< Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next >
Liberty of Conscience Threatened, Part 3
Has Rome Changed?
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.
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?
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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
A day of great intellectual darkness has
been shown to be favorable to the success of the papacy. It will yet be
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.
The Great
Controversy, pp. 571-573
Next part: Liberty of
Conscience Threatened, Part 4: The Church’s Efforts to Enforce Sunday
Worship
All Scriptures are quoted from the New
King James Version, including those originally quoted by Ellen White from the
King James Version.—Editors
< Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next >
|
