Editorial Letter by William W. Prescott

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 4, 1907

Editorial Letter

By William W. Prescott

Jottings from the Editor’s Note-Book

Rome, the city of the Cæsars, the city of paganism ancient and modern—this tells the story in a few words. Rome is a place of interest to even the casual reader of history, but for the student of history in the light of prophecy it has a peculiar fascination. Here he reads with a more real sense of their meaning those words of the prophets in which the rise and fall of the iron monarchy and the coming of the great apostasy are foretold.

One Sabbath afternoon I sat on the Pincio Hill overlooking St. Peter’s and the Vatican, the chiefest temple of this modern Babylon, and there I read once more the foreview of “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth,” as given by Daniel, Paul, and John. “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [“the day of Christ”] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” “And there was given unto him [the beast] a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.”

These and other words I read, and meditated upon their fulfilment. Some of these predictions were made nearly twenty-five hundred years ago, and yet no human writer could describe so accurately, with so few words, the history of the papacy, even with its history before him. And as I considered that only in the light of the third angel’s message can the papacy and its work be really understood, and that only by the power of this message can the soul-destroying teachings of the papacy be uprooted from the heart, I had a new realization of the meaning and importance of this message.

During my stay in Rome I spoke four times to our church. I was pleased to meet some who had been delivered from the snare of the papacy, and who were obeying the truth in the face of opposition and of inducements held out to them if they would return to the Church of Rome. I felt it to be a privilege at the very seat of the beast to preach the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and to show that we all have access to the Father through him, without the intervention of priest or pope. Such a gospel as that, though preached in the humblest surroundings, is of more value than all the pomp and ceremony of the Roman ritual in St. Peter’s.

There were two things which made a special impression on my mind at Rome. One was that in the Roman Church the paganism of the Roman state has been perpetuated. This is evident in the teachings and the forms of worship, but this fact is emphasized in the home of the ancient Cæsars by the way in which the papacy has baptized the temples and monuments to the uses of the church, and has made the pope the Pontifex Maximus of a paganized Christianity. The Pantheon is now a church, the old columns are now surmounted with statues of Peter and Mary, the images of the gods are simply exchanged for images of saints and apostles, and in the decorations of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, the Sybilline prophetesses alternate with the prophets of the Bible. This is all appropriate, and is in perfect accord with the facts.

The other striking thing was that modern Babylon emulates ancient Babylon as a builder. It is a well-known fact of history that Nebuchadnezzar made Babylon famous by the restoration of many cities and the erection of magnificent structures—wonderful specimens of the builder’s art. Babylon substituted this outward display of her own works for the building of character, and took pride in them. Said Nebuchadnezzar: “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” Thus Babylon devoted her

efforts to building material structures, and was in this a type of righteousness by works, the works of the flesh. Modern Babylon has followed in the steps of ancient Babylon. Her magnificent cathedrals are in evidence everywhere, and the city of Rome seemed like a great aggregation of churches, its special pride being St. Peter’s, the greatest church building in the world. But this is again the outward sign of a religion of works, righteousness by works, and is the fulfilment of the ancient type.

But all the magnificence of ancient Babylon has been so completely obliterated that it is with difficulty that even her ruins can be located with certainty. The works of the flesh are not enduring. “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” Only the works of faith will survive that time when all things earthly will be dissolved. The overthrow of modern Babylon is near at hand. “And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.” Then “the eternal city” will lose her claim to that title, and another city will take her place, “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God,” and those who have built for eternity by hearing and doing the sayings of Jesus will be the dwellers in that city. Then the difference between building great material structures by the power of the flesh and building a righteous character by the power of the Holy Spirit will be made manifest, and the papacy will perish in the ruin of her great buildings. This message will bring that day.

Brethren G. A. Irwin and G. B. Thompson were with me during a part of my stay in Rome, and together we visited the school which is being conducted by Brother C. T. Everson and his associates in the work. This school does a praiseworthy work merely from an educational standpoint, but this would not be a sufficient reason for its existence were it not designed to be a means of reaching with this truth those whose acquaintance our workers might not be able to make in any other way. An experience of many years has seemed to demonstrate that one very effectual way of breaking through the wall which Rome has built around her members is by conducting schools, and thus coming in contact with those whose minds are turned toward light. I hope that this school at Rome will prove to be the open door through which many will enter into the full light of this third angel’s message.

From Rome I went to Gland, Suisse, to attend the council of the General Conference Committee which was planned before I left America, and toward which some of us had been journeying many thousands of miles. A report of this meeting has already appeared in the REVIEW, but I may be able to write some further notes of interest in a later letter. W. W. P.