The American Sentinel 9
September 20, 1894
“Editorial” American Sentinel 9, 37, pp. 289, 290.
ON the eighth of December the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the “Immaculate Conception” of Mary the mother of Jesus. AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.1
THE dogmatic term “immaculate conception,” signifies that Mary was not “shapen in iniquity” and conceived in sin like the rest of humanity (Psalm 51:5); and this dogma logically followed the one, previously proclaimed, that Mary never committed a sin; notwithstanding the declaration of God that “all have sinned.” AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.2
THIS unscriptural doctrine, which was “infallibly” proclaimed by Pope Pius IX. in 1854, is but one of a series of dogmatic decisions, covering many centuries, by which the mother of our Lord has been transformed into a goddess, crowned “Queen of the whole universe” 1 and “seated on the right hand of Jesus,” “to fill the first place after God in heaven and on earth.” 2 AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.3
THE papal discussion of the question of “immaculate conception,” which was “infallibly” settled by Pope Pius IX. in 1854, was carried on for centuries between two powerful Roman Catholic societies, the Franciscans who violently favored it, and the Dominicans who violently opposed it. So furious and bitter was the contention that Pope Sextus IV. published a bull in 1483, threatening to send both parties to hell if they did not stop calling one another heretics. At length the Jesuits took sides with the Franciscans and secured the papal decision of 1854. AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.4
THE opponents of the doctrine, besides declaring it to be unscriptural, asserted that it was absurd, and said, “On the same principle you would be obliged to hold that the conception of her ancestors in an ascending line was also a holy one, since otherwise she could not have decended [sic.] from them worthily.” 3 The logic of this objection is apparent, and unless met it would necessitate the “immaculate conception” of Mary’s whole pedigree, which would include David, who, speaking for the race as well as for himself, says: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalm 51:5. AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.5
IN order to head off this fatal logic, some one who was born in sin, must later rise above this condition, be freed from human sinful flesh, after which, from these superhuman bodies, could be born “immaculate,” or sinless flesh. AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.6
ROMAN CATHOLIC tradition, which, according to the teaching of the church, is declared to be “more clear and safe” 4 than the Bible, says that Joachim and Anne were the parents of Mary the mother of Jesus. 5 And it is by them, we are told, that the great feat of lifting the ancestry of Mary from sinful flesh to sinless flesh was accomplished. AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.7
OF these traditional parents of Mary it is stated that “they showed themselves always so perfect in their whole conduct, that one need not marvel that from such perfection should come forth the one whose luster is as the mirror of all goodness in ages past and to come.” 6 AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.8
BUT “St. Anne” and “St. Joachim” were not born sinless; how then was this perfection attained? Let the cardinal-indorsed work ask the same question and answer it: “By what gradation of virtues and perfection did she [St. Anne] raise herself to make this thing possible? Let us remember what Mary was from the first instant of her creation, and we shall then be able to form an idea of what must have been her mother. Must not the stem be worthy of the flower, and the vase worthy of the perfume it contains? On leaving the hands of God, still under the actions of his creating breath, the soul of Mary was joined to a most pure body, forever virginal and immaculate like itself.” 7 “However holy Joachim and Anne were at the time of their marriage, they were not yet sufficiently so to give such a daughter as Mary to the world. By multiplying their fasts, their alms, through so many long years in order to obtain this grace from God’s goodness, they made rapid progress in perfection and in the love of God, and at length arrived at that degree of purity and holiness desired by the Holy Ghost.” 8 “Thus mortification and sacrifice had done their work in St. Anne and St. Joachim, purifying, refining, and not leaving in them even the shadow of defilement. God could take of that presanctified earth to create his well-beloved daughter,” 9 “who, after God, sees none superior or equal to herself, either in holiness, in glory, or in power,” 10 “purer than the angels, holier than the archangels.” 11 AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.9
BUT why all these theological disputes, and furious contentions, and papal bulls of anathema, and infallible decisions in the Roman Catholic Church, concerning the “immaculate conception” of Mary and immaculate purity of St. Anne and St. Joachim? It was to “sanctify the royal blood whence our Saviour was to be born.” 12 Mary was declared sinless because the blood transmitted “to Mary, was to form the Divine Flesh.” 13 “St. Anne and St. Joachim” are represented as making themselves immaculate because “the blood of Joachim and Anne, passing through the most pure heart of Mary, was to become the blood of Jesus.” 14 AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.10
AFTER the storm of contention is over and the Franciscans and Jesuits have won, and the thunder of the Vatican finished the creation of a saviour, what do we behold? We see a saviour whose blood was “purified” by “mortification and sacrifice” of his grandparents, and whose “divine flesh” was “formed” by blood “made” “purer than the angels, holier than the archangels” through his “grandmother” and grandfather’s “multiplying their fasts, their alms,” and “good works.” AMS September 20, 1894, page 289.11
OH how this frustrates the grace of God! “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” 15 Instead of creating Christ Jesus by mortification and sacrifice, by multiplying fasts, and good works the Christian is created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Instead of saving our Saviour by our works we are saved by our Saviour from our works. Instead of his being the workmanship of our work, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works.” AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.1
AGAIN this antichristian saviour is represented as clothed, not with the sinful flesh of Abraham, but with “divine flesh,” “purer than the angels and holier than the archangels.” The papal saviour is therefore so high above man, who is “shapen in iniquity” and clothed with sinful flesh that it takes a ladder, reaching from earth to heaven, to touch him. He is so far removed from fallen men that it requires a bridge to span the abyss which separates him from his saviour. This is not only the logical deduction from the doctrine of the “immaculate conception” of Mary and the “immaculate” lives of St. Anne and St. Joachim, but it is the admitted doctrine and daily practice of the Roman Catholic Church. Here it is:—] AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.2
She [Anne] is the Mother of her who is purer than the Angels, holier than the Archangels, higher than the Thrones, more powerful than the Dominations, more enlightened than the Cherubims, more inflamed with divine love than the Seraphims. She is the Mother of her who is called and who is the eldest Daughter of the Father, the true Mother of the Son, the Spouse of the Holy Ghost. She is the Mother of her who is “full of grace,” of her who has bestowed, and still bestowes ransom on the captive, strength to the weak, sight to the blind, consolation to the afflicted, hope to the desponding, an overflow of joy to the Angels, human flesh to the Divine Word, a Worshiper worthy of His greatness to the Eternal Father, a temple worthy of His holiness to the Holy Ghost. Anne is the Mother of her who is the ladder to heaven, the anchor of the shipwrecked, the star of the mariner, the bridge whereby God crossed the abyss which separated as from him. 16 AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.3
Away with your Mary “ladder” and immaculate “bridge!” Jesus Christ is the ladder and its lowermost round reaches as low as the lowest sinner. In order that he might reach sinful men, “verily he took on him the nature of angels’ but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” 17 “Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same.” 18 What! part of man’s sinful flesh? Yea, verily. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” 19 “For we have no an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace [without the papal ladder] that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” 20 AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.4
AND now Pope Leo XIII. has the hardihood to invite us away from this Saviour who is so close to us that he dwells in us and condemns sin in our sinful flesh as he condemned sin in the sinful flesh which he inherited from his mother Mary,—he calls us away from this Saviour to a saviour who was born from “immaculate” flesh, “purer than the angels, holier than the archangels,” and who, therefore, cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, and must be touched with a “ladder.” He calls us to a saviour so widely separated from us that there must be a “bridge” constructed to span the chasm. And he asks us to trust our eternal life to this human structure, whose spans are made of “fasts,” and “mortifications,” and “good works.” And besides inviting us to trust our salvation to this phantom “bridge,” he demands toll for the passage of our soul at every span of its almost limitless length; while our Saviour, “without money and without price,” “freely,” reaches over the battlements of heaven and, while holding fast to the throne of the Infinite with the arm of omnipotence, encircles us with his long human arm, that arm that is “not shortened that it cannot save,” and presses us lovingly to that bosom that is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.5
And now instead of accepting the invitation of Pope Leo XIII. we, on the contrary, invite, with the words of our Saviour, him and all his deluded followers who are trusting for salvation to human ladders and bridges, and all others who know not our Lord: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and amy burden is light.” 21 “And the spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.6
“‘St. Anne’ vs. the Saviour” American Sentinel 9, 37, pp. 290, 291.
MORE quotations are printed below from the Roman Catholic work, “Manual of Devotion to Good St. Anne.” Fearing that the reader may doubt the genuineness of the quotations we repeat that the book contains the indorsement of “E. A. Card. Taschereau, Archbishop of Quebec,” and is published by “General Printing Office, A. Coté & Co., Quebec,” and can be secured by addressing the publishers. Price 50 cents. The quotations are followed, as in last week’s article by scriptural comments. We have italicized some of the most prominent features in the couplets, but were all the points emphasized the larger portion of the matter would appear in italics. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.1
To our Roman Catholic readers we say that the matter is not published for the purpose of ridiculing Catholics nor Catholic doctrines, but from love for the souls of Roman Catholics for whom Christ died; and with the hope of exalting in their minds the Lord Jesus Christ to the place he occupies by the will and word of God, which place, by the teaching of this book, is given to “St. Anne.” AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.2
“O GOOD Jesus, be compassionate to the faithful servants of thy grandmother St. Anne, show them thy mercy, and for love of her extend to them a helping hand in all their necessities. O Mary, Mother of God, vouchsafe always to protect those who pay homage to thy blessed mother and serve her with a devout heart.” P. 362. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.3
“Then one said unto Him, Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak to Thee. But He answered and said unto him that told Him, Who is My mother? and who are My brethren? And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, my sister, and my mother.” Matthew 12:47-50. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.4
“O WISE and potent Mother, who hast so much power and merit before God and who reignest in glory with the Queen of Paradise, thy blessed Daughter Mary, never let thy heart forget my needs. I am indeed thy unworthy servant, but I treasure in my soul the thought that my devotedness to serve thee will be the pledge of my salvation.” Pp. 364, 365. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.5
“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the fruit of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.” Isaiah 49:15, 16. “Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:10. “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” not through St. Anne. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.6
“O SWEET advocate, present thyself for me before the throne of divine Majesty that by thy meditation I may obtain pardon of the evil I have done, strength henceforth to overcome my passions, and grace to spend all my days in good works.” P. 365. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.7
“No man cometh to the Father, but by me.” John 14:6. “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Hebrews 9:24. “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.8
“BLESSED was the womb that bore thee, O Mary! Blessed was she who had the happiness of carrying thee in her arms and watching over thy slumbers! P. 65. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.9
“And it came to pass as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and kept it.” Luke 11:27, 28. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.10
“HAIL, blessed Root, whence sprang the beautiful flower and delicious fruit which which have consoled and rejoiced both heaven and earth. Even the most hardened souls obtain grace and pardon when they invoke thee with confidence, the saddest hearts are consoled by thee, if they have recourse to thee in their sorrow.” P. 369. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.11
“Come now let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18. “And I will give them, one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I [not “St. Anne’] will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:19. “Surely he [not “St. Anne”] hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” Isaiah 53:4. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, [not to “St. Anne”], that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15, 16. AMS September 20, 1894, page 290.12
“HOLY Mother St. Anne, by that great power which God hath given unto thee, show thyself my mother my consoler, and my advocate, reconcile me to God whom I have so deeply offended.” P. 370. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.1
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son [not by “Mother St. Anne”], much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Romans 5:8-10. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.2
“HOLY Mother St. Anne, by that great power which God has given unto thee, ... console me in my trials.” P. 370. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.3
“For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by christ.” 1 Corinthians 1:5. “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself [not “St. Anne”], and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.4
“STRENGTHEN me in all my combats; aid me in my day of need.” P. 370. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.5
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13. “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” Psalm 146:3. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.6
“AID me in my day of need.” P. 370. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.7
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace [not to “Mother Anne”], that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.8
“DELIVER me from all danger.” P. 370. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.9
“Call upon me [not on “St. Anne”] in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” [not “Grandmother Anne”]. Psalm 50:15. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.10
“HELP me at the hour of deasth and open to me the doors of Paradise. Amen.” P. 370. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.11
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou [not “St. Anne”] art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4. “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” John 10:7-9. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.12
“HOLY Mother Anne, make peace for me with my Lord and my God whom I have offended.” P. 376. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.13
“Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” Isaiah 27:5. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” [not through “St. Anne.”] Romans 5:1. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.14
“MY heart, alas, my inclinations and my will are attached to vanity, to the world and to sensuality. This great love which God bears towards me, the many benefits He has bestowed upon me, neither touch, nor rouse me from my guilty sloth. [God’s infinite power and love being too weak (?) the Romanist has recourse to “St. Anne.”] Good St. Anne, change these unholy dispositions.” Pp. 379, 380. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.15
“Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” Romans 2:4. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.16
“MY dear Mother St. Anne, I have unbounded confidence in thy prayers; I place in thy blessed hands my soul, my body, and all my hopes, both in this world and in the world to come.” P. 383. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.17
“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” Psalm 146:3-5. “Should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?” Isaiah 8:19, (R.V.) “Mother Anne,” if such a person ever lived (the Scripture does not give the name of Mary’s mother) is dead, but the Lord Jesus Christ “ever liveth” to make intercession for us. Hebrews 7:25. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.18
“HONOR,” “Praise, thanksgiving, glory, and love to my powerful and beloved St. Anne!” “forever.” Pp. 104, 325, 392. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.19
“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” Revelation 5:11-13. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.20
“‘Two Solid Grounds for Sunday Rest’” American Sentinel 9, 37, pp. 291, 292.
UNDER the foregoing heading, Sunday Reform Leaflets, for September, has the following:— AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.1
There are two solid grounds on which Sunday laws rest; one, the right of the prevailing religion of the country (be it Jewish, Christian, or Pagan) to have its day of worship free from disturbance; and the other, the right of every man to an equal share in a rest-day from toil. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.2
As regards the first, if this were a Jewish country, the Jewish worship on Saturday should be peculiarly protected from molestation. If it were a Mohammedan country, Friday should be in a like manner protected. This is simple common sense applied to things as they are, and no action of doctrinaire theory. Where there is a conflict of sacred days, as among Jew, Christian, and Mohammedan, all can not be protected, and hence the majority must determine the question. This certainly distinguishes the sacred day, but does no harm to those who do not count it sacred. It only obliges them to be courteous. The inequality in the matter is only such as in some things must obtain among the freest people. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.3
As regards the second ground; physiologists, physicians, staticians [sic.], and sensible observers in general, have agreed that man’s body and mind need a complete rest at an interval of about seven days. But man will not take that rest from labor unless he is obliged by law to do so. His greed for gain will make him ruin health in his own case, or (worse still) make him force his employés to ruin theirs by continuous work. The law, therefore, must make and enforce a rest-day. But what day shall it take? Again common sense says: “Take the day which the majority of the community, from religious reasons, already regard as a rest-day.” So the civil law, providing for man’s physical well-being, appoints and enforces a rest-day from labor, which is the same day on which all the Christian community worship, and in which the civil law, for other reasons, protects them in worshiping. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.4
That it is not the purpose of Sunday laws, to keep the “day of worship free from disturbance,’ is evident from such statutes themselves. There is not a Sunday law in any State in the Union which clearly makes this discrimination. Illinois makes the nearest approach to it. But even in that State work is not prohibited alone in public places and near churches, nor are the more noisy kinds of work interdicted and the most quiet kinds permitted, as would necessarily be the case if the design of the law was to prevent disturbance; but even there the line is drawn, as it is almost universally, between “worldly employments” and “works of necessity and charity;” the former are prohibited, the latter are permitted. Moreover, the courts of the various Stats, in enforcing Sunday statutes, do not inquire whether anybody was disturbed or not, but only was secular work done, the same not being a work of “necessity or charity.” AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.5
Certainly, the farmer plowing in his own field on Sunday, even if close to a church, could cause no disturbance to any one, other than a mental annoyance. It is true that in other countries such “disturbance” is prohibited; and so in Spain everybody is required to stand with uncovered head while a religious procession is passing; but certainly the founders of this Government contemplated nothing of that sort. Of course it is a great mental annoyance to the Spanish papist to see a Protestant stand with covered head while the Host (the consecrated wafer) is borne along the street; but should the law require the Protestant to remove his that for that reason?—Certainly not; and no more should it require that the whole community respect Sunday because even a majority in the community are mentally annoyed at any disrespect to the day, in its sacred character. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.6
“As regards the second ground,” it is no better than the first. Even granting, for sake of the argument, all that is claimed in regard to the need of stated rest (but it is not granted), the State would not be justified in requiring all to rest at the same time. Probably a very large majority of the people of this country have employment which, in a measure, renders them independent of others in the matter of when they shall work. Thousands do rest on the seventh day, “according to the commandment,” and others might do so if they would. But in a number of States even those who have rested on the seventh day are required, under penalty of fine and imprisonment, to rest also on Sunday. Thus Mr. Capps, lying in a Tennessee jail, rested regularly on the Sabbath; this certainly met fully all the supposed requirements of his physical nature. Yet under a “civil” statute, existing, as Sunday Reform Leaflets would have us believe, for civil reasons, he is imprisoned for nine months for not resting also on Sunday. The fact is, and it is becoming more and more patent every day, that Sunday laws exist only because of the religious intolerance of a majority of the people, because those having control of legislation demand them in the interests of religious dogma and unscriptural dogma, at that; they would, however, be no better in principle if the dogma were true, instead of false as it is. AMS September 20, 1894, page 291.7
“Back Page” American Sentinel 9, 37, p. 296.
AMONG the many unscriptural doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, one of the most pernicious is the dogma of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. What the doctrine is was told in these columns June 7. It is further discussed this week. Let no reader fail to familiarize himself with this subject; for whoever accepts the immaculate conception of Mary, by the same act surrenders the Christ of the New Testament. If Mary was without sinful tendencies then Christ is without human sympathy, not being as the Scriptures declare he is, “touched with the feeling of our infirmities;” nor could he, in that case, have been “tempted like as we are.” Surely he who accepts this doctrine must with it adopt the sad lament, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” AMS September 20, 1894, page 296.1
THE article on another page, “Catholics and Social Action,” is deserving of careful attention, not because of any merit in it, but because of the significance of the facts which it states. AMS September 20, 1894, page 296.2
No pope of modern times has labored to untiringly as has Leo XIII. to make the papacy necessary to the governments of the earth. Papal rehabilitation has been the supreme object of his reign; and that the papacy has regained very much of its lost prestige under his leadership, cannot be denied. AMS September 20, 1894, page 296.3
It is asserted, and truthfully so, too, that the papacy has designs on this country; that for years it has been the deliberate purpose of Rome to dominate the United States in the interest of “the true church.” But this is not all; Rome means that her sway shall be universal, and Leo XIII. has left no act undone, no word unspoken, the tendency of which would be to advance the interests of the papacy. AMS September 20, 1894, page 296.4
Personal qualities and political and social conditions have alike been favorable to the designs of the present pope. A born diplomat, he is personally gratus to the crowned heads and rulers of the world. Moreover the times have been favorable to the ambition of the pope to become arbitrator of the world. Peoples have been uneasy and rebellious, and rulers have been perplexed and troubled by domestic broils and problems, while for years the nations have been armed to the teeth, ready at a word to rush to battle, each bent on the destruction or subjugation of its neighbors. Of course each nation has been deeply concerned to retain the loyalty of its people, and to make friends wherever it could. Thus the papacy, which holds in its hands the allegiance of millions in every land, has become, as never before since the Reformation, a supposed necessity to the rulers of the world. AMS September 20, 1894, page 296.5
THE article, “Absence of Faith in Protestantism,” printed on anther page, under “Significant Paragraphs,” contains much food for reflection. Is there or is there not a vital principle in Protestantism? Are there or are there not vital reasons in the minds of their votaries, for the existence of the several sects of Protestantism? The denomination that does not hold doctrines, a steadfast belief in which is vital to the Christian life, has no reason for existence. Christian charity means love for God and for souls for whom Christ died, not indifference to the truths of God’s Word. AMS September 20, 1894, page 296.6
To change one’s religion from conviction is noble, and honors God; but to do so as a mere matter of convenience or of wordly [sic.] profit is ignoble, and dishonors God. Luther said: “I consent.... to resign my person and my life to the emperor’s disposal; but the Word of God-never!” How different this from the course pursued by so many so-called Protestants of to-day—by the scions of royalty no more than by thousands of others, just as responsible to God as though of royal blood. AMS September 20, 1894, page 296.7
But the fault is not attributable, as the Monitor supposes, to Protestantism, but to the denial of the fundamental principle of Protestantism, which is that “there is no sure doctrine but such as is comformable [sic.]to the Word of God; that the Lord forbids the teaching of any other doctrine.” Inspired by this conviction, many of the German princes of Luther’s day, noble father’s of a degenerate posterity, said to their royal kindred:— AMS September 20, 1894, page 296.8
We PROTEST by these presents, before God, our only Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Saviour, and who will one day be our Judge, as well as before all men and all creatures, that we, for us and for our people neither consent nor adhere in any manner whatever to the proposed decree, in anything that is contrary to God, to his holy Word, to our right conscience, to the salvation of our souls, and to the last decree of Spires. AMS September 20, 1894, page 296.9
But not so the degenerate Protestantism of to-day which makes merchandise of faith and thereby gives to the enemies of the Lord great occasion to blaspheme. AMS September 20, 1894, page 296.10