The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-12-22

two remedies for the sins OF men"
arc the grace OF baptism" and "the
remedy of pcnance." And both OF
these are works of the law and both
depend upon the will OF the priests.
The pardon of God can only be OBJ
talned by sinners through the prayers
of the priests
St John tells us: IF We confess
tour sins He is faithful and Just to for
give us our sins and TO cleanse us
from all unrighteousness." There is
no mention here OF confession to
priests. 1t is confession of sin to God.
There is no mention of forgiveness
through priests. He (God) is faith
ful and Just to forgive us our sins"
The apostle tells us: I'm whom ire
ferring to Christ) we have redemp-
ton through His blood, even the re-
mission Cor forgiveness) of sins For
giveness is not ascribed here to the
prayers of the priests" 1t comes
through faith in "His blood in His
precipitation for our sins
Pharisee and Publican.
The parable of the Pharisee and
the Publican is pertinent here. The
Pharisee prayed and expected to be
accepted because he. had complied
with certain forms prescribed by the
priests --tithine and distinguishing
penance, rs the Romish preacher In
sists. The Publican cried, God bel
mercful to me a sinner" No ritual,
forms or ceremonies attended his
prayer, only the simple expression of
the longing for mercy. He who had
declared that the Son Of Man had
power on earth to forgive sins said
that the Publican went down to his
house justified-forgiven thar
the other.
The Grip of the Priests.
The Romish doctrine destroys all
the thought OF freedom which comes
from the relationship of the Father
land Son as declared in the gospel.
Having been born again. now are
we the sons of Cod" and we have
free access to the throne of heav-
enly grace But the Rornish doc
trlne declares that the promise that
when we confess our sins God Is
faithful and Jus. to forgive us our
sins. IS not true. but our sins are for
given only after they have been con-
fessed 10 the priests and they have
imposed upon us II penance for our
Isins, and We have suffered the PEN
ance imposed. The forgiveness Of
sins is thus made dependent upon
the decision of human priest He
lis TO determine what penance must
be done by a man or a woman before
they can obtain eternal life. The
priest may be ignorant. narrow, pref
udiced. coarse, vulgar; he may be
even a vile, wicked creature, as the
Romish church admits some of the
priests. bishops, archbishops and
even popes have been. But the pow
ier to forgive sins. to impose penances.
these things are declared to be in
the hands of the priests And so the
souls of men are in the grip of the
priests. and they can throttle or de-
stroy any person they please to de-
lstroy.
How can any man who has had
any Protestant training, or who has
any independence of his soul or who
has read tho denunciation by the
Master OF any effort TO shack1e the
spirit by legal forms and ceremonies.
or above all. who has realized in his
own heart the promise of the Mas
ter that he would send the Conforte
70 abide with his disciples, how can
any Of these fail to see how utterly
subyersive Of the whole purpose and
aim Of the Master In this substitution
of forms and ceremonies--of baptism
and penance-in the place of the life
| of the man who has believed In Je-
sus Christ rs his Saviour. and has re-
ceived the forgiveness of his sins from
the Father, and has LEARNED to walk
in the spirit day by day
The editor has not tifne now TO
discuss the evils which have come
to socjal and political life through
/ these Ron1ish doctrines II can be
readily seen that terrible abuses are
possible and history shows that the
! possibility has become fearfully real
/ But the Individual must not he led
away by these teachings from the
saving truths Of Gods word