The True Significance by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 28, 1911

The True Significance

By F. M. W.

No question of recent years has elicited such wide-spread interest and general discussion in religious circles of the United States as the appointment of the three American cardinals by the Pope of Rome. It was to be expected that the elevation of the three archbishops to the cardinalate would interest American Catholics. To them it betokens the gracious favor of the head of their church. They see in it the presage of growing efficiency in church work and increased glory to the Catholic cause. It is proper that they should rejoice, and if they desire, suitably celebrate the event.

But there is cause for serious thought to see so wide-spread friendly interest displayed by professed Protestants. Many apparently regard the progress of Roman Catholicism as the triumph of the cross of Christ, and sing as loudly the plaudits of Rome as the most ardent communicant of that church.

Rome to-day stands committed to the same principles which have shaped her course and guided her policies through the centuries of the past. She stands to-day the same system of error as when Luther nailed his ninety-five theses of protest against her abuses to the door of the Wittenberg chapel. The days of the Reformation brought an awakening. Godly men were raised up to cry against the abuses of the papal system. The shackles of ignorance and the chains of error and superstition were broken, and with unfettered intellect men and women began to think for themselves. The papal system was seen in its true character. The light from heaven was welcomed, and thousands of earnest devotees left the bondage of Romanism, rejoicing in the soul liberty brought to them by the blessed gospel. The nations of men shared in this liberty. The state became largely free from the domination of the church, and in turn freed the people from many galling chains.

It is to be regretted that these dissenters did not remain true to the principles which they embraced. Had they done so, continuing to cherish the pure principles of the gospel, they would have become a mighty host in the evangelization of the world. Romanism would have received an effectual and permanent check. It would have taken its place among the other false religions of the world and been the object of gospel evangelization the same as other false systems of worship.

But the same elements of spiritual degeneracy which corrupted the faith and simplicity of the early church began to manifest themselves anew after the days of Luther and Melanchthon. The great Protestant church has departed from its early simplicity. Worldly influences have pervaded its midst. Increasing numbers have given it popularity. Wealth has brought it social power. Loss of spirituality has made it the companion of the worldly and the indifferent. In great measure it has ceased to protest against the principles for which it so earnestly fought in the early days of its history. It has declared a truce with its erstwhile enemy.

The Protestant church to-day is growing decadent. This is the taunt of Rome, who sees in the breaking down of old-time barriers, and the surrender of former principles, her own hour and opportunity. And we are forced by the rapid trend of events in the religious world to acknowledge the justice of the contention. Protestantism is listening with rapt attention to the honeyed professions of the Roman Church. It is viewing with admiration its gorgeous ceremonialism, its impressive parades, its mighty assemblages. It is clasping the proffered hand held out to it, and gives to Rome genuine hope for the accomplishment of all her plans for the future.

Rome to-day poses before the world as the conservator of religious truth.

While the Protestant church is honey-combed with free thought, with liberal criticism, and with a subtle modern infidelity,—an infidelity which, while it professes faith in the Scriptures of truth, discounts their cardinal doctrines,—the Roman Church claims to be the conservator of Christian faith, the great protector of the Scriptures of truth, albeit these she will not permit her devotees to read for themselves. These claims of Rome in the minds of the multitude are taking phrases, and invite a confidence on the part of many who look into their own churches and witness the wreckage of the faiths which once were held dear.

The significance of this ascendancy of Rome and the decadence of the great Protestant church can be understood only in the light of the Scriptures of truth. In the book of Revelation the rehabilitation of the papal power in the last days is clearly outlined. The prophet declares that again the Roman power should rule in the affairs of men; again it should sit in the great professed church of God asserting its former lordship, rejoicing in the passing of its widowhood, and its ascendancy to queenly power. See chapters 13, 17, 18.

The Scriptures further indicate that this rehabilitation of the Papacy will be brought about through the influence of apostate Protestantism; the United States, under the symbol of the two-horned beast, which since its national existence has stood as the chief exponent among all its fellows of civil and religious liberty, would repudiate its early profession, and become the leader in turning the nations back to the worship of the papal power.

That Rome is looking to the United States as her hope for the future, she herself frankly admits. One of the most recent utterances of this character is contained in the January (1912) number of the Missionary, the official organ of the Catholic Missionary Union, as quoted in the Washington Times of Dec. 20, 1911:—

And what church in all the world has made such progress as the one within the borders of the United States? The Holy Father in his outlook from the watch tower of the Vatican sees about him the lowering clouds of direful disaster, but away in the West there is the gleam of hope. The westering skies are clear and sunlit. The church in America during these fifty years has leaped from modest beginnings to complete organization. Among the older Catholic nations apostasy is rampant, but in this Western World the young giant is sound of limb and wholesome of heart, and he delighteth to run his course.

That there is growing in the United States a strong sentiment favorable to the Roman Church is plainly evident in every quarter. Her influence is being felt more and more in municipal, State, and national affairs. The leading men of the nation exert themselves to do her honor. Her prelates, if not recognized as ministers of state, are received in audience with a show of respect and deference which bespeaks hearty welcome to their counsels and suggestions. Some there are in the great Protestant churches who can see the trend of these things, and seeing them, tremble for the future. The United Presbyterian in its issue of Dec. 14, 1911, raises the pertinent query, “Have We a Papal Court at Washington?” Under this title it says:—

The creation of three new cardinals for America appears to be given the place of a political event of national importance. It belongs to the Roman Catholic powers to give out as many red hats as they may think proper; that is a matter of internal administration of the church. But in some way it seems that a public recognition of Catholic events is given by our politicians and the press not given to the doings of other churches and which should not be given. On Thanksgiving day President Taft, members of the Cabinet, justices of the Supreme Court, and members of the diplomatic corps, attended a Thanksgiving mass in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. The twenty nations of Latin America were represented, and the building was decorated with their flags entwined with our own. “The ceremony was a blend of the religious and patriotic.” It was a blend that does not belong to the spirit of American institutions. Our political leaders bend to the approaches of the leaders of the Catholic Church until we are in danger of becoming a vassal of the Pope. Our President should give more attention to the proprieties of his office, and less to political favors.

In an article entitled “That Roman Catholic ‘Official’ Thanksgiving Service,” the Lutheran of Dec. 7, 1911, declares that in her efforts to court official favor, Rome is seeking to become the official church of the Republic:—

From Washington emanated a despatch on Thanksgiving eve that the President would attend, with two Cabinet members, the Chief Justice, and another member of the Supreme Court, and representatives of all the Latin-American countries, what the despatch calls “the official celebration of Thanksgiving.” If we remember rightly, the same thing occurred a year ago, and since two points determine the direction of a straight line, the recurrence of such an event and of the interpretation of the event indicates an endeavor on the part of the Holy Roman Church to accustom the American rulers to pay a little official respect, if not to an obeisance, to Rome, and the American public to think it the proper thing to do. Undoubtedly the public officials attended this “official” service for the same reason that they went in such numbers to the first of the many celebrations shrewdly planned to exploit the Roman Church by making His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons the accidental subject of so many columns of newspaper notices during the past two months. When one remembers that Rome maintains at Washington not only a national university but also a quasi-representative to our American government in the person of an apostolic delegate, who is aside from his civic functions a fifth wheel to the wagon in the well-organized American branch of that church, it is plain that the Holy Roman Church is edging forward pretty rapidly in her endeavor to become the “official” church of the American republic. Such things do not happen. They are planned. Two points determine the direction of a straight line. Are we headed toward the “official” church?

In the same strain writes the editor of the Christian Advocate in his issue of Dec. 14, 1911. In discussing the appointment of the three new American cardinals and the servility of their oath in support of papal authority, under the title of “Apropos New Cardinals” the editor, recognizing the growing favor with which the advances of Rome are being received, and fearful of the outcome, utters the following warning:—

The “sublime dignity” of the cardinals and the spectacular shows connected with their appearance in public comport not with the teachings of Christ, nor do they comport with the teachings of the apostles. But in this free country they have the right to believe what they will and to teach their sentiments to those who will come to hear. They can not compel obedience as they did for ages, nor can they inflict physical punishment, nor take the lives of those who will not bow to their symbols or mandates.

Roman Catholicism is still in many parts the most gigantic system for the consolidation and exercise of power the world has ever seen.

Almost all there is of freedom in Germany, in Switzerland, in England, in Scandinavia, and in the United States is the fruit of the Reformation; and since then of the co-operation of Protestants, citizens with no form of religion, but lovers of equality and liberty, and certain liberal-minded Catholics.

We need not refer to the middle ages, or go back even so far as a single half century, to illustrate this. On the eighth of December, 1864, only forty-seven years ago, Pope Pius IX issued an encyclical to the whole Catholic world. In it he avowed every principal dogma of despotism; in it he claimed the right for the Papacy to inflict or procure “temporal penalties for the violation of sacred laws.” Truth and its opposite are artfully woven together, but the whole document in spirit, and in several parts in letter, openly condemns the chief principles of the Constitution of our country. . . .

The spirit of Roman Catholicism and the spirit of despotism are “one and inseparable.” Public patronage of the federal government and of the governments of many of the States, and the leanings of politicians toward the flattery of Roman Catholics, are more than signs. . . .

That attempts to secure the public funds to support Roman Catholic schools and other institutions will soon be made openly, is more than probable. . . .

We sympathize with the unknown patriot who cried: “O for a trumpet voice to warn free governments of the dangers to their liberties at the last!”Were there such a voice, the most fitting cry would be, “Lovers of your country, beware of the secret influence and the political power of Roman Catholicism!”

The Christian Advocate does well to raise this warning cry. It needs to be sounded from every housetop,—from the pulpit of every church, and in the columns of every journal. The American republic to-day faces the greatest peril in all its history—the danger that its blood-bought liberty shall be wrenched from it, and once more it be brought under the power of religious despotism, from which the Pilgrim fathers fled to find an asylum in the American wilds. But by the great multitude the warning will not be heeded. The majority of the great Protestant church, according to the Scriptures, will eagerly reach forth their hand to clasp the proffered hand of Rome. The historic gulf between the two will be bridged. Together they will unite in the creation of the image to the beast, in the enforcement of the papal sign of authority, in the enactment of religious persecution. We may not hope to save the nation nor the great multitude from taking the fateful step. We may labor, however, for the individual units of society, for the men and women in every communion, the Roman Catholic not excepted, who will see and appreciate the principles of gospel truth.

Only in the light of the prophecies can the present trend of events in this country be rightly understood, and the true measure of the situation be gaged. Those who believe that they can meet craft with craft, lobbying with lobbying, underestimate the strength of the system with which they are contending. The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, affords the only weapon of defense and of aggressive warfare.

For long years Seventh-day Adventists have looked for the coming of the present situation. The Roman peril is no longer a question of the future; it is a question of our day, of the present hour. With the knowledge which this people possess of the prophecies, there rests upon them a double responsibility in raising the warning cry. Upon them should fall to-day the mantle of Protestantism and a double spirit of the Reformers, like the inheritance which passed from Elijah to his successor. Aggressively and persistently, but conservatively; patiently and kindly, but none the less plainly, it falls to us to stand loyally for the truth of God in these days of spiritual declension. We war not with men, but with principles. Many noble men and women are to be found within the communion of Rome. These have become confused, and need the light of gospel truth as truly as the light was needed in the sixteenth century. For these we should labor in the spirit of the Master.

We can not stand in the times before us in our own strength, but the blessed Master who has called us to his work, and made us the conservators of this last great message, will impart with the call the needed grace. Let us be true and loyal to God, distrustful of self, humble in our own weakness, but mighty in Heaven’s strength in giving the third angel’s message to the nations of men. Rev. 14:6-12. F. M. W.