Babylon–Mother and Daughters continued

“The claims of apostolic succession and clerical authority are almost as presumptuously set forth by some of the Protestant clergy as by the Papal priesthood. And the right of individual private judgment–the very fundamental principle of the protest against Papacy, which led to the Great Reformation–is now almost as strenuously opposed by Protestants as by Papists. Yet Protestants are fully aware that it was in the exercise of the right of private judgment that the Reformation was begun and for a short time carried forward, although later a presumptuous domination of recognized leaders retarded the wheels of progress, and has, ever since, kept them strictly within the traditional lines (of orthodoxy) and put a ban upon all who fearlessly step beyond them.

Thus viewed, Protestantism is no longer a protest against the mother church, as at first. As a writer for the press recently remarked—

“The ism is still with us, but what has become of the protest?”

Protestants seem to have forgotten—for they truly ignore–the very grounds of the original protest, and, as systems, they are fast drifting back toward the open arms of the “Holy (?) Mother Church,” where they are freely invited and assured of a cordial reception.

“Let us hold out to you our hand affectionately” (says Pope Leo to Protestants in his noted Encyclical addressed, “To the Princes and Peoples of the Earth“), “and invite you to the unity which never failed the Catholic church, and which never can fail. Long has our common mother called you to her breast; long have all the Catholics of the Universe awaited you with the anxiety of brotherly love. …Our heart, more even than our voice, calls to you, dear brethren, who for three centuries past have been at issue with us in the Christian faith.”

Again, in his Encyclical to the Roman church in America, Pope Leo says, “Our thoughts now turn to those who dissent from us in matters of Christian faith…How solicitous we are of their salvation; with what ardor of soul we wish that they should be at length restored to the embrace of the Church, the common mother of all!…Surely we ought not to leave them to their fancies, but with mildness and charity draw them over, using every means of persuasion to induce them to examine closely every part of the Catholic doctrine and to free themselves from preconceived notions.”

And in his “Apostolic Letter to the English People” (1895) he gives utterance to the following prayer, “O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon England… O sorrowful Mother, intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold they may be united to the Supreme Shepherd, the Vicar of thy Son“–i.e., himself, the Pope.

In furtherance of this same plan, “Missions for Protestants” have been started under the charge of what are known as the “Paulist Fathers.” These meetings have been and are being held in the large cities. They are conducted along lines of conciliation and explanation; written questions from Protestants are requested and answered publicly; and tracts for Protestants are freely distributed. Protestants are practically conceding the Romish position, and really have no answer to make; and anyone who can and does answer, and refers to facts, is denounced as a disturber by both Protestants and Catholics.

Every intelligent person can see how easily Protestantism is being ensnared by this cunning craftiness, and how perceptibly the popular current is set toward the Church of Rome, which is changed indeed in voice and power, but unchanged in heart, and still justifying the Inquisition and other of her methods of the dark ages by claiming her right, as ruler of earth, to punish heretics as she pleases.

It is clear, therefore, that while many faithful souls, ignorant of the real state of the case, have reverently and devoutly worshiped God within these Babylon systems, nevertheless, this does not alter the fact that they are, one and all, “harlot” systems.

Confusion reigns in them all; and the name Babylon aptly fits the entire family—mother, daughters and accomplices, the nations styled Christendom. Rev. 18:7; 17:2-6,18

Let it be borne in mind, then, that in the great politico-ecclesiastical systems which men call Christendom, but which God calls Babylon, we have not only the foundation but also the superstructure and the crowning pinnacle, of the present social order. This is implied in the generally accepted term, Christendom, which of late is applied, not only to those nations which support Christian sects by legislation and taxation, but also to all nations which show tolerance to Christianity without in any definite manner favoring or supporting it; as, for instance, these United States.

The doctrine of “the divine right of kings,” taught or supported by almost every sect (not so much today), is the foundation of the old civil system, and has long given authority, dignity and stability to the kingdoms of Europe; and the doctrine of the divine appointment and authority of the clergy has hindered God’s children from progressing in divine things and bound them by the chains of superstition and ignorance to the veneration and adoration of fallible fellow-beings, and to their doctrines, traditions and interpretations of God’s Word. It is this entire order of things that is to fall and pass away in the battle of this great day–the order of things which for centuries has held the people docile under the ruling powers, civil, social and religious. All this has been by God’s permission (however not by his appointment and approval, as they claim). But though an evil in itself, it has served a good, temporary purpose in preventing anarchy, which is immeasurably worse, because men were not prepared to do better for themselves, and because the time for Christ’s Millennial Kingdom had not yet come. Hence God permitted the various delusions to gain credence in order to hold men in check until “The Time of the End“–the end of “The Times of the Gentiles.” (D33-36)

In our next post we move on to the foretold doom of Babylon.