The Washington herald., 1915-12-13

were through necromancers. wizards.
etc. The Divine command was. that no
such agents OF the EvIl One were to be
permitted to live in the land Of Israel.
But by putting darkness instead of light.
satan brought many of the Israelites un-
der the influence of his errors. SO that
in the days Of Jesus one of His most
important works was that of casting out
demons from those who had come into
40 close contact with the evil spirits that
they were obsessed by demons. The same
was true Of the Apostles. who also cast
out demons. a notable instance was that
of the maid who brought her masters
much gain through soothsa aying-fortune
telling. ST. Paul commanded the evil
spirit to come out of her. and forthwith
her power to foretell events. etc, was at
an end.-Acts 1S:1S.
The teachings Of Jesus and the Apos-
ties brought n great light into the world
and ests blished new standards, in pro-
PORTION as their teachings were received.
The Bible tells us that as the darkness
hates the light. SO those who are under
the influence Of Satan's falsehoods hate
the true Message OF God promulgated by
Jesus and His followers. Much of the
persecution Of the children of light must
be ascribed to Satan and his hosts. As
We read. The Devil shall cast many of
you into prison." etc. Revelation 2:lo)
ThrouGhout the eighteen hundred years
of this Gospel Age. there has been a war
fare between the light and the darkness Q,
between Satan's false teachings. insIdt-
ously migrated. and the teachings of the
Lord and Ills people. who received these
into good and honest hearts Pride and
ambition were stirred up in the Church.
and those who should have been humble
followers of Jesus were misled into POM
posity with form Of sodliness. but deny
ing its powers.
About the year rs A. D.. the Bishops
of the Church. misled by Satan. pro-
claimed themselves to be SUCCESSORS to
the Apostles in power and Divine author
uhp he Rihla AorIoras hof
were only Twelve Apostles Of the
Lamb" CRevelation 2l:i4J We see clear
ly that the Church has their testimony
in the Bible. as fully today as ever: and:
Judas. declares, The Word of God is
sufficient, that the man of God may be
perfect. thoroughly furnished" q Tim
othy S:l7D The deluded Bishops. claim
ing Divine authority. made many changes
from the teachings OF the Bible, claim
ing that they individually had the same
inspiration as the Apostles. They addI-
tionally fortified their position by hold.
ing Apostolic Councils. and through these
making creeds. which for more than
twelve hundred years entirely supplanted
the Bible.
The first of these creeds claimed TO be
stmplification of the Bible story. MAX
ing Bible study unnecessary. The Nicene
Creed was made in the year 90 A. D. at
the Council OF Nice. attended BY three
hundred and eighty-four Bishops at the
VI E.fuptTOT constantine. VINO
paid their expenses. According to his
promise. he backed up this creed made
at his suggestion and In harmony with
HIS assurances. Hundreds of thousands
OF the heather forthwith flocked into the
Churches. with practically no knowledge
Of God or of the Bible. Considering il
impossible 10 immerse these multitudes.
the Bishops sprinkled them. claiming full
authority for their action: and the hea-
then following of the Emperor are said
to have been baptized by the dipping of
boughs and branches OF trees into water
and the sprinklinS Of 1t upon them en-
nlaSse.
For more than twelve centuries any
body found in possession of the Bible or
studying II. was suspected of heresy and
liable to persecution; for why should the '
study the Bible when the Emperor and
the so-called Apostolic Bishops had de
clared the Nicene Greed to be a con-
densation Of the Bible and all that was
necessary to be believed, During those
twelve centuries in which the protessed
followers of Jesus were without the guild
ance OF the Bible. the professed Bishop
Apostles met from time to time and made
new crecds containing fresh errors-thc
very errors which have troubled the
whole world ever since. and which are
still troubling US and confusing US
The Bible. speaking of the influence Of
these false doctrines Of the civilized
world. declared that all nations were
''madc drunk with the wine of false
We are getting over the drunken stupor
of error which has 50 heclouded our fac
ulties that they led us TO think of our
Almighty Friend and Creator-the God Of
all grace. the Father of mercies. from
whom Coneth down every good and per
feet gift-to think of Him as II great
Devil. who from the beginning plotted
knowingly and intelligently the crea ton
of the race. nearly all of whom were
TO spend eternity in torture.
Satan Ham m rod N . eforp,.tyc.
Any one familiar with history realizes
that both Catholics and Protestants are
truer and nobler men and teachers since
the Reformation time than they were
before. We are not blaming huma nifty
for the reign of darkness. We are charg-
Satan. as the Bible does II has ever
been his custom to pose ss an angel of
light-a leader-to defend the Truth and
to spread knowledge: whereas in reality
he has always consistently continued TO
be the enemy and adversary of Coo
seeking to thwart every feature of the
Divine Plan. No doubt. at many times
he has thought himself successful, not
gram or realizing that God is able to
make all of his machination to work
out eventually for good.
When in the Sixteenth Century the
light of the Reformation began to break.
the people began to look past the Bishops
and to inquire what Jesus and the Apos-
ties had said. They wanted the Bible
But for a time the Bishops stood in their
way. 1t was in the year lSc6 4. D.. eN-
actly twelve centuries after the making
of the first creed. that Professor Tyn-
dale. a godly man and a scholar. trans
lated the New Testament into English
aud sought to give II to the British peo-
pie. Although printing and paper had
been invented. he could not have his
work published in Great Britain; for the
power of the Bishops was too strong. No
printers dared offend them.
Professor Tyndale finally succeeded in
having his work printed on German
presses In the city OF Worms. and then
imported these New Testaments into Lon
don. They appeared in the shop windows.
and the people rejoiced. But the masses
found themselves unable to read: for
education was only amongst the favored
few They started to have Bible read
ings-to hire scholarly persons to read
to them. But the Bishops. learning of
these things, bought UP the entire edi-
tion of Tyndales New Testament and
publicly burned the books in front OF st.
Paurs Cathedral in London-Protestant
Bishops of the Church of England! They
reasoned that II the people got back to
the Bible, they would ignore the creeds
and those who had made the creeds: and
that thus their own honor and influence
would be lost They foresaw also that
all the creeds would be challenged BY
Bible authority. and that their Apostolic
claims also would be challenged by the
words of Jesus, who declares that those
Ii. s.l< liz IL