CHRIST is coming the second time. There is no discord nor dissonance in the prophetic notes which declare this glorious truth. His coming will be the day of deliverance to his waiting people, the ushering in of their jubilee over Satan, sin, and death, the glad and grand fruition of their longing desires and eager expectations.
But interesting queries cluster round this most important theme. Christ will come, but how? Will he come literally, or will his reign be that of his Spirit in the hearts of his people? Will his coming be visible, or will he come quietly and unobserved? Who and how many will witness his advent? These are a few of the queries that awakened interest presents to the mind of the earnest inquirer after truth. Does the Bible reveal a solution to these important problems? We may be assured that it does. No good thing will God withhold from his people, and no ray of light that will assist in the search for his treasure will fail to emanate from the Life and Light of the world.
CHRIST WILL COME PERSONALLY AND LITERALLY.
This is clearly set forth in the sacred word. It was the comfort administered to the sorrowing disciples, as Christ informed them that he must soon be separated from them: "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:1-3. The time came when Christ, as he had said, departed from them. While they beheld, "a cloud received him out of their sight." Where now were their hopes? To whom now should they go for counsel? They were alone to face a cold and scoffing world. But as they gaze into the heavens, which have received their loved Master, two angels appear to their astonished gaze. No new message do these shining ones proclaim, but with words of comfort and consolation they reiterate the words of the Lord, words no doubt forgotten for the moment by the disciples, or if remembered but slightly understood at best: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts 1:11. "This same Jesus," how the words must have thrilled their hearts and lightened their spirits. It was not to be another, but the same—the same blessed Lord with whom they had traversed the hills and vales of old Judea, the same Teacher who had uttered such glorious truths and performed such mighty works around Galilee's blue waters. He was coming again. With cheered and gladdened hearts the lonely followers of261the ascended Lord turned from the heavenly vision and wended their way down the descent of Olivet, back to the city, where, not single-handed but in the strength and power and Spirit of the crucified and risen One, they could successfully cope with the powers of evil.
Upon the literality of Christ's return does the great apostle to the Gentiles bear this emphatic testimony: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thess. 4:16.
Christ himself was to return. No logic produced by Jew or Greek could unsettle this hope in the mind of the early disciples; nor need it be unsettled in our minds by all the doubt and skepticism of this age will we but accept the promise in the full assurance of faith as did they.
But how will Christ return? Christ tells us that he will come
IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN
with power and great glory. Matt. 24:30. The angels declared the same thing: "This same Jesus . . . shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts 1:11. Christ went into heaven in a cloud—"a cloud received him out of their sight"—therefore when he returns it must be with clouds, for he "shall so come in like manner" as he went away, "and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." Mark 13:26. It is not our province at this time to discuss the nature of these clouds or what they may represent. It is believed by some that the clouds here referred to represent the holy angelic host that form the escort and body guard of our Saviour to this earth, appearing in the distance a glorious, resplendent cloud, and we do not see that this view in any way conflicts with the Scripture account, or with the literality of the interpretation.
Christ shall come in all "the glory of his Father." Matt. 16:27. No such mighty display of heavenly power, grandeur, and glory will come unheralded and unobserved. All the world will witness the triumph of Him whom they once despised, the glory of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
HIS COMING WILL BE VISIBLE TO ALL MEN.
All the tribes of the earth shall witness his advent, and mourn that he has found them in their sins. Matt. 24:30. "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." Rev. 1:7.
Not, then, as a silent meteor shall he descend the sky, nor as a thief in the night shall he come to take the goods of another; but in the full blaze of his Father's glory, attended by heaven's myriad host of shining angels, will he come to receive a kingdom which is his by right, and a people who are the purchase of his own precious blood. Happy in that day will be the man whose God is the Lord. Blessed are all they whose trust is in him.
Reader, is Jesus your Saviour to-day? Does he dwell in your heart by faith? and is he indeed precious to your soul? May you have that experience in him here that will entitle you to citizenship in his glorious kingdom hereafter. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
THE SEAL, SIGN, OR MARK OF GOD.
By G. E. Fifield
BY ELDER G. E. FIFIELD.
It is evident that the fourth commandment, and that only, contains the seal of the law; for it is the only one of the ten that reveals who the Lawgiver is, and what is the extent of his dominion, distinguishing him from all false gods. I do not propose to make any new argument on this point. Now, as the fourth precept of the Decalogue is the only one that distinguishes the Giver of that law from all other deities, marking him as the Creator, and as that very command enjoins the observance of a memorial of creation, it is not strange that such observance should be spoken of in the Bible as the sign, or mark, of the worship of the true God. Says the Lord:—
"Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath. . . . It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever." Ex. 31: 13, 16, 17.
Who this Israel is Paul plainly tells: "For the promise, that he should be heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." So then "they which are the children of the flesh" (is merely the literal seed), "these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." To this spiritual Israel, who, like Jacob, have learned that of themselves they can do nothing, but who have had power to prevail in prayer till they too have become princes of God,—to them Paul says pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the services of God. Of course, if both the covenants and the whole law pertaineth to this Israel, it is evident the Sabbath is included. Jesus also says salvation is of the Jews, that is, of this same spiritual Israel to whom belong all the promises of God. In fact, the city of God has only twelve gates, and they are named after the twelve tribes of Israel, so, although the city is built on the foundation of the apostles, the twelve foundations bearing their names, yet all who enter are numbered under Israel, and classed as belonging to one of the tribes.
The meaning of all this is plain. The promises of God, the covenants, the glory, the adoption, the mansions Christ has gone to prepare, the eternal city, in short, all the fullness of God, is for everyone who will take it by a faith that prevails with God; and this company, gathered out of every nation, constitutes the true Israel, and it was God's design that the keeping of his Sabbath should be in all generations the outward sign of such faith in him as brings obedience.
It must be evident to every thoughtful mind that the Sabbath is just such an outward sign, or mark. There are many men who are too moral, in the ordinary acceptance of the term, to openly lie, or steal, or kill, or violate any other of the last six precepts; they would regard it foolish to openly bow down to idols, or to make graven images to
worship, and they are too gentlemanly to swear; yet these men have no respect for the Sabbath day. They fish, and hunt, and play games on that day. Why do they not at least outwardly observe this precept as much as any of the others? The answer is evident; it is because they do not recognize the authority of God over them. There are so many human and worldly motives for the observance of these other precepts, at least outwardly; but when a man constantly and conscientiously refrains from worldly work or worldly amusements on the Sabbath day, it marks him as one who recognizes the authority of God, and seeks humbly to obey.
This was its intent. What right, then, has man to enforce this mark by human laws and penalties upon those who do not by voluntary obedience show their allegiance to God? Who cannot see that wherever this is done, and just to the extent it is done, the Sabbath will be unfitted to fulfill the very object of its existence, and will cease to be the mark of the worship of the true God? Who does not see that by such laws the State puts itself in the place of God, and makes the Sabbath a mark of obedience to it? What wonder that, when the Roman State did this, Church and State first changed the day from the day that God had blessed and set apart, to one of their own choosing,—to one that was not a memorial of the creative power of God, but rather a memorial of her own power to create a false system of worship! Does not Rome boast of the Sunday sabbath as such a memorial? Hear her:—
"How prove you that the church has power to command feasts and holy days? Ans.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church."—Abridgment of Christian Doctrine.
Read again:—
"Had she not such power 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."—Doctrinal Catechism.
This is sufficient to show that an enforced Sunday sabbath is regarded by the one who made it, not as a memorial of divine creative or redemptive power, but as an evidence and mark of the power of the Papacy to create a false, a human system of worship.
It is true that some honest Christian men are still ignorant of this. It is true that when a man honestly and conscientiously, and of his own free will, without compulsion of human law, keeps Sunday, really thinking that in that act he is obeying God, even that marks him a child of God. But when the origin and meaning of both Sabbath and Sunday observance are fully known, as they are bound to be through the constantly increasing discussion, in the near future, then both institutions will stand before the world in their true light. The Sabbath will mark a man as a worshiper of the true God, and him only; and Sunday keeping will mark a man as a worshiper of the papal beast.
It is not simply the Bible that proves that Sunday is the mark of the Papacy. Nothing could be plainer than history on this point.
WHAT IS THE PAPACY?
As a system of religion, it is a fusion of paganism with Christianity. Says Gavazzi:—
"Almost all forms of paganism are found in the Roman Church. The pagans had their Pontifex Maximus; Rome has her supreme pontiff; paganism262had its purgatory with material fire; Rome has the same. Paganism had expiations for the dead; so has Rome. Paganism had its vestal virgins; Rome has her nuns. Paganism had its processions and sacred images; Rome abounds in hers. Paganism had its penates. Rome has her peculiar saints. Paganism had its sanctuaries, holy water, pilgrimages, votive tablets; Rome has all these too. Paganism had the perpetual fire of Vesta; and Rome has the perpetual sacrifice of the mass."
All this is sufficient to show that Romanism is but baptized paganism; and even the baptism is a pagan one, taken from the ceremonies in the ancient sun temples. Speaking of Constantine, the man who, more than any other, built up this system, and speaking of him long after his pretended conversion, the Encyclopedia Britannica says:—
"At best he was only half Christian, half pagan; a man who sought to combine the worship of Christ with the worship of Apollo, having the image of one and the name of the other engraved on the opposite sides of his coins."
Now what was the point of contact between the two religions? How was such a compromise brought about? In speaking of Sunday and Constantine's law enforcing it, Dean Stanley says:—
"It was his mode of harmonizing the discordant religions of the empire under one common institution."—History of Eastern Church, p. 291.
The discordant religions were paganism and Christianity. The harmonized religion, resulting from this compromise, is the Papacy. The historian plainly says that Sunday is the one institution through which this compromise was made. It stands therefore as
THE MARK OF THAT COMPROMISE.
Thus when we consider the Papacy as a system of religion, the Sunday sabbath institution is its mark. It is the same when we consider the Papacy as a system of government. As a system of government, it is a union of Church and State. How was such union made. After speaking of several different Sunday laws, secured by the church from the State in the fourth century, Neander, the great church historian, says: "In this way the church received help from the State for the furtherance of her ends." It was over Sunday laws that this answer was made, and an enforced Sunday stands as its mark. Soon after, by the force of this precedent, they were led to enforce baptism, the Lord's Supper, and finally the whole creed.
When we look at the prophetic word and compare it with history, the point is still plainer. The prophet, speaking beforehand of the great papal apostasy, says: "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped" (2 Thess. 2:4), and "he shall think to change the times and the law" of God (Dan. 7:25, Revised Version). In this institution of the Sabbath the Papacy has done this, and so it has marked itself as the power fulfilling those prophecies. Moreover, as we have seen, it boasts of this very institution as a mark of its power and authority to make as many commands as it sees fit and to enforce them under pain of mortal sin. In other words, this is its boasted mark of power to build up a human religion and a man-made creed in the place of the religion of the crucified Christ.
How plain it is that the mark, or sign, of the worship of the true God was the voluntary recognition of the authority of the Creator, by the keeping of his Sabbath sacredly; and what marks men as the worshipers of the papal beast is the yielding to his authority by accepting from him an enforced Sunday in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord.
True, through ignorance this has been somewhat mixed and lost sight of, but in the near future both marks will stand out clear and plain before all men, and they will deliberately take their choice. Of that time the prophet says: "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." The seal will be placed back upon God's law. Everyone will know the origin of the Sunday sabbath, and in that day they will choose, each man for himself, whom he will serve. Those who choose to serve Baal (the sun) will be classed as sun worshipers, and those who choose to recognize God's authority and his only, will be marked and sealed as the worshipers of the Creator.
(Concluded next number.)
THE PLAN OF SALVATION.
By Ellen G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
(Concluded.)
THROUGH the death of Christ a door of hope was opened for fallen man. Man was under sentence of death for the transgression of the law of God. He was under condemnation as a traitor, as a rebel; but Christ came to be his substitute, to die as a malefactor, to suffer the penalty of the traitors, bearing the weight of their sins upon his divine soul. He descended lower and lower till there was no lower depths of humiliation to sound in order that he might lift up those who would believe in him, and cleanse the guilty from moral defilement, and impart to them his own righteousness. He died to make an atonement, to redeem, cleanse, restore, and exalt man to a place at his right hand.263Through his life upon earth he scattered blessings wherever he went. Though at his word legions of angels would render him homage, yet he walked the earth unhonored, unconfessed. In place of praise he met reproach. He walked among men as one of the poor and lowly. Though he healed the sick, relieved the oppressed, bound up the broken-hearted, yet few called him blessed, and the great of the earth passed him by with disdain.
As a member of the human family he was mortal, but as God he was a fountain of life to the world. He could have withstood the advances of death and refused to come under his dominion, but voluntarily he laid down his life that he might bring life and immortality to light. He bore the sin of the world, endured the penalty, yielded up his life as a sacrifice, that man should not eternally die. Contrast his suffering and humiliation with the riches of his glory, with the wealth of praise pouring forth from immortal tongues, with the anthems of adoration, with the homage of millions of holy angels in the heights of the sanctuary, and seek to comprehend what manner of love inspired the heart of Jesus.
How much has God loved the race of men?—Look to Calvary. As you behold Jesus upon the cross, does not the heinous character of sin appear? It was sin that caused the death of God's dear Son, and sin is the transgression of the law. Says the prophet: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. . . . It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." When the sinner realizes that Christ died for him, that he might impute his righteousness unto him, he magnifies the love of God in providing the plan of salvation.
"The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." At infinite cost the salvation of man has been purchased. The world may refuse the gift, but this will not lessen its value, or relieve men of its responsibility. When he was upon earth Jesus said to those who refused him, "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life." There are many who are refusing to respond to the drawing love of Christ to-day. Jesus calls, but many refuse to respond to the invitation. They will not avail themselves of the privilege of having Jesus for their personal Saviour. They do not come in humility and faith, that they may know by a personal experience what they are to Jesus, and what he is to them. But the promise is, "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." Jesus will not rest until he leads his followers unto the realms of perfect joy and glory.
The plans of God cannot fail. Men make great plans, but fail to accomplish the object that they design. They begin to build and are not able to finish. They do not count the cost. But Jesus counted the cost of the salvation of every son and daughter of Adam. He provided abundant means whereby all might be saved, if they would but comply with the conditions and lay hold upon eternal life. Unfailing resources are at his command to complete the work which he has begun. Those who respond to his love, yielding their wills to him, will not perish, but have everlasting life.
How the wondrous provision of the plan of God for the salvation of men widens and exalts our ideas of the love of God! How it binds our hearts to the great Heart of infinite love! How it makes us delight in his service, as our hearts respond to the drawing of his loving-kindness and loving mercy! John calls upon men to behold the marvelous love of God. He exclaims: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." Those who are true, who are pure, who love and obey the words of God, will be counted children of the Heavenly King, members of the royal family, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ.
ABIDE WITH ME, DEAR SAVIOUR.
By Mrs. M. E. Miles
Abide with me; fast fall the shades of night,
And I am lonely unless thou art near.
Dangers assail me; by thy royal might
Protect me, guide my wayward feet aright.
If thou art with me nothing shall I fear.
Abide with me while darkness holds her sway,
And sleep enfolds me in her calm embrace;
And if, for me, there dawns the coming day,
May I be found treading the narrow way,
Sustained and guided by thy sovereign grace.
All through the subtle labyrinth of life
Go with me, O Lord, wherever I may go;
And if Gethsemane, with anguish rife,
Awaits me, in that hour of bitter strife
Abide with me, and I can meet it so.
Nor shall I trust in vain; for thou hast said,
"Abide in me, and I'll abide in thee;"
And though the earth, the sun, and moon were
dead,
And all the starry hosts in fear had fled,
Thy word shall stand to all eternity.
—Mrs. M. E. Miles.
Selfishness Called Religion
"THERE is a great deal of genuine selfishness going up and down in the world that goes by the name of religion."
Throwing Stones in the Church
"There are so many people in the church who stop looking to the Lord and go to throwing stones at one another."
Joy in Religion
"You don't get any joy out of your religion, eh? Well, perhaps no one else is getting any joy out of it either."
Faith in Christ’s Blood
"We are washed in the blood of Christ only when we believe that every drop of it was shed for us."
HUMAN TESTIMONY VERSUS DIVINE.
By T. E. Bowen
BY T. E. BOWEN.
An account was once published where it was alleged a man partly died, and then came back to life, and his soul was observed trying to leave the body, but was reclaimed. Ministers made use of this to prove their point.
Here is another case, illustrating the other side. This man was skating, and broke through the ice. He says he died, and when found was unconscious, and that his heart and lungs had ceased their action. He gives his experience as passing through all the horrors of death, describes his feelings, and tells us all he can of his soul. He says:—
I call it absurd to speak of my condition meanwhile as one of "suspended animation." The phrase is unscientific. I was dead, and nothing else. I did not doubt it at the time; I have never since doubted. Mere theological theorists may talk about something they call the soul not having yet left the body. I know nothing of that, though I don't see how they can tell so confidently whether in such a case as mine the soul, if any, does not leave the body at once, and then come back again. For all I know to the contrary, it may have gone meanwhile to the hypothetical place of departed spirits—always unconscious. And the knowledge that I have thus once experienced in my own person exactly what death is, and tried it fully, has had a great deal to do, I think, with my utter physical indifference to it. I know how it feels; and, though it is momentarily uncomfortable, it isn't half so bad as breaking your arm, or having a tooth drawn. In fact, the actual dying itself, as dying, is quite painless—as painless as falling asleep. It is only the previous struggle—the sense of its approach—that is at all uncomfortable.
Human testimony is contradictory. God's word always speaks the same thing. But this last man's testimony accords with inspiration. He says his thoughts perished. If his soul passed to "hypothetical" regions, it was unconscious. It is said of Jesus that his "soul was not left in hell" (hades, grave). It is evident, then, that his righteous soul passed into the grave, or there would be no necessity of saying it was "not left" there.
WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN MARY.
By Mrs. James A. O'Connor
BY MRS. JAMES A. O'CONNOR.
LEST some should think that I have had closer relations with convent life than that of a guest, it is right to say I was never a nun, and never in my life had I a desire to be one. I have been whole days for weeks at a time in the convent with my aunt, who is a nun, but as no one was ever allowed to stay there overnight except the nuns and their servants, I went to the house of my uncle, Father Batt. O'Connor, the parish priest, to sleep, as it was only a few blocks from the convent. I did not go to the convent school, but I frequently joined the sisters in their devotions, and attended mass in their little chapel several times. In their devotions they offered more prayers to Mary and Joseph than to Jesus.
When I was a very little child, before I could repeat the Lord's Prayer, my aunt had me enrolled in the scapular of the blessed Virgin Mary. She took upon herself the task of saying the prayers until I was old enough to say them myself. But when I could say them, to my surprise I had no taste for such prayers. In this respect my younger sister was very different. She wore the scapular, and was also enrolled as a child of Mary. She was a very lovely girl, who died in her sixteenth year, and when dead she was dressed in the uniform worn by the sodality of the children of Mary, a white dress and light blue mantle, which had to be purchased from the sisters, who make money by all these things, and never miss a chance to do so. Then all the girl members followed the remains to the cemetery, reciting the rosary of the Virgin Mary on the way, and praying for her soul that she might be delivered from purgatory, though I heard the priest to whom she went to confession say to mother after her death, "If there is a heaven, Helen entered there the moment the spirit left the body." Then why did he not tell the girls not to pray for her, that they could do her no good, as she was saved? And why did that same man take money from my mother to say masses for my sister's soul?
My Roman Catholic friends, why will you not make use of the faculties God has given you in religious matters as well as in secular, and see that the whole system is money making? If purgatory were done away with, as it is the greatest source of revenue, they would be out hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly. Therefore they keep it up, though I have no doubt there are large numbers of priests who do not believe in it any more than I do.
There are a great many good Christians who say that the Roman Catholics do not need conversion, and that their church is a true branch of the Christian church. We can see by the following prayer to the Virgin Mary how much astray they are. It is taken from one of the Catholic prayer books, the New Raccolta, page 285, approved by Cardinal Gibbons and Archbishop Ryan, and pronounced authentic by the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Holy Relics. It is called St. Alphonsus Liguori's prayer:—
"Most holy and immaculate Virgin! O my mother! the queen of the world, the advocate, hope, and refuge of sinners! I, the most wretched among them, now come to thee. I worship thee, great queen, and give thee thanks for the many favors thou hast bestowed on me in the past; most of all do I thank thee for having saved me from hell, which I had so often deserved. I love thee, lady most worthy of all love, and, by the love which I bear thee, I promise ever in the future to serve thee, and to do what in me lies to win others to thy love. In thee I put all my trust, all my hope of salvation. Receive me as thy servant, and cover me with the mantle of thy protection, thou who art the mother of mercy! And since thou hast so much power with God, deliver me from all temptation, or at least obtain for me the grace ever to overcome them. From thee I ask a true love of Jesus Christ, and the grace of a happy death. And my mother! by thy love for God, I beseech thee to be at all times my helper, but, above all, at the last moment of my life. Leave me not until you see me safe in heaven, there for endless ages to bless thee, and sing thy praises. Amen."
The prayer book from which I copy the above says Pope Pius IX. granted 300 days' indulgence to all the faithful every time they say this prayer.
After reading the above one can say, What need have we of a Saviour when we have Mary to go to? She is called "queen of the world," "advocate," "hope," and "refuge of sinners," in fact, only for her the whole world would be lost. It takes all the glory, power, and praise from Jesus Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and man, and who says, "No man can come unto the Father but by me; I am the door, the way, and the life; I am the good Shepherd; my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; come unto me, and I will give you rest." All through God's word we find that Jesus alone has power to save us. "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." "Whosoever will may come to him." "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." "He is able to save to the uttermost," and he is willing to save all who come to him.
But he is a jealous God, who wants no one to come between himself and the souls he died to save. The Virgin Mary, or any other being, has no power, authority, or right to come between us and the Saviour. However good and holy she may have been on earth, and I believe she was blessed among women, she had not divine power; if she had, she would have been a goddess; yet no one calls her that, though they style her the mother of God. True, she was the mother of the humanity of the Saviour, but she was not the mother of his divinity; no created being could be that; and she needed a Saviour just as much as we do. She said herself, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." If she could save us, she certainly could save herself, and she would not have called upon Jesus as her God and Saviour.
In the same book of prayers and indulgences many other prayers are offered to her in worship and adoration, for which indulgences are granted.—Converted Catholic.
PRESS CENSORSHIP EXTENDS TO THE BIBLE.
THERE is curious editing of the Bible now going on in Turkey. The general censorship of the press there extends to the Bible, and the sultan also, with rare caution, insists that the Scripture shall be edited so as not to conflict with his own authority. Take an instance or two for example. He declares that the expression "thy kingdom come" in the Lord's prayer must be cut out of Bibles before they can be circulated in his dominions.264He says his kingdom is already there and he doesn't want any other kingdom coming and interfering with his rights. All references to the kingdom of heaven are looked upon with suspicion and will have to be either cut out or rewritten so as to cast no reflection on the sultan. Some changes are especially curious. The lesson from the fourth chapter of Luke, from the fourteenth to the twenty-first verses, must be stricken out, because it speaks of the liberty of the gospel, and the word "liberty" implies something offensive toward the existing government. Sorrow changed into joy, as illustrated in the lesson from Jer. 30: 7-16, is suppressed. It speaks of the return of the Israelites from captivity, and there may be treason lurking in the lesson. So the changes run, making a Bible curious and unique.—Lutheran Witness.
NATIONAL IDOLATRY.
[Translated from La Patria (Spanish) by F. C. Kelley.]
WE are in the middle of November, and already in the Villa* of Guadalupe they have commenced the preparations for the orgies of a sacred feast of the natives. In this feast the Indians use all they save during the year, the product of many sacrifices and miseries. The natives come long distances, traveling in caravans, almost naked and famished, as did anciently the pilgrims of Mecca, in order to assist in the idolatry of the national feast.
The Virgin of Guadalupe goes to witness the dances of the Indians, the church, to replenish her treasury, selling to the careless not only relics and superstitious remedies, but doing it at ten or twelve times their value. Here is the secret of the religious speculation that they (the church) make by their traffic with superstition and ignorance. These native pilgrims do not come from the borders of the republic to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe, nor in pursuit of the ancient Tequautlaxopeuh, but to implore the recognition of the Tonatzin, and this is nothing else than idolatry.
The great work of the conquerors consisted in forcing the Indians to submit to Christianity, and all the crimes they committed for that object were useless; they did nothing but inundate the land with blood, and destroyed at the same time, with their idols, a strong and vigorous race.
We have already said that in Mexico the Spaniards did not leave the conversion of the Indians to the preaching of the gospel alone, but appealed to force. Force begets hypocrisy and deceit, but not so with persuasion. Nevertheless the Catholic Church, having these convenient, speculates with idolatry, closes the eyes, and sacrifices the conscience, in the interest of gain. Always a religion of money! We will demonstrate it. But it is necessary first to give a little history. We will give the words of the venerable Father Sahagún:—
He says near the mountains there are three or four places where the Indians go to make very solemn sacrifices, and they come to them from distant countries. One of these is here in Mexico; it is a little mountain that they call Tepeacac, and the Spaniards call it Tepeaquilla, and they now call it Our Lady of Guadalupe. In this place they had a temple dedicated to the mother of the gods, which they called Tonatzin, that is to say, our mother. There they made many sacrifices in honor of this goddess, and came from distant lands, of more than twenty leagues, from all the territory of Mexico,
bringing many offerings; they came, men and women, married and single, to these feasts. It was a grand gathering in those days; and all said, We go to the feast of Tonatzin, and there the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe is located, also called Tonatzin, taking advantage of the priests to Our Lady the mother of God they call Tonatzin. This Satanic invention appears in order to palliate the idolatry under the misconception of this name Tonatzin; and they now come to visit this Tonatzin from far, as far as before. This devotion also is suspicious, because in all parts there are many churches of Our Lady, and they do not visit or go to them, and come, as anciently, from distant countries to this Tonatzin.
Thinking men have thought the same, all agreeing that the popularity of the native Virgin among the natives is not the result of their being converted to those of the Catholic religion, but the constant remembrance of an idol to whom they gave the grandest homage, entreating of the mother of their gods, i. e., the Indians come as did the ancient Greeks, to visit each year Jupiter of Olympia. And this the clergy (under priests) call devotion, religious worship. Therefore we do not censure the Indians for their conduct. It is their right to do as they do in honor of their gods, but, more than that, they have resigned themselves, and admit of the substitution of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe for that of Tonatzin, but it appears strange that the clergy, if they work from pure faith, as they should do, work treason against their creed and assemble the idolatrous so as to join the natives in their feast.
At first sight the object for so doing is discovered,—he considers this feast not as a religious demonstration in honor of the Mother of God, but as a medium of speculation for the benefit of the church, to which the natives, at their feast each year, contribute enormous sums of money, because he has made an edict for the Indians, that many must come to the feast to have him meet with them.
On the 20th of the month takes place the principal and great feast, as they call it, and this is followed by others until the end of the year, that is, till the close of the harvest time.
As we have said, although it may appear exaggerated, the natives use large sums of money, all of their savings of the year, the product of many sacrifices and miseries; and these sums ignorance and idolatry take by stealth from circulation, business, and commerce, extending in this manner the public misery.
The Indian, after some days of intoxication, and having given the church all he possesses, returns to his people without the implements to commence again his labors. He then has to mortgage his lands and oxen, or procure them and support himself and family as a day laborer.
He does not always succeed, the Indian whose land is thus burdened, but if he recover what he lost from sacrifices and privations, of what advantage are these sacrifices and privations to him if he is not bettered in his condition? And the majority are not, because what they collect by labor and frugality, at the end of the year they return and leave at the college church of Guadalupe, on the day they celebrate the native feast. Is this all love, the way the Catholic Church procures all of the property of the native, declaring itself to be his protector?
This subject is naturally inexhaustible, and we will not abandon it, because discussing it faithfully and impartially will perhaps contribute to the political and social improvement of the Indians.