Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1903-06-27
EVE OF THE RTFORMATI( N
Sunday Sermon On 1.-The Struggle
Religious Liberty.
Rev. J. c. Wilson Talks lns.ructiveiy 0 ina'
Period When The Foundations of rue
Religious Liberty We're Laid.


New NnGK CITY.-in the 1south onsie'
eationll hurch. BROOKLYN. the RefS' -
Wilson. os>o late pastor. delivered ~
course oil The Struggle Tor Religlk "us ~
eriy. the subject heihg 'Europ9 On the
Eve OF the Reformation. The tcNl Wa
Acts V. Is and 80: And now | E S,"N unto
You. Refrain from the~e men. and icy mem
alone: Tor If tins counsel o. jhiS' ""rh pt
OF men, II will come naurht. ID u u - ne
OF God. We cannot overthrow it;s ~ n'lii J,
We be iound even L, fight sgaf'ns' N'l'
Mr.. Wilson said:
Vet me suggest al the '1tse ~ ne
stru.gc for religious ilnc.f} dtAu Nhdl !;
known n the Hefornat Ian are nor m aH
respects identical movements. Fl ne heior
nation was a great ida. wave #Nhl'h SWept
over Europe in the sixteenth injury, oui
OF the vast and trulbied >oa OF nc centur'
les whose waters were greatly asit'sed 10y
the struggle for religious hhFFN', ~ Was
the elimination OF hat stillgl -'e- At assert
ed the fundamental ptncip.diS upon which
il had proceeded. and succcEeced III laying
tr,,e RELIGIONS Eb,rtv could {oe built. but il
lei. some OF The higher stan idards and finer
ideals unattained. In that frespect thefe is
much vet TO be desired.
In view of the fact that nc reformation
split Europe into two grca't warning rehS
ious camps. IL is necessary 70 REMIND our
selves that up to that timIe there nau Deeu
but one Christian church, W western r't
rope. And the struggle fPf ieHelous lioertS
went IN ,y;.b;, tbsf oh, Erch and not out.
s;da Of Il mr. AGAINST ut, after the first
thrao centnr;es Wbatevfer glory and what
ever shame attaches to "dV riiurc' uu' III ~,
the first fifteen centurieEs !, shdleu eiu",S
by us all Protestants afiu woman cathoIH
alike. The Reformatipnh ,tselI origihatc1
No., la ~, 40, br.d in her schools an6
cio;sters We Should lalso remember that
the Roman Catbo,;c Church of the fifteenth
and sixtee,s,h eerturies is not the Roman
Catholic Cbnrci, az the twentieth century
and in the Tinted Sthtes.
From = very ear,J age religious differ.
ences bav, encen1e,Ied strife and stirred
the mos. violent nas,I lions of men. Although
the Jews tasted thei bitterness OF persecu.
ton. that did nof prevent them from
nross;no the same lcup to the lips of the
early Christians and, with the aid of the
Romans MAKING IN lem drink it to its dregs.
Then we're written the first pages in the
most s,nguinary and thrilling story-o
s;or, III unutteralIie suffering and grim en-.
d,irance for con Jcience sakc-which his.
torv.s raoes recI.d. 1t can scarcely be
called a STRUGGLE It was rs impossible for
the obscnre and Jleienseless sufferers to re.
sist tb.ir enemieE as Tor iiy to resist the
hand hat crushds il. Judged from appear.
anees II was a rtmorse.eSs massacre. which
crushed its victims INTO me edrth. Dut tnf
real forces that Ewere working ont the prob
lem were not bn the surface. The odds
agairst which the cary Christians were
mnf(.ha1 drovei them To seel; refuge in the
mountain fast hes>es and in the su5terra.
uea,, cayerns known a catacombs. Here
tbet. cherished their faith and worship I'M.
iii tho vio,eraec of their enemies abated.
Af,er two ceIlturies they came forth from
their hidire places. disciplined by hard.
shin trained 20 prudence and foresight by
the neril IN which they had lived and With
a eomnoct a, id efficient organization. Their
leaders had improved their long seclllsl On
ia cultivate letters and arts. and soon took
leading plaees among scholars and men oi
affairs: "a that when Constantine succeed.
81 10 the Undivided possession OF supreme
hover in the Roman Empire prudence. ii
ROT n-afer ence, moved him to an alliance
lwith them.
Then hogan a new phase in the struggle
tsor rcl;q;.oas liberty. The despised and
persecuteH Christians. now risen to places
of power and possessing the throne in the
person o. the Emperor. aid not abuse their
trust such was the spirit OF sweet rea-
sonahleues S which animated them that the
tirst CHRISTIAN Emperor issued an edict of
RELIGIOUS liberation. known as the edict OF
Milan. rghieh granted religious liberty with
In the empire. on the basis of the sacred
rights of conscience: on,y those religious
rites we're prohibited which involved i'm.
moral ", magic or sorcery. Not until the
fatal passion for power had been aroused in
them by its possession did the Christians
resort TO persecution. The organization of
the { hristian church kept pace with its
sprsrd in Europe. From Rome as n centre
the missionaries penetrated TO all parts OF
Europe. They carried with them the love
Of the mother church from which they
Il
plaIlted ia 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 10 de-
MIND as her rich1. and when at length the
Bishop OF Rome secured the political pow
er OF his city he aspired 10 make the tradi-
tipnal capital OF the world its ecclesiastical
cApital also. then. with the policy of mill
tHry Rome the Christian church adopted.
also. the ambitious and relentless spirit of
dhe Caesars. Ecclesiastical Rome usurped
lhe rights OF mankind and perverted their
lherties as :uth.essly as did political Rome.
7 Through successive stages the church
| mounted 10 the throne of its power until
il was more absolute than the empire had
ever essayed to be. Men like Gregory the
Great. Leo III. and Hidebrand made the
most astonishing Gains. and absolute SUI
premacy in all human affairs. and treated
with the utmost severity all who wi:hstood
their claims. UnaVai!ng protests to Their
astounding prctensIcas were raised by III =.
like john Scotus. Aheiard Arnold. OF Bres-
cia and Wickliif. and III the humber walks
OF life opposition showed Itself in such
secis as the Alhigenses and the WaldenseS.
neither OF which desired to separate them
selves from the Catholic Church. but both
OF them desired that its prctcnsiOns should
be moderated and il abuses reformed ac-
cording to the scriptural requirements OF
apostolic simplicity and purity. These men
were simple minded and their lives were
pure. but they were subjected to the most
remorSe.ess persecution. Their heroic en-
their memory with a halo OF glory like unto
martyrs. During the massacre of the Abb
sen>cs was born the order OF the Domin-
cans. into whose hands was intrUsted the
Institution known as the lnqusition, the
most diaholcal engine of intolerance and
persecution that h@man ingenuity ever de-
vised.
1t is tho fate OF all desrotisms to work
their own destruction by a fatal disregard
OF the limits of human endurance. and
when the papacy added the horrors of the
lnquisition to the usurpation or the most
sacred of human rights. and aggravated her
otfenses by the fragrant immortality OF the
clergy, she transcribed her limits and in
voked the long slumbering and accumu-
lated wrath OF centuries. which burst forth
in the Reformation. disrupted her solid
empire. and caused her the loss OF two
thirds OF her spiritual children
Two great movements in the Middle Aces