p. 9 | THE AIM OF THE VATICAN by P. T. M.

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Sep 12, 1916

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 36.

THE AIM OF THE VATICAN

By P. T. M.

THE Jezebel of the Apocalypse and the papacy of the Middle Ages are, without controversy, one and the same power. To exalt herself into a place where she can first woo and wed and later lord it over the civil power, thus "reigning over the kings of the earth," has ever been the aim of the Vatican. It was her aim in the Dark Ages, and it is her plan and purpose to-day. And the present struggle in Europe is made by her to serve these unhappy designs in a manner that but few even suspect.

The present pope, Benedict XV, has toiled unremittingly to this end. On the first day of November,—the feast of All Saints,—1914, he issued his first encyclical letter, under the title "Ad Beatissimi." In this encyclical, he speaks of the deep distress which fills his soul because of the war, the "most mournful spectacle of which there is any record." Then he adds: "Certainly those days would seem to have come upon us of which Christ our Lord foretold: 'You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars—for nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.'"

He next delivers himself of the significant words, "We implore those in whose hands are placed the fortunes of nations to hearken to our voice." From this it will be clear that the supreme pontiff is calling upon the rulers of the belligerent nations to listen to him and to let him be the peacemaker between them; but to ask them to do this is in principle and fact to ask them to restore the papacy to its ancient place of power and splendor, as the arbiter between all nations.

"SOLE, LAST SUPREME JUDGE"

It is to ask the nations to recognize the so-called "vicar of Jesus Christ" as the mediator in the greatest of earthly matters. He is, in effect, restating the words of another famous pontiff: "I claim to be the supreme judge and director of the consciences of men—of the peasant that tills the field, and the prince that sits on the throne; of the household that lives in the shade of privacy, and the legislature that makes laws for kingdoms. I am the sole, last supreme judge of what is right and wrong." (Cited by W. E. Gladstone, "Rome and the Newest Fashions in Religion.")

This assumption of the papacy is further emphasized in the words which are spoken at the coronation of a new pontiff at the time when the papal diadem is placed upon his head: "Take thou the tiara adorned with the triple crown, and know that thou art the father of princes and of kings, and art the governor of the world." (Coronation service of the pontiffs.)

And in the encyclical before cited, Benedict XV further states: "But it is not the sanguinary strife alone that distresses the nations and fills us with anxiety and care. There is another evil raging in the very inmost heart of human society, a source of dread to all who really think, inasmuch as it has already brought, and will bring, many misfortunes upon nations, and may rightly be considered to be the root cause of the present awful war.

FOUNDATION OF STATES SHAKING

"FOR ever since the precepts and practices of Christian wisdom ceased to be observed in the ruling states, it followed that, as they contained the peace and stability of institutions, the very foundations of states necessarily began to be shaken. . . . Let the princes and rulers of peoples remember this truth, and let them consider whether it is a prudent and safe idea for governments or for states to separate themselves from the holy religion of Jesus Christ, from which their authority receives such strength and support.

"Let them consider again and again, whether it is a measure of political wisdom to seek to divorce the teaching of the gospel and of the church from the ruling of a country and from the public education of the young."—Excerpts from the encyclical "Ad Beatissimi," pages 7, 8, 10.

Take thou the tiara adorned with the triple crown, and know that thou art the father of princes and of kings, and art the governor of the world.

From this, it is clear that Pope Benedict XV desires the restoration of papal teachings by the rulers and governments of the belligerent nations. And this can only mean persecution of those who dissent from the creed of the Church of Rome, and the kindling once more of the martyr's fagot; for Jezebel in the present day will just as surely stir up the kings of the earth to persecute the people of God, as did that other Jezebel in that early hour of history stir up Ahab to hunt to their death, with fire and sword, those who were true to the God of Israel.

JEZEBEL'S HEAVY HAND

BE it remembered that the word "Rome" signifies brute force; and if that church shall, as a result of the present war, be able to exalt herself once more into the place where she can control the temporal power, the flames of the Inquisition will again blaze up, as they did during the times of her ascendancy in the Middle Ages, and all who do not accept her teachings will feel the weight of Jezebel's heavy hand. Kings and governments will be incited to deeds of religious intolerance which they never would perpetrate of their own accord.

Because of the wrong conceptions of the divine attributes, ancient heathen nations believed that human sacrifices were necessary in order to please and to appease God. The Church of Rome unites the forms of paganism with those of Christianity, and over and over again she has resorted to practices no less cruel and revolting. The Scriptures teach that these atrocities will be again. Therefore all Christian men and women should seek the God of heaven with heart and soul, that they may be kept in this coming hour of mighty temptation and trial.

P. T. M.