Is Protestantism True to Itself?
By S. B. Whitney
THIS query was suggested while comparing the proposed religious amendment of the Constitution of the United States with the following from D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, in which he speaks of the two branches of the work—that in Switzerland, which leaned upon the civil arm, and that in Germany, which relied solely upon the arm of the Lord:— "If there is any doctrine that distinguishes Christianity from every other religion, it is its spirituality. A heavenly life brought down to man—such is its work; thus the opposition of the spirit of the gospel to the spirit of the world was the great fact which signalized the entrance of Christianity among the nations. But what its Founder had separated had soon come together again; the church had fallen into the arms of the world; and this criminal union had reduced it to the deplorable condition in which it was found at the era of the Reformation. "Thus one of the greatest tasks of the sixteenth century was to restore the spiritual element to its rights. The gospel of the reformers had nothing to do with the world and with politics. While the Roman hierarchy had become a matter of diplomacy and a court intrigue, the Reformation was destined to exercise no other influence over princes and people than that which proceeds from the gospel of peace. "If the Reformation, having attained a certain point, became untrue to its nature, began to parley and temporize with the world, and ceased thus to follow up the spiritual principle that it had so loudly proclaimed, it was unfaithful to God and to itself. "Henceforward its decline was at hand. "It is impossible for a society to prosper if it be unfaithful to principles it lays down. Having abandoned what constitutes its life, it can find naught but death. "It was God's will that this great truth should be inscribed on every threshold of the temple he was then raising in the world; and a striking contrast was to make this truth stand gloriously forth. One portion of the Reform was to seek the alliance of the world, and in this alliance find a destruction full of desolation. "Another portion, looking up to God, was haughtily to reject the arm of the flesh, and by this very act of faith, secure a noble victory. "If three centuries have gone astray, it is because they were unable to comprehend so holy and solemn a lesson." The above speaks for itself; and who, but those drunk with the "wine of Babylon," cannot see that the proposed religious movement is contrary to the spirit of the gospel, either as taught by its Founder or illustrated by its effect upon the hearts of men, whenever and wherever received. And do we not in this, have additional evidence of the fall of Babylon, and that the time is near for the formation of the image to the beast and the issuing of "unrighteous decrees" in the interest of those who substituted the traditions of men for the commandments of God? May God help us to "discern the signs of the times," and prepare for the solemn test. S. B. WHITNEY.