 name is too
har sh fo r such a m o nster o f iniquity There may .
b e words in the E ngli sh l a nguage strong enough

to express our indignation an d contempt fo r th i s
v ile system o f shame an d wrong but we ca nnot ,
no w recall them .
So bles sing the memory o f honest Marti n

,
Luther an d praying that author an d rea d er ma y

,
alike be kept secure fr o m the mach ination s o f the

”
M an o f Sin we bri ng this chapter to i ts close
,
.
| 94 THE MYS T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
21s t an d 22d chapters o f the t h ird book o f his

”
work entitled De La ia s !concern i ng the laity )
,
“
, ,
he b o l d ly claims fo r the church the right o f ,
puni shing heretic s w i th death The n o tes in the .
Rhemi sh Testament teach the same horrid

doctrine T he comme n t on Luke ix 55 rea d s
. .
, ,
as follows No t justice nor all rigorous

“
,
punish ment o f Sinners is here fo rb idd en ; nor ,
El ia s s fact reprehende d ; nor the C hurch nor

’
,
Chri s tian princes blame d fOr put ting he retic s to

,
death ; but that none o f thes e should b e done fo r

d e sire o f our particular re venge or wi t hout ,
di s cre tion and in regard o f their a men d m ent

,
”
an d example t o other s I n the celebrate d w o rk
.
o f Pete r Dens a text b ook in nearly eve ry

,
-
pop i s h college a nd semin a ry we find the follow ,
i ng on th i s subject Are heretic s rig htl y “
p u n is h e d with Death ? St Thoma s rightly .
answers in the a fli rma tiv e Because forgers o f .
money or o ther d isturbers o f the state , are ju s tly

,
punishe d with d eath ; there fore al s o heretics ,
who are forge rs o f the faith an d as experience , ,

'
Sh ows gre a tly di s turb th e s t a t e

,
Thi s .
DRUN K W I T H BL OO D . 19 5
is confirme d by the comman d o f God un d er the ,
old law that the fal s e prophet s s hould be

,
kille d .
it
The same is prove d b y the
—
condemnation b y the fourteenth article o f ,
”
John Hu ss in the C ouncil o f Constance Thus .
the rea d e r w i ll see tha t thi s is s till the doctrine

o f th e R o mi s h C hurch They have not the
.
p o wer t o put thi s d o ctr i ne i n practice as they ,
once ha d but shoul d ! G o d fo r b id ) thi s p o we r

,
e ver return to them aga i n we have no reason

,
t o expect anyt h ing el s e than a return to the
bloody persecution s o f the past I t has been .
e stimated that from the birth o f Popery in ,
6 06 to
,
the present ti me more than Fifty ,
Mil l io ns o f o u r race have been slain by this

,
M on s ter o f I n i quity .This is an average o f

more than fo r every year o f the existe n ce
o f Po pe ry .
N o co mputation can re ach the numbers who

h ave been put t o death in di fferent way s o n a c
, ,
count o f the i r maintai ni ng the pro fe ssion o f the

Gospel and opposin g the corrupt io ns o f the
,
Church o f Rome A million o f poor Wa l denses

.
19 6 T HE MY S T E RY or INIQUI T Y .
peri s he d in F rance ; nine hun d red tho u san d o r

t ho do x C hri s tian s were s lai n in le ss than thirty
years a fter the i nstituti o n o f the o r d e r o f the

Je suits The Du ke o f Alva b o a s te d o f havi ng
. .
put to d eath in t he N etherlan d s thirty six th o u

,
-
san d b y the hand o f the c o mm o n executi o ner

, ,
during the Space o f a fe w years T he se are a fe w .
s peci men s and b u t a fe w o f th o s e whic h hi s t o ry

, ,
has rec o r d e d but the t o tal am o unt wi ll neve r be

known till the earth shall di s cl o se her b l o od an d ,
no more c o ver her s lai n — S c o tt s Ch u r c h His

’
! .
to ry ). The persecuti o ns o f pa g an R ome d w i ndle

i nto insign ifi c a nc e when compare d with the per
,
s e c u t io n s o f papal Rome .
Eng l a n d no w a peace ful happy P rote s tant

, ,
country ha s b een the scene o f many a fierce

,
Romi s h p ers e c uti o n D u ring the rei g n o f the

.
”
“
Blo o dy Q ueen M ary a S pace o f five year s 288 , ,
pers o n s were b urne d at the s take fo r the crime ,
o f loving Je s u s an d the b l e ss e d Bi b le The firs t

martyr w a s the venerable J o hn R o g ers w h o was ,
b u rne d at S mith fi e l d on the 4 th o f F e b ruary ,
15 5 5 The martyrdom o f Saunders an d H ooper

.
,
recor d of it . I t to o k p lace on the 24 t h of
August ,
I t b egan an d rage d most exte n
15 72 .
siv e l y at Pari s ye t exten d ed thro ugh o u t the

,
king d om The p lan w a s laid b y the queen do w

.
-
ager o f F ran c e C atharine d e Me dic i in concert

, ,
with her s o n C harle s I X U n d er the p retext

, .
o f a marriage b etween Henry the Pr o te stant ,
king o f Na varre an d M arg aret the si ster o f

, ,
C harle s the Pr o te s tant s i n va s t num b er s ha d

, , ,
been attra cte d to Pari s At mi d ni g ht the s igna l

.
w a s given an d t h e butc h ery commenced

,
NO
.
.
h uman lan g ua g e can s e t fo rth the h o rr o r s o f that

fright ful ma ss acre F or s everal d ay s the street s
.
o f Par i s ran with bloo d S ome t e n thousan d .
per s o n s o f every a ge an d sex we re mur d ered

, ,
.
F rom Paris the slaughter exten d e d thro ughout

the kingd o m and nearly ,
Pr o te s tant s fell
a s v i ctim s t Opapal cruelty Solemn thank swere .
returne d t o God fo r so signal a Vi cto ry M e dals .
were o r d ere d to b e coine d t o per p etuate its mem

O rv. The news o f thi s fearful mur d er wa s
receive d at Ho me with unre straine d delight A .
un iversal jubilee was proclaime d by the Pope .

DRUN K W I T H BL OO D .
99
T he guns o f St A n gelo were fire d an d b o n fi res

.
,
lighted in the streets A meda l was s tru c k in

.
the PO pe s mint w i th h is o w n hea d on one s i d e ,

’
,
an d a repre sentati on o f the mas sacre o n t h e

other with an angel b ran d i s hing a s w ord bear
, ,
in g th e in scripti o n Hug o no ta ru m S tra g e s

“ ”
,
overthro w o f the Huguen o ts .
I n the year 15 98 twenty six year s a fter this

,
-
horri d m a ssacre Henry IV i ssue d an e d i ct

,
.
gran ting the Protestant s li b erty o f wor ship In .
1 6 85 LOu iS X I V rev o ked thi s ed i ct a n d the ol d

.
,
p ersecution s were revived They we r e no t a l.
lowe d t o a ssemble fo r p u b l i c w o r s hi p their min ,
ist e rs were bani s hed an d their children com

,
p e l l e d to go to R o m i s h c h urche s A common .
mode o f puni s hment was calle d dr a g o o n ing that ,
is quartering brutal d ra goons upon the poo r

,
Pro te s tants .
These d ra g oon s coul d torture the d e fencele s s

pe o p le in a ny way they plea s ed D o wlin g i n his .
,
very able hi s to ry give s the fo ll o w i ng extract on

,
thi s matter from Q ui c k s S yn o dic o m :

,
’
T here “
was no w i ckedness though e v er so brutal wh i ch

, ,
they did not put i n practice that they mi g ht e n

,
force t hem to c h an g e their reli gion Amid s t a .
thou san d hi d eous cries an d b lasphemie s they ,
hung up men an d women by the hair or feet upon

the r o o fs o f their chamber s o r ho o k s o f c hi mn e y s
, ,
and sm o ke d them W i t h w isp s o f wet hay till they

w ere n o l o nge r able to bear it ; an d when t hey
h a d taken them down if they w o ul d not S ign an
,
abjuration o f their p reten d ed here sie s they t hen ,
trussed them up again imme d iately So me the y .
t hrew into great fires kindle d on purpo se an d

, ,
would not take them out till they were h alf

roa ste d They tie d r o pe s unde r their a r ms and
.
,
plu nge d them a g ain an d a gain i nt o d ee p wells ,
from whence th ey w o ul d not d raw the m till they
ha d promi se d to change thei r rel i gion They .
boun d them a s criminals are when they are p ut

t o th e r a ck and i n that post u re putting a funnel
, ,
i nto their mo nth s they poured wine d o wn the i r

,
throats ti ll it s fumes ha d d eprive d them o f their

reason an d they had i n that c o n d ition ma d e them
,
con s ent to become C ath o lic s S o me th ey strippe d

.
stark nake d an d after they ha d o fle re d them a

,
fathe rs to the be d p o sts an d ravi s h e d the i r wives

-
,
and d aughters be fo re their eye s An d in o ther .
places rapes were public l y an d generally p ermit

te d fo r h Ours t o gether F rom other s they plucke d
.
of f the na i l s o f their hands an d t o e s wh i ch must ,
nee d s have cau se d an intolerable p ain .

’
The heart sicken s at the review o f t he se horr id

d etai l s A fter all the half h a s n o t b een tol d us
.
,
.
M uch will never be known unti l the aw ful d a v o f

j u d gment s hall reveal a l l t he secrets o f ear th .
We will br i efly re fer to t he persecuti o ns o f the

Waldenses T hi s peace ful and virtuous pe o ple
.
lived i n the south o f F ra nce and in Piedm o nt .
T h ey woul d never bow t o the dictu m o f the Pope ,
or fo llow the corrupt teach i ng s o f the R oman

C atholic C hurch F or th i s they su ffere d the
.
mo st terri b le an d protracted per secution s Pop .
ish arm i es a g a i n an d a gain laid wa s te their happy

home s . C hil d ren were tor n fr o m the arm s o f
lov i ng parents that they might be reared under
,
R oman C ath o lic i nfluence Th e hel p le ss v i cti ms

.
o f papal cruelty s u fle re d d e ath in a thou s and dif

f
fe re nt forms . So me like the saints o f old were

, ,
DRUN K WI T H BL OO D 20 3
sawn asunder S o me had th e i r th roats cut O th

. .
e rs were hurle d fr o m the t o p o f s ome lo fty cli ft .
N either old a g e nor helple ss in fancy c o uld pro

v o ke pity.
Let th o s e who regard the R omish hierarchy as

a branc h o f Chri s t s true church an d who l ove to
’
,
i mitate he r way s an d teach i ngs s eri o usly ponder ,
on the s e bloo d y persecutions If ever Popery .
get s c o ntrol o f thi s lan d we may expect to se e

,
the s e aw ful scene s re enacted - .
I t is true the s e horr i d transacti on s are a thi ng

,
o f the pa s t b u t when have they been re p u di ate d

,
.
T hey never have been and never w i ll be The

, .
C hurch o f Rome claim s to be in fallible and ,
h aving se t her seal to t h ese enormit i es d are not ,
go back on her p ast hi s tory .
Aga i n we a fli rm that all Rome want s is the

,
p o we r H er t each i ngs a re unchange d her S p i rit

.
,
as s tern and cruel as ever H er g arments are .
stained w ith t he blo o d o f fi fty million sa i nts and ,
she s ti ll thirs ts fo r more Let us not flatter our

.
selve s that the S pir i t o f R o me has been tamed or ,
her th i rst fo r b lood quench ed I t w i ll be ti me .

204 THE M Y S T E RY O F I NI Q U I TY M
eno ugh to bel i eve this when S h e shows sorrow

,
fo r her past dee d s o f b l ood an d cruelt y We .
mu s t see to i t that her per s ecution s are over in ,
thi s land o f F ree d om at le a st We mu st n o t

, .
tru s t to honeye d word s an d s o ft pretences If we .
warm the viper we will s urely be bitten Pre

,
.
v e ntio n i s better than cure Go d hel ping us we

.
,
w i ll neve r allow Romani sm to e s ta b li sh her

i n fernal I nquis i tion on Ame rican so i l .
prophecy are not fully under sto o d an d perhaps ,
will n o t b e until the events pre d icte d shall h ave

.
taken place much seem s d im a nd uncertain yet

W
,
still much can b e un d er sto o d e se e that truth .
i s to trium p h o ve r ev i l an d erro r an d that the ,
gl o ry o f Go d is one d ay to c o ve r all the earth .
No one i t S eems to me can rea d the Bi b le

, ,
Without perceiving that a terri b le an d fear fu l ly

wicke d power was to arise h o l d sway o ver the ,
e arth and pe r s ecute the saint s o f the M o s t High

,
fo r many weary cen t uries an d finally to di sa pp ear

,
beneath t he wrath o f Almi g hty G o d M an o f “
W
.
” ”
S in
,
”
Ant i Chri st
-
Ba b yl o n
,
“
Great h o re ,
seem to re fer to the s a me sinful an d cruel p ower ,
though representing i t un d e r d i fferent ima g es .
T he s e p rop h et i c terms together with man y other

,
names an d ima g es all re fer we think to the

‘
, , ,
same anti chri stian an d persecuting hie rarchy

.
Pa pa l R o m e The coming o f thi s m o n s ter sys

.
tem o f iniquity is fir s t sha d o we d fo rth in t h e 7t h

,
.
cha p ter o f Danie l Thi s chapter contain s an

.
account o f a v i si on in which the prophet beheld

,
four beasts r i sing up in suc c es sion and holding ,

R OME IN PR O P HE C Y . 20
7
d o min i o n over th e earth An explanation o f the .
vi s ion is al so furni she d u s in the same chapter .
By comparing thi s vi s ion an d its explanation , ,
with Ne b u c h a dne z z a r s vision o f the image

’
,
"
descri b e d in the 2d chapter o f Dan i e l an d the ,
prop het s explanati o n it w i ll be s een that b o th

’
,
vi sion s re fer to the same l i ne o f event s The .
fo ur d i fferen t p arts o f the image an d the fou r ,
bea st s repre s ent the four great universal Ki ng

,
d o m s o f the earth .
N 0 student o f h i s t o ry nee d b e in forme d that

these four k i n g dom s are the C hal d ean or Ba b yl o
nian the M e d o Pe rsian the Grecian an d the
,
-
, ,
Latin or R oman This last univer s al k i ngd o m

.
,
t h e R oman is repre s ente d by a b ea s t more terr i

,
b le an d fierce than a n y o f the o thers After .

“
thi s I saw in t he ni g ht vi sions an d b ehol d a ,
fourth bea s t drea d ful an d terrible and s tro ng ex

, ,
c e e din gl y ; an d it had great iron teet h : it d e
v o u re d an d b rake in piece s an d s tamped the ,
re si due with the feet o f it : an d it was d iverse

from all t h e bea s ts that were be fo re it ; an d i t had
”
ten horns . D an vii 7 N or is this all F r o m
-
. .
,
. .
208 T HE MY S T ERY OF INIQUI T Y .
am o ng the ten horn s anothe r a little h o rn

, ,
“
'
ari se s an d pluc ks u p three o f the fir s t ho rns b y

t h e ro o t s
. An d beh o l d in thi s h o rn wer e eyes
like the eye s o f a man an d a m o uth speak i ng
,
”
great thing s .
I n the latter p art o f the c h apter thi s part ,
o f the vi si o n is fully ex p la i ned . Thus he “
sai d The fourt h bea s t S hal l b e the fourth king

,
do m u p o n ea rth which s h all be diver se fr o m all

,
kingd o m s an d S hall d ev o ur the wh o le earth and

, ,
shall trea d it d own an d b reak it in piece s And

, .
the te n h o rn s out o f thi s kin gd o m are ten kin g s

that S hall ari s e ; and an o ther shall ari s e a fte r
them an d he shall b e d iverse from th e firs t and ,
he s hall sub d ue three ki ng s An d he s hall S pea k

.
great w o rds again s t the M o s t Hi g h and Shall ,
wear out the s aint s o f the M o st Hi g h a n d th i nk ,
t o Change time s an d la ws a n d they shall be g ive n

into h is han d unti l a ti me an d time s and the
divi d ing o f time Bu t the ju d g me nt s hall s it and
.
,
they s hall take away h is d omini o n to c o n sume ,
and t o d e s tr o y it unt o the end ”

. Ver s e s 25 26 ,
.
The fourth bea s t w a s di fferent from the other

,
sente d by the little horn an d o ne d iverse from ,
all the others .
“
This is gener a lly a gree d b y all Protestant ,
i nterpreter s t o be th e ki ngd om o f the PO pe

, ,
w hich w a s certainly o f a v ery d ifferent nature

from a ny o f the fo rmer b ein g fir s t ecclesia s tical
, ,
or S piritual an d a fterwar d claiming a temporal

, ,
” —
or civil juri s dicti o n Be ns o n
. .
T hree o f the ten k i ng d o m s were to be plucke d

u p b y this arr o gant n e w c o mer ; an d hi s tory in
-
forms u s that in the eighth century the e x archate

o f R eve n h a t h e kingdom o f the L o m b ar d s an d
, ,
the state o f R o me were re d uce d t o p a pal d o min

,
ion . This l ittl e h orn ha d eyes a n d a mo nth

“
,
”
that spake very great th i ngs an d a look m o re ,
“
s to u t th a n his
f e l l o ws .
These eye s d enote cra ft and cunning qual i ties , ,
fo r which Popery has ever been note d C er .
t a in l y if we con s i der the b ull s anathemas and

, , ,
absoluti o n s o f the variou s P o pes we S hall n o t ,
have much trouble in fin d ing the M o uth that

”
spake very g reat thing s T his horn was also
.
R OME IN PR O P HE C Y . H
to speak great w o rds again s t or as the “
M ost Hi g h . Thi s is b ei ng fulfille d at the

pre sent h o ur The ol d Pope Piu s I X c l aims
.
,
.
,
fo r him s el f an d h is fell o w p o pe s the attribute

, ,
o f i n falli b ility a matter that b elong s only to

,
Go d I n Gra t io n s Decretal s the title o f Go d

.
’
,
i s gi ven to the p o pe ; while t o d ay he is hailed

”
as O Lor d our Go d t h e P o pe
, , Thi s ho s tile
,
.
power shoul d al s o wear out the saints o f the “
Mo s t High ; and the frequent an d bloo d y

per secution s o f R ome re mi nd u s that thi s pre ,
diction h a s been more than fulfille d I t shoul d .
”
al so Think to change time and laws
“
Th i s .
Rome has d o ne in A pp o inting fasts and fea s ts ,
canonizing sai nts granting par d o n s an d in dul

,
e n c e s fo r s in s in s ti t uting new m o d es o f w o r s hip

g , ,
impo sing new arti cle s o f faith e nj o ining new ,
rule s o f pract i ce an d rever sing at plea sure the

,
”—
laws o f GOd an d man Bi s h op JVe w to n F or a
'
. .
long time thi s prou d horn will exerci s e d o m i n

i on but some day The ju dgment s hall sit and
,
“
,
they shall take away his d om i nion to consume ,

THE MY S T E RY OF INIQUI T Y .
”
and to de s tr o y it unto the en d Christ mu s t .
fi nally triumph an d h is King d o m wi l l sooner o r

,
later o vercome all oppo siti o n Popery will .
peri s h an d the King d om o f E manuel arise i n

,
everla s ting b eauty u p o n its ruin s .
Pa s sing on n o w to the N ew Te s tament we ,
have in the secon d ep i s tle o f Paul to the The ss a

lonian s a very full pre d iction o f the p apal d o
minion an d enormitie s Let no man deceive
.
“
you by any mean s : fo r that d ay shall no t come ,
except the re come a falling away first an d that ,
man o f Sin be revealed the s o n o f per d ition ;,
who opp o s eth an d e xalteth him sel f ab o ve a l l that

is calle d Go d or that is wor shippe d so that he
, , ,
as G o d Sitteth in the te mple o f God Shewin g

, ,
h im s el f that h e is Go d . An d
then S hall that wicked be reveale d whom the ,
L ord shall consume w i t h the Sp i rit o f h is mouth ,
and shall d es troy with the brightness o f his com

i ng : even him W ho se coming is a fter the work
,
in g o f S atan with all power an d signs a nd l ying

, , ,
Wonder s an d with all dece ivableness o f unright

,
2 I
families . Paul wrote his sec o n d epi s tle that he

might bri ng them back to a s o un d mind a nd re ,
store the Church to its fo rmer healthy c o n dition .
H e tell s them that be fo re the end o f the w o rl d

shall come there will be a fearfu l ap o s ta s y from
,
the truth a d ark and s tormy peri o d fo r the true

,
follower s o f C hr i st He warn s them that a l ready

.
t h e unholy leaven h a s commence d to work .
Germs o f false d octrine an d practice h ave b een

sown from which shall spring up a corrup t and
,
b lood re d harve s t
-
.
By the M an o f sin we d o not think that

“
any o ne p o pe is meant b u t the whole s ucce ssion o f

,
”
boa s tful dece i vers The term king is so me
.
“
times use d in S cripture fo r a W h o le succe ss i o n o f

kings The term high prie s t is u s ed ! He b i x
.
-
. .
,
7,
fo r th e s eries an d or d er o f high priests -
.
So we think the term Ma n o f sin is u s e d to

“
d e signate the whole line o f unholy cruel , a rro ,
gant and v ici o us men that have occupied fo r so

,
many cent uri es the preten d e d chair o f St Peter . .
Havi ng gone over the pre dictio n s o f Danie l

relat i ve to the Papacy somew hat i n detai l we ,
R O ME
cw
IR PR O P HE C Y . 15
nee d no td well very l o n g o n the ch apte r b e fo re

us . Allu si o n h a s alrea d y been made to th e h i g h
claim s an d blasphemou s ti t le s o f the P o pes They .
h ave s eemed to take s p ecial pain s that the 4th

'
verse o f th e c hapter be fo re u s s h o u l d not lack fo r

”
fulfillment The sign s an d l y ing w o nders are
.
worthy a b rie f c o nsi d erati o n Fo r the se R oman .
is m h a s ever b een n ote d The L i ve s o f Saints ”

.
“
,
so p o p ular am o ng R o man C ath o lics are full o f ,
”
the mo s t rid icul o u s storie s The Brev i ary .
,
which every prie s t mu st rea d fo r nearly two

hour s every d ay i s s tufle d with nar rations o f a
,
’
like ch a racter O ne o f them ma y be g iv e n as a

.
sam p le o f the re s t A s aint ha d h is hea d nearly

.
cut o ff by s o me wicked p erson yet he lived two

‘
day s and carrie d it in his han d s two mile s acro s s

,
the country a n d laid it d own where a ch u rch w a s

,
a fterwar d s built .
M any other exam p le s o f a like character might

b e given W
h o can tell but that the per i o d o f
.
”
R ome s stro ng d elu sion h a s now fully come
’ “
,
an d that t h e l i e t o which they are given o ve r i s

n o ne other th a n the d ogma o f Papal I n fallib i lity ?
Paul i n his first ep i stle to Timothy re fer s

, ,
again to t he c o ming apo sta s y His wor d s have .
been placed at t he hea d o f this chapter I t wa s .
”
a depa r tu r e fr o m th e fa i th that Paul fOre to l d
“
, ,
an d t his an s w er s exactly to R o mani s m The .
little s ociety o f believers gathe red at R o me in

,
t h e time o f the apo s tle s w a s s o p ure that the i r

, ,
fai t h was S p oken o f thr o ughout the W hole w o rl d

“ ”
.
But one corru p tion crept in after another power

, ,
an d wealth complete d th e work an d the pure ,
faith o f Chri s t wa s banishe d from R om e leaving ,
the M o t h er o f H arl o t s enthrone d mi stre ss o f

“
the worl d Thi s ap o s ta s y was to g iv e h e e d to

.
“
”
s e du c i n
g ps ir i ts and thus
,
h a s papal R o me long
been doing S h e pray s to sa i nt s and angel s

.
,
claim s to know the exact con d iti o n o f the d e p art

ed an d en forces her p reten d e d revelati o n s b y
'
claiming angelic vi sion s an d vi sitants fi nd .
”
do c tr in e s of de vil s o r rather d o ctrines c o ncern
, ,
in g d emons The de m o n s o f the Greek s were

.
bei n gs o f a mi dd le nature between Go d an d man .
To these t hey praye d a n d gave wors hip as me d i

a t o rs .
a nd o b t ru de d up o n mankin d it is d iffi cult to sa y, ,
whether with greater artifice or cruelty with ,
greater confidence or hyp o crisy an d preten d ed ,
sanctity a m o re hardene d face or a more har d

, ,
e ne d c o n s cience .
Ha ving th e ir c o ns c ie n c e s s e a r e d with a ho t
ir o n O f cour s e no man could s e t fo rth lie s so
,
great i n num b er an d d ark in gui lt unle s s the con ,
”
science w a s thu s seare d Fo r b i dding t o m a rry
. .
Papal R ome h a s long forbi dd en marr iage to her

clergy an d exalte d celibacy a s a h o lier state
,
.
”
fl n d c o m m a n ding to a b s t a in fr o m m e a ts R ome .
fo r b id s the u s e o f animal fo o d t o s ome men at all

time s an d to all men at certa in time s
,
.
Well h a s Dr Hatfie l d s p eaking o f the pre

.
,
d icti o n s we have been con si d erin g sa id : It ,

“
i s almo s t impo s s i ble to rea d the se word s wi thout
a conv i ction or at lea s t a su s p i c i o n th at the y

,
‘
were written fo r the ex p re ss purpose o f de s c rib

”
ing the apostat e C hurch o f R ome .
J o hn in his e pi s tle s speak s o f an Anti C hri s t

, ,
-
.
T he G reek word mean s instea d o f a s well as ,
a ppo se d to The anti p o pes claime d papal a u

.
-
R OME IN PR O P HE C Y . I9
t h o rit y fo r them s el v e s an d O p p o s ed the reigning

,
ponti ff Anti C hri s t likewi se mean s o ne o pposed

,
-
t o C hri st an d al s o c laimi n g the ti t le s an d p ower

,
o f C hri s t .A b le inter p reters agree that Anti

C hri st d en o tes an o rganize d body o f men per ,
p e t u a t e d from age to age oppose d to C hrist an d , ,
which he w i ll de str o y
W
.
he re can we l o ok fo r the fulfillment o f th i s

prophecy if it is n ot ful fille d in the P o p e d o m ?
,
T he id entity o f pa p al R o me with Anti C hrist -
h a s b een mai ntaine d by Luther C alvin ! wingl i , , ,
Me l a n c t ho n B u c e r Beza Bengel C ranmer Lat i

, , , , ,
mer Ri d ley H o oper Ty nd ale R o ger s S ir I s aac

, , , , ,
Newto n M e d e Bi sh o p N ewton Louth V i trin ga

, , , , ,
D Au b igne Ga us se n O u se l e y Dowling M atti so n

’
, , , , ,
a n d a ho s t o f o ther able thinker s both i n this ,
c ountry an d E urope .
We w i ll now turn to the 13 th c h a p ter o f

R evelati ons The B o ok o f Revelations is the
.
mo st m ysteriou s i n the Bible I t is full o f type s .

,
sha d ows an d sym b ol s M uc h o f it is not per

, .
haps at th i s time fully un d e rs t o o d S till we are .

,
not to turn away fro m it a s from a book he pe ,

l e ss ly sealed A blessing is pronounce d upon

.
t ho s e w h o read an d un d er s tan d it I t is a .
part o f S cri p ture and is there fo re

,
Given by “
”
i n s p i ration o f Go d an d de signe d fo r o u r com
,
fo rt and in s truction M o re o ver the author i n

.
,
pre senti ng a fe w th o u ghts t o the reader concern ,

-
v
ing the p art R o mani s m p lay s i n t he gran d

apocalyptic vi si o n is n o t gi ving the re s ul t o f
,
in d epen d ent re search but the view s o f some o f ,
the able st an d m o s t s o ber c o mmentators I n .
the 13 th c hapter o f R evelat io n s Jo hn tells us ,
that he behel d two bea s t s o ne r is ing u p fro m t he ,
sea an d the o ther coming out o f the earth

, .
The s e t w o bea s ts we thi nk repre s ent Romani s m

, , ,
the first repre senting it s secular an d the second ,
its eccle si a sti cal p o wer I t clai m s to b e supreme.
in bot h The fir st b ea s t c ame u p o u t o f the se a

.
,
that is from the m id s t o f war and tumult and

, ,
had seven head s an d ten horns The great .
mas s o f commentato rs ancie nt an d mo d ern

-
, ,
Prote stants a n d Papi s ts agree in mainta i ni ng ,

'
that th i s bea s t represent s the R oman E m p ire .
The only question is whether it r e pre se nt s pagan

appears to have been the s ixth hea d fo r five were ,
fallen b e fore St Jo hn s time ! S e e cha p xvii

’
. . .
T he five fallen hea d s o r fo rm s o f g o vernment , ,
we re kin g s c o n s uls d i c tat o r s d ecemvir s an d

, , , ,
military tri b une s The si xt h hea d o r the p o wer

.
,
o f the em p er o r s w a s woun d e d unt o d eath when

, ,
the R o man em p ire w a s over tu r ne d by the inva

sio n o f the northern nat i o n s a n d the name an d ,
-
o fli c e o f emper o r alike d e s tr o ye d This d ea d ly .
”
woun d w a s heale d whe n the p o p e an d p e o ple
o f R o me revolte d from the exarc h o f R avenna ,
a n d proclaime d C harle s the Great emper o r o f the
R o man s Thi s b ea s t is repre sented a s Sp eaking

.
great things bla sp hemi n g G o d per secuting the

, ,
saints an d h o l d ing almo s t uni versal sway over

,
t he n a t i o n s o f the earth .
This the s ecular em p ire d id y e t u n de r th e c o n , ,
tr o l a nd
f
by th e dic ta tio n o the e c c l e s ia s tic a l po w e r .
R oma n C atholic writer s h ave s o meti me s b o a ste d

t hat the C hurch never c laime d the power o f s lay
i ng heretics ; it co uld only g i ve t hem over to the

civil power e W
all know ju st what that
.
mean s .
R OME IR PR O P HE C Y . 22 3
As well might the a ssa ssin affirm that he di d

not d o the fatal d ee d but the kni fe that he hel d
,
i n h is han d An d now !verse 1 1) the prophet

.
behold s another beast T hi s bea s t ri ses up out

.
o f the earth that is like a plant silen tl y

, , , ,
w i thout at first attracti ng much attention and ,
has two horn s like a lam b Th i s bea st re pre .
sents we think the eccle si a s tical p o wer o f

, ,
papal R ome . Althou g h this beast ha d the

appearance o f a l a m b he neverthele s s s pake
,
“
”
a s a d rag o n
. The R om i sh Churc h preten d s to
be v ery meek an d h oly yet comman d s an d ,
slays like a tyrant This second b ea s t j o ined

.
in concerte d acti o n with the firs t Th e secular .
an d e cclesi astical p o wer o f R o me go han d in

hand We d o not hear so much o f the fo rmer
.
no w ,
si mpl y beca u se they dare not exerci se it .
We have no d o ub t that if Romani s m eve r gets

control o f national a fla irs again we shall hear
'
the s a me l o r d l y p retentions an d the s a me s te rn de

cree s absolving su bject s from allegiance t o their
,
governmen t and givi ng s tate s an d crowns to

,
”
parties pleasing to the M o ther C hurch “
.
224 T HE MYS T E RY or INIQUI T Y .
Ver s e 13 t h re fers to the preten d e d miracles

o f R o mani s m to whi c h re ference h a s been ma de
,
alrea d y . An d he d o eth g reat won d er s s o .
t hat he maketh fi r e c o me d o wn from hea v en on
the earth in the sight o f men

By mean s o f t he s e preten d e d miracle s the na
ti o n s o f the earth have b ee n d eceive d an d the ,
p o wer o f Popery exten d ed fa r an d w id e And .

“
d eceivet h them that dwell o n the earth by mean s

o f th o se m i racles which he had the power to d o
in the si g h t o f t he bea s t s aying t o the m that

,
d well on the earth that they sh o ul d make an i m

,
a g e t o the bea s t which had the woun d o f a sword

, ,
an d di d l i ve An d he had p o wer to giv e li fe unto

m
.
the image o f the bea s t that the i age o f th e,
be a st should b o th speak an d cau se that a s many

,
as w o ul d no t worshi p the i mage o f the bea s t

shoul d be kille d Ve rs e s 14 1 5 Thi s image o f
, .
the bea st thi s r epr e s e n t a tive i do l many have s up

. ,
po se d t o be the P o pe He is o nly a pr i vate p er

.
son until the t wo horned bea st the ec c lesia stical

-
,
p o wer select him a n d c o n secrate him a s pope

,
‘
H e i s then adore d a s the vicar o f C hrist and ,

ages an d soon the thun d erbolt s o f Divine wrath

,
Shall cleave it fr o m cap s tone to fo un d ation

-
Th e .
twelve hun d re d an d sixty d ay s a re hastening to

their clo se T he Pe pe is pre ppe d up by F rench
.
bayonets an d when they are w i thdrawn the I tal

,
ian s will hurl him in i n d ignation from the throne .
I h o pe that reader an d wr i ter will live to see the

hour I t S e em s to me that the S kies will be
”
brighter and the light sweeter and that men

, ,
w i ll breat he freer when the dark shadow o f

,
Popery is lifted from the earth .

C HAPT E R X V I .
THE PERIL O F THE H O UR .
To b e fo ewarn d i
r e s to b e f
o r e a rm e d .
” — 0ld Prover b .
UR task is well n i gh done-

We have .
en d eavore d to s tate fairly the quest i ons at

issue between R omani st s an d Protestants e . W
have d emonstrated the right o f the Bi ble and ,
the B ib le alone to deci d e in this an d all other

W
, ,
controversie s o f a religiou s c h aracter e have .
s hown how Popery aro s e an d have care fully con

,
s ide re d its fal s e dogmas and superstit i ous pra e
ti ces
. W e have fo llowe d the s tream o f her d ark
a n d bloo dy hist o ry until we turne d with horror
W
,
from the theme . e have viewe d the prO ph e t ic
rel a tions o f R o mani sm an d h ave rea d o f it s cor

,
rupt h is to rv an d final o verthrow i n t h e Wor d o f

God . I t n o w o nl v remain s that we wa rn our
countrymen o f it s d ark an d d ee p d e s ign s c o n

cernin g our b el o ve d lan d a n d o f the fearful
,
s hadow ha ngin g o ver thi s fair republic C a s ti n g .
'
a hurrie d gl a n e e o ve r the nation s o f the earth ,
we s e e that in many lan ds R o m a ni s m is goin g

do wn . I t is go i n g down in S pain in M exico in , ,
.
—
A s tria in F rance yea i n I taly itsel f Bi b le s
u ,
.
a re now d i s tribute d in R o me a nd m o re than thi s

”
, ,
th a nk s to Victor E manuel Prote stant churches ,
have b een organize d in that city Spain h a s bee n .

,
i n like ma nner thrown O p en t o the light and the

, ,
pure g o s pel o f Chri s t may now b e preache d in tha t

once b enighte d lan d I n Aus tria the Pope h a s
.
been O pe nly d efie d an d a faint gleam o f religiou s

,
li b erty b reak s in upon that lan d so lo ng hel d in ,
complete su bjecti on to the Papal S e e I n M exic o .
a small b an d o f b elieve rs have organ i ze d the

“
Church o f Je su s in oppo si ti on to the corrup t
,
C hurch o f Rome called in tha t lan d t he C hurch

,
”
o f M ary
W
.
hile Roma n ism is thu s gow g down in t he

O ld W orl d and even i n some part s o f the N ew
, ,
i t is o n the in c r e a s e in the U nited S tate s I t pre .

2 30 THE M Y S T E RY OF INIQ U I T Y .
day We hear the same lor d ly pretens i o ns an d

.
,
every no w an d then see the manife stations o f her

W
,
cruel an d intolerant Spirit e know what .
Romani sm is in S pain in Au s t ria in M ex ico .
W
, , !
in I reland in I taly e know how much reli

,
.
gions liber ty was enj o yed at R ome when t he ,
Po p e wa s supreme and the influence o f Protest ,
a n t ism was un felt ; in R ome where Protestant ,
worship was forb i dden b y law and Ameri can ,
women arreste d fo r seeki ng to foun d an orphan

asylum No Protestant E nglishman or S cotchman
.
dare b u y lan d in any part o f R o mi s h I reland

w i th a view to living on it H ere is the n o ti ce .
,
which not lon g ago was serve d o n many Protest

ant lan d lord s and tenant s in t h e R o mish dis
t ric t s of I relan d
NO TI O E
MAR CH, 1869 .
S IR — You h a ve l e t t o a h er e tic , or Pr o testa n t, a f

ar m in th is
t f th e c ou n try, b u t h e sh a l l n ever p u h is foo t upon it, or h e wil l
t
W
a r o
p
n ever l ea ve it a l i ve . e w il l n e ve r a ll ow a h e r e tic to l ive a mo ngs t u s .
S o if he p u t h is fo o t on th es e l a n ds h e w i l l b e s ho t de a d . Th e b a l l is
r ea dy for h im . Th is is no i dl e th r e a t , so h e lp m e God .
O NE O F THE P EO PL E .
This spirit R o manist s bri ng with them to this

THE P E RI L OF THE HOU R . 23 |
cou n t ry A fine illu s tration was given o f it

.
,
a s hort time ago in the city o f N ew York whe n a

, ,
peace ful pic nic held un d e r the a us p ices o f the

-
,
”
American Prote stant As so ciati o n w a s v i olently ,
as saile d an d broken up The s e th i ngs are not .
done by the people withou t th e knowle d ge and

connivance o f the pri e s ts and leaders T he y .
have the people un d e r their com p lete c o ntrol ,
an d c o ul d pr e v e n t th e s e s c e n e s of b l o o d if th e y ,
o nl y w is h e d to . If th e y ca n k e ep th e m fr o m re a d
ing Pr o t e s t a n t b o o ks , a nd
g o ing to Pr o te s ta n t
ch u r ch e s , th e y ca n k e ep th e m fr om a ss a i l ing Pro
t e s ta n t pic n ic s a n d
-
m o bb ing Pr o te s ta n t l e c tu r e rs .
O nce in a while some lea d ers are ras h of t heir

’
enough to li ft the curtain and sh ow us the dark

an d fearful back g round S ome y ears a g o th e .
S h eph e r d of th e Va l l ey the organ o f the Bishop ,
o f St .Lou i s gave expres sion to the following

,
senti ment : The Church is o f necessi ty in t o l e r

“
, ,
a nt . H e resy she endures when an d where sh e

mu s t ; but she hates it and directs all her ener ,
g i es to it s d estructi on If C atholics ever gain an

.
immens e numerical major i ty religi ous free dom i n ,

thi s c o untry i s at a n en d S o our enemie s sa y ;.
’
so we believe . B ro wns o n s R e vie w o f ab o ut ,
the same d ate j o in s in s u b s tantially the same

, ,
a ssertion “
The li b erty o f here sy and un b elie f
is not a natural right All the rights the s e c ts
.
h ave o r can have are d erive d from the S tate

, , ,
an d re st o n e xpe die n cy As they have in t he i r

.
,
ch aracter o f s ects h o s tile to the true religi on

P o pery n o ri g hts un d er t h e law o f nature o r
! ,)
th e law o f G o d t hey are neither wronge d nor
,
d eprive d o f li b erty if the State re fu ses to grant

,
them any ri ghts at all ”

T he N ew Y ork Ta b l e t
.
”
ri d icule s the i dea o f a liberal C athol i c A .
Western R oman C atholic paper recently sai d :

“
H ere sy and un b elie f are crime s an d in s tates ,
under re l igiou s !R o mi sh ) c o ntrol are to b e p un ,
”
is he d as o ther cr i mes .
A very i mportant que s ti o n no w arise s na mely ,
By what mean s d o es R omani s m hope t o get the

supremacy in thi s country She h a s more than
one metho d o f reach in g th i s p o int H er plans .
are d eep an d well laid So me o f them we wil l .
now c o n si der.
mo n cho o l s secularize and are inten d e d by the i r

s ,
c h ie f supporters to secularize e ducati o n an d t o , ,
make all l i fe s ecular that we O ppo s e them and

, ,
re fuse to sen d our children to them when we can ,
”
po ssib l y avoi d it .
I t is ea sy to se e the dri ft o f the s e remark s .
The v w a nt the s ch o ols un d er the d o m i nion o f

Romanism or el s e t hey want the entire sys tem
,
a b o li s hed They d o not wish to jo i n i n support

.
i ng them and t hey re fu se to s en d their ch i ldren

,
to them O ur gloriou s public school sy s tem stan d s

.
a s a migh ty b arrier be fore the a d vancing waves
o f Romani s m R em o ve thi s b arri er an d their

.
,
final Vi ctory wi ll bec o me a mere que stion o f time .
2 . Th ey h ope to m a k e a h os t f
o y o u th u lf c on
v e r ts b y m e a ns o
f th e ir c o nv e n ts a n d s e c ta r i a n
s c ho o l s .
They h ave a vast number o f schools an d semi

naries scat tere d all over the lan d They make .
great pre te nsw ns and many silly Protestan ts s en d

,
.
their s o n s an d da ughters to be educated in them .
i t is so fa s hiona b le an d romantic to go away to

the C ollege o the S acred H eart
“
f ” S t Jo s eph s .
’
,
THE P E RI L OF THE HOU R . 2 35
”
A ca d emy ,
the U r suline C onvent to b e e d
or “
,
u c a te d . Poor re d face d ign o rant Mrs S ho d dy

,
-
,
.
,
who think s t hat one church is as goo d a s ano th

e r and who d o es not know but that the massacre
,
”
o f St . Bartholomew t ook place d uring the late

war thinks that i t is suc h a fine thing to say
, ,
My d au g hter has been e d ucate d in a convent ”

.
Poor silly flies ! so ea si ly t ra p ped by the R o mish

,
Spiders .The s e aca d emie s and sem i naries are

gran d proselyti ng institutions Th e y a r e the .
p o o r e s t s c h o o l s in th e c o u n try They give a littl

. e
smattering o f F rench an d mu si c painting and ,
drawing ; but as fo r hi s tory s cience literature , , ,
but little is taught or learned T hey teach silly .
an d rom anti c young w o men how to become Roman

C atholi cs b etter than they teach anythin g e lse
, .
These schools are a very important part o f popi sh

machinery E ve ry year they carry over to R ome
.
a h o s t o f yo uth ful and i mpul sive converts T hou .
s an d s o f d o llars are annually vote d to them by

unscrupul o u s pol i tician s They are going up all .
over the land T hey are sai d to be free from

.
sectarian influe n ce The rich and the fashionab l e

.
2
s end their chil dren t o them But we know that .
the y are arrange d with the intent o f making con

vert s The mu sic the pa i nting the conversat i on
.
, , ,
the very atmosphere al l breathe the spi rit o f

W
,
R omani s m h y are Romani s ts so anxiou s to
W
.
e d ucate Ameri can wo men ? hy is it that they
care s o l i ttle fo r the women o f S pain o f Mexico , ,
o f Au s tria ? They are very anxious to e d ucate

the women o f the United S tates why not give a
l ittle attention to those o f R ome an d I taly ?
“
Charity s houl d b egi n at home ”
When they .
mani fe s t some d e sire to e d ucate t h e d a ughter s o f

other lands we may give them a little cre dit fo r
,
since ri ty U ntil that time we shall be c ompel l e d

.
to think that their s chools an d seminarie s in this

lan d are o nly so many way s o f a dd in g to the
wealth and power o f the R omi sh C hurch .
3 . The y hope t o g a in s tr e n
g t h b y th e t e n de nc y
q itu a l is m t o th e c o mm u n io n of Ro me .
Ther e h a s been mani fe s ted o f late in many

churches nomin ally Prote s tant a pain ful ten d ency
, ,
to imitate the teachings an d d oing s o f Romanism .
O ne fo rm a fte r ano ther h a s b een intro d uced ,

make the people fam i liar wi t h her forms and

ceremonies and form a sort o f connecting link or
, ,
bri d ge over wh i ch thousan d s pass to the ol d

,
”
Mother C hurch Ri tual i sm would b e sad
.
en o ugh if it meant nothi ng more th an ceremonies

,
an d side shows a sort o f amusement fo r i di otic

-
,
and superannuate d clergymen But it means more .
than that I t means We are weary o f Protes

.
,
tant forms an d doctrines we want the ceremonies ,
and dogma s o f Popery we want something to ,
please the eye and d elight the ear yet someth i ng ,
that will not set too har d upon the co nscience or ,
”
require too much o f the heart M ay God in h i s .
mercy give the eccles i a stical bo d y to wh i ch these

men bel o ng the nerve an d power to cast them o ff
, ,
so that they may be compelle d to show the i r

colors and prevented from corrupti ng a churc h
,
that has given to the world so many brave an d

true men .
4 . Ro ma nis m ex e c ts
p mu ch a i d fr o m the po l i
tic ia n s , in th e j su b u a
g Pro tio n of this c o u n try .
fe ss1o n a l pol i ticians are men o f very little prin

c ipl e . T hey a re a fter t he l o a v es and fis hes ,
T HE P E RI L OF T HE HOU R . 23 9
s eeki ng ever the i r own p ersonal e molument If .
they can gain vote s b y d onating money to P a pal

in stitution s by sen d ing the i r d au ghters to R omish
,
school s a n d a tten di ng Roman Catholic churches

,
an d fairs they will do i t This is the rea son why

, .
every year hun d re d s o f t h ousan d s o f d ollars are

voted to R oman C athol i c insti t utions If M et ho .
d i s ts Presbyter i ans or any Protestan t religious

, ,
bo d y un d ertake t o build h O S pit a l s or school s or

, , ,
asylum s , they do not ask or expect that the S tate

w i ll bear any part o f the expense Why 1S i t so .
di fferent with R oman C atholics Why are the y

s o much unlike the rest ? IS it not that they
hope one day to become our establi she d church ,
an d begin e v en now to anticipate the i r coming

glory
If aProtestant church i s to be dedicated we ,
do no t see the Go v ernor an d M ayor Senators and ,
C ongressmen i n such eage r haste to attend .
Politic i ans know that Protestants v ote di ffere ntly ,
that t here is no power i mpelli ng them to th i nk

and vot e i n concert ; T hey also know that the
great mass o f R oman Catholi cs v ote i n one ,
240 THE M Y S T E RY OF INIQUI TY .
way that they act in concert ; hence the eager

,
ness w i th wh i c h they labor t o secu re their

votes .
What then i s our duty unde r these circum

, ,
stance s? W e see the forces o f Popery combined

together fo r the overth row o f our c i vil an d
reli g ious liberty We hear the trea d o f their
.
gather in g hosts E very da y b ri ngs n e w rec ru i ts

.
from th e O ld Worl d and furn i shes them w i th

.
some co nverts from the N ew We see t he i r .
churches and s chools go up a s b y the han d o f

m agic ; while e v ery week the R om i sh p ress grows
bol d er an d more defiant
Wm
.
1 e us t s ee to i t , tha t our s c h oo l s ys t e m
is not impa ir e d o r o verthro wn b y the m T h i s is .
th e great strength and glory o f our lan d Here .
t he ch ildren o f the poor and the ch i ldren O f the

,
r i ch meet together d rinking alike from the

,
s pri ng s o f lea rn i ng T he poorest ma n i n the

.
lan d may g i ve his children a good education .
Roman i sm w i ll never pre v ail i n this land unless ,
she first succeeds in o v erthrow ing o u r system o f

free publ ic sc h ool s .
must hold them to a strict account A Roman .
'
C atholic cann o t be truste d i n O fiic e They will .
surely use their i nfluence t o pr o mote the cause o f

the papacy The ballot is going to be a great
.
po wer i n this contest G o d grant that the b a l l o t

.
,
and not the b u l l e t may decide i n this com i ng

,
confl i c t .
4 . Wm e us t g iv e no mo r e m o n ey t o pp
su ort
R o ma n C a tho l i c i n s ti tu tio n s , t o b u il d th e ir chu r ch
es , or to pa y T here is alway s
the ir pr ie s ts .
great temptati on to d o th i s Business men .
do i t as a matter o f po l ic y ; po l itic ia n s do the '
same But let o u r politic i ans and business men

.
remember that every d ollar given to Rome goes

to build the prison o f Amer i can h opes dri ves a ,
nail in Liberty s co ffin ’

.
5 . Wm e u s t e n l ig h te n th e pe opl e . T hey must

see and feel the i mpending da nger By an d by .
it may b e too late T he p ri ce o f liberty is eter

.
nal vi gi lance M any o f our secular newspape rs

.
are under the control o f Romanism M any o f .
our religious papers a re afra i d to speak out on

T HE P E RI L OF T HE HOU R . 2 43
this subject S ome o f our m i ni sters are stra ngely

.
s i lent AS faith ful watchmen we must g ive the

.
,
warning M any o f th e people do not know what

.
the doctri nes o f the Romish Church are They .
think o f it as one among many other Chr i sti an

churches T hey forget the bloo d y per s ecut i on s
.
o f the past and t hink that the li o n ha s b e

,
come the lamb We must li ft the ve il an d .

,
S how them t h e true n at u re o f th i s M ystery o f
I n i qu i ty .
6 . Wm
e ust see tha t no on e su
f e rs in pe rs o n
or p p ro e r ty , b e c a u s e th ey w il l no t b o w do w n to
th e p
su e rs t i ti o n s
fpp Religiou s l i berty is
o a e ry .
the birthrig ht o f every Amer i can c i tizen Laws .
must be pas s ed by wh i ch convents shall be in

Spe c t e d and those t h erein i mpri sone d restore d to
,
fu l l liberty T he issue is be fo re u s The confl i ct

. . ,
is Up on us I t w i ll most l i kely be the last great

.
conflict between l i ght and d arkness good an d ,
evil De feate d here Roman i sm will never bear

.
,
rule o v er t h e nation s o f the earth a g ain Suc .
c e ssful i n he r assaults upon th i s country and she ,

244 T HE MYS T E RY OF INIQUI T Y
may put the world back aga i n i nto the d arkness

o f the m idd le age s But we fear no such re sult
. .
Go d and truth must triumph T he d oom o f Anti .
Christ is sealed T he towers o f Babylon must

.
Take h ea t Th e p o m is e d h o u draw s n ear

r r r
I h e a t h e do w n w a d b eat o f w in gs
r r ,
An d F e e do m s t r m p e t so n din g l ear
’
Wo e n d fe
r u u c
Jo y t o t h e p e o pl e a ar
To n e w wo rl d t yran t s o l d wo rl d kin gs
-
,
-
.

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T H E

Of th e Newa rk M E . Confer ence .

TI C HENO R , P R I NTE R S A ND P U BLI S HE R S .

To W HOM S HALL WE P RAY

the s u bje c t of R o mani s m . Ever s in c e the m o m o r

trine an d Pap al p ra c ti c e . M u c h that ha s b een

never been c hange d b ut her m o d e ,

this co untry a t lea s t ,

Ameri c an R ep u b li c . To ca rry out thi s b o l d plan

s evere . C ur p ub l ic sc h o o l sy s tem m u s t b e d e stro ye d ,

li b er tie s a ft er a n o ther tak e n an d d es t ro ye d un til we ,

are bro u ght un d er the co m plete d o mini o n of R o me ,

an d are c h a n g e d fro m a n a ti o n of intellig en t free

Thi s ne w asp ec t of thin g s ren d ers it ne c e s s ary

s till the S ame that ,

either to o learne d an d elab o ra te fo r g eneral c ir c ula

is tic co ntro ver s y . Great p a in s have b een taken to

s e c u re ab s o lute a c c ura c y of s tatement an d ,

co m plis h e d mu s t b e left to the rea d er to d etermine .

Tru s ting th a t so me g o o d may be wr o u g ht by the

R o manis m an d l o o kin g earne s tly

the auth o r co mmi t s thi s the re s ult ,

W e do no t l ook on th e Pop ish s ec t a s a r el ig ion, ba t ra th e r as a

h iera rchica l tyr a nny u nder a cl oa k of r e l igion , cl o th e w ith th e spoil s d

HE R E are elements o f devot i on i n t he char

that som e form o f rel i gi on is ren dered i mpera

o f a Supreme Being and a future state impels ,

all men to acts o f adoration T ravelers ha v e .

met w i th tribes and races existi ng in a fearful ,

state o f phy s i cal and moral degra d ation : but

belie f is o ften vague and absur d the form o f ,

wors hip low an d revolting : but still the fact

remains that men are everywhere instinctively

impelle d to acts o f devotion T he st a rs o f .

heaven t he beasts o f the earth an d the fruits o f

the ﬁel d have all b een the o bjects o f human

adorat i on I n Ju d ah w a s God known : his

na me was great in I srael b u t the Persian ,

i gnorant o f the true Go d bowe d b e fore the ,

setting s un wh i le th e E gy p tians gravely a d ored

cats an d cows an d the streets o f Athens were

I n addition to th i s general belie f in the ex

there is an almo s t un i vers al convicti on o f sin ,

lead i ng men to offer sacriﬁce an d to look in some

sacriﬁce has been common among the heathen ,

an d fo r four thous an d years was o ffere d by a

If then we are a fallen si n ful race how impor

tant that we seek the D i vine favor in the d iv i nel y

a ppoi nte d way ? A mista k e here may be fatal .

Who dare a s sert that in relig i on it matters not ,

what a man bel i eves so long as he is s in cere ?

I t is not so in other matters If we take poison

d eem i ng it to be foo d our sincerity a n d igno

rance w i ll not save us fr o m the natu ral c o ns e

there is a way wh i ch see meth right unt o a ma n ,

The que s tion o f what is ri g ht an d wrong in

as the i nterests and value o f t h e soul rise

If all men were agree d as to the ri ght me t h o d o f

nevertheless be our duty seri ously to ponder

exclu sive creeds how i mportant and s olemn

becomes the question What is truth

By C hristi ans we mean those who pro fess to

d eri ve the i r d octrines fro m and to b e followers