IN recent articles we have called attention to some of the great empires of the world, and referred to the attempts that have been made to establish still other world-wide empires. We have shown that this notion for world dominion spread from the idea of merely having a world empire of the State to having a world empire of the church as well; and then the two ideas were combined between the 'Holy Roman Empire' and the 'Holy Roman Church,' in order that a universal church might be supported by a universal State. And it was the founders of this 'Holy Empire' who fixed the idea in the minds of men that the Church and the State should be united.
When the Church and the State became united, the practise was for the church to decree, and the State would then carry out the decrees of the church, if necessary, by the edge of the sword. The Protestant Reformation was a revolt against the church-and-state despotism of the Papacy; but many of the Reformers retained their church-and-state notions, and brought them over into the new faith, only to carry out the old régime under a new garb. It now remains for us to inquire whether these church-and-state theories still exist, and whether or not there is a prospect that we will see another world empire of the church.
It is well known among those who have given some study to the subject, that history is continually repeating itself. Men are never satisfied with the experiments of the past. They think that those experiments have failed because they were not worked out right, and therefore they want to try again, and as the result successive generations are going over the same ground that the fathers went over, only to make the same mistakes and failures. It would seem that the history of the Middle Ages was sufficient to make men repel the idea of a union of Church and State for all time, and under that particular name the most of them do repel it in theory, while in fact they are calling for it under a new name.
A pope who has not been so long dead but many who are still living will remember him quite well, gave expression to the doctrine that has been held by the Papacy for more than a thousand years, and it is still a leading part of their creed. He said in one of his encyclicals:
We are bound anew to enforce and to profess, what we have oftentimes declared, with your unanimous consent, that the civil sovereignty of the Holy See has been given to the Roman pontiff by a singular counsel of divine Providence; and that it is of necessity, in order that the Roman pontiff may exercise the supreme power and authority, divinely given to him by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, of feeding and ruling the entire flock of the Lord with fullest liberty, and may consult for the greater good of the church, and its interests and needs, that he shall never be subject to any prince or civil power.
The Papacy makes the boast that she is the universal church, and therefore infallible. She holds the only keys to the proper interpretation of right and wrong. And claiming thus to be infallible, she makes the further boast that she never changes. The foregoing paragraph from Pius IX shows that she still holds to the dogma that she is supreme over both the Church and the State. She claims that she is not amenable to any earthly prince.
Notwithstanding the holding of these principles of the Middle Ages, the Papacy is making the most rapid advancement in point of gaining influence in the world. Italy, that made such a war against the civil power of the Papacy, has sufficiently yielded to her influence to permit of the pope's blessing the army of Italy when she started on her present war to take Tripoli from the Turk. Germany has her Center or Catholic Party, and the emperor is so beset by the Socialist element that he finds it necessary to court the influence of Rome more and more. England is holding out, perhaps, as well as any of the nations, against the influence of the Papacy; but she is gradually yielding, and the pope is getting greater and still greater power and influence in that country. And when we come to the United States, the growth of the Papacy is attested by the necessity of the recent appointment of three more American cardinals.
As has been shown in previous articles, it was the Papacy that taught the world in the Middle Ages the idea of having a universal empire to support the universal church. The Papacy claims that she never changes; and being a leader in this time, she will lead the world back into that condition that was one of her fondest and most cherished ideals for so many centuries.
In consonance with this ideal of the Papacy, is the sentiment that is growing so rapidly, in favor of world federation. There are those who are working for a world federation of the State, and those also who are working for a like federation of the church. As I write, there is lying on my desk a little document entitled 'A Constitution for World-Wide Federation, Based upon the Constitution of the United States of America, Amplified and Adjusted for the United Nations of the World.' There are also several volumes lying before me giving accounts of the various movements and organizations that are working for the federation of all the churches of the world into one great body for the conversion of the world. And these Christian organizations hope to bring their influence so to bear on politicians that they will be able to work out great reforms thereby.
The men of this time, in seeking to do these things, are using many of the arguments that were used by those of the Middle Ages who went over the same ground. The men in that time did not plan to make the Dark Ages as a result of what they did. But since they held wrong principles, they threw the world into the Dark Ages as the result of the doctrines they followed. The men of that time wished to unite the whole world in one great State over which the benign influence of one great church would hover. A prominent man of this time, in making one of the leading addresses in a late meeting of the 'Federal Council of the Churches of Christ,' said: 'I pray that some day, in God's great future, purged of all superstition and error, the great Roman Church may, indeed, clasp hands with our Protestantism in active work. Then there shall be in that, one great irresistible host standing against all things opposing our Christ and His cross.'
The unity that Christ prayed for is not a federation; for He says in His Word, 'Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.' Isa. 8:12. And again the same prophet says, 'And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.' Isa. 2:3. Micah, in the fourth chapter of his prophecy, uses almost the identical words of Isaiah quoted above, only he says that 'many nations' shall be saying these things 'in the last days,' instead of saying that 'many people' shall be saying them.
In studying these statements from Isaiah and Micah, note that the Word is telling what the people will be saying. The text, if studied carefully, will reveal that God is not saying any such thing. He is just telling us in advance what the 'many people' will be saying. God is opposed to what they are talking; for later verses in these chapters show that while the people are saying such things, they are not sincere. They are swept on by a great popular movement, without having the real essence of Christian life that the Man of Nazareth and of Calvary calls for in His Word.
Thus do we see that the prophecies call for a world-wide confederacy, a world-wide Christian empire with headquarters at Jerusalem. These 'many people' will say that the 'word of the Lord from Jerusalem' shall go forth.
In the Middle Ages, when the 'Holy Empire' of that time was in full swing, a great popular craze took hold of the people to rescue the 'Holy Land,' including the 'holy sepulcher,' from the infidel Mohammedans. They were not successful in that time. The Mosque of Omar is in the 'holy city,' and the Moslem hosts are still in possession of the 'Holy Land.' It will be interesting to watch developments as the conditions of this time unfold into the fulfilment of what is called for in Isaiah and Micah and other scriptures of like import.