Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-14
DEPLORES
VATICAN EPISODE
CONDEMNS REFUSAL OF POPE
TO RECEIVE FAIRBANKS
STAND OF FORMER VICE PREsl-
DENT APPROVED q
Pastor Of First M. E. Church Declares
He Believes In Time All Branches
Of Religion VIII Be
Unified

In his sermon last evening on More
Truth About Heaven" DR.. Charles Ed
ward Locke, pastor of the First Meth
odist Episcopal church, made special
reference to the recent refusal of Pope
Plus x to receive former Vice President
c. w. Fairbanks in audience. Dr. Locke
paid high tribute to the former vice
president, who is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church.
Dr. Locke took for his text, To-day
thou shalt be with me In Paradise"
Luke 23:43. He said in part.
"The question, If a man die shall he
live again?' is answered by a universal
affirmative. The doctrine of purgatory
is not found in Scripture. 1t is a 'fic-
ton borrowed from paganism and is
repugnant to common sense. 1t was
elaborated and made an article of faith
by Gregory the Great, who also added
the idea of tormenting flame We
repudiate is as unscriptural and en-
tirely out of harmony with the teach
ings of Jesus concerning pardon and
atonement. More than once did Jesus
say, Thy sins, which are many, are
forgiven thee In the parable of the
talents Jesus said Enter thou into
the 10y of thy Lord to those who had
faithfully used their opportunities.
Jesus did not seem to teach any
intermediate state. He said to the
repentant malefactor, To-day shalt thou
be with me in paradise He taught
the immediate punishment of the
wicked after death, as in the parable
of the rich man and Lazarus, and the
1mpassable gulf between the right
Il. n 1l{aNUl
taught the immediate rejoicing OF the
good.
Companionship Indicated
"'Sha1l we know each other there?
is a question most frequently asked by
hearts that peer into the future for
loved ones who have gone. There
would seem to be no ground for any
doubt upon this subject. To-day thou
shalt be with me- would indicate COM
panionship; and, again, our Lord says,
I will come again and receive you
unto myself On the !Transnguratlon1
mountain Moses and Elias appeared
talking with Jesus and the disciples
"In reply to questions which have
come to us concerning the recent visit
of a retired vice president of the United
States to Rome, I would say that In
common with all broad1-minded Chris
tians 1 deeply deplore the vatican cpl
side, and the more so because or my
fond dream that the unification of all
branches of the Christian church VIII
take place, when the prayer of Christ
shall be fulfilled. All Americans VIII
be proud of the stand taken by Mr..
Fairbanks, He is a Methodist and a
trustee of a Methodist church in his
home city. An audience with Pope
Plus X had been arranged for the dls-
tinguished American, but when 1t ap-
deliver an address at the Methodist
mission, the Vatican withdrew Its 1nvl-
tation unless Mr.. Fairbanks would re-
fuse to recognize his allegiance to the
Methodist church in Rome! On, the
shades of Huss and Cranmer! Is this
truly the twentieth century?
'To be sure, it Is not many years
since during the temporal power or
the pontiff, Christians found in the city
of Rome in the possession Of the Holy
Rible were arrested. Methodism mas
had something to do in Italy and IN the
world with introducing a Christlanlty
that could not tolerate the cruel blgot
and all the bitter persecution of medi-
evalism. The Methodist church is sun
a Protestant church in its oppositlon
to the idolatries and fetishes and rellcs
of the Middle Ages.
Reveals Attitude of Church
"This incident reveals the attitude
of the Roman church toward a tolerant
and democratic Christianity. is 1t not
time ANYHOW for Americans to omit
these empty courtesies to the old gem
tIeman in his prison on the Tlber!
The custom is the last lingering Vestlge
of ROYALTY that once belonged to the
Vatican, when it's temporal power was
directly depressing all of Italy and
much of Europe, as any reader OF MS
tory has discovered for himselt.
"This performance Is another gro
tesoue illustration of the infalllblllty
of the Vatican; which, 1t will be re-
membered, prosecuted Galileo, excom-
municated Copernicus and burned Sa-
vonarole at the stake; and then, -FOUR
hundred years later, canonized the
great Florentine preacher as a saint!
LET all methods and preJudlces or
the Dark Ages be repudiated. The
shadow never goes backward on the
dial The unifcation of all branches
of the Christian church will some day
occur. all barriers will some day dis
anpear between the Methodists and the
Ronnanists. Let us do all we can to
hasten that glad contamination! In
the meantime the Methodists Will cer-
tainly go forward in their mission TO
bring the simple gospel of Jesus to all
mankind, regardless of the pontir' S
susceptibilities.'
DIR. Locke announced that his next
sermon in the series would be on the
subject. "Can the Denarted Communi-
cate with the Living?"
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