The colored American., 1900-12-08

y
gained great influence over the Eng
ilsh Church. in so much that he Was
receiving from England erester reven'
ues than the King. When the tremen'
dOus revolt against the Papacy came
about in Europe in the sixteenth ecu
tury the English people simply elected
the POpe's emissaries and with them,
Italian influence and corruption from
England and the English Church. The
Church r mained essentially the same
she had been for centuries.
The word Reform tion" signifies
the putting OF something into a new
shape. 1t is therefore not the destruc
ton Of the old and the substituting of
the new but rather the re shaping,
cleansing and revIvify ing Of the old.
The melting down of the family silver
and the re- shaping it on new models -
not TO acquire new silver. Perhaps it
was so distorted by abuse that it re-
quired new shaping. This was very
much the case with the church OF Eng-
land.
The Reformation in England was ef-
fected on very different lines from that
on the Continent OF Europe. Luther
Calvin, MelsncthOn, and others, were
but individuals attracting to them.
selves multitudes of other individuals,
and together they established societies
of Christians. The Apostolic Churches
on the Continent did not, as such, par
ticipate in the Reformation movement.
In England the Reformation, 1. e., the
re shaping, restoring and cleansing
was more wisely conducted. The
Church there had existed since the
days of the Apostles. For six hundred
years 1t remained independent Of the
Roman wOlId power. and it was only
after the Norman cong lest that the pa.
pal authority became we'll established
in England. When Reformation
seemed necessary, it was conducted,
not by individuals leaving the national
church, but by the whole Church OF
England. In A. d. 1889 the quarrel of
Henry the Eighth with the Pope, led
to the overtime W OF the Roman power
in England. Henry Is not to be cred
tied as a reformer, much less as the
founder OF any Church. He never
made an attempt to found Church.
When he was born in 14s1 he found the
Church existing in England, and when
he died in 1547 he left the same hurch,
out cleansed and independent, In Eng
land. The ancient Church was not
changed, and the old religion did not
give place to q new. The Papacy was
opposed to the in ependence of the Ma
ti0nal Churches for which the Church
of England had always contended.
Accordingly, when the power Of the
Pope was broken and thrust out of
England, the hurch wss at liberty to
restore Apostolic purity and freedom to
the Nation and the individual
Parliament prohibited the payment
of money to the Pope and appealing
from English to Pspal Courts. In 1883,
the Bible was given to the people TO
read in their native tongue The se1V-
ices were read In English instead OF La
tin. The Chalice was given to the Iai
ty. The worship OF the Blessed virgin
Mary was abolished and praying to de :
parted saints forbidden. These reforms
were conducted by the Archbishops,
Bishops. Priests and DeacOns and Lal
| ty. i. e., by the whole Church. The
Pope was not without his adherents
during this period, who opposed these
changes most vehemently. But these
traitors to the Church OF England found
they could not stem the tide for an open
Bible and pure religion. In 1867 rope
Plus the Fifth created the great SIN OF
| schism by commanding all In favor OF
| papal power in England to Withdraw
| from the English Church and form an
Italian party. In 1886 the Italian
Church supplied this party with q
Bishop To-day the Italian Mlsslon 10
England is dong all in its power &c
n axe headway against the Church ol
England, but IN vain