PROTESTANT SAINT-WORSHIP.
By A. J. B.
ONE feels sorry, but not surprised, to see Roman Catholics engage in the worship of saints. Such worship is an essential part of their belief. But when we hear of professed Protestants who thus disobey the first two commandments of the decalogue, we do wonder. It is now certain that prayers to the saints are no longer confined to the Catholic Church; for Dr. George Adam Smith, in his “Life of Henry Drummond,” says that he knows of three persons who say that they pray habitually to the late Professor Drummond—a very popular English essayist, an evolutionist, and a so-called Christian. And it was recently said by Dr. Joseph Parker, of the City Temple, London, that he prayed to his departed wife every day. In speaking of the matter, he said: “I never come to this place [his church] without asking her to come with me. And she does come.” That Dr. Parker does not keep the matter to himself, is shown by the following advice given by him to one of his friends who was recently bereaved of his wife: “I encourage my friend to pray to his wife, and to pray to God to ask her to come to his help. She will be more to him than twelve legions of unknown angels.” Dr. Parker, it will be remembered, is the man who, in his pulpit, before a large London audience, cursed the sultan of Turkey, Sunday, April 23, 1899. The church of which he is the head, is the oldest Congregational church in London. Now, what is all this but idolatry, pure and simple? Idolatry is not merely falling down in worship before some image or representation of a deity; it is the act of interposing any object, or person, between the Creator and the created. God’s first command to his people was; and is forever: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This prohibition was made because it was needed: because mankind is ever confronted with the temptation to have “other gods before” Jehovah, the Creator. In Israel’s time the people were tempted to interpose the gods of the Egyptians, of the Canaanites, and of other peoples, between themselves and the true God. In our day the temptation is apparently a little more refined, one step higher, namely, man-worship, instead of the worship of beasts or inanimate objects. That such idolatrous conduct is to be expected of all who forsake the exclusive worship of God, is clearly outlined by Paul when he speaks of certain ones who, in his day, “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more [‘rather,’ margin] than the Creator.” Rom. 1:25. We are inclined to believe that persons who worship their departed wives, or the late Henry Drummond, or even good angels,—in fact, any “creature” of God, however good,—must have turned “higher critics,” or that they must have eliminated from their minds altogether, or from their copies of the Bible, all passages referring to God’s commands, warnings, and exhortations to his chosen people, in regard to idolatry. Not only that, but they must have forgotten about Christ’s temptation and successful resistance on this very point of idolatry. It is said that Christ “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” He therefore was also tempted to worship a “creature” of God,—to place “before” Jehovah a certain one, Satan, who was once an angel of light, and one of the most beautiful, refined, and intelligent creatures of the Father. But when asked to fall down and worship this being, Jesus “said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” It was by the use of the Scriptures that Christ successfully opposed the most refined and subtle of all creature-worship: it is by the use of the Scriptures that we, the followers of Christ, are to oppose all idolatry in our day. Now the object of worship and of prayers is to elevate the soul above humanity, to divinity,—to the Father of all,—that his suppliant may, by beholding the divine and the righteous, be transformed in character into the image of Christ, and thus be fitted for translation at his second appearing. Salvation is the ultimate object of prayer. But by whom does salvation come to this world?—By Jesus Christ, and by him alone, for it is written: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. Why did not Peter here tell his hearers that it would also be a good thing for them to pray to the Father through Adam, Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, or other saints of God who had died the death of the righteous?—Simply because he knew better. He knew well enough that salvation means to be saved from sin, and from death, the wages of sin; and he knew that to be saved from death, life must be furnished to him that is “dead in trespasses and sins.” He knew also that there is but one “way” by which man may reach God; that is, through Christ, who said of himself: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6. Should not, therefore, all Christians believe these words of Christ, the founder of Christianity? Should they not also believe his positive directions to Christians of all ages, in regard to praying? On this subject he said: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name,” etc. All Christian prayers are to be directed to the Father. The most potent cause of this widespread man- and creature-worship in modern times is the belief in the immortality of the human soul, which belief leads persons to think that their departed friends have become “ministering spirits.” It also causes persons to believe in the transmigration of souls, purgatory, eternal torments, Mariolatry (worship of the Virgin Mary), and in the efficacy of prayers for the dead and to the saints (or rather, prayers to those who are thought by men to be saints). Hence, once a man believes his soul is immortal, he thereby places himself on an equality with God, so far as life is concerned, and places his beliefs above the declarations of God’s word, which declares God the Father, and him alone, to be “immortal.” 1 Tim. 6:16. Thus, not only does the creature-worshiper make a god of his object of worship, but also of himself. Now, what this belief will work out in those who cherish it, is plainly shown in what it has already worked out for an entire church, which has cherished it for centuries. Though many honest-hearted Catholics have, while worshiping the saints, also tried to worship God, yet it is an established fact that even they have much more to say to and about the saints, such as Mary the mother of Christ, St. Peter, St. Patrick, St. Agatha, St. Joseph, etc., than they have to say to or about God. In fact, a good Catholic addresses all his prayers and supplications to the saints, not to God. And the fact that now some of the most prominent Protestants in the world dare to come right out and openly avow their belief in saint-worship, proves that true Protestantism, which takes the Bible, and the Bible alone, as its “rule of faith and practice” is fast becoming a thing of the past, a mere landmark of history. However, there will ever be some true Protestants; and these will believe God’s word; they will heed it when it says: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” They will also heed that word when, to preclude any belief in the efficacy of prayers to or for the dead, it says that “the dead know not anything. . . . Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Eccl. 9:5, 6. Now, in all good reasoning, could a man’s deceased wife, or the late Henry Drummond, or any other dead person come back to this earth to “help” their friends, without showing “their love,” or without having “a portion” in something “that is done under the sun”? The Bible plainly shows, in this very passage, that the dead do not come back to earth. But Dr. Parker, speaking of his departed wife, says: “I never come to this place without asking her to come with me. And she does come.” Which do you believe, Creator or creature?