HISTORICAL NECESSITY OF THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE. NO. 6.
HOWEVER sharp the contention was at any time between those who would have it that God decreed that man should sin, and those who held that he only permitted it, their differences were all laid aside whenever and wherever there appeared those who "thought it their duty to represent the Deity as extending his goodness and mercy to all mankind." For both the Supralapsarians and Sublapsarians held alike to the decrees of unconditional election and reprobation.
This new controversy arose in the early part of the seventeenth century, and is known as the Arminian controversy, from James Arminius, professor of divinity in the University of Leyden, who was the originator of it. Arminius had been educated a Calvinist, at the College of Geneva, and because of his merit, had been chosen to the University of Leyden. After leaving Geneva, and as he grew older, his mind more and more revolted from the doctrine of Calvin on predestination, and he embraced the scriptural doctrine that the grace of God is free to all, and brings salvation to all men, and that none are prohibited, by any decree, from its benefits, nor are any elected thereto, independent of their own actions, but that Christ brought salvation to the world, and every man is free to accept or reject his offer as he chooses. But as Calvinism was at that time flourishing in Holland, the teaching of Arminius drew upon him the severest opposition.
Arminius died in 1609, and Simon Episcopius, one of his disciples, carried the work forward with unabated vigor, and in a little while the controversy spread through all Europe, and created as much tumult in the Calvinist Church as Calvinism had formerly caused in the Lutheran. And the stubbornness of the Lutherans was repeated on the part of the Calvinists. With these, also, some sought to bring the contending parties to an accommodation, but with no success. At last, in 1618, by the authority of the States General, the national synod was convened at Dort, to discuss the points of difference and come to an agreement.
Deputies assembled from Holland, England, Hesse, Bremen, Switzerland, and the Palatinate; and the leading men of the Arminians came also. Episcopius addressed the assembly in a discourse, says Mosheim, "full of moderation, gravity, and elocution." But his address was no sooner finished than difficulties arose, and the Arminians found that instead of their being called there to present their views for examination and discussion, it was that they were to be tried as heretics; and when they refused to submit to the manner of proceeding proposed by the synod, they were excluded from the assembly, and the famous synod of Dort tried them in their absence, and, as a natural consequence, they were pronounced "guilty of pestilential errors," and condemned as "corruptors of the true religion;" and all this after the solemn promise made to the Arminians that they should be allowed full liberty to explain and defend their opinions, as far as they thought necessary to their justification.
After this the doctrine of "absolute decrees" lost ground from day to day; and the way in which the synod had treated the Arminians only increased their determination, and besides drew to them the sympathy of many, so much so indeed that the whole provinces of Friesland, Zealand, Utrecht, Guelderland, and Groningen, never would accept the decisions of that assembly.
Immediately after this, too, the controversy over the Cartesian philosophy entered the Calvinist Church, and set it all awhirl again, and kept it so.
James I. came to the English throne in 1603. He had been raised a Puritan, and therefore that party supposed they would be greatly favored by him as king. Accordingly, before he reached London, they presented to him a petition signed by eight hundred and twenty-five ministers from various countries, desiring a redress of ecclesiastical "abuses," and asking for a conference. On January 14, 15, and 16, 1604, the king summoned to Hampton Court, the Archbishop of Canterbury, eight bishops, five deans, and two doctors, of the Church of England, "who were to oppose all innovation." To meet these he called four members of the Puritan party.
James, to avenge himself for the humiliations that had been put upon him by the Puritans in Scotland when he was a boy, sided with the Episcopalians, and became the chief talker in the conferences of the three days. This so pleased the bishops that one of them (Bancroft, of the divine right contest before mentioned) fell upon his knees with his eyes raised to James, and cried out, "I protest, my heart melteth for joy that Almighty God, of his singular mercy, has given us such a king as since Christ's time hath not been." And the archbishop (Whitgift) was so transported with joy as to declare that "undoubtedly his majesty spoke by the special assistance of God's Spirit."
Whether these men were exactly in the right in speaking thus may safely be questioned; but there was one grand result of this Conference: James ordered a new translation of the Scriptures, by which we have our present "King James's" version. When his delegates returned from Dort, and reported what had been done, James gave the Puritans another snub, by expressing in strong terms his dislike, and declared that the position of Arminius on the divine decrees was preferable to that of Calvin.
After James came Charles I., a rigid Episcopalian, and therefore a bitter opponent of all dissenters, Puritans as well as others, and through Laud carried things with a high hand. He finally pushed civil matters so far, that he brought upon his kingdom the civil war, and by that, through Cromwell, the complete ascendancy of the Puritans. When affairs had grown somewhat quiet after the close of the civil war, there were peace-loving men in England who wished to heal the divisions between the Episcopalians and the Puritans; but about all the recognition they received was to be called atheists, Deists, Socinians, and to cap the climax, a new epithet was invented, Latitudinarians.
After the Commonwealth, came Charles II., who reduced everything again to the jurisdiction of bishops. After him came James II., who tried to bring the kingdom under the papal rule. This danger, of course, led all to make common cause against it, till finally, to save the kingdom to Protestantism, William of Orange, with his wife Mary, daughter of James II., was invited to come over from Holland and take the kingdom and reign. In 1688 they came; James ran away to France, and the kingdom was settled upon William and Mary jointly, and pledged to a Protestant succession forever. But as soon as James was out of the kingdom, and the bishops were required to take the oath of allegiance to the new king, many of them discovered all at once that James was king by "divine right," and that it was treason to swear allegiance to any other while he lived. It mattered not though he had, like the coward that he was, basely run away in disguise; no matter though he in his flight had thrown the great seal of the kingdom into the Thames, and by thus throwing away "that mystic symbol of legal government" had left the realm a prey to every unlawful element;—no matter for all this and more, they refused to take the oath of allegiance to one of the best rulers that England ever saw. This caused a division and endless discussion within the Episcopalian Church. Those who refused to take the oath were denominated Non-jurors and High Church, those who took the oath were called Low Church. This controversy lasted through the century, till James, William, and Mary all were dead, and Anne succeeded.
In 1650, another tumult arose in England. The Quakers began their preaching, and excited great commotion and fearful persecution, till in 1680, William Penn obtained a grant of a portion of land in America, to which his brethren might go and be secure.
In the eighteenth century, both in England and on the continent, infidelity caused the principal proportion of controversy. Under the leadership of Voltaire, and the patronage of Frederick the Great, it grew stronger and stronger, until it finally culminated in the barbarities of the French Revolution, that so shocked the world. In England, however, there were some notable controversies on other subjects. In the early part of the century, William Whiston (the translator of Josephus) revived the Trinitarian controversy, by boldly announcing himself as an Arian. He was followed soon by Samuel Clark, a prelate of the English Church. But that which caused the greatest commotion of the whole century in religious circles, was started in 1738, by John Wesley's preaching of conversion, and a "present, free, and full salvation" by the "witness of the Holy Spirit." Wesley was a member of the Established Church of England, and his "doctrines offended the clergy." "The churches were shut against him," and he had to preach in the open air. But "immense crowds" flocked to hear him. In 1740, the clergy, not content with excluding the preachers of these doctrines from their pulpits, "repelled them and their converts from the Lord's Supper." Being thus cut off from all fellowship or recognition by the orthodox, there was no course open but to establish communion amongst themselves, to have their own meeting-houses, and for the preachers to administer the sacrament themselves. The trials, perplexities, and persecutions of the early Methodists are too well known to require any further mention in this place; though it might not be out of place for us to express the wish that the Methodists now would call to mind the former days, whenever unpopular doctrine is brought to their notice.
In 1747 the Baptists, or Anabaptists, as they were also called, were brought into particular notice again, by Mr. Whiston's openly joining their communion. The controversy on the immortality of the soul was again revived by Dr. Priestley's asserting the unconsciousness of the dead.
In the nineteenth century, the first prominent movement was in relation to the second coming of Christ. In 1827 it began in England, and in 1833 in this country by William Miller. This, however, was not so much a controversy as a warning voice; and it soon spread to all nations.
We ask our readers to look over again the subjects that have formed this course of controversy, for in our next we shall present the point which is the object of these articles, that is, the necessity for217the Third Angel's Message to bring into prominence the commandments of God. And by reviewing what we have now given, the truth which we shall present in the next will be more plainly seen.
(Concluded next week.) J.
J. H. W
By John Harvey Waggoner
of Norway and Sweden, and the kingdom of Italy. At present it would be difficult to make anything of Italy but Catholic or infidel; she has too long been robbed of the facilities for general education. But the Italians have had enough of Papal civil rule; of all people they most dread a restoration of the Papal temporal power.
The call for the restoration of the kingly authority of the Pope comes loudest from Austria, where the tide is setting heavily in that direction. This would not be difficult to bring about. No matter where, or however small, his dominion might be, he would be recognized as a king, and then all nations would receive his ambassadors. For this the Pope is planning, and it is safe to say that Europe to-day has no more wily politician than Leo XIII. He has thus far shown consummate diplomatic skill in every emergency, in every move, and has every time obtained the advantage he sought.
Some years ago we published a series of articles on the subject of the future of the Pope, and then said that the nations of Europe would look to him as the pacificator in times of trouble and perplexity. And what do we now see? When the Ultramontane priests refused to yield to the demands of Prussia, considering them an infringement on their loyalty to the Pope, Leo promptly caused them to yield, assuring them that Bismarck was right. At least this was his assurance before the public. And Bismarck has been untiring in his devotion to the Pope ever since. To the Pope was soon committed an important matter for arbitration. Now he is pursuing the same policy with England. He resists the pleadings of the highest officials of his church, refusing to interfere in the affairs of Ireland. But matters are becoming very serious in Ireland, and when the call comes distinctly from the British throne, he will find a way to make his influence felt.
In "Protestant Switzerland," the President of the Council, the President of the Confederation, is an ardent Catholic. He represents Geneva, "the city of Calvin." In Prussia, not long since, a Protestant minister was fined and imprisoned for speaking against "Catholic institutions." A meeting in Berlin was closed because the minister spoke too decidedly against the Catholic Church. A German paper states it as a fact that no man can obtain or retain any important office in the Government unless he secures the favor of the Catholic element. It is our firm conviction that, should a priest presume to nail to a church door in Germany such an indictment of the Papacy as Luther nailed to the church in Wittemberg, he would find no power ready to shield him from popular indignation. The saying of one of the most vigorous Protestant writers in Switzerland is neither strange nor untruthful, that "Protestants there are, but Protestantism is dead."
In Rev. 18, the doom of great Babylon is foretold, and if we compare the late encyclicals of the popes, in which they bewailed the divorcement of the church from the kings who had upheld their power, with verse 7 of this chapter, we can be at no loss to read the issue of the present craze in favor of the Pope. "How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow."
Even now the church of Rome sees this triumph before her, when the nations which now bestow their compliments shall do her more substantial honor; when kings shall restore her from her widowhood, and she will be able to boast of her old-time prosperity. That day will surely come, and all can see it coming; but the sight only presages her speedy downfall. Her boasting is followed by this declaration of the Lord: "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her."
J. H. W
THE POPE'S JUBILEE.
No event of greater interest than the Pope's Jubilee has occurred during the present century. It is of equal interest to the politician and to the student of prophecy. Only a few years ago it was confidently affirmed, by many writers, that, with the loss of the temporal power, the Papacy, as to its prestige and influence, was a thing of the past. A recent writer of some note said that the Pope was, among all nations, losing the regard which had been paid to him; that with the loss of his civil authority he was ceasing to be an object of interest to the Governments of earth. Again, it was declared, and that not long ago, that since the loss of his civil power he had been virtually a prisoner in the Vatican.
We think that they who speak thus have not been very close observers of the signs of the times, or close readers of the prophecies concerning the future of the Papacy. As far as his being a prisoner is concerned, no prince of Europe is more free to go and come as he pleases. No citizen of the kingdom of Italy could travel with greater freedom; and no potentate of Europe would be met everywhere with such acclamations in his travels, as would Leo XIII., if he should choose to travel. But he will not travel at present; he is too politic for that. He will wait until acclamations have more significance than they would have at present, cheerfully as they would now be given.
A number of students of prophecy have foreseen that the Pope must rise in influence and power, before the Papacy meets its final doom. Chapters 17 and 18 of the book of Revelation, both foreshadow what the world is just beginning to see. In chapter 17 the kingdoms give their power to the Papacy for a short time before the close. For the last half century the encyclicals of the Popes have contained lamentations that the church has been forsaken of the nations that were wont to uphold her; that heresy had grown bold even in the holy city of Rome, and the church was powerless to check it. But of late the publications of the Protestants, especially on the continent of Europe, have begun to take up the lamentations, as they see the influence of Catholicism so rapidly increasing everywhere, and the Pope receiving the congratulations of all the world.
It is not, however, that the Pope receives congratulations and numerous valuable gifts from the heads of the Governments of the earth, that chiefly creates alarm in the bosoms of genuine Protestants. It is the immense power that the Catholic Church is wielding in almost every nation. It would take more than the limits of a single article to do justice to this point.
The place assigned for the exposition of the jubilee gifts to the Pope, had to be several times enlarged; and when the time for the display arrived, some five hundred boxes remained to be opened, besides a large amount which was on the way, its arrival having been delayed. Almost every Government on the face of the whole earth was represented in the gifts, many of which were of great value. There seemed to be a strife among the nations to see which could do the greatest honor to a man who has no civil standing among them! Is there no significance in this?
Bohemia sent no presents, for the reason that she represented Protestants as well as Catholics. A strange reason, considering the action of those Governments which call themselves altogether Protestant. The queen of England sent costly vessels for the celebration of the mass; not very inappropriate, when it is considered that she is the head of a church which is so fast running into ritualism, which is another name for Catholicism. Prussia, the home of the Reformation, gave the miter which the Pope wore on the occasion of his jubilee. In Europe, the only exceptions of note were the united kingdoms
The Missionary.
ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CONGO.
THERE were other causes, however, which contributed still more efficiently to the overthrow of Christianity in Congo, than the foreign slave trade. Had this been left to itself, and allowed sufficient time to work out its own natural results, it would, with the utmost certainty, have obliterated every trace of civilization and Christianity. But there were other causes that intervened and did the work more summarily. We allude to the character of the religion the missionaries introduced into Congo; the manner in which that religion was propagated; and the unjustifiable measures that were adopted to uphold it after it became the established religion of the country.
One would naturally suppose, that going among a people so deeply debased, and so utterly ignorant, of course, of everything pertaining to Christianity, as the inhabitants of Congo must have been when they were first discovered by the Portuguese, the missionaries would have taken special pains to instruct them in the principles of the Catholic religion before introducing them into the church. It is but natural to suppose that they would have translated the word of God into their language, established schools for the instruction of the youth, and employed all the ordinary means for diffusing Christian knowledge among the people, in connection with the preaching of the gospel. But the world knows that such a course is no part of the policy of Rome. In all parts of the world where they have attempted to establish their religion, whether in earlier or later times, the baptismal seal has been looked upon as the only thing necessary to convert any heathen into a bona fide member of the Romish Church. They pretended, it is true, to catechise their candidates for baptism, but the ordinance, according to their own statements, was administered with so much rapidity, and in such wholesale style, as utterly to preclude the idea of anything like thorough catechetical instruction.
None but those who have had some experience in training the heathen mind, can understand how slow it is to receive religious instruction. The divinely appointed mode of "giving line upon line, and precept upon precept," and this persevered in for a long period, is indispensably necessary to impart to their minds the first and the simplest principles of revealed religion. But the Congo missionaries made no allowances whatever for the sluggishness of the heathen mind. They either misapprehended its true character, or regarded religious knowledge as a matter of only secondary importance.
Their chief ambition seems to have been to drag as many into the church as possible, and if their merit is to be measured by the number of their converts, they are the most meritorious and praiseworthy men that ever lived. Father Carli states that during his218residence in the capital of Bamba, he seldom baptized less than eight or ten children a day, and not unfrequently fifteen or twenty. During a residence of two years he baptized 2,700. One missionary in Chiovachianza is reported to have baptized 5,000 children in a few days. Another missionary baptized 12,000 persons in Sogno in less than a year. Father Merolla states that he had baptized as many as 272 in one day, and in less than five years, he had baptized more than 13,000. He mentions the case of a brother missionary who had baptized 50,000; and of another who during a residence of twenty years had baptized more than 100,000.
The missionaries, however, did not confine themselves to the single ordinance of baptism. They introduced, as far as they could, all the rites and ceremonies of the Romish Church. The mass was celebrated with all due pomp; the confessional was erected in almost every village; penances of all grades and kinds were imposed; children and adults alike were required to perform the rosary, and the people en masse soon learned to make the sign of the cross, and most readily did they fall into the habit of wearing crucifixes, medals, and relics.
There were certain heathenish customs, however, which the missionary fathers found much difficulty in inducing the people to abandon; and they were never entirely successful until they substituted others of a similar character, which the natives regarded as a sort of equivalent for those they were required to give up. One of the missionary fathers has very ingenuously placed the customs which were abolished, and those which were substituted in their place, side by side in his journal, little imagining how forcibly others would be struck by the family likeness of the two. The limits of this article will not allow us to extract extensively from his journal, but a brief reference to a few of these customs will be quite sufficient to justify the remark just made. It was a custom of the country, for example, to bind a cord of some kind around the body of every new-born infant, to which were fastened the bones and teeth of certain kinds of wild animals, which was regarded as a sort of a charm to preserve the health and life of the child. This practice was regarded by the missionaries as an offense of high grade, and the mother who had the temerity to present her child for baptism with one of these heathenish cords about it, was scourged in public and in the severest manner. In the place of this, the missionaries enjoined "that all mothers should make the cords with which they bound their infants of palm leaves that had been consecrated on palm Sunday; and moreover guard them well with other such relics as we are accustomed to use at the time of baptism."
Another custom that was regarded as not less objectionable by the missionaries, was the practice of handing over every new-born infant to a native priest or sorcerer to tell its fortune, which they pretended to be able to do by examining its form, its limbs, and countenance. In the place of this, they enjoined "that all mothers, after the birth of their first-born, should carry it to the church and perform the ceremony of entering into the holy place; and if it be sick, we order its mother to recommend it to the Lord, together with some sort of a vow."
Christian Sabbath Strictness
By Editor
SAYS the Michigan Christian Advocate: “Let us keep the Sabbath with a Christian and not with a Jewish strictness.” That means, we suppose, Let us not keep the Sabbath at all, but let us keep Sunday.
THE parable of the ten virgins, forming the basis of the lesson for this week, is truly a most beautiful and touching illustration of an important subject, one of the most beautiful, doubtless, to be found in all the range of literature. The subject to which it applies is the second coming of Christ, continued from the last week's lesson. The object of the parable is to enforce upon our minds the necessity of watchfulness, and particularly of preparation for that great event.
THERE is a recurrence of the figure of an Eastern wedding, the coming of the bridegroom to the wedding, and the impressive ceremonies for his reception by ten virgins appropriately clad, and provided with lamps. A tarrying of the expected bridegroom intervened, and then came the thrilling cry, "Behold the bridegroom cometh." There was a sudden awakening of the virgins, their lamps were quickly lighted, and as they went forth it was immediately discovered by five of these expectant ones that they had by a foolish oversight failed to supply themselves with oil for their lamps, and that they were going out.
THEY could not thus meet their coming Lord; the event so long anticipated was just upon them, there was no oil to feed their lamps, and the agonizing thought vividly appeared that after all their expectations and outward preparation, they were about to lose this one great opportunity of their lives. They appealed to their wise companions whose lamps were burning brightly, and whose faces were lighted up with glad expectancy, "Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out." But this could not be. The grace represented by the oil is not a human gift, it must be obtained from God. No one has a surplus to impart; each one must obtain it for himself. There was but one way to remedy their sad mistake, they must go to those who had it to sell, and buy. On the verge of despair, yet cherishing a hope, they hastened away, and when they returned it was too late, the door was shut, and from within came the fatal words, "I know you not."
THE marriage represents the reception of his glorious kingdom by Christ the bridegroom. It is true that in certain scriptures the church is spoken of as the bride, but in this and other scriptures the people of God are the guests and attendants, while the kingdom of glory represented by the city, New Jerusalem, is regarded as the bride. See Revelation 21. There the angel says to John, "Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God." The description of the city then follows. With this understanding, many seeming inconsistencies disappear, and all appears harmonious. The marriage ceremony is thus described by the prophet Daniel: "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, glory, and a kingdom," etc.
THE true church are called as guests to the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb." But the ten virgins represented a particular class whose duty and great privilege it was to welcome the coming of the king. They were apprised of the approach of the event, and understood that a special preparation was necessary. A portion of them wisely made thorough work, while the rest were contented with the outward work and neglected the necessary grace. The lesson is especially to professed Christians, which class these virgins represent rather than nonprofessing sinners. And it appeals particularly to everyone who desires to be in an acceptable state when the Lord shall appear the second time.
THE oil represents the Christian graces, especially that of faith. There is nothing to absolutely prevent anyone from passing along with an exterior appearance of sincerity and religion. He may wear a very thin religious covering all through his probationary time, and entirely neglect to obtain the necessary experience in the things of God. Christian experience is not a matter of appearances only; but its foundation is in the "hidden man of the heart," in the deep principles and motives which lie beneath the thoughts and purposes, and of which the outer life is but an expression. And the time is coming which will test to the depth every man's character.
ESPECIALLY will this be true of those who live in the days of Christ's second coming. The prevailing worldliness and pleasure-loving will induce many to trust in outward forms and professions, while the inward graces are entirely forgotten or neglected. But the test will surely come. None but those who have their lamps supplied with the oil of faith will be prepared to meet the Bridegroom when he comes. And to give this parable to the unconverted and sinners who make no pretensions of religion, is to deprive the Christian church of what is intended to be to them a most important lesson and admonition. To meet the trying test of the Judgment requires deep and thorough work.
WE learn from this parable that there will be a class which will be prepared and ready to enter in to the wedding. Many other scriptures show the same thing. God will have a faithful, watching people. Some will219exclaim when he comes, "Lo this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us." But let none wait, hoping to make the necessary preparation when the thrilling cry is made, "Behold the bridegroom cometh." It will then be too late to repair the fatal mistake and gain the necessary experience. Hence the force of the admonition which follows the parable, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man doth come." Watching implies faithfulness in self-examination, and earnestness in our Master's work. G. C. TENNEY.