The Invaders Series - Part 26

25. Making America Catholic THE Roman hierarchy knew that the older Protestants, who had read about the persecutions of the Dark Ages, and who knew some of the inside workings of the papal church, would never become Catholics. Rome's hope lay in capturing the younger generation. If the Papacy could cover up those dark pages of its history, when it waded in the blood of martyrs, and could appear in the beautiful modern dress of a real champion for liberty, as a lover of science, art, and education, it would appeal to the American youth, and the battle would be won. The Jesuits, who through years of experience in Europe, have become experts in moulding young minds, are now establishing schools everywhere, that are patronised by thousands of Protestant youth. They have also undertaken the delicate task of Romanising the textbooks of our public schools, and books of reference, in order to cover up their past, and to whitewash the Dark Ages. That Romanists desire to cover up their past record of bloody persecution is acknowledged by that honourable Roman Catholic author, Alfred Baudrillart, Rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris. After giving a frank statement of the many persecutions of which his church is guilty, he says in the words of Mgr. d'Hulst: "'Indeed, even among our friends and our brothers we find those who dare not look this problem in the face. They ask permission from the Church to ignore or even to deny all those facts and institutions in the past which have made orthodoxy compulsory."' - "The Catholic Church; the Renaissance and Protestantism," Alfred Archeveque Cardinal Baudrillart, pp. 183, 184. Romanizing Textbooks In the first place, all general histories used in our public schools and high schools had to be revised to eliminate every trace of the objectionable features from their pages. Plain historical facts of the Middle Ages, - such as the popes' interference with public government (as in the case of Henry IV, Emperor of Germany, A. D. 1077, and King John of England, A. D. 1213); the persecution of Waldenses, Albigenses, and Huguenots; the Inquisition; the sale of indulgences; and the Reformation, - all had to be eliminated or rewritten so as to exonerate the Papacy, and brand its opponents simply as political offenders and revolutionists, who suffered at the hand of the civil government, instead of being persecuted by the Church for their religion. Such radical changes could never have been accomplished so quietly if Protestantism had not been asleep. At times it became necessary to create public sentiment against a certain textbook through newspaper articles written by some learned Catholic professor, and then pressure was brought to bear on school boards to eliminate it, substituting for it a Romanised book. Thus Swinton's "Outlines of History" was thrown out of the schools, and "Anderson's History" was black listed, but later revised according to Catholic wishes, and brought back to take the place of Swinton's. Myers's "Medieval and Modem History" was also censored. At first the author refused to change it, claiming "history is history," but later it was revised and came into quite general use for a time. Not all of this was done in the dark. As one example of protest we refer the reader to Senate Document on Public Hearing before the United States Committee on Education and Labor, Friday, February 15, 1889, and Friday, February 22, 1889, on "Senate Resolution No. 86.1 Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United 1 "liberty." Vol. V. No. 3. Third Quarter. 1910 pages 30-32. Page 150 States Respecting Establishment of Religion and Free Public Schools," which unmasks some of this work. We shall now point out two of the vital changes made in our textbooks: (1) The Catholic Church will never acknowledge the Reformation of the sixteenth century as a reform, but brands it as a “revolt" against the authority of the pope, and as a "revolution." A sure earmark, therefore, of all Romanised textbooks is the fact that they never speak of the Reformation as a work of reform but as "the Protestant Revolt," "the Protestant Revolution," "the so-called Reformation," or "what is called the Reformation." Let any one look it up in the schoolbooks used by his children, and see for himself. To give the readers who may not have seen the textbooks used in our schools today an idea of what the Protestant children are taught, we shall take the "History of Western Europe," by Professor J. H. Robinson, as an example. It has the following chapters on the Reformation of the sixteenth century: chapter 24, "Germany Before the Protestant Revolt"; chapter 25, "Martin Luther and His Revolt Against the Church"; chapter 26, "Course of the Protestant Revolt in Germany"; chapter 27, "The Protestant Revolt in Switzerland and England." Chapter 25 says: "As Luther became a confessed revolutionist, he began to find friends among other revolutionists and reformers." p. 393. Chapter 28 takes up the effort of the Catholics to destroy the Reformation by a counter-reform, by the work of the Jesuits, and the bloody persecution of Protestants in Spain, in the Netherlands, and France. This chapter is entitled. "The Catholic Reformation," and yet it comes the farthest from deserving the title of reformation of all the above-mentioned chapters. In these Romanised textbooks the historical facts of the Middle Ages are entirely reversed. The way the last-mentioned chapter extols the Jesuits shows who has put their stamp on the book. Senator Thomas E. Watson truthfully says: "In the public schools the Catholics have stealthily introduced textbooks written by Jesuits, and your children are being taught that the Roman church was misunderstood in the past; that its doctrines are not fatal to humanity and gospel religion; that its record is not saturated with the blood of innocent millions, murdered by papal persecutors, and that there never was such a monstrosity as the alleged sale of papal pardons of sins. "Educate youth in this Catholic way, and the consequences are logical." - "Roman Catholics in America Falsifying History and Poisoning the Minds of Protestant School Children," p. 5. Thompson, Ga.: 1928. Sale Of Indulgences Histories used in the public schools in the United States up to the year 1900 were opposed by the Roman Catholic Church on the ground that they were not stating the truth about "indulgences." These histories simply stated that Martin Luther began the Reformation by opposing Tetzel's sale of indulgences, which is a historical fact. "An Introduction to the History of Western Europe," by Professor J. H. Robinson, says: "It is a common mistake of Protestants to suppose that the indulgence was forgiveness granted beforehand for sins to be committed in the future. There is absolutely no foundation for this idea."- p. 391. Ginn and Co... 1903. This statement is copied on page 311 in 'A General History of Europe," by Robinson, Breasted, and Smith, a textbook quite generally used of late. We shall leave it with the reader to judge whether such Page 151 statements actually represent the Protestant conception of "indulgences," or whether they are part of a program to cover up historical facts; and we would respectfully ask: Are not American youth entitled to know the unvarnished facts of history? The historical facts about "indulgences," gathered from unquestionable sources, are found on pages 162-172 of this book. It is here shown that the idea of "indulgences" had so degenerated between the eleventh and the sixteenth centuries, that they were actually sold for money. Tetzel's "Indulgences" read: 1 "absolve thee . . . from all thy sins, transgressions and excesses . . . and I restore thee . . . to that innocence and purity which thou possessed at baptism; so that, when thou diest, the gates of punishment shall be shut, and the gates of the paradise of delight shall be open." - Coxe's "House of Austria," Vol. I, p. 385. London: George Bell and Sons, 1906. Revising Books Of Reference The next step in the papal plan was to revise all books of reference, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, and larger historical works, so as to mould the minds not only of pupils but also of teachers and of preachers. An example of this is seen in the revision of the New International Encyclopedia. The editor of the Catholic Mirror (at that time the official organ of Cardinal Gibbons), in a lengthy editorial, dated October 28, 1905, tells of how the publishers of that Encyclopedia cooperated with the Jesuits in revising it. He quoted the following letter from the Rev. Thomas J. Campbell, S. J., which he had just received: “Dodd, Mead and Co. sent their representatives to us, and not only expressed a desire to avoid misstatements in their encyclopedia, but asked for some one to excise whatever might be offensive. . . . Mr. Conde B. Pallen took the matter in hand, and was afforded full liberty to revise and correct not only the topics which dealt professedly with Catholic subjects but those also which might have even an indirect bearing on them. . . . The firm has done all in its power to make it acceptable to Catholics.” - Quoted in "Liberty," Vol. V, No. 3, pp. 34, 35. Washington., D. C., 1910. After this was done, every effort was made to get this New International Encyclopedia into the hands of all Protestant ministers in this country, who were unaware of its Romanised features. Its moulding influence was soon seen in the striking similarity in viewpoint (on many subjects) between the Roman theology and that of the Protestant pulpit and press, and this is becoming more so now after practically all encyclopedias have been Romanised. Even Webster's Dictionary has not been allowed to speak its old familiar truths any more. We read: "Time was when complaint was common that injustice was done to the Catholics in 'Webster's Dictionary.' There is no room for such a thing in the new 'Webster's International Dictionary,' issued by G. and C. Merriam Co., Springfield, Mass., because Vicar-General Callaghan, of the diocese of Little Rock, has revised and edited everything appertaining to the church." - "Freeman's Journal" of New York, May 28,1892. Since then a Catholic official has been regularly connected with the editorial staff, whenever a new revision was made, as can be seen in the preface of later editions. Suppose, in the next encyclopedia, we ask brewery officials to edit everything pertaining to temperance and the liquor question, and ask the officials of Wall Street to edit all that pertains to capital and labour, would we then get a more correct and unbiased representation of these subjects? We ask why, then, should Roman Catholic officials edit everything pertaining to the Protestant controversy with Rome? Page 152 At the First American Catholic Missionary Congress, held at Chicago, November 17,1908, Dr. William McGinnis outlined the program of the International Catholic Truth Society for making America Catholic: (1) by Romanising our schoolbooks, (2) by revising our books of reference, (3) by controlling the daily press, (4) by capturing the libraries. He said in part: "A few years ago the publishers of an encyclopedia in twelve volumes entered the office of the Truth Society and said: 'We realise there are many misstatements and errors regarding things Catholic in this work, but we put the whole edition in your hands and will accept every correction you make and every addition which you wish to insert.' . . . So, likewise, one of the largest publishing houses of the United States, a house that supplies perhaps one third of the textbooks used in the public schools of America, asked that certain books might be examined and erroneous statements and unjust charges against the Church be corrected. . . . And we are happy to say that in practically every case these misrepresentations of the Church that otherwise would have gone into the minds of millions of children were courteously corrected by gentlemanly authors." - "The Two Great American Catholic Missionary Congresses," pp. 427, 428. Chicago: J. S. Hyland and Co., 1914. Many Protestant parents would not send their children to Catholic parochial schools, but they will allow them to be taught the same thing from Romanised textbooks, without any protest! We ask, What made the afore-mentioned publishers so anxious to have the Catholics revise the public schoolbooks and encyclopedias, which they intended to publish? Why did they not go to some Protestant organisation to have the books revised? Was it because Protestants are not educated? Certainly not! But these publishers knew from experience, that, unless the books were Romanised, Catholic societies would stir up such opposition against their use, that it would result in financial loss to the publishers. Dr. McGinnis tells the secret when he relates how he had urged the Knights of Columbus to "wake up" and "form a committee," to examine the "histories of education in use in high schools and normal schools." He says: "The spirit of Knighthood was not dead in that Council, the subject was investigated, the book I had quoted from was the textbook of the class, and, after much discussion, it was removed from the curriculum of the school." - Id., pp. 423, 424. Any one who will take the trouble to examine the textbooks used in our public schools before 1900, and compare them with those used after this Romanising propaganda began, will discover the fact that the Romanising features have been introduced gradually into a series of textbooks. The one taking the place of the other as fast as the public could assimilate the Catholic sentiments and phraseology, and the same is true regarding books of reference. Muzzling The Public Press Dr. McGinnis also spoke of their plans regarding the daily papers. He said: "We may consider briefly the program of the International Catholic Truth Society in reference to two great agencies in the formation of the minds and hearts of the great American people, - the press and the public libraries. "Our daily press . . . moulds the thought and influences the will of the country . . . . We do demand that the great Catholic Church, in her saving doctrines and in her marvelous activities, should be brought more prominently before the American public." Id., p. 419. Dr. McGinnis further stated that arrangements had been made with the Vatican for Catholic reporters all over the world to furnish material for the "Truth Society" to be used in the daily press, and then he says: Page 153 "With a membership of two or three thousand scholarly, zealous priests and laymen, and the headquarters of the Society acting as a clearing house, calumnies would not remain unanswered, misstatements of doctrines would be corrected." - Id., pp. 420,421. "We realise, moreover, that refutations and corrections, valuable though they be, are not sufficient. We want to carry the campaign a little farther. We want to make of the press of this country a positive agency in the dissemination of Catholic ideas. . . . We are now furnishing on the first and third Sundays of each month one column or a column and a half of positive Catholic matter to daily papers. . . . But the 'Notes and Comments' . . . deal with such topics as the conversion of some distinguished scholar, the life work of a recently deceased Catholic who was eminent in the domain of physical science, archeological discoveries bearing upon Christian doctrine, important congresses abroad. . . . If the demands of our people prove that the new feature is appreciated, the 'service' will become weekly, and it will bring light and sympathy for things Catholic to many millions of readers." - Id., pp. 421, 422. "The demands" must have proved successful, for instead of this "new feature" appearing weekly, articles and notes seem to appear almost daily. Though it is legitimate for religious denominations to make use of the public press, for them to muzzle the freedom of the press is not legitimate! When large religious organisations parade their great number of adherents and bring pressure to bear on the press, threatening non support if the other side appears in its columns, while they monopolise them with their own propaganda, such organisations lose the respect of thinking people. Capturing The Public Libraries At the before-mentioned Catholic Congress plans were also laid for making the public libraries agencies in their propaganda. Dr. McGinnis says: "Another force, second only to the school and the press in shaping the thoughts of the nation, is the public library system of the United States. . . .I ask why, in the name of the God of truth, is the great Catholic Church excluded from the shelves of the public libraries of the United States? . . . Create a strong, legitimate demand for Catholic literature, and the public libraries will meet the demand." - Id., pp. 422, 423. But how did that Congress propose to "create" this strong “demand” for Catholic books? Here is their scheme: They will supply their people with lists of books to be asked for at the libraries, and when several hundred or thousand people have called for the same books, it will create a demand. "The demand for such literature must be brought to the public libraries. We wish to emphasise the fact that the demand must be made in good faith - the books are called for at the library because the man wants to read them. The International Catholic Truth Society will supply general and special lists of books, and the Spiritual Director . . . will . . . designate appropriate works for individual members. From this widespread bona fide demand for Catholic works at public libraries three results will follow. [It will help the members.] Their work will be instrumental in placing these books within the reach of the great non-Catholic American public, who will thus have some opportunity to find out what the Church's doctrines and practices really are, and finally the increased circulation of such literature will be a well-deserved and much-needed stimulus to Catholic writers." - Id., p. 424. See also "Catholic Digest," March, 1937, pp. 126, 127, and "America," September 13, 1913, pp. 547, 548. Page 154 Mr. Michael J. F. Mc Carty, of England, gives us some interesting facts regarding a similar work done by Jesuits in England. He says that they suppress books of Protestant authors, and bring to the front those of Catholics, and as a result of this systematic work, he says: "Many Protestant authors are forced to speak favourably and kindly of Romanism. . . . The publication of books containing friendly allusion to Protestant Christianity has almost ceased in England, [while the other kind of books] floods the country." - "The Jesuits and the British Press," p. 52. Edinburgh and London: 1910. But, in addition to this, the Jesuits always have a man, either a priest or a layman, on the committee of almost every public library in Great Britain. "The Jesuits' man comes provided with two lists, a black list, which includes every well-known book, ancient and modern, adverse to Romanism; and a white list of new books especially favourable to Romanism which he submits beforehand to the librarian, and eventually succeeds in getting placed in the library." – Pp. 50,51. It is quite evident from our investigation of the facts that the Jesuits are the same in America as in England. Besides this, the few remaining books from the days when it was not so unpopular to state the unvarnished facts about medieval history have been diminishing in number by being worn out or purposely destroyed. Censorship Of Books Those who write histories today have more source matter on ancient history, but less on medieval, than historians had four hundred years ago; for after the Reformation had fully aroused the papal church to action, her emissaries, especially the vigilant Jesuits, searched out and destroyed every evidence that was damaging to her. When Bishop Gilbert Burnet, D. D., prepared to write his "History of the English Reformation," he became surprised, while searching among court records and public registers, to find so much missing, till he finally discovered the cause. He says: "In the search I made of the Rolls and other offices, I wondered much to miss several commissions, patents, and other writings, which by clear evidence I knew were granted, and yet none of them appeared on record. “But as I continued down my search to the fourth year of Queen Mary, I found in the twelfth roll of that year, a commission which cleared all my former doubts, and by which I saw what was become of the things I had so anxiously searched after. We have heard of the expurgation of books practiced in the Church of Rome; but it might have been imagined that public registers and records would have been safe. Yet lest these should have been afterwards confessors, it was resolved they should then be martyrs; for on the 29th of December, in the fourth year of her reign, a commission was issued out under the great seal to Bonner, Bishop of London, Cole, Dean of St. Paul's, and Martine, a doctor of the civil law, [which commanded the destruction of] divers compts, books, scrolls, instruments. . . . "When I saw this, I soon knew which way so many writings had gone.” - “History of the Reformation of the Church of England,” 2-vol. ed., Vol. I, Preface, p. xiii. London: 1880. Let no one, therefore, say that statements in older histories are not true because we cannot now find sources to prove them. Page 155 The reader may not know that back of all this activity stands the Roman Curia. One department of which is the Sacred Congregation of the Index, which meets at Rome on stated days to decide what books are forbidden, and to make lists of them, called "The Index of Prohibited Books."2 The writer has examined two editions of this "Index," one early edition, and their latest one of 1930 by Pope Pius XI. Some books are permanently forbidden, while others are forbidden until certain corrections are made in them, which explains the revisions of our schoolbooks, for the "Index" says: "Can. 1396. Books condemned by the Holy See are prohibited all over the world and in whatever language into which they may have been translated. “Can. 1397, Sec. 1. It is the duty of all the faithful, particularly of clerics, or those holding high positions and noted for their learning, to denounce any book, they may consider dangerous, to the local Ordinaries, or to the Holy See. . . . "Sec. 3. Those to whom such denunciations are made are bound in conscience not to reveal the names of the accusers. "Sec. 4. Local Ordinaries, either directly themselves, or through the agency of capable priests, are in duty bound to keep a close watch on the books that are published, or sold, within their territory. . . . "Can. 1398, Sec. 1. The condemnation of a book entails the prohibition, without especial permission, either to publish, to read, to keep, to sell, to translate it, or in any way to pass it on to others. "Sec. 2. A book which has been prohibited in any way may not be republished, unless, after the necessary corrections have been made." - "Index," of 1930, pp. xvi, xvii. Vatican Polyglot Press. The Catholic Encyclopedia has this to say about the "Censorship of Books": "In general, censorship of books is a supervision of the press in order to prevent any abuse of it. "The reverse of censorship is freedom of the press."-Vol. III, p. 519. This "supervision of the press" extends also to articles written in magazines and newspapers, and among the special organisations working in this field is the International Catholic Truth Society, and the Catholic International Associated Press. Reporting the Louisville federation convention of the latter, Michael Kenny, S. J., in America (a Jesuit weekly) for August 31, 1912, says of their Catholic Press Bureau: "We have it in our power to compel our papers, the thinking machines of the people, to tell the truth and refrain from transmitting slanders on Catholic matters. We can prevent the wells at which the people drink from being poisoned. We can, following the lead of the Austrian Catholic Congress, establish a Catholic International Associated Press,3 and to accomplish this object every Catholic of the right spirit, reading in the daily papers calumnies of our religion and the most brazen justification of the robber bands who drive our religious from their homes and confiscate their property, should be willing 2 See "Romanism and the Republic." by Isaac J. Lansing, pp. 221-223. Pope Benedict X on March 25 1917 transferred this work to the “Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office.” – “Index of Prohibited Books,” p. xxxi. 3 The Register (Roman Catholic), Denver. Colorado, April 3, 1938. announced the formation of the United Catholic Organisations' Press Relations Committee to keep vigilant oversight over newspapers and magazines. Page 156 to contribute a tithe of his possessions. All this and more can be accomplished by federated action. . . . Marching shoulder to shoulder with the spirit of soldiers on the battlefield at the call of the Church, we can successfully combat the organisations of her enemies and make this an era of Catholic manhood." - "America," August 31, 1912, p. 486, article by M. Kenny, S.J. As a result of this organised effort no newspapers in the United States will accept any news that reflects unfavourably on the Catholic Church or its propaganda in this country, while news unfavourable to Protestants is printed.

The Invaders Series - Part 25

-- The United States In Prophecy -- A Beautiful Picture WE HAVE now seen that "the first beast of Revelation 13: 1-10 represents the Papacy, and that it received its "deadly wound" in 1798, when the Papal States had been abolished, Rome declared a republic, and Pope Pius VI taken a prisoner into France where he died in "captivity," August 19, 1799. (Revelation 13: 3, 10.) The prophet then sees "another beast coming up." Verse ll. Knowing that a "beast” in prophecy represents a "kingdom" (Daniel 7: 23) we must conclude that a new nation was to come up about 1798. In 1754 John Wesley, in his "New Testament with Explanatory Notes," applied the beast of Revelation 13: 1-10 to the Papacy, and then wrote the following note under the eleventh verse: "Another . . . beast. . . . But he is not yet come, though he cannot be far off; for he is to appear at the end of the forty two months of the first beast. And he had two horns like a lamb-a mild, innocent appearance." - p. 427. In locating this new nation let us notice the following points in this prophecy: (1) When the prophet saw the papal beast go "into captivity" (Revelation 13: 10), he "beheld another beast" "like a lamb" "coming up." Verse 11. A lamb is not full grown. This nation, therefore, would be coming up, and not be full grown in 1798, when the papal beast went into captivity. (2) While the four beasts of Daniel 7: 3, and the first beast of Revelation 13: 1, all came up from "the sea," which in prophecy means "peoples, and multitudes" (Revelation 17: 15), the second beast of Revelation 13: 11 came "up out of the earth," indicating that, while the former kingdoms arose in countries populated with peoples and multitudes, this latter nation was to rise in new territory, not formerly occupied. (3) The dragon of Revelation 12, and the first beast of Revelation 13, both had crowns, but this beast had none, which would indicate that it was to be a republic, having no crowned head. (4) It would exercise its power "before" the papal beast (verse 12), showing that it is not a Catholic nation, nor counted as part of the papal confederacy, therefore it would naturally be a Protestant nation to begin with. (5) It would be a great nation, for it was equal in power to the Papacy. Verse 12. (6) And yet its principles were to he lamb like, mild (verse 11), or as the Danish and German have it: "Like the lamb," - Christlike. And Christ advocated two great principles: First, separation of church and state. He said: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's." Luke 20: 25. That is, keep the two separate. Second, religious liberty. He said: "If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not." John 12:47. "Judge not, that ye be not judged!' Matthew 7: 1. It is evident that only one nation answers to all these specifications: the United States of America. It became an independent nation in 1776, and was not full grown in 1798, having only thirteen states, Page 144 compared with forty-eight now. Its peaceful growth and principles of liberty answer also to the predictions of this prophecy. The words "coming up" used in Revelation 13: 11 mean to spring up, as plants." - T. S. Green's Lexicon, p. 9. And G. A. Townsend says: “The history of the United States was separated by a beneficent Providence far from this wild and cruel history of the rest of the continent, and, like a silent seed, we grew into empire.” - "The New World Compared with the Old," p. 685. Hartford: 1870. The principles of Romanism had taken such deep root in the human heart that although the Puritans had come to this country to seek liberty of worship for themselves, they soon established a state religion, and persecuted dissenters most bitterly. In several of the Colonies good citizens were put in the stocks for not going to church on Sunday; they were mercilessly whipped, or even put to death, for differing from the established religious belief. Many of the nobler minds had grown tired of political tyranny and religious bigotry, and determined to throw off both yokes in one stroke. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, Pa., declaring, "That these United Colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved!' A committee, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, was appointed to draft a formal Declaration, which was penned by Mr. Jefferson, and on June 28, Congress proceeded to consider it. The discussion that followed was a tremendous struggle. On July 2, Lee's resolution was voted, and finally at 2: 00 P.M., July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was voted, and the bell in the tower of Independence Hall, where they were assembled, rang out the joyful news. This bell bore the now prophetic inscription, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Leviticus 25: 10. "In all the colonies, indeed, the Declaration was hailed as the passing away of the old world and the birth of the new." - "Great Events of the Greatest Century," R. M. Devens, p. 29. The noble men who framed the Declaration did not ask for toleration. They understood the fundamentals of true liberty, and declared: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed!' Sacred truths these are, written in Independence Hall. "Within that temple was born a nation, in whose destiny were wrapped the interests of Liberty and of Civilisation to the end of time." - Id., p. 31. The Federal Constitution, adopted September 17, 1787, and ratified by the several states between December 7, 1787 and May 29, 1790, has this statement in its preamble. "We, the people of the United States, in order to . . . secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Still some friends of religious liberty, who had so long suffered persecution, feared that the Constitution did not sufficiently safeguard liberty of conscience, and they wrote to George Washington in regard to it. The following is his reply, dated August 4, 1789: Page 145 "If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed by the convention where I had the honour to preside might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it; and if I could now conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure. I beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every species of religious persecution. For, you doubtless remember, I have often expressed my sentiments that any man, conducting himself as a good citizen and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience." - "History of the Baptists," Thomas Armitage, D. D., LL. D., pp. 806, 807. New York: 1890. A month later, September 23, 1789, the first ten Amendments to the Constitution, also called the Bill of Rights, were approved by Congress. By December 15,1791, they had been ratified by ten states, and were declared in force. The first Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." In the prophecy this beast "bad two horns like a lamb." Dr. Alexander Cruden gives many examples in his Concordance to show that "the Scripture mentions the horn as the symbol of strength." - Art. "Horn," p. 291. And the real strength of this republic has been its two great principles: civil and religious liberty - a state without a king, and a church without a pope. G. A. Townsend, speaking of the real secret of power in this country, says: “ ‘In view of this unparalleled progress and combination, what are the little toys with which we vex ourselves in Europe? What is this needle gun, we are anxious to get from Prussia, that we may beat her next year with it? Had we not better take from America the principle of liberty she embodies, out of which have come her citizen pride, her gigantic industry, and her formidable loyalty to the destinies of her Republican land?’” – “The New World Compared with the Old,” p. 462. The secret of our power at home, and our influence abroad, was the citizens' love for, and enthusiastic devotion to, their country, which guaranteed liberty to all, instead of oppression by taxation and religious despotism, as had been the rule in former ages. As the principles of liberty and the inherent equality of all men, enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, and in the first Amendment to the Federal Constitution, spread in Europe, people became awakened to their God-given rights. Mr. Townsend says: "Since America was discovered she has been a subject of revolutionary thought in Europe. . . . Out of her discovery grew the European reformation in religion; out of our Revolutionary War grew the revolutionary period of Europe." - Id., pp-462,463. The prophet saw these two powerful horns on the lamblike beast, and thinking men today have also caught the vision of their power in the world. Page 146 A Sad Change We wish we could close the picture here, and leave its unmarred beauty lingering in our minds; but, sad to say, there is another chapter to it that must be read. The prophet continues: "He spake as a dragon." Revelation 13: 11. A nation speaks through its laws. This prophetic statement, therefore, reveals that a great change in policy is to come over our beloved country. The "dragon" is a symbol of pagan Rome, that persecuted the early Christians during the first three centuries. (Revelation 12: 1-5, 11) And a similar persecution will be inaugurated against the "remnant" church, for we read: "The dragon was wroth with the woman [church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12: 17. And he has "great wrath, because he knows that he hath but a short time." Verse 12. Here we see what is meant by speaking "as a dragon," and we also see upon whom this persecution will come; namely, upon commandment-keepers. This prophecy also reveals what influence will be brought to bear upon our law makers and people to produce this sad change. We have already seen that "the first beast" of Revelation 13: 1-10 represents the Papacy, and by reading the eleventh and twelfth verses we see that the effort of the lamblike beast will be to cause "the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound wag healed." That is: The whole trend is Romeward, therefore it must be Rome that is working in disguise to bring about such a trend. And now as to the facts in the case. We quote the following from Roman Catholic sources: At the Centennial Conference of American Catholics, held in Baltimore, November, 1890, Archbishop Ireland said: "Catholics of the United States are called . . . to make America Catholic. . . . The church triumphant in America, Catholic truth will travel on the wings of American influence, and with it encircle the universe." - "The Pope and the New Era," pp. 222, 223. London: W. T. Stead, 1890. A letter from Rome, dated October 14, 1894, says: "The United States of America, it can be said without exaggeration, are the chief thought of Leo XIII. . . . A few days ago, on receiving an eminent American, Leo XIII said to him: 'But the United States are the future; we think of them incessantly.' . . . That is why Leo X111 turns all his soul, full of ideality, to what is improperly called his American policy. It should be called his Catholic universal policy." - "Catholic Standard and Times" (Philadelphia), November 3, 1894; quoted in "Protestant Magazine," October, 1913, p. 441. The report of "the third Washington conference" says: "Our purpose is to make America dominantly Catholic." –“The Mission Movement in America,” issued from the Catholic University, Washington, D. C., June, 1909. "It seems to me that the main support of Protestantism comes from the United States and England. . . . If we put an end to this effort in England and the United States by making these nations predominantly Catholic, we will have removed the chief obstacle to the conversion of the world to the true faith. . . . A vigorous effort in the United States at this time will reduce the opposition to an insignificant condition. . . . In the course of another century, the [Protestant] sects will be a study for the historian and Page 147 antiquarian along with Arianism." - Extract from a letter in "The Missionary " (Roman Catholic), Washington, D. C.: May, 1910; quoted in "Protestant Magazine," Vol. II, p. 22. This Catholic movement has already made such progress in England, that, with a little careful manipulation, its leaders anticipate very little opposition in the future. (See " History of the Rome- Ward Movement in the Church of England," London: 1900, and "The Secret History of the Oxford Movement". London: 1899, both by Walter Walsh; and "The Oxford Movement in America," by Rev. C. E. Walworth, New York: 1895; also "The Jesuits and the British Press," by Michael J. F. McCarthy). Now the " Catholic Action" is focused on America, not in an antagonistic way, but quietly, in wisely planned, systematically organised, and well directed efforts along numerous lines, so as to gain favor among Protestants, and not to be suspected as propaganda. And, remarkable as it may sound, Protestant leaders and people are totally asleep on the Catholic question, even more so than the Huguenots were in France before the St. Bartholomew's Massacre. Dr. E. Boyd Barrett, for many years a Jesuit, and still a Roman Catholic, as far as the author knows, has the following to say about the plans of his church: “In theory, Catholic Action is the work and service of lay Catholics in the cause of religion, under the guidance of the bishops. In practice it is the Catholic group fighting their way to control America.” - “Rome Stoops to Conquer,” p. 15. New York: 1935. "The effort, the fight, may be drawn out. It may last for five or ten years. Even if it last for twenty - what is twenty years in the life of Rome? The fight must be fought to a finish - opposition must be worn down if it cannot be swept away. Rome's immortal destiny hangs on the outcome. That destiny overshadows the land. "And in the fight, as she has ever fought when battles were most desperate in the past, Rome will use steel, and gold, and silvery lies. Rome will stoop to conquer." Id., pp. 266, 267. In a communication from Vatican City, published in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, November 4, 1936, we read: "Pope Pius feels that the United States is the ideal base for Catholicism's great drive. . . . "The Catholic Movement, Rome's militant organisation numbering millions all over the world, will be marshalled direct from Rome by Monsignor Pizzardo - next to Pacelli the Holy See's shrewdest diplomat and politician-instead of by the local bishops as before. The priest's education is to be thoroughly revised and modernised with special attention to modern propaganda methods. In addition there will be established in each country a central bureau, responsible only to Rome, to combat red agitation with every political weapon available. . . . The church must fight, and at once. "Coughlin has shown us the way of getting at the modern man. He has embarrassed us by showing and using the political power of the church so openly. . . . We know how to tackle America today, and that is our most important problem at the moment. "Pacelli is contacting the American cardinals and leading Catholic personalities . . . . to explain the Vatican's plan for the new crusade . . . . The Catholic political organisations in the large cities, like Page 148 Tammany Hall, will give the church a good lever. Those contacts are also being carefully inspected by the pope's minister. "The Vatican itself resembles a general staff headquarters preparing plans and arms for a big offensive. Since the time of the Counter Reformation, churchmen say, no such extensive reorganisation of personnel and propaganda methods has been undertaken. The whole worldwide net of Catholic organisations and sub-organisations is being contacted directly from Rome and cleared for action. The church is to be adjusted to modern political, social, and cultural conditions." - p. 10, col. 3, 4, used by permission. This article speaks of Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, then papal secretary of state, coming from the Vatican to effect the above mentioned reorganisation. He toured the United States "in a chartered aeroplane." Christian Science Monitor says: "The visit of a high Roman prelate to the United States on the eve of an election is as unprecedented as it is delicate." - Oct. 2, 1926. This Catholic plan of conquest was well understood years ago. An illustration in Harper's Weekly of October 1, 1870, pictured the pope pointing to America as "The Promised Land." Page 149 25. Making America Catholic THE Roman hierarchy knew that the older Protestants, who had read about the persecutions of the Dark Ages, and who knew some of the inside workings of the papal church, would never become Catholics. Rome's hope lay in capturing the younger generation. If the Papacy could cover up those dark pages of its history, when it waded in the blood of martyrs, and could appear in the beautiful modern dress of a real champion for liberty, as a lover of science, art, and education, it would appeal to the American youth, and the battle would be won. The Jesuits, who through years of experience in Europe, have become experts in moulding young minds, are now establishing schools everywhere, that are patronised by thousands of Protestant youth. They have also undertaken the delicate task of Romanising the textbooks of our public schools, and books of reference, in order to cover up their past, and to whitewash the Dark Ages. That Romanists desire to cover up their past record of bloody persecution is acknowledged by that honourable Roman Catholic author, Alfred Baudrillart, Rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris. After giving a frank statement of the many persecutions of which his church is guilty, he says in the words of Mgr. d'Hulst: "'Indeed, even among our friends and our brothers we find those who dare not look this problem in the face. They ask permission from the Church to ignore or even to deny all those facts and institutions in the past which have made orthodoxy compulsory."' - "The Catholic Ch

The Invaders series Part 24

A MESSAGE FOR OUR TIMES --- 23. A Message for Our Times GOD knows the future, and He has a set "time there for every purpose and for every work." (Acts 15: 18; Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 17) He has also pledged Himself to do nothing "that vitally concerns this world " but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets" beforehand (John 15:14,15; Psalm 25:14; Amos 3:7), and then He holds His servants responsible for warning the world (Ezekiel 33: 1-8). They are watchmen on the walls of Zion, who should be able to read the signs on God's prophetic clock, so they can tell the time and give the warning at the hour of crisis (Isaiah 21: 11, 12; 2 Peter 1: 19; Romans 13: 11; Matthew 16: 2, 3); and when God's hour strikes, He has His agencies in readiness to carry His message to the world. Before the world was destroyed by the Flood, Noah warned the people for one hundred twenty years (Genesis 6: 3-13, 22; 2 Peter 2: 5); before the destruction of Sodom, Lot gave the warning message to that wicked city (Genesis 19: 12-14); and before Christ's first coming, John the Baptist heralded the coming of the Messiah (Luke 1: 13-17). Then why should not so important an event as Christ's second coming be given proper notice, and a warning message be sent to prepare the world for its final destruction? It is true that the world in general has never received favourably any of God's warning messages in former ages, and Christ declares that His final warning mill not be heeded any more than His warnings sent through Noah and Lot. (Luke 17: 26-30) Yet the message must be given though there are but few who receive it. Here is Christ's message for our days: "I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches." Revelation 22: 16. "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book." V. 7. Here we see that the message to be given just before Christ's second coming is found in the "book" of Revelation. This is specifically given in chapter 14, verses 6-14. Here is presented "the everlasting gospel," connected with the warning that "the hour of His judgment is come," and an appeal for a return to the loyal worship of the Creator, combined with a warning against the worship of the "beast and his image," and against taking "his mark." Those who receive this message are characterised by the fact that they "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus'." Revelation 14: 6-13. The very next scene is the Son of man coming on the cloud to reap the harvest of the earth, and "the harvest is the end of the world." Verses 14-16 and Matthew 13:39. The people who give this message to the world must therefore know what is meant by “the beast,” “his image,” and “his mark.” This we find clearly presented in Revelation 13. Let us study this chapter. The Beast With Ten Horns John "saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns." Revelation 13: 1. The fact that it had "ten horns," the same as the fourth beast of Daniel 7: 7, 23, 24, identifies it as a Roman power (see pages 34, 35). The next question to settle will be whether this is Rome in its pagan or its papal state. The ten horns represent the ten European kingdoms into which the Roman Empire was divided between A. D. 351 and 476. On this beast the horns are crowned (Revelation 13: 1), showing that the empire had been divided, and the rulers of those ten kingdoms were already crowned. (Compare Revelation 12: 3.) But the Roman Empire became Christianised (Catholic) long before it was divided. The beast of Revelation 13: 1-10 therefore represents papal Rome. Page 132 The dragon with ten horns (Revelation 12: 3), which represents pagan Rome, gave to the beast "his power, and his seat, and great authority." Revelation 13: 2. The "seat" of the Roman Empire was the city of Rome. How was this given to the Papacy? Francis P. C. Hays (Roman Catholic) says: “When the Roman Empire became Christian, and the peace of the Church was guaranteed, the Emperor left Rome to the Pope, to be the seat of the authority of the Vicar of Christ, who should reign there independent of all human authority, to the consummation of ages, to the end of time.” – “Papal Rights and Privileges,” pp. 13, 14. London: R. Washbourne, 1889. Alexander C. Flick, Ph. D., Litt. D., says: “The removal of the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330, left the Western Church practically free from imperial power, to develop its own form of organisation. The Bishop of Rome, in the scat of the Caesars, was now the greatest man in the West, and was soon forced to become the political as well as the spiritual head.” - “The Rise of the Medieval Church,” p. 168. "And meekly stepping to the throne of Caesar, the vicar of Christ took up the sceptre to which the emperors and kings of Europe were to bow in reverence through so many ages." Rev. James P. Conroy, in "American Catholic Quarterly Review," April, 1911. But let us consider the other marks used by the Holy Spirit to point out this power. It cannot be a local government, confined to a certain country, for "all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him." Revelation 13: 8. And it must be a religious, rather than a civil, power; for it concerns itself with the "worship" of the people. v. 4, 8. "There was given unto him a mouth speaking great things," and he was "to make war with the saints, and to overcome them" (Revelation 13: 5, 7), just as the "little horn" of Daniel 7: 8, 21, 25. (See pp. 34-48.) All this could apply to no other power than the Papacy. The Number 666 The Scripture gives us still another earmark of this power. We read: "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." "The number of his name." Revelation 13: 17, 18. The note below the eighteenth verse in the Douay, or Catholic, Bible says: "Six hundred sixty-six. The numeral letters of his name shall make up this number." Catholic Authorities In our examination of this subject we shall first consult Roman Catholic authorities to ascertain what sacred title they apply to the pope to denote his official position and authority. Any one at all familiar with authentic Catholic authors knows that their paramount and constant claim for the pope is that Christ appointed St. Peter to be His vicar, or representative on earth, and that each succeeding pope is the lawful successor of St. Peter, and is therefore the "Vicar of the Son of God" on earth. This official title in Latin (the official language of the Catholic Church) is "Vicarius Filii Dei." We find this title used officially in Roman Catholic canon law, from medieval times down to the present. In the, earliest collection of canon law we read: Page 133 "Beatus Petrus in terris Vicarius Filit Dei videtur esse constutus." - "Decretum Gratiani," prima pars, dist. xcvi. Translated into English this would read: "Blessed Peter is seen to have been constituted vicar of the Son of God on the earth." - "Decretum of Gratian," part 1, div. 96, column 472, first published at Bologna about 1148, and reprinted in 1555. Translation by Christopher B. Coleman, Ph. D, in "The Treatise of Lorenzo Valla on the Donation of Constantine," p. 13. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1922. The Catholic Encyclopedia says of Gratian: "He is the true founder of the science of canon law." - Vol. VI, art. "Gratian," p. 730. The same Catholic authority says: "The 'Decretum' of Gratian was considered in the middle of the twelfth century as a corpus juris canonici, i.e. a code of the ecclesiastical law then in force." - Id., Vol. IV, art. "Decretals," p. 671. It further states: "It must be admitted that the work of Gratian was as near perfection as was then possible. For that reason it was adopted at Bologna, and soon elsewhere, as the textbook for the study of canon law. . . . While lecturing on Gratian's work, the canonists labored to complete and elaborate the master's teaching." - Id., Vol. lX, art. "Law, Canon," pars. "D" and "E," p. 62. Different popes added their own decrees to the collection of Gratian, as the following quotation will show: "Thus by degrees the Corpus Juris Canonici took shape. This became the official code of canon law for Western Europe during the Middle Ages, and was composed of six books, namely, the Decretum of Gratian (about 1150), the Decretals of Gregory IX (1234), the Sextus of Boniface VIII (1298), the Clementines of Clement V (1313), the Extravagantes of John XII (about 1316), and the Extravagantes Communes, which contained laws made by succeeding popes." - "The Papacy," Rev,. C. Lattey, S. J., page 143. Cambridge, England: 1924. After the Council of Trent, Pope Pius V had this "Canon Law " revised. “Pius V appointed (1566) a commission to prepare a new edition of the 'Corpus Juris Canonici.' This commission devoted itself especially to the correction of the text of the 'Decree' of Gratian and of its gloss. Gregory XIII ('Cum pro munere,' 1 July, 1580; 'Emendationem,' 2 June, 1582) decreed that no change was to be made in the revised text. This edition of the 'Corpus' appeared at Rome in 1582, in aedibus populi Romani, and serves as examplar for all subsequent editions.” - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IV, art. "Corpus Juris Cononici," pp. 392, 393. It was reprinted verbatim in 1613 and 1622. This is the standard text of canon law for the whole Roman Catholic Church. Pope Gregory XIII wrote July 1, 1580, in his preface to this corrected edition: "We have demanded care in rejecting, correcting, and expurgating. . . . The Decree itself, without the glossae, exists now entirely freed from faults and corrected. . . . as much the one without the glossae as the entire one with the glossae all recognised and approved . . . this body of canonical law firmly grounded and incorrupted according to this model printed at Rome by Catholic typographers. . . . We wishing to proceed opportunely, so that this canonical law thus expurgated, may come restored to all the faithful . . . kept perpetually integrid and incorruptible, motu proprio, and from our certain knowledge, and from the plenitude of the apostolic power to all and singly in the dominion of our Page 134 sacred Roman Church." - Preface to Corpus Juris Canonici, Gregorii XIII, Pontif. Max. Auctoritate; in editions of 1582, 1613, 1622, and 1879. Of this corrected "Corpus," or canon law, "published in 1582 . . . by order of Gregory XIII," and established by his authority, we read: "The text of this edition, revised by the Correctores Romani, a pontifical commission established for the revision of the text of the 'Corpus Juris,' has the force of law." - Catholic Encyclopedia., Vol. IV, art. "Decretals, Papal," p. 672, par. 3. Notice that this revised edition of canon law "has the force of law." In this canon law, which Pope Gregory XIII had corrected by "the plenitude of the apostolic power," so that it is "entirely freed from faults," we find the same statement: "Beatus Petrus in terris vicarius Filii Dei esse videtur constitutus."-"Corpus Juris Canonici, Gregorii XIII, Pontif. Max. Auctoritate," Distinctio 96, Column 286, Canon Constantinus 14, Magdeburg, 1747. Moreover, custom has even given to several apocryphal canons of the 'Decree' of Gratian the force of law." - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IV, art. "Corpus Juris Cononici," p. 393. In “Corpus Juris Canonici Emendatum et Notis Illustratum Gregorii XIII. Pont. Max.,” “Lvgdvn, MDCXXII” or "the Canon Law of Pope Gregory XIII, of 1622," with the Pope's own "Preface," in which he assures us of its being without flaw, we find the same: "Beatus Petrus in terris Vicarius Filii Dei esse videtur constitutus." - Column 295. We cannot see how any consistent Catholic can deny the authenticity of this title without denying the infallibility of the pope. What more authority can they desire? Before going further let us apply the rule laid V 5 down in the Catholic Bible for counting the number i 1 of his name. It says: "The numeral letters of his c 100 name shall make up this number." - Note under a 0 Revelation 13: 18. In Bible times they did not use r 0 figures. We can still see on dials of old clocks, i 1 in numbers given above chapters in the Bible, u 5 and in dates inscribed on cornerstones, certain s 0 numerical values given to some of the letters. In F 0 Latin, 1 stands for 1, V for 5, X for 10, L for 50, i 1 C for 100, D for 500, and M for 1,000. Originally we l 50 had no U, but V was used for U, and V is often used i 1 for U today on public buildings, such as "Pvblic i 1 Library," and our W is still written as a double V, D 500 not as a double U. e 0 The next Catholic authority we shall quote is i 1 F. Lucii Ferraris, who wrote "a veritable encyclopedia " _________ in Latin, of which several editions have been 666 printed by the papal church at Rome. The American Catholic Encyclopedia says of Ferraris's great work that it "will ever remain a precious mine of information." - Vol. VI, p. 48. From this unquestionable Catholic authority we shall first quote its Latin statement, and then give the English translation: "Ut sicut Beatus Petrus in terris vicarius Filii Dei fuit constitutus, ita et Pontifices eius successores in terris principatus potestatem amplius, quam terrenae imperialis nostrae serenitatis mansuetudo habere videtur." ("As the blessed Peter was constituted Vicar of the Son of God on earth, so it is seen that the Pontiffs, his successors, hold from us and our empire the power of a supremacy on the earth greater than the clemency of our earthly imperial serenity.") - "Prompta Bibliotheca canonica juridica moralis theologica" etc., Vol. VI, art. "Papa," p. 43. Printed by the Press of the Propaganda, Rome: 1890. Henry Edward Cardinal Manning of England, an extensive Roman Catholic writer, of high esteem in his church, applies the same title to the pope, only using it in its English translation. He says of the popes: "The temporal power in the hands of St. Gregory I was a fatherly and patriarchal rule over nations not as yet reduced to civil order. In the hands of St. Leo III it became a power of creating empires. In the hands of St. Gregory VII it was a scourge to chasten them. In the hands of Alexander III it was a dynasty, ruling supremely, in the name of God, over the powers of the world. . . . So that I may say there never was a time when the temporal power of the Vicar of the Son of God, though assailed as we see it, was more firmly rooted throughout the whole unity of the Catholic Church. It was a dignified obedience to bow to the Vicar of the Son of God, and to remit the arbitration of their griefs to one whom all wills consented to obey." - "The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ," pp. 231, 232, second edition. London: Burns and Lambert, 1862. The same year, this book was translated and published in Italian, with the sanction of the church attached to it. The title "Vicar of the Son of God" appears on pages 234 and 235 of that edition. Philippe Labbe, "a distinguished Jesuit writer on historical, geographical, and philological questions" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VIII, pp. 718, 719), in his historical work "Sacrosancta concilia ad regiam editionem exacta," Vol. I, page 1534 (Paris: 1671), uses "Vicarius Filii Dei' as the official title of the pope. Coming down to our own times, we shall call to the witness stand a modern advocate of the Roman Catholic cause. Our Sunday Visitor, of Huntington, Ind., in its issue of April 18, 1915, gives clear testimony in this case. We quote it in full: "What are the letters supposed to be in the Pope's crown, and what do the signify, if anything? "The letters inscribed in the Pope's mitre are these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is the Latin for Vicar of the Son of God. Catholics hold that the Church which is a visible society must have a visible head. Christ, before His ascension into heaven, appointed St. Peter to act as His representative. Upon the death of Peter the man who succeeded to the office of Peter as Bishop of Rome, was recognised as the head of the Church. Hence to the Bishop of Rome, as head of the Church, wag given the title 'Vicar of Christ.' Page 136 "Enemies of the Papacy denounce this title as a malicious assumption. But the Bible informs us that Christ did not only give His Church authority to teach, but also to rule. Laying claim to the authority to rule in Christ's spiritual kingdom, in Christ's stead, is not a whit more malicious than laying claim to the authority to teach in Christ's name. And this every Christian minister does." - "Our Sunday Visitor," April 18, 1915, thirteenth question under "Bureau of Information," p. 3. Later, when Roman Catholic authorities discovered that Protestants were making use of the foregoing statements to identify the Papacy with the antichristian power of Revelation 13: 18, they attempted to repudiate the contents of their former article. But that article was not written by some contributor to their paper; it appeared in the "Bureau of Information," for which the editorial staff was responsible. And on page two of that paper appeared sanctions for the editor from Pope Pius X, dated May 17, 1914; from the Apostolic Delegate, John Bonzano, dated April 27, 1913; and from J. H. Alerding, Bishop of Fort Wayne, Ind., dated March 29, 1912. If statements made under such high authorities are not trustworthy, we would respectfully ask if their present denials are any more so? To one versed in Catholic teaching and practice, there is nothing uncommon in such denials, where the interest of the Church is at stake. Cardinal Baudrillart's quotation on pages 64 and 245 of this book shows that some Catholic authors "ask permission from the Church to ignore or even deny" some historical facts, which they "dare not" face; and we read in "History of the Jesuits," by Andrew Steinmetz, Vol. 1, p. 13, that their accredited histories in common use, 'with permission of authority,' [are] veiling the subject with painful dexterity.” - London: 1848. We shall here refer to one other similar denial. In the Roman Catholic paper, Shepherd of the Valley, there appeared an article by the editor, in which he stated: If Catholics ever attain, which they surely will, though at a distant day, the immense numerical majority in the United States, religious liberty, as at present understood, will be at an end." A Protestant lecturer, who made use of this quotation, was bitterly arraigned in a double-column front-page article in the Catholic Standard and Times for his false statements regarding Catholics; for, it pointed out, if he had finished the quotation with the words which followed, "so say our enemies," it would have reversed its meaning. The incident would have passed off at the expense of the Protestant lecturer, had not the Western Watchman of July 24, 1913, continued the quotation still further, declaring: "The whole quotation should read: 'If Catholics ever attain, which they surely will, though at a distant day, the immense numerical majority in the United States, religious liberty, m at present understood, will be at an end. So say our enemies; so say we."' - Quoted in "Protestant Magazine," October, 1913, p 474. Why those who tried to deny their former statements should leave out the words, "so say we," is very evident. But what can we think of those who publicly deny facts to screen their church from unfavourable public opinions, unless they act from the motive that "the end justifies the means," and that "heretics " have no moral right to facts which they would misuse. (See also pages 64 and 65 of this book.) We shall therefore continue to believe that the editors of Our Sunday Visitor, in its issue of April 18, 1915, page three, were perfectly honest and well informed on the subject, and that the later denials are of the same class as those mentioned above. Page 137 Our Sunday Visitor in the aforementioned quotation makes use of Vicarius Filii Dei and "Vicar of Christ" as synonymous terms, and Cardinal Manning does the same in his book, "Temporal Power of the Pope." It cannot, therefore, be maintained, as some do, that Vicarius Christi is the only mode of spelling used as the title of the pope, although the shorter rendering is used more often for brevity's sake. In fact Vicarius Christi is composite in its origin, Vicarius being Latin, while Christi is Latinized from the Greek. It would hardly seem probable that learned Romanists would adopt such a composite title to the exclusion of the pure, dignified, Latin title, Vicarius Filii Dei, which has been in use among them for centuries. Of late, Catholic apologists have argued that the "name of the beast " in Revelation 13: 17, 18 is a personal name of a single individual, such as Nero, and not the official title of a series of men, as that of the popes would be. But this would be entirely out of harmony with the context, for how could one man make war with God's people, and overcome them in every country, so that he would have power "over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations"? Revelation 13: 7. Then, too, that power was to continue forty and two months (v. 5), which those apologists claim to be literal. But how could one man accomplish such a world task in forty-two literal months?' These forty-two months are twelve hundred and sixty prophetic days (Revelation 11: 2, 3), and in prophecy a day stands for a year (Ezekiel 4: 6). (Even Catholics acknowledge that a day in prophecy stands for a year. See note under Daniel 9: 24-27 in the Douay Bible. Father Reaves says: “The prophet's weeks are, by all interpreters of the Holy Scriptures, understood to include years for days.” - “Bible History,” p. 345) The forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, of Revelation 13: 5 are therefore twelve hundred and sixty years, during which this power was to continue. But would not that period be quite a long time for one man to live? This attempt made by Roman apologists to screen the Papacy from being detected as the antichristian power of Revelation 13 appears too shallow to he seriously asserted by men who have made a thorough study of Bible prophecy. Testimony Of Eye-Witness That the title, Vicarius Filii Dei, has been employed elsewhere than in Roman Catholic canon law is also asserted by Rev. B. Hoffman: "To Whom It May Concern: "This is to certify that I was born in Bavaria in 1828, was educated in Munich, and was reared a Roman Catholic. In 1844 and 1845 1 was a student for the priesthood in the Jesuit College in Rome. "During the Easter service of 1845, Pope Gregory XVI wore a triple crown upon which was the inscription, in jewels, Vicarius Filii Dei. We were told that there were one hundred diamonds in the word Dei; the other words were of some other kind of precious stones of a darker colour. There was one word upon each crown, and not all on the same line. I was present at the service, and saw the crown distinctly, and noted it carefully. "In 1850 I was converted to God and to Protestantism. Two years later I entered the Evangelical Church ministry, but later in life I united with the Presbyterian Church, of which I am now a retired pastor, having been in the ministry for fifty years. "I have made the above statement at the request of Elder D. E. Scoles, as he states that some deny that the pope ever wore this tiara. But I know that he did, for I saw it upon his head." “Sincerely yours in Christian service, (Signed) "B. Hoffman. Webb City, Mo., Oct. 29, 1906.” - "Review and Herald," Dec. 20, 1906. The author of this book has photostats of the papal passport held by Rev. B. Hoffman, and of a signed letter from him stating the same facts as are given in the above statement. His testimony is confirmed by that of M. De Latti and others. Statement of M. De Latti to D. E. Scoles. - "M De Latti . . . had previously been a Catholic priest, and had spent four years in Rome. He visited me when I was pastor in St. Paul, Minn. . . . He stated that he had often seen it [the crown with this inscription] in the museum of the Vatican, and gave a detailed and accurate description of the whole crown. . . . "De Latti . . . said the first word of the sentence was on the first crown of the triple arrangement, the second word on the second part of the crown, while the word Dei was on the lower division of the triple crown. He also explained that the first two words were in dark-colored jewels, while the Dei was composed of diamonds entirely." - D. E. Scoles, in "Review and Herald," Dec. 20, 1906. Statement of Thomas Whitmore. – “’Some time ago, an English officer happening to be at Rome, observed on the front of the mitre which the pope wore at one of the solemnities, this inscription: "Vicarivs Filii Dei." It instantly struck him - perhaps this is "the number of the beast." He set to work: and when he had selected all the numerals, and added them up, he found, to his great astonishment, that the whole amounted to precisely six hundred and sixty-six. What stress is to be laid on this I cannot say. “ ‘Vicarivs Filii Dei V 5 F 0 D 500 I 1 I 1 E 0 C l00 L 50 I 1 A 0 I 1 _________ R 0 1 1 501 I 0 _________ 112 V 5 53 53 S 0 ___ _________ 666 112 "Thus it will be seen, that by taking from the title Vicarivs Filii Dei [Vicar of the Son of God], the letters which are commonly used as numerals, they make up the number of the beast.” – “A Commentary on the Revelation, of St. John the Divine,” p. 231. Boston: 1856. Testimony of Dr. H. Grattan Guinness. - "An English officer of high rank, who in the year 1799, by a special favour, was given the opportunity, while in Rome, to get a close view of the Pope's jewels and precious things, discovered thereby, that the papal tiara bore this inscription: ‘Vicarivs Filii Dei.’ "When you take out the Latin letters, which have numeral value, and which still are used to represent words there are two V’s, which letter denotes 5, six I's denoting 1, one C, which denotes 100, one L, which denotes 50, and one D, which denotes 500, thus: V,V= 10; I,I,I,I,I,I = 6; C = 100; L = 50; and D = 500, the sum 666.” – “Babylon and the Beast,” p. 141; quoted in " Kyrkans Strid och Slutliga Seger," Professor S. F. Svensson, pp. 126, 128. Stockholm: 1908. Other Protestant Witnesses Robert Fleming, V. D. M., wrote a book entitled "Apocalyptical. Key. An Extraordinary Discourse on the Rise and Fall of the Papacy." It was published in London, 1701, 1703, and 1929. In the 1929 edition, p. 48, we read that an "explication may be found in the title which the Roman pontiff has assumed, and which is inscribed over the door of the Vatican, ‘Vicarius Filii Dei’ (Vicar of the Son of God). In Roman computation this contains the number 666, as will be seen below. V 5 F 0 D 500 I 1 I 1 E 0 C l00 L 50 I 1 A 0 I 1 R 0 1 1 I 0 V 5 S 0 Testimony Of R. C. Shimeall "It is to be observed as a singular circumstance, that the title, vicarivs filii dei (Vicar of the Son of God), which the Popes of Rome have assumed to themselves, and caused to be inscribed over the door of the Vatican, exactly makes the number of 666, when deciphered according to the numeral signification of its constituent letters, thus: Vicar of the Son of God V 1 C A R I V S F 1 L 1 1 D E I Added together thus: 5, 1, 100, 1, 5 1,50,1,1 500,1 V 5 I 1 C 100 A 0 R 0 1 1 V 5 S 0 F 0 I 1 L 50 I 1 I 1 D 500 E 0 I 1 ___ 666 Our Bible Chronology, Historic and Prophetic, Critically Examined and Demonstrated," R. C. Shimeall, p. 180. New York: A. S. Barnes and Co., 1867. Appended to the above is a footnote, giving the author's reply to a correspondent: "Answer to a Querist. . . . “Sir, - In answer to your observation and queries, permit me to say - the things I have asserted are stubborn, clear facts, not mere suppositions or fancies. "The inscription in question, was actually written over the door of the Vatican at Rome, in express Latin words and characters, as inserted in this publication, Viz., VICARIVS FILII DEI; and those Latin words and characters contain Latin numerals to the amount of 666, exactly corresponding with the number of the beast. "With respect to the supposition you have conjured up, that the Pope might he called Vicarius Christus, or Vicarius Christus Filii Dei (a sort of gibberish that is neither Latin, German, nor English), it is a matter I have nothing to do with. Mr. D. may adopt these or any other fancies to amuse himself, and to screen the head of his holiness, but when he has done all, this question will still remain to be answered: Have those inscriptions ever appeared over the door of the Vatican at Rome? "As to Mr. D's attempting to obscure the number of the beast 666, contained in the numerals of the words VICARIVS FILII DEI, by objecting to a V; however the Pope or his emissaries may be obliged to him for his kind exertions on their behalf, yet I presume neither of them will condescend to appear his humble fool in Latin, for the sake of sheltering themselves under his ignorance of the Latin alphabet and the ancient inscriptions." - Id., p. 180. Dr. S. T. Bloomfield gives us the following rule for finding the number: "It means the number which is made up by reducing the numeral power of each of the letters of which the name is composed, and bringing it to a sum total." - "Greek Testament with English Notes," Note on Rev. 13: 17, Vol. II, p. 175. Samuel Hanson Cox, D. D. - "Can they [Protestants] accord to the present dominant Gregory, the pompous titles which he claims - VICARIUS FILII DEI, Vestra Sanctitas, Servus Servorus Domini, with other profane and blasphemous appellations without end?" - Introduction to Bower's "History of the Popes," Vol. I, p. x. Philadelphia: 1847. The fact that some may have seen a crown at the Vatican which did not have the above inscription does not disprove the statements of the men who saw the crown that has the inscription. According to a copyrighted news report from Milan, Italy, dated December 11, 1922, and published in the Des Moines (Iowa) Register, December 12, 1922, the pope has five crowns, the last one made being decked with two thousand precious stones. The important part is not that the inscription Vicarius Filii Dei is on the pope's tiara, but that it is the official title of the popes. It designates their official position, and is given to them at their coronation, just as the head of the United States government is called "President," without it therefore being necessary for him to, wear that title on his hat. Mr. H. S. Weaver, of Baltimore, Md., wrote to James Cardinal Gibbons, of the same city, under date of January 18, 1904, inquiring: "Does the inscription, 'Vicarius Filii Dei,' appear on the crown or mitre of the pope, or has it at any time in the past appeared on the crowns or mitres of any of the popes?" "Yours sincerely, (Signed) "H. S. Weaver." To this letter the Cardinal answered through his secretary, as follows: "Baltimore, Md., Jan. 26, 1904. "Mr. H. S. Weaver. “Dear Sir: "In reply to yours of 18th inst., I beg to say that I can not say with certainty that the words, Vicarius Filii Dei,' are on the pope's tiara. But the words are used by the cardinal who imposes the tiara at the coronation of a pope. Yours truly, (Signed) "Wm. T. Russell, Secretary." The New Catholic Dictionary says: “Tiara, papal crown. . . . It is placed on his head at his Coronation by the second cardinal-deacon, with the words: 'Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art Father of princes and kings, Ruler of the world, Vicar of our Saviour Jesus Christ." - The New Catholic Dictionary, art. "Tiara," p. 955. We have already seen that Catholics have several free translations into English of the Latin title, "Vicarius Filii Dei." Some try to find in the Greek word Lateinos, or the Latin Empire of the Papacy, a fulfillment of Revelation 13: 18 (see "Bishop Newton on the Prophecies," - pp. 548-550), but there is no need of going to the Greek. For while it is true that the apostles used mostly the Aramaic and the Greek, Latin was the official language of Rome, the world empire at that time. The Romans everywhere used Latin, all their laws were written in that language, and Latin has remained the official language of the Papacy to this day. The apostle was prophesying of a strictly Latin power, whose language was in use in his day, and it is quite common for Bible writers to borrow foreign words and phrases belonging to the subjects of which they are speaking. (John 19: 20; Revelation 9: 11; 16: 16) Then, too, the power represented by Revelation 13: 1-10, 17, 18, must not only have the name indicated, but must also fulfill all the other specifications in this prophecy, and the Papacy does this. M. James Durham, Professor of Divinity in Glasgow (1658), says: "He that hath all the characters of Antichrist's doctrine, and hath a name which, in the numeral letters, makes up 666, he is Antichrist. But to the Pope both these do agree." - "A Commentary Upon the Book of Revelation," Rev. 18: 18, p. 491. Glasgow: 1680. WHO WAS WILLIAM MILLER? LEAR HERE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Miller_(preacher)#Early_life

The Invaders series Part 23

THE TIME OF THE END -- -- The Time of the End -- THE book of prophecy was to be closed up and sealed till "the time of the end!' "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Daniel 12:4. The question was then asked: "How long shall it be?" And the answer was given: "It shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished!' V. 6, 7. We have seen (pp. 52-60) that the "time, times, and an half," during which the papacy should scatter God's true followers, began in 538 A. D., and ended in 1798 A. D. And as "the time of the end" begins when this period "shall be finished!' It is plain that "the time of the end " began in 1798 A. D. And at that time "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Daniel 12: 4. And it is remarkable how knowledge has been increased since 1798, not only in the prophecies, but also in general, as we shall presently see. But we must answer one question first. Some ask why God wanted to give important prophecies, and then keep them sealed up for so many centuries. There is a reason. The prophecies give solemn warnings against the papal power. If these prophecies had been fully understood during the Dark Ages, when the Roman Catholic Church burned all books she thought were damaging to her, those prophecies would have suffered the same fate. Therefore God spoke in symbolic language, and placed the keys to those symbols where they would not be found till the Papacy lost its power, when God would impress the minds of His people where to find the keys. No one who locks his house will leave the key in the door, but he puts it where only members of his family know where to find it. Just so the Lord did with His prophecies. (The keys to prophetic symbols are given on page 34) When these prophecies were to be opened at "the time of the end," their message would have to go quickly to earth's remotest bounds. (Revelation 14: 6, 7; Romans 9: 28) And as this could never have been accomplished without the modern printing press, and the more speedy means of travel and communication, the Lord set in motion those spurs in the human breast that led to new discoveries. During the 1260 years of papal supremacy, people did not dare to think freely, or independently of the lines of education established by the Church. (See p. 127) Galileo's trial by the Inquisition in 1623 will serve as an example of how advancement in science and invention was opposed by the church of Rome. But when in 1798 the Papacy lost its power, its downfall broke the shackles, and unloosed the world's genius, so that invention followed invention in quick succession. Table of Inventions 1. Gas for lighting purposes 1798 2. Cast-iron plows 1800 3. Steel pens for writing 1803 4. First locomotive 1804 5. First steamboat 1808 6. Steam printing press 1811 7. Passenger cars for trains 1825 8. Kerosene for lighting purposes 1825 9. Matches 1829 Page 129 10. Mowing machine, reaper 1833 11. First electric motor 1834 12. Telegraph 1837 First message: "What hath God wrought!" 1844 13. Photography 1839 14. Submarine telegraph cable 1851 15. Typewriter 1868 16. Telephone 1876 17. Phonograph 1877 18. Electric railway 1879 19. Linotype 1885 20. Automobile 1893 21. Wireless telegraphy 1895 22. Aeroplane, first successful flight 1903 23. Radio broadcasting 1921 24. Television 1926 25. Pushbutton elevator 1934 26. Airplane bombsight 1940 Prophecy had decreed that in the day of God's preparation for finishing His work on earth, "knowledge shall be increased"; and when His hour struck for the giving of His last warning message, nothing could stop it. We read: "The chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of His preparation. . . . The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings." Nahum 2: 3, 4. How could any one give a better description of modern railroads and automobiles? Even the coming of the Zeppelin and the aeroplane is foretold in the Bible: "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?" Isaiah 60: 8. The simile is striking, for doves and aeroplanes both need landing places. This prophecy speaks of a time when "darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people," while God's glorious light is shining upon His faithful servants. (Verses 1, 2) This was never more true than now. The book of prophecy, that had been closed for centuries, is now opened to God's people. (Daniel 12: 4, 10; Revelation 5: 1-9; 10: 1, 2, 8-11; 22: 6, 7, 16) Light is now shining from the throne of God upon them, while evolution, infidelity, spiritism, and Roman Catholic superstitions are enveloping the world in the grossest of spiritual darkness, and crime is at its high tide. Thinking people are everywhere scanning the horizon to detect some prophetic message from heaven that will cast light on the present chaos. William T. Ellis, in an article entitled, "Why Don't the Churches Settle Things?" which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, of February 12, 1921, points out this fact in a striking manner. He says: "There never before was a greater interest in religion in America than today - or a smaller interest in the churches. This is the paradox of our times. . . . "Ever since the war began, the country has been listening for a clear trumpet note from some prophet of the living God. In vain." He then speaks of "the church's reproach of having failed in her prophetic function." After relating the concern of two business men on this point he says: "That incident brings me squarely up against one of the most uncomfortable, perplexing and tragic situations in connection with this entire theme of the strange spiritual stirrings of the race today. Many Page 130 clergymen seem scarcely aware of what is going forward beneath the surface of life. Many experts upon religion, who are the ministers of the gospel, have seemingly failed to hear 'the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees.' Otherwise we should find them gathering with agony of soul in protracted sessions of prayer. . . . "Morbid minds could easily persuade themselves that there is a present visitation of blindness upon the teachers of religion!' D. L. Moody says; "If God did not mean to have us study the prophecies, He would not have put them into the Bible. . . . About one third of the Bible is prophetic. . . . “The return of the Lord to this earth is taught in the New Testament as clearly as any other doctrine in it. . . . Whoever neglects this has only a mutilated gospel. . . . Yet I was in the church fifteen or sixteen years before I ever heard a sermon on it. . . . I can see a reason for this; the Devil does not want us to see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realises that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon him.” - “The Second Coming of Christ,” pp. 17, 18

The Invaders Series - Part 22

THE ANTI-CHRIST -- 21. The Antichrist Defining The Name Antichrist THE name "antichrist" is found in only three chapters of the Bible, and in every instance it was emphatically stated that he was already in the world. We read: “Ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists. . . . Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.” 1 John 2: 18, 22. "This is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." 1 John 4: 3. "For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." 2 John 7. How can anyone, in the light of these plain texts, say that the antichrist here spoken of is not yet come, when the very texts declare that he is here already? These texts also reveal the fact that the apostle did not believe antichrist to be only one individual, but rather an antichristian tendency in the church: an organization dominated by "the spirit of antichrist," having a man at its head, so that when he died another would take his place, and the antichristian system would continue. Thus there would be "many antichrists," as the apostle says, but only one system; and this system had already made such progress before the apostle died, that it was about to capture the church. Its leader would not accept the Apostle John, one leader "forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church." 3 John 9, 10. This accounts for the warnings in John's epistles against these "many antichrists." 1 John 2: 18. The Apostle Paul, during his last journey among the churches, gathered "the elders," or bishops, and warned them against the coming apostasy of the church, which was to be brought about by its leaders. He says: “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20: 29, 30. Later the apostle reminded the believers, that the day of Christ's return was not then at hand: "For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God [the church, 1 Corinthians 3: 10, 16], showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? . . . For the mystery of iniquity doth already work." 2 Thessalonians 2: 3- 7. These prophecies point out clearly that the "elders" (later called bishops) would "draw away" the people from the truth of the Bible, to follow men, and that this "falling away," which had "already" begun in Paul's day, would develop, until a "man" would exalt himself to take the place of Christ in the church. Every thoughtful student of prophecy can see that this points unmistakably to the Papacy, and it accords exactly with the significance of the name "antichrist." Dr. James Strong says that "antichrist" comes from two Greek words, antee and khristos, and gives the following definition of antee: "Opposite, i.e. instead or because of . . . . for, in the room of. Often used in composition to denote . . . substitution." - Exhaustive Concordance, Greek Dictionary, entries Nos. 500, 473. Thomas Sheldon Green says: "Anti, prep, over against; hence, in correspondence to; in place Page 120 of . . ." – Greek-English Lexicon, p. 14. Boston: 1896. The meaning, therefore, of "antichrist," as it is used in the New Testament, is a rival to Christ, or one who attempts to take the place of Christ as His "vicar." This significance of the prefix “anti” is also seen in the word "anti-pope." (For further information on this point see "The Papacy Is Antichrist," by J. A. Wylie, pp. 2-18. Edinburgh: George M'Gibbon.) We shall now see that this is exactly the position which Catholics claim for the pope, that he holds the place of Christ on earth. Rev. T. L. Kinkead says: "Our Holy Father the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the vicar of Christ on earth and the visible head of the Church." “'Vicar' - that is, one who holds another's place and acts in his name” - “Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism,” p. 130. Benziger Brothers. (Sanctioned by Cardinal Gibbons, five archbishops, nineteen bishops, and other dignitaries.) Rev. William Humphrey, S. J., says: "A vicar is put in the place of him whom he represents. He is invested with his power, he is furnished with his authority. . . . He personates his principal. . . . The master, by his appointment of a vicar, binds himself to ratify his vicar's acts, and to recognize them as his own." - "The Vicar of Christ," p. 4. New York: Benziger Brothers, 1892. Thomas Morell, D. D., and Prof. John Carey, LL.D. , says: "Vicarius, a, um. adj. That is in stead, or place of another; that supplies another's room; a deputy. . . . One who performs the office, or duty, of another; a deputy, a substitute." - An Abridgement of Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary, Designed for the Use of Schools, p. 604. London: 1826. When the force of this similarity between the antichrist of prophecy and the pope of Rome dawned upon the mind of Cardinal Newman, he declared: “The gibe, 'If the Pope is not Antichrist, he has had bad luck to be so like him,' is really another argument in favour of the claims of the Pope; since Antichrist simulates Christ, and the Pope is an image of Christ, Antichrist must have some similarity to the Pope, if the latter be the true Vicar of Christ.” - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 561, art. "Antichrist." Thus it is claimed that the pope is the vicar of Christ on earth. But Christ left an altogether different Vicar, or Representative, in His place; namely, the Holy Spirit. (John 14: 15-18; 16: 7.) Of this Representative Christ says: "He shall teach you all things." "He will guide you into all truth!' John 14:26;16:13. (Compare 1 John 2:20, 27.) The Holy Spirit, being the author of the Bible (2 Peter 1: 21), certainly should be the proper interpreter of it. To this the Roman church answers: "Nor can it be said that being a divinely inspired book, its prime Author, the Holy Spirit, will guide the reader to the right meaning. "The Church which made the Bible, likewise interprets the Bible." - "Things Catholics Are Asked About," Martin J. Scott, S. J., Litt. D., pp. 119, 120. N. Y.: Kenedy, 1927. Pope Leo XIII says: Page 121 “But the supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires, together with a perfect accord in the one faith, complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself.” - “The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII,” p. 193. New York: Benziger Bros., 1903. He further says: "We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty." - Id., p. 304. We have now seen from authentic Catholic sources, that the pope arrogates to himself the "place of God Almighty," the office of Christ on earth, and the prerogative of the Holy Spirit, as sole teacher of the faithful, and the interpreter of the Holy Scriptures. What more is needed to fulfill the prediction of 2 Thessalonians 2: 3, 4, and the prophecies of the Antichrist? All Agreed On Antichrist Up to the close of the Reformation God's people were generally agreed that the Papacy was the Antichrist foretold in prophecy. The Waldenses taught it. (See page 122) About 1384 A. D. John Wycliffe wrote a book against the papal system entitled: "Of Antecrist and His Meynee." In fact, the English Reformers, - Tyndale, Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, - all agreed in pointing to the Papacy as the Antichrist. John Huss of Bohemia, in his "De Anatomia Antichristi," did the same. Turning to Germany we find Dr. Martin Luther strong in his convictions on this subject. He says: "The Pope is . . . the true Antichrist, of whom it is written, that he sitteth in the temple of God, among the people where Christ is worshiped. . . . "But Papists want to divert this passage from themselves, and they say that Christ and Paul speak about the temple at Jerusalem, and that Antichrist shall sit there and rule; that will not do.. . . . It cannot be understood otherwise than of the new spiritual temple, which he says we are. "There shall the Pope sit and he honored, not above God, but above all that is called God. . . . So also we see it before our eyes, that many princes and the world regard his law higher and more than the commandments of God. . . . Cannot this rightly be termed exalting and honoring Antichrist above God?" - "Luther's Church Postil," "Gospels," 25th Sunday after Trinity, par. 24, 25, Part 2, pp. 734, 735. Stavanger, Norway: 1862. Luther further declares: "Therefore, let whosoever will doubt, God's word and the proper divine worship convinces me sufficiently that the Pope is the Antichrist, and the ecclesiastical orders are his disciples, which deceive the whole world." - Id., Part 1, p. 379. "I hope that the last day is at the door. Things could not become worse than the Roman see makes it. It suppresses the commandments of God, it exalts its own commandments above God's. If this is not Antichrist, then some one else must tell what it is." - "Luther's Reformatory Works," p. 280. Copenhagen: 1883. “The Pope is the real Antichrist.” - Id., p. 278. Dr. Charles H. H. Wright, in speaking of the Bible prophecy of "antichrist," says: Page 122 "In all ages of the Church, from the days of Gregory the Great down to the present, men have pointed to the Papacy as the fulfillment of the prophecy. That interpretation is set forth in the Homilies of the Church of England and by all the Reformed Churches. The interpretation, however, has been ignored or rejected by critics, for reasons which need not be specified. It can, however, stand all the tests of criticism." - "Daniel and His Prophecies," p. 168. London: 1906. (See also Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 561, art. "Antichrist.") Jesuits Undermine The Truth The Rev. Joseph Tanner, B. A., says: "So great hold did the conviction that the Papacy was the Antichrist gain upon the minds of men, that Rome at last saw she must bestir herself, and try, by putting forth other systems of interpretation, to counteract the identification of the Papacy with the Antichrist. "Accordingly, towards the close of the century of the Reformation, two of her most learned doctors set themselves to the task, each endeavouring by different means to accomplish the same end; namely, that of diverting men's minds from perceiving the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Antichrist in the papal system. The Jesuit Alcasar devoted himself to bring into prominence the Preterist method of interpretation, . . . that the prophecies of Antichrist were fulfilled before the Popes ever ruled at Rome, and therefore could not apply to the Papacy. On the other hand the Jesuit Ribera tried to set aside the application of these prophecies to the papal power by bringing out the Futurist system, which asserts that these prophecies refer properly not to the career of the Papacy, but to that of some future supernatural individual, who is yet to appear, and to continue in power for three and a half years. Thus, as Alford says, the Jesuit Ribera, about A. D. 1580, may be regarded as the Founder of the Futurist system in modern times. “It is a matter for deep regret that those who hold and advocate the Futurist system at the present day, Protestants as they are for the most part, are thus really playing into the hands of Rome, and helping to screen the Papacy from detection as the Antichrist. It has been well said that 'Futurism tends to obliterate the brand put by the Holy Spirit upon popery.' More especially is this to be deplored at a time when the papal Antichrist seems to make an expiring effort to regain his former hold on men's minds. Now once again, as at the Reformation, it is especially necessary that his true character should be recognized, by all who would be faithful to 'the testimony of Jesus.`” - "Daniel and the Revelation," pp. 16, 17. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1898. To undermine the work of the Reformers, these Jesuits, Alcasar and Ribera, gathered a mass of material from the writings of the Church Fathers concerning Antichrist. This gave their works the appearance of scientific research, which appealed to many Protestant leaders. (An example of this can be seen in Encyclopedia Biblica, art. "Antichrist.") But statements from the Church Fathers which speak of the coming of Antichrist as an event then in the future, could be no proof for Ribera's "futurist" theory, for the reign of the papal Antichrist was then still in the future. The 1260 years of papal persecution, called the Dark Ages, had not yet begun when these Fathers wrote. The theories of Ribera and Alcasar were diametrically opposed to each other, and yet both were taught as Catholic truths, taken from the Church Fathers. From this we see how untrustworthy are these sources. Dr. Adam Clarke is evidently right when he says of the Fathers: "We may safely state, that there is not a truth in the most orthodox creed, that cannot be proven by their authority; nor a heresy that has disgraced the Romish Church that may not challenge them as its Page 123 abetters. In points of doctrine, their authority is, with me, nothing. The Word of God alone contains my creed." - Commentary on Proverbs 8. Bible Prophecy Of Antichrist Is Plain The prophecies of the Bible regarding Antichrist are so plain that even Roman Catholics cannot evade them all. The seventh chapter of Daniel foretells the rise of four world empires, which the Douay Bible explains to be "the Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires." The Roman Empire was broken up into ten smaller kingdoms between the years 351 and 476 A. D. And among them there should grow up another power, symbolised by a "little horn." Of this the Douay Bible says: “Another little horn. This is commonly understood of Antichrist.” Daniel 7: 7, 8. The Papacy is the only power that came up just at that time, and which fits all the specifications of the symbol. We have seen on page 195 how clearly the Papacy is pointed out in 2 Thessalonians 2: 3-7. This prophecy states that the apostolic church would be gradually "falling away" until a "man" would exalt himself to take the place of God in the church. This "mystery of iniquity" was already at work in Paul's day, but something was holding it back. (Vs. 6, 7) As long as the Roman Empire was heathen, and persecuted the Christians, there was no incentive to join the church for worldly gain; but during the time of Constantine the church became popular, and the worldly ambitious struggled for the highest ecclesiastical offices, because of the great honor and emolument connected with them; and when finally the Roman State was abolished, the bishop of Rome seated himself upon the throne of the Caesars. It was therefore heathen Rome that had to "be taken out of the way," before the papal Antichrist could come into power. Speaking of this point the Catholic Encyclopedia says: "The impediment is the Roman Empire; the main event impeded is the 'man of sin."' - Vol. I, p. 560, art. "Antichrist." The Douay Bible says: "The Roman Empire. . . . was first to be destroyed, before the coming of Antichrist." - Note on 2 Thessalonians 2: 3. Two Points Made Clear There were two arguments used against the position taken by the Reformers which have puzzled many: (1) It was claimed that the Apostle John used two distinctions: "an Antichrist" to designate the false teachers of his day, and "the Antichrist," referring to some superhuman monster of Jewish extraction that would appear just before Christ's second coming. But on this point Dr. C. H. H. Wright truthfully remarks: "St. John, the only New Testament writer who employs the term, makes no distinction whatever between 'an Antichrist' and 'the Antichrist.' That distinction was in the main an invention of the learned Jesuit interpreters." - "Daniel and His Prophecies," p. 165. London: 1906. (2) The second objection was that while "the Antichrist" would deny the incarnation, for he would deny that "Christ is come in the flesh." (2 John 7), the pope does not deny this, therefore he cannot be the Antichrist. This argument has seemed so logical and conclusive that Protestants, to a large extent, have given up the Protestant doctrine that the Papacy is Antichrist, and have ceased to protest. This argument, however, is based on a misunderstanding, caused by overlooking one word in the text. Antichrist was not to deny that Christ had come in flesh, but was to deny that He had "come in the flesh," in "the same" kind of flesh, as the human race He came to save. (See 1 John 4: 3; 2 John 7, and Page 124 Hebrews 2: 14, 17) On this vital difference hinges the real "truth of the gospel." Did Christ come all the way down to make contact with the fallen race, or only part way, so that we must have saints, popes, and priests intercede for us with a Christ who is removed too far from fallen humanity and its needs to make direct contact with the individual sinner? Right here lies the great divide that parts Protestantism from Roman Catholicism. In order to understand this point clearly, let us briefly consider the gospel of Christ. The Gospel Of Christ Versus The Gospel Of Rome Through sin man has separated himself from God, and his fallen nature is opposed to the divine will; therefore he cannot by his own effort live a godly life, nor can he change his own heart. (Isaiah 59: 1; Romans 8: 7; Jeremiah 13: 23; John 15: 5) Only through Christ, our Mediator, can man be rescued from sin, and again be brought into connection with the source of purity and power. But in order to become such a connecting link Christ had to partake both of the divinity of God and of the humanity of man, so that He with His divine arm could encircle God, and with His human arm embrace man, thus connecting both in His own person. In this union of the human with the divine lies the “mystery” of the gospel, the secret of power to lift man from his degradation. "Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh." 1 Timothy 3: 16. The "mystery," or secret of power to live a godly life in human flesh, was manifest in the life of Jesus Christ while on earth. (And "Christ in you" is the secret of power to conquer sin. Colossians 1: 27.) But mark! It was fallen man that was to he rescued from sin. And to make contact with him Christ had to condescend to take our nature upon Himself (not some higher kind of flesh). " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same. . . . Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren." Hebrews 2. 14, 17. This text is so worded that it cannot be misunderstood. Christ "took part of the same" flesh and blood as ours; He came in "the" flesh. To deny this is the mark of Antichrist. (1 John 4: 3; 2 John 7.) To bridge the gulf that sin has made, Christ must be one with the Father in divinity, and one with man in humanity, and thus connect again earth with heaven. God revealed this truth to the Patriarch Jacob that lonely night at Bethel. When he feared that his sins had cut him off from heaven, God showed him that mystic Ladder, connecting earth with heaven, which Christ explained to be "the Son of man." (Genesis 28:12; John 1: 51.) Modernism has tried to cut off the upper part of this ladder by denying Christ's divinity; while the Roman Catholic Church cuts off the lower rounds by teaching that the Virgin Mary was born without sin, and that therefore Christ did not take upon Himself our kind of flesh and blood, but holy flesh, so far above us that He does not make contact with our humanity. For this reason the poor sinner cannot come to Him directly, they say, but must come through Mary, saints, popes, and priests, who will mediate for him. This has opened the floodgate for all the idolatry of the Catholic Church. Here is this "dogma" presented in authentic Catholic works: `We define that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first moment of her conception . . . was preserved free from every taint of original sin.' "Unlike the rest of the children of Adam, the soul of Mary was never subject to sin. "Faith of Our Fathers," Cardinal Gibbons, pp. 203, 204. Baltimore: 1885. The Sainted Doctor Alphonsus de Liguori says: Page 125 "The merits of Jesus, shall be dispensed through the hands and by the intercession of Mary. "Glories of Mary," p. 180, New Revised Edition. New York: P. J. Kenedy and Sons, 1888. "God has chosen to bestow no grace upon us but by the hands of Mary." - Id., p. 180. "Whoever asks and wishes to obtain graces without the intercession of Mary, attempts to fly without wings.' - Id., p. 189. "Mary is all the hope of our salvation." - Id., p. 195. "Thou art the only advocate of sinners." - Id., p. 129. “All those who are saved, are saved solely by means of this divine mother; . . . the salvation of all depends upon preaching Mary” - Id., pp. 19, 20. "We ask many things of God and do not obtain them; we ask them from Mary and obtain them." - Id., p. 150. Much more could be cited. A Protestant may ask if the merits of Christ's sacrifice on the cross are not sufficient, so that we can receive grace directly from Him. To this the Catholic Church answers: "The merits and virtue of the sacrifice of the cross are infinite; but that virtue and these merits must be applied, and this can only be done by certain means." - "Doctrinal Catechism," S. Keenan, p. 129. New York: Kenedy and Sons, 1846. "The priest has the power of the keys, or the power of delivering sinners from hell, of making them worthy of paradise and of changing them from the slaves of Satan into the children of God. And God himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of His priests. . . . 'The Sovereign Master of the universe only follows the servant by confirming in heaven all that the latter decides upon earth." - "Dignity and Duties of the Priest," St. Alphonsus de Liguori, pp. 27, 28. New York: Benziger Brothers, 1888. We now have before us the only means of salvation in the Roman Catholic gospel, as presented by men of unquestionable authority among them. This throws light on the reason why the Catholic priest has such a hold on his people. They dare not oppose him, because he represents their only means of contact with heaven. Cut off from the church, they feel they are lost; for they do not know of a Christ who has come all the way down to the lost sinner's side, to whom they can come personally and receive forgiveness through grace alone. The divine ladder has been cut off, and Mary, saints, and priests have been substituted. But the Bible knows of only "one Mediator," Jesus Christ. (1 Timothy 2: 5; Psalm 49: 7, 8) But we have not yet gone to the depth of this substitute mystery." Let us now take the next step. Having removed the living Christ from contact with the sinner, they had to substitute something else to satisfy the longing of the human heart for the indwelling presence of Christ. And that substitute is the "Sacrifice of the Mass." The Roman church teaches that the priest in the mass changes the little wafer into the real Christ, which they then fall down and worship, after which they eat Him, believing that they become partakers of Christ and receive the forgiveness of sin. Thus they have substituted a manmade Christ for a living Christ. Liguori says: Page 126 "If the person of the Redeemer had not yet been in the world, the priest, by pronouncing the words of consecration, would produce this great person of a Man-God. 'O wonderful dignity of the priests,' cries out St. Augustine; 'in their hands, as in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, the Son of God becomes incarnate.' Hence priests are called the parents of Jesus Christ. . . . “Thus the priest may, in a certain manner, be called the creator of his Creator. ‘He that created me without me is Himself created by me!’” – “Dignity and Duty of the Priest,” pp. 32,33. “In obedience to the words of his priests - Hoc est Corpus Meum - God himself descends on the altar. . . . he comes wherever they call him, and as often as they call him, and places himself in their hands. . . . They may, if they wish, shut him up in the tabernacle; . . . they may, if they choose, eat his flesh, and give him for the food of others.' - Id., pp. 26, 27. Then priest and people worship the Christ thus created: "Elevating a particle of the Blessed Sacrament, and turning towards the people, he [the priest] says: 'Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world.' "And then says three times: Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed. . . . “This pure and holy Sacrament. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.” - “The Key of Heaven,” Right Rev. J. Milner, D. A, approved by Cardinal Gibbons, pp. 126, 127. Baltimore: J. Murphy and Co., 1898. In the following quotation the Catholic Church explains why she believer, this worship of the wafer (host) is not idolatry: "Now turn for a moment to the Catholic altar. The holy Sacrifice of the Mass is being offered up. The bell has given the signal that the most solemn and awful moment of consecration is at hand. As yet there is only bread in the hand of the priest, and wine in the chalice before him. To worship these lifeless elements would be the grossest idolatry. But suddenly, amid the silence of the breathless multitude, the priest utters the divine life-giving words of consecration; and that which was bread and wine, is bread and wine no longer, but the true Body and Blood of our Lord Himself. It is that same Body that was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that died for us upon the cross, that was raised again to life, and that even now sits at the right hand of God the Father. . . . "Now in this mystery the power of the creation appears as much as in the mystery of the incarnation." - "The Holy Mass: The Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead." M. Muller, pp. 174, 175. New York: 1876. Pastor Charles Chiniquy, a former Catholic priest, says: "No words can give any idea of the pleasure I used to feel when alone, prostrated before the Christ I had made at the morning mass, I poured out my heart at His feet. . . . I may say with truth, that the happiest hours I ever had, during the long years of darkness into which the Church of Rome had plunged me, were the hours I passed in adoring the Christ whom I had made with my own lips. . . . "In fact, the Roman Catholics have no other Saviour to whom they can betake themselves than the one made by the consecration of the wafer. He is the only Saviour who is not angry with them, and who Page 127 does not require the mediation of virgins and saints to appease His wrath." - "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome," chapter 17, pars. 29, 31. In the thirty-sixth chapter of his book Pastor Chiniquy tells how he was led to question seriously this worship of Rome's wafer-god, the "host." In the spring of 1840 . . . Father Daule [an old, blind priest, was residing with him at Beauport, Quebec.] One morning when the old priest was at the altar, saying his mass, [and had just changed the wafer into the real Christ, and was reaching for it, it was gone. He called to Chiniquy] with a shriek of distress: 'The Good God has disappeared from the altar. He is lost!' [Chiniquy, remembering how often rats had tried to get the wafer while he himself had officiated there, knew what had happened, and in his consternation replied:] 'Some rats have dragged and eaten the Good God!' [The sorrow of the old priest knew no bounds, but Chiniquy declared.] 'If I were God Almighty, and a miserable rat would come to eat me, I would surely strike him dead."' - Id., chapter 86, pars. 7, 18, 24. But Catholics deny that the Papacy is Antichrist, for, say they, Antichrist is to come in the last days. To this we answer: It is true that both Paul and John speak of the activity of Antichrist at the time of Christ's second coming, but they also speak of its already having begun in their day. (1 John 2: 18; 2 Thessalonians 2: 7) There is a beautiful harmony in this when we look at it in the light of Revelation 13: 3, 5, 10 and 17: 8, where it is stated that this power will continue forty-two prophetic months, or twelve hundred sixty literal years, after which it is "wounded to death" and lies dormant for a time, till its deadly wound is healed, and all the world will again follow it in wonder and admiration, and finally it will be destroyed at Christ's second coming. So the Antichrist of the last days is simply the Papacy restored to power. See "Romanism and the Reformation," by H. GrattaGuinness, F. R. G. S., and "The Papacy," by Dr. J. A. Wylie. "The Romanists themselves shame you in their clear sighted comprehension of the issues of this question. Cardinal Manning says, 'The Catholic Church is either the masterpiece of Satan or the kingdom of the Son of God.' Cardinal Newman says, 'A sacerdotal order is historically the essence of the Church of Rome; if not divinely appointed, it is doctrinally the essence of Antichrist. In both these statements the issue is clear, and it is the same. Rome herself admits, openly admits that if she is not the very kingdom of Christ, she is that of Antichrist. Rome declares she is one or the other. She herself propounds and urges this solemn alternative. You shrink from it, do you? I accept it. Conscience constrains me. History compels me. The past, the awful past, rises before me. I see THE GREAT APOSTASY, I see the desolation of Christendom, I see the smoking ruins, I see the reign of monsters; I see those vice-gods, that Gregory VII, that Innocent III, that Boniface VIII, that Alexander VI, that Gregory X111, that Pius IX; I see their long succession. I hear their insufferable blasphemies, I see their abominable lives. I see them worshiped by blinded generations, bestowing hollow benedictions, bartering lying indulgences, creating a paganized Christianity. I see their liveried slaves, their shaven priests, their celibate confessors; I see the infamous confessional, the ruined women, the murdered innocents; I hear the lying absolutions, the dying groans. I hear the cries of the victims; I hear the anathemas, the curses, the thunders of the interdicts; I see the racks, the dungeons, the stakes; I see that inhuman Inquisition, those fires of Smithfield, those butcheries of St. Bartholomew, that Spanish Armada, those unspeakable dragonnades, that endless train of wars, that dreadful multitude of massacres. I see it all, and in the name of the ruin it has wrought in the Church and in the world, in the name of the truth it has denied, the temple it has defiled, the God it has blasphemed. The souls it has destroyed; in the name of the millions it has deluded. The millions it has slaughtered, the millions it has damned; with holy confessors, with noble reformers, with innumerable martyrs, with the saints of ages, I denounce it as the masterpiece of Satan, as the body and soul and essence of Antichrist." - "Romanism and the Reformation," H. Grattan Guinness, pp. 158,159. London: 1891.