Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1903-06-25
EVE OF THE REFORMATION
Sunday Sermon On 1.-The Struggle for
Religious Liberty
Rev. j. c. Wilson Talks Instluctively Of That
Period When The Foundations Of True
Religious Liberty We're Laid.


New YORK CITY In the South Congre'
gational Church. Brooklyn, the Rev. j. Z.
Wilson, associate pastor, delivered dis.
course on 1.-The Struggle for Religious Lib
erty,' the subject being Europe on the
Eve of the Reformation The text was
Acts v. IS and 80: And now | say unto
you, Refrain from these men. and let them
alone; for ii this counsel or this work be
OF men, it will come to naught. bnt IL 1t he
of God, We cannot overthrow it: lest happy
We be found even to fight against God
Mr.. Wilson said:
Let me suggest at the outset that the
struggle for religious liberty and what i
known as the Reformation are not in all
resnccts identical movements. The Retor'
nation was a great tidal wave which swept
over Europe in the sixteenth century, out
o. tho vast and troubled sea of The centui-
les whose waters were greatly agitated by
the struggle for religious liberty. 1t was
the elimination of that struggle. 1t assert
cd the fundamental principles upon which
It had proceeded, and succeeded in laying
broad and secure foundations upon which
trre religious liberty could be built, but it
! left some of The higher standards and finer
ideals urartained. In that respect there Is
mrch vet to he desired.
In view of the fact that the Reformation
split Europe into two great warning rchS'
iouS camps. it j. necessary to remind our
selves that M to that time there had been
hut one Christian church in Western E,i'
rope. And the struggle for religious liberty
went ON within that church and not out.
side of it, nor against it, after the first
three centuries. Whatever glory and what.
ever shame attaches to that church during
the first fifteen centuries is shared equally
bv us all. ProteStants and Roman Catholic
alike. The Reformation itself originated
within the Roman Catholic Church, and
was led by men bred i'll her schools and
clo,StcrS. We should also rcmpmher that
the Roman Catholic Church of the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries is not the Roman
Catholic Church Of the twentieth century
and in the United States.
From very cary age religious differ
enccs hare cncenderrd strife and stirred
the most violent passions OF men, Although
the Jews tasted the bitterness OF persecu.
ton, that did not prevent them from
pressing the same cup to the lips of the
early Christians and, with the aid of the
Romans. making them drink it TO its dregS.
Then were wttten the first pages in the
most sangliinary and thrilling story-a
story Of unuttcrabie suffering and grim on
duraucc for conscience Saiic-Which his.
toly's pages record. II can scarcely be
called n struggle. 1t was rs impossible ior
| the obscure and deicnselcss sufferers to II.
sist their enemies ~ for fly to resist the
hand that brushes 1t. j Judged from APPEAR
auCc-. II was remorsceSS massacre. winch
crushed its victims into the earth. But the
| real forces that We're working out the prob
| lem were not on the surface. Inc odds
AGAINST winch the early hrIStlanS were
matched Grove them to seek refuge IN the
mountain Businesses AMI In the subterra-
! rcan clNrrnS. known as catacombs Here
! hey cnci ishcd their fajth and worship I'M
| I'll the Violence al their enemies abated
| After two centuries they came forth from
| thcIr hiding PAGES. disciplined by hard
| sMr, trained 10 prudence and foresight 10y
| tA' peru IN Wd'cl iheI had liHed ana Wl'h
! a compact and efficient organlzhton. herr
! leaders had improved their long SecnS'on
! 10 cultivate letters ana arts, ana soon TOOK
| lcldlng PAGES among scholars and men OF
! ht'a'r,: % that when (oH>tantlnc succeed
! cI to the undivided pl,seSSlon at supreme
I power IN the Roman Empire prudence, It
not preference, moved hmm to IN alliance
with them.
Then began a new phase in tine struggle
for religious liberty. The dcspiscd and
| ncr.rr"lcd Christians, now risen to places
of powrr and possessing the throne in the
person OF the Emperor. did not abuse their
! tra>t. Such was the spirit of sweet rca-
sonabIene>S which animated thcm that the
| hrst Christian Emperor issued an cdlct oi
/ religious liberation, known As the cdic; Of
| Milan. Witch granted rriIglouS liberty with
| II the cmprC. on the basis OF the sacred
rights of conscience; Only those religious
rites were prohibited winch involved i'm
morality, mage or SprrcrN. Not until the
fatal paS>ion ior power hal h"cn aroused in
them by It's POSSESSION did the Christians
resort to execution. The organization OF
the Christian church kept pace with ITS
spread in Europe. From Home rs a centre
the mS>ionArir, penetrated to all parts OF
Europe. They CARVED with them the love
of the mother church from which they
went and bound the churches which they
planted to her in gratitude and Christian
fellowship. The confidence and affection
which she won by her generosity and self
sacrifice in the gospel she soon came to de-
mand as her right, and when at length the
| Bishop OF Rome scared the political pow
cr of his city he ?>prei to make the uadi-
toAal cauitnl OF the world its ecclesiastical
capital also. then. with the policy of mill.
tnry Rome the Christian church adopted
also. the ambitious and relentless spirit OF
the Caesars Ecclesiastical Rome uSurpCd
the rights Of mankind and perverted their
liberties as Yulh,csSly AS did political Rome.
Through successive stages the church
mounted to the throne of its power until
il was more absolute than the empire bad
ever essayed to be. Men like Gregory the
Great. Ito Ill and IIildcbrand made The
most astonishing Gains, and absolute su.
prcmarv in all human affairs. and treated
with the utmost severity all who withstood
their Claims. lnavailng protests to their
astounding prc .cn>ions were raised hy men
like John Srolus, Ahc,ard Arnold of Bres.
cia and Wickln. and in the humber walks
Of life opposition showed itself in such
scctS as the .\,hiurnsc, and the Waldenscs
neither Of which desired to separate them.
selves from the Catholic Church, but both