Editorial by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 13, 1908

Editorial

By Editor

The Demand for Authority

THE general departure of the leaders of Protestantism from the old and fundamental truths of the gospel is preparing the way for the revival of Roman Catholicism. This is one of the signs of the times. Those who read the prophecies aright are not surprised at this development, as it is one of the indications of the nearness of the end.

OUR attention has been called very definitely to this significant tendency, by an article in the January number of the North American Review, written by Archbishop Ireland, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. Paul. From this article we take the following paragraph:—

How great the need of the papacy in the Christian world is evidenced to-day as, perhaps, never before during its history. Outside the fold over which the papacy presides, there are people, there are ministers; but what of the sacred truths, the teaching of which is so imperiously commanded by the Lord—“Teaching all things, whatsoever I have commanded you”? Adolph Harnack speaks for a large section of Protestantism when he reduces Christianity to the “Fatherhood of God.” Where something more of the olden doctrines yet remains, how timid often and uncertain is the voice of him who proclaims them! And when, here and there, the earnest and sincere echoes of a conservative pulpit still recall the incarnation, the virginal birth of Christ, the redemption, the resurrection, a cruel denial is heard near by, going forth from the neighboring pulpits within the same religious communion. The mockery of Christian faith is the boast of so many churches, separated from Rome, that theirs is a latitudinarianism which cloaks all beliefs and all denials. Nor is there remedy within reach. There is no authority—from the very principles of Protestantism there can be none—to which all must listen, which all must obey. The “Reformation” of the sixteenth century refused to hold to the “rock” upon which Christ has built; abandoning it, they built on the sand, and the edifice they raised has crumbled into ruins.

This statement of the situation by a prominent Roman Catholic contains much food for thought. It indicates a clear perception of the present crisis in Protestantism and of its probable downfall. It ascribes a reason for this outcome, which is not only plausible, but convincing. It sounds a pessimistic note concerning the future, declaring that there is no remedy, but basing this declaration upon an unsound interpretation of the true principles of Protestantism. It suggests what will appear to many, and to more and more in the future, as the only hope of certainty amid all the uncertainty of interpretation and teaching—the authority of the so-called infallible church.

It is true that there is among professed Protestants of to-day a denial of nearly every fundamental doctrine of the original gospel of Christ, and a confusion of voices which may properly entitle them to be designated as Babylon, but this is not due to the failure of Protestant principles, but rather to the departure from those principles. What are the original Protestant principles? Let D’Aubigné, the historian of the Reformation, answer:—

The principles contained in this celebrated protest of the 19th of April, 1529, constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith: the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these abuses, Protestantism sets the power of conscience above the magistrate, and the authority of the Word of God above the visible church.

If these principles, which were exemplified in the apostolic church, had been followed in the succeeding centuries, the pages of history would not have contained the record of apostasy from the truth and the use of the civil power to punish heretics; and such an organization as the papacy would never have been known. The original Reformers did not build “on the sand,” but upon solid rock. The ruin threatens because the successors of the Reformers have not maintained the original foundation, but have themselves been substituting sand for rock. Instead of protesting against the intrusion of the civil magistrate, professed Protestants have been foremost in demanding that religious observances and religious institutions should be enforced by law, and they are to-day uniting with Roman Catholics in this very work. In doing this they have abandoned the Protestant ground, and have gone back to papal ground. If this contributes to their failure, the responsibility for such failure can not be made to rest upon Protestant principles.

Again: the present departure from fundamental gospel truths is due to the departure from the second principle of Protestantism—that the authority of the Word of God is above the authority of the visible church. The turning point in this experience was in the early days of this advent movement. Then the plain teachings of the Word of God were appealed to in order to show that the coming of the Lord was near. Instead of yielding to the authority of the Word, in harmony with the Protestant principle, many of the leaders of religious thought turned to the creeds and the commentators,—the voice of the visible church,—and adopted principles of interpretation which enabled them to make void the plain teachings of the Scriptures. The seed was then sown for the harvest which is now being reaped. Then the coming of Christ at some time in the future was not denied, but the message of the near advent was rejected. The principle of interpretation then adopted has now been followed to the logical result in the denial of the second advent at any time. In like manner the virgin birth, the miracles, the resurrection, and the atoning work of Jesus have all been denied, and human philosophy has been substituted for the gospel of Christ. But all this is the direct result of following Roman Catholic principles rather than of following Protestant principles. The difference in the application is this: in the Roman Catholic Church, all follow the mind of one man, and so maintain the appearance of an outward unity, since all agree to the same errors; in the departure from Protestant principles, each teacher has been its own pope, with the result that all have fallen into errors and into many different kinds of errors, so that

there is no outward appearance of unity; and as there is no longer any recognized authority, there is no probability of again securing even the outward appearance of unity. The final outcome is the same whether all are united in believing the same errors which are promulgated by the authority of the visible organization claiming to be the only true church, or whether there is a confusion of errors with no authority with which to enforce obedience to any of them. In neither case is the true Protestant principle exemplified.

While the Roman Catholic archbishop makes a good argument, it is an argument which really tells as much against Roman Catholicism as against apostate Protestantism. Both have departed from the truths of God’s Word, and both make reform hopeless so long as they insist upon the authority of the human mind as above the authority of the Word of God, whether that mind be expressed by a pope on the Tiber or by a pope in every theologian’s study.

But is there no provision for an authoritative voice in the church? Is there no guide which will keep the believers in the right path?—Most certainly. The church has not been left to the frailty of merely human judgment. Here is the original promise: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth.” And it is further declared: “And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error.” The same Spirit which is the organizing power and the life in the church is also the teaching authority in the church, and in order to make this effective God has placed the gifts of the Spirit in the church. It is through the operation of these gifts that he will cause believers to “attain unto the unity of the faith.” And in the interpretation of the Word of God the voice of the living prophet will guide, when necessary, to a right understanding of the writings of the prophets of the olden time. This is the experience which the church will have when following implicitly the instruction of the Word of God, instead of accepting tradition or a merely human voice.

Having shut away from the church, so far as such a thing is within human power, the true voice of authority in the church, and having substituted therefor its own voice, the papacy now invites apostate Protestantism to find authority for a visible unity in the Roman Catholic Church, and many will doubtless respond to the invitation, but only to substitute one error for another. Is there “the need of the papacy in the Christian world” to-day? There is need of the voice of authority to guide the perplexed out of the mazes of error, but that voice should be the voice of the true Shepherd speaking through his appointed mouthpieces, not chosen by cardinals, but by the gift of the Spirit. There is no other movement which can meet this demand for authority, in harmony with the Word of God and the true principles of Protestantism except this great advent movement and the proclamation of the third angel’s message. Let it be proclaimed in all the world “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”