The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-10-25
Pastor RuSSell'S Sermon

No longer are Professionals and Cath
olics warning with each other. burning
each other at the stake. etc. Each
may feel free to investigate for him.
self and to accept OF reject such doc
trines and creeds as he may please.
All true Christian people deplore the
division Of Cbrist's followers into nu-
merous sects. Nevertheless we may
surely feel great sympathy for all
Of them when we remember that each
separate sect represents an additional
effort Oh the part of honest minds to
grope out OF darkness toward the light.
All who are awake are conscious that
some terrible nightmare Of error rested
upon Christendom for long. long CEN
turtles.
| The Torch of Civilization,
| Well has the Bible been called the
Torch Of Civilization and Progress.
The Bible. not men. was the great Re
former and leader into civilization.
| When the Bible was placed In the
hands of the people. they began to see
that Gods Message came from Jesus.
and the Apostles. and the Prophets Of
old. and that clericism and sacerdotal
functions were man made. A desire to
know what the Bible teaches became
more and more prevalent. The first
/ effort of the clerics was to tell the
masses that the priesthood had the BIZ
BILE and would read it in their hearing
but it was read in Latin. to those who
could not understand Latin.
Gradually the desire sprang up for
the Bible in the English language. DR..
Tyndale was amongst the first to rec
ognize the need and to supply it to the
British. Later Oh Luther. with assist
ants. supplied the Germans. But not
many were able to read. A partisan
spirit arose Seeing that the Bible
was popular. all acclaimed it as the
Divine Revelation. But each party
condemned the translation made by the
other. when in reality there was no
particular difference between them. 1t
was all the bishops could do to keep
the people from studying Gods Word
themselves and to make them satisfied
with the presentations already given
them by their teachers.
| Therefore the Bishop of London
| bought up lot Of Tyndale's Tesla.
ments and burned them in public. But
more were printed and the demand in
| creased People hungered for Gods
| Word and felt suspicious of the creeds,
as we'll they might. Then came the
Catholic Bible in the English language,
and later, our Common Version English
| Bible. and many others. Still the claim
Is made that Protestants should not
read the Catholic Bible. and that Cath.
| oIics should not read the Protestant
Bible. when In reality. the two are
practically. the same-good translations.
1T would appear that there are many
religious teachers of all denomina tons
| who outwardly extol the Bible for
| popularity's sake. but who in reality,
| inwardly wish the people would never
read it. for they realize that the Bible
| is the greatest foe in the world to eccle-
siastical hypocrisies and superstitions.
Back to the Bible, Says Pope!
The present Pope with clear vision
beholds the drifting Of our day away
| from all faith and religion. Viewing
| the attitude of the Protestant colleges
| universities and theological seminaries
| the Pope realized that nearly all the
educated young men of Protestant
lands are being taught Higher Critic
ism. which is but the polite modern
name for inidelity. He perceived tina,
Professionalism. which originally boast
| ed OF it's fidelity to the Bible. and pro
tested against the acceptance of the
| teachings Of the bishops as instead OF
| the Divine Word. has cut loose from
| the Bible as an inspired authority and
Is drifting upon the rocks of Higher
Criticism. rationalism. atheism.
The Pope then bethought him OF the
| Catholic colleges. and found the same
| Higher Criticism intruding itself
there. He perceived that this general
trend away from God has already
crushed all religion in ninety-six pei
cent. of the French. and in ninety pei
/ cent. of the Germans The awfulness
of this situation greatly impressed the
holy father. He realized that our in
crease of education and decrease in
| religious faith must speedily spell an
archv. At tile risk of condemnation
| from both Catholics and Protestants
as narrow-minded and bigOted. the
| Pope instituted heroic measures. He
| gave orders that all Roman Catholic
ecclesiastics and teachers must be ex
| amined as to their faith. and must
! solemnly swear to 1t. and that al
books along the lines of Higher Crit
icism should be banned.
Pope Plus X took another bold. cour
ageous STEP The Pope perceiyine
that the masses would no longer rec
egnize the Bishops as Divine authori
ty-as successors to the Apostles. the
| Papal bull directed the Catholic
masses to no longer look to the sue
| cessors Of the Apostles for instruction
but to the Bible itself. He urged upon
the Bishops that Catholics every where
/ be encouraged to read the Bible. This
Is a move in the right direction. II
Catholics should get to reading the
Bible q care not whether they use the
Catholic Version or the Protestant
version-l use BOTH. Professionals may
be slammed into real Bible study. In
stead Of the sham make-believe sc
| much practised. May we not. then
| hopo that frra Chrfcf;onS