A Pertinent Inquiry

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 8, 1913

A Pertinent Inquiry

A RECENT issue of the Christian Herald (New York) contained a letter from Brother E. G. Farnsworth, the religious liberty secretary of the Northern New England Conference, from which we take the following extract:—

“I have been very much interested in the position the Christian Herald is taking on the question of the Church of Rome, especially the article by Mr. Alexander Robertson in a recent issue. It seems to me there is light in it, and the only solution of this question, in harmony with the fundamental principles of our government. It has been a perplexing problem in my own mind and as those of many others how Rome could be dealt with and not violate the principles of religious liberty that our government grants to all alike. But if the use of power, other than spiritual power, makes a church a political power, then there is a solid ground on which to meet and repel the advances and attacks of Rome. I am glad that this is coming to the front among our American people. It seems to me that every Protestant and every true American should be thoroughly aroused to shake off the fetters by which Rome is trying to bind our beloved country. If we oppose Rome for using political power to accomplish her aims in religious things, are not Protestants violating their own principles if they try to advance their religious measures through the means of legislation?”