The truth, through the blessing of God, is winning victories in this center of Catholicism.
Last April I had the privilege of baptizing and receiving into our little church at Rome a professor of Latin and Greek in the best college of Rome, a school patronized by the aristocracy of the city. He is one of the finest Latin scholars here, which means much when we remember that we are at the headquarters of the Latin Church.
Late one night, after I had retired, I was informed that a gentleman wished to speak with me. I arose and dressed myself and entered the parlor to find there a gentleman of tall stature and strong personality. He stated his case in a few words. He said that he had no hope of eternal life, and from what he knew of this world he believed that the next one would be very beautiful. “Now, pastor,” he said, “if you can give me the assurance of being saved in God’s everlasting kingdom, I shall be eternally grateful to you, and that is all I ask, and the only reason for which I am here.” Then he added, “I wish to put myself at your disposition as a child of five years that you may teach me what I must do.”
When he spoke these words, there was a deep earnestness in them, and his face looked as if he were carrying the world on his shoulders. A man so humble, I thought to myself, surely can get help from the Lord. I appointed a time for him to come to study the truth. He wanted to come every day, but I was not able at the time to teach him so often. I might say that the reason he had confidence in me was because a friend of his, a young officer, who, having studied with me, had been greatly impressed with the truth, told him, when he found him seeking in vain for light, that he would bring him to a person whom he might embrace with open arms, for he was a man who knew the Bible. He also told him that I taught the prophecies. “Well,” said the professor, “I do not know about the prophecies, they are obscure, but at any rate I want to see him if there is any help for me.”
I first assured him that I could eliminate the church of Rome from the list of the possible true churches in two studies. This declaration pleased him very much as he saw we had something definite to offer him.
I succeeded, with chapters 2 and 7 of Daniel, in showing him that the Catholic Church is not the true church. But I saw that he did not need simply argument, but the deep movings of the Spirit of God to help him; for at the first study I had with him he prayed so pathetically for the Lord to give him the hope, the joy, and the peace that other Christians spoke of having, and which he did not possess. I gave him “Steps to Christ” at the close of the study, and told him to read it without losing a single word. When he returned next time, he told me that he thought the author of that book must have been inspired, for otherwise she could not have adapted the words so well to the needs of the human heart. He now began to get a glimpse of a sweeter life. I gave him eight chapters of the “Desire of Ages” that Sister Chiellini translated, and he read them eagerly.
ONE OF THE HISTORIC VILLAS OF ROME
He continued to grow in the precious truths day by day, and his countenance beamed when he told me, “Now I can peacefully go if God calls me from this life, whereas before I was afraid.” One day he asked me what he must do to unite with our people, and I told him that he must be baptized; he said that he was ready. Then I told him that we did not use tobacco nor liquor in our church, and in a few simple words I explained to him the reason, and he smiled and said, “How true that is, and to think I have lived so long before finding it out. I have a cigar in my pocket, but I will throw it away when I get down stairs.” At the next study he failed to appear, but at the following study he told me that he had been sick from the effects of stopping the tobacco and wine, for he had been a great smoker. But he persevered, and later said, “To-day I worked four and one-half hours without interruption, whereas when I was smoking, I could work only three hours at a time.”
His work is very exacting, for he is given the task outside of school of correcting Latin manuscript for the press, and it takes great care and ability to correct the Latin of a man capable of writing a book in Latin. In this he has also shown that stimulants are not essential for good mental effort. Then he had the question of the Sabbath to meet, as the college holds sessions on Sabbath. He presented the matter to the president, who said that he would not refuse him, but as it was a question of every Sabbath, he would have to present the matter to the faculty for their decision, and in the meantime would teach his classes for him on the Sabbath.
After his baptism he gave his testimony, which was very touching, and at the same time very beautiful. He was born of parents very strongly Catholic, and was educated for the priesthood. He rose, step by step, until he became professor of theology in one of the large Catholic seminaries where priests are educated. While there, doubt began to rise about a number of the Catholic doctrines, and especially that of transubstantiation. He studied out for himself that Christ was the word, and by eating the word we eat Christ, and not by eating the host. He communicated his views to the head of the seminary, who became very angry, and said that the Catholic Church never changes, for it is founded on God, and as God never changes, so the church never changes. There began then a disagreement between them, and the professor left his position. They tried to get him to return. They wished to call him before the Board of Inquisition and make him recant. He refused; for, as he told me, if he had complied, he would have been imprisoned in some old monastery. Knowing no other religion than the Catholic, when he left it he became an infidel, and believed no longer in God nor anything else. He told me that one can not imagine the despair in which he found himself during that time when he had no hope and no God.
While in Florence he began to meditate, and as he read a little tract that he found, the thought came to him that there must certainly be a God; so he came to Rome for the express purpose of studying what the other denominations teach. He secured a position as professor, and in the meantime studied about the different churches. He studied the Methodist doctrine a month, and also the Waldensian, but he found no help. Then he studied the Baptist religion for three months, but still he was hopeless and full of doubt. They offered to baptize him, but he said he was not convinced, and therefore would not be baptized. He told me that one of the strong reasons that decided him against that church was because he did not see Christ in the members.
Then he came to us, and we all have seen the great change that has come over him. His countenance bespeaks of the joy and peace of heaven. Even the Baptist pastor whom he visited afterward, said that he had never before14seen such a change in a man, and remarked that he was better than they are. However, he did not know that the professor had been among us and had learned the truth. They had hoped to make a professor of him in their seminary, so I was told by one of the students.
During the time that he was studying with me, he was called upon by what purported to be a committee of citizens, but which proved to be a committee of dignitaries of the Church of Rome who wished to speak with him. They offered him a position as editor of one of the large Catholic reviews. He told them that in the past he had worked along those lines, but now he did not believe in that faith. They replied that he should not let that stand in his way, as this was a great position with a large salary. He said he would never sell himself, and that ended the matter. The Catholic leaders tried before to regain him by offering him a good position while in Florence, for they knew his ability. I pray that God may make him a power for the truth in this dark land.
