The Great Controversy
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 35: Liberty of Conscience Threatened
Romanism is now regarded by Protestants with far greater
favor than in former years. In those countries where Catholicism is not in the
ascendancy, and the papists are taking a conciliatory course in order to gain
influence, there is an increasing indifference concerning the doctrines that
separate the reformed churches from the papal hierarchy; the opinion is gaining
ground that, after all, we do not differ so widely upon vital points as has
been supposed, and that a little concession on our part will bring us into a
better understanding with Rome. The time was when Protestants placed a high
value upon the liberty of conscience which had been so dearly purchased. They
taught their children to abhor popery and held that to seek harmony with Rome
would be disloyalty to God. But how widely different are the sentiments now
expressed! {GC 563.1}
The defenders of the papacy declare that the church has been
maligned, and the Protestant world are inclined to accept the statement. Many
urge that it is unjust to judge the church of today by the abominations and
absurdities that marked her reign during the centuries of ignorance and
darkness. They excuse her horrible cruelty as the result of the barbarism of
the times and plead that the influence of modern civilization has changed her
sentiments. [564] {GC 563.2}
Have these persons forgotten the claim of infallibility put
forth for eight hundred years by this haughty power? So far from being
relinquished, this claim was affirmed in the nineteenth century with greater
positiveness than ever before. As Rome asserts that the "church never
erred; nor will it, according to the Scriptures, ever err"
(John L. von Mosheim, Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, book 3,
century II, part 2, chapter 2, section 9, note 17), how can she renounce the
principles which governed her course in past ages? {GC 564.1}
The papal church will never relinquish her claim to
infallibility. All that she has done in her persecution of those who reject her
dogmas she holds to be right; and would she not repeat the same acts, should
the opportunity be presented? Let the restraints now imposed by secular
governments be removed and Rome be reinstated in her former power, and there
would speedily be a revival of her tyranny and persecution. {GC 564.2}
A well-known writer speaks thus of the attitude of the papal
hierarchy as regards freedom of conscience, and of the perils which especially
threaten the United States from the success of her policy: {GC 564.3}
"There are many who are disposed to attribute any fear
of Roman Catholicism in the United States to bigotry or childishness. Such see
nothing in the character and attitude of Romanism that is hostile to our free
institutions, or find nothing portentous in its growth. Let us, then, first
compare some of the fundamental principles of our government with those of the
Catholic Church. {GC
564.4}
"The Constitution of the United States guarantees liberty
of conscience. Nothing is dearer or more fundamental. Pope Pius IX, in his
Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854, said: `The absurd and erroneous doctrines
or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience are a most pestilential error—a
pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a state.' The same pope, in his
Encyclical Letter of December 8, 1864, anathematized `those who assert the
liberty of conscience and of religious [565]
worship,' also 'all such as maintain that the church may not employ force.' {GC 564.5}
"The pacific tone of Rome in the United States does not
imply a change of heart. She is tolerant where she is helpless. Says Bishop
O'Connor: 'Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be
carried into effect without peril to the Catholic world.'. . . The archbishop
of St. Louis once said: 'Heresy and unbelief are crimes; and in Christian countries,
as in Italy and Spain, for instance, where all the people are Catholics, and
where the Catholic religion is an essential part of the law of the land, they
are punished as other crimes.'. . . {GC 565.1}
"Every cardinal, archbishop, and bishop in the Catholic
Church takes an oath of allegiance to the pope, in which occur the following
words: 'Heretics, schismatics, and rebels to our said lord (the pope), or his
aforesaid successors, I will to my utmost persecute and oppose.'"—Josiah
Strong, Our Country, ch. 5, pars. 2-4. [SEE APPENDIX FOR CORRECTED
REFERENCES.] {GC 565.2}
It is true that there are real Christians in the Roman
Catholic communion. Thousands in that church are serving God according to the
best light they have. They are not allowed access to His word, and therefore
they do not discern the truth. [PUBLISHED IN 1888 AND 1911. SEE APPENDIX.] They
have never seen the contrast between a living heart service and a round of mere
forms and ceremonies. God looks with pitying tenderness upon these souls,
educated as they are in a faith that is delusive and unsatisfying. He will
cause rays of light to penetrate the dense darkness that surrounds them. He
will reveal to them the truth as it is in Jesus, and many will yet take their
position with His people. {GC
565.3}
But Romanism as a system is no more in harmony with the
gospel of Christ now than at any former period in her history. The Protestant
churches are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times.
The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is
employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in
preparation for a fierce and determined [566]
conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to
undo all that Protestantism has done. Catholicism is gaining ground upon every
side. See the increasing number of her churches and chapels in Protestant
countries. Look at the popularity of her colleges and seminaries in America, so
widely patronized by Protestants. Look at the growth of ritualism in England
and the frequent defections to the ranks of the Catholics. These things should
awaken the anxiety of all who prize the pure principles of the gospel. {GC 565.4}
Protestants have tampered with and patronized popery; they
have made compromises and concessions which papists themselves are surprised to
see and fail to understand. Men are closing their eyes to the real character of
Romanism and the dangers to be apprehended from her supremacy. The people need
to be aroused to resist the advances of this most dangerous foe to civil and
religious liberty. {GC
566.1}
Many Protestants suppose that the Catholic religion is
unattractive and that its worship is a dull, meaningless round of ceremony.
Here they mistake. While Romanism is based upon deception, it is not a coarse
and clumsy imposture. The religious service of the Roman Church is a most
impressive ceremonial. Its gorgeous display and solemn rites fascinate the
senses of the people and silence the voice of reason and of conscience. The eye
is charmed. Magnificent churches, imposing processions, golden altars, jeweled
shrines, choice paintings, and exquisite sculpture appeal to the love of
beauty. The ear also is captivated. The music is unsurpassed. The rich notes of
the deep-toned organ, blending with the melody of many voices as it swells
through the lofty domes and pillared aisles of her grand cathedrals, cannot
fail to impress the mind with awe and reverence. {GC 566.2}
This outward splendor, pomp, and ceremony, that only mocks
the longings of the sin-sick soul, is an evidence of inward corruption. The
religion of Christ needs not such attractions to recommend it. In the light
shining from the cross, true Christianity appears so pure and lovely that no [567]
external decorations can enhance its true worth. It is the beauty of holiness,
a meek and quiet spirit, which is of value with God. {GC 566.3}
Brilliancy of style is not necessarily an index of pure,
elevated thought. High conceptions of art, delicate refinement of taste, often
exist in minds that are earthly and sensual. They are often employed by Satan
to lead men to forget the necessities of the soul, to lose sight of the future,
immortal life, to turn away from their infinite Helper, and to live for this world
alone. {GC 567.1}
A religion of externals is attractive to the unrenewed
heart. The pomp and ceremony of the Catholic worship has a seductive,
bewitching power, by which many are deceived; and they come to look upon the
Roman Church as the very gate of heaven. None but those who have planted their
feet firmly upon the foundation of truth, and whose hearts are renewed by the
Spirit of God, are proof against her influence. Thousands who have not an
experimental knowledge of Christ will be led to accept the forms of godliness
without the power. Such a religion is just what the multitudes desire. {GC 567.2}
The church's claim to the right to pardon leads the Romanist
to feel at liberty to sin; and the ordinance of confession, without which her
pardon is not granted, tends also to give license to evil. He who kneels before
fallen man, and opens in confession the secret thoughts and imaginations of his
heart, is debasing his manhood and degrading every noble instinct of his soul.
In unfolding the sins of his life to a priest,—an erring, sinful
mortal, and too often corrupted with wine and licentiousness,—his
standard of character is lowered, and he is defiled in consequence. His thought
of God is degraded to the likeness of fallen humanity, for the priest stands as
a representative of God. This degrading confession of man to man is the secret
spring from which has flowed much of the evil that is defiling the world and
fitting it for the final destruction. Yet to him who loves self-indulgence, [568]
it is more pleasing to confess to a fellow mortal than to open the soul to God.
It is more palatable to human nature to do penance than to renounce sin; it is
easier to mortify the flesh by sackcloth and nettles and galling chains than to
crucify fleshly lusts. Heavy is the yoke which the carnal heart is willing to
bear rather than bow to the yoke of Christ. {GC 567.3}
There is a striking similarity between the Church of Rome
and the Jewish Church at the time of Christ's first advent. While the Jews
secretly trampled upon every principle of the law of God, they were outwardly
rigorous in the observance of its precepts, loading it down with exactions and
traditions that made obedience painful and burdensome. As the Jews professed to
revere the law, so do Romanists claim to reverence the cross. They exalt the
symbol of Christ's sufferings, while in their lives they deny Him whom it
represents. {GC 568.1}
Papists place crosses upon their churches, upon their
altars, and upon their garments. Everywhere is seen the insignia of the cross.
Everywhere it is outwardly honored and exalted. But the teachings of Christ are
buried beneath a mass of senseless traditions, false interpretations, and
rigorous exactions. The Saviour's words concerning the bigoted Jews, apply with
still greater force to the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church: "They
bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders;
but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." Matthew
23:4. Conscientious souls are kept in constant terror fearing the wrath of an
offended God, while many of the dignitaries of the church are living in luxury
and sensual pleasure. {GC
568.2}
The worship of images and relics, the invocation of saints,
and the exaltation of the pope are devices of Satan to attract the minds of the
people from God and from His Son. To accomplish their ruin, he endeavors to
turn their attention from Him through whom alone they can find salvation. He
will direct them to any object that can be substituted for the One who has
said: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and [569] are
heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. {GC 568.3}
It is Satan's constant effort to misrepresent the character
of God, the nature of sin, and the real issues at stake in the great
controversy. His sophistry lessens the obligation of the divine law and gives
men license to sin. At the same time he causes them to cherish false
conceptions of God so that they regard Him with fear and hate rather than with
love. The cruelty inherent in his own character is attributed to the Creator;
it is embodied in systems of religion and expressed in modes of worship. Thus
the minds of men are blinded, and Satan secures them as his agents to war
against God. By perverted conceptions of the divine attributes, heathen nations
were led to believe human sacrifices necessary to secure the favor of Deity;
and horrible cruelties have been perpetrated under the various forms of
idolatry. {GC 569.1}
The Roman Catholic Church, uniting the forms of paganism and
Christianity, and, like paganism, misrepresenting the character of God, has
resorted to practices no less cruel and revolting. In the days of Rome's
supremacy there were instruments of torture to compel assent to her doctrines.
There was the stake for those who would not concede to her claims. There were
massacres on a scale that will never be known until revealed in the judgment.
Dignitaries of the church studied, under Satan their master, to invent means to
cause the greatest possible torture and not end the life of the victim. In many
cases the infernal process was repeated to the utmost limit of human endurance,
until nature gave up the struggle, and the sufferer hailed death as a sweet
release. {GC 569.2}
Such was the fate of Rome's opponents. For her adherents she
had the discipline of the scourge, of famishing hunger, of bodily austerities
in every conceivable, heart-sickening form. To secure the favor of Heaven,
penitents violated the laws of God by violating the laws of nature. They were
taught to sunder the ties which He has formed to bless and gladden man's
earthly sojourn. The churchyard contains millions of [570]
victims who spent their lives in vain endeavors to subdue their natural
affections, to repress, as offensive to God, every thought and feeling of
sympathy with their fellow creatures. {GC 569.3}
If we desire to understand the determined cruelty of Satan,
manifested for hundreds of years, not among those who never heard of God, but
in the very heart and throughout the extent of Christendom, we have only to
look at the history of Romanism. Through this mammoth system of deception the
prince of evil achieves his purpose of bringing dishonor to God and
wretchedness to man. And as we see how he succeeds in disguising himself and
accomplishing his work through the leaders of the church, we may better
understand why he has so great antipathy to the Bible. If that Book is read,
the mercy and love of God will be revealed; it will be seen that He lays upon
men none of these heavy burdens. All that He asks is a broken and contrite
heart, a humble, obedient spirit. {GC 570.1}
Christ gives no example in His life for men and women to
shut themselves in monasteries in order to become fitted for heaven. He has
never taught that love and sympathy must be repressed. The Saviour's heart
overflowed with love. The nearer man approaches to moral perfection, the keener
are his sensibilities, the more acute is his perception of sin, and the deeper
his sympathy for the afflicted. The pope claims to be the vicar of Christ; but
how does his character bear comparison with that of our Saviour? Was Christ
ever known to consign men to the prison or the rack because they did not pay
Him homage as the King of heaven? Was His voice heard condemning to death those
who did not accept Him? When He was slighted by the people of a Samaritan
village, the apostle John was filled with indignation, and inquired:
"Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and
consume them, even as Elias did?" Jesus looked with pity upon His
disciple, and rebuked his harsh spirit, saying: "The Son of man is not
come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Luke 9:54, 56. How
different from [571] the spirit manifested by Christ
is that of His professed vicar. {GC 570.2}
The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world,
covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed
herself in Christlike garments; but she is unchanged. Every principle of the
papacy that existed in past ages exists today. The doctrines devised in the
darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves. The papacy that
Protestants are now so ready to honor is the same that ruled the world in the
days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up, at the peril of their lives,
to expose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption
that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God. Her
spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human
liberty and slew the saints of the Most High. {GC 571.1}
The papacy is just what prophecy declared that she would be,
the apostasy of the latter times. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4. It is a part of her
policy to assume the character which will best accomplish her purpose; but beneath
the variable appearance of the chameleon she conceals the invariable venom of
the serpent. "Faith ought not to be kept with heretics, nor persons
suspected of heresy" (Lenfant, volume 1, page 516), she declares. Shall
this power, whose record for a thousand years is written in the blood of the
saints, be now acknowledged as a part of the church of Christ? {GC 571.2}
It is not without reason that the claim has been put forth
in Protestant countries that Catholicism differs less widely from Protestantism
than in former times. There has been a change; but the change is not in the
papacy. Catholicism indeed resembles much of the Protestantism that now exists,
because Protestantism has so greatly degenerated since the days of the
Reformers. {GC 571.3}
As the Protestant churches have been seeking the favor of
the world, false charity has blinded their eyes. They do not see but that it is
right to believe good of all evil, and as the inevitable result they will
finally believe evil of all good. [572] Instead of standing in defense
of the faith once delivered to the saints, they are now, as it were,
apologizing to Rome for their uncharitable opinion of her, begging pardon for
their bigotry. {GC 571.4}
A large class, even of those who look upon Romanism with no
favor, apprehend little danger from her power and influence. Many urge that the
intellectual and moral darkness prevailing during the Middle Ages favored the
spread of her dogmas, superstitions, and oppression, and that the greater
intelligence of modern times, the general diffusion of knowledge, and the
increasing liberality in matters of religion forbid a revival of intolerance
and tyranny. The very thought that such a state of things will exist in this
enlightened age is ridiculed. It is true that great light, intellectual, moral,
and religious, is shining upon this generation. In the open pages of God's Holy
Word, light from heaven has been shed upon the world. But it should be
remembered that the greater the light bestowed, the greater the darkness of those
who pervert and reject it. {GC
572.1}
A prayerful study of the Bible would show Protestants the
real character of the papacy and would cause them to abhor and to shun it; but
many are so wise in their own conceit that they feel no need of humbly seeking
God that they may be led into the truth. Although priding themselves on their
enlightenment, they are ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power of
God. They must have some means of quieting their consciences, and they seek
that which is least spiritual and humiliating. What they desire is a method of
forgetting God which shall pass as a method of remembering Him. The papacy is
well adapted to meet the wants of all these. It is prepared for two classes of
mankind, embracing nearly the whole world—those who would be saved by
their merits, and those who would be saved in their sins. Here is the secret of
its power. {GC 572.2}
A day of great intellectual darkness has been shown to be
favorable to the success of the papacy. It will yet be [573] demonstrated
that a day of great intellectual light is equally favorable for its success. In
past ages, when men were without God's word and without the knowledge of the
truth, their eyes were blindfolded, and thousands were ensnared, not seeing the
net spread for their feet. In this generation there are many whose eyes become
dazzled by the glare of human speculations, "science falsely so
called;" they discern not the net, and walk into it as readily as if
blindfolded. God designed that man's intellectual powers should be held as a
gift from his Maker and should be employed in the service of truth and
righteousness; but when pride and ambition are cherished, and men exalt their
own theories above the word of God, then intelligence can accomplish greater harm
than ignorance. Thus the false science of the present day, which undermines
faith in the Bible, will prove as successful in preparing the way for the
acceptance of the papacy, with its pleasing forms, as did the withholding of
knowledge in opening the way for its aggrandizement in the Dark Ages. {GC 572.3}
In the movements now in progress in the United States to
secure for the institutions and usages of the church the support of the state,
Protestants are following in the steps of papists. Nay, more, they are opening
the door for the papacy to regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she
has lost in the Old World. And that which gives greater significance to this
movement is the fact that the principal object contemplated is the enforcement
of Sunday observance—a custom which originated with Rome, and which
she claims as the sign of her authority. It is the spirit of the papacy—the
spirit of conformity to worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions
above the commandments of God—that is permeating the Protestant
churches and leading them on to do the same work of Sunday exaltation which the
papacy has done before them. {GC
573.1}
If the reader would understand the agencies to be employed
in the soon-coming contest, he has but to trace the record of the means which
Rome employed for the same [574] object in ages past. If he would
know how papists and Protestants united will deal with those who reject their
dogmas, let him see the spirit which Rome manifested toward the Sabbath and its
defenders. {GC 573.2}
Royal edicts, general councils, and church ordinances
sustained by secular power were the steps by which the pagan festival attained
its position of honor in the Christian world. The first public measure
enforcing Sunday observance was the law enacted by Constantine. (A.D. 321; see
Appendix note for page 53.) This edict required townspeople to rest on
"the venerable day of the sun," but permitted countrymen to continue
their agricultural pursuits. Though virtually a heathen statute, it was
enforced by the emperor after his nominal acceptance of Christianity. {GC 574.1}
The royal mandate not proving a sufficient substitute for
divine authority, Eusebius, a bishop who sought the favor of princes, and who
was the special friend and flatterer of Constantine, advanced the claim that
Christ had transferred the Sabbath to Sunday. Not a single testimony of the
Scriptures was produced in proof of the new doctrine. Eusebius himself
unwittingly acknowledges its falsity and points to the real authors of the
change. "All things," he says, "whatever that it was duty to do
on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord's Day."—Robert
Cox, Sabbath Laws and Sabbath Duties, page 538. But the Sunday argument,
groundless as it was, served to embolden men in trampling upon the Sabbath of
the Lord. All who desired to be honored by the world accepted the popular
festival. {GC 574.2}
As the papacy became firmly established, the work of Sunday
exaltation was continued. For a time the people engaged in agricultural labor
when not attending church, and the seventh day was still regarded as the
Sabbath. But steadily a change was effected. Those in holy office were
forbidden to pass judgment in any civil controversy on the Sunday. Soon after,
all persons, of whatever rank, were commanded to refrain from common labor on
pain of a fine for freemen and [575] stripes in the case of servants.
Later it was decreed that rich men should be punished with the loss of half of
their estates; and finally, that if still obstinate they should be made slaves.
The lower classes were to suffer perpetual banishment. {GC 574.3}
Miracles also were called into requisition. Among other
wonders it was reported that as a husbandman who was about to plow his field on
Sunday cleaned his plow with an iron, the iron stuck fast in his hand, and for
two years he carried it about with him, "to his exceeding great pain and
shame."—Francis West, Historical and Practical Discourse on
the Lord's Day, page 174. {GC 575.1}
Later the pope gave directions that the parish priest should
admonish the violators of Sunday and wish them to go to church and say their
prayers, lest they bring some great calamity on themselves and neighbors. An
ecclesiastical council brought forward the argument, since so widely employed,
even by Protestants, that because persons had been struck by lightning while
laboring on Sunday, it must be the Sabbath. "It is apparent," said
the prelates, "how high the displeasure of God was upon their neglect of
this day." An appeal was then made that priests and ministers, kings and
princes, and all faithful people "use their utmost endeavors and care that
the day be restored to its honor, and, for the credit of Christianity, more
devoutly observed for the time to come."—Thomas Morer, Discourse
in Six Dialogues on the Name, Notion, and Observation of the Lord's Day,
page 271. {GC 575.2}
The decrees of councils proving insufficient, the secular
authorities were besought to issue an edict that would strike terror to the
hearts of the people and force them to refrain from labor on the Sunday. At a
synod held in Rome, all previous decisions were reaffirmed with greater force
and solemnity. They were also incorporated into the ecclesiastical law and
enforced by the civil authorities throughout nearly all Christendom. (See
Heylyn, History of the Sabbath, pt. 2, ch. 5, sec. 7.) [576]
{GC 575.3}
Still the absence of Scriptural authority for Sundaykeeping
occasioned no little embarrassment. The people questioned the right of their
teachers to set aside the positive declaration of Jehovah, "The seventh
day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," in order to honor the day of the
sun. To supply the lack of Bible testimony, other expedients were necessary. A
zealous advocate of Sunday, who about the close of the twelfth century visited
the churches of England, was resisted by faithful witnesses for the truth; and
so fruitless were his efforts that he departed from the country for a season
and cast about him for some means to enforce his teachings. When he returned,
the lack was supplied, and in his after labors he met with greater success. He
brought with him a roll purporting to be from God Himself, which contained the
needed command for Sunday observance, with awful threats to terrify the
disobedient. This precious document— as base a counterfeit as the
institution it supported—was said to have fallen from heaven and to
have been found in Jerusalem, upon the altar of St. Simeon, in Golgotha. But,
in fact, the pontifical palace at Rome was the source whence it proceeded.
Frauds and forgeries to advance the power and prosperity of the church have in
all ages been esteemed lawful by the papal hierarchy. {GC 576.1}
The roll forbade labor from the ninth hour, three o'clock,
on Saturday afternoon, till sunrise on Monday; and its authority was declared
to be confirmed by many miracles. It was reported that persons laboring beyond
the appointed hour were stricken with paralysis. A miller who attempted to
grind his corn, saw, instead of flour, a torrent of blood come forth, and the
mill wheel stood still, notwithstanding the strong rush of water. A woman who
placed dough in the oven found it raw when taken out, though the oven was very
hot. Another who had dough prepared for baking at the ninth hour, but
determined to set it aside till Monday, found, the next day, that it had been
made into loaves and baked by divine power. A man who baked bread after the
ninth hour [577] on Saturday found, when he broke
it the next morning, that blood started therefrom. By such absurd and
superstitious fabrications did the advocates of Sunday endeavor to establish
its sacredness. (See Roger de Hoveden, Annals, vol. 2, pp. 526-530.) {GC 576.2}
In Scotland, as in England, a greater regard for Sunday was
secured by uniting with it a portion of the ancient Sabbath. But the time
required to be kept holy varied. An edict from the king of Scotland declared
that "Saturday from twelve at noon ought to be accounted holy," and
that no man, from that time till Monday morning, should engage in worldly
business.—Morer, pages 290, 291. {GC 577.1}
But notwithstanding all the efforts to establish Sunday
sacredness, papists themselves publicly confessed the divine authority of the
Sabbath and the human origin of the institution by which it had been
supplanted. In the sixteenth century a papal council plainly declared:
"Let all Christians remember that the seventh day was consecrated by God,
and hath been received and observed, not only by the Jews, but by all others
who pretend to worship God; though we Christians have changed their Sabbath
into the Lord's Day."— Ibid., pages 281, 282. Those who
were tampering with the divine law were not ignorant of the character of their
work. They were deliberately setting themselves above God. {GC 577.2}
A striking illustration of Rome's policy toward those who
disagree with her was given in the long and bloody persecution of the
Waldenses, some of whom were observers of the Sabbath. Others suffered in a
similar manner for their fidelity to the fourth commandment. The history of the
churches of Ethiopia and Abyssinia is especially significant. Amid the gloom of
the Dark Ages, the Christians of Central Africa were lost sight of and
forgotten by the world, and for many centuries they enjoyed freedom in the
exercise of their faith. But at last Rome learned of their existence, and the
emperor of Abyssinia was soon beguiled into an acknowledgment of the pope as
the vicar of Christ. Other concessions followed. [578] An edict
was issued forbidding the observance of the Sabbath under the severest
penalties. (See Michael Geddes, Church History of Ethiopia, pages 311,
312.) But papal tyranny soon became a yoke so galling that the Abyssinians
determined to break it from their necks. After a terrible struggle the
Romanists were banished from their dominions, and the ancient faith was
restored. The churches rejoiced in their freedom, and they never forgot the
lesson they had learned concerning the deception, the fanaticism, and the
despotic power of Rome. Within their solitary realm they were content to
remain, unknown to the rest of Christendom. {GC 577.3}
The churches of Africa held the Sabbath as it was held by
the papal church before her complete apostasy. While they kept the seventh day
in obedience to the commandment of God, they abstained from labor on the Sunday
in conformity to the custom of the church. Upon obtaining supreme power, Rome
had trampled upon the Sabbath of God to exalt her own; but the churches of
Africa, hidden for nearly a thousand years, did not share in this apostasy.
When brought under the sway of Rome, they were forced to set aside the true and
exalt the false sabbath; but no sooner had they regained their independence
than they returned to obedience to the fourth commandment. (See Appendix.) {GC 578.1}
These records of the past clearly reveal the enmity of Rome
toward the true Sabbath and its defenders, and the means which she employs to
honor the institution of her creating. The word of God teaches that these
scenes are to be repeated as Roman Catholics and Protestants shall unite for
the exaltation of the Sunday. {GC 578.2}
The prophecy of Revelation 13 declares that the power
represented by the beast with lamblike horns shall cause "the earth and
them which dwell therein" to worship the papacy —there
symbolized by the beast "like unto a leopard." The beast with two
horns is also to say "to them that dwell on the earth, that they should
make an image to the beast;" and, [579]
furthermore, it is to command all, "both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond," to receive the mark of the beast. Revelation 13:11-16. It
has been shown that the United States is the power represented by the beast
with lamblike horns, and that this prophecy will be fulfilled when the United
States shall enforce Sunday observance, which Rome claims as the special
acknowledgment of her supremacy. But in this homage to the papacy the United
States will not be alone. The influence of Rome in the countries that once
acknowledged her dominion is still far from being destroyed. And prophecy
foretells a restoration of her power. "I saw one of his heads as it were
wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered
after the beast." Verse 3. The infliction of the deadly wound points to
the downfall of the papacy in 1798. After this, says the prophet, "his
deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." Paul
states plainly that the "man of sin" will continue until the second
advent. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8. To the very close of time he will carry forward
the work of deception. And the revelator declares, also referring to the
papacy: "All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are
not written in the book of life." Revelation 13:8. In both the Old and the
New World, the papacy will receive homage in the honor paid to the Sunday
institution, that rests solely upon the authority of the Roman Church. {GC 578.3}
Since the middle of the nineteenth century, students of
prophecy in the United States have presented this testimony to the world. In
the events now taking place is seen a rapid advance toward the fulfillment of
the prediction. With Protestant teachers there is the same claim of divine
authority for Sundaykeeping, and the same lack of Scriptural evidence, as with
the papal leaders who fabricated miracles to supply the place of a command from
God. The assertion that God's judgments are visited upon men for their
violation of the [580] Sunday-sabbath, will be
repeated; already it is beginning to be urged. And a movement to enforce Sunday
observance is fast gaining ground. {GC 579.1}
Marvelous in her shrewdness and cunning is the Roman Church.
She can read what is to be. She bides her time, seeing that the Protestant
churches are paying her homage in their acceptance of the false sabbath and
that they are preparing to enforce it by the very means which she herself
employed in bygone days. Those who reject the light of truth will yet seek the
aid of this self-styled infallible power to exalt an institution that
originated with her. How readily she will come to the help of Protestants in
this work it is not difficult to conjecture. Who understands better than the
papal leaders how to deal with those who are disobedient to the church? {GC 580.1}
The Roman Catholic Church, with all its ramifications
throughout the world, forms one vast organization under the control, and
designed to serve the interests, of the papal see. Its millions of
communicants, in every country on the globe, are instructed to hold themselves
as bound in allegiance to the pope. Whatever their nationality or their
government, they are to regard the authority of the church as above all other.
Though they may take the oath pledging their loyalty to the state, yet back of
this lies the vow of obedience to Rome, absolving them from every pledge
inimical to her interests. {GC
580.2}
History testifies of her artful and persistent efforts to
insinuate herself into the affairs of nations; and having gained a foothold, to
further her own aims, even at the ruin of princes and people. In the year 1204,
Pope Innocent III extracted from Peter II, king of Arragon, the following
extraordinary oath: "I, Peter, king of Arragonians, profess and promise to
be ever faithful and obedient to my lord, Pope Innocent, to his Catholic
successors, and the Roman Church, and faithfully to preserve my kingdom in his
obedience, defending the Catholic faith, and persecuting heretical
pravity." —John Dowling, The History of Romanism, b. 5,
ch. 6, sec. [581] 55. This is in harmony with the
claims regarding the power of the Roman pontiff "that it is lawful for him
to depose emperors" and "that he can absolve subjects from their
allegiance to unrighteous rulers."—Mosheim, b. 3, cent. 11, pt.
2, ch. 2, sec. 9, note 17. (See also Appendix note for page 447.) {GC 580.3}
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And let it be remembered, it is the boast of Rome that she
never changes. The principles of Gregory VII and Innocent III are still the
principles of the Roman Catholic Church. And had she but the power, she would
put them in practice with as much vigor now as in past centuries. Protestants
little know what they are doing when they propose to accept the aid of Rome in
the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are bent upon the accomplishment of
their purpose, Rome is aiming to re-establish her power, to recover her lost
supremacy. Let the principle once be established in the United States that the
church may employ or control the power of the state; that religious observances
may be enforced by secular laws; in short, that the authority of church and
state is to dominate the conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is
assured. {GC 581.1}
God's word has given warning of the impending danger; let
this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome
really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently
growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative
halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty
and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions
will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces
to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that
she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall
soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall
believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution. {GC 581.2}
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