THERE is a dangerous sentiment taking possession of the minds of the great mass of the people at the present time, to the effect that there is no danger of the repetition of the history prior to the Reformation. There is a growing belief that the Papacy is being continually moulded by the spirit of Protestantism, and, further, that the person who ventures to question such a view of the situation is at once regarded as pessimistic.
I maintain that the true optimist is not the man who is crying peace and safety in the face of inevitable danger and peril, but he is a true optimist who warns against the present dangers, and shows the people the true condition and the glorious outcome to those who heed the warning. The Papacy has quietly and stealthily been gaining great influence and prestige in this country. Many professed Protestants have become charmed by her influence, and think that she is being won over to the principles against which they originally protested in the sixteenth century. This presentation of the matter is not surprising to the student of Bible prophecy, for the Word of God has faithfully outlined the progressive steps and the final outcome so that all who will may know.
What God Has Said
In the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation the Lord has clearly portrayed the whole career of the last great apostasy from the pure principles which came to us as the result of the Reformation. In Dan. 7:11 the Lord clearly defines this power to be the Papacy, and in this interpretation all the leading Protestant commentaries concur. This text plainly teaches that this power will finally be destroyed by the "burning flame" at the second coming of Christ.
In Dan. 8:25 it emphasizes the same truth by saying that this power will be "broken without hand." Those who think that the power of the Papacy will be overcome by any associations political will be doomed to disappointment.
In Revelation 13 the prophet is speaking of the symbol of the leopard beast, which every careful student of prophecy should understand unmistakably refers to the Papacy. It teaches that this power received a deadly wound, and this wound was inflicted in the year 1798. The pope was that year taken prisoner. For nearly two years the Roman Catholic Church was without a visible head. This deadly wound was the result, chiefly, of the teaching of the principles of the Reformation which finally culminated in overcoming the spiritual domination of the Papacy. It will be readily understood that the healing of this wound would be the restoration of the power that the Papacy once possessed, and this would involve her being restored to the condition where she could persecute those who will not yield to her influence, as she did in former days.
An Image to the Papacy
In Rev. 13:14 we are told that the two-horned beast is to make an image to the beast, and all who are familiar with the Papacy will readily appreciate that this would involve the formation of a union of church and state by the power represented by the two-horned beast, which symbol can be unmistakably demonstrated to apply to the United States of America. Should there be any lingering doubt in the mind of any as to whether this symbol refers to this government, it can be easily proved, when it is considered that this is the only nation that could make an image to the beast (the Papacy), for no nation at the time of its rise existed which did not possess a union of church and state. It will therefore be readily seen from this that this government is the only one that could make an image to the beast. This union of church and state, or image, has been in process of development for many years. It has been seen in the action of various religious organizations, seeking to bring about so-called needed reforms. The National Reform Association which is composed of leading ministers of all denominations, with various religious organizations as its allies, has been working strenuously to place all the "Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land." Repeated attempts have been made, from time to time, to have Congress enact a national Sunday law. Their work was given great prestige by the Supreme Court decision of Feb. 29, 1892, in which it was declared by Justice Brewer that "this is a Christian nation." To demonstrate that there is no mistake in reaching such a conclusion, I would say that this decision has been repeatedly referred to by those who are the chief promoters in seeking for this very measure which embraces all they have desired.
It was argued by Congress concerning the question of the closing of the World’s Fair on Sunday in 1892, that one of the chief reasons for this action was the fact that this was a Christian nation, and, hence, the Sabbath being a Christian institution, it was proper to enforce it.
Another Justice of the Supreme Court has recently given an address on the principles concerning sabbath legislation, in which he indicated very plainly that the Supreme Court of the United States would stand for such legislation. There are also forty-three states out of the forty-five in the Union which have Sunday laws.
Catholics and Protestants
Sunday legislation is the one great question upon which Protestants and Roman Catholics are united in bringing pressure to bear upon state legislators and congressmen. It is only natural for the Roman Catholic Church to do so, for she claims Sunday as the badge or mark of her authority (See "Catholic Christian Instructed," page 200):
"Ques.—What reason have you for keeping the Sunday preferable to the ancient Sabbath which was Saturday? Ans.—We have for it the authority of the Catholic Church and apostolic tradition.
"Ques.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept? Ans.—Had she not such power she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority."
Again, in "Plain Talk About the Protestantism of To-day," we read: "The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the church."
It will also be interesting to note, in this connection, a few statements from Protestants on this point, "This day (Sunday) is set apart for divine worship and preparation for another life. It is a test of all religion."—Dr. W. W. Everett, in Elgin Sunday Convention.
"The Sabbath [Sunday] is the corner stone of Christ’s kingdom. Let us recognize each recurring Sabbath as a sign of God’s covenant. By this sign the world largely judges the depth of our Christian character, and by this sign God judges us."—Mrs. J. C. Bateham, "Sabbath Leaflet" No. 33.
"For nothing were the noble men who planted true Christianity and an evangelical church in the wilderness now constituting the United States more distinguished than for their reverence for the sabbath. It was quite a prominent feature of their character, a sign between them and the heathen world around them, and to a large extent it has continued to be a mark to mark the religion of the present day."
The Mark
From this it will be easily understood what the mark of the beast (the Sunday institution enforced by law) is, against the reception of which the most terrible judgments of the Bible are pronounced, which are as follows: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 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; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Rev. 14:9-11.
It will be interesting to observe that Protestants in exalting Sunday, the false sabbath, and enforcing the same by civil enactments, are striking at the very foundations of Protestantism and all that the Reformation stood for. The two great cardinal and fundamental points against which the celebrated Protest of 1529 was aimed, are: first, adopting tradition in the place of the pure Word of God, the Bible; and, secondly, against civil authority interfering with the free exercise of one’s religious rights. Their seeking the power of the state to uphold a religious institution like Sunday, is a subversion of the principles of Protestantism.
What It Means
In order that the reader may see that this is not a fanciful presentation of the situation, and to show that prosecution will be the ultimate outcome of all this controversy in departing from the true principles of Protestantism, I will herewith append an item of modern history:
Since 1878, among Seventh-day Adventists, under Sunday laws, in no less than seventeen different states and territories of the Union, there has been an aggregate of about 150 arrests. The total fines and costs of the cases amount to about $5,500; the number of days served in prison about 1,500; in chain gangs, 445. As a result of these hardships endured, and confinements, the death of two men was hastened, and several have not recovered from the effect of bad food and ill treatment.12Other things which indicate a departure from the principles which came to us as the result of the Reformation, are as follows: The governmental appropriations which have been made toward Roman Catholic sectarian schools among the American Indians; the choice of a Roman Catholic on the board of arbitration in the settlement of the great coal strike in 1902; and the deference shown to the prelates of the Catholic Church on occasions of great governmental functions, such as the inauguration of the President, and many other things mentioned in the recent past in this journal.
The Literary Digest, in quoting from Harper’s Weekly, says that "two members of the cabinet, a justice of the Supreme Court, and representative legislators and military and naval officials sat down at dinner with an Italian member of the College of Cardinals, at which he was the guest of honor, and a member of the cabinet the host; nor has any previous President ever welcomed a Roman Catholic Italian prelate as cordially as President Roosevelt recently welcomed Cardinal Satolli."
The Boston Republican, a Roman Catholic paper, when speaking of the help the Roman Catholics rendered in the recent Presidential election, says: "There was good reason why the Catholic Church authorities should have been friendly to Mr. Roosevelt. When the truth is told, he has easily been the one man in the President's chair who has insisted upon righteous dealings with the various governmental problems in which the Catholic Church has been vitally interested."
These few items, and the many which might be produced, will be sufficient to convince the most incredulous that the principles of the Reformation have been wofully subverted. May the Lord hasten the time when every true Protestant will arouse himself to the alarming situation, and hasten to give the warning against the beast, the image, and the reception of his mark.
