River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-12-17

tie which previously had been held by
the Caesars. Another step In the
wrong direction. which thoroughly sep
arated the clergy from the laity, was
the doctrine still held by the Church
of Rome; namely. that the clergy alone
constitute the Church. and that the
common people are the children of
the Church" Many Catholics are not
aware of this fact. but think that they
are members of the Catholic Church.
They forget that while they are privi-
legged to call the unordained students
by the title Brother. all the ordained
number must be recognized as Father
The year 300 found Pope Leo Ill. in
great honor. and the Church flourish
ing and making higher claims than
ever before; namely. that the Church
became at that time the Kingdom of
God Catholics still hold that the Mil
ennium. or Christ'S thousand year
Reign. began that year. They claim
that the Popes. each in turn, represent
Christ in His Throne: hence the decla-
ration that the Popes are Christ's Vice
gerent-reigning instead of Him
When the Pope represented Christ.
the Cardinals as an order were brought
in to represent the highest order of
the Church in glory; then Archbishops.
Bishops and the lower clergy all sep
arated from the people by great gulf
the Clergy. the Elect of God holding
the power and the destinies of the
laity in their control; the laity depend
ent upon the clergy for baptism, mar
riages, funerals, holy candles, holy wa.
ter. consecrated burying- ground. and
finally. an entrance into Purgatory in
stead of into eternal torment, with the
ultimate hope of rescue to glory and
with asSistances by the way obtainabIe
through the Office Of the Mass.
| am discussing the Church of Rome
only. because for a time there was no
other Indeed, for time it was dan
gerous to even suggest another. The
Pope and the College of Cardinals, rep
resenting the Almighty, instructed the
people who should be their kings and
princes; and. as a matter Of course
they were instructed to be obedient
only to such as recognized the papal
power and they were abSOlved from
obedience to others.
Thus the separation amongst Christ's
followers of clergy and laity was estab-
Iished for centuries before the Protes-
tant denominations of today were born
1t was but natural that the PrOtes-
tants should more or less copy the prac-
tises and many Of the doctrines with
which they had been familiar from
childhood The Greek. Armenian and
Anglican Churches copied very closely
the Mother" They still preserve the
likeness in many respects, even though
they came out of her as ProteSt-ants
and have sought to return to the Bible
teachings and methods. But power and
ceremony are difficult matters to get
rid Of In consequence we see every
where forms Of godliness without seeing
much manifestation Of its power. We
see much lip reverence without much
manifestation of the Spirit of Christ.
Protestants and Christ's Kingdom.
Iprotestants are much confused re-
specting the papaI claim that Christ's
Kingdom has been set up. They, of
course. deny that the Popes are
Christs vicegerent Nevertheless. they
have followed Papacy's lead in telling
earthly kingdoms and rulers that they
are part and parcel of Christ's King
DOM hristendom. They send their
chaplains with the armies and naVies
of these kingdoms. They receive fnan
cial support and recognition from
them, and call upon the civil power TO
suppress so-called heretics, refuse them
license to preach, etc. Thus they fol-
low closely in the footsteps Of their
Mother Altogether these false doc
trines are surely responsible. not only
for many of the wars of the past, but
also for the present European war.
We may assume that some Of the
clergy, Catholic and Protestant. are
thoroughly confused and honestly do
ing what they believe to be the Lords
will in these matters. But. on the 9th
er hand, we are bound to assume that
in the light of our day there are thou
sands of ministers who are not deceiv-
ed-who know full well that the world
is ruled, not by Christ and His teach
ings. but by self-seeking kings. princes.
mobiles, financiers, politicians, etc.
But knowing these things. seeing the
people in ignorance. what have the
ministers of so-called "Christendom"
done to open the eyes of the people
to the truth on this subject-to tell
them that these kingdoms are not
Christs kingdoms In any sense of the
word? How few of them ever even
refer to the Second Coming of the Re-
deemer. How few of them have ever
pointed their people to St Peters
words respecting the glorious Times
of Restitution which Messiah's King
dom will usher in: Repent We. there
fore. and be converted. that Your sins
may be blotted out. when the times
of refreshing shall come from the
presence of the Lord: and He shall
/ foh