4' CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cornell University Library BR139.S29 J33 Antidote to the poison of popery in the oiin 3 1924 029 243 008 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029243008 ANTIDOTE TO THE POISON OF POPERY, IN THE WRITINGS AND CONDUCT OF PROFESSORS NEVIN & SOHAFF, PROFESSOKS IN THE ixmwx %tfoxmls €hxtt IN THE U. S. OF AMERICA. iisr •x':^£ix:jE3 x*.^.zt.'X's. BY J. J- JANEWAY, D. D. / —^^ NEW.BRUNSWICK, N. J.: PRESS OF J. TERHUNE, 31 ALBANY STREET,. 1856. Sntored according to Act of Oougreas, in the year 1856, by J. J. JANEWAT, D. D., in ths Clark's Offiee of the District Court of tlie U. S. fortba Distriot of Kew-Jsraey. GENERAL INTKODUCTIOK If I understand the dispensations of Divine Prpvidenoe, I thinlc it may te correctly said, the publication of this volume is the result of the dealings of a merciful God with myself and family. From the time it pleased Him to impart to me his grace, I have en- deavored to consult and follow the guidance of his Providence. Tn this fill^}f.n,Yrirj T hnlinva I have do aO m V duty, excep t i" <>11B nngft which resulted in a diTappwIU'LU'luut "Ofno'particular importance. Hera it is unnecessary to go into particulars. I will only say that in 1850 I had tm-ned my attention to the Eomish claims ; and in 1852 pre- pared and published my " Ctofe-asi," in reply to a passage marked in Prof. SchaiFs " Principle of Protestantism," with no intention or expecta- tion of replying to any notice that might be taken of it in Mercersburg. But when SchafPs bulky history came out, in the English language, with a long and singular note, unconnected with his history in the German lan- guage, I determined to prepare and publisli my ".:i't44ote to the Poison of Popery, INDEX. PART I.— CONTRAST. Chaehee I. Extract from Sohaffa Principle of Protestantism, . 17 " II. Dar^neaa not Liglit, ........ 21 " III. Ignorance and Depravity of Clergy and Paoplej . 23 Century XIII. Ignorance and Depravity increases, ... 24 Chapteb IV. Eoman Pontiffs and Church Gbvernmont in Middle Ages, 28 CEMtniKT X. ^Popea Excessively "Wicked, ....'. 29 "_ XI. Form of Government ChangM — ^HUdehrand, . . 36-il " Xln. Complicated Crimea of Popes, .... 46^9 Chaftke V. Amazing Contrslst, 50-52 " VI. Government of the Church, 52-54 " VII. Concluding Bemarks, 54-57 PART II.— ANTIDOTE. Introduction, 61-63 Chapteh I. False Claims of Schaff- in favor of Papacy in Middle -, Ages Exposed, . . . . . . . 65-75 " II. Arguments against the Primacy of Peter, . . 75-86 " III. " ■" " "... 86-91 " IV. " " " " Confirmed, 91-100 Summary of the Arguments, . . . . 100-102 " V. The Great Fact Fatal to the Claims of Eome, &c., 102-105 " VI. Poiao'n of Popery in SehafPa History Exposed, 106-116 " VII. "■■ " " " further Exposed, 116-124 " VIII. Merit of Popes, .... . . 125-127 " IX. Poison of Popery — Schaff in Opposition to Protest- ant world, . .... . . 128-136 X. , „ .. . 186-144 CBJCPisaX. Sch&Vi Art and Peeephon ,,,,-. n J . 144-154 " XI. Development Exposed, . . • • " XII. Great Error TJnderiyiBg tis Theory, . . • ^ " XIII. Sohaffs Eeasoning Exposed, . . • • " XIV. Continued Eeview and Analysis of S.'s note, . 174-181 181—190 " XV. Same Subject Continued, . ... • • CoTife-dsi between Peter and Popes, . . • l^^ Apology for Wicked Popes, ... 184 " XVI. OIiwroAiterofFapaoy -by Pen of Inspiration, . . 191-203 " XVII. Koman Cattolio Church or Papacy no part of the Visible CImrch of airUt, .... 203-208 "XVIII. Persecution of the Waldenses, .... 209-216 " XIX. Massacre at Vassy, 216^221 " TS.. Massacre of St. BarfhoUmew's Say, . . . 221-228 " XXI. Euin of Protestants by ImAs XIV, ... 22S-246 Maek of the Beast : 231 Creed, 231-235 Eemarks on do. 235-238 Triumphant Death of a Martyr, .... 238-239 " XXII. Papacy Irreclaimable, 247-258 Councils : Pisa 247 Constance, 249 Basil, 253 Wicked Popes Cokneoted with the Codnoils : Boniface IX., Benedict XIII., ... 248 John XXIII 249 Mai-tinV., 250 PmsIL, 256 Paul II., 257 " XXIII. Wicked Popes aeter the Kefoemation : LeoX., 258 Pius III., 267 Innocent IX., 268 " XXIV. Papacy Ouilty of Migli Treason and Murder, . 272-276 A Caution, 276 Sohaffs Long, Sophistical, Papistical Note Ee viewed and Analysed, pp. 106-190. His Polly, while Professing to be a Protestant, he Upholds the Papacy, and sets himself in Opposition to the Whole Protestant World, jip. 130-136. Contradicts Uimself, pp. 107-110. Agiiiu pp. 110, 111. Again, 112, 113 Stultifies Himself, pp. 114, 115. PART m. XI. FAG£« first Contrast, ......... 283 Second Contrast, relating to X)r. Nevin, ..... Wi Third " " Dr. Schaff, .... 299 Fourth " between Germany Enlightened and Vivified by the Beformation, and Germany Barl^ened and Para- lyzed by Irreligion Subsequently, SOi Fifth, Contrast between the Desoriptiou of the Church by Paul * and Peter and the Church Erected by the Papal Hieiar- ohy, SIS •w^XL^D X. »i^i> I A CONTEAST BETWEEN THE EEEOIEOUS A8SEETI0IS or PEOFESSOE SCHAF, AND THE TESTIMOHT Or CnMM^ €aUsia;stkal listorians, IN EEGARD TO THE STATE OF THE CHEISTIAN CH0ECH, IN THE MIDDLE AGES. ADVERTISEMENT. This humble performance is pubMsted to awaken the at- tention of Protestants and others to the false re jresentations made in favor of Popery; and to excite them to search for the testimonies of credible historians in regard to the fatal errors, the gross ignorance, shameful licentiousness, and hea- thenish idolatry, that have prevailed among the priests and bishops, and been patronized by the Pontiffs of the Koman Catholic Church : and to study the Holy Scriptures, that they may learn that its glory is departed, and that it can no longer be acknowledged to be a true church of Jesus Christ. A CONTRAST, &c. ^■ n fc CHAPTER I. LAUDATION OF THE PAPACY. In 1845, a pamphlet of 215 pages was published at Chambersburg, Penn., " Publication Office" of the Germcm Reformed Church. TITLE. " The Principle of PeotestaSttIsm as related to the Peesent State of the CHtJEOH, by Philip SCHAF, Ph. ,D., Professor of Church History and Biblical Literature in the Theological Seminary of the German Reformed Church. The pamphlet was translated from the German, •with an Inteoductioi?, by John W. Nevin, D. D. When the writer of the Contrast read this pam - phlet, several years ago, he marked with' double pencil lines in the maegin, a long paragraph, on pp. 137 and 138. It surprised him that such a paragraph should be published by Professor Schaf, and be en- dorsed by Professor Nevin ; both professing to be Protestants. The paragraph is this : "Catholicism, particularly in its mediaeval Eomano- Germanic period, carried with it, if we put out of view its monastic institutions, a very distinct sense of the 18 schaf's laudation nihil hurhani a me alienumputo as. just described. It is this precisely which renders the Middle Ages so grand ^nd venerable, that religion in this period ap- pears the all moving, all ruling force, the centre around which all moral £.truggles and triumphs, all thought, poetry and action, are found to rdvolve. All sciences, and philosophy itself, the science of the sciences, were handmaids to theology, which based itself on the principle of Augustine, Fides praecedit intellectum. Before the pope, as the head and repre- ^sentative of-Christendom, all states bowed themselves with reverent homage ; and even the German emperor himself could notfeel secure in his place, save as formal- ly acknowledged by the chief bishop of the Church. Princes and people arose at his bidding, forsook coun- try and friends, submitted to the most severe priva- tions, to kneel at the Savior's tomb and water it with thankful tears. According to the reigning idea, the ^late stood related to the Church like the moon to the sun, from which it borrows all its light. AU forms of lite, all national manners, were suffused with magic , interest from the unseen world. The holy sacra- ments ran like threads of gold through the whole tex- ture of life, in all its relations, from infancy to old age* Tie different arts vied with each other, in the service of the Church. The most magnificent and beautiful buildings of the period, are the cathedrals^ those giant stone flowers, with their countless turrets, storming the heavens and -bearing the soul on high, and their mysterious devolional gloom, visited never by the light of the natural day, but only by mystic irradiations poured through stained glass ; domes, the authors of which stood so completely in the general life of the Church, < and were so occupied only with OF THE PAPAOr. 19 the konor of God in their work, that with a divina oarelesshess they have left even their own names to perish in- oblivion. The" maxim was, let the best house belong to the Lord. The richest paintings were madonnas and images of the saints, as produced by a Fea BeAto Angelico da FieSole, a Fea Bartolo- MEO, a LEOifAEDO DA ViNCi, a Peeugino, a Eaphael, and a Michael Angelo. It was felt, that the fairest ,am.ong the sons of men, and the connections in which ' he stood, must furnish the most worthy material for the pencil. The most lofty and impressive music, according to Old Testament example, resounded in' the public worship of God. Poetry sang her deepest and most tender strains to the Lord and his bride ; and the greatest poet of the Middle Ages, Dante, has left behind him in his " Divine Comedy" an image simply of the, religious spirit and theological wisdom of the age, as occupied with eternity itself and all its dread realities. Truly a great time, and for one who is prepared to understand it, fraught with the richest spiritual interest. He that has no heart for the ex- cellencies of this period, the beauty that belongs to the Middle Ages, must be wanting in genuine culture, or at least in all right historical feeling." Does this -contain historical truth? "Was religion in such a desirable and flourishing state during the middle agesf Did true scriptural knowledge so pre- vail in the Church, and bring forth such rich fruits in the lives of professing christians, as this statement im- ports ? Was the government of the Church in rela- tion to civil government, as it ought to be ; and did it accord with the views and instructions of the great FouNDEE and Head of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ ? 20 BCHAP'S LAUDATION. So affirm Professors Schaf and NEvrsr, Let this be remembered by tbe reader. Now, we do not intend to set up our affirmation in opposition to their affirmation. "We merely design to set their confident statements in contrast with the testimony of CEEDIBLE AND FAITHFUL ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORIANS. ' , CHAPTER 11. DARKNESS NOT LKJHT. MosHEiM, speaking of the Latins of the Xth Cen- tury, says, " They were, almost without exception, sunk in the most brutish and barbarous ignorance ; so that according to the unanimous accounts of the most credible writers, nothing could be more melan- choly and deplorable than the dai*Icness that reigned in the western world, during this century,; which, with respect to learning and philosophy at least, may be called the Iron Age of the Latins. Vol. ii. p. 383. Bdgar, in his "Variations of Popery," says, (p. 405) " The state of the Latin communion, at the introduction of transubstantiation, was perhaps the chief reason of its origin, progress, and final establish- ment. The tenth century was a period of darkness and superstition. Philosophy seems to have taken its departure from Christendom, and to have left man- kind to grovel in a night of ignorance, iinenlightened with a single ray of learning. Cimmerian clouds overspread the literary horizon, and quenched the sun of science. Immorality kept pace with ignorance, and extended itself to the priesthood and to the people. The floodgates of moral pollution seemed to have been set wide open, and inundations of all im- purity, poured on the Christian world through the channels of the Eoman Hierarchy. The enormity of the clergy was faithfully copied by the laity. Bpth sunk into equal degeneracy, and the popedom ap- peared one vast, deep, frightful, overflowing ocean of 22 EDQAB. corruption, horror, and contamination.. Ignorance and immorality are the parents of error and superstition. The mind void of information, and the heart destitute of sanctity, are prepared to embrace any fabrication or absurdity." CHAPTER III. IGNOEA-NCK AND DEPRAVITY OF THE CLEEGT AND OK THE PEOPLE. CENTUEY X. "Botli in the eastera and ■western provinces," says Moshdm, " the clergy were, for the most part, com- posed of a most wortHess set of men, shamefully illit- erate and stupid, ignorant more especially in religious matters, equally enslaved to sensuality and supersti- tion, and capable of the most abominable and flagitious deeds. This dismal degeneracy of the sacred order was, according to the most credible accounts,- prihci- _ pally owing to the pretended , chiefs and rulers of the universal church, who indulged themselves in the commission of the most odious crimes, and abandoned themselves to the lawless impulse of the most licenti- ous passions without reluctance or remorse, who con- founded, in short, all difference between just and unjust, to satisfy their impious ambition, and whose spiritual empire was such a diversified scene of in- iquity and violence, as never was exhibited under any of those temporal tyrants, who have been the scourges of mankind." Vol. ii. p. 389. Again he says, pp^ 400-401, " Besides the reproach of the grossest ignorance, which the Latin clergy in this century so justly Reserve, they were also charge- able, in a very heinous degree, with two other odious and enormous vices, even concubinage and sithonyi which the greatest part of the vsrriters of these unhappy 24 ISNOBANOE OF CLEEGT. limes acknowledge and deplore. As to tlie first of tliese vices, it was practiced too openly to admit of any doubt. The priests, and what is still more sur- prising, even the sanctimonious monks, fell victims to the triumphant charms of the sex, and to the imperi- ous dominion of their carnal lusts ; and, entering into , the bonds of wedlock or concubinage, squandered away in a most luxurious manner, with their wives and mistresses, the revenues of the church. The other vice, above mentioned reigned with an equal degree of impudence and licentiousness. The election of bishops and abbots was no longer made according to the laws of the church ; but kings and princes, or their ministers and favourites, either conferred these ecclesiastical dignities upon their friends and. creatures, or sold them, without shame, to the highest bidder. Hence jt happened, that the most stupid and flagitious wretches were frequently advanced to the most im- portant stations in the church; and that, upon several* occasions, even soldiers, civil magistrates, counts, and such like persons, were, by a strange metamorphosis, converted into bishops and abbots. Gregory VII. endeavoured, in the following century, to put a stop to these two growing evils." CENTUEY Xin. The darkness increases through succeeding centu- ries, so that this historian writes of the Xlllth thus : " Among the Latins, many concurring causes united to augment the darkness of that cloud that had already beien cast over the divine lustre of genuine Chris- tianity. On the one hand, the Roman pontiffs could not bear the thoughts of any thing that might have IQITOHAKCE OF CLJSRGY. 25 tlie remotest tendency to diminish their autliority, or to enGroacll upon their prerogatives ; and therefore they laboured assiduously to keep the nutltitude in the "dark, and to blast every attempt that -vfas made towards a reformation in the doctrine or discipline of , the church. On the other hand, the school divines , among whom the Dominican and Franciscan monks made the greatest figure on account of their unintel- ligible jargon and siibtilty, shed perplexity and dark- ness over the plain truths of religion by their intricate distinctions and endless divisions, and by that cavil- ing, quibbling, disputatious spirit, that is the mortal enemy both of truth and virtue. It is true, that these scholastic doctors were TQofr all equally chargeable with corrupting the truth ; the most enormous and criminal corrupters of Christianity were those who led the multitude into the two following abominable errors : that it was in the power of man to perform, if he pleased, a more perfect obedience than God required ; and that the whole of religion consisted in anexternai air of gravity, and in certain composed bodily ges- tures. "It will be easy to confirm this'general account of the state of religion by particular facts. In the fourth council of the Lateran that was held by Innocent III. in the year 1215, and at which a prodigious number of ecclesiastics were assembled, that imperious pontiff, without deigning to consult any body, published no less than seventy laws or decrees, by which not only 'the authority of the popes and the power of the clergy were confirmed and extended, but also new doctrines, or 'articles of faith, were imposed- upon Christians. . Hitherto the opinions of the Christian doctors, concerning the manner in which the body and 8 26 CoNTEASt. blood of Christ -were present in the eucliarist, were extremely different ; nor had the church determined by any clear and positive decree, the sentiment that was to be embraced in relation to that important matter. It was reserved for Innocent to put an end to the liberty, which every Christian had hitherto enjoyed, of interpreting this presence in the manner he thought most agreeable to the declarations of scripture, and to decide in favor of the most monstrous doctrine that the frenzy of superstition was capable of inventing. This audacious pontiff pronounced the opinion that is embraced at this day in the church' of Rome relating to tbat point, to be the only true and orthodox account of the matter ; and he had the honor of introducing and establishing the use of the term Transubstantiation, which was hitherto absolutely un- known. The same pontiff placed, by his own au- thority, amon^ the duties prescribed by the divine laws, that of auricular confession to a priest ; a con- fession that implied not only a general acknowledg- ment, but also a particular innumeration of the sins and follies of the penitent. Before this period several doctors, indeed, looked upon this kind of confession, as ^ a duty inculcated by divine authority; but this opinion was not publicly received as the doctrine of the church. For though the confession of sins was justly looked upon as an essential duty, yet it was left to every Christian's choice, to make this confession mentally to the Supreme Being, or to express it in words to a spiritual confident and director. These two laws, which, by the authority of Innocent, were received as laws of God, and adopted, of con- sequence, as laws of the church, occasioned a multi- tude! of new injunctions and rites, of which not even IQNOBAKCE OF CLERGY. 27 the smallest traces are to be found in the sacred writings, or in "the apostolic and primitive ages, and ■which were much more adapted to establish and ex- tend the reign of superstition, than to open the eyes of the blinded multitude upon the enormous abuses of which it had been the source." Yol. iii. pp. 235- 237. On page 252, speaking of the rites and ceremonies of- the church, the historian says, " Instead of men- tioning these additions, we shall only observe in gen- eral, that religion was now become a sort of raree-show in the hands of the rulers of the church, who, to render its impressions more deep and lasting, thought proper to exhibit it in a, striking manner to the external senses. For this purpose, at certain stated times, and especially upon the more illustrious festivals,^ the miraculous dispensations of the divine wisdom in favor of the church, and the mpre remark- able events in the Christian history, were represented under certain allegorical figures and images, or rather in a kind of mimic show. But these scenic represent- ations, in which there was a motley mixture of mirth and gravity, these tragi-comical spectacles, though they amused and affected- in a certain manner the gazing populace, were highly detrimental, instead of being useful, to the cause of religion; they degraded its dignity, and furnished abundant matter of laughter to its enemies." So much for the prevalence of true knowledge of the gospel, and of true piety, among the clergy and people. How ignorant and unchrislian were both! What are we to think of the confident representations of Professor Sohaf ? CHAPTER lY. ROMAN PONTIFFS AND CHDRCH GOVERNMENT IN THE MIDDLE AGES, "The pope, as the head and representative of Christendom," and his influence over Princes and people — the government of the church and its control over civil government, are extolled by Professor SCHAF in the highest terms. . Do facts justify his glowing statement? "What is the true and sober testimony of history in relation ooth to the Popes, the self;styled heads and representatives of Christendom, and to the government of the church, and its unchristian assumption of a dominant power over states and kingdoms ? It condemns the Profes- sor's confident and erroneous representations ! Bearing on these two important particulars, we might transcribe many pages from Mosheim and other historians. But, as we study brevity, we limit ourselves to a few of his pages, to expose the utter unworthiness of the Eoman pontiffs of their exalted station, and their unholy and wicked ambition in as- piring to establish absolutism over both church and state, in the middle ages. CENTURY X. " The history of the Roman pontiffs, that lived in this century, is a history of so many monsters, and not of men, and exhibits a horrible series of the most flagitious, tremendous, and complicarted crimes, as all writers, even those of the Romish communion, unani- WICKED POPES. 29 mously confess. The source of tKese disordem must be, sought for principally (in the calamities that fell upon the greatest part of Europe, and that afflicted Italy in a particular manner, after thp extinction of the race of Charlemagne. Upon the death of the ncntiff Benedict IV., which happened in the year 903, Leo Y. was rraised tojjthe] pontificate, which he enjoyed no longer than forty days, being dethroned by, Christopher, and cast intoprison. Christopher, in his' turn, was deprive'd of the pontifical dignity thei year following by Sergius III., a Eoman presbyter, seconded by the protection and influence of Adal- bert, a most powerful Tuscan prince, who had a su- preme and unlimited direction in all the affairs that' were transacted at Borne. A'NASTASIUS III. and Xan- DOj who, upon the death of Sergius, in the year 911, were raised auocessiyely to the papal dignity, enjoyed it but for a short time, and did-nothing that could contribute to render their names illustrious. "After the death of Lando, which happened in the year 914, Alberic, marquis or count of Tuscany, whose opulence was^prodjgi.ous, and whose authority in Home jwas despotic and unlimited, obtained the pontificate for John X., archbishop of Bavenna, in compliance with the solicitation of TheqdOra, his mother-in-law, whose lewdness was the principle that interested her in this promotion. This infamous elec- tion will not surprise such as know that the laws of ^ome Were at this time absolutely . silent ; that the dictates of justice and equity were overpo'W'ered and suspended ; and that all things were carried on in that great city by interest or, corruption, by violence or "fraud. JoHN^X., though in other respects a scanda- lous example of iniquity and lewdness in the papal 80 CONTKAST. chair, acquired a certain degree of reputation hj his glorious campaign against the Saracens, whom he drove from the settlements they had made upon the banks of the Garigliano. He did not, however, enjoy his glory long : the enmity of Maeozia, daughter of Thbodoea, and wife of Alberio, proved fatal to .him. For this bloody-minded woman having es- poused WiDO, or GrUT, marquis of Tuscany, after the death of her first consort, engaged him to seize the wanton pontiff, who was her mother's lover, and to put him to death in the prison where he lay confined. This licentious and unlucky pontiff was succeeded by Leo VI. who sat but seven months in the apbstolie chair, which was filled after him by Stephen VII. The death of this latter, which happened in the year 931, presented to the ambition of Maeozia an object worthy of its_ grasp ; and accordingly she raised to the papal dignity John XI. who was the fruit of her lawless amours with one of the pretended successors of St. Petee, Seegius III., whose adulterous com- merce with that infamous woman gave an infallible guide to the Roman church. John XI., who was placed at the head of the church by the credit and influence of his mother, was pulled down from this summit of spiritual grandeur A. D. 933, by Alberio his half-brother, who had conceived the utmost aversion against him.- His mother Maeozia, had, after the death of WiDO, en- tered anew into the bonds of matrimony with HuGOj king oi Italy, who, having offended his step-son Al- berio, felt severely the weight of his resentment, which vented its fury upon the whole family; for Alberio drove out of Rome not only Hugo, but also Maeozia and her son the pontiff, and confined them WICKED POPES. 81 in prison, where tlie latter ended his days in the year 936. The four pontiffs, who, in their turns, succeeded John' XI., and filled the papal chair until the year 956, were Leo VIL Stephen VIII. Marinus II. and Agapet,, whose characters were much better than that of their pre' iecessor, and whose government, at least, was not attended with those tumults and revolu- tions that. had so often shook the pontifical throne, and banished from Borne the inestimable blessings of peace and concord. Upon the death of Agapet, which happened in the year 956, Alberic II. who; to the dignity of Eoman consul, joined a degree -of authority and opulence which nothing could resist, raised to the pontificate his son Ogtavian, who was yet in the early bloom of youth,-and destitute, besides, of every quality that was requisite in order to dis- charge the duties of that high and important- office. This unworthy pontiff assumed the name of John XII. and thus introduced the custom that has since been adopted by all his successors in the see of Home, of changing each their ueual name for another upon their accession to the pontificate. The fate of John XII. was as unhappy as his pro- motion had been scandalous. Unable to bear the oppressive yoke of Berengee II. king of Italy, he sent anibassadors, in the year 960 to Otho the Great, entreating him to march into Italy at the head of a powerlul army, to deliver the- church and the people from the tyranny under -which they groaned. To these entreaties the -perplexed pontiff added a solemn promise, .that, if the. German monarch came to his assistance, he would array him with the purple and the other ensigns of sovereignty, and proclaim him emperor of the Romans. Otho received this embassy 82 CONTKAST. with pleasure, marclied into Italy at the head of a large body of troops, and was accordingly saluted by John with the title of emperor of the Komans. The pontiff, however, soon perceived that he had acted with too much precipitation, repented of the step he had taken, and, though he had sworn allegiance to the emperor as his lawful sovereign, and that in the most solemn manner, yet he broke his oath, and joined with AdalSert, the son ot Berengee, against Otho. This revolt was not left unpunished. Tie emperor returned to Rome in the year 964; called a council, before which he accused and convicted the pontiff of many crimes ; and, after having degraded him, in the most ignominious manner, from his high ofB.ce, he appointed Leo, VIII. to fill his place. Upon Otho's departure from Borne, John returned to that city, and in a council, which he assembled in the year 964, con demned the pontiff whom the emperor had elected, and soon alter died in a miserable and violent manner, After his death the Romans chose Benedict Y, bishop of Borne, in opposition to Leo ; but the em^ peror annulled this election, restored Leo to the papal chair, and carried Benedict to Hamhurgh, where he died in exile. The pontiffs who governed the see of Bome from Leo VIII. who died A. D. 965, to Gerbert or Syltester II. who was raised to the pontificate to- wards the conclusion of this century, were more happy in their administration, as well as more decent in their conduct, than their infamous predecessors ; yet none of them so exemplary as to deserve the ap- plause that is due to eminent virtue. John XIII. who was raised to the pontificate in the year 965, by the authority of Otho the Great, was driven out of WICKED POPES. 88 Borne in the ■beginning of his administration ; but, the year foUomng, upon the emperor's return to Italy, he was restored to his high dignity, in the calm posses- sion of which he ended his days, A. D. 972. His successor Benedict YI. was not so happy ; cast into prison by CreSCENtius, son of the famous Theodora, inconsequence of -the hatred which the Eomans had- conceiTed both against his person and government, he was loaded with, all sorts of ignominy, and was strangled in-the year 974, in the apartment where he lay confined. Unfortunately for him, Otho the Great, whose power and severity kept tlie Romans in awe, died in the year 973, and with liim expired that order and, discipline which he had restored in Bome by salutary laws executed with impartiality and vigor. The face of things was entirely changed by that event ; licentiousness and disorder, seditions and assassinations resumed their former sway,- and diffused their horrors through that miserable city. After the death of BeiStedict, the papal chair was filled by Franco, who assumed the name of Boniface VII. but enjoyed his diguty only for a short time; for scarcely a month had passe(^ after his promotion, when he was deposed from his office,' expelled the city, and succeeded by DoNtrs II. who is known by no- other circumstance than his name. Upon his death, which happened in the year 975, Benedict YII. was created pontiff; and, during the space of nine years, ruled the church without much opposition, and ended his days in peace. This peculiar happi- ness was, without doubt, principally owing to the opu- lence and credit of the family to which he belonged ; for he was nearly rela,ted to the famous Albeeic, whose power, or rather despotism, had been unlimited in Rome, 84 CONTRAST. " His successor John XIV. who, from the bishopric of Puvia was raised to the pontificate, derived no support from his birth, which was obscure, nor did he continue to enjoy the protection of Otho III. to whom hebwed his promotion. Hence the calaniities that fell upon him with such fury, and the misery that concluded his transitory grandeur ; for BONIFAOE VII. who had usurped the papal throne in the year 974, and in a little time after had been'banished Rome, returned from Constantinople, whither he had fled for refuge, and seizing the unhappy pontiff, had him thrown into prison, and afterwards put to death. Thus Boniface resumed the government of the church ; but his reign wa,s also transitory, for he died about six months after his restoration. He was suc- ceeded by John XV. whom some writers called John XVI. because, as they allege, there was another John, who: ruled the church for the space of four months, and whom they consequently call John XV. Leav- ing it to the reader's choice to call that John of whom we speak, the XV. or the XVI. of that name, we shall only observe that he possessed the papal dignity from the year 985 to 996 ; that his administration was as happy as the troubled state of the Eoman affairs would permit; and that the tranquility he en- joyed was not so much owing to his wisdom and prudence, as to his being, a Eoman by birth, and to his descent from noble and illustrious ancestors. Cer- tain, it is, at least, that his sudcessor Gbegoht V. who was a German, and who was 'elected pontiff by the order of Otho III. A. D. 996, met with a quite different treatment ; for Crescens, the Eoman consul, drove him out of the city, and conferred the dignity upon John XVL formerly known by the name of WICKED POPES. 85 Philagathus. This, revolution was not, however, permanent in its 'effects, for Otho III. alarmed by these dist'nrbances at Rome, marched into Itaty, A. D. 998j at the head of a powerful army, and casting into prison the new pontiff, whom the soldiers, in the first moment of their fury, had maimed, and abused in a most barbarous manner, he reinstated Gregoey in his former honours, and placed him anew at the head of the church. It was upon the death of- this latter pontiff, which happened soon after his restoration, that the same emperor raised to the papal dignity his preceptor and friend, the famous and learned Gerbeet, or Sylvester II. whose promotion was attended with the universal approbation of the Eoman people. "Amidst these frequent commotions, and even amidst the repeated enormities and flagitious crimes of those who gave themselves out for Christ's vice- gerents upon earth, the power and authority of the Roman pontiffsf increased imperceptibly from day to day; such were the effects of that ignorance and su- perstition that reigned without controul in these mis- erable times. Otho the Great had indeed published a solemn edict, prohibiting the election of any pontiff without the previous knowledge and consent of the emperor: which edict, as all writers unanimously agree, remained in force from the time of its publica- tion to the conclusion of this century. It js also to be observed, that the same emperor, as likewise his son and grandson, who succeeded him in the empire, maintained, without interruption, their right of supre- macy over the city oi Rome, its territory, and its pon- tiff, as may be demonstrably proved from a multitude of examples. It is, moreover, equally certain, that the German, French and Italian bishops, who were 36 CONTRAST. not ignorant of tie nature of their privileges, and the extent of their jurisdiction, were, "during this whole century, perpetually upon their guard agaitist every attempt the Eoman pontiff might make to assume to himself alone a legislative authority ia the chxirch. But, notwithstanding all this, the bishops of Some found means of augmenting their influence, and, partly by open violence, partly by secret and fraudu- lent stratagems, encroached not only upon the privil- eges of the bishops, but also upon the jurisdiction and rights of kings and emperors. Their ambitious attempts were seconded and justified by the scandalous adulation of certain mercenary prelates, who exalted the dignity and prerogatives of, what they called, the apostohc see, in the most pompous and extravagant terms. Several learned writers have observed, that in this century certain bishops maiutained publicly, that the Roman pontiffe were not only bishops of Home, but of the whole world, an assertion, which hitherto none had ventured to make; and that even among the French clergy, it had been affirmed by some, that the authority of the Bishops, Hwugh divine in its origin, was conveyed to thevi by St. Petek, the prince of the aposiks." Vol. ii. pp. 390-399. CENTURY XI. " The authority and lustre of the Latin church, or, to speak more properly, the power and dominion of the Roman pontiffs, arose in this century to their highest period, though they arose by degrees, and had much opposition and many difficulties to conquer. In the preceding age the pontiflfe had acquired a great degree of authority in religious matters, and in WICKED POPES. 87 every thing that related to the government of the church ; and their credit and influence increased pro- digiously towarda the commencement of this century. For then they received the pompous titles of masters of the world, and popes, i. e. universal fathers : they presided also every where in the councils by their legates ; assumed the authority of supreme arbiters in aU controversies that aroge concerning religion or church discipline; and maintained the pretended rights of the chtlrch against the encroachments and usurpations of kings and princes. Their authority, however, was confined within certain limits ; for, on the one hand, it was restrained by sovereign princes,* , that it might not arrogantly aim at civU dominion • and on the other it was opposed by the bishops thenaselves, that it might not arise to a spiritual despotism, and utterly destroy the liberty and privi* leges of synods and councils. From the time of Leo IX. the popes employed every method, which the most artful ambition could suggest, to remove these limits, and to render their dominion both despotic and universal. They not only aspired to the character of supreme legislators in the church, to an unlimited jurisdiction over all synods and councils whether gen- eral or provincial, to the sole distribution of all ecclesiastical honours and benefices as divinely au- thorized and appointed for that purpose, but they carried their insolent pretensions so fer as to give themselves out for lords of the universe, arbit^s of the fate of kingdoms and empires, and supreme rulers over the kings and princes of the earth. Before Leo IX. no pope was so enormously impudent as to claim this unbounded authority, or to assume the power of transferring territories and provinces from their law- 4 88 COKTBAST, fill possessors to new masters. This pontiff gave the example of such an amazing pretension to his holy successors, by granting to the Normans, who had settled in Jluli/, the lands and territories which they had already usurped, or were employed in forcing out of the hands of the Greeks and Saracens. The ambi- tion, however, of the aspiring popes was opposed by the emperors, the kings oi France, by William the Conqueror, who was now seated on the throne of Sng- land, and was the boldest asserter of the rights and privileges of royalty against the high claims of the apostolic see, and also by several other princes. Nor did the bishops, particularly those of France and Ger- many, sit tamely silent under the papal yoke ; many of them endeavored to maintain their rights and the privileges of the church ; but as many, seduced by the allurements of interest or the dictates of supersti- tion, sacrificed their liberties, and yielded to the pontiffs. Ilence it happened, that these imperious lords of the churcii, though they did not entirely gain their point, nor satisfy to the full their raging ambi- tion, yet obtained vast augmentations of power,. and extended their authority from day to day." Vol. ii. pp. 459-461. -On pages 462, 463 the historian writes, " The five pontiffs we have now been mentioning were not chargeable with dishonouring their high station by that licentiousness and immorality that rendered so many of their successors infamous; their lives were virtuous; at least, their conduct was decent. But their ex;aniple3 had little effect upon BE^fEDICT IX. a mpst abandoned profligate, and a wretch capable of the most horrid crimes, whose flagitious conduct di-ew upon him the just resentment of the Eomans WICKKD POPES, S9 who, in the year 1033, degraclod him from his office. He was aftervvard.^ indeed restored, by the' emperor Conrad, to the pnpal chair ; but, instead of learning circamspection and prudence from his former disgrace, he grew still more* scandalous in his life and manners, and so provoked the Koman people by his repeated crimes, that they deposed him a second time A. D. low, and' elected in his place Johit, bishop of S'lbina, who assumed the name of Sylvester III. About three months after this new revolution, the relations and adherents of BENEDicr rose up in arms, drove Sylvestei^ out of the city, and- restored the degraded pontiff to his forfeited honours, which, however, he did iK)t enjoy long ; for, perceiving that there was no possibility of appeasing the resentment of ihe Romans, he sohl the pontificate to JoSisr Gratian, arch-pres- byter of Home, who took the name of Geegory "V I. Thus the church had, at the same time, two chiefs, Sylvester and Gregory, whose rivality was the occasion of much trouble and confusion. This con- test was terminated in the year 10if5, in the council held at Suiri by the emperor IIen'ry III. ■\vho so ordered matters, that Benedict, Grkgory, and Syl- vester were declared unworthy of the pontificate, and SuiDGER, bishop of B.imberg, was raised to that dignity, which he enjoyed for a short time under the title of Clement II." " This contest, indeed, (referring to a bloody con- test between two rival pontiffs) was of little conse- quence when viewed in comparison with the dreadful commotions which Hildbbrand, who succeeded Alexander, and assumed the name of Gregory "VII. excited both in church and state, and nourished aad fomented until the end of his days. This veiie- 40 CONTEAST. raent pontiff, who was a Tuscan, born of mean parents, rose, by various steps, from the obscure station of a monk of Clugni^ to the rank of archdeacon in the Eoman church, and, from the time of Leo IX. who treated him with peculiar marks of distinction, was accustomed to govern the Eoman. pontiffs by his counsels, which had acquired the highest degree of influence and authority. In the year 1073, and the same day that Alexander was interred, he was raised to the pontificate by the unanimous suffrages of the cardinals, bishops, abbotts, monks, and people, and, consequently, without any regard being paid to the edict of Nicolas II. and his election was confirmed by the approbation and consent of Henry IV. Jcing of the Eomans, to wh6m ambassadors had been sent fcr that purpose. This prince, indeed, had soon reason to repent of the consent he had given to an election, which became So prejudicial to his own authority, so fatal to the interests and liberties of the church, and so detrimental, in general, to the sovereignty and in- dependence of kingdoms and empires. Hildebkand was a man of uncommon genius, whose ambition in forming the most arduous projects was equalled by his dexterity in bringing them into execution ; saga- cious, crafty, and intrepid, nothing could escape his penetration, defeat his stratagems, or daunt his cour- age ; haughty and arrogant beyond all measure ; obstinate, impetuous, and intractable ; he looked up to the summit of universal empire with a wishful eye, and laboured up the steep ascent with uninterrupted ardour, and invincible perseverance; void of all principle, and destitute of every pious and virtuous feeling, he suffered little restraint iil his audacious pursuits, from the dictates of religion or the remon- WICKED POPES. 41 strances of conscience, Sucli was the character of HiLDEBEANb, and his conduct was every way suit- able to it ; for no sooner did he find himself in the papal chair, tha,ti he displayed to the world the most odious marks of his tyrannic- ambition. Not content- ed to enlarge the jurisdiction, and to augnient the opulence of the see of Borne, he laboured indefatigably to render the universal church subject to the despotic governraent and the arbitrary power of the pontiff alone, to dissolve the -jurisdiction which kings and emperors had hitherto exercised over the various orders of the clergy, and to exclude them from all part in the management or distribution of the rev- enues of the church. Nay, this outrageous pontiff went still further, and impiously attempted to submit to his jurisdiction the emperors, kings, and princes of the earth, and to rencler their dominions tributary to the see of Home. Such were the pious Siad apostolic exploits that employed the activity of Gkegort VII. during his whole life, and which render his pontificate a continual scene of tumult and bloodshed. Were it necessary to bring any further proofs of his tyranny, and arrogance, his fierce impetuosity and boundless ambition,' we might appeal to those famous sentences, which are generally called, after him, the dictates of HiLDEBBAND, and which shew, in a li^ly manner, the spirit and character of this restless pontiff. Under the pontificate of Hildebband, the face of the Latin church was entirely changed, its govern- ment subverted, and the most important and valuable of those rights ahd privileges that had been formerly vested in its councils, bishops, and sacred colleges, were usurped by the greedy pontiff. It is, however, to be observed, that the weight of this tyrannic usurp- 42 CONTRAST. ation did not fall equally upon all the European provinces ; several of these provinces preserved some remains of their ancient liberty and independence, m the possession of which a variety r)f circumstances happily concurred to maintain them. But, as we insinuated above, the views of Hilde- BRAND were not confined to the erection of an abso- lute and universal monarchy in the church ; they aimed also at the establishment of a civil monarchy equally extensive and despotic; and this aspiring pontiff, after having drawn up a system of ecclesiastical canons for the government of the church, would have introduced also a new code of political laws, had he been permitted to execute the plan he had formed. His purpose was to engage in the bonds of fidelity and allegiance to St. Petee, i. e. to the Eoman pontiffs, all the kings and princes of the earth, and to establish at Rome an annual assembly of bishops, by whom the contests that might arise between kingdoms or sove- reign states were to be decided, the rights and, pre- tensions of princes to be examined, and the fate of nations and empires to be determined. This ambi- tious project met, however, with the wannest opposi- tion, particularly from the vigilance and resolution of the emperors, and also from the British and Prench monarchs. ^ That HiLDEBRAND laid this audacious plan is un- doul tsdly evident, both from his own epistles, and also from other authentic records of antiquity. ' Tiie nature of the oath whicli he drew up for the king or emperor of the Romans, from whom he demanded a profession of subjection and allegiance, shews abund- antly the arrogance of his pretensions. But his conduct towards the kingdom of France is worthy of WICKED POPES. 45 particular notice. It is well known, that whatever dignity and dominion the popes enjoyed was origin- ally derived from the kingdom o^ France, or, which is ihe sftme thing, from the princes of that nation ; and yet IIiLDEBRAND, or (as we shall hereafter entitle him) Gregory VII. prptended that the kingdom of Frawe was tributary to the see of -Rome, and commanded his -legates to demand yearly, in the most solemn manner, the payment of that tribute ; their demands, however, were treated with contempt, and the tribute was never either acknowledged or offered. Nothing can be more insolent than the language in, which Gregory addressed himself to Philip I. king oi France, io whom he recommends an humble and obliging car- riage, from this consideration, that both his kingdom and his sold were under the dominion of St. Peter, {i.e. his vicar the Eoman pontiff,) who had the power to BIND and to LOOSE him, both in heaven and upon earth. Nothing escaped the all-grasping ambition of Greg- ory; he pretended that (Saxony was a feudal tenure held in subjection to the see of Rome, to which it had been formerly yielded by Charlemagne as a pious offering to St. Peter. He extended also his preten- sions to the kingdom of Spain, maintaining, in one of his letters, that it was the property of the apostolic see from the earliest times of the church, yet acknowledg- ing in another, that the transaction by which the suc- cessors of St. Peter had acquired this property, had been lost among other ancient records. His claims, however, were more respected in Spain than they had been in France; for it is proved most evidently by authentic records, that the king of Arragon, and Bern- hard, count of Besalu, gave a favorable answer to the demands of Greg6ry, and paid him regularly an 44 CONTBAST. annual tribute ; and tteir examble was followed by- otber Spanish princes, as we .could show, were it necessary, by a variety of arguments. The despotic views of this lordly pontiff were attended with less success in England, than in any other country. Wil- liam the Conqueror was a prince of great spirit and resolution, extremely jealous of his rights, and tena- cious of the prerogatives he enjoyed as a sovereign and independent monarch; and accordingly, when Gregory wrote him a letter demanding the arrears of the Peter -pence, and at the same time summoning him to do homage for the kingdom oi England as a fief of tlie apostolic see, William granted the former, but refused the latter with a noble obstinacy, declaring that he held his kingdom of God only and his o-nrn sword. Obliged to yield to the obstinacy of tbe E]no;lish monarch, whose name struck terror into the boldest hearts, the restless pontiff addressed his im- perious mandates where he imagined they would be recei\-ed with more fiicility. lie-wrote circular letters to all the most powerful German princes, to Geusa, king of Iluvgary, and SuENO or SwEiN, king of Denmark, soliciting them to make a solemn grant of their Icingdoms and territories to the prince of the apostles, and to hold them under the jurisdiction of his vicar at Rome, as fiefs of the apostolic see. What success attended his demands upon these princes, we cannot say ; but certain it is, that in several places his efforts were effectual, and, his modest proposals were received with the utmost docility and zeal. The son of Demeteius, king of the Ruskans, sqi out for Rome in consequence of the pontiff's letter, in order to obtain as a gift from St. Peter, by the hands of GRE- GORY, after proftssing his subjection and allegiance to the ■WICKKD POPES. 45 prince of the apostles, tjie fe'n^'^om which was to devolve to him upoa the death of iiis father; and his pious request was readily granted by the of&cious pope who was extremely liberal of what did not belong to him. Demeteius StJiNiMER, duke of Croatia 'and Dalmatia, was raised to the rank and prerogatives of royalty by the same pontiff in the year 1076, and solemnly proclaimed king by his legate at Salona, upon condi- tion that'he should pay an annual tribute of two hun- dred pieces of gold to St. Peter, at every Easter festi- val. This bold step was' injurious to the authority of the emperors of Constantinople, who, before- this time, comprehended the province of -Croatia within the limits of their sovereignty. The kingdom ol Poland bjcame also the object of Geegory's ambition, and a favourable occasion was offered for the execution of his iniquitous views ; for Basilaos II. having assas- sinated Stanislaus,. bishop of Cracow, the pontiff not only excommunicated him with all the circumstances of infamy that he could invent, but also pulled him fr£>m his throne, dissolved the oath of allegiance, •wliich his subjects had taken, and, by an express and imperious edict, prohibited th^ nobles and clergy of Poland from electing a new lOTg without the consent of the Eoman pontiff. Many more examples might be alleged of the phrenetic ambition of Gregory, but those which have been already mentioned are suffi- cient to excite the indignation of every impartial reader. Had the success of that pontiff been equal to the .extent of his insolent views, air the kingdoms of Europe would have been this day tributary to the Eoman see, and its princes the soldiers or vassals of St. Peter, in the person of his pretended vicar upon earth. Biit though his most important projects were 46 CONTRAST. iaeffectual, yet many of his attempts were crowned ■ with a favorable issue ; -for, from the time of his pon- tificate, the face of Europe underwent a considerable change, and the prerogatives of the emperors and other sovereign princes were much diminished. It was, particalarly, under the administration of Gre- gory, that the emperors were deprived of the privilege of ratifying, by their consent, the election of the Eoman pontiff; a privilege of no small importance, and which as yet they have never recovered." Vol. ii. pp. 476-484. CENTUEY XIII. " The history of the popes presents a lively and hor- rible picture of the complicated crimes that dishonored the ministers of the church, who were peculiarly ob- liged, by their sacred office, to exhibit to the world distinguished models of piety and virtue. Such of the Sacerdotal order as were advanced to places of authority in the church, behaved rather like tyrants than rulers, and showed manifestly, in all their con- duct, that they aimei^^t an absolute and unlimited dominion. The popes, more especially, inculcated that pernicious maxim, ' That the bishop of Rome is the supreme lord of the universe, and that neither princes nor bishops, civil governors nor ecclesiastical ralers, have any lawful power in church or state, but what they derive from him.' This extravagant maxim, which was considered as the sum and sub- stance of papal jurisprudence, the Roman pontiffs maintained obstinately, and left no means unemployed that perfidy or violence could suggest, to give it the force of a universal law. It was in consequence of WICKED POPES. 47 , this arrogant pretension, that they • not only claimed the right of disposing of ecclesiastical benefice?, as they are commonly called, but also of conferring civil dominion, and of dethroning kings and emperors, according to their good pleasure. It is true, this maxim was far from being universally adopted ; many placed the authority of councils above that 'of the pontiffis, and such of the European kings and princes as were not ingloriously blinded and enslaved by the superstition of the times^ asserted their rights with dignity and success, excluded the pontiffs from all concern in their civil transactions, nay, even reserved to themselves the supremacy over the churches that were established in their dominions. In opposing thus the haughty pretensions of the, lordly pontiffs,^-it was, indeed, necessary to proceed with mildness, caution and prudence, on accou,nt of the influence which these spiritual tyrants had usurped over the minds of the people, and.the power they had of alarm- ing princes; by exciting their subjects to rebellion. In order to establish their authority, both in civil and ecclesiastical matters, upon the firmest founda- tions, the Koman pontiffs assumed to themselves the power of disposing of the various offices of the church, whether of a higher or more subordinate nature, and of creating bishops, abbots, and canons, according to their fancy. Thus we see the ghostly heads of the church, "who formerly disputed with such ardour against the emperors in favor of the free election of bishops and abbots, overturning now aU the laws that related to the election of these spiritual rulers, reserv. ing for themselves the revenues of the richest bene- fices, conferring vacant places upon their clients and their creatures, nays often deposing, bishops that had 48 CONTRAST. been duly and lawfully elected, and substituting, with a higli liand, others in their room. The hypocritical pretexts for all these arbitrary proceedings were an ardent zeal for the welfare of the church, and an anxious concern, lest devouring heretics should get a footing among the flock of CHfiisT. The first of the pontiffs, who usurped such an extravagant extent of authority, was Innocent III. whose example was followed by IIonorius III. Gkegoky IX. aud several of their successors. But it was keenly opposed by the bishops, who had hitherto enjoyed the privilege of nominating to the smaller benefices, and still more effectually by the kings of England and France, who employed the force of warm rt monstrances and vigor- ous edicts to stop the progress of this new juris- prudence. Lewis IX. king of France, and now the tutelar saint of that nation, distinguished himself by the noble opposition he made to these papal encroach- ments. In the year 1268, before he set out for the Holy Land, he secured the rights of the Gallicah church against the insidious attempts of the Eoman pontiffs, by that famous edict known in France by the name of the pragmatic sanction. This resolute and prudent measure rendered the pontiffs more cautious and slow in their proceedings, but did not terrify them from the prosecution of their purpose. For Boni- face 7III. maintained, in the most express and im- pudent terms, that the universal church was under the dominion of the pontiffs, and, that princes and lay-patrons, councils and chapters, had no more power in spiritual things, than what they 'derived from Christ's vicar upon earth." Vol. iii. pp. 160-163. Benedict Cajetan, who had persuaded the good pontiff now mentioned to resign his place, succeeded WICKED POPES, 49 him in it in tHe year 1294, and took tlie name of Boniface YIII. We may say, with truth, of this unworthy prelate, that he was born to be a plague both to church and state, a disturber of the repose of nations^ and that his attempts to extend and confirm the despotism of the Roman polatiffs, were carried to a length that approached to ivQuzj. From the moment that'he entered upon his new dignity, he laid claim to a supreme and irresistible dominion over all the powers' of the earth, both spiritual and temporal, terrified kingdoms and empires with the thunder of his bulls, called princes and sovereign states before his tribun"al to decide their quarrels, augmented the papal jurisprudence with a new body of laws, which was entitled. The Sixth Book of the Decretals, declared war agaiiist the illustrious family of Colonna, who disputed his title to the pontificate ; in a word, exhibited to the church and to Europe, a lively imageof the tyrannical- administration of Geegort VII. whom he perhaps surpassed in arrogance. It was this pontiff that, in the year 1300, instituted the famous jubilee, -whichj since that time, has been regularly celebrated in the Eoman churchj at certain fixed periods, But the consideration of this institution, which was so favor- able to the progress of licentiousness and corruption, as also the other exploits of Boniface, aud his de- plorable end, belong to the history of the following century," Vol. iii. pp. 181, 182. CHAPTER Y. AMAZING CONTRAST. Let the reader compare the paragraph in Professoi'^ Scuaf's pamphlet with the extracts taken from the historian, MosHEiM, and behold the amazing cou- trastY Professors Sohaf and Nevin have made assertions in regard to the middle ages, that are utterly at variance with historical truth I Those Ages, instead of being enlightened by the pure gospel of Christ, were exceedingly ignorant of evangelical truth. They were covered with gross darkness. Instead of piety prevailing among the clergy and people, botii were debased and stained by ruinous superstitions and gross immoralities. In further confirmation of the mournful destitution of piety, and the gross immorality of the middle ages, we refer to Dr. Edgar's chapter on the Celibacy OF THE Clergt. There he has traced the rise and progress, and the dreadful consequences of this papal Institution. He has shown, that, in the middle ages, so lauded by Professor Schaf, for the prevalence of religion and consequently o^ moral purity, the clergy of every grade,. _pnesfe, bishops and Pontiffs, were become infamous for their want of continence, and their licentious practices ; that princes, kings and em- perors, to stem the torrent of pollution, importuned the Popes to restore the lawfulness ol the marriage relation, which they had dared to prohibit; but in vain, becaiise it did not accord with their assumed authority, and might impair their injluence over the Church arid the iSlaie. VILEST IMPUEITT. 51 We give two short paragraphs at the close of this chapter; " General councils, as well as Romish pontiffs and popish priests, outraged the laws, not indeed of celi- bacy, but of abstinence. This was exemplified in the univei'sal- councils, of, Lyons, Constance, and Basil. The council of Lyons demoralized the city in which it was convened. Cardinal Hugo, in a speech to the citizens immediately after the dissolution of the sacred synod, boasted that Lyons, at the meeting of the assembly contained two or three stews, but, at its departure, comprehended only one ; which, however, extended without interruption ffom the eastern to the western gate. The sacred convention, by the perpe- tration of licentiousness, converted the whole city into one, vast, fermenliing, pestilential, overflowing sink of accumulated pollution. The holy fathers, it appear.^, were men of business and industry, and did hot confine their valuable labours to the study of musty theology." " The general council of Constance imitated the in- continence practised at Lyons." Omitting, for brevity salte, what follows about the conduct of this council, we submit his next paragraph : " The general council of Basil taught the theory of fiUhiness, as those of Lyons and Constance had dis- played the practice. Carlery, the champion of Cath- olicism in this assembly against Nicholas the Bohe- mian heretic, advocated the propriety of permitting brothels in a city. The speculation, the hero of the faith maintained by the authority of the sainted Jerome, Augustine, Thomas, and Gregory. Simple ' fornication, the sage and precious divine discovered, does not disturb the common wealth ; and the populace, 52 CONTRAST. addicted to voluptuousness and.pleasure, are unwilliBg to abstain. He concluded, therefore, by the- most logical deduction, that stews are to be tolerated in a city. This theory the holy fathers heard with silent approbation. The vile atrocity therefore was sanc- tioned by the holy, unerring, apostolic,, Eom an coun- cil." pp. 573-574. Such deplorable consequences have resultedfrom the popish Institution, which outraged the constitu- tion of human nature and the design of the Creator in forming the two sexes, and impiously dared to con- tradict His solemn declaration : " Marriage is honor- able in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge." CHAPTER YI. GOVERSMENT OF THE CHURCH. The government of the church in the middle ages, so much lauded by two Protestant Professors, was established by fraud and violence; as manifestly ap- pears from the preceding quotations from Mosheim, and was utterly at variance with the rules given by our blessed Saviour to his aposiles and ministers. Look at the ambition of the Eoman pontiffs as described by ecclesiastical historians; and then read what is written in Mark:—" And he came to Caper- naum : and being in the house, he asked them, "What GOVERNMENT OF THE OTTTRCH. 65 was it that ye disputed ajnong yourselves by the ■way? But they held their peace : for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should he the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and isaith unto them, if ajiy man desire -to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them : and when ho had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me; and wbosever shall re- ceive me, receiveth not me, but him that sept me." Mark ix. 33-37. Eead also what is recorded in Mark x. 35^5 : — " And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying. Master, we would that thou should- est do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them. What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him. Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask : can ye. drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with ? And they said unto him. We cam And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that, I drink of; an 1 with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall y6 be, baptiz- ed : But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand, is not mine to give ; but it shall he given to them for whom it is prepared. .And when the ten heard it, they began to h^ much displeased with James and John. But Jesus called ttem to him, and saith unto Jhem, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles, exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise a,uthority upon them. But 54 GOVEIINMENT OF THE CHUECH. SO shall it not be among you,: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister : And wbo- soever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be min- istered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for m my." CHAPTER YII. CONCLUDIKG REMARKS. Professor Schaf is most unfortunate in praising the painters and poets of the middle ages, as infltienced by truly religious motives of action. Were such their motives when they painted " madonnas and images of the saints," that the ignorant and super- stitious people might wor.ship them ; and thus violate the second commandment of the law of God? In his Biogrnphical Dictionary, sketching, the char- acter of Michael Akgelo, Lemfeieke says : "It is perhaps to be lamented, that the artist's revenge had been cruelly immortalized, by his re[)resentation of a' cardinal who was his enemy, in the number of the damned." What a heavenly motive actuated the painter ! Of Perugino the same writer says, " He was re- markably fond of money, and the loss of his trcasiire, which he always carried about him, and of which he was robbed, caused his death in 1594, in his 78th year." What a heavenly minded painter truly I CONCLUDING REMARKS. 55 But perhaps Professor Schaf is more fortunate in bringing forward the poefftAKTE, whom he styles the greatest poet of tlie Middle Ages ; " Who, he says, has left behind him in his ' Divine Comedy' an image simply of the religious spirit and theological wisdom of the age, as occupied with eternity itself and all its dread realities." But was Dante worthy of such high commenda- tion ? What says Lempkiere of this poet, who, in the opinion of Professor Sceiaf, so remarkably exem- plified th& religious spirit ? He represents him as full of worldly ambition, and so much so, that an insult offered to him by the Magistrates, of Yeni.ce, who treated him, the ambassador of the prince of Eavenna,, with contempt, by refusing to admit him within their walls; preyed so on his spirit that ho could " riot survive the affront." "He died July 1321, a;ged,57." Lemprieue speaks indeed very highly of his genius and poetical talents. Of his "Divine Comedy," li« says: " His triple^poem, of paradise, purgatory, and hell, displays astonishing powers of genius, and at onuc exhibits the sweetness and grace of poetry with the hiftterness of insaliable enmity^ He adds, " The reputation and the usurped power of the Pope, Boni- face YIII., the pedigree of the French king, and the prostituted venality of Florence, that den of thieves, are the subjects that engage and enfl,\me the virulence of the poet." What evidences of his being a heavenly minded man 1 Surely he derived all his motives from above, and was " suffused with magic influence from the unseen world !". Das Professor Schaf described the church as it really existed in the Middle Ages, or an imaginary 66 coNCLUDnra church ? He utters indeed a portion of historic truth when he writes : "Before* the pope, as the head and representative of Christendom, all states bowed them- selves with reverent homage ; and even the German emperor himself could not feel secure in his place, save as formally acknowledged by the chief bishop of the church. (This, however, will not apply to Otho . the- great and other emperors.) " Princes and people arose at his bidding, forsook country and friends, sub- mitted to the most severe privations, to kneel at the Saviour's tomb, and water it with thankful tears. According to the reigning idea, the State stood related to the Ciiurch like the moon to the sun, from which it borrows all its light." How well such a church corresponds with the church as described by our Saviour ! 1 What a delightful condition of the church for worldly minded bishops and priests ! What follows in the paragraph seems to have been dictated by a like spirit in the writer. It is more an external and worldly, than a spiritual church. Such a gorgeous church may serve to dazzle the imagina- tions of ignorant and unregenerated men; but it will fail in its great end to honor Christ, and to glorify God.* Professors ScHAF and ISrEViN may be willing to exalt the Eoman pontiff, and submit to his lordly reign; but we beg to be excused from imitating their example. If they are inclined to make a pil- grimage to Eome, for the purpose of worshipping "madonnas and saints," we feel inclined to remain at home and worship the alone true object of worship who will not give his glory to another. If they * See Sohaf s paragraph, printed at the beginning, pp. 17-19. EEMAKKS. 57 imagine that " catLedrals, — visited never by the light of natural day, but only*by mystic irradiations poured through stained glass," are so favorable to true devotion, we beg leave to differ in opinion, and to J)e permitted to frequent the less iirposing edifices erected at home, in which to worship God in spirit and in truth. iWe desire to remember what is written in the scriptures of truth : " And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power: and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed^fornication with, her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from hea- ven, saying. Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues : For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Eev. xviii. 1-5. '.A.Ti.'r XX. ANTIDOTE TO THE POISON OF POPEEI, IN THE PUBLICATIONS OP PROFESSOR SCHAF, lirst ill ps €ss^ ani thjn m \\s f istffrjr. FAMFHLST FORU GREATLY ENLARGED, WITH ADSITIO^AL MATTER, AND MANT NEW CHAPTERS. INTRODUCTION. la the introduotion, may, I think, with propriety, he stated particular facts, in regard to- myself and my contrast that have induced me to pre- pare and puhlish this Antidote to the poison of Fopery in Professor SohaPs pubhcations. Previously to the Professor's arrival in this country, Eev. Dr. "Wolfi of Easton, Perai., came to my house at two different times. The object of his visits was, by representing the favorable aspect of the German Eeformed Church, to which he belonged, in regard to evaugelioal religion and correct church order, lo solicit aid in their poverty. His representa- tions induced me to promise to take the application into consideration. -A letter, dated Sept. 6, 1844, from the Cor. See. of the " Diagnothian Literary Society" of Marshall College, Mercersburg, Pa., was received, informing me that I had been unanimously elected an Honorary Member of the Society; and of the efforts made for the erection of a Hall for the use of the Society. I sent the young gentlemen ten dollars; and on the receipt of a second letter in 1846, ten dollai's more. Doctor Wolff wrote me a long letter, dated Easton, Oct. 24, 1844; in which he reminded mo of my promise " to consider the claims of the Institutions at Meroersburg." He represented the College as doing weU, with a large fond subscribed for its endowment ; the students increasing in number, and animated with a noble spirit ; the faculty as able and efloicient, of one heart and mind. Of Dr. Nevin and Dr. Sohaf, he spoke in high teims. Willing to help on the cause of truth and evangelical piety, I was induced, by these representations; to send a draft on the State Bank, N- B. for SI50 to be applied to the salary of Dr. Schaf. In a letter, dated" Jan. 9, 1845, Dr. W. acknowledged, with thanks, the receipt of the draft, on the evening before. Having read Dr. Schaf s Essay, in which he divulged his erroneous views, on the receipt of another letter from Meroersburg, I replied to this effect, "Young gentlemen, I fear you are under the conduct of bad leaders." Here terminated all correspondence with Mercersburg. In the "Biblical Eepertory and Princeton Review," for October, 1852, 6 Ixii. INTRODUCTION. was publisheid an able article, entitled "Kemarks on the History, Struc- ture, and Theories of the Apostle's Creed :" as a reply to articles in the " Mercersburg Eeview." To the writer of the above article, I suggested how easily that most erroneous passage in Sohaf s Essay, on pp. 137, 138, might be answered. He seemed unwilling to undertake it. I, therefore, deterinjned to break off from my course of study, and engage in preparing for publication, "A Contrast between the Erroneous Assertions of Professor Schaf, and the testimony of Credible Ecclesiastical Historians, &c."* Some pains were taken to circulate the Contrast among the German Eeformed Churches. I sent a, copy to the Eev. Dr. "Wolff, and one to the Hon. James Buchanan, with whom I was personally acquainted, as coming from the author. About the time of the publication of Schaf s history, it was intimated to me, that some one had told a wealthy and liberal gentleman of New York, that the extract in the Contrast was not Dr. Schaf s ; and when the question was proposed to the gentleman, whom I afterwards met at Princeton ; whether such a I'epresentation had been made to him, he answered in the aflBrmative. I then stated to him some of the facts recited above ; and, without inquiring the name of the person making such a representation, I observed to him, that if he were to cast his eye over the first page of the Contrast, he would be convinced the extract belonged to Sohaf; and added, I wiU hold him responsible for it. The object of this gross misrepresentation may be easily- discerned, by any one who considers the wealth and liberaUty of the gentleman. Copies of the history were soon seen by individuals hving in New Brunswick, who told me the poison of Popery was artfully diffused through the volume. Going to New York, the next Monday, I purchased » copy. On my return home, no long time was required to see what they had seen. On Tuesday, whUe examining the work, the publisher of the " Historical Commentaries of the state of Chrisdamty during the first thi-ee hundred and twenty-five years from the Christian era, by J&A.™," came into my study, and offered it for sale. Commg, as it *Tho Contrast waa fftvorably roviowod, in the PreHhvtnrinn tw«™ ■ ^ .-^ Tlio EOT. Er. Spraguo of Albany, wroto to tho Auttor imHer date Ja„ 04 ,„, ,1 „ , greally intsroled in your homljy written for the benefit <,t Dr. N,™ „nd Jbl , ?," ' '"" thedTkogee. I wrote a brief notice of it tor the Puritan Reeorfer!" '"^•"'»^«""« t»warde IJNTKOUUUTiUJN. 1X111. did, juafc at the time Dr. Schaf s history made its appearance, I ooiild not hesitate to purchase it. Looldng among my papers, and finding I had. written, nearly liwo yea/rs ago, a number of pages against the claims of the Eomish Church, founded on the supposed Primacy C|f Peter ara,ong the Apostles, I saw it would not require much labor to prepare, in a reasonable time, an Antidote to SohaPs poison in a farwpTikt form of moderate size ; I deter- mined to write one. The plan for preparing this Antidote is : 1. To expose the first &»etope»ieai of SohaPs historical .views, in the Extract that formed the basis of my " Contrast ;" 2. To exhibit the Scriptural argument against the Primacy of Peter, assumed by the Eomish Churchy in support of her imbounded and anjj- christian usurpations ; and 3. To expose the second and very different, if not opposite, develop- ment of Schafs Iristorioal vi'ews in his recent history. ANTIDOTE, &o. CHAPTER I. THK FALSE CLAlkS OF PROF. SCHAF IN FAVOR OF THE PAPACT, IN THE MIDDLE ASES, EXPOSED. Having carefally examined the Bnglisli translation of Prof. Schaf 's history, I proceed now to expose the , poison of Popery apparent in his published views of history, since his residence in this country. Let the reader, however, remember what is stated in the Introduction, that I am writing, not an extended review of his history, but only what may be comprised in a pamphlet. The culling of flowers of rhetoric, beauties of style and sentiment, to be found in his history, I leave to others. My aim is at a more .important object, I wish to guard such against a fatal sting that may be concealed in those flowers ; and to beware lest, while they admire beauties of style, or even beauties of sen- timent, they drink in \h& poison of Popery. In exposing his views in the history, frequent oc- casions may offer to refer to my contrast; and as I intend to write remarks, which, in preparing it, were purposely avoided, in order to confront his erroneous . assertions, not with my assertions, but with the testi- mony of credible historians; the extra/it from his Essay shall be reprinted here, for the accommodation 6Q ANTIDOTE. of readers who do not possess tlie Contrast. This will be done the more readily, that Prof. Schaf 's own published views in his history, may be seen in a clearer light to be entirely opposite. mte.—Wbat is here omitted, may be found in Part I. pp. 17-19. Does this contain historical truth ? Was religion in such a desirable and flourishing state during the middle ages ? Did true scriptural knowledge so pre- vail in the Church, and bring forth such rich fruits in the lives of professing christians, as this statement im- ports? Was the government of the Church in rela- tion to civil government, as it "ought to be ; and did it accord with the views and instructions of the great Pounder and Head of the church, our Lord Jesus Christ ? So affirm Professors Schaf and ISTevin. Now, we do not intend to set up our affirmation in opposition to their affirmation. We merely design to set their confident statement in contrast with the tes- timony of CREDIBLE AND FAITHFUL ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORIANS. As the author of the contrast adhered to his plan, as stated above, he will now take the liberty of making a few remarks on this singular extract from the publication of Dr. Schaf 's views, in 1845. But before I make the remarks, it is important to know the character of the man with whom we have to deal. This we may learn from his own writings, and the pen of Dr. J. A.Alexander, of Princeton. In a note (p. 132 of his history,) Schaf quotes from an article written by Dr. Alexander in the "Biblical Eepertory and Princeton Eeview," for Januarv 1847 p. 105. ^' FALSE CLAIMS EXP^ED. 67 In the pamphlet, we had to, refer the reader to the page where it is found. Now We cqpy it in full from ■the note in his history. "Our national teudeney," says this' lugUy-gifted writer, "so far as W6 have any, is to slight the past and oveixate the present. This iin- historical peculiarity is constantly betraying itself in various forms, but it is nowhere more conspicuous and more injurious than in our theology. Henee the perpetual resuscitation of absurdities a'thousand^times ex- ploded, the perpetual renewal of attempts, which have a thousand times been 'proved abortive. Hence the false position which religion has been fproed to assume in reference, to various inferior yet important interests,- to science, literature, art, and civil government. Hence, too, the barrenness and hardness by which much of our religious literature is distinguished, because cutoff from the inexhaustible resources which can only be supplied by history. The influence of this defect upon our preaching- is perhaps inoaloulabla. But instead of going on to reckon up the consequences of the evil now in question, let us rather draw attention to the fact thatit is not of such a nature as to be corrected by'the lapse of time, but must increase with the increase of ignorance and lazy pride, especially when fostered by «■ paltry national conceit, and flattered by those oracles of human progress, who declare that history is only fit for monks. , To counteract this tendency we need some influence ai exi/ra, some inftision of strange blood into our veins." After the reader has carefully examined this note, I put this question to him. Is not the design of Schaf to impress on his mind a conviction that Dr. Alex- ander thinks as Schaf does? But, to defeat this design, I observe that the last line and a half begins a new paragraph in Dr. Alexander's article ; and I shall transcribe largely from Dr. Alexander, beginning where Dr. Schaf left off : ' " On this ground we are much disposed to look for good effects from. Dr. Schaf 3 appearance, and even from the faults which have been charged upon his writings. The grotesque English which occasionally mai'ks his style is not only palliated, by the intimation oh the title page —"translated from the German" — but may serve, like the jargon of his favourite Carlyle, to make the reader think by making him first stare and laugh. Even the positive dogmatical authoritative tone, which some- times verges upon flippancy, may serve, by rendering the composition moY& piquapt, to make it more effective. Whether any good is likely to result, among intelligent and cultivated readers, from the author's habit of pronouncing just as confidently wliare lie is impferfeotly informed as whtoe he understands Ms subject, from his snperollions representations of English and Ameriean Theology 'las wholly unproductive, or from the compassionate disdain with which he looks down upon all who are not of the High Dutch breed and breeding— is a question which we leave to be decided by himself. If even these peculiarities, however, which ought long since to have dropped off as the exuviae of the status pupii- laris, should, by rousing attention to the valuable trtiths embodied in his writiugSj give additional effect to his undoubted talents, eloquence, and leai-ning, the price paid for the benefit is one of which the pm-ohasers at least will have no reason to complain. The valuable truths of which we speak have, in the present case, no necessary connexion with the author's doctrine as to our participation in - the human nature of our Lord, nor even with his doctrine of " organic development."* In some directions we are not prepared to. take a step with him ; in others we can go as far as he can, for example in maintaining the importance of Historical Theology, aswell for its conservative as its progressive infliience. We hold, as thor- oughly as he can, the necessity of knowing what has been before us, in order to fulfil our own vocation. If he chooses to express this same idea by the figure of organic growth, like that of plants and animals, with all the cognate images of twigs and sap, or food and blood, we do not make the least objection to his pleasing his own taste in the selection of a figurative vehicle for his ideas. But so far is this theory, or rather this poetical conception, of an animal or vegetable growth, from aiding the effect of what it represents upon ourselves, that we would rather look at the plain truth divested of the tropical costume in which the author's eloquence has dressed it up. In this we have been influenced, no doubt, to some extent, by our long familiarity with all kinds of " development," as regular cant phrases in our newspaper vocabulary. The changes rung upon this term and its con'elatives have been so endless, that they seem to have lost all their power ad captcmdvmi milgus. This would be a very insufficient reason for rejecting any new discovery y^^aii happened to have been baptized by this familiar name ; but when we come to look more nai-rowly at Dr. Schaf's principles, apart from the accompanying metaphors, they strike us very much like old iicquaintauoes in masquerade, or we may even say like English and American travellers, fresh from the hands of a German tailor." These paragraphs Dr. S. doubtless read, and read with no pleasant feelings. Here we see his character drawn by his own pen, and by the pen of one who had read his publications, and the writings of many a German author. And what lesson should be taken from it ? Clearly •Cortoijily not ; for tlio feat h isiPlouB-the other, Gskmah boksekbb. Note by J. J. J. FALSE CLAIMS EXPOSED. 69 this : JSTot to rely on the simple assertion of Dr. S., however, conMently uttered; nor to believe a thing to be true, merely because he affirbas it ; but to de- mand proof — to scrutinize what he writes — and to set him in opposition to- himself, when he pens contra- dictory statements in the same volume : and to beware of his principles, disguised in masquerade, lest, on ex- amination, they be found to be, strangers, and not old acquaintances. The utility of this rule will frequently appear in this " Antidote." It is no conjecture. I know what will follow. It is written already. A new order is now being made ; together with such improvement as may be suggested by a review. The writer is now prepared to make his intended, remarks on the very singular extract, recited above, written by the pen of one calling himself a Peotest- ant! In this extract, with one exception, (monastic insti- tutions,) the state of the Roman Catholic Church, in the Middle Ages, when it was really in the worst and most corrupt state, is lauded to the skies, by a pro- fessed Protestant! Pascal, a Eoman Catholic, would not have written what this Protestant blushed, not to write. The Bishops and Priests of France, before the revolution, would have stigmatized this as ultra montane. They were jealous for Galilean liberty. The all-grasping ambition of the Eoman Pontiffs is justified : " Before the Pope, as the head and representative of Christendom, all states bowed themselves with reverent homage." This is admired by him, although utterly , inconsistent with the gospel rulej and this wicked eminence obtained by the vilest means ! 70 ANTIDOTE. " And even the German emperor himself could not feel himself secure in his place, save as formally acknowledged by the chief bishop of the church !" And why? because the emperor knew the holy bishop would excite his subjects to rebellion, if he did nx)t do homage to this humble representative of Peter " the fisherman of Galilee !" All this was beautiful in the eyes of Prof Schaff! And if the Pope could induce the U. S. A. thus to abase themselves to papal powers, would not this be a sight alike beautiful in the eyes of one who could pen the above extract! " According to the reigning idea, the state stood related to the Church like the moon to the sun, from which it borrowed all its light !" Men enlightened by the word and Spirit of God, look through eyes very different from the eyes of Schaf Thej regard the Eomish church in the Middle Ages, as a dismal opake body, intercepting the rays of the Sun of righteousness ; so as to prevent his light and heat, and fertilizing influence from reaching the true church and the earth. She chose to abandon them to darkness and ignorance, and coldness, and barrenness; to render them more submissive and pliant to her domineering will. Schaf adds : "The Holy Sacraments ran like threads of gold through tie whole texture of lifej in all its relations, from iufaney to old age." No exception is made to the seven sacraments of the Eomish Church. It would have spoiled the beauty and interrupted the flow of the Professor's language. Yet he well knew that all Protestants reject five of them as unauthorized by Christ, and allow only two — Baptism and the Lord's Supper — as divinely iusti- FALSE CLAIMS. EXPOSED. 71 tuted; and the HeidelbergL. Catechism, which he acknowledged, when inaugurated as a Professor in the Theiological Seininary of the German Eeformed Church, in 184:4,_ to be the Confession of his Faith, rejects five; for this Catechism says, in answer' to Question 68 r '' Bow many Sacraments has Ohriit mstitated m the new Covenant, or Testament f replies j* " Two, namely, Holy Baptism, and the Holy Supper." Professor S. well knew also, at the same time, that the Heidelbergh Catechism contains both a question and an answer relating to the Popish Mass ; which I here transcribe : " Q. 80. What difference is there between, the Lord!s ^wpper and, the Popish Mass?" " A. The Lord's Supper testifies to ua that we have a full pardon of all sin, by the only sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself haS' once accomplished on the cross, ; and that, we, by the Holy Ghost, tee ingrafted into Christ, -who, according to his human nature, is now n,ot on earth, but in heaven, at the right hand of his Father ; but the. Mass teacheth, that the living and dead have not the pardon of sins through the sufferings of Christ; unless Christ is also daily offered for them by the priests ; and further,, tfiat Christ is bodily under the form of bread and wine, and therefore ' is to be worshipped, in them ; so that the MasS' at bottom, is nothing else than h denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry" The confession S. made, by this avowal of his faith in 1844, and what. he published in 1845, in a book- form, as Dr. ISTevin terms it, the germ of which was delivered on the day of his inauguration, I leave to be reconciled by the learned. Professor. I cannot. Subscriptions to Confessions, I have always regarded as solenin matters, which no honest man can trifle with. Of this I shall have more to say, when obliged to show the solemn form in which Schaf 's j)ledge was given. How beautiful the idea to this Professor, when he 72 ANTIDOTE. wrote, "-The cathedral,." visited never by the light of the natural day, but only by mystic irradiations poured through stained glass 1" Ah ! if the sun could look into those Cathedrals "bearing the soul on high" by "their mysterious devotional .gloom ;" and see the worship paid to Madonnas, and to Saints, and to Images, instead of being offered to Jehovah and his Son Jesus Christ alone ; would he not blush and hide his head, ashamed to witness these abominations of the Eomish Church ; which she, in violation of the first and second precept of the Decalogue, has set up in the house of God ! Yet, says this singular writer, " Truly a great time, and for one who is prepared lo understand it, fraught with the richest spiritual interests. He that has no heart for the excellencies of this period, the beauty that belongs to the Middle Ages, must be wanting in genuine culture, or at least in all right historical feeling." Excellencies and beauty of the Middle Ages ! Alas ! Popes were usurpers — the state of the Church was anti-christian — ignorance and error everywhere pre- vailed, with their accompanying vices and licentious- ness — Artists and Poets were not influenced by motives from above, or truly religious. In what, then, consisted the excellencies and beauties of the Middle Ages ! They may please the morbid imagin- ation of one whose mind has been perverted, by error, from the love of truth, and carried away by its delusions. But by a mind captivated by the love of religious truth, and under the sanctifying influence of the Spirit of God, no such excellencies and beauty in the Middle Ages can be seen. It will turn away with disgust from this vain attempt of a Protestant to mislead his readers. FALSE CLAIMS EXPOSED. 73 That a -rpal Papist, so .deluded as to belieye tlie Pope, is divinely entitled to occupy the exalted posi- tion as head of Christendom, whick-he cMms,; — that the Church ought to control the State,^and that the superstitious and idolatrous worship offered by . Romanists, in their magnificent Ca,the;drals, is true and acceptable worship ; that a man so deluded, might, by th6 aid of a vivid imagination, see and admire the e;xcellencies and beauty of the Middle Ages, is not surprising. But that a professing' Protestant, who knows the Popes to be usurpers, aad admits the Eomish Church to be corrupt in many doctrines and practices, should, in the relative condition of the Church and State as here described,, and in the worship offered in Cathe- drals and "their 'mysterious devotional gloom;" see, and admire excellencies and beauty, and describe them, in glowing terms, that other Protestants may see and admire them ; is what I cannot reconcile With truth and honesty. Crossing the Niagara river, in 1828, just ,below_ the , falls,, with a lady, in a small boat, I bade her see the beauty and grandeur of , the falls. Apprehensive of danger, she exclaimed, "Don't talk to me about beauty and grandeur now 1" A mind smitten with the love of truth and duty, while recollecting the abominations of Papacy, and the corrupt and idolatrous worship of the Eomish Church, during the "Middle Ages," ,will turn away from the. false description of beauty and excellencies, which the pen of Schafhas attempted to throw around thenij to beguile the ignorant and unwary, with dis- gvst sand loathing. The Doctor has read the story of the devils and the 7 74 ANTIDOTE. swine. (Matt. viii. 20-34.) Art and design appear evident in the request of the devils: Their design was, by destroying the swine in the sea, to operate on the depravity of the inhabitants of a city; to prejudice their minds against Jesus, and thus prevent their listening to his heavenly instruc- tions. Their plan succeeded. The whole city being in- formed of all that had happened, " came out to meet Jesus : and when they saw him, they, besought him that he would depart out of their coasts." He com- plied with their request. As these foolish inhabitants of the city loved gain more than godliness, the Ee- deemer, who knew the state of the desires of their hearts, as well as the design of the devils, was pleased to leave them to the working of their own carnal hearts ; and to reap the consequences of their own sinful request, and preference of earthly to heavenly things. Will the doctor try, by his vivid imagination and glowing rhetoric, how much beauty he can extract from this story, for his admirers ? What strange conceptions of truth and perceptions of beauty, and devotiorral feelings, has this singular man ! Let the reader peruse again what he says, (Part i. p. 18,) about the cathedrals. The sentence begins thus: " The most magnifioent and beautiful buildiDgs of tine period, Ac." Here we see the first development of the Ger- man Professor's historical views. In his published history we shall see how greatly they are changed, and a development very different and nearly opposite. petek's peimacy. 75 Thus I had written g,nd published in my pamphlet, 9,nd given the Professor more credit than he deserved. Having learned more of the condition of the German Eeformed Church, and of the dates of certain occur- rences and. collated, them; and having compared the Doctor's inaugural address as translated by Dr. Nevin and; published in 1845, so irreconcilable with the solemn engagement madeyM.9i he/ore his address; I am now constrained to add, that, the change in the Pro- fessor's historical views does not appear to me as it did when I wrote my pamphlet. This, however, reflects no honor on the Doctor, and confirms me in the belief thsit he is not a protestant, and more than, a semi-papist, as I called him. If I have erred in regard in the amount of the change in the development of Dr. Schaf's historical views, I cannot err when I say, he has exhibited a strange and wonderful development of mind/ CHAPTER 11. SCRIPTURAL ARGCMENTS AGAINST THE CLAIMS OF ROMANISTS, FOR THE. PRIMACY OF PETER. Eomanists contend that Peter was the chief Apostle, the Primate or Princein the Apostolic College. . In support of this assertion they urge as proof: ■First, That Jesus Christ promised to build on him, the rocfc, his <;hurch ; against which the gates of hell shallnever prevail : 76 AEGUMENTS AGAINST Second, That to him were given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the power of binding and loosing, both in heaven and on the earth. See Mat- thew xvi. 18-19. But the claim to his primacy is mere assumption; arid the proofs urged in its support are destitute of force Peter, it is cheerfully admitted, was highly honored by his master, on two occasions : 1. He was selected with James and John, and con- ducted up into a high mountain, to witness our Ee- deemer's transfiguration; but Peter was not more highly honored than James or John ; for they too were witnesses of the wonderful scene, and heard as well as Peter, the testimony which the Father bore to his Son. (See Matt. xvii. 1-8.) 2. Jesus selected Peter, and the two sons of Zebe- dee, to witness his agony in the garden of Gethse- mane. In this honor James and John shared equally with Peter. But, on this occasion, Peter brought on himself especially a rebuke for sleeping. All indeed, ere criminal for sleeping, while their Master was overwhelmed with unutterable and mysterious agony ; so that his soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. Had they felt that fervent love for Jesus which they ought to have felt, they would have watched one hour. The disciples when warned by their Master; "All ye shall be offended because of me this night;" Peter replied; "Though all men should be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended:" And when told that he would deny him thrice, he confidently affirmed, " Though I shoud die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise said all the disciples." PETEfi'S PRIMACY. 77 Hence, wlieii Jesus rebuked his three disciples for sleeping, he singled out Peter, saying: " Peter, -what could ye not wMch with me one hour?" (Matt. xxvi. 31^46.) On. these two occasions, it is manifest, that- Peter had no preeminence in honor above his fellow dis- ciples. Peter was naturally warm, ardent, and zealous: and the warmth of Ms feelings betrayed him some- ■ times into serious faults, and once brought on him a severe rebuke from his Master. "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer 'many things of the elders, and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day." "Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke, him, saying, Be it far from thee Lord : This shall not be unto thee." What impertinence ! What opposition to the appointment of infinite wisdom! No blind attachment to his master could excuse such improper boldness. What followed? "But he turned, and said|unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan : thou art an offence to me ; for thou savourest not of the things that be of Grod, but of the things that be of men." (Matt. xvi. 21-23.) How humiliating the rebuke ! This rebuke was followed by a statement of the terms of discipleship, and the glorious, reward that awaited the faithful disciples, (vs. 24-28.) Again: how faulty the conduct of Peter, the night in which our blessed Eedeemer was betrayed and apprehended? Peter drew his sword, and without waiting for an answer to the question, "Lord, shall we smite with the sword? Smote the high priest's 78 ARGUMENTS AGAINST servant, and cut off his right ear." — "But Jesus touched his ear, and healed him." (Luke xxii. 49- 51. John xviii. 10.) ' . On that dreadful night all his disciples forsook him and fled ; and Peter too, who had solemnly promised to be faithful, though at the cost of his life. John soon recovered his courage, and followed the Band, who conducted the Eedeemer to the palace of the high priest; and, although "known to the high priest,' boldly went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest." Knowing that Peter was at the door, John went out, and spoke to the damsel that kept the door, and had it opened for his admission. (John xviii, 15-16.) The awful scene that followed, so degrading to Peter, whom Eomanists and those who sympathize with them, pretend to be the prince of the Apostles, is well known. Thrice Peter denied his suffering Master ; first, with a solemn declaration, "I know not what thou sayest." (Matt. xxvi. 70 ;) second, " he denied his Master with an oath, I do not know the man ;" (verse 72;) third, when charged with being a disciple of Jesus, he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know hot the man. And immediately the cock crew, (verse 74) "And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter." "What a piercing look 1 It went to the heart of this apostate ! " Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before' the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." "And Peter went out, and wept bitterly." (Luke xxii. 60-62.) Behold in this degraded, though penitent apostate 79 sinner, your pretended prince of the apostles, ye Eomanists and sympathizers in Eomish errors ! Compare him with John, that loving disciple,' who boldly went into the high priest's palace, although known to him. He did not deny his Master. He outlived Peter ; and was favored with most extraor- dinary revelations, for the benefit and consolations of the Church. After Peter, penitent, and restored, and forgiven, had finished his coursef and gone, with a crown of martyrdom to heaven ; revelations (that im- print on Borne, on her forehead, the indelible and^ infamous stigma, recorded where it cannot be ,obliter- ated,J^were given to John. (Rev- xvii. 5-16.) Compare Peter and John, in regard to love to Jesus, courage, and faithfulnes~s in the service of their Master. Who should be esteemed first ? But Jesus would have ho prince among his apostles, to exercise his authority over them. (See Mark x. 31-45.) Let us now examine the first argument by which Eomanists endeavoured to establish the pHncely authority of Peter. ' They bring forward - this portion of the word of God: " When Jesus came into the cpasts of Cesarea Philippi; he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the son of man am ? " And they said. Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some Elias; and ethers, Jeremiah, or one. of the prophets. " He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am ? "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. " And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed 80 ARGUMENTS AGAINST art thou, Simon, Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father which is in heaven." " And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church : and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. " And I will give unto thee the keys of the king- dom of heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt. xvi. 13-19.) " This passage we distribute into three divisions ; and shall consider First, The confession of Peter ; Second, The promise relating to the building of the church ; Third, The power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven. I. "We shall consider Peter's Confession. It was a noble confession. It came from above. He spake uuder the inspiration of God. But alas ! how ignorant was this prince of the apostles, as Eomanists, not understanding the Scrip- tures, foolishly call him I Let it be distinctly remarked. It' is immediately after recorded in this chapter, that Peter acted so im- pertinently, and with such ignorance of the design of the Saviour's incarnation and mission into the world ; a design on which his heart had been so set from the beginning, (Ps. xl. 7. Heb. x. 9,) as to bring upon him Iroln his indulgent Master that severe indignant rebuke and reproachful name , " Get thee behind me Satan ; thou art an offence unto me : for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. (vs. 22-23.) PETER'S PEIMACY. 81 This Confession had, a year or more before, been made by Peter, in the name of his fellow disciples, although, one proved to be a traitor. " Then said Jesus to the twelve, "Will ye also go away ? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord,., to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life. " And we believe ^nd are sure, that thoU art that Christ, the Son of the living God. (John vi. 67-70.) Nathaniel made a like confession, at the very com- mencement of the Eedeemer's ministry ; and it stands recorded to his honour, by John, in the first chapter of his gospel; "Eabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the king of Israel." (Chap. i. 49.) Indeed we are taught by John, that it was the privilege and the happiness of all true believers to know the fundamental truth contained in this great confession ; " The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (v. 14.) From the above induction of recorded facts, it is manifest Peter wa.s neither ihefixstto PISCOVEB,. nor the first to UTTEB, this most interesting and all-important confession. II. We are to consider the meaning of our Lord, when He said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." That our Master intended by these words to teach us, t!^at his church was indestructible, and would be sustained to the end of time, it is unnecessary to go into an argument to prove. It has already been preserved, more than eighteen 82 ARGUMENTS AGAINST hundred years against assaults of every kind, by Jews and Gentiles, and preserved througli persecu- tion in every form; by imprisonment, by the sword, and by fire. Her members have been deprived -of their goods, shut up in filthy dungeons, driven into the wilderness, or slain with the sword, or burnt at the stake. By pretended followers of Christ, they have been dragooned into their corrupt faith, or banished, in multitudes, from their native country ; they have been deprived of the Sacred Scriptures, which Jesus Christ commanded them to search, that they might find eternal life. Pagan Eome has passed away, and Papal Rome is tottering on its base. Still the Church of Christ lives, and will live, through whatever trials may await her in coming time, till her redemption draws nigh aud she enters on her millenian rest. But what did our Saviour mean ? when he said, " Thou art Peter, and on his rock I will build my church." Here was doubtless a reference to what is written, (John i. 42,) where we are informed, that when Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus, he was addressed thus : " Thou art Simon the Son of Jona : thou shalt be called Cephas] which is by interpreta- tion, A stone." But did our Lord intend, by his address to Peter, when he made his noble confession, to teach that the ■ church was to be built on Peter, the rock ? So say Papists. Let it not be forgotten, that we have shown t^at Peter had before this made the same confession, in 83 behalf of his fellow disciples, and that Nalhahael had made the same confession, two years before. To ascertain our Master's true meaning, let us endeavoiTr to discover it, by the apostolic rule; com- paring Scripture with Scripture. Hear then the Prophet /sata/i, [sxviii. 16.] "There- fore, thus saith the Lord G-od, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cor- ner stone, a sure foundation : he that believeth shall not make haste." Hear the Psalmist, [cxviii. 22, 23.] "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is mar- vellous in our eyes." Hear Paul, [1 Cor. iii. 10, 11 :] "As a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buUdeth thereon But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. T'or other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Hear Paul again: [Ephes. ii. 20-22:] " And are built upon the foundation of the Apostles ^nd the Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone : in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth Unto an holy, temple in the Lord : in whom, ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through' the spirit." . Now, hear how Peter harmonises with Isaiah, and the Psalmist, and];with Paul: [1 Pet. ii. 4^9:] "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed in- deed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, accept- able to G:od by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scriptures, Behold, I lay in Sion a 84 ARGUMENTS AGAINST chief corner stone, elect, precious : and ne tliat be- lieveth on him, shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore, which believe, he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the buil- ders disallowed, the same is made the head of the cor- ner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offenCe, even to them which stumble at the word, being diso- bedient ; whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people ; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." Hear now the Master: [Matt. xxi. 42:] To the chief priests and the elders, inquiring of him in the temple, by what authority he acted, among other things he said : " Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes ?" Now, in view of these texts compared together, is it not apparent how untenable and unreasonable is the construction put by Eomanists on our Saviour's address to Peter? when he said, "Thou art Peter; and on this rock, I will build my church." By turning to Dr. Doddridge's paraphrase on Matt. xvi, page 484, vol. 1, note ": the reader may see by what a host of Protestant writers, such as GroUus, Le Cleric, Dr. Whitby, Dr. Clark, D Enfant, Bisliop Bur- net, Calvin, Dr. Barrow, Dr. Patrick, &c. : the wild in- terpretation oi Romanists, is rejected. Doddridge too, and other writers, " look upon this as one of those scriptures, the sense of which might be most certainly fixed by the particular tone of voice and gesture with which it was spoken. If our petee's peimact. 85 Lord altered his accent, and laid his hand on his breast, it would show that he spoke, not of the person but of the confession oi Peter, [as most Protestant Wri- ters have understood it,J and meaned to point but himself as the great Foundation. But if he turned to the other. Apostles^ and pointed to ^ Peter, he meaned to intimate the honor he would do him, in making him an eminent support to' his church." This supposition, in the writer's view, will receive support by referring to John ii, 18-22. Our Lord, in an early- part of his ministry, indig- nant at the gross profanation of the temple, by con- verting it into a place of merchandise, having " made a scourge of small cords," expelled all out, who were thus profaning God's house of worship. Offended at his conduct, the Jews demanded of him a sign to prove he was duly commissioned to, exercise the authority he assumed. He replied, "Destroy this teinple, and in three days, I will raise it again." Astonished at his declaration, the Jews exclaimed, " Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in 'threa days ?" The meaning put on our Saviour's words, by the Jews, seerhed natural ; and it is probable his disciples also so understood him, by not attending properly, at th0 time, to the tope of voice or gesture used to convey his true rueaning. 'But after his resurrection, by recalling to mind, not onlj the words of Christ, but the attending circumstances, they apprehended, as the Evangelist says, "He spake. of tlie temple his body," as tlie original may be rendered* (according to Knapp's edition.) Unless something of thiis kind *No Greek type in the office. 86 AEQUMENTS AGAIKST Had occurred, how could Jolin -write? "When, therefore, he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them ; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had said unto them." CHAPTER III. SAME SUBJECT CONTINTJBD. m. The true meaning of the keys given to Peter, must now be determined. " I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, &c." Where is the evidence for the interpretation of the Eomanists to be found ? Not in the first commission given to the twelve to go and preach the gospel to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, iu their cities and towns. The commission, with the accompanying directions, counsels, and ex- hortations, was given to the twelve, without distinction. (Matt. X.) All were authorized "to preach, saying. The kingdom of heaven is at hand." (v. 7.) All were empowered to work miracles, (v. 8.) If Peter is named first, it is because he was older than his brother Andrew, who went with him in executing the commission. This commission seems to look to events that oc- curred, when they went to execute the commission given to them after our Lord's resurrection from the dead. (See vs. 16-23.) peteb's primact. 87 It is not to he found in the subsequent commission given to the eleven by Christ, before his ascension into heaven. That commission prefaced by these words ; " All power is given to me in heaven and in earth ;" was addressed to the eleven. It spread the world before them as the field of labor. It commanded them to evangelize all nations ; to administer baptism ; and to pleach the gospel, by teaching them to observe all things whatsoever the Redeemer had commanded them. And it was followed by a promise of ample assistance and -support, couched in words that ex- tended the commission to all their successors in the ministry, through all successive ages : " And lo, I arh with you always, even unto the end. of the world. Amen." (Matt, xxvii'i. 16-20.) Let the Master explain his own meaning. " At the, same time came the disciples unto , Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" This question mates it evident that neither Peter nor the other disciples supposed, at this timejjiny pri- macy had been settled. Hear what follows : " And Jesus called a little child_unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said. Verily, I say unto you. Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the^ kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest ip. the kingdom of heaven, &c." (Matt, xviii. 1-6.) Again : In the same chapter, he said, " And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church : but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as- an heathen man and a publican-. 88 ARGUMENTS AGAINST " Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall' be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." (vs. 15-18.) The same lesson is inculcated in the following pas- sage. " And he came to Capernaum : and being in the house he asked them. What was it that ye dis- puted by the way? Bat they htld their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be greatest. And he set down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, " If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them ; and when he had taken him in his arrns, he said unto them, • Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me : and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me." (Mark ix. 33-37.) In view of these passages where is Peter's Primacy ? Again : " Then came to him the mother of Zebe- dee's children, with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What ^vilt thou ? She saith unto him. Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with ? They say unto him. We are able. And he saith unto them. Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am bap- tized with ; but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give; hwi it shall he given to Ihem for whom it is prepared of my Father. And when petee's primacy. 89 the ten Tieard it, tliey were. moTed witli indignatioti against the two brethren. But Jesus called them un- to him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall ilot be so among you ; but whosoever will 'be great among you, let him be your minister ; . And whosoever will be chief among you let him be. your servant;. Even as the Son of man came not to be ' ministered' unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matt, xx, 20-28.) Where, is the prinaacy? In Mark x. 41, it is added: "And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John." "But Jesus called them to hina, ahd saith unto them, Y6 know that they which ^re accounted to rule over the Gentiles, exercise lordship over them ; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you : but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister. And who- soever of you will be chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Mark x. 42-4b.) Hear again the Master. " But be ye not called Eabbi : for one is your Master, even Christ ; and all y^ are brethren. And call no man father upon the earth ; for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters : for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased ; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." (Matt, xxiii. 8-12.) 90 ARGtrMBNa?3 AGAINST Thus, -wliile yet upon the earth, tod before his death, he explained his own meaning, and taught us how to understand the words addressed to Peter, and through him to all his apostles. In like manner did he address his disciples, when assembled with closed doors, for fear of the Jews. , On the evening of the first day of the week, " came Jesus and stood in the midst, and said. Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and side.- Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again. Peace be unto you : as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Eeceive ye the Holy Ghost : Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." (John xs. 19-23.) Thomas, who had been absent from this meeting of the disciples, and was unbelieving when they told him, they had seen the Lord ; being present when his Master appeared again to his disciples, eight days af- ter, was addressed by him ; and being fully convinced, exclaimed, " My Lord and my God." (vs. 26-29.). So far it is plain the disciples had no knowledge of any thing like primacy being given to Peter ; nor is there any scriptural evidence that Peter himself enter- tained any such impression on his mind; although, like his fellow apostles, while mistaking the nature of Christ's kingdom, he may have felt the working of unholy and carnal ambition of preeminence in au- thority. And if our Lord had really settled the question, at so early a period as Eomanists assume, would he not when the question arose, at two difierent times, after- Peter's peimaoy. 91 wards among liis disciples, have- put an end to their disputes,' by telhng them he had assigned the, /jnmac?/ to Peter ? Bat how'di,|ferentIy did he treat their am- bitious disputes ! He, told them plainly that the way to exalt themselves in his kingdom, was to' humble themselves, after the example He, their Lord and Mas- ter had set thern. ' In view of all these passages of Scripture compared together, are we not taught, that our blessed Lord had not assigned any prinkacy.to Peter, and that he had no design of .giving such preeminence to any apostle ? CHAPTER ly. THE SCRIPTURAL ARGUMENT AGAINST PETEr's PRIMACY, CON- EIRMED BY THE CASE ANJ) TESTIMONY OF PAUL. Let Us now turn our attention to the case of the great apostle, and see what additional light can' be fairly drawn from it against the assumption; of Eo- manists, oi Peter's primacy. That Paul was a man of great genius, possessing mental endowments of high order ; a mind diligently cultivated and enriched with stores of learning. That he sat at the feet of Gamaliel, a celebrated Jewish^ doctor, and profited in the Jews' religion above many his equals; is well known. In these respects he w^ far superior to Peter. Peter had been highly honored in being chosen by our Lord as one of the twelve who attended on him 92 ARGUMENTS AGAINST during the whole of his ministry on earth, and enjoyed the benefit of his divine instructions, But Paul was honored with the appearance of our Lord from heaven, who threw around him a light brighter than that of the noonday sun, and announced to him, that He had chosen him to be a minister to the Gen* tiles. " Whereupon, said he, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision : but shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." (Acts xxvi. 13-20.) Peter furnished two inspired epistles to the Canon of the Scripture; Paul, fourteen, constituting" one-half or more of the New Testament. Peter labored diligently and successfully, among the Jews, being an apostle to the circumcision, and in some degree among the Gentiles. Paul's labors were far more and abundant and successful, and through a great region of country. "I will not dare," says this great man to the Romans, " to speak of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God ; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Ulyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ. Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should^ build upon another man's foundation ; but as it is written. To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see ; and they that have not heard shall understan(^ For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming unto you. But now having no more place in these ster's primacy, ^ 93 parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come unto you;, for I trust' to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thither- wards by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your ■company," &c. (Rom. xv. 18-33.) A signal honor was conferre I on Paul, in which Peter never participated. " He was caught up to the third heaven ;" whether^ in the body or out of the body he could not tell : " he was caught upl-nto para- dise, and heard uns^peakable words, which it is unlaw- ful for man to utter." ' With what delicacy he touches this matter, speaking in the third person ! (2 Cor. xii, 2-4.) ' ' - , Does the reader wish to know more of this great apostle? He is referred to 2 Cor. xi. 13-33. Such was Paul. II. Wq assume it will be conceded by all fair reasoners, that if our Lord had really constituted ' Peter Primate or Prince oi the apostolic College, the fact would have been made known to Paul,, and ac- knowledged by him. If, therefore, it can be proved that Paul neither knew, non acknowledged the fact, it will follow con- clusively, that the pretensions of Romanists in regard to Peter's primacy must be destitute of truth. This can be proved from the vindication of himself in his epistle to the Galatians,— from the proceedings of the council at Jerusalem, — and from the vin- dication of his apostolical authority, in his second epistle to the Corinthians. 1. From the vindication of himself in his epistle to the Oalatians. To bring back that Church to the faith of the gos- 94 ARGUMENTS AGAINST pel, -whicTi he had preached among them, and from which, through Judaizing teachers, they were in danger.'of falling, he makes this solemn declaration,: " I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which Was preached of me^ is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." (chap. i. 11, 12.) In proof of this he states that as soon as God had revealed to him his Son Jesus Christ, he con- ferred not with flesh and blood; nor did he go up to Jerusalem to receive either instruction or authority ; but commenced preaching the gospel at Damascus. He then went into Arabia, and returned to Damascus. Three years elapsed before Paul went up to Jerusa- lem to visit Peter. He abode with him fifteen daj's. During his stay in that city, he saw no other apostle, but James, the Lord's brother. To this he solemnly deposes, (vs. 15-20.) "Afterwards," he says, "I came into Syria and Ci- licia ; but was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea, which were in Christ ; but they had heard only. That he which persecuted us, in times past, now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in. me." (vs. 21-24.) 2. From the proceedings of the council held at Jeru- salem. (Acts XV.) It was fourteen years after his .first visit to Peter mentioned above, that Paul went again to Jerusalem to attend that, council to settle a most important cj^ues- tion. It related to the circumcision of Gentile be- lievers, and their obligation to observe the law of Moses. He knew they were under no obligation to keep that law, nor to be circumcised. So, he taught wherever he preached the gospel ; and when he and Peter's primacy. 95 Barnabas, guided by revelation, went to Jerusalem, for the -purpose of attending the council,' they refused to allow Titns, a Greek, who accompanied them, to be circumcised, to gratify Jewish prejudices; and thus , maintained the liberty which Christ had granted to his church by freeing them from that heavy yoke that God had, for wise reasons, imposed on his an- cient people. (Gal. ii. 1-5.) As "they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, they caused great joy to all the brethren." And when they reached Jerusalem, "they were received of the church, iand of the apostles and elders; and they declared all things that God had done with them." (Acts XV. 2-4) The apostles and elders being assembled in- council to deliberate on. the question submitted, and much disputing having occurred, Peter rose up and ad- dressed the council .thus: "Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness^ giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us : And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that, through- the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they." (vs. 7-11.) Peter having taken his seat, "the multitude kepi silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, de daring what miracles and wonders God had wroughl among the Oentiles by them." (v. 12.) 96 ARGUMENTS AGAINST James, who appeared to aot as Moderator, then ad- dressed the council ; and, in the close of his address, gave his opinion what should be done. (See vs. 19-21.) It was approved by the whole assembly ; and chosen men of their own company were sent with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch; bearing letters- in which they unanimously condemned the conduct of those Judaizing teachers,^who had troubled the church at Antioch, and sustained the doctrine and practice of Paul and Barnabas. The epistle being read to the church at Antioch,. " they rejoiced for the consolation." (vs. 30, 31.) In the proceedings of this council there is not the slightest appearance of any superiority of Peter in authority or honor ; and Paul tells us, that he neither saw nor acknowledged any. See his statement of the result of the council. " And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived ths grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the cir- cumcision." (Gal. ii. 6-10.) 3. From the vindication of his apostolic authority, in his second epistle to the Corinthians. Paul had been defamed and traduced, by false apostles, ministers of Satan, who endeavored to un- dermine and destroy his influence at Corinth f and thus to enable them, with greater ■ facility, to accom- plish their wicked design of subverting the truth of the gospel, which be had so successfully preached in that opulent and luxurious city. In these circumstances he felt it a duty to endeavor to counteract^their sinister design, by vindicating and teb's peimaCt. 97 maintaining the, authority he had .received from the Lord Jesus Christ; who had commissioned him as- his apostle to the Gentiles ; and enabled him to be faith- ful in discharging his multiplied duties, an4 sustained him under his severe labors, and painful trials and sufferings. . The vindication 'of himself is commenced in the tenth chapter, and is carried on, through the following chapters, to the end of this epistle. He speaks of the spiritual power imparted to him, for edification, and not for destruction, which'' he could exert, when , present with the Corinthians, as well as in his letters, when absent ; — of his rule to preach the gospel where it had not been preached, and not to build on another man's foundation; — of his success at Corinth, and off^his anxiety, lest. Satan, by the agency of false teachers, should corrupt their minds and draw the^i from the simplicity of the gos- pel of Christ ; — of Ms labors among them, being free from any charge to them, and his determination to continue thus to labor in the regions of Achaia, to counteract the boasting of false teadhers; — of his Hebrew descent ; — of his abundant labors, great' suf- ferings from stripes above measure, frequent impris- onment, and exposure to death ; — of his manifold" dangers, by land and water, from robbers, from his own countrymen, and the heathen, and false breth- ren; — and of his sufferings from weariness, watch- ings, hunger ^nd thirst, frequent fastings, cold and nakedness^; — and especially from incessant and daily care of all the churches. . He speaks of the abundant visions and revelations' he had been favored with from the Lord ;— of his rap- ture into the third, heavens already noticed ; — and of 9 98 AE&UMENTS AGAINST the thorn in the flesh, the messenger from Satan t( buffet him, lest through the abundant revelations, h( should be ex-alted above measTjre. Thrice, he says, he besougtt the Lord to remoT( this thorn ; yet it was not takdn away. But his gra cious Lord granted what he priced more highly, Hii assurance : " My grace is sufficient for thee ; for m] strength is made perfect in weakness." Fully confiding in the faithfulness of his Master the apostle exclaimed: " Most gladly, therefore, will : glory in my infirmities, that the power of "Christ ma] rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in inflrmi ties, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, ii distresses for Christ's sake : for when I am weak, thei am I strong." After this general, sketch of Paul's vindication o his apostolical character, it is proper to quote, in hi: own words, two passages to prove that he felt himsol to stand on ground of equality with any and ever apostle. In chapter si. 5, he says, " For I suppose I was no a whii behind the very chiefest apostle." And in chapter xii, after having spoken of thi abundant visions and revelations of the Lord to him he says, (verse 11-19,) " I am become a fool in glorj ing : ye have compelled me : for I ought to have beei commended of you : for in nothing am I behind th ■ very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. Trul the signs of an apostle were wrought among you i all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty, deedi For what is it wherein ye were inferior to othe churches, except it be that I myself was not burdei some to you ? Forgive me this wrong." Now mark the love of this glorious apostle I " Bi PETER'S PEIMAOT. 99 hold, the third time I am coming to you ; and I -will not be burdensome to- you : for I seek not your's but you: for the children , ought, not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. Aifidl will very gladly spend and be spent for you : though the more abundantly I love you, the less X be loved." What devotion to his Master's service! What love to the souls of men ! What forgetfulness of him- self, when fidelity to the honor* of his apostolic office did not forbid it ! One incident in the history of this great apostle must not be omitted. Subsequently to the delivery of the decree of the council at Jerusalem to the church in Antioch, Peter came down to that city. And 'A-'iile there, knowing the ceremonial law had lost its binding authority, and that Jewish believers might associate , with Grentile christians, " he did eat with the Gentiles ;" but when "certain came from James," fearing to incur censure- from those circumcised brethren, " he withdrew and separated himself," and no longer ate with Grentile believers. "The example became contagious. The other Jews dissembled likewise with him ; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dis-- simulation." Paul felt his noble soul grieved at such unchristian conduct, so inconsistent with the recent decree of the council, and determined to maintain the liberty which Christ had best(jwed on his Church. He was much younger in the apostleship and in age than Peter 5 but knowing his official iauthority from Christ to be entirely equal to that of his elder brother, he felt it to be his duty to do what he could, to arrest the grow- ing evil. He 'determined, therefore, .to give Peter a IPO BtrMMAEY. public rebuke. Accordingly he embraced an oppo tunity for uttering "before tliem all" that faithfi and pungent reproof, which is recorded ''in Gal. i 14-21. Here we might exult and say to Romanists' an their sympathisers, Behold your 1 No ; w would rather take a lesson on the weakness of hurna nature, though renewed by divine grace, when nc upheld by continual supplies of heavenly influence and suggest, that, probably in foresight of the gres abuse that would be made of Peter's official characte] for establishing claims so utterly opposite to serif tural truth, by " that man of sin " that would arise i: the Church ; and to furnish its friends with spiritua weapons, in contendi:-^ "for the truth, once deliverei to the saints:" his Master was pleased to leave him t himself, as He did once before, in a more humiliatin, manner. And we would also admire that grace, by whicl Peter was again recovered from his scandalous d« clension. He felt the truth uttered by Paul, and that his un christian conduct and base dissimulation merited thi public exposure. He, therefore, made no reply, hum bly submitted to the chastisement administered, b; the hand of his younger and more upright brother. SUMMARY OF THE AEGUMENT. "We have now proved, we think, 1. That Paul was, in genius, in natural endow ments, and in education, far superior to Peter : 2. That the visions and revelations granted to Pau were more than those vouchsafed to Peter : SUMMARY. 101 3. That the inspired writiiigs, -which Paul contrib- uted to the Ganon of Sacred Scriptures, amounted to one-half of the Few Testament; (if not more;) and were of course far greater than the two short epistles of Peter: 4. That in labors, in sufferings, in success in spreading, the gospel, in consistency of charrcter, afid uniform iiprightness of christian conduct, Paul far ex- ceeded Peter : 5. ;Th"at Paul asserted, under inspvrktion, his equal- ity with the very chiefest apostle, 6. It, therefore follows, that,, as he never acknowl- edged any inferiority to Peters or to any other apos- tle, he certainly never knew his inferiority to any one; because, if his Lord and Master had made known to him the Primacy of Peter, he would read- ily -Have submitted to His will, and most cheerfully made it known. In opposition to all this evidence against the as- sumption of the Romanists, no evidence can be pro- duced, from Scripture, that any. of the apostles ac-" knowledged or even 'knew of Peter being advanced in authority abo\^e his fellow apostles; but additional evidence to the contrary can be produce"d; for it is written, " Now when the apostles which were at Je- rusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sewiunto them Pder and John." If Peter had teen th°. Prince of the apoptles, they might have requested him to go, but they could not, and would not, have sent him. Finally : What is the fair conclusion to be drawn from t]ie preceding facts and reasoning? Is it not this ? There is no Scriptural evidence at all, that Peter was appointed by Christ Prince, Pri- 102 THE GREAT FACT. mate or Chief of his apostles, in honor and a-uthority Any tradition, then, to the contrary, is worthless and will receive His indignant and terrible rebuke when He comes to purify His Church, from all error; in doctrine, and all assumption of anti-christian au thority. CHAPTER y. THE GREAT FACT FATAL TO THE CLAIMS OF ROME AND T( THE REASONING OF HER PROTESTANT ADVOCATE. That papacy had no existence till the early part o the seventh century, is a truth so firmly establishec by-history, that it canno.t be disputed by any one wh( has read history carefully to ascertain the truth. Indeed CTcn Professor Schaff, impelled by truth has acknowledged most distinctly that there was nc pope during six centuries. And yet, after this explici' acknowledgment, he has artfully, but most disingen uously, tried to induce the readfers of his history t( believe that the papacy began with Peter, the apostle But he contradicts himself again and again, in the at tempt. This will clearly appear as we proceed in this chap ter. His acknowledgment we here exhibit in his owi form : "FIEST AGE. " The PEiMinvE or the Ge^co-Latin (Eastern 'and Western) Univeh SAL CBUEOHj.fi-om.its foundation on the day of, Pentecost to Gregory thi Great (A. D. 30-590) j thus embracing the first six centuries. THE GREAT FACT. 103 " ^st Period: The Apostolk church, from the first Christian Pfo- teoost to the death of the apostle* ^A. D. SO-l>X'"i. " Second Period : The PeriMutii church (eoclesia pressa-. to the leign of Coustantine (311). " Third Period: The establUhed church oi the Gr' none of them subject to foreign jurisdiction, but each governed by its own laws and its own rulers." After noticing the deferences shown to the Churches 124 J-OISON OF POPERY. founded by the apostles, and denying to them any ''sort of supremacy over others," he adds: Nothing, ou the contrary, io more evident than the perfect equaUty that reigned in tjie primitive Clinrehes," (page 105.) Again: What Dr. S. says, immediately after the lines we have just corrected, about "the consistency and tenacity with which the Catholic Church has at all times held fast the fundamental doctMnes of Chris- tianitjr, &c.," is indeed true of the Catholic, hvtt false^ when affirmed of the Hainan Catholic Church ; which has corrupted more or less all the fundaniental doc- trines of tlie gospel, and substituted in -place of that cnpital article, JusTiFiCATioisr by faith alone, a most perniciou-S dog\w\ justification hy works and pen- ance. This the Professor knows ; and he also knows, that the apostate Church of Eofne has dealt in that shame- ful traffic, tlie sale of indulgences ; by which the for- giveness of sins committed, and permission to comn.it sins, might be purchased for stipulated sums of money. And yet he attributes to this Church what belongs to the true Catholic Church ; for he is pleading the caus(J of the Eomish Church. "In view of the consistency and tenacity witli wliich the Catholic Churcli has, at all times, held fast all the fuudameutal doctrines of Christianity, thg Trinity, the true divinity and humanity of Christ, the inspiration and divine autliority of the Bible (ail of wliich anti-Christian- ity denies)." Answer : This is true of the Catholic Church ; but false in regard to the Roman Catholic Church, for she has taken away the Holy Scriptures from the people, and substituted her impious dogmas in the place of the Bible. Thus she has given her children " a stone for meat, and a serpent for a fish." (Matt. vii. 9, 10.) CHAPTER YIIL MEKITS or THE POPBS. Let us now examine what tlie learned Professor lias to' say " of the great merits of the Popes." Any one duly acquainted with ecclesiastical history, will be surprised at hearing these words, "the great merits of the Popes/" ' ' / ■ ~ ' t>T. Schaff, however, is determined to be impartial, and attribute "great merits even to the Popes. It is our -privilege, however, to question his impartiality-, by examining their merits, in several particulars. I. The popes maintained ORTHODOXY. How aston- ishing this claim ! The history of manv centuries stamps on this claim false. II. " The Popes asserted the unity, freedoni and in- dependence of the Church against the assaults of the secular power." " The uniti/ of the Church !" What kind of unity ? The unity of error, by teaching the people to dishonor Jesus Christ, the alone Mediator, and confide in the mediation of departed saints, and of the virgin Mary. And by- what means ? By. using their usurped pow- er in depriving the people of the Bible, and compel- ling, with, fire and sword, all to believe their anti- christian dogmas, and to , do what they commanded, whether right or wrong ! The Popes asserted "the. freedom and independence of the Church against the assaults of the secular pow- ers." Indeed ! ' Has the Professor never read the history of Pepin, 126 poisoisr OF pofert Mayor of the Palace of France ; who dethroned his Master, and seated himself on the throne, with the concurrence of Pope Zachaey, who needed the pro- tection of his arms ? Has he not read that this im- pious decision of Zachaey was solemnly confirmed by Stephen II, his successor on the papal throne, and how both were amply rewarded by Pepin? Has he not read of Charlemagne, that ambitious son of Pepin, who aspired "to the empire of the west and the government of Rome ;" and who, by the con- 'currence of Popes, realized his lofty aspirations ? Has he not read what great and ample rewards they re- ceived, both from the father and the son ? Doubtless he has read this portion of history; and if he will read it again,' as penned by Mbsheim, he will, I think, find, in these transactions, no evidence that the Popes asserted the independence of the Church ; though the Popes rejoiSed in the secular donations they obtained ; but abundant evidence of unchristian character and great ill desert. (See Mosheim, vol. ii. pp. 222-280- Cent, viii.) III. The Popes upheld "the sanctity of marriage P'' Amazing assertion I In the face of all history, does Prof S. make it ! ! ! Does he not know, that before the Papacy became established, some of the primitive fathers, and partic- ularly Jerome, extolled celibacy, in opposition to Scriptural teaching ; and that the Popes soon began to require that bishops and priests should be unmar- ried men ? And afterwards commanded those who were married to put away their wives. He knows the history of Hildebeand, Pope Gre- GORT VII ; how he exerted all his usurped power, as "head Christendom," against the marriage of ecclesi- EXPOSED. 127 astics, and commanded bishops and priests to put away tlieir, lawful wives. To refresh his memory, in regard to the chastky of this Pope, I recommend to -the Professor to reperuse what Mbsheim says (vol. ii. p. 485) of i'His intimate familiarity with Mathilda, the'daugliter of Boniface, duke of Tuscany, and tKe most piwerful and 6puleut princess iii that countryf (who found by_experienoe that neither aihbitiou, nor grace _had extinguislied the tender* passions in the heart of Gregoky,) eontrihnted much to this success ; for he engaged that princess, after the death of her husband Godfeet, dulie of Lorrain, and her mother Beateix, which happened, in the yeaa-s 1076 and 1077, to settle all her poBsessions in Italy and elsewhere upon the church of Borne, and thus to appoint St. Peter and his pretended vicar the'hoirs of her immense treasures." Especially let him recall to mind the arrogant cruelty of thjs most ambitious Pontiff, towards Hen- EY, of Germany; when he came across the Alps, amidst the rigours of a severe winter, February 1077, and presented himself as a suppliant,, "at the fortress of Ganusium, where the sanctimonioits pontiff resided at that time with the young Mathilda, countess of Tuscany, the most powerful patroness of the church, and the most tender and affectionate of all the spirit- ual daughters of Gbegoky." (vol. ii. p. 504.) Here is a specimen of other Popes, to whom Sehafif does not blush to ascribe great merit in upholding the sanctity of marriage! CHAPTER IX. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. We have now reviewed and analyzed more than two and a half pages of Schaff's lo«g note in Small type ; and before we examine the two- fold conclusion of his sophistical and papistical reasoning, at which he arrives on the next page, I will present to the reader a summary of established truths, to which our review and analysis have led us. SUMMARY OF ESTABLISHED TEUTHS. They are the following : 1. Peter, however conspicuously he niay occasion- ally appear, was never appointed by Jesus Christ, primate of the apostolic college. 2. The apostles were all equal in authority ; acting under the same commission, and in the same great field, the world. 3. They were extraordinary persons ; — amply qual- ified, by their Lord and Master, with gifts of the Holy Ghost, and the power of working miracles, to preach the gospel and organize churches, both in Judea and Galilee, and in the Gentile world ; and to inspect and regulate the affairs of churches already established, wherever they were, by the providence of God, sent to labour. 4. As .apostles, thus wonderfully endowed for their work, they had no successors ; but, by the inspiration. POPERY EXPOSED. 129 of the Holy Ghost, they were guided to appoint suc- cessors, in the ministry, to preach the gospel, admin- ister the sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, govern the churches, and take care, of the poor, under appropriate titles. Hence the blessed promf^e annexed to the grand and^all comprehending commission: "And. lo, lam •with you alway, . even unto the end of the -world. Amen." (Matt, xxviii. 20.) 5. All these truths have been acknowledged by S. again and again ; and he has again and again contra- dicted himself repeatedly. And throughout the part of the note, thus far reviewed and analyzed, I have perceived how he has, in a Jesuitical manner, assumed without expressing it, that Peter was primate and the first pope, in contradiction to his own explicit ac- knowledgment, that during the first' six centuries there was no pope ; and had renounced Peter's pri- macy more than once. SCHAFf's two-fold COKCLUSION from mS PAPISTICAL ' REASONING. "We are now prepared to look at his._ conclusions. He says : " In View of all these facts, (called facts ty Professor Scliaif, wlio, we have shown, has identified himself with Papists and ' Kouiaii Catholic theologians,') which are coming more and more tp'-be conceded hy nn- ■ prejudiced Protestant historJuns, (like Schaif,) we cannot possibly' ques- tion^, that the Eoman church, however con'upt in maiay doctrines and practices, belongs, to the Mstorical development of Christianity itself, and that it must aeceordingly have also some ground, even in the Holy Scriptures." Such is the conclusion which a professed Protes- tant, in the year 1853, has drawn from his long train 130 POISON OF POPERT of papistical arguments, so plainly in opposition to the Holy Scriptures thernselves. How ridiculous! (We shall expose his development after noticing his next conclusion.) " Nay, we believe, that even siuse the Reformation, the pope, as such, tliat is, in his official character, is not anti-clirist, but the legitimate head of the Momcm church, wMch, however, is certainly not, as she herself arrogantly asserts, identical with the catkoUc or universal church, but simply like Greek and Protestant Christendom, a part of it." eCIIAFI' IN OPPOSITION TO THE WHOLE PROTESTANT WORLD. In the second conclusion, Professor Schaff has, knowingly, placed himself in opposition to the whole Protestant world! This is the climax of folly ! Now for the proof. I. The first proof- — Opposition to LuTHER. He knows that the Reformation in Germany was commenced by Luther, who opposed the sale of in- dulgences, authorized by Leo X, the Roman pontiff; and conducted by Tetzel, a Dominican friar, in the most indecent, insolent and ■impious manner. Those who wish to obtain a correct account of its rise and progress, may read Mosheim. (vol. iv. chap. ii. pp. 28-47.) It cannot be doubted that S. has read and studied this part of the history. II. The second proof— Opposition to Melancthon. Schaff knows that Melanothon became an asso- ciate with Luther, in conducting the Reformation, and rendered him very material aid. Doubtless Dr. Schaff has read the character of Me- LANCTHOJsr, drawn by Mosheim. But to refresh his memory, as well as to gratify my readers, and to show EXPOSED. 131 hereafter how S. has misrepresented to the G. E. Church, this great 'and good man, I shall nialje some extracts from our historian. " As tiiis eminent man was one of those, whom this dispute with Eo- Kiua convinced of the excellence of Ltjihee's cause ; as he was, moreover, one of the illustrious and respectable instruments of the Reformation, it may not he improper to give some account here of the talents and virtues that' have rendered his name immortal. His greatest enemies have borne testimony to his merits. ThSy hav^ been forced to acknowledge, that the annals of antiquity exhibit very few worthies that may be com- pared with him ; whether we consider the extent of his knowledge in things human and divine, the fertility and elegance of his genius, the facility and quickness Of his comprehension, or the uninterrupted indus- tiy that attended his learned and theological labors. He rendered to philosophy and the liberal arts the same eminent service that Lutheb had done to religion, by purging them from the dross with which they had been corrupted, and by recommending them in a powerful and per- suasive manner, to the study of the Germans. He had the rare talent of discerning truth in all its most intricate connexions and coinbinations, of comprehending at once the most abstract notions, and expressing them with the utmost perspicuity and ease. And he applied this happy talent in religious disquisitions with such unparalellod_ success, that it may safely be affirmed, that the cause of true Christianity derived from the learning and genius of Melanothon, more signal'advantages, and a more effectual. support, than it received from any of the other doctors of the age." After referring to a defect arising from his natural temper,_ Mosheim goes on to say : "This spirit of mildness and charity, carried perhaps too far, led him sometimes to make concessions that were neither consistent with pru- dence, nor advantageous to the cause in which he was engaged. It is however certain, that he gave no quarter to those more dangerous an d momentous errors that reigned' in the church of Rome ; but maintained, on the contrary, that their, extirpation was esseiitiaUy necessary, in order to the restoration of true rehgion. In the natural complexion of this great man there was something soft, timorous and yielding. Hence arose a certain diffidence of himself, that not jjnly made him examine things with the greatest attention and care, before he resolved upon any measuj'e, but also filled him with uneasy apprehensions where there was no danger, and made him fear even things that, in reality, could never happen. And yet, on the other hand, when the hour of real dan- ger approached, when things bore a formidable aspect, and the cause of religion was in im&iseat peril, then tb.is timorous mm was co&veited 132 POISON OP POPERY all at once,, into an intrepid hero, looked danger in the face with iin- , shaken conNtancy, and opposed Ms adversaries Avith invincible forti- tude. All this sliews, that the force of trntli and the power of principle, had diminished the weaknesses and defects of Melajjcthon's natural character, without entirely removing them. Had his fortitude been more uniform and steady, his desire of reconciling all interests and pleasing airparties, less vehement and excessive, his triumph over the superstitions imbibSd in his infancy more complete, he must deservedly have been considered as one of the greatest among men. Urged by the enemies of Lutlier, Pope Leo X, a man utterly unworthy of his high station,, issued his bull, June 15, 1520, against his writings, in which he ordered them to be publicly burnt ; and in which he was again summoned, on pain of excommunication, within the space of sixty days, to confess and retract his pretended errors and cast himself on. the clemency and mercy of the pontiff. " As soon as the account of tliis rash sentoace, pronounced &om the papal chair," says Mosheim, ''was brought to Luthek, he thought it was higli time to consult both his present defence and his future secu- rity ; and the iirst step he took for this ptrpose, was the renewal of his appeal from the sentence of the Eoman pontiff, to the more respectable decision of a general council." His next step was to withdraw from the papal Church, and renounce the Pope's jurisdiction.. This he did in Wittemherg, in the most public and impressive manner. In that city, "in tlie presence of a prodigious multitude of people, of all ranks and orders, he committed to the flajnes both the hull, and the decretals and canons relating to the pope's supreme jurisdiction." Thus " he declared to the world, that he i\'as no longer a subject of the Eoman pontiff." " Many Eorann Catholics, who were zealous for the maintenance of tlio liberty of Germany, justified this bold resolution of Ltjthek." The second hull, dated Jan. 6. 1521, expelling him from the communion of the church for insulting the majesty, and disowning the supremacy of the Koman EXPOSED. 133 pontiff, came ; but Luther, by his noble resolution, had deprived it of. its power, and rendered it ridicu- lous. " From this time, therefore," says Mosliem,, " he applied himself to the pursuit of the truth with still more assiduity and fervour than ho had formerly done ; nor did he only revie-w with attention, and confirm by .new arguments, what he had hitherto taught, hut went much heyond it, anil made vigorous attaeks upon tlie main stronghold of popery, the power and jurisdiction of the Eoman pontiff; which he overturned from its very foundation. In this noble undertaking he was seconded by' many learned and pious men, in various parts of Ewrope; by those of the professors of the academy of Wittemberg, who had adopted his prin- ciples ; and iu a more especial manner by the celebrated Meiakothoh'. And as the fame of Ltjtheb's wisdom and Melangihon's learning had filled that academy with an incredible number of students, who flocked to it from aU parts, this happy circumstance propagated the principles of the Eeformation, with an amazing rapidity, through all the countries of Europe. III. Third j3roq/^Oppositio» to Zuingle, and the Eefortiied Church in Switzerland. IV. Fourth _groq^Opposition to Calvin, and the Eeformed Church of France. »► The confession of faith adopted and published, at different times, by that evangelical and glorious church, was written by Calvin. In article sxviii, they s^ : " In this belief we protest that where the word of God is not received, and where there is no professed subjection to it, and where there is no use of the Sacraments, if we Will speakproperl^, we cannot judge that there is any church. "Wherefore we'*londemn those assemblies of the Papacy; because the pure word of God is banished out of. them, and for that in them the Sacraments are corrupted, counterfeited, or ut- terly abolished, and for that among them all kinds of superstitions and idolatries are in fuH vogue. We hold, then, that aU those who meddle with such actions, and communicate with them, do separate and cut- themselves off from the body of Jesus Christ." In articles xxxv. and xxxvi, they acknowledge only two sacraments. Baptism and the Holy Supper of our Lord, as common to the whole Church. 12 1S4 FOISON OF POPEBT Sect. 10, p. XV., slio-ws that it was signed at Paris in 1'559 ; again in 1566 ; and again in 1571, the year before the St. Bartholomew massacre ; and most sol- emnly signed and ratified, in a national Synod, by Jane, Queen of NavQ,rre, by two Princes, Louis, Count of Nassau, and Sir Oaspard de GoUigni, Lord High Admiral of France. Calvin, in the third vol. of his Institutes, chap, xviii, has an ample discussion of the Mass of pp. 457- 478. The caption of the chapter is this : " Ths Papal Mais not only a sacrilegious profanation of the Lord'' s Snp- per, Imt a total annihilation of it." After a discussion of 17 pages, he says, sect. xiv. : " "Wherefore, I concliide thjit itis h most criminal insult, an intoler- able blasphemy, both against Christ himself, and against the sacrifice which he completed on our behalf, by his death npon the cross, for any man, to repeat any oblation, with a view to procm'e the pardon of sins, propitiatjjWJod, and obtain righteousness." Again, p. 478, he says : " In baptism, how little is seen of that which ought to be the only conspicuous object, I mean baptism itself? ■ And the Lord's Supper has been completely buried, since it has been transformed into the mass ; except that it is exhibited once a yj^r, biit. in a partial ^nd mutilated form." "* Let it be remembered th§t, in glorifying the Eomish Church, in the'^xniddle ages, S. has nowher^ excepted the Mass ; but still regards it as one of the Holy Sacraments, which "ran like threads of gold through the whole texture of life, in all its relation, . from infancy to old age." See his " Peinciples of Protestantism." V. Fifth _proo/— Opposition to the Synod of Dort. In this Synod all the Protestant States in Europe were represented, including Great Britain; eighteen in number. EXPOSED. 1S5 In the confession of faith adopted by that Synod, we find, in article xxix, " the marks of a true and of a false church. Among the marks of the true Church is this : " Jesus Christ aolmowledgcd as the oidy Head of the Church." How clearly, this distinguishes the true from the fake church ; which " Asorihes looro power and authority to herself and licr oi'dinauoes, than to the word of Sod, and will not submit hereelfto the yoTee of CiiiiisT. Neither does she administer the sacraments as 4;^oiuted by Cheist in his word, but adds to, and takes from them, as she thinks proper ; she relicth more upon men than upon Cheist ; and persecutes those who live holily according to~the word of 'God, and rebuke her for errors, covetousness and idolatry." How clearly the Protestant Church is here described as the iT'we church ; and the Roman Catholic Church as the false church ! (See Constitution of the Refor. Dutch Church, in U. S. A., pp. 32, 33.) VI. Sixth jiroo/^— ppposition to the Presbyterian Church in England, Scotland, and in America, who have sincerely adopted the confession of faith of the Westminster Assembly of Divines ; which says (chap, xxv. of the church) : " Sec V. The purest churches under heaven fire subject both to mix- ture and error ; and some have so degenerated, as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satsm. Kevertheloss, there shall be always a church on earth, to worship God according to his will. ' " VI. There is no other head of the church but the Loed Ji:sus Cheist. Nor can the pope of Borne, in any sense, be the head thereof; but is thai anti- Christ, that man of sm, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the churoli, against Cheist, and all that is called God." What a vast number of churches, in England, Scot- land, and North America, which have adopted this .confession of faith, has Prof. Scha^' placed himself, knowingly, in opposition to, by his papistical conclu- sion about the Pope being the legitimate head of the JSomcM Churph, and not anti- Christ 1 1 1 iOD POISON OF POi-EKV Have I not proved that this same pretended Prot- estant, has, knowingly, set himself in opposition to all Protestants,- both in Europe and in America, who have declared the Pope of Rome to be anti- Christ f He, therefore, to say the least, must be a real pa- pist, and not a Protestant ! Will he tell us what he is,? Does it not logically follow, that he cannot be re- garded as a Protestant, but as a Papist; and is no more entitled to a seat at the Lord's Supper, even oc- casionally, than a Roman Catholic ? CHAPTER X. PROFESSOR SCHAPF's ART AND DECEPTION. " In view of the great merits of the popes in maintaining orthodoxy, asserting the unity, freedom and independence of the chnrcli against the assaults of the secular power, upholding the sanctity of marriage." Answer : On pages 38-40 of Chapter V., the answer is sufficient, except that the reader is requested to compare what we have quoted from Mosheim, (vol. ii. p. 504:,) in regard to Gregory YII., whom he there denominates the sanctimonious pontiff, with what we omitted in our preceding quotation on the same page, (40.) The omission is this : " Who Mathilda found by experience tliat neither ambition nor grace had extinguished the tender passions in the heart of Geegoet." (vol. ii. p. 485.) These passages compared will make it plain that Mbsheim intended to impeach the chastity of GtREGOEy, EXPOSED. 137 wKo, in subsequent times, was imitated by many a pope, and by some in the most, shameless manner. With what art and deception this long and con- tradictory note is penned ! The art pf the i'rofessor consists in confounding the Catholic with the Boman Catholic Church, 'which every fair and. honest reasoner will distinguish irom each other ; and in making round and dogmatic assertions without proof. Thus he tries to prepare the way for attributing to the Romish Church the praise of all , that has been done by the catholic ovuniwrsal church. And, to accomplish his purpose the better, he does not hesitate to contradict himself, by ascribing to the papacy a duration of eighteen hundred years ; although he had previously admitted that it had no existence for six hundred years of » the Christian era, and that Peter was no pope ! He begins his note with a reckless assertion of the primacy of Peter in a very bold manner, as if it were undeniable ; although he had previously given up his primacy, and plainly asserted the equality of the apostles, and closes his first paragraph by admitting the primacy of Peter to be one of the three assump- tions of the "Eoman Catholic Theologians." This, I am aware, is a repetition which I make to secure attention to it, and^ecause he compels me to repeat. The reader, I hope,';j.will not forget the Professor has ascribed to the papacy a duration of eighteen hun- dred yeaxs, iWce in the samC' paragraph,'" in contradic- tion to his own admission, that six hundred years of the Christian era had passed away before it came into existence. Thus, according to Professor Schaff, the papacy began to work wonders before it was born. 138 POISON OF POFEKT This German Doctor, owing to his love of the papacy, has not yet done with praising the popes, for he adds still more : " And especially in spreading Cliristjamty and civilization among all the Eomanic, Germanic, and Scandinavian nations ; m view of all these facts, which are coming more and more to be conceded by r.npre. _ jndiccd Protestant historians," • (like Schaflf of course,) "we cannot possibly question that the Eoman-Chm-ch," (see his design to secure a}l the praise of spreading Christianity and civilization to the Eoman Church,) " however corrupt in many doctrines and pActices, belongs to the historical development of Christianity itself, and that it must accord- ingly have some ground even in the Iloly Scriptures." Answer': This Eoman church so " corrupt in many doctrines and practices," certainly was not the pure and holy church of Eome, 'to whom Paul addressed his famous epistle to the Romans. Of that church he writes the highest commendation. Eead -what he says: (Chap. 3, 5-8,) "By whom we have received grace and apostleship, - for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name ; among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: to all that be in Eome, beloved of God, called to be saints : grace to you, and peace from God our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ. for you ali, . that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world." Had neither Paul nor Peter, who were not popes, but a|)ostles, and their successors in the ministry done nothing to spread Christianity^nd civilization among the Eomanic, ^Germanic, and Scandinavian nations? Had the Greek , Church done nothing in spreading Christianity and civilization among these nations dur- ing six hundred years before a pope had existence ? How disingenuous, then, in Professor Schaff to at- tempt to transfer what was accomplished by the true EXPOSED, 139 followers of Christ, to ambitious popes destitute of tlie fear of God, and to the corrupt Eoman chureh ! Can he be an honest Protestant that writes as he vfrites? If the reader wish the testimony of credible history,, I refer him to Goodrich's History of all Nations, about Scandinavia especially, advising him to peruse wha't he- says of Sweden^ under GusTAVUS Vasa, and GusTAVDS Adolphus. (Yol. ii. pp. 1032, 1033.) I recommend also the perusal oJ-Mosheim, on the Eeformation in Sweden and iPenmar^ (Vol iv. cent, xvi, chap, ii., pp. 77-85.) There GusTAvus Yasa appears. And also Mosheim, (vol. v., cent, xvii., chap. i., sec. vi-viii., pp. 106-111.) Here GusTAvns Adol- phus is seen in his noble achievements. STEANSE LIBERTIES TAKEN BY ;S,KOFESSOE SCHAEF. After all that Schaff has written in this long note on which we have commented, what ground had he for writing, on page 377, beginning with the eighth line from the top, thus: " If the Chiirob of Rome has inherited, the prerogatives aud gifts of Peter, she has also frequently and on a lai'ger scale repeated his weak- nesses and unfaithfulness." He has noAdiere in this note specified what were the prerogatives and gifts of Peter, and actually re- duced Peter's primacy to that of a primacy of honor and influence, and acknowledged that Peter was not the , first bishop of Eome, in the later sense-4?f the term, and that Peter was not a pope in the Boman sense; that is not a pope in an;^ense. Is it not then sheer nonsense, vaih German speculation, in opposi- 140 POISON OF POPEKY tion to scriptural truth, to talk about the Eoman church (or popes) inheriting the prerogatives and gifts of Peter ? We have proved that as Peter never was & primate^ he never did nor could, transfer to the bishop of -Rome what he did not possess. What ground have you, Doctor, for using such language? To my American ears it sounds very strange. I can see no ground for it in any part of your history. It seems to imply that Peter made a Will. Did he malfe a Will ? And what did he be- queath to the Bishop of Eome? You speak of the prerogatives and gifts of Peter ; but you have not specified what these prerogatives and gifts were, nor named Peter's will. We feel ourselves at a loss to understand you. Tell us how these prerogatives and gifts of Peter descended to the popes. Was it by a will? So some " Eoman Catholic theologians" pre- tend ; but you do ngt, so far as I have discovered. If Peter made a will tell us plainly, and then we shall understand what you mean ; and tell us where Peter's will is to be found, or abandon idle tales fit only for the dark ages. Professor Schaff has read Mbshmn, and must know what he has written about the Decretals. They were used very adroitly and successfully by ambitious and wicked popes, to enslave the people and to change the government of thefchurch. To furnish our readers with correct knowledge of them, I shall quote several passages from this pro- found and faithful historian. " VIII. In order to gain credit to tliis new ecclosiastioal system, bo different from the aneient^les of church-government, and to support the haughty pretensions of the pontiffs to supremacy and independence, it was neoessai-y to produce the authority of ancient deeds, to stop the EXPOSED. 141 moutliB of Buoh as were disposed to set bounds ,to their usurpations. Tlie bishops of Home were aware of this'; and as those means were looted upon as the most lawful that tended best to the aooompKshmeht of their purposes, they employed some of their most ingenious and zealous, partizans, in forging conventions, acts of councils, epistles, and such like records, by which it might appear, that, in the first ages of the church, the Roman pontiffs' were cloathed with the same spiritual majesty and supreme authority which they now assumed. Among these fictitious supports of the papal dignity, the famous decretal EjpisUes, as they are called, said to have been written by the pontiffs of the prim- itive times, -deserve chiefly to be stigmatized. They were the produc- tion of an obscure writer, who fraudulently prefixed to them the name of JsiDojtE, bishop of Semlle, to make tha world believe they had bem collected by that illustrious and learned prelate, gome of them had ap- peared in the eighth century, but they were, now entirely drawn from their obscurity, and produced with an air of ostentation and triumph, to demonstrate the supremacy of the Eoman pontiffs. The decisions of a certain Eoman council, which is said to Have been held during the pon- tificate of SYivESTEJi, were likewise alleged in behalf of the same cause ; but this council had never been so much as heard of before the' present oentuiy, and the accounts now given of it proceeded from the same source with the decretals, and were equally authentic. Be that as it may, the decrees of this pretended councU contributed much to enrich and aggrandize the Eoman pontiff's, . and exalt them above all human authority and jurisdiction, " IX. There were not, however, wanting among the Latin fchops, men of prudence and sagacity, who saw through these impious frauds, and jierceived the chains that wCre forging both for them and for the oliuroh; The French bishops distinguished themselves in a particular and glorious manner, by the "zeal ,and vehenienoe with which, they op- posed the spurious decretals, and other like fictitious monuments and records, and protested against -their being received among the laws of the church. But-tho obstinacy of the-pontiifs, and particularly of Nreii- oLAS I, conquered this opposition, and reduced it to silence. And as the empire, in the periods that succeeded this contest, fell back into the grossest ignorance find darkness, there scarcely remained any who were capable Of detecting these odious impostors, or disposed to support the expiring liberty of the church. The history of the following ages shews, in a multitude of deplorable examples, the disorders and calamities that sprung from the ambition of the' aspiring pontiffs ; it represents' theSe despotic lords of the church, labouring by the aid o^, their- impious frauds t6 overturn its ancient government, to undermine the authority of its bishops, to engross its riches^ and revenues into their own Tiands ; nay, what is still more horrible, it represents them aiming perfidious blows at the thrones of princes, and endeavouring to lessen their power, and to set bounds to their dominion. All this is unanimously acknowl- 142 POISON OF POPERY edged by S'loli as have looked, with attention and impartiality, into the history of the times of which we now write, and is ingenuonsly con- fessed by men of learning and prohity, that are well affected to the Eomish church and its sovereign pontiff.* *Ampla autlioritiea may be found at the bottom o£ Moaheim'e pages. Note. — Having written the substance of this chapter, I said to a friend who I knew had carefully read S.'s history, "I- have not found that the Professor anywhere refers distinctly, either to the decretals or to Peter's Will ;" adding " nor can I find he distinctly specifies what Peter's pre,- rogatives and gifts were." My friend immediately opened SchafFs history, (which I handed to him,) and opened it at pp. 352, 353, and requested me to look at them. A remark being made by me, " What a singular writer he is !" he responded, " Artful indeed !" and lifting up his hands in token of aston- ishment, he departed. My pencil marks on the pages revealed to me at once that they had not escaped my notice. The next morning 'I read them over careful^ , and found, on less than two pages, nine pencil checks on the margin, — the name PhiUp, — and. these words, " Indeed ! and where was Paul during seventeen years?" From these marks, &c., it is certain I had very distinctly noticed these pages. I now recollect, that in writing " Antidote to the Poison of Popery," cfec, I was led to add to chapters ii. and ill. previously written against the claims of Eomanists on Peter's primacy, chapter iv. , The whole argument appeared to me perfectly conclusive. From the short notice of the " Antidote," by David N. Lord, in his Tlieological and Literary Journal, (see the whole at the beginning of this volume,) I shall here present three extracts : 1. "That the estimate Dr. Janeway has formed of the character of Professor SchafT as a Papist — is correct, we do not doubt. 2. " The pamphlet is written with sphit and point ; is m-arked by high moral feelings ; and which is a rare merit, is free from the heartless pro- fessions of respect with which many are aoeustomed to soften and coun- tervail the protestations they utter against false and dangerous teachers. 8. "It confutes effectually tlie doctrine of Peter's primacy, which Pro- fessor Sohaff sanctions ; and points out a series of misstatements, blun- ders, and inoonsistencies, which reveal to the reader the deceptive char- acter of his work, and shows with what caution its representations on the subject of papacy, especially, are to be received." To these three chapters, (ii. iii. and iv.) which contain the scriptural argument against the ^rimac;/ of Peter, I refer the reader, as a full refu- tation to anything presented by Prof. Schjifi', either in these pages or elsewhere, in favor of such primacy ; especially, as he, himself, found it necessary to modify what he had written in his subsequent long note (on pp. 374r-87T) ; to which I have paid, in different parts of this work, particular attention. EXPOSED. 143 The churcli of Eome did place herself, or rather the popes placed themselves, in what "she calls the chair of Peter ; but Prof. S. is too wfeU read in history not to know that the popes rose to that anti-christian eminence, not by inheritance, . but in a way totally different, as we shall hereafter show. In the meantime, this German historian is referred to a brief prophetic history, written by the pen of in- spiration, in a subsequent chapter. That chapter will tell him the four following impor|;ant particulars : First: What hindered the appearance of popery as soon as Eomanists pretend, and, as he now, in oppo- sition to his own previous confession of the truth, claims for it. Second : When it did appear and enter the church, and begin to obscure the truth, and corrupt the wor- ship of God. Third: By what means it rose to an enormous height in the middle ages. And *. Fourth : How and when it will fall, and be utterly destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ, the sole Head of his Church on earth and in heaven. , These important particulars he may find in the chapter referred to. They are not traditions, but verities, written by men inspired with a prophetic spirit. After a careful examination of these pages, I can find no distinct spec- ification of PetSr's prerogatives and gifts, as I supposed might be found in them ; and especially, nothing to justify Professor Schaffs .jnsinua- tion, by the use of the word "inJierited," that the church of Eome - really iq.herited " the prerogatives' and gifts of Peter." (See p. 377.) Such inheritance we utterly deny, and assert boldly,i that Sohaff has not produced the sernblance of proof. Here we end this note. But we give notice to the reader that we shall return to it in another place, to show how S. magnifies Peter, and underrates fflie other apostles, and how he misinterprets the imeke chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. 144 POISON OF POPERY If he will read, and study, and believe this inspired history, and throw away false traditions and vain speculations, then will he be ashamed of what he has written about the church of Rome inheriting the pre- rogatives and gifts of Peter. Then will he become a true and honest Protestant ; and if it were possible, he would wash away what he-,- has written contrary to scriptural ixvAh, with his tears. CHAPTER XL DEVELOPMENT EXPOSED. After the above review of what Prof. S. denomi- nates _)feci;s, the concessions by unprejudiced Protes^nts of. whom he speaks, are unworthy of any reply. But the development of which he speaks in the next sentence, demands an exposure, on account of its falsehood, and the emphatical manner in which it is uttered. It is a climax to his pretended facts and sophistical reasoning. Development is a new word that has come into fash- ionable use with many ; and is found neither in John- son nor in Walker, though the verb develops, from which' it sprung, is. Webster defines development, " an unfolding — -full exhibition." According to this definition, ^velopment occurs in a flower, when it expands its leaves, and displays its beauties ; but wUfen it withers and dies, there is no development. EXPOSED. 145 When the body of a child grows from year to year, in- size and strength, till it reaches perfect manhood, there is development ; but wTien the body sickens and dies, there is death, but no development. ' , When, by the grace of God, David was convened, and advanced in sanctlfication and a holy life, for many years, till he obtained such eminence in, divine life, as to be an example vvorthy of all imitation ; there was a bright development of divine grace ; blit when, by temptation, he fell into two most grievous sins, adultery aud murder, by. which he incurred the penalty of death ; there was indeed an awful develop- ment of the power of indwelling sin, even in renewed persons, when not restrained by grace, that should keep us all sensible of our constant dependence on spiritual influence, watcbfal against temptation, and prayerful for divine aid ; but there was no develop- ment of divine grace. ^ Truth can never be developed into fflbehooo]- nor tlie pure worship of God, in vile superstition and GEOSS IDOLATET. Even Schaff himself, when he speaks of Peter's de-, nying his Xiord, and of his base dissimulation at An- tioch, dares not call those sinful acts a development of divine grace. He traces them to a very different source. See how he characterizes them in his long note, beginning with these words, " (3) If Peter him- self, &c." (17th line from bottom of page 376.) That will appear wben we come to review that page. "What Prof. Schaff denominates " a development of Christianity itself," is, in fact, a development of fallen men's native depravity ; of bis enmity against the true doctrines of the gospel, and against the pure worship of God. IS 146 POISON OF POPERT Hence it was, that professing GhristiaTas acted over again the part of heathen wise men, and received their punishment. (Rom. i.) " Professing themselves to be wise they became fools ; and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man." (vs. 22, 23.) They "changed the truth of God into a lie." (v. 25.) And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind." (v. 28.) SUCH IS POPERT. It is well and justly portrayed from the 21st verse to the end of the chapter." Popery really produced in the Eomish church all the vile effects that were seen in the Pagan world, resulting from that reprobate mind to which they were delivered, by the righteous judgment of God, as a punishment of their senseless idolatry. Now, if this exposition of the word development is correct, then to talk of "the Eoman church, however corrupt in many doctrines and practices," as belong- ing "to the historical development of Christianity itself, &c.," is to talk nonsense. And thus, Dr. S., a German Professor and historian, who looks down upon us Americans, as if we under- stood neither theology, nor history, talks, and utters his language with undouUing assurance! Hear him: " In viciv of aU these facts — wa cannot possiUy qnestion, that the Eoman Church, however corrupt in many doctrines and practices, he- longs '-to the historical development of Christianity itself, and ihat it must have also some ground even in thci Holy Scriptures ! 1" (See his lon^ note at the bottom of page 375 and top of 876, previously quoted.) SCHAFFS CONCESSION. All these unfounded facts to which the learned Dr. refers; and the confident and singular language he KXPC5SKD. 147 utters; seem designed to prepare and smooth the way for concessions lie is about to make ; concessions seemingly opposite to his language so glorifying to the corrupt Eomish Church, in the Middle Ages, when it w.as reaching; the climax of iniquity and usurpation ; concessions extorted from him by circumstances, and yielded by him> with a bad grace. (See extract from his Essay! (Part 1, chap i. pp. 17-19. Had he, like an honorable man, come forward ant^ confessed his errors, and not surrounded himself with- the mist of unfoanded facts and sophistical reasoning, we should hav^Sgar.ied his concessions in a Very different light from what we do. . Is this a new discovery of tlo learned historian ? Does it "belong to the histo:-:'-,! development of Christianity itself, and afford a p; oof that the Eomish Church has some ground in the Holy Scriptureis?"- ■ How different from the language of his unfortunate Essay, by which he,' as well as Dr. Nevin, was teach- ing (the German Reformed Church, and endeavoring to awaken her to a consciousness of being a Melanc- ilionian ,Church ; differing both from the Lutheran, on the one side, and the Calvanistic Church, on the other. (See note i. p. 133.) Did not both Dr. Nevin and Dr. Schaff- know, that the German Reformed Church, whose confession of faith they had adopted as the confession of their faith, and promised, when inaugurated, to teach, and preach, and defend, was not a Melaricthonian church ? How then could they endeavor to awaken her to a con- sciousness of being what they were not? ■Happy for. that, church, if they were a Melancihonian church ! This was not their ai m. It was far different. It was 14:8 POISON OF POPEKT to deprive them of all evangelical and spiritual life; it was to make them what they both are — real JRoman Catholics, real Papists. Alas ! thej have been too successful in accomplish- ing their design ! The reader may cast his eye over what follows the above quotation, in Schaff's concessions. But, in re- gard to wicked Popes, I prefer reciting the language of Ifosheim. (vol. ii. p. 890.) " The history of the Eoman Pontiffs tliat lived.in this century [tenth] is the history of so many monsters, and not of men, and exhibits a horrible, terrijjle series of the most flagitious, tremendags, and complicated crimes, as all writers, even those of the Eomisjftimmunion, 'unanimr- (msly confess." Did not Dr. S. know this as well as what he acknow- ledges, towards the cii se of his note, (p. 376,) in re- gard to the reformatory councils of Pisa, Constance, and Basil, &c. ? How then coiild he write that most erroneous Essay ! (See my Contrast, pp. 17-19.) COSTRADICTS HIMSELF How contradictory these acknowledgments to his con- fident assertions in his own published Essay ! How shall this great revolution in his historical views be accounted for? He was familiar with Church history ; he had read Ifosbeim and many Ger- man historians. . Were bis views really changed? Then he should have confess' d the fact. Is it uncharitable to suppose, he .had begun to dis- cover he had gone too far, in extolling the Eomish Church in the Middle or the dark Ages ; that the American mind would not bear to have darkness called light, and wicked Popes honored as doing right ; EXPOSED. 149 while usurping an unlimited dominion over Church and State, and compelling kings and emperors to do them homage, in order to feel secure on their thrones ! Perhaps an individual of great influence accelerated the change, by giving him a gentle hint on the sub- ject; Warning him of the consequences of adhering to his plan of representing the Papacy; that the praise was too gross and unfounded ; that there were Americans acquainted with history as welLas ha; and that he must not calculate too much on American ignorance. "Were the Professor near me, I might whisper con- fdentially in his ear, and perhaps correctly, the name of the individual. I now add, that probably he has discovered from events recently transpiring, that to lean on you and your Romish associates,- would be as dangerous as for a man to place liis hand on a hroken reed for support. Note. — Let -me farther say. in this place, that Pjof. S., in his recent risit to pj'ineeton to feel its pulse," found its pulsations very different from what they were in 1853. He' was treated as he ought to, and .would, have been treated, had Princeton been duly informed when he made his visit in that year. Anxious to obtain assistance, professor D., whose turn it was to preach on the Sabbath in the College Chapel, 'while the examination of the senior class was going on, hearing of S's. arrival invited him to preach for him in the Chapel, which he readily engaged to do. But as soon as the President heard of the arrangement, (much to his honor and fidelity to his Lord and master,) he promptly and positively forbade the preaching of S. in the Chapel of the College. In this emergency, the German professor had recourse to the pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church; who imvprwimfl/y invited a Eoman Catholic to occupy his pulpit. But when he invited the professors of the College, and Seminary to dine with S. at his house, not one accepted the invitation. -As Dr. McGill became a professor in the Seminary since 1853, S. de- termined to visit him, and try an experiment on him. But he utterly failed. Dr. McGiU did not return his visit." 160 POISON OF POPEKY Since I -wrote my Antidote in pamphlet form, I have discovered by attentive examination of S's. long note, (as will be seen hereafter,) what I had supposed to be concessions, are in reality mere pretended con- cessions. Ah ! what a curious thing is German development ! It shoots /orwarii and backward. It speaks the truth, and then utters falsehood; it asserts a fact, and then denies it. An instrument managed at the will of 'the operator to suit his purpose ! What an illustration we have in Prof. Schaff's history ! He tells us Popery had no existence for six hundred years of the Christian era; that Peter was not a pope, but an apostle; that he was not even bishop of Eome in the later sense of the term. Then in perfect contradiction to his own serious statement, he ascribes to his beloved papacy a diiration of eigh- teen hundred years: Thus, to make her the more venerable and majestic, and " rock-like in stability," he brings her into the world six hundred years before she was really born. Thus he asserts, and then .denies; af&rms a fact, and afterwards aflirms a contradictory fact! And both must be true; because Dr. Sihaff says they are. This is German development! A curious thing indeed ! A fit instrument for Jesuits ! Bu.t not for honest Protestants. The proofs Schaff offers,: on page 375, in favor of the early existence of popery, are mere confident and unblushing assertions, which we have already ex- posed as false and contradicted by true history. See our Chapters v. pp. 32-38, and vi. pp. 38-40. If the reader will take up Mosheim's " history of Ghristicmity in the first three centuries," and carefully ffiXFOSBD. 151 examine what this accurate and profound historian has, written on Church government, (vol. ii. pp. 115- 137,) he will see how entirely he differs from, S'chaff. He will learn, too, who was the author of thsutproud title, " Vicar of Jesus Ohrist ;" not a Roman, but an African hishop. He " first taught the Eoman prelate, that all bishops ought to assunae it. And it was com- monly adopted from this time onwards by all bishops, as has been proved by Joseph Bingham, in his Origines Ucclesiasticce,'" ,(vol. i. p. 81, 82. lib. ii. § 10..) " I will add," says Mosheim, "that down to the mniA century, it was customary to speak of all bishops as the vicars of Ohrist." (p. 136.) SCHAFf's IGNOKA.NCE OF SCRIPTnRE. 1.- To one who has duly studied the Holy Scrip-* tures, it must be apparent that Dr. Schaff, with all his learning, is ignorant of the great fact, that Jesus Christ, the sole and sovereign Head of the Church on earth, made known to his apostles a plan for the government of his church ; and, by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit, enabled them to organize the church on this plan; 'first, in Jerusalem and Judea, and then afterwards in the Gentile world, before this Ger- man doctor was born. 2. The cause of his ignorance is, the so-called Pro- testant Professor, misled,, by pride of science, falsely so called, instead of making the scriptures the sole rule of his faith and practice, has suffered himself to be guided by tradition, to whicl; he has attributed authority equal to that of the word of God. •3. No .wonder, that thus beclouded by the mist of a false science and false traditions, Schaff could not 152 POISON OF POPERY. see tliat the papacy entered into that once noble church of Eome, not ■ 9,3 the friend, but as the enemy of Jesus Christ ; to corrupt, and by its increasing in- fluence, to degrade that church more and more, until in doctrine, and practice, and worship the Eomish church becaiae & false church, a synagogue of satan, anti-Ghvisi ; and, by its own infatuated acts, in the council of Trent, exsciaded itself. From that hour the Romish church has had im- printed on her forehead what is written in Rev. xvii. 5 : "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." 4. Prof Schaff has the presumption to think he has suggested a plan for uniting a false church, which has, for three hundred years, been uttering blasphe- mies against the God of heaven, with the true pro- testant church, which, in obedience to the call of heaven, (Rev. xviii. 4,) has come out of her, and renounced her errors and idolatrous worship, and now openly protests against them. As well might' S. attempt an impossibility, to unite fire and water. Hereafter it is to be hoped a number of Roman Catholics will be converted and saved ; for it is written, (2 Thes. ii. 8,) " Whom (that wicked) the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, (preaching of the gospel,) and shall destiroy with the brightness of his coming." (With his terrible judgment.) 5. Would it not be well for the learned professor to enquire, whether he is not acting a very unwise part, by devoting his isleni& io a, hopeless work, tliat is, to uphold the papacy ? and whether he is not dis- playing much presumption, and incurring guilt, in EXPOSED. 153 holding out to the Eomish church encoijragement to hope, that she will continue to exist, although Jesus Christ has so plainly predicted in his >vord, that she shall fall to rise no more ? 6. When, for their obstinate unbelief and wicked rejection of their long promised Messiah, the Jewish Church was cast away from their covenant, relation to God, and their nation destroyed by signal judg- ments, and scattered over the world by their offended Jehovah ; hope of their restoration was left on re- cord. That hope will be realized. (See the author's " Hope for the Jews.") But to imagine it wiU be by an amalgamation of Judaism with Christianity, like the suggested plai?' of Schaff for the union of Rorrian Catholics and Protest- ants, would be folly indeed. No! The Jews, when converted to. Christianity, will abandon the sacrifices and ceremonies instituted by the law, as " shadows of good things to come," (Heb. X. i.) and embrace the gospel as the substance foreshadowed by them in its doctrines, precepts and promises, just as intelligent Christians now do, and receive pardon, justification, peace, hope and joy -in the Holy Ghost. (See Deut. xviii. 15-20. Acts iii. 19-26.) 7. Finally, if Schaff wishes to see the Lord fulfilling his " precious promise, to be and rule in his church continually," he should look to that despised, hated, and persecuted church in the valleys of Piedmont, which he does not deign (as far as I have discovered) even to name, and follow her wherever dispersed, by persecution, and seek after all true believers hidden, even in Eome itself; in a word, for all professors of the true religion together with their children. They 154 POISON OF POPERT were " the Holy Gatholic Ghurch," acknowledged by Jesus Christ as his visible church, organized on his plan, 'iin the middle ages," and not the popes, in all their gorgeous splendor, and majesty, and power; depriving the people of the Bible, and compelling all their subjects, with fire and sword, to believe their heretical dogmas. Among the former, Christ was present, and ruled among them as his friends ; among the latter he was also present ; but he ruled among them as his enemies whom he abhorred, and, in his appointed time, he intended to punish, and finally to sweep from the face, of the earth. CHAPTER XII. GREAT ERROR tJNDERLTING HIS THEORT. In addition to the remarks already made on Schaff's extended note, we add,- that what he says in the close of it, (p. 377,) about the phurch of Eome inher- iting "the prerogatives and gifts of Peter, &c.," and about his being a type of one state of the Church, — Paul the type of another, ^and John, of a third, still more perfect; is all visionary, destitute of any scrip- tural authority, — a mere fanciful theory, indulged without due regard to the supreme authority of the inspired word of God. Let the reader look at , the two notes appended to page 133. , There, as well asln the text, he will see EXPOSED. 155 how Sohaff approves and endorses all tlie'.writings of Dr. Nevin ; who, by his strange delusions, has been already led, in heart, to Rome; and who, if rumor speaks truly, will be there in person, in no distant day, though his friend, Dr. S. says, he canno't do so consistently. " So loiig as he holds liis theory of demlopmefit, whioh makes room •for different forms and phases of Christianity in the progressive march of the Church." But if Dr. Nevin prefers the Eoman Catholic phase of the Church, what then. Dr. S. ? Can he not go to Eome, consistently, according to his and your theory ? And when Dr. S. feels the same preference, what is there in his views of truth and duty, to prevent his going also to his beloved Papacy? He has been pleading for it very earnestly and strangely ; first, by heaping on the Romish Church the most unbounded and unfounded praise ; and then, finding such lavish praise bestowed upon her, when in her worst and most corrupt state, in the "Middle Ages," will not suit the American taste, making concessions, with an ill grace; but still pleading foir her as a true Church, by artful and sophistical' reasoning. When such a man shall feel a preference for the Soman phase of the Churcn, what will prevent his identi- fying himself with that apostate Church? Now, when I consider all these things, and his in- sisting on the Romish Church, with all her corrup- tions in doctrine, her superstitious worship, and Pagan idolatry,»being " a development of Christianity itself;" I am constrained to believe, that vile and fundamentally erroneous dogma of the Romish Church, which exalts tradition to an authority, in determining our faith, equal to the authority of the word of God, 156 POISON OF POPEKY UNDERLIES his -wliole theory, as it does that of Dr. Nevin, in -whom it is producing its legitimate effect. Of what avail is the professed belief of the inspira- tion of the Sacred Scriptures, when connected with the belief of such a neutralizing and impious dogma ? Its ruinous effects are seen in the history of the Eomish Church. What said our Lord, referring to the hypocritical Jews, in the language of Esaias : " In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (M-att. xv. 7-9.) "The bible, The BIBLE is the religion of Protestants." — Ghillingworth. * THE WEITERS CONTRAST.j To one other note, (as far back as. page 9^,) the reader's attention is requested. In that note this great German historian condescends even to notice * From the character of Prof. S., and the art apparent in his long note, on whioli I have written my remarks, I felt persuaded this note was not to be found in the German edition of his histoiy. After finish- ing my remarks, and not before, I wrote to Dr. Mesick, requesting him to inform me, whether the long note (which I had described by tho pages) was in -the German edition of S.'s history. After examination, he replied, under date March 14, 1854, desoKbing the note, that it was not in the German edition. Thus the concessions, which the Doctor, pressed by hard necessity, has so ungraciously yielded, are concealed from the German Eeformed Church. And is it not curiam, that the recommendations recently published, in the JPreaii/terian, for the English edition, are all, with one exception, for the German edition, and so stated at the head of the advertisement ? Had tlie gentlemen who gave the recommendations really examined the contents of the German edition? And arc they willing to endorse them? + Let Prof. H., of a Presbyterian seminary in the West, who recently gave a recommendation to S.'s history, review his acts, and ask himself EXPOSED. 157 the humble performance of the writer; and to save him from the reproach of ignorance, kindly withholds his name, while he sneers at Mosheim and Edgar, on whom the writer relied as credible historians, in oppo- sition to the round and false assertions of the great Doctor; whose privilege it was to sit at the feet of Neander, as Saul did at the feet of Gamaliel. And he has become so wise as to correct his Master. See what he has written of Neander and himself, pp, 95, &c. What compassion to conceal my name ! But alas I I appended it to the Contrast; so that I must bear the reproach in this couptry, as far as the Contrast may be known, notwithstanding the compas- sionate attempt of the Professor to conceal, it, on ac- count of my " age and ecclesiastical connexions." But to be serious; let me tell Dr. S., I am not ashamed of the Contrast, humble as the performance is ; and that he may publish it if he choose, even in Germany ; for I feel assured, that every candid Ger- man would pronounce his unsupported assertions of no weight in the scales, when weighed against the historic testimony of Mosheim and Udgar, with their authorities. Hear how he himself praises Mosheim. (page 74.) " He (i. e. Chb. E. Wisbmams) -was soon eclipsed, however, hj the celebrated John Laweenoe Von Mosheim, (1755,) who holds the first place among the Church historians generally, of the last century, and has acquired the honorable title of " father of church history." this qiiesfiou, Did I act advisably and do my duty ? Will my Lord and Master, when he comes to purify his church, and put down the Papacy, which S. labours so artfully and earnestly to uphold, approve what I have done ? 14 158 POISOU OF POPEEY And on page 73 he writes thus : "Thegreat effort now is to do' justice, to all parties; and lliere must certainly te admitted, in the works of a Moslieim, a Sohrockh, and a Waloh, an impartAality, wMcli belongs to neither of the preceding echoels. CONCLUDING REMARKS. Corrupt in doctrine and idolatrous in worship^ as the Eoman Church is, Dr. S. is by no means willing to admit her to be charagterized, in 1 Thess. ii. 2-12, by the falling away, or "the apostasy" and "that man of sin, the son of perdition ; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (vs. 3, 4.) Nor by that wicked, or Lawless One; (v. 6.) nor by Anti- ' CAmi predicted in sundry places to appear "in the last time." (1 John ii. 18.) No wonder ; for his eyes are dimmed by his love of the Papacy — of her magnificent cathedrals and splen- did buildings, — of her charming poets and great painters ; all animated by motives from above. And y.et he has attempted to prove, that Peter wrote his first epistle from Borne, though he styles Eome Baby- LOisr, just as John does in the Apocalypse. See pp. 363, 364, where he reasons on the subject and tries to meet objections. But others whose eyes are not beclouded by love for an apostate Church ; that Anti-Christ that was to come into the world in the last time ; can see what in- spiration has imprinted on her forehead, in such large and legible characters: "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." (Rev. xvii. 5.) Kxros&D. 159 And they can hear heaven's warning voice : " Come out of her my people, that ye.be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Eev. xv'iii. 4.). •That tlie Papacy or Church of Eome, is designated by the predictions referred to has been proved by Protestants again and again. I shall here neither name the writers, nor go into^ at argument on the subject. Schafi' is. not ignorant of their names. I shall only say, I have on my table a copy of a ser- mon tlelivered before the Synod of tlce German Reformed Church, in Philadelphia,. October 18, 1853 ; repeated in the Salem Church, at Harrisburg, Pa., by Eev. John" F. Mesick, D. D. Published by request. ^ The subject, "The Papacy, the Anti-Christ." Text, 2 Thess. ii., 3, 4.-- * Appcuded'to this sermon is a note, covering, iu small type, more than half a page ; designqd by quotations from Dr. Nevin's publications, in tlie WerMy Messencjei; Nov. 23, 18ii>, to prove, that his views in that year -n-ero Protestant and Anti-Popery, in a high degree. To satity the reader of this, it will be sufficient to transcribe only two lines and one word. ; "Popery," says Dr. N., "is at war with our government. . If true to itself, it ought not to be trusted in the midst of our liberties and rights. If true to itself^ it must be false, to the freedom for which opr fathers bled." (p. i.)- , , " "From the singular sermon, prejiolied by Dr. N., and printed in oon- -nexion with Prof. Schati''8 Essay, in, 1845, it is -evident that'he was alj-eady infe.oted with the poison, of Popery :• (p. 197,) although he could not go with his teacher, so far as to believe the Pope was not Anti- christ; for, he expressly says: (p. 20i at the bottom.) " "V^e do not snp'poselhat tbe visible unity of the Church demands a single visible head, like the Pope .of Eome, who is justly styled the Anti-Christ, for this very 'pretension.' " To have agreed with his teacher entirely, in so short a time, would have been too rapid a change, and would have exeiteJ too much surprise. At last, however. Dr. N. outatript his teacher in the race to Eome ; the proptr home of both. 160 POISON OF POPERY Had Prof. S. been present at his Synod, and his ear open to hear the' truth, conviction might have reached his heart. The Bomish Church, the PAPACY is no part of the visible Church of Christ ; and I will tell Prof. S. and others the reason on which my belief is founded. . The chief reason is this : From the beginning of her existence, in the seventh century, the Papacy has been tyrannical, persecuting and idolatrous ; and be- came more and more so ; till she has become apostate; a synagogue of Satan, Anti- Christ. But have no pious individuals been found in the Romish Church ? . In the course of past ages, many. Now, alas ! how few ! "since the warning voice of God has, for a long time, been calling them to come out of her. The few that may still be found in that vast body, of error, sin and pollution, spread over a great por- tion of Europe, and in other parts of the world, can no more change its true and odious character, so as to render it a part of Christ's visible Church; than a few particles of salt sprinkled over an immense mass of putrid matter, eould save it from putrefaction ; no more than rain falling on the mountains, can fertilize the great Sahara desert of j^ frica. The doom of the Papacy is recorded in Scripture ; and no hope of salvation is held out to her. One righteous man. Lot, could not, [though ten would,] save Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction, by a fiery tempest from heaven. When Israel was cast out of God's sight, a promise of mercy was left on record. [See Hosea xiv.] When the Jews were destroyed as a nation, and scattered over the face of the earth, many promises of mercy, EXPOSED. 161 and predictions of their conversion and restoration to Palestine, were found botli in the Old and in the New Testament.* •In the Apocalypse the vile and hateful character of the Papacy is drawn by the pen of inspiration ; but not one promise of mercy to her is to be found in any part of that Sacred book. The Soman Hierarchy is the " woman whom John saw sitting on a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, — having seven heads and ten horns." (Rev. xvii. 4, 8.) The mystery at which the prophet marvelled was explained by the angel, (vs. 7-18.) The doom of the woman is denounced. The ten horns of the beaSt, or the ten kings that gave their power to the beast, on which "she sat in majesty, will eventually hate the whore, and make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. [v. 16.] The triple crown must be torn from the Pope's head ; and this pretended vicar of Christ, who is worshipped as God, must be prostrated in the dust. The beast and the false prophet must be cast into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." [chap. xix. 20.] The great city must be divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fall ; and great Babylon must drink of the cup of the wine of the fierceness of Gr'od's wrath, (chap. xvi. 19.) And this will not occur till the seventh angel shall pour out his vial into the air. (vs. 17, 18.) Alas ! what judgments are indicated ! Instead of repenting, men blaspheme God on account of his righteous judgments, (v. 21.) The plagued that are to come on the Romish *Se6 " Hope for tlio Jews," by tie author. 163 poisoK or rorsBT. Church, designated by the eariU, are described, (chap, xvi.) Five of " the vials of the wrath of God," have been poured out, or are pouring out. The sixth may have commenced its work on the great river Euphrates, and the way for the kings of the east, or from the rising of the sun may be preparing. See vs. 2-17. Should God be pleased to prolong his life and con- tinue his intellectual powers, the public may hear again from the writer, on this interesting subject; in- teresting, because it relates to prospects before the church and the world, as held up to view in God's in- spired word of prophecy.* * The reader 13 requested, to observe and remember, that this Anti- dote is entirely independent of the review of Dr. S.'s history in the Jan- uiry number of the B. R. & P. Ecvieiv. That Periodical did not come into my hand, till January 31st. Marking the time on tlie cover, I laid it down with the purpose not to read the review, ujrtil my pamphlet was completed. In accordance with tbis purpose, I did not begin the perusal till March 13th, when one form of eight pages had been printed off, and another was ready for the same operation. Both reviews are entirely independent of each other. April 1st, 1854. P. S. Should another edition of this pamphlet be called for, the author will enlarge, it, by publishing, in connexion with it, some of Schaff's notes; and thus save the trouble of referring to his bulky volume of 678 pages, and the expense of purchase, to those who do not wish to possess it. I am now doing what those who have .read my pamphlet may be looking for. J. J. J. .CHAPTER XIII. PROMISE FULFILLED— SCHArp's REASONING EXPOSED. Agreeably to the promise in tlie note,- page 143, we shall answer what Schaff urges (on pp. 352-354) in favor of Peter's primacy; although he had pre- viously, more than one hundred pages before, dis- tinctly surrendered his })rimacy as unscriptural. Here we have a counter part to his contradiction exposed, (pp. 72, 73,) where it is shown that, after he had admitted the papacy had no existence for six hundred years, (A. D.) he ascribes to it a duration of eighteen hundred years. "Rather," says this vacillating writer, (p. 352,) "must we, with all the fathers and the hest modern Protestant interpreters, refer these words, 'Thou art a rock, and even after the outpouring of the Holy Ghost committed at Antioch a scandalous inconsistency ; much loss can we expect of his successors, ■who are not endowed, ai- he was, -^ith the same supernatural gifts, that they should have always lived and acted consistently with their high oalUng any more than the kings and high-priests of the Jewish theocra- cy. Just in proportion, however, as the popes have abused their power, followed their own thoughts and plans instead of the word of God, and degraded the pastoral office by a wicked life, as in the disgraceful tenth century, again at the time of the reformatory ooiineils of Pisa, Constance, and Basil, and at the end of the fifteenth century and beginning of the sixteenth, (for an example we have but to remember that moral monster, Alexander VI,) in that degree is an earnest/protest not only allowed, but •ven authorized and demanded." 188 K)lS01f iiV POPEKY • What a strange man we have to cBcourfer I He repeats his errors,- and ^ve are compelled to repeat our refutations. After having stated it as a fact, that there was no pope during the first six centuries, and, yielded the primacy of Peter again and again ; he, in the previous part of this paragraph of his note, (p. 376,) first insin- uates that the church of Rome derived her pre-emi- nence from Peter, and then openly denominates the popes his successors. What an obstinate adherence to error, in opposi- tion to the Holy Scriptures, and to historical fi;cts, clearly settled 1 Here, then, we must recall to the reader's remem- brance, that we have proved that Peter was never ap- pointed primate of the apostolic college, and that Schaff has distinctly admitted the equality of the apos- tles more than once. Consequently, it f )llo\vs conclu- sively, Peter never did, nor could, transfer to the See of Bvme what did not belong to him to transfer. Peter was not bishop of Eome at any time ; and even S. has acknowledged he was not bishop of Rome, in the later sense of the term ; because it was inconsistent with the dignity of an apostle. (See pp. 114, 115.) How absurd, then, in Schaff to call the popes Pe- ter's successors 1 SHAMEFUL APOLOGY ! The apology which this German philosopher draws from the mournful falls of Peter, to extenuate the guilt of the detestable crimes of those abandontd popes of the tenth century, certainly deserve.s to Le re- probated in the severest terms of Christian indigna- nation. EXPOSED. 187 Those vile monsters are destitute of any possible excuse ; and the man who attempts to frame one brings himself under just suspicions of being what he ought not to be. It is an utter perversion of scrip- ture facts, recorded for fer different purposes, than to furnish an apology for crimes the most detestable 1 On the opposite page, (377,) Schaff insinuates that " Tho ohuroh of Eomo (popes of Kome ?) has inherited the prerogatives and gifts of Peter." Will this philosopher tell us what prerogatives^ and gifts of Peter ? Peter enjoyed the gift of a wife to whom he was lawfully niarried. He prized this gift, and was thankful to enjoy her company in his travels "from land to land," while preaching the gospel. Did "the late mediceval popes prize such a gift? Hildebrand, for example ? Alas ! by no means. A wife would have been an encumbrance, that would have greatly interfered with the ambitious and audacious project of establishing an universal monarchy in church and state. Geegoet VII. found it more consistent with his boundless views of worldly grandeur, to live in the fortress of Ganusium, with the young Mathilda, countess of Tuscany, and convince her, " by experience, , that neither ambition nor grace had extinguished the tender passions in his heart.?' [See- p. 127.] It was. another Ae[\^i?\i\. prerogative of Peter to preach the gospel, and show to sinners, by unfolding the scheme of redemption by Christ,, how they could obtain forgiveness of sin, by believing in him, as he did to Cornelius, the Eoman centurion. (Acts x.) In no other way did the apostles ever forgive sins. 188 POISON OF POPEHY Did any of the later mediceval popes ever claim this prerogative of the holy apostles ? No, no ! This they despised. They invented a less laborious and a more expeditious plan for gratify- ing their covetousness, and filling their coffers with riches. They delighted in the sale of indulgences- Thus they forgave sins of all kinds ; they never preached the gospel ; they hated the light, and closed the Bible, lest their evil deeds should coine to the light ; they substituted their impious dogmas in place of God's holy word. Thus they kept men in dark- ness, in sin and misery. (See chap. v. pp. 50-52.) It was also Peter's prerogative to die 'a martyr for the TROTH. As a martyr for the tbuth, it was an absolute im- possibility for any one of the later mediseval popes to die. He might die as a martyr for his errors and wickedness, but not to uphold the cause of truth, and godliness, and righteousness. Against ihe apology pleaded by Schaff in favor of these vile popes, I make my solemn protest before the world. A SUPPOSITION rOR ILLUSTRATIOK. Suppose a man were indicted for adultery and mur- der in one of our criminal courts. Would any one but a hrazeri faced Jesuit dare to ap- pear for him, and plead thus : May it please your honors, I can tell you from the Bible, that David, king of Israel, a man highly favored by God, committed first adultery, and then, to conceal his crime, committed a greater crime by murdering his faithful soldier, Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. EXPOSED. 189 Now, here stands before your bar a poor imliappy man, arraigned for two crimes, adultery and murder ; and when the court considers the case of such a good and great man as king David, who fell, when left to himself, into the same crimes, should- they not feel compassion on him, and forbear to inflict on him the punishment threatened by the law ? Thus might a Jesuit reason ; but not a Protestant, nor an intelligent honest jnan, nor a man of common sense, who regarded the purity and welfare of civil so- ciely. He knows that the crimes of no man can be pleaded in excuse for the crimes of another. Every man must answer for himself at a human tribunal, as well as at the awful tribunal of eternal justice. The law must pronounce its righteous sentence. Let the murderer die for his crime. He is unfit to live. If, before the sentence is inflicted, he repents and be- lieves, God will, for Christ's sake, forgive and save him ; as the dying Saviour assured the penitent expi- ring thief, " To-day shalt thou be with me in para- dise." David had, by his sins, incurred the penalty of death ; but God, the sovereign lawgiver, was pleased to say to him, by Nathan, the prophet, when David had said, " I have sinned against the Lord, The Lord also hath put away thy sin ; thou shalt not die." (2 Samuel xii. 18.) See in this chapter how severely he was chastised for his sins. We have expressed our feelings at the singular apology which S. attempts to make for wicked popes ; and now I shall just direct the attention of the reader to the screen which he casts over " The reformatory oouncila of Pisa, Constance and Basil ;" instead of exposing them to full view and thus reveal- 190 POISON OF POPEEY ing the impieties of the popes. We shall hereafter notice them, to show their utter failure, through the cunning craft and death-like grasp of the popes, to their usurped and impious power ; it will, therefore, be sufficient to state here, that they were convened through the urgent request and persevering importu- nity of the rulers of the Roman Catholic states, who felt the absolute necessity of a reformation of the church in its head, (the popes,) and its members, the priests, &c. But these councils, instead of effecting a reformation, resulted in perpetuating the abomina- tions of the church. The popes dreaded nothing more thai>loss of any portion of their power. Then, to prove what needs no proof, (lo a student of the Bible,) that a protest ought to be made against wicked popes, (such for example, as " that moral monster, Alexander VI,") S., to show his impartial- ity, spreads his proofs through ten lines of his small types. I. have now noticed every thing deemed worthy of notice, in this long, artful and deceptive note ; and for review and analysis, printed verbatim the whole, with the exception of less than a half page, referring to Paul, John and Peter, as types of churches. This I regard as mere German pliilosophical speculation, utterly unauthorized by Holy Scripture. Unwilling to allow it to appear on my pages, I dismiss it as un- worthy of any further notice. CHAPTEK XYI. THE CHARACTER 0]? THE PAPACT, OR THE ROMISH CHURCH DRAWN BY THE PEN OF INSPIRATIOTf. No one who has attentively read the preceding parts of this work, can for a moment imagine I am now speaking of the Church of Eome, as it existed in the days of the apostles. No ; I speak of the church of Eome, corrupted in faith, and practice, and worship by the papacy ; such as it became by disregarding the warning of Paul in his epistle to the Eomans ; (chap. ix. 13-21) such as it existed after the council of Trent, and is now in the nineteenth century ; and yet glorified so much by Prof. Schaif, who, a Protestant by profession, has, hnowingly, set himself in opposition to the whole Protestant wOrld. Of this Eqmish church we speak, which by her own acts in the council of Trent, exscinded herself from the church of Christ. In our preceding chapters we have shown the ter- giversations of S., and his attempts to mistify his writings, and to persuade his readers to believe errors, in opposition to facts which he had acknowledged to be true. His glorification of the Eomish church, in his un- fortunate essay, (which he has not recalled, and I presume, dares not contradict, so far as the ahominabh mass is concerned,) is founded in deception ; contra- dicts clear historic truth and plain scriptural teaching. The character of the Papacy or Eomish church is 192 POISON OF POPEBY drawn by the prophet Daijiel, — by the apostle Paul, — and by the apostle John. I. First by the prophet Daniel, in his seventh chap- ter. Daniel delivered his prediction, B. C, 555 years, and before the existence of the Papacy, 606 A. M. — that is, eleven hundred and sixty-one years before the Papacy came into the church of Christ to corrupt its faith, and practice, and worship ; and more than two thousand years before its approaching overthrow. This corrupt state of the church was exhibited to the prophet Daniel in a vision, by the symbol of " another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots ; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." (v. 8.) This little horn has long been regarded by Protes- tant writers as predicting the rise of popery in the church. Many things referred to, or said, in Daniel's vision, prove the interpretation to be correct. 1. The time when it was seen by the prophet. He saw it coming up among the ten horns of the fourth beast, while the Roman empire, symbolized by " the fourth beast, dreadful and terrible," continued to exist. Geegoet the great was not pope in 590 A. D., as Schaff says on his page 36. Gregory was a singular man. Had he studied the Holy Scriptures more, and paid less regard to false traditions, he would have acted a wiser .part, and been preserved from the infection of sinful ambition, so prevalent among the bishops of his day ; and been preserved from that degrading conduct of flattering Phocas, that abominable tyrant, who waded through EXPOSEli. 193 blood to reaoli the tlirone of tte Caesars. He failed ia obtaining his object. Phocas 'flattered him, and excited his expectations ; but he died before his ex- altation to the pontificial chair. Besides, he could not have accepted the title of universal bishop, con- sistent with bis own avowed sentiments ; for he re- garded such a title as blasphemous, and as the fore- runner of Anti- Christ. See Bower's history, vol. i. pp. 412, 413. Gregory ought to have hnown better, than to urge an argument founded on the sup[K>3itioa of Peter be- ing a bishop of liome: a falsehood inconsistent with Peter's dignity as an apostle. Augustin, who was sent to England with forty monks, by Geegoky, arrived there A. D. 597 ; and became the first archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 607. Boniface III obtained from Phocas the title of uni- versal bishop ; which Gke GORY had called "blasphemous, anti-christian, heretical, diabolical." See Bower, vol. i. p. 426. 2. "Behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man" (v. 8); indicating, say interpreters, great sa- gacity, craft, policy. How characteristic of popery ! 3. " A mouth speaking great things." (v. 8.) " A mouth that spake very great things." (v. 20.) " And he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three; kings." (v. 24.) "And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the ilost High, and shall think to change times and laws." (v. 25.) The usurper, the haughty, blaspheming pope, is plainly depicted in these verses ! 4. "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them." (v. 21.) 17 194 POISON OF FOPEBY Large volumes have been written to record facts, that prove the diabolical wicked spirit of the Papacy, manifested in murdering Christ's saints. A small specimen will be given in the next chap- ter. 5. " And they shall be given into his hand, until a time and times and the dividing of time." (v. 25.) This marks the duration of the reign of popery ; and it agrees exactly with the duration assigned to it by John. (See Eev. xii. 14.) 6. From verses 13, -14, we learn, that the kingdom of the Son of Man was set up during the existence of the fourth beast or kingdom ; and that " his domin- ion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be des- troyed." 7. By vs. 26, 27, we are taught that, at the ap- pointed time, "the judgment shall sit" on the little horn, "and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." How clearly is the ruin of Anti-Christ or the Pa- pacy here foretold ! 8. '.'And the kingdom and dominion, and great- ness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given unto the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." (v. 27.) "What a clear prediction of the universal spread of truth and righteousness ; or, in other words^ how manifestly is the extension of the church of Christ over the whole earth, here exhibited in full view I One remark more will finish this part of the char- acter of the Papacy or Eomigh church, as drawn in Daniel's vision. EXPOSED. 195 The pemark is this: That tlie little horn is des- cribed without particular reference to his act of pluck- ing lip by the roots three of the ten horns, and thus becoming a civil power. -This indeed is one mark by which he is known, and that attracted the prophet's attention ; the truth of which he desired to know, as well as of the fourth beast. (See vs. 19-22.) Daniel had "beheld in this horn eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." (v. 8.) The explanation given to the prophet is found in vs. 24-26 : He would rise after the first ten horns, and " be dii>erse from the first, — and shall speak great words against the Most High, and wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given .iito his hand, until, &c." All this is characteristic of the little horn. He had eyes like the eyes of man, — a mouth that spake great, very great things against the Most High, — his looks were more stout than his fellows, — he blasphemed the Most High, — he thought to change times and laws, — made war with the saints, — sentence was given against him, &c. All are characteristic of the popes - and all are fully verified by history. The definition' of the -Papacy,- as being a civil, tyran- nical, persecuting, idolatrous empire^ adopted by some, we think to be erroneous ; because it throws back the existence of the Papacy to a time not warranted by the teaching of the vision.- The eccksiasiical power, the popes, Anfi- Christ, are held up to view in this wonderful vision. The popes became tlie prime movers of all the wickedness in the Eomish church, and finally con- trolled all orders of the Hierarcliy. The popea ex- 198 POISON OF POPEKY cited wars and persecutions, that deluged the Latiti or western part of the Roman empire with blood ! All this appears from the extracts already given from different historians ; a^id will be confirmed by the testimony of other historians, that will hereafter appear. 2 THESS. II. 3-12. II. The apostle Paul has, in his epistles, clearly foretold the same sad and lamentable events that were predicted by Daniel, 555 years before the Christian era ; and consequently more than eleven hundred years before the Papacy had a formal existence ; and before its final ovenlirow and destruction, more than two thousand and four hundred years. What a won- derful extent of prophecy in DanieVs vision ! 1. The second chapter of Paul's second epistl.e to the Thessalonians, furnishes very striking and con- clusive evidence, that coincides with and confirms the Yision of Daniel. On the verses in this chapter, I had inserted the Greek words with their appropriate articles, to show that they required a more emphatical translation. But as there are no Greek types in this office, I am compelled to devise another plan. I, therefore, pro- pose to give a translation composed of the common version, and of the versions of Drs.' Doddridge and Mac Knight; referring the reader to them and their authorities, to jiistify my translation. The third verse then will read thus : "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (of judgment) shall not come, except the great apostasy come first ; and that man of sin be revealed, that son of perdition : EXPOSED. 197 "4. Who opposeth and exaltetL. Hmself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he sitteth in the church of God, showing himself that he is God. 5. Eemember ye not, that wlien- I was yet with you, I told you these things ? 6. And now, you know what restraineth, that he may be revealed in his. time. 7. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only till he that restraineth be taken out of the way : 8. And then shall that lawless one be revealed ; whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit or breath of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming : 9. Whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, 10. And with all deceit of unrighteousness in them who perish ; because they received Jiot the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11. And for this cause God shall send tbem strong delusion, that they should beliBve a lie ; 12. That they all may be damned, who believed not the truth, but took pleasure in iniquity." How perfectly this prediction of Paul harmonises with the vision of Daniel ! Surely the New Testament prophet has presented to the church a correct portraiture of the popes, that lawless one, that man of sin, that son of perdition ; who, as a God, sitteth as a God in the church ; changing God's positive laws, and selling forgiveness of sins already committed, and authorizing the com- mission of sijis, for stipulated sums of money 1 And how should the heart of a true christian weep, when he thinks of the delusions of the poor Koman 198 POISOlf OF POPEKT Catholics ; from whom the popes have taken away the Bible ; and compelled them to believe their lying dogmas ; who are thus shut up under condemnation by God's holy and perfect law, in this world ; and will, if they be not delivered from their delusions, be damned in the next world ! I TIMOTHr IV. 1-8. This passage so plainly depicts the Papacy, that it needs no comment to enable those wh.o are tolerably read in the history of the Eomish church, or will care- fully read our historical extracts to apply to the Eo- man hierarchy. We shall, therefore, transcribe the verses, and leave them with the reader to reflect upon, and, from his own knowledge of papal history, trace the' accuracy of the portraiture. 1. " Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils : 2. Speaking lies in hypocrisy ; having their con- science seared with a hot iron : 3. Forbidding to marry, and commanding to ab- stain from meats, which God hath created to be re- ceived with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving : 5. For it is sanctified by the word of God and praven, 6. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. EXPOSED. 199 7'. But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and ex- ercise thjself ralher unto godliness. 8. For bodily exercise profiteth little ; but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 2 TIMOTHY III. 1-9. This passage needs no comment. That it refers to the Papacy, describes the wicked- ness, deeeitfulness, cruelty, licentiousness, formality, and final ruin of the Romish church, will appear manifest to all who have read her history. We, therefore, merely transcribe these verses, as we did those of the first epistle, and leave them to our read- ers to discover in history whom they depict. 1. " This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come : 2. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, cov" etous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient tO' parents, unthankful, unholy, 8. "Without natural aflfcction, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4. Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of Go4 ; 5. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. 6. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts; 7. Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the. truth. 200 POISON OF POPBBT 8. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth : men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9. But they shall proceed no further : for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. REVELATION XIII. This chapter is too long for quotation. I must, therefore, leave it to my readers to be carefully read and studied, and compared with history written by honest and impartial Protestant writers, who love the truth, and are guided by scriptural truth ; not by such men as Prof. S., who depart from truth taught •ill the Bible, and from truth recorded in history; — while they profess to be Protestants. Such careful comparison of this chapter with true history, will lead them to discover that the New Tes- tament prophet had, by three symbols, exhibited to him three different phases of the Papacy, or Eomish church (corresponding to Daniel's little horn); and like that little horn, blaspheming God,— persecuting his saints, — overcoming them, — reigning '\forty and two months," — and finally to go into captivity and to be killed. The xvii chap, of Eevelajion should be read in connexion with the preceding ; because it contains the explanation of John's vision by another symbol of a " woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, &c. And upon her forehead was a name written. Mystery, &c." Then follows the explanation, — the war with, the Lamb, and the Lamb's triumph, &c. (vs. 14-18.) '" ■ ixPdsED. '^01 Believlilg it -would produce a favorable impression on combiori- minds, I tad intended td transcribe pas- sages clearly referring to the Papacy or Eomisb ckurcli — its , gradual fall and final Qxtermination ; amounting -to liearly thirty. But to keep this Toluine within pifoper limits, they shall be omitted. THE VIALS. IChe vials of God's wi-ath upon the earth (chap, xvi.) should not be entirely passed over ; and yet I do not "design to give an explanation of them in this book. Should I live a sufficient time, I may hereafter at- tempt it in" a separate volume. But as it is important for the ehiirch to kno-ysr -what point of time In prophetic chronology she haareached, I shall briefly indicate my dpinibn. I believe that the first vial" began to be poured out when the revolution in FeanOE commenced, in 178^. My opinion is based oh an exposition given by the late Eev. Dv.i/Schmucker; -who was pleased to give me, some years ago, his" volumes on prophecy ;aUd to inscribe in the first the words, " PretiUm affectionis." His exposition seems conclusive. ^ For brevity sake, I pass by the second, third and fourth -vial, and give it as my belief that the fifth m&l (vs. 10, 11) began to be poured out at the revolution in Italy (A. D. tS4:8); when th,e present pope was compelled, in such humiliating style, to flee firom Eome and run, to Naples for" protection. "The vial was poured out upon the head {throne) of the beast ; and his kingdom was filled with dark- ness f and' they gnawed their tongues for pairt." 202 POISON OF POPERY " And they blasphemed, the God of heaven because of their pains, and their sores, and- repented not of their deeds." , , : - Was not this symbol fnlfilled atihat time? ."What were the feeling of anguish by the dignitaries of the apostate church, when their head, whom they wor- shippexi as God, fled from his throne in " the eternal city," as a coachman, in disguise, to Naples, it is easy to imagine. That they have not repented of their deeds has been proved by their insane and- impious conduct, in establishing the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, as a dogma^necessary to be believed for salva- tion ; so insulting -not only to the Son, but to "the Father also; (John v. 22, 23. 1 John ii. 18, 22, 23.) - Must not our blessed Eedeemer resent the shameful indignity offered to him by the deiflcation. of Mary, and teaching .sinftfl mortals to rely on her mediation and intercession f Is not this .robbing Him of his glory as our Mediator ? What has he taught us on this point ? He himself said ; " For the Father judg- eth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." And again. He said, " He that hateth me, hateth my Father also." (John xv. 23.) From this declaration of the Master, the inference is irresistible, that if a man love the Son, he will love the Father ; and that if a man do not love the Son, he will not love the Father. Equally conclusive is the inference, that if the pope and cardinals and archbish- ops, &c., who lately satan council at Eome, had loved the Son of God, .they would not have robbed him of EXPOSEIX 203 his mediatorial glory, and insulted him so grossly; and consequently, dishonored and insulted the leather also ; as they have done by the dogma of the immacu- late conception. " Who is a liar," inquires John, " but he that denieth'that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. Let that therefore abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father." (1 John ii. 22-24.) The final conclusion is this: The Eomish church, by adopting the immaculate conception of Mary as an article of faith, has contradicted the testimony of the Holy Ghost, plainly recorded, as. we have shown, in the gospel of Luke ; and thus set tradition in authori- ty above the authority of God's inspired word. She has insulted and denied the Son of God. She has insulted and denied the Father also. In fine, she has proved herself to be a false church, — a synagogue of Satan, — Anti- Christ. CHAPTER XYII. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH^ OR THE PAPACY NO PART OF THE VISIBLE CHURCH OF CHRIST. lujhe xvi. chapter we have endeavored to present the character of this apostate church, as drawn by the pen of iaspiration; ages "before she came into the world. 204 POISON OF'POPEBT We briefly assigned, in chapter xii., p. 160,) tlie reasons on which our judgment was founded. From the beginning of her existence in the seventh century, the papacy has been tyrannical, persecuting and idolatrous, and became more and more so, till she has become apostate, a synagogue of satan — Anti- Christ. The question asked by some : " Have no pious in- dividuals been found in the Eomish Church?" we have already aiuswered in chapter xii. p. 160. And now, I am constrained to add what may ap- pear harsh and uncharitable; but fidelity to my master, and love to the souls of men, demand its utter- ance. It is this: No real Roman Catholic, living and dying in the belief and practice of his false religion, can be saved ; because he belongs to a class of sinners who, the apostle Paul says, (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10,) " shall not inherit the kingdom of God." He is an idolater. He may be an honest,' upright man, and a respect- able, useful citizen. Such was Paul before his con- version and faith in Jesus Christ. He could say of himself: " Touching the righteousness which is of the law, blameless." He entertained high hopes of heaven, and did not doubt his acceptance with God ; for he says of himself: " I was alive without the law once." He was ignorant of himself, an unbelieving sinner, and therefore a persecutor of Christ's saints, just as the deluded Roman Catholics are, and relying just as they do, on his own righteousness or good works. " But when the commandment came," he says, " sin revived and I died." (Rom. vii. 9, 10.) He became convinced his own obedience and false Jewish faith could not save him from condemnation by God's most EXPOSED. 206 holy and perfect law. Thus he was led to repent- ance and to rely on the righteousness of Christ, by faith, for pardon and acceptance with God. (Phil. iii. 3-14.) The case of the young man who said he had " kept all the commandments from his youth up ;" and in- quired, " what lack I yet ?" might be used to illustrate the pondition of the Koman Catholics. (See Matt, six, 16-26.) True, a Eoman catholic may, by coming to the knowledge of the true gospel, be enlightened, regener- ated and sanctified by the spirit ; he may repent and believe in Christ, on his dying bed, and be saved: just as the crucified thief who had reviled the Saviour ; but before he died, being enlightened, he repented and believed, and he received to his petition this all gracious assurance : " To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." (Luke xxiii. 48.) Bat then, let it be remembered, the penitent and believing sinner will be saved, not for his prayers, but as a sinner, enlightened, penitent and believing ; not as an idolater and a Eoman Catholic; but as one, who, being enlightened to see its errors, has renounced that idolatrous church, and all its superstitions, and committed himself for salvation to Jesus Christ, who he now believes to be the sole and sovereign Head of the universal church on earth ; and that none can be saved in any other way than by relying on his obe- dience unto death, as the only ground of acceptance with a holy God. Sueh a penitent and believing sin- ner will, immediately after death, be received into the invisible and triumphant church in heaven. 18 208 POISON OF POPERT PROOFS OF THE TYEANNIOAL AND PERSECCTINO SPIRIT OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. In Part I, we have given the quotations from Mosheim and Edgar, embracing four centuries, which show the miserable state of the Eomish church in re- gard to ignorance, imi)urity, licentiousness of all or- ders, and the miseries that were brought on Eome itself by contending popes ; and what calamities were brought on Germany, by the ambition, tyranny and impiety of Gregory VII ; who excited the people to rebel against the emperor, by pretending to have power to release them from the binding power of their oath of allegiance to their sovereign. I. The first proof oi ^Q tyrannical spirit of Rome is the fact — she has taken away (i. e. by the popes) from her members the Iloly Scriptures. What greater act of tyranny and impiety could the Bomish church have done, than depriving the people of the privilege of' reading the word of God ? How directly does this go in opposition to the injunction of Jesus Christ, who said to the Jews, and of course to all, " Search the scriptures ; for in them ye think ye have eternal life : and they are they which testify of me.',' (John v, 39.) Speaking of the popes, Mosheim (vol. iv. p. 208) "They permitted their champions to indulge themselves openly in re- flections injurious to the dignity of the sncted -vrritings, and by an ex- cess of blasphemy almost incredible (if the passions of men ;did not render tbem capable of the greatest enormities),' to declare publicly, that the edicts of the pontiffs, and the records of oral tradition, were su- perior, in point of authority, to the express language of the holy Scrip- tures." Ab early as the iwdfih century, and of course'j^ui* SZFOSED. 207 centuries before the sixteenth, in which the above quo- tations appear, Mo^heini had written about tha violent efforts of the popes to deprive the church of Rome of the light of divine truth, and of the deplorable conse- quences resulting from the ignorance of the, priests and people, of the sacred scriptures, in corrupting the beautiful simplicity of christian worship, and in lead- ing the ignorant to place more confidence in relics than in the merits of -Christ. "All orders contributed, though in' different ways, to corrupt tho native purity of true religion. The Eoman pontiffs led the way ; they would not suffer any doctrines that had the smallest' tendency, to dim- inish thQir despotic authority ; but obliged the public teachers to inter- pret the precepts of Christianity in such a manner as to, render th^m subservient to the support of papal dominion and tyranny. This order was so much the more terrible, in that such as refused- to comply with it and to force the words of scripture into significatxbjis totally opposite to the intention of its divine author, such, in a word, as had the courage to place the authority of the gospel above that of the Komah pontiffs, and to consider it as the supreme rule of their conduct, were answered with the formidable arguments of fire and sword, and received death in the most orael forms, aa the fruit of their sincerity and resolution. The priests and monks contributed, in their way, to disfigure tlie beautiful simplicity of religion ; and, finding it their interest to, keep the people in tlje grossest ignoraiice and darkness, dazzled their feeble eyes with the ludicrous pomp of a gaudy worship, and led them to place the whole of religion in Vain ceremonies, bodily austerities and exercises, and par- ticularly in a blind and stupid veneration for the clergy." ' "The consequences of all this were superstition and ignorance, which were substituted in the place of true religion, and reigned over the multitude with an universal sway. Belies, which were for the .most part fictitious,' or at least uncertain, attracted more powerfully the con- fidence of the people, than the merits of Christ, and were supposed by many to be more effciotual than the prayers, offered to heaven through the mediation and intercession of that divine Eedeepier." Moreover, Bower, in his history of the popes, proves that Gregory VII, that ambitious and auda- cious pontiff, as Mosheim •" styles him, bad begun this vile and impious work of robbing the people of the word of Godj in the twelfth century. 208 POISON OP POPEKT Gregory saw plainly enongh, that if the people ■were permitted to read the Scriptures, he could not carry into execution the infernal plan of a universal monarchy, both in church and state. "When "the Duke of Bohemia desired leave to have divine service performed in the Solavonian tongue, that is, in the language of the country." Gregory wrote a letter in reply, containing an absolute refusal, in which he dared to say most false- ly, that it was " 'manifest to all who will hut reflect, that it has pleased the Almighty that the Scripture should be withheld from some, and not understood by all, lest it should fall into contempt, or lead the imlearned into error. And it must not be alledged that all were allowed, in the primitive times, to read the Scriptures, it being well known that in those early times the church connived at many things, (how false) which the holy fathers disapproved and corrected when the Christian religion was firmly estab- lished. We therefore cannot grant, but absolutely forbid, by the authority of Almighty God and his blessed apostle Peter, what you ask, and command you to oppose to the utmost of your power, all who require it.' " Bower proves how contradictory this was to our Saviour's command, and to 1 Cor. xiv. He then shows how utterly opposite it was to the permission granted to the Moravians, by two of his predecessors in the pontificial chair, Adrian II and John YIII. The permission granted to Moravians was confirmed to them, notwithstanding the decree of Gregory, by Innocent IV, in 1248. Pope against Pope ! Yet all infallible 1 CHAPTER XYIII. PERSKCUTION OF THE WALDENSES. II. Second proof of the tyvanmcal and fiendish spirit of the Eomish church, is her early began and long continued persecutions. Fox, in his history of martyrs, has indeed given an account of the martyrs under Pagan Home; but in his account of martyrs under Papal Pome, he ascends no higher than the seventeenth century. Neither he nor Mosheim seems to have discovered the fact, that they began much sooner. Bishop Newton has brought forward unexception- able testimony from three witnesses, Eoman" Catho- lics, to prove her persecutions began very early. We shall, therefore, introduce Newton's discoveries first. He writes thus (vol. ii. p. 258)-: "I will only produce the testimonies of three witnesses ooneerniug them, whom hoth sides must allow to he unexoeptionahlS, Eeinerius, Thuanus, and Mezeray. Eeinerins, flourished about the year one thou- sand two hundred and fifty-four; and his testimony ia the more re- markable, as he was a Dominican, and inquisitor general. "'Among all the sects, which still are or have been, there is not any more pernicious to the church than that of the Leonists. And this for three reasons. The first is, because it is older ; for some say that it hath indured from the time of Pope of Sylvester ; others, from the time of the apostles. The second, because it is more general ; for there ia scarce any country wherein this sect is not. The third, becauae when all other scots beget hori-or in the hearers by the outrageouaness of their blasphemies against God, this of the Leonists hath a great show of piety ; because they live justly before men, and beheve all things rightly oon- NoTB.^ife died A. D. 1587 ; Newton, A. D. 1781 ; or nearly two hundred years afterwards. 210 POISON OF POPEBT oeming God, and all the articles which are contained in the creed, only they blasplieme the church &f Kome and the clergy-; whom the multitude of the laity is easy to believe.' " " The credit of Thuanus as an historian is too well established to need any recommendation; and he is so candid and impartial, as to dis- tinguish between their real opinions, and those heresies which were falsely impnted to them by their enemies. 'Peter Valdo, a wealthy citizen of Lyons, about the year of Christ one thousand one hundred and .seventy, gavo, name to the Valdenses. lie (as Guy de Perpignan, bishdp of Elna," in Eoussillon, who exercised the offloe of inquisitor against the "Waldenses, hath left testified in writing) leaving his ho-use and goods, devoted himself wholly to the profession of the gospel, and took care to have the writings of the prophets and apostles translated into the vulgar tongue. When now in a little time he had many follow- ers about him, he sent them forth as his disciples into all parts to jjro- pagate the gospel. Their iixed opinions were said to be tljese : that the church of Eome, because she hath renounced the true faith of Christ, is the whore of Babylon, and that barren tree, which Christ himself hath cursed, and commanded to be rooted up; therefore we must by no means obey the Pope, and the bishops who cherish his errors ; that the monastic life is the sink of the church, and an hellish institution ; its vows are vain, and subservient only to the filthy love of boys : the orders of the presbytery are the marks of the great beast, which is mentioned in the Apocalypse : the fire of purgatory, the sacrifice of the mass, the feasts of the dedications of churches, the worship of saints, and propitiations for the dead, are inventions of Satan. To these the principal and certain heads of their doCtrine others were feigned and added, concerning marriage, the resurrection, the state of the soul after death, and concerning meats.' " " Mezeray, the celebrated historiographer of Fi'ance, is short, but full to our purpose ; for he saith, that ' they had almost the same opinion as those who are now called Calvinists.' " " It cannot be objected that this is protestant evidence, for they were all three members of the church of Eome." " In the thirteenth century, the Waldenses, and Albigenses had spread and prevailed so far, and were prevailing still iurther, that -^he pope thought it necessary to exert his utmost efforts to suppress them. For this pm-pose the first croisade was proclainied of Christians against Christians, and the oflioe of inquisition was first erected, the one to sub- due their bodies, the other to enslave their souls. It is enough to make the blood run cold, to read of the homd murders and devastations of this time, how many of these poor and innocent Christians were sac- rificed to the blind ftiry and malice of their enemies. It is computed that in France alone were slain a million ; and what was the consequence of these shocking barbarities?- No writer can bettor inform us than the wise and modern historian Thuanus. 'Against the "Waldenses, (saith he) when exquisite punishment availed little, and the evil was exasper- EXPOSED. 211 atod by the remedy wliioli had been unseasonably applied, and their nnniber increased daily, at length complete armies were raised ; and a war of no less weight than what onr people had before waged against the Saracens, was decreed against them ; the event of which was, that thoy were rather slain, put to flight, spoiled every where of their goods and dignities, and dispersed here and there, than that convinced of their error they repented. So that they who at first had defended them-- selves by arms, at last overcome by arms fled into Province and the neighboring Alps of the French territory, and found a shelter for their life and doctrine in those places. Part withdrew into Calabria, and con- tinued there a long while, even to the pontificate of Pius IV. Part passed into' Germany, and fixed their abode among the Bohemians, and in Poland and Livonia. Others turning to the west obtained refag6 in Britain.' " Thuanus states that the sects of Leonists, or Wal- denses is traced to the times of the apostles ; and this is confirmed by a statement made by the Eev. J. P. Revel, Moderator of the Waldensian Synod,' and re- prcsenta,tive of that ancient and venerable church. He came to this country to solicit aid for his people, who deserve respect and aid from all who love the truth, and wish to honour pur Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He appeared before our General Assembly^ while sitting in Philadelphia, in 1853 ; and on Thursday, May 26, he was introduced- to the General Assembly, when he made a brief address, to which the Mode- rator responded ; and after mutual salutations, Dr. Spring offered a resolution which was unanimously adopted. (Minutes p. 439.) On page 595 is found " Appeal of the O. A. in behalf of the Waldenses." Note, — The Above is Newton's trnusliition. The originnl Latin ia printed on the aamf pages with ths trnna'ation ; fin tliat there is reuaon to beiieve Schaff has read these ^stimamea ; but they wera too osudid for him. It suited Ijia purpose best to take no notice of them. ^ , 212 POISON OF POPSKY rox's BOOK OF MARTYRS. We are now prepared to select our extracts from this faithful writer. Fox says, (vol. i. pp. 187-188) ; " Pope-CIcment the Eighth, sent missionaries into the vaUies of Pied- mont, to induce the . Protestants to renounce their religion ; and these missionaries having erected monasteries in several parts of the vallies, became exceeding troublesome to those of the reformed, whore the mon- asteries appeared not only as fortresses to curb, but as sanctuaries for all such to fly to, as had any way injured them. "The Protestants petitioned the duke of Savoy against these mission- aries, whose insolence and ill usage had become intolerable ; but instead of getting any redress, the interest of the missionaries so prevailed, that the duke published a decree, in which he declared, that one witness should be sufiioient in a court of law against a protestant ; and that every witness who convicted a protestant of any crime whatever, should be entitled to (m hundred crowns. " It may be easily imagined upon the publication of a decree of this nature, that many protestants fell martyrs to puijury and avarice ; for several villainous papists would swear anything against the protestants for the sake of the reward, and then fly to their own priests for absolu- tion from their false oaths. If any Eoman Catholic of more conscience than the rest blamed the fellows for their atrocious crimes, they them- selves were in danger of being informed against, and punished as favorers of heretics. " The missionaries.did all they could to get the books of the protest- ants into their power, in order to burn thetn ; when the {>rotestants, doing their utmost endeavors to conceal their books, the missionaries wrote to the duke of Savoy, who, for the heinous crime of not surrend- ering their bibles and prayer books, and religious treatises, sent a number of soldiers to be quartered on them. Those military gentry did groat mischief in the houses of protestants, and destroyed such quanti- ties of provisions, that many families were thereby entirely ruined." The cruelty of this treatment was little to what followed : 1. The duke tried to bribe protestants to abjure KoTB. — See la Lbufkib&b'b Bio, Diet, a ilEetoIi of hia lifo, tAkea it Beonu, from s biograpliy writtea by bia SOD. EXPOSED. 213 tlieir religion and turn Eoman Catholics, by promis- ing exemption from taxes for five years. 2. He " established a court, called ' The Council,' for extirpating heretics," the design of -which wa"^ to take away the ancient privileges of the Protestant churches. 3. The duke published a decree "prohibiting any protestaut acting as a school master or tutor, either in public orprivate, or to teach any art, or soienoe, or language, directly ^r indirectly, to persons of any persuasion whatever." 4. Then followed another edict which decreed that no Protestant should hold any, place of profit, trust, or honour ; and, to wind up all, cpmmanding all Prot- estants to attend diligently on mass, that abominable rite. " This edict," says Fox, " may he compared to unfurling the blopdy flag ; for murder and rapine were certain to follow, (p. 188.) " One of the first objfects that attracted the notice of the papists, was Mr. Sebastian, Bason, a zealous Protestant, who was seized by the mis- sionaries, confined, tormented fifteen months, and then burnt.'? (p. 188.) " Previously to the persecution, the missionaries employed kidnappers to steal away the protestants' children, that they might privately be brought up roman catholics ; but now they took 'away the children by open force ; and if they met with any resistance, murdered the parents. " To, give the greater vigor to the persecution, the dilke of Savoy called a general assembly of the roman catholic nobility and gentry, when a solemn, edict was published against the refonped, containing many heads, and including several reasons for extirpating the protestants, among which were the following : " 1. For the preservation of the papal authority. ''.," 2. That the church livings may be all under one mode of govern- ment. '' 3. To make an union among all parties. "4. In honor of all the saints, and of the ceremonies of the church of Eome." To make sure of his prey, the cruel duke published an order that no Protestant, or any of his family, 214 POISON OP POPEBT. should, within three days after the publication .thereof, depart from certain places named. " This was ordered on pain of death, and- conflscation of house 'and goods, unless within the limited time they turned Eoman Catholics." '' The publication was made January 25, A. D. 1655. The winter was remarkably sudden and rigorous." Knowing what was coming, many would have fled, and left all to save themselves, but could not. Women were in circumstances that they could not ; and husbands preferred staying with their wives, and parents with their children, to fleeing from them ; risking all consequences. " The papists, however," says the historian, " drove the people from their habitations at the time appointed, without even suffering them to have sufficieni clothes to cover them ; and many perished in the moun- tains, through the severity of the weather, or for want of food. Some, however, who remained behind, after the decree was published, met with the severest treatment, being murdered by the popish inhabitants, or shot by the troops who were quartered in the vallies. A particular discriptiou of these cruelties is given in u letter written by a protestant who was upon the spot, and who happily escaped the carnage. " The army," says he, " having got footing became very numerous, by the addition of a multitude of neighboring popish inhabitants, who, finding we were the destined prey of the plunderers, fell upon us with an impetuous fury. Excluding the Duke of Savoy's troops and the popish inhabitants, there were several regiments of French auxiliaries, some companies of Irish brigades, and several bands foi-med of outlaws, smugglers and prisoners, who had been promised pardon and liberty in this world, and absolution in the next, for assisting to extenninate the protestants from Piedmont. " This armed multitude being encouraged by Eoman catholic bishops and monks, fell upon the Protestants in a most furious manner. Noth- ing now was to be seen but the face of horror and dismay; blood stained the floor of houses ; dead bodies bestrewed the streets ; groans and cries were heard from all parts. Some armed themselves and skermish- od with the troops ; and many with their families fledto the mountains. In one village they cruelly tormented one hnnered and fifty women and children, after the men were fled, beheading the women, and dashing out the brains of the children. In the towns of Villaro.and Bobbio, most of those who refu.sed to go to mass, who were upwards of fifteen years of age, they crucified with their heads d^guwards ; and the great- er number of those who were under that age were strangled." (pp. 188 , 189.) EXPOSED. 215 Let Prof. Scliaff Icnow tbat this was one of the mid- dle ages, which he laads so highly ; wlien all things were in such beautiful order, and men were so pious. How pious the Duke of Savoy, and his missionaries, and his troops, and his outlaws and smugglers, whom he promised- to reward if they would assist in the good work, of exterminating heretics ! How pious were all, in the estimation of the discriminating Ger- man and learned doctor ! who has come to America to teach us not to profess to believe what we do not believe, and always to keep,our solemn engagements ! j^U were acting from motives from above — truly heavenly ! The g'^nerat history is followed by an account how horribly individuals were tortured to death, and how children were dashed to pieces ; and some before the eyes of their fathers; because they would not abjure their Lord and Master, and throw away their own im- mortal souls ! FURTHEK PERSECUTIONS IN THE VALLEYS OF PIEDMONT, IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTITRY. Under this head are narrated more than one hun- dred particular cases of persons in those valleys, who endured the most Horrible tortures rather than re- nounce the true faith to save life. Among them were children. Some had gunpowder put into their mouth, and then the povyder being set on fire, they were blown up. Some wiere hung in a barbarous way ; some precipitated on the rocks, and dashed to pieces ; some flayed alive |fmany affcer being killed given to dogs ; and some before they were dead. Some had a 216 POISON 01" POPEBT joint of each finger cut oflF, then another. In like manner their toes were cut off. Thus the legs and arms were maimed, by dissevering them at the joints. Days were spent in the operation, (pp. 190, 191.) What an exhibitiori of the cruelty of a false reli- gion, and how it can extinguish every tender feeling, and turn men into fiends ! THE PEBSECUTIONS IN FBAKCE: THREE. First, — The massacre at Yassy, by the c^w&eo/" Guise and his brother, Cardinal Guise. Second,— The Massacee of St. Baetholomew's day, conducted by Chaeles IX. and the Queen mother, and Cardinal Loerain. Third, — The inhuman and infernal persecution of the Protestants, by Louis XIV and Cardinal Maz- ARIN. Having given a small specimen of the tender mer- cies of the Papists or Roman Catholics, in the Val- leys OP Piedmont, &c., we proceed to hold up to view some on a larger scale, in FEANCE. CHAPTER XIX. FIEST — MASSACRE AT VASMUT, 1562. "We begin with the MassaCke at Vasst, in the EXPOSED, 217 This bloody tragedy was conducted by tile duke of ud they were ibliged to juako a body of straw and hang it up in place of the true )ody, rather than have nothing at all.". Besides a disgraceful decree passed by the parlia- nent of Paris, against Gasper Coligni, admiral of ?rance, after the massacre ; general processions were )rdered to be made on the 24th of August, 1572, .hrough the city of Pans, by way of thanksgiving to 3-od, for this punishment inflicted upon the conspira- ;or. (p. 652.) REJOICING AT ROME AT THE MASSACRE. " At Bome solemn masses were sung, and thanks were rendered unto lod for the good success which the Komau Catholics had obtained in oasc-acreeing the Hugonots. At night, in token of joy and gladness, aany great bonfires were made in sundry places ; and it was reported he cardinal of Lokkain gave a thousand crowus to the person who irought him this welcome hews I" (p. 652.) " It was credibly reported, that the number slain on Sunda/j/ and. the ivo following days, in Paris and the suburbs, did amount to more than !» thousand ; counting lords, gentlemen, presidents, counsellors, ad vo- ltes, lawyers, scholars, physicians, merchants, tradesmen, women, laids and children. The streets were covered with dead bodies;- the .ver dyed with blood ; the gates and entrance into the king's palace ainted with the same colour. But the blood thirsty were not yet satis- sd, for ' they still continued to go from house ' to house with their isooiates where they thought to find any Hugonots. They broke open le doors, then cruelly fiiardered whosoever tiiey met, sparing neither 226 POISON or porsBT Bdx nor age. Carta were laiden with dead iDodieB of young maidens, women, men and children, which were discharged into' the river, it being ooyered, in a miihner, all over with slain, and dyed With their Mood, which alao streamed down the streets from sundry parts thereof; whereat the courtezans laughed their fill, saying the wars were now ended, and that hereafter they would live in peace, &o." (pp. 652, 653;) At this slaughter of human beings professing the true religion, and worshipping God and his Son Jesus Christ, (but not saints and angels, and the Virgin Mary,) the pope and his cardinals rejoiced. They will wail in the judgment day, with all idolators and murderers ; when martyrs and all saints will triumph in their Lord and Saviour. (Fox, vol. ii. pp. 644- 653.) What we have extracted from the two folio vol- umes of Fox, is not a twentieth part of what his vol- umes contain. We have 'said nothing of Germany, nothing of , Bohemia, nothing of the Netherlands, nor of Spain and its horrible inquisition ; and merely a few words of England ; altliough the account of the persecution of England, Scotland and Ireland occu- pies 1320 pages. I only add, that Charles IX died at the age of twenty-five, a miserable death ; dreadfully tormented in mind, yet blaspheming ; laid upon pillows with his heels upwards and his head downward. The blood gushed from different parts of his body, but especially from his mouth ; so that he expired in a few hours. {Fox, vol. ii. p. 640.) Having selected all that we deemed proper from JFoo»^s Book of Martyrs, to shew the persecuting and impious spirit of the Papacy or Eomish church, to prove that it has so fallen in" doctrine, in worship, and in conduct, as. to have forfeited the name of a!' church of Christ ; we now turn to QuioKs Synodioon EXPOSED. 227 IK Gallia Eeformata ; published, in London, from ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS, in 1692. ' It contains the acts and proceedings of all the na- tional synods that were held in France {thiriy<-nine in number) during one hundred years ; besides the do- ings of the Particular Synods. MEMBERS or THAT CHURCH SLAIN IN A TEW YEARS. Quick (vol. i. p. lix.) says : "And I remember the author oiLe Catmetdu Boy^d^ France, a book printed in the year 1581, and dedicated to Henby. the III.,' makes com- putation (ti their martyrs to have been, in a very few years, at least above two hundred thousand out oft from the gospel." He makes up his account thus: " Allow but an hundrgd martyrs to every cliurch, and you have the sum ; and it is as clear as the sun at noon day, that the sum is vastly more. For_,'tia a, truth incontestable, that there have been cut off by the sword and massacres for religion from the Church of Gaen, above fifteen or sixteen thousand; froiu the Church of Alencon, five thousand,' from the Church of Porj*, thirteen thousand ; from the Church of Phewns, twelve thousand ; from the Church of Trois, twelve thousand ; from the Cliurch of Sens, nine thousand; from the Church of Algiers, seven thousand five hundred'; from the Church of Poietiers, twelve thousand persons, &c." (Seei« Cabinet du Boy, Lvore prkrmers ; pp. 274, 275, 276, 277.) Total martyrs in a very few years, two hundred and sixteen thousand. In defiance of all this bitter persecution and terri- ble slaughter, the Eeformed Church in France, by the special blessing of her exalted Head, increased and flourished. So that in the Nati®nal Synod of Bochelle, in the year 1571, Mr. Beza presiding in it, the re- formed could count then above two thousand one hundred and fifty churches ; and in many of these above ten thousand members ; and in most of them two ministers ; in some they bad fiv^ / as in the year 1561, there served in the chuTch at Orleans (which at 228 POISON OF POPERY that time had seven thousand communicants) Anthony Chanoriet, Lord of Merangeau, Bobeft Macon, Lord des Fontaines, Hugh Sureau, Nicholas, Fillon, Lord of Yalk, and Daniel Tossane. (vol. i. pp. lix, Ix.) The king^s edict for pacifying the troubles of the king- dom, made at Nantes, in the month of April, 1598, and published in Parliament, February 15, 1599. As also those particular articles about it which were afterwards verified in Parliament; may be found recorded on pages Ixi-lxxxv. (Signed) "Henry." The secret articles on pages Ixxxvi-xcv. (Signed) "Henry." By two edicts, Louis, called the Great, (the first that of iVwmes, given in July, 1629 ; the second given at Germain in Laye, May 21, 1^52,) confirmed the Edicts of his father, Henry the fourth ; as a reward for saving his own kingdom, as they had done before his father's kingdom, by their fidelity and valour, vol. i. xcvi-civ. (Signed) " Louis." CHAPTER XXI. THIRD RUIN OF PROTESTANTS BY LOUIS XIV. But the popish clergy could not rest, but inces- santly endeavoured to obliterate from his mind all sense of gratitude for the signal services rendered to him by Protestant subjects, by suggesting they were not to be relied upon, and that they would desert him when an opportunity offered. EXPOSED. 229 The weak mind of Louis -was.pdisoned by his po- pish advisers. The ruin of the reformed was deter- mined on. Quick gives an account of the methods devised by the Court for ruining the reformed in France, in viola- tion of the edict of Nantes, given by Henet, and confirmed by Louis, from cvi-cxxxviii, in sect, from xx-xlvi. Note. — My presorihed limits prevent furtlier quotation from Newton, wMoh I should ^e gratified with producing. I must, therefore, content myself with barely referring the reader to what the bishop says of the opposers of popery ; for example, Almeric and his disciples, — William of St. Amorer, a doctor of the Sorbonne, on page 262, — ^Kobert, great head bishop of Lincoln, Matthew Paris, Dante and Petrarch, on page 263,— Peter Fitz Cassiodor, Michael ' Casenas and William Ooeam, Mar- silius, a famous lawyer of Padua, on page 264, — Walter Lollard, John Wickliff, on page 265, &o. 1 must cease. Here I am glad to be able to do justice to Sox, by stating I haye found by looking at his first volume of martyrs, that he has traced his christian martyrs up to the thirteenth century. He lias given an account of per- secutions in Portugal, and particularly in Spain. He gives a large ac- count of the various persecutions of the Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont, and of the diabolical cruelties of the Eoman Catholics, and long Qontiuued sufferings of that unoffending people. Here I cannot forbear calling the attention of the reader to a chapter on page 155 with this heading : " Some private enormities of the Inqcisition laid open by a very avnigula/f oocwrenoe.^' The French troops having separated from the Spanish, marched against the city of Arragon, under the duke of Orleans. The magis- trates came to offer him the keys, but he haugljtily refused them, and determined to enter the city through a breach in the walls made by his cannon. He did' so. Having arranged matters, and laid heavy contri- bution on the city, he departed to subdue other places ; " leaving a strong gan'ison to over-awe and defend, under the command of his lieutenant-general,'M. De Legal. This gentleman, though brought up a Soman Catholic, was totally free from superstition. He united great talents with bravery, and. was at once, the skillful officer and accom- plished gentleman.'' ' No difficulty was found in collecting money levied on the magistrates and principal inhabitants ; " but when the proper persons applied to the heads of the convents and monasteries, they found that the ecclesiastics were not so willing as other people to part from their eash." 280 poison OF POPEKT M. De Legal wisely began witli the Jeauita. Ho therefore Bent to them " 11 peremptory order to pay the money immediately. The supe- rior of the Jesuits returned for imswer, tliat for the clergy to pay-money to the army wjs against all ecclesiastical immuuitiea ; and that lie knew of no aj'guinent wiiich could authorize such u procedure. M. De Legal^ then sent four companies of dragoons to quarter themselves in the col- lege, with this sarcastic messiige : ' To convince yon of the necessity of paying the money, 1 have sent four substantial arguments to your col- lege, drawn from the system of military logic ; and, therefore, hope you will not need any farther admonition to direct your conduct.' " The Augustina and Carmelites took warning and prudently paid their money. But the Dominicans being connected with the inquisition hoped to escape. The chief sent word to the military commander that his order was poor, and had no money to pay the donative, "and that their wealth consisted in oilver images of tlie apostles and saints, as large as life, which, are placed in our church, and which it would be sacrilege to remove." Undismayed by this statement, M. De Legal " sent'word that the sil- ver images would make admirable substitutes for money, and would be more in character in his possession, than in that of the Dominicans themselves. ' For,' says he, ' while yon possess them, in the manner you do at present, they stand up in niches, useless and motionless, without being of the least use to mankind in general, or even to your- selves ; but, when they come into my possession, they shall be useful, I will put them in motion ; for I intend to have them coined, when they may travel like the apostles; be beneficial in various places, and oiroulate for the universal service of mankind.' " The Dominican friars attempted to e.\eite the people to their rescue by the manner in which they carried, at night, the silver to the command- er's house. But to carry on the farce, he ordered four companies of grenadiers, properly equipped with a loaded fuzec in one hand, and lighted taper, in the other, to line the street which led to his house. The common people were afraid to obey the friars, who tried to excite them into a tumult. The Jesuits tried every method to frighten M. De Legal. They ex- communicated him ; and he excommunicated them in a certain- form. Finally he turned them out of their college and quartered his troops in it, and sent them to another place. Thus he exposed to view the horri- ble atrocities of the inquisition. It was found that the three inquisitors -had constantly a seraglio of about sixty beautiul young ladies, taken from any family they chose: and when lired in-using them they were disposed of, and their places supplied with new victims of debauchery. The wholo^-account ot eight pages should be read to see the horrible enormities of the inquisition. EXPOSBD. 231 THE FOEM OF ABJUEATION, THE mark of tl)e iBmst : OR. The pi'ofession of the Gatholick/ Apos- tolick, and Romish Faith, which the pro- testants in France were inforced to make and subscribe, through the Violence of Persecution in France. In tlje JJ'ame of tl)e Jather, anb of \\\t 0on, anb of tl)£ j^olg ®l)ost, !3lm£n. T do believe, and profess -with a firm Faith all and every thing and things contained inJ that Creed which is used by the holy Church of RoMe, to wit: I believe in one God the Father Almighty, who hath made Heaven and Earth, and all things visible a,nd ' invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Cbrist the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all Ages, God of God, Light lOf Light, True God of the True God, Begot- ten not made, of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made ; who for us Men and our Salvation came down froin Heaven, and was Incarnate by the Holy Ghost of tlie Virgin Mary, and was made Man, and was Crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, he suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again, accord- 20 232 POISON OF POPEBT ing to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father, and he shall come again with Glory, to judge both the quick and the dead : whose Kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father, and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is Worship- ped and Glorified, who spake by the Prophets. And I believe one Catholick arid Apostolick Church. I ac- knowledge one Baptism for the Remission of Sins, and I look for the Resurrection of the Dead, and the Life of the World to come. Amen. I receive and embrace most firmly the Apostolick, and 2 Ecclesiastical Traditions, and the other Observations and Constitutions of the same Church. In like manner I receive the Holy Scripture, but with that sense which the holy Mother Church hath, and doth 3 now understand it, to whom it doth belong to judge of the true sense, and intei'pretation of the Sacred Scrip- tures, and I shall never take it, nor interpret it otherwise than according to the unanimous Consent of the Fathers. I profess also, that there be truly and prpperly seven Sacraments of the new Law, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, and needful for the Salvation of Mankind, al- 4 though not alike needful to every one, to wit, Baptism, ..Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Marriage, and that they do confer Grace. And that Baptism, Confirmation, and Orders, cannot be reiterated without Sacriledge. I receive and admit dso the Ceremonies received and 5 approved by the Catholic Church, in the solemn Admin- istration of all these fore-mentioned Sacraments. -I receive and embrace all and every thing and things, 6 v?hich have been determined and declared concerning original Sin and Justification by the holy Council of Trent. mjLryjajnUt 'ZdA. I likewise profess, that in the Masa there is offered unto God a true, proper, and propiatory SaerifiCe for the living and the dead, and that in the most holy Sacrament ofstlie Eucharist, there is truly, really, and substantially, I the Body and Blood, together with the Soul and Divin- ity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that in it there is made a Change of the whole substance of the Bread into his Body, and of the whole substance of the Wine into his Blood, which Change the Catholic Church calls Transub- stantiation. 8 I confess also, that under one only of those two Ele- ments, whole Christ and a true Sacrament is received. I constantly affirm, that there is a Purgatory, and that 9 the Souls there detained are relieved by the Suffrages of the Faithful. In like manner the Saints leigning with Jesus Christ 10 are to be Worshipped, and Invocated, and that they offer up Prayers unto God for us, and that their Relicks are to be honoured. I do most stedfastly avow, that the Images of Jesus II Christ, and of the Ever- Virgin Mother of God, and also of the other Saints, ought to be had and retained, and that due honour and veneration must be yielded to them. Moreover I aflSrm, that the power of Indulgences was 12 left unto the Church by Jesus Christ, and that their usage is very beneficial unto Christians. I acknowledge the Holy Catholick, Apostolick, and 13 Roman Church, to be the Mother and Mistress of all other Churches. And I promise and swear true Obedience to, the Pope 14 of Some, Successor of blessed St. JPeter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ. In like manner, I receive and profess, without doubt- 15 ing all other things left, defined, and declared by the holy Canons, and General Councils, and especially by the most holy Council of Trent, 284 POISON or popekt And withal, I do condemn, reject, and accurse all 16 things which are contrary, and whatever Heresies have been condemned, rejected, and accursed by the Church. And swearing upon the Book of the Gospels, he must say, I promise, vow, and swear, and most constantly to confess (God aiding me) and to keep intirely and inviol- ably unto the death, this self-same Catholick Faifh, out of which no Person can be. saved, which I do now most 17 willingly and truly profess, and that I will endeavor, to the utmost of my Power, that it shall be held, taught and preached hv my Vassals, or by those who shall be- long unto my charge. So help me God, and these holy Gospels. So be it. I of the Parish of do Certifie unto all whom it may concern, that having acknowledged the falseness of the Pretended Reformed, and the truth of the Catholick Eeligion, of my own free will, and without any Compulsion, I have made Profes- 18 sion of the Catholick, Apostolick, and Eoman Religion in ■the Church of in the hands of In Testimony of the Truth hereof, I have signed this Act in presence of these ^Yitnesses, whose names are here- unto subscribed this day of the Month of and in the year of our Lord Sect, xlvii. When these poor Wretches had signed this Abjuration, and hoped thereby to he at rest, they were far enough from it; for their J[!!onsciences flew in their Faces, and many of them were driven unto despair. Yet their Persecutore ne\er ceased tormenting them ; 19 they must own and attest it before the World, that they embraced the Roman Religion freely, voluntarily and of their own accord, and that no Violence was oft'er'd them to move or induce them to turn from the Reformed Reli gion. And if after this they sorapled to go to Mass. to communicate after the Popish way. to t«ll over their EXPOSED. 235 Chaplet of Beads, or if a Sigh escaped from them, indi- cating their Grief and Sorrow for their great Sin in for- saking the Truth, immediately there were great Fines laid upon them, and their old Guests the Dragoons are sent back again to beat up their quarters, and.uiey must entertain afresh those old Guests, who Had wearied them out of their Faith and Life. REMARKS ON THE CREED. The preceding creed is not what is commonly called the apostles' creed, and received by Protestants ; but let it be remembered that Protestants received it not as prepared by the apostles, for it was not ; but by other hands, after they had left the world. They re- ceived it because it accorded with their inspired wri- tings. It was adopted by the churches before the existence of popery, and by Protestants after" the Re- formation from popery or the Eomish church. It was very short, comprized in a few lines. The Romish creed marked No. 1, is twice as long, and seems to be the creed adopted by the council of Nice. (A. D. 825.) But that is far from styling the church of Rome holy ; for in 325 its papistical form had no existence, and in 325 the church of Rome was only a ^art of the universal church. But when the Papacy entered, it became more and more corrupt ; so that when this creed was formed and adopted, the Romish church had exscinded herself,, by her acts in NoTB,— The original "Form of Abjuration," in Quiirls'a Spnodieon was printed in italics — it is now necessarily reversed ; the italic being in romau type, and viee verta. 236 POISON OK POPERY "tlie council 0/ 'Trent, by oonfirming all the errors and usurpations of the Papacy, and by excommunicating and anathematizing all churches and individuals who did not adopt her heresies, and superstitionB, and idol- atries. No. 2. She has exalted ecclesiastical traditions in authority above the Holy Scriptures. No. 3. She has taken away the right of private judgment. There are no apostolic traditions not contained in the Scriptures. No. 4. She has dared to usurp the authority of our Sovereign, the Lord Jesus Christ, by instituting sac- raments which he never instituted, and impiously pretending they all confer grace. No. 5 By her ceremonies she has corrupted bap- tism and the Lord's supper. No. 6. She has fatally corrupted both the doctrine of original sin and of justification. No. 7. The Heidelberg Catechism justly says, " that the mass at bottom, is nothing elsa than a denial of the one sacri- floe and sufferings of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry." And Calvin, in chap, ix, as we have seen, pp. 133, 134, what the Reformed church of France, and Cal- vin believed concerning the Romish church and the mass. .'«' No. 8. The Romish church has grievously sinned, by depriving the laity of the cup which Jesus Christ gave them. No. 9. There is no purgatory. An invention to extract money from the pockets of the people to the pockets of the priests. It is a satanic delusion. No. 10. "We reject the proposition. It has led npt only to superstition, but to gross idolatry. EXPOSED. 287 No. 11. Violates the second commandment. No. 12.- Is utterly false, and ruinous to the souls of men. No. 13. False. Instead of being wliat she pretends to be, we are proving the Eomish church to be no part of Christ's visible church. No. 14. The pope pretends to have inherited the prerogatives and gifts of Peter ; but his pretensions are founded in lies, and upheld by forged documents, as we have shown in p. 141 ; and even Schaff con- fesses what she " early claimed, was, in several instances, resisted by Irineces, &o., and was fully established only in the Middle Ages." But how established he does not say. (p. 376.) No. 15. By the acts and curses of the council of Trent, the church of Rom.e, as we have already said, exscinded herself and all her- adherents from the church of Christ. No. 16. Another impiety of the apostate church of Eome. No. 17. Her wickedness and impiety increase. No. 18. The climax of falsehood, impiety, and per- jury. Fall proof that the apostate church of Eome has by compelling Protestants to perjure themselves, par-: ticipated in the guilt of perjury, and dyed their gar- ments with crimson guilt. " I have by me a letter from Mets, giving an account of the poor Prbt- estaoJs upon their Abjuration, which may not be unacceptable to the reader. (Signed) "E ." " Dated Oct. 2, 1686." Being too long for printing, I present an extract : "Finally on our side we have no means left us of escaping, bo that we muat absolutely resign ourselves to the will of God, 'till ho open a door 288 POISOK OF POPERY for Qs. Yet I beseeoli you, do not believe, that worldly considerations, as of goods and estates, do detain us here ; no, no, could we but have had liberty of departure, we had long o'er this gone away, though only with our shifts about us, yea, though we had left our children behind us. Bat it is not God's will that we should yet quit this, place, nay, 'tis his will that we be patient, and that we hinder our ohildrens' falling into suob hands as would educate them in Idolatry, in a false Eeligion, and in an aversion for ourselves ^Iso. I must add, that we had no preservar- tive from subscribing, it was wholly impossible to avoid that Subscrip- tion against the Protestant Eeformed Eeligion, the' as yet we are not obliged to go to Mass ; but expect once more the dragoons with their swords in their hands to drive us to it. , We know we have subscribed, but we know also we have not changed our Eeligion, and through Grace we shall never change it. I may assure you, that so great were our oppressions, that they might have oblig'd us to have been Turks as well as Papists, and to have wore a turban, had it been as high again as the Triple Crown." " N. B. Monsieur CheveniS, w!io is mentioned in ihis Utter, was a ven- erable and ancient gentleman, a persoxb of eminent prudence, illvstrious for learning and Godliness, and Counsellor to the King in the Court of Metz. He persisted faithful to death ; and when dead they dragged most inhmnanly his dead carcass upon a hurdle, and buried it in a dunghil. Me liath a brother, a iiery rexterend Minister of the Gospel, refugied in this City of London." Of all the martyrs, (many were the victims to the revocation of the " Edict of Nantz, by Louis XIV, instigated by popish influence and ur- gency,) only one shall be selected ; and that is Monsieur Hornet, Pastor of the Church of Soyon, and then of the Church of Fitiaretz. He was u venerable divine, aged some sixty-five years, whose whole life had been unblamable. . This eminent servant of God was broken alive upon the wheel at Tournoti. (where, by the way, reader, the Jesuits have a col- lege.) He received forty blows of the iron bar upon the scaffold. He languished under this hellish cruelty two days together. The very thoughts thereof strike an horror into the hearts of them that hear it. My author tella me, he trembled, the hair stood on end at the remem- brance. Some passages of his martyrdom are fallen into my hand, written by an eye and ear witness of them, which, for the reader's satisfaction, are here communicated without addition or alteration." " ' I count myself happy,' said this dying saint, ' that loan die in my Master's quarrel. What ! would my gracious Eedeemer descend from heaven unto earth, that I might be lifted up from earth to heaven? Would he undergo an igupminious death, that 1 might be possessed of a most blessed life ? Verily, if after all this, to prolong a frail and miser- EXPOSED. 239 atle life, I stonld lose that whioli is everlasting, should I not be a most ungrateful wretch unto my God, and a most cruel enemy to my own happiness? No 1 no! the die is cast. I am immoveable in my resolu- tion. I breath" after that hour. ! when will that good hour come, which will period my present miserable life, and give me the enjoyment of one which is infinitely more blessed ? Farewell, rny dear wife. I know your tears, your continual sighs hinder your bidding me adieu. Don't be troubled at this gibbet upon which 1 must expire ; 'tis to^me a tri- umphal ohai-iot, which will carry me into heaven. I see heaven opeu'd, and my sweet Jesus with his out-stretched arms ready to receive me ; yea, he will receive me, who is the divine spouse of my soul. I am leaving the world, in which is nothing but adversity, \hat I may get to heaven, and enjoy everlasting felicity. You shall come unto me, I shall never any more come back to you. All that I recommend unto you is, educate oar dear children in the fear of God, and be careful that they swerve not from that way prescribed them in the Holy Scriptures. I have bequeathed them a little formulary for their instruction, that if ever they be brought into the like condition with myself, they may un- dergo it courageously : and be confident in the goodness" of our God, who'will send them the Divine Comforter to strengthen them in all their straits and distresses. Prepare them for suflfering betimes, that BO ill that great day, when we shall appear before the Judgment-seat oj Christ, we may be able to bespeak him, Lord ! Here we are, and the children -which thou hast graciously given us ! Ah I I shall never have done. Ah ! why, am I hindered from my departure ? why am 1 kept so long in this my earthly tabernacle ? Farewell my dear people, 'tis the last farewell I shall ever give you. Be ye steadfast, be ye fixed !■ And know, that I never preached to you any thing but the pure truth of the gospel, the true way which leads unto heaven.' "Some one then told him he spake too much. 'How,' saidhe, 'dolspeak too much ? I speak nothing but the very truth. I have neither spoken nor done anything that was in the least offensive to the Sacred Majesty of our August Monarch. But on the contrary, I have always exhorted the people, committed by the Lord unto my charge, to' render those honors which are due unto our King, and have informed them, that our lives and fortunes are at his disposal, and that we are bound to employ theih in the defense of his estate and crown. But as for our consciences, we hold them of our God, and must keep them for him.' "Then his judges leaving him, ordered the executioner to do -his office, which ho did, breaking his arms and his legs. And being then demanded whether he would die a Soman Catholic, he answered, ' How, my Lords ! Had it been my design to have changed my religion, I would have done it before my bones had been thus broken to pieces. I wait only for the hour of mj dissolution. Courage ! courage ! my soul ! Thou shalt presently enjoy the delights of heaven. And as for thee, my poor body, thou shalt be reduced to dust, but His that thou may'stbe raised agalnca spiritual body. Thon shalt see things that never 240 POISON OF POPEEY entered into the heart of man, and which are in this life impossible to be conceived,' " He again addressed himself nnto his wife. ' Farewell once more my well-beloved spouse 1 I am waiting for you. But know though you see fay bones broken to shivers, yet my soul is replenished with unex- pressible joys. Ho uttered many excellent matters, which are now slipt my memory. Only I shall not omit, that he kissed his very judges, who poured out a shower of tears, being astonished at so great a constancy. His eyes were always lifted up to heaven. He never gave one cry for aH the blows that were laid upon him after the first. - His life was had in sin- gular veneration, and as long as this earth shall continue, his death will be in admiration." (pp. cxxxvi, oxxxvii.) CONDITION OF THE UNHAPPY PROTESTANTS WHO WERE UNABLE TO ESCAPE. This may be seen from the preceding extract from a letter written from Mets. I wish I had room for a very interesting letter from Geneva, Nov. 1685. It displays the liberality of Gen- eva and Lyons, and other parts of Protestant Switzer- land, in receiving and relieving the poor r. fugees from France, — ^the marvellpus escape of many, their joy in having reached a Prptestant coantry, and over- whelming sorrow for parents, husbands, wives, and children left behind, — and the torment of conscience of some, who, yielding to the temptation of saving their worldly estate, had abjured their religion, but were compelled, by remorse, to leave all behind, and flee to Switzerland, that they might again profess the true religion. Geneva " received da'ly and supplied thirty, fifty, eighty, ninety per- sons of all ages, of both sexes, and of all conditions." But the bitter, persecuting spirit of Louis, the king, followed these outcasts to Switzerland; so that at last, owing to the Eoman Catholic cantons, they, as EXPOSED. 241 many as 17,500, had to leave Switzerland and seek other countries for rest and safety. GooDEica, in his " History of all Nations," says (vol. ii. p. 877) : " Notwithstanding the vigilance of tlie government, no leas than half a million found means to escape, carrying info other countries their money, their skill in manufactures, and their habits of industry. A large number took refuge in America, ^nd settled in the region now known as North and South Carolina. France never recovered from the blow which her industry thus received. The Huguenots were quiet and peaceable citizens, and carried oh exclusively many bifinohes of trade. Tlie art of preparing tin and steel was known only to them, and the knowledge of it was thus lost to the kingdom. It was said of this period, ' France is like a sick person, whose legs and arms have been cut off, as a remedy for a disorder, which mildness and patience would have totally cured.' " The Marquis De la Fere, author of " Memoirs and Eeflections on the reign of Louis XIV-,"* makes the number who escaped to have been " more than eight hundred thousand Huguenots." See a quotation from his writings in De Cormenin^s " History of the Popes" vol. ii. p. 34 1. Of Clement X, De Oormenin says (vol. ii. p. 335): ".The holy father, weakened by: old age, and worn out by intoxication, fell into a prostration, which took from him even the power of motion, and carried him off, the 26th of July, 1676." The pontiff Innocent XI was a very different character. Of him De Oormenin says (p. 336) : " Before embracing the ecclesiastical career, he had followed the trade of arms, affd when he put on the tiara, there might still be seen on his brow the mark the casque had left there. " Louis XIV appeared to him to be a rivat worthy of him, and against whom he, might display his double warlike and sacerdotal energy. The moment w^s the more opportune for.a rupture with that monarch, as he was at war with the apostolic Boman emperor, Leopold of Austria." * See Zempriere't Bio Diet. 21 242 iroisoN or popbby De Cormenia says (p. 341) : " Although his holiness was at open war with the great king on the subject of the regale, h^.sent to, him a letter of congratulation on the act of infamy he had accomplished in revoking the edict of I^antz, which encouraged Louis XIV to persevere iu this deplorable path. His majesty was soon not content with the execrable glory he had acquired of mur- dering his own subjects, he wished to hear of massacres in the states of bis neighbours, and compelled Victor Amadeus, duke of Savoy, to ex- terminate the inhabitants of the valleys of Lucerne, La Peronse and St. Marbin, commonly called the Vaudois, who professed the doctrines of Calvin." • -:' The Piedmontese troops, united with the dragoons of the king of Praui e, enveloped all the country, and massacred more than twenty- thousand Huguenots in the defiles of the onountains." In a letter recorded in Quick's Synodicon vol. i. p. clvi, Pope Innocent Xl 'flatters Louis in the same manner, calling him " Our dearest son in Christ." " Given at Rome, the 13th of Nommier, in the tenth year of our pon- tificate." And why does he flatter him thus ? To dispose Louis to give up the regale to his Holiness ; which would have been a source of much revenue to him, but which the kings of France chose to appropriate to their own use. ''^Inbred piety!" So much for the knowledge of .original sin by the pontiff 1 Louis had not a particle of piety if he be judged by the Scriptures. We are not ignorant that his holiness (p. 337) says : " You seek to make campemation for the crimes of your life tij praise- worthy actions.''^ And what were these actions ? He tells us, " You destroy the synagogues,— you persecute the heretics,— you wish prepare yourself for \h.^ infinite recompenses of heaven I" What a teacher of religion I Louis had murdered EXPOSED. 248 hundreds of thousands of his best subjects, and poured out torrents of blood from therent veins of -Christ's dear saints ; andbj these fiendish acts, in the estima- tion of the pretended head of the church, the haughty cruel monarch was to merit " the infinite recompenses of heafVeny H,ore too is the evidence of his being in Christ! "When darlvuess becomes light, then shall we see evi- dence of piety and likeness to Christ in the cruel and detestable conduct of Louis ! Long before this, both the monarch and the pontiff who stimulated him in his inhuman course, have found that shedding the blood of saints was no recommendation at the judg- ment-seat of eternal and infinite justice! and that great crimes can not be atoncii for by committing greater crimes ! ar.d that no .pope or priest ever had power to forgive sin ! This and the preceding chapters have been devoted to prove that the Romish Church or Papacy of the seven- teenth century, is no part of the visible church of Christ. " Our general proof has been, that the spirit of -the Romish Church, since the Papacy entered it, in the seventh century, corrupted it in doctrine and conduct, and has been tprminical, persecuting, and idolatrous. Our particular proofs have been, — — She has, by unheard of tyranny, taken away •God's holy bible from the people, forbidden them to read it, under the severest penalties, substituted in its. place her fake and wicked dogmas, and commanded 2M POISON OF PGPEBT them to believe these and what she teaches, and not the Holy Scriptures. (See pp. 206-208.) — She hiis displayed a fiendish spirit of persecution against the saints of God. — In her persecutions carried on, at different times, in the valleys of Piedmont; where, by robberies and horrible cruelties, she laboured perseveringly to extirpate that noble church of Christ, which still survives her utmost efforts, and will live to see her final ruin. (See pp. 209-215.) —In her persecutions against the saints of God, in France, on a larger scale. — In the diabolical massacre at Vassy, by the duke of Guise. —In the MASSACRE on St. Bartholomew's Day ; when the blood of so many Protestants, shed in a manner so treacherously becoming a church, which maintains the satanic maxim, " The end justifies the means." (See pp. 221-228.) — In the persecution of Louis XIV, who so wick- edly revoked the edict of Nantz ; and, under popish teaching, took delight in shedding the blood of thou- sands of his best subjects ; because he was taught by the head of this apostate church, that by these horri- ble crimes he could merit heavenly glory. (See p. 242.)- Oan more proof be needed to prove the Eomish Church to be apostate, and no part of the visible Church of Christ ? It is utterly impossible that such persecutions should spring from true religion, the teachings of Christ. Paul has taught us what fruit grows from the teach- . ings of the Spirit, and how difi'erent they are from the fruits of the>sA. (See Gal. v. 19-26. Phil. iv. 4-9.) EXPOSED. 245 Pe(er agrees with Paul. (1 Pet. iv. 12-19. v. 1-11.) "Were additional proof needed to establisli the fact, that the church of Eome, since the doings pf the council of Trent, is certainly apostate and Anti- Chkist, and no longer a part of Cbrisi^s - visible CJiurch, we might addiice three of her institutions. 1. The execrable society of Jesuits. ' 2. The horrible and infernal Inquisition. It is ut- terly impossible that a true church should eniploy such satdnic institutions, and not bring down on it the curse of a holy God. 3. Origin and progress of the SALE OP INDULGENCES. Mosfieim says (vol. iii. cent. xii. p. 81) : " This universal reign of ignorance aucl superstition was dexterously, yet basely improved, by the rulers of the church, to fill their coffers, and to drain the purses of the deluded multitude. " The bishops, when they wanted money for their, private pleasures, or for the exigencies of the church, granted to their flock the power of pur- chasing the remission of the penalties imposed upon tranegressors, by a sum of money ; which was to be applied to certain religious purposes ; . or, in other words, they published indulgences, vrhioh became an inex- haustible scarce of opulence to the episcopal orders, and enabled tlicm, as is well known, to form and execute the most difficult schemes for the enlairgement of their aiithority, and to erect a multitude of sacred edi- fices, which augmented considerably the external pomp and splendour of the church. ' " The abbots and monks, who. were ndt qualified to grant indulgences, had recourse to other methods, of enriching their convents. Thjey^iar- riqd about- the country the carcasses and relics of the, saints,, in'solemu procession, and permitted the multitude to behold, touch, aiid embrace th^sesaored audlucrative remains at certain fixed prices. The monastic oplers gained often as much by this rareo-show, as the bishops did by their indulgences." On page 82 he tells us that the Roman pontiff coveting the immense treasures accumulated by the inferior rulers of the church, from the sale of indul- gences, limited the power of. the bishops, and. finally 246 POISON or popkry engrossed to themselves all the profits, and transcend- ed the bishops in the sale of indulgences for audacious impiety. " In consequence of this new measure, the court of Borne hecame the "" general magazine of indulgences ; and the pontiffs, when either the wants of the church, the emptiness of their coffers, or the demon of ava- rice, prompted them to look out for new siibsidies, published, not only an universal, but also a complete, or what they called a plenary remis- sion of all the temporal pains and penalties, which the church had an- nexed to certain transwressiona. They went still farther ; and not only remitted th^ penalties, which the civil and ecclesiastical laws had enact- ed against transgressors, but audaciously usurped the authority which belongs to (iod alone, and impiously pretended to abolish even the pnn- jslimenta which are reserved in a future state for the workers of iniquity ; a step this, which the bishops, with all their avarice and presumption, had never once ventured to take. " The pontiffs first employed this pretended prerogative in promoting the holy war, and sbedabroad their indulgences^ though with a certain degree of moderation, in order to encourage the European princes to form new expeditions for the conquest of Palestine; but, in process of time, the charm of indulgences was practised upon various occasions of much less consequence, and merely with a view to filthy lucre. Their introduction, among otlier things, destroyed the credit and authority of the ancient canonical and ecclesiastical discipline of pejiance^ and occa- sioned the removal and suppression of the peniientials, by which the reins were let loose to every kind of vice. Such proceedings stood much in need of a plausible defence, but this was impossible. To justify therefore these scandalous measures of the pontiff's, a most monstrous and absurd doctrine was now invented, which was modified and embellished by St. Thomas in the following century, and which con- tained among others the followiiig enormities : ^ That there actually ex- "'isted an immense treasure of merit, composed of the pious deeds, and virtuous actions, which the saints had pcrfonued teyond what was neces- sary for their own salvation, and which were therefore applicable to the benefit of others ; that the gi.ardian and dispenser of this precious treas- ure was the Eoman pontiflF; and that of consequence" he was empowered to assign to such as he thought proper, a portion of this inexhaustible source of merit, suitable to their respective guilt, and sufficient to de- liver them from the punishment due to their crimes.' It is a most de- plorable mark of the power of superstition, that a doctrine, so absurd in its nature, and so pernicious in its effects, should yet be retained and defended in the church of Some." (pp. 81-S3.) CHAPTER XXIL THE ROMISH CHURCH OB THE PAPACY IRRECLAIMABtB. From tlie commencement of tlie Papacy, in the early part, of the seventh century, to the commence- ment of the Heformation, in the beginning of the six- teenth century, is more than nine hundred years ; and , during all this time the church of Eome was hecom- ing more and more "abandoned to error in doctrige, corrupt in morals, and unchristian- in worship ; al- though three general councils had been assembled to effect a partial reformation in the head and members of the church. ' From the entrance of the Papacy into the church, tb the close of the sessions of the council of Trent, have passed away nearly nine hundred and sixty years ; and, although her people have suffered from the cor- ruption of the priesthood innumerable and dreadful miseries, yet so far from a reformation having been produced in the head and the members of that apostate church, her heretical errors in doctrine, her superstitious wotship, and her pagan idolatry, were conflirmed by the decrees of that famous council. (See pp. 206-208.) THE COUNCIL OF PISA. Mosheim says (vol. iii. chap. ii. p. 390) : " The most eminent writers of this century (XV) nnnnimonsly lament the miserable condition to which the christian church was reduced by the corruption of its ministers, and which seemed to portend nothing less thaa ite total rnin, if Providence did not interpose, by extraordinary 248 POISON OF POPBBY means, for its deliverance and preservation. The vices that reigned among the Eoman pontiffs, and indeed among all the ecclesiastical or- ders, were so flagrant, that the complaints of these good men did not appear at all exaggerated, or their apprehensions ill-founded, nor had any'of the corrupt advocates of the clergy the courage to call them to an ad^ount for the sharpness of their censures and of their complaints. Nay, the more eminent rulers of the church, who lived in a luxurious indolence, and the infamous practice of all kinds of vice, were obliged to hear with a placid countenance, and even to commend, these bold censors, who declaimed against-the degeneracy of the church, declared that there was almost nothing sound either in its visible head, or in its members and de'mimdedtheaid of the secular arm, and the destroying sword, to lop off the parts that were infected with this grievous and de- plorable coatagiou. Things, in short, were broflght to such a pass, that they were deemed the best Christians, and the most useful members of society, who, braving the terrors of persecution, and triumphing over the fear»of man, inveighed with the greatest freedom and fervor against the court of Some, its lordly pontiff, and the whole tribe of his followers and votaries. " At the commencement of this century, the Latin church was divided iuto two great factions, and was governed by two contending pontiffs, BoNirACB IX. who reniained at Borne, and Benedict XIII. who resided at Avignon. Upon the death of the former, the Cardinals of his party raised to the pontificate, in the year 1404, Cosbat de Meliobati, who as- sumed the name of Innocent VII, and held that high dignity during the short space of two years only. After his decease, Angeli Corraeio, a Venetian cardinal, was chosen in his room, and ruled the Soman faction under the title of Gkegort XII. " A plan of reconciliation was however formed, and the contending pontiff's bound themselves, each by an oath, to make .a voluntary renun- ciation of the papal chair, if that step were necessary to promote the peace and welfare of the church ; but they both violated this solemn ob- ligation in a scandalous manner. Benedict XIII. besieged in Avigrum by the king of France, in the year 1408, saved himself by flight, retiring first iuto Catalonia, his native country, and afterwards to PerpigTian. Hence eight or nine of the cardinals, who adhered to his cause, seeing themselves, deserted by their pope, went over to the other side, and, joining publicly with the cardinals of Gbegoet XII. they agreed together to assemble a council at Pisa on the 25th of March, 1409, in order to heal the divisions and factions that had so long rent the papal empire. This council, however, which was designed to close the wounds of the church, had an effect quite contrary to that which was universally expected, and only served to open a new breach, and to excite new divisions. Its pro- ceedings, indeed, were vigorous, and its measures were accompanied with a just severity. Aheavy sentence of condemnation was pronounced the 5th day of June, against the contending pontiffs, who were both de- cided guilty of heresy, poijury, and ooutumaoy, uaworthy of the small- EXPOSED. 249 est tokens of honour or respect, and separated .ipso facto from the com- munion of the church. This step was followed by the election 'of one pontiff in their place. The election was made on thoints were proposed to the deliberation of this famous council;" , 22 254 POISON OF POPERY and they selected the latter as their first point for de- liberation, the reformation of the church, which had been postponed by the council of Constance, to the deliberation of this council, which was assembled for the purpose. And to accomplish their purpose, they wisely made such a classification of their members as to guard against the cabals and intrigues of the Ital- ians. (See the note below, in^ Mosheim, by his trans- lator.) By this form of the council, by its method of pro- ceeding, and by the first decrees, they proved that they " were in earnest, and firmly resolved to answer the end and purpose of their meeting. *' Eugenius, IV was much alarmed at the prospect of a reformation, which he feared above all thhigs ; and beholding Yith terror the zeal and designs of these spiritual physicians, he attempted twice the dissolving of the cauncil. " These repeated attempts were vigorously and successfully opposed by the assembled fatliers, who proved by the decrees of the council of Cofcstanoe, and by other arguments equally conclusive, that the council was superior, in point of authority, to the Eoman pontiff. " This controversy, which was the first that had arisen between the council and the pope, was terminated, in the month of November, 1433, by the silence and concessions of the latter, who, the month following, wrote a letter from Bome^ containing his approbation of the council, and acknowledgment of its authority." (pp. 409-tlO.) The doings of the council provoked the pontiff in the highest degree, so that' he again formed a design of " setting bounds to its zeal for the reformation of the church." A violent contest ensued between the parties. " The council summoned the pontiff to appeal- before Ihem at Basil, July 26th, 1437, in order to give an account of his conduct ; but the pon- tiff, instead of complying with this summons, issued out a decree, by which he pretended to dissolve the council, and to assemble another at Ftrrara, With the consent of the emperor, the king of France, and sev- J other princes, the council continued their deliberations at JBatil; EXPOSED. 255 and on Sept. 28th, in the same yeaiy pronounced a sentence of contu- macy against the rebellious pontiff, for having refused to obey their or- der, (pp. 411, 412.) " In the year 14S8, Eugenios iu person opened the council which he had sumrnoned to meet at fei;rara ; and at the second session thun- dered out an excommunication against the fathers assembled at £asil. " On the other hand, tlie council of Basil deposed" him from the pa- pacy, June 25, 1439 ; which vigorous measure was not approved by the European kings and princes." (p. 412.) " The affronted pontfff lost all patience, and devoted, for the second time, to hell and damnation the members of the council of Basil by a solemn and most severe edict, in which also he declareH all theii; acts null, and all their pi-oceedings unlawfnl." Compare this tvitli his letter from Eome, acknowl- edging the authority of the council, &c. Such is the infallibility of a pope and of a coun- cil ! Deriding the papal thunder, the council of Basil raised to Peter's chair Felix V. in the place of Eu- GENius, whom they had deprived of the high honors he had forfeited. " This election," says our historian^ " was the occasion of the revival of that deplorable schism, which had formerly rent the church ; which had been tei-minated with so much difficulty, and after so many vain vnA fruitless efforts, at the council of Constamce." (pp. 412, 413.) "The new breach was still more lamentable than the former one, as thi flame was kindled not only between two rival pontiffs, but_between tw. contending councils of Basil and Fkirenee. The greatest part.of the church submitted to the jurisdiction, and adopted the cause of Sug0ii'us ; while Felix was acknowledged as lawful pontiff by a great numbe* of academies, aud amorfg others, by the famous University of ' PariSj a; also in several kingdoms and provinces." NicotAS V. is praised by Mosheim for his erudi- tion and genius, as a zealous patron and protector of learned men ; and for his moderation, meek and pa- cific spirit; and also for setting the seal of his appro- tion aad authority to the acts and decrees of the coun- cil of Basil, (pp. 415, 416.) But he, says not a word of his , knowledge of the 256 POISON OF POPERY Holy Scriptures ; -whicli, if lie had kiiown, he never woulil have permitted himself to be exalted to the chair of Peter, and be worshipped as God ; which Peter never did. ( Acts x. 25, 26.) I, therefore, think that De Cormenin speaks more correctly, when he says of Nicolas : *' Some ecclesiastical historians exalt the qualities and virtues of Nicolas ; bnt eoncientious historians only say he was one of the best of the bad popes." (No reflection on Mosheim's integrity.) "Calixtcs III. was remarkable," says MosAeim, "for nothing bat his zeal In animating the Christian princes to make war upon the Turks ; his reign also was short, for he died in the year 1458," De Cormenin tells more abont him and what he did with the money he collected from the different states of Europe, and the great favors conferred by him on his vicious relatives. (See vol. ii. pp. 126—130.) Pius II. succeeded in 1458, who, although he had distinguished himself in the council of Basil, by his erudition and genius, in favor of a reformation of the church, and the superiority of a council over a pon- tiff; yet after he ascended the papal throne, "in 1460, denied publicly that the pope was subordinate to a general, council, and even prohibited all appeals to such a council, under the BcvciL'St penaltie-i." "Bat," adds Moshevm, "the most egregious instance oi im/pxiderh sniperjidy that he exhibited to the world, was in the year 1463, w^n he published a solemn retraction of all that he had written in fav>r of the council »f JBasll, and declared, without either shame or hesiMion, that as jEneas Sylvius, he was a damnable heretic; bat, as Pirsil*, he was an orthodox pontiff." "Tills indecent declaration was the la-st circumstance worlby of notice that happened during his pontificate, for he departed this life in the month of July in the year 1464." (See pp. 416-419^.) i How " the mystery of iniquity works !" Jope against pope ! and council against council ! WKere is the boasted unity of Roman Catholicism ? EXPOSED. 267 I only ad5 from De Cormemn (p. 185) : " Ho himaolf soon povooived tlia tipproaoh of death, and called liis oardiniiU around his bod to exhort tliera to fjivo him a suooessor who was truly animated with the l>ontifloal epirit." What follows about his desire for extreme unction, and the reply of the bishop of Ferrara, I cannot re- cord ; although it exhibits the very spirit of that false religion, (p. 135.) See what Mezerai says of him (same page.) Paul II, who succeeded hijn, was indeed animated with the true pontifical spirit, and trad in the steps of his predecessor in perfidy ; for according to De Cor- menin, although the cardinals, before liis elevation, had bound him by an oath consisting of many par- ticulars (p. 135) ; yet says De Cormemn : •' .Xs soon i\9 he was oonsocratod a sovereign pontiff, ho wished, in contempt of his onth, to govern degjwtinrtti/, witUont even connselling with Ilia oanliniila ; ho conferred the principal dignities and heneflocs of the church on l\is. orontiircs, and framed laws which ha presented in fonn to the sncrod college to be ratified; but he forwarnod them that ho would immediately depose those who refused to obey him." (p. 136.) See the boldness of one cardinal in reproaching him as a traitor, perjurer, &c., — Paul's dissimulation, &o., in what follows, (pp. 137, 138.) Of this pontiff Mosheim writes (vol. iii. p. 419 ) " His administration was distingnishod by some measures, which, if wc eonaidar the genina of the times, woi-o worthy of praise ; though it must, at the san\o time, bo oonl'cssed tliat ho did many things that were evidently inexcusable, not to motion his reducing the jubilee circle to twenty-five years, and thus aeeolerfttinsj: the return of that most absurd and superstitious ceremony. So that his reputation became at least dtibious in after times, and was viewed in different lights by different persons." Mosheim did not know the man. His spirit was pontifical in the highest dogroo. He violated his oath in the most shameful manner ; for when remind- ed of his oath, he replied with great wrath, 268 POISOif OF POPEKY " ' Doest thon summon ns before judges ? Doest thofi not toiow that all laws are lodged in our breast — * in scrimo pectoris nosiri.^ Sentence is given, and all shall obey it ; I am pope, and have a power to approve or condemn at ray pleasure the actions of all other men.' " (See Bower, vol. iii. pp. ^45-246.) . . Both Bower and De Cormenin represent him as be- ing vtry suspicious and excessively cruel. (See De Cormenin, vol. ii. p. 138. CHAPTER XXIII. LEO X. In our last chapter, the vain attempts of the coun- cils of Pisa, Constance and Basil, passed before, us. They were convened at the earnest entreaties of civil rulers who felt the necessity of a reformation of the church in her head and members. But no reforma- tion was effected. It was prevented by the opposing influence of the cardinals and bishops, who loved the gratification of their animal passions and splendid liv- ing, more than pure religion and the prosperity of the church. A greater obstacle was found in wicked popes. They were so destitute of all religious prin- ciples, that they did not hesitate to violate the most solemn promises, and even oaths, rather than comply with the wishes of those who had labored to effect a reformation in the head and members of the church so absolutely necessary. No reformation certainly had taken place when JJeo was elected to fill the papal chair. This is per- EXPOSED. 259 fectly jnanifeSted from his destitution of- every reli- gious principle, his intrigues to secure his own elec- tion, and the circumstances that brought it to pass. From Mosheim his character will appear very bad. Hear what he has written, vol. iy. p. 13: " He (pope JuLiDS, a furious nnd audacious pontiff,) was succeeded in the y eiir 1513, by Ieo X. of the family of Mediois, who, thougli of a milder disposition than liis predecessors, was nevertheless equally in- different about the interests of religion and the advancement of true piety. He was a protector of men of learning, and was hirnself learned as far as the darkness of the age would admit of. His time was divided between conversation with men of letters and pleasure ; though it must be observed, that the greatest part of it was consecrated to the latter. He had an invincible aversion to whatever was accompanied with solicitude and care, and discovered the greatest impatience under events of that nature. He was remarkable for his prodigality, luxury, and im- prudence, and has even been charged with impiety, if not atheism." " He did not, however, neglect the grand object which the generality of his predecessors had so much at heart, even the promoting and advancing the opulence and grandeur of the Eoman see. For he took the utmost care that nothing should.be transacted in the council of the Lateran, which Jolids had assembled and left sitting, that had the, least tendency to favor the Heformation of the church. He went still farther; and in a conference whicfi he had with Feancis I. king" of France, at Bologna, he engaged that monarch to abrogate the Pragmaiio Sanction, which had been so long odious to the popes of Borne, and to substitute in its place another body of laws, more advantageovLS to the papacy, which were imposed upon his subjects under the title of the Concordate, and received with the utmost indignation and reluctance." See what is said in the next section about "the raging thirst of dominion that consumed these pontiffs, and their 'arrogant endeavours to crush and oppress all that came within the reach of their power, were accompanied with the most insatiable avarice." De Cormenin will tell us more of the character of Leo, and how he came to succeed in his vile and wicked aspirations for the pontificate (vol. ii. 174, 175) : " Among the members of the conclave, John de Mediois showed him- self the most desirous for the heritage of Julius the Second. Varillas thus speaks of this cardinal : ' John de Mediois had been scarcely three months reinstalled in his palace at Florence, when the news of the death 260 POISON OF POPERY of Jiiliiia the SeoOBd arrived. He immediately .ooijoeived the desipru of causing himself to be elected sovereign pontiff, and took the road for Kome, although he was aflioted with a violent disease, and had two enormous abscesses, which prevented him from wallsing, or even riding, onliorseback. He made the journey in a litter, the mules travelling on a walk, in order to avoid the least motion ; in .this- manner he arrival at the holy city; but the obsequies of Julius were terminated, and the con- clave had commenced; nevertheless, he caused them to open the gates of the Vatican, and look his place among the other cardinals, Already the members of the sacred college, young and old had canvassed for their candidates,' and seemed so obstinately fixed in their choice, that a long vacancy was threatened, when a very strange event suddenly changed the direction of their wishes and put an end to their intrigues. John de Mediois, though sick and tormented by sharp pains, laboured assiduously to create partizans for himself " CAUSE OF HIS SUCCESS. *' It happened that at the close of a day more laborious than the others, the abscesses broke and gave a passage to vicious humours, which spread through the conclave an infections smell. Tlie old cardinals, fearing they could not resist the baneful effects of this vitiated atmos^ phere, consulted physicians as to the mode of preserving themselves from the danger to their health, which must result f-om a forced resi- derice in the same room with the sick man. TJiey repliedj there was no resource but to await the death of De Medicis, which must take place within a mouth. This opinion of the physicians created a revolution in the conclave ; intrigues ceased at once, and the tiara was unanimously conferred on John the Medicis, who was proclaimed sovereign pontiff, at the ago ofthirty-sixj by the title of Leo the Tenth. " The opening of the abscesses saved him from certain death ; the corrupt humors ilowed through the wounds, and he was cured of hia "At the age of thirteen he had been elevated to the cardinalship, by Innocent the Eighth. " Hia education was entirely worldly. According to Paul Sarpi, he had, no tinge of religious ideas ; he even affected a silly impiety, saying openly that religion was only good, in order to restrain the common people in obedience, and ought not to "govern the actions of the power- ful and rich. " Leo the Tenth, as proud and ambitious as bis predecessor, was - oapable of committing any crime in order to obtain the desired end, but more courtly than Julius the Seooud, ho was lesa rude and coarse in his intercourse with sovereigns." EXPOSED, 261 GORGEOUS INSTALLATION. " His holiness, wisliing to wait for the return of. his strength, delayed, the ceremony of his exaltation until the llth 6f April, the anniversary of the guttle of Ravenna, on whieh he"had been made prisoner by the French. On the day appointed for the ceremony, clothed in garments studded with diamonds and rubies, his head covered by a tiara sc glit- tering with precious stones that it was impossible steadily to contemplate it, he came to the church of the Lateran, followed by an escort^ so nu- merous and brilliant, that, acoording to a historian of the time, no em- peror nor king had ever displayed so much magnificence in "their tri- umphal processions. The Eoman clergy, the magistracy, the nobility, ' the different orders of the monks, black, gi'ay, and white, the different trades, the chiefs of the soldiery, clothed in glittering armour, formed an immense cortege ; young maids and ehildreij, clothed in white, oast palms and flowers before the steps of the pontiff through the route. He himself advanced, mounted on an Arabian courser, having around him the members of the sacred college and hiS' relatives,, among whoih, the commander of the Medici, armed at all points, was distinguished." The procession had not passed the walls of the city when a courier arrived, , announcing the death of Eaphael Pucci, archbishop of Florence; Leo, after having read the despatch, turned towards his cousin, and without interrupting the march, said to him with a loud voice, 'My cousin, I announce to you that to-morrow you will quit the profession of arms to receive the succession of Eaphael Pucci, and become an archbishop.' This took place, though the commander was as much a stranger to the duties as a lawless soldier could be, whose whole life had been passed in pillaging, stealing, and throat cutting." His acWress to his cousin showed him to be desti- tute of a sense of common decency. - LUXURIOUS FEAST. "After the celebration of the pontifieal mass, the holy father bestowed his blessing on the people, and retraced the road to the Vatican, where a feast awaited him worthy of LuouUns or Apicius. The expense of this feast was computed at more than a hundred thousand crowns of gold." INFAMOUS CONDUCT. "As soon as he was installed in the Holy See, th6 new pope aban- doned himself to luxury and debauchery ; he invited to Home all the '2ti'A POISON OF POPEBT artists and authors of Italy, and his court soon became the most bril- liant in Europe. We should render him the juatipeof having banished brutal debauchery, ■which he replaced by gallantry, a species of corrup- tion less ignoble, but more dangerous, inasmuch as it depraves society without drawing on itself general reprobation. "The court of Eome became a school of materialism, and of philoso- phical atheism, from the bosom of which the poutifif king directed the political affairs of the church. He at once studied the aggrandizement of his family." HIS DECREE AGAINST THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL, &C. " During the same sitting, Leo the Tenth published a decree relative to the itnijiortality of the soul: 'We command all-philosophers, pro- fessors in the universities; to combat the views which opposed the faith established by the church, in maintaining that the soul is mortal like the body, and the world is eternal.' "Martin Luther affirms in his works, that Leo the Tenth denied posi- tively the immortality of the soul, and that one day, after having listened to two skilful doctors, who were discussing this fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith, he terminated it by this singular con- clusion : ' The reasons which you give for the affirmative, appear to me profound, but I prefer the negative, because it is determined for us to endeavour bo take care of our bodies, and to acquire embonpo'mV " TWO HYPOCRITICAL DECREES. • " Leo the Tenth continued to preside at the meetings of the council of the Lateran ; at the tenth session two remarkable acts were committed ; the publication of a decree in favour of usury, and the promulgation of a bull against the liberty of the press. In the first decrees the holy father decided that pawnbrokers were authorised to levy upon the unfortunate a greater interest than the ordinary one, provided they would pay over half the profits into the treasury of the pope ; an odious calculation, and which ought the more to excite oiir indignation, because, 'under the mask of philanthropy, it aided to despoil the poor of their last resources. In the second decree, the pontiff, after enumerating at length the incon- veniences which resulted to religion from the fever for instruction which had taken possession of men's minds, and which the invention of print- ing tended to propagate, resolved, in his wisdom, that the works of authors should be submitted to censors, and that uo book should be printed for the use of tiho faithful, who inhabited the states of the church, which had not received the approbation of the vica,r of the pope EXPOSED. 263 and the master of the sacred palace, and of the diocesan bishops, or in- quisitors of distiiots in other cdnutries, under pain of being excommu- iiieatedand judged as heretics ; that is, of being burned alive ! "Despite these threats- of Leo, whom servile historians call the re- storer of letters, and who thought to, thicken, the darkness which en- veloped the world, the press triumphed, and nothing could subdue that powef which was about to breakdown iibsolute thrones, and overthrow the altars of superstition. The time had not, however, yet arrived for the people to free themselves entirely from- this odious yoke,, and the popes were still the pests of nations. "His holiness pursued, his objects for the aggrandisement of his family, and married to his brother Julien, the young princess Philiberte of Savoy, &c." (pp. 177-178.) "We shall close our account of the execrable -wretcli Leo X, by quoting -what I}e Cormenin quoted from two orthodox ecclesiastics : '.' ' Ho-w long shall we be scandalized by your adulteries, and your in- cests, ye unworthy priests ? cried the monk Thomas from the gallery of the cathedral of Bordeaux. When wUl you cease to , fill your gross stomachs with dainty, food and sparkling wine-? When will you cease to steal money from the poor in order to have a couc^-ibine in your bed, a fat taule in your stable, and all by the grace of the crucifix, and taking the trouble to say, Domwms Yoiiseum ? " ' I know well you will reply, what matters it to you if the poor shall fall famished at your gates ; nevertheless, have you no shame in selling sacraments and devouring the goods of widows and orphans, under pre- text of solacing souls : in purgatory? Curses upon you, ministers of Satan, who seduce young girls and married females, and who learn from them at confessioiLthe means of drawing them into sin. Shame on - you, priests of Lucifer, who dare to use the ascendant which your char - acter gives- you over credulous minds, in order to initiate the young into foul pleasures. Shame on you, who make of your parsonages houses of infamy, where you rear young girls and young boys for lust and infamy! Shame on you who do not fear to show to your friends the mysteries of these new seraglios, and to gorge yourselves in them with wine, viands, and luxury. Have I not heard, with my own ears, the curate James boast before an assemblage of infamous ecclesiastics, that he played, swore, drank, and fornicated better than any of them.' ^"MaLllard, who had been preacher to LOuis the Eleventh; thundered with still more force against the disorders of the priests : ' I see,' said he ' abbots, priests, monks, and even prelates heaping up treasures on ■ treasures, accumulating prebendaries and benefices, and decoying Chris- tians, like pick-pockets. " 'I seethe cape, the frock, and the pallium entering taverns by day and night for the purpose of debauch. Canons or clerks elevated to 264 POISON OF POPERY dignities, themselves govern plaoesof prostitution; they sell the wine and hold the pledges as the bailies of the girls. I have seen others who walJiied about insolently disguised as soldiers, or clothed as dandies, with their beards fashionably trimmed, with women of pleasure loung- ing on their arms. I know a bishop who is every night served at sup- per by young girls entirely naked ; and 1 know another who keeps a seraglio of young girls, whom he calls prostitutes in moulting. ' " '-Shameful as all these .things are, there exists others still more in- famous. Bishops no longer give away livings but at the request of fe- males, that is to say, when the mother,- sisters, neices, or cousins of the candidate, have paid the price of them with their honour. " ' Speak, ye infamous bishops and priests— ye blessed simoniaos — ye blessed concubine-keepers — ye blessed drunkards and bullies — ye blessed procurers, who gain orders by rendering foul services ? Go to the devil ye infamous wretches ! At the hour of your death will you dare present yourselves before Christ, full of wine, holding in your hand the gold which you have stolen, and having on your arm the prostitutes whom you have kept, or your mistress servants, or your neices, who are most frequently your bastards and your concubines, or the girls whose dowry you have gained for them by impurity, or the mother from whom yon have purchased the virginity of their daughters ? Go to all the devils, cohorts of thieves and pilferers I ." ' I know well that in exposing your crimes, I run the risk of being assassinated, as has already happened to those who have desired to re- form chapters and monasteries ; but the fear of your daggers will not chain my tongue, nor arrest the lightning of my indignation ; 1 will tell the whole truth. Come forward then ye women, who abandon your bodii-s to official persons, to monks, priests, and bishops. Come forward ye who wear chains and robes with trains, and who say, when I blame your luxuriousness, ' Why, father, we iave seen otherwomen still better dressed than we are, who are neither ri^jher nor nobler than we are^ Besides, when we have no money, the prelates give us as much as we could earn by the sweat of oUr body.' " ' Come forward^ye female drunkards and robbers, ye priestesses of Venus, who dare to say, ' if a priest gets me with child, I will not be the only one.' Come for;yard' nuns and beguines, who people the cisterns and ponds of the convents with the dead bodies of newborn children. What frightful accusations would you not hear, if all those children which are cast into closets or pits could name their executioners or their fathers. Shall not the rain of fire, which formerly destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, fall on these convents ? Shall not all the priests and bishops be swidlowed up as were Korah, Dathan and Abiram" ? Yes, my brethren, the time is approaching in which God will do justice on all this brood of idlers, of mute dogs, of ignorant wretches, of lechers, robbers, and murderers.' " (pp. 182, 183.) Were I to transcribe the whole history of Leo from EXPOSED. 265 De Oormenin, it would but give a true picture of one of the vilest wretches that ever breathed the atmojs- phere and trod this earth, EEMABKS ON LEO X. Doctor Schaff will recollect the two conclusions which he drew from his papistical and sophistical rea- sonings, and which we have exposed. One is, " Nay, We believe, that ever since th^ Eeformation, the pope,-as snch, that is, iu his official character, is not anti-ohrist, but the legitimate head of the Eoman. church, &o." (See p. 130.) We have shown that, by this absurd conclusion, while he professes to be a Protestant, he has know- ingly set himself in opposition to the whole Protestant world. (See pp. 130-136.) Leo was the first pope after the Reformation. I therefore invite S. to look at hitn as he has been faithfully portrayed by Mosheim and De Cormenin. A man destitute of all religious principle, — whose education was wholly worldly, without even a tinge of religion,— ^who obtained his election to the papal throne by intrigue and simony, and by an accidental circumstance that would have driven away from the conclave a man of common honesty, rather expose the older Cardinals to infection and disease by^ remaining. Professor Schaff, behold the man! A.n at}eiest- — a debauchee — excessively covetous — -capable of committing any crime, — bent, on aggrandising his family rela- tions — grinding the face of the poor by authorizing pawn-brokers to take usurious iiiterests, on condition of giving one half to his treasury, — his court the seat of atheism, and exceeding in magnificence the courts 23 266 . POISON OF POPERY of Europe,— decreeing the soul to Tae mortal as well as the body, — publishing a bull on purpose to prevent the circulation of knowledge, while he professed to .patronize men of learning. Beholdyour man, Dr. Schaffl your first legitimate head of the Eoman Church since the Reformjition I I am not going to sketch the character of popes who succeedfed this monster. I know the effect of the Reformation upon the Romish church, upon popes, cardinals, arch-bishops, bishops, priests, monks, &c. In subsequent times, they became more decent in public. They concealed their debaucheries. But in spirit, the whole church has been infected with the same spirit of anti-christ. How has the confessional revealed to confessors the secrets of females, that has tempted priests to make them a prey, by depriving them of their honor ! If the secrets of the Inquisition in Rome, and other Eoman Catholic countries, since the Reformation, Were revealed, what a scene of iniquities would be -brought to light to shock and astonish every pure mind I Ko essential reformation in the head and members has yet taken place, though so long desired, nor will it occur till the Romish hierarchy is destroyed. The papacy has now existed since the reformation commenced in the sixteenth century (1517) to this year, 1856, three hundred and ihirty-nme years. Daring that time it has met with many severe shocks. Still, however, it survives, clings to its es- sential life, and will struggle hard to preserve its wicked life; and will not surrender its anti- christian principles, till the Lord of glory come to assert his prerogatives and rights, so' long usurped by wicked and impious men ! EXPOSED. Wl Look at the insult offered to the Son of God our Eede^mer, and to the God and. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the .late convention of the present pope and cardinals, and archbishops (one from, our ovvn country) in Rome. , ' , I cannot, however, pass by Paul III, the third pope after Leo, who established the execrable society of Jesuits, " by a bviU, dated the 27th of Septemher, 1340, but upon condition that it should not excqed the number of ^sixty persons. This restraint the same pope took off by k second bull, of the 14£h of March, 1548, leaving them at liberty to admit as many as they pleased. Th'us they became, in.the space of one hundred and thirty-six years, ft very ij^unerotis and formidable body. For, in 1543, the whole order , consisted of no more than' eighty persons ; and in 167S, when tlicir last catalogue was printed at Rome, they weredjicreased to the numl-' ■ "f seventeen thousand six hundred and fifty-five, and are supposed tu i le, at this timej in all about .twenty thousand. It hiay.be said with trutii, that this order alone has contributed more than all the otherorders together to confirm the waver- ing nations in the faith of Eome, to support the tottering authority of the high, pontiff; to chceli the progress of the reformation, and to make amends for the Jossesjtlieir holinesses had sustained in Europe," b^ prop- agating the Gospel; and with it a blind submission to the holy see, among the African, American, and Indian infidels. The Jesuits are hated by most other orders, espepially by the Benedictines and the Do- mmicans ; by the former, because they have been enriohed at their ex- pense ;. by the latter for Supplanting them, and engrossing to themselves the favor and bohfidenoe of sovereign princes. Eor, till the institution- of this artful and insinuating order, the Dominicans alone directed the consciences of all the kings and princes of Europe. "In the pontificate of Paul III, and at his instigation, the emperor at^ tempted to introduce the, inquisition, which he had established in his Spanish dominions, into the kingdom of Naples. But the Neapolitans of all ranks and conditions flying to arms iipon the first steps, that w^e taken towards the execution of such a design, obliged the i'iceroy, Dbn Pedro, di Toledon, to drive p.ut of Naples- all who belonged to that bloody triKunal. The same att.empt was made by the court of Eome duving the reigns of Philip III., Philip IV., .Charles II. and Charles VI. But it was always opposed with the same.resolution and vigor ; , and ,the kingdom, of. Naples is the only state in Italy where the inquisitipn has not, to this day, got the least footing, all causes relating to faith being tried there by the archbishops and bishops, agreeably to an edict of th« emperor Charles VI., dated, at Barcelqna, the 15th of September, 1709. 268 POISON OF POPEBY " Paul III. is said by Onuphrius to have been well versed in most branches of literature, and a generous pneourager of learning. He wrote a comment upon Cicero's £pistles to Atticus before bis promotion to thd pontificate, and after it some letters, in a polite Latin style, to bis partic- ular friend. " In the first year of bis pontificate he laid the foundation of the sumptuous building in Eome called the Palazzo Farnese, one of the. most stately edifices in all Europe. It was begun by Antonio Gallo, a celebrated architect, and finished by the famous Michael Angelo Buouar rota." (See Bower, vol. iii. pp. 316, 317.) Pius III. had indeed the wicked spirit of the pon- tificate. In regard to Innocent XI, extracts from De Cor- menin have already appeared that expose his hypoc- risy in his contest with Louis the Great. But to present his character in a stronger light, as well as to expose the despotism of the gieat monarch, I shall present farther extracts from this history of the popes. • " Whilst appearing to have only the interests of religion in view, it was easy to perceive, that the pope thought only of re-establishing the omnipotence of the Holy See ; it was also evident that Louis the Four- teenth, under pretext of maintaining the rights of his crown, wished to make himself master of the eoc'esiastical benefices, make the clergy de- pendent on him, and use them to rule the people. " Innocent the Eleventh had already divined Louis the Fourteenth, and the latter had penetrated the secret hopes of the holy father ; the struggle then commenced between royalty and the papacy. " Never had a prince governed his empire more despotically than Louis the Fourteenth, and been more entirely the master of his Subjects ; all, nobles, priests, and burghers were tr.implnd like vile slaves beneath his feet, and the prince of Conde, to paint the subjection of the clergyj said, ' that if the king should take a fancy to embrace protestantism, the priests would be the first to imitate him.' Father la Chaise himself, the great nephew of Father Cotton, who had become in his turn confessor of the king, and who for fifteen years directed the conscience of Louis the Fo^teenth, had joined in the views of the monarch concerning the re- gale, and though a Jesuit, opposed the Holy See. Some historians ac- cuse the good father of having contributed to inspire his august penitent with the desire to break entirely the yoke of the court of Rome, in order to have the list of livings in the king's gift at his disposal. " Instead of obeying the injunctions of the pope, Louis the Fourteenth assembled the principal prelates of the kingdom in council, in the p'alacS EXPOSED. 269 of Monseigneiir Maroa, the metropolitan of Paris, and placed the rnatter before tliem. Tlicy who 'followed the lead of Father la Chaise, were careful not to oonttadict him, and confirmed the right of regSiIe over all the chnrohes of France. The archbishop of Paris even wrote a very badly digested work on the subject, called ' The Agreement between the Plriesfhood and the Empire.' Innocent the Eleventh inamediately or- dered his canonists to refute this book, and renewed his remonstrances to Louis the "Fourteenth to aljandon his pretensions to the regale. The monarcTi, finding himself sustained by tlie clergy, stood firm, refused to submit, and using as a pretext that the liberties of the GaUioan 'church were in danger from the encroachments of the qonrt of Eome^ tonvene'd, . a national couaoil to defend the rights of his crown. Bossnet, the illustrious bishop of ileanx, whohadbeen gained ov,er to the cause of the king, 'opened the sitting in an extremely skilful dis- course ; he affected the most respectful deference to the Boman church, called i,t the mother, the nurse, the mistress of all the churches, insinu- ating, however, that it was necessary to examine the fundamental rights of civil power and religious authfirity. After five months of delibera-; tions, the assembly puhlfthed the four following propositions, which comprehended what is called, in our days, the liberties of the GaUioan church : " 1. ' The pope and universal church have no authority, direct, or .in- direct, over the temporal concerns of princes, and cannot depose :sover- eigns; nor free their subjects from the oath of fidelity, ^i' 2. ' The authority of general councils is above tliat of the popes, as was decided in the fourth and fifth sessions of the council of Constance, a decision which the church of France recognises as univereally^approved of, and applicable even to times in which there is no schism. " 3. ' The authority of the see of Eome in matters of discipline, re- ceives' its force from the consent of the other churches, and the ex- ercise of supreme ecclesiastical power should be regulated by the canons. "4. ' On questions of faith, Ihe decisions of the" pope are not infallible ; they only become so from the approval of the church.' , > "These propositions which were principally the work, of Bossuet, were signed by eight archbishops, twenty-six bishops, and, twenty-four deputies of the second order of the clergy. The king ordered them to be accepted and taught in allthe.universitiijs, in the faculties of theolo- gy and the canon law, by a perpetual and irrevocable edict. Innocent the Eleventh was so indignant at them, that he immediately assembled the sacred college, and pronounced in full coflsistory an excommunica- tion against all the prelates who had assisted at the council, and caused, the four 'propositions they had decreed, to be burned by the hand of the executioner. His holiness did not confine himself to that ;. comprehend- ing that his powerless thunders would not intimidate the French clergy, he determined to create for himself defenders even in the ran^s of his enemies, and to corrupt, instead of threatening. ZVU lOISON OF FOrEBT *' In' conformity with his instructions, the legate Bought to reconcile himself with the Jansenists ; ho even made overtures to the theologian Arnaud, and to some other solitaries of Port Eoyal, and offered them the hat of a cardinal, if they would embrace tlie cause of the pope, jind de- fend the omnipotence of the Holy See. Arnaud rejected the proposals of the legate, and wrote in favour of the maxims published by the Frcndh , ecclesiastics. But some of tli e disciples of the abbot of St. Cyran proved to be better disposed, among others the monks Sfondrati and d'Aguierre ; they were decorated with the Komaij puri)le, gratified with rich bene- fices — and in exchange, they declaimed against the national council, of 1682. *' Louis the Fourteenth, on his side, distributed sees and abbeys to the signers of the declaration, so as to prevent defections ; and as his holi- ness refused to grant canonicsl institution to the proteges o' the king, it resulted in the churches having pastors who could neither receive ordi- nation, nor exercise any spiritual power. Thus the differenee between the courts of Eome and France became every day more serious."' (pp. 337, 338.) , " Louis the Fourteenth did, not content himself with approving of the conduct of his embassador, he wished then to attack the pope in the ex- ercise of his spiritual power. He declared, by an edict, that the bulls published in France by the court of Kome, concerning the franchises, were null and abusive ; he caused the parliament of Paris. to decree that, a general council should be convened to judge Innocent the Eleventh ; and the advocate general Talon, before the assembled great chamber and- criminal court, in the name, of all the subjects of the king, accused the pope of troubling Christendom, and declared that, Innofcent not putting the concordat into execution, they were no longer obliged to conform tc^ it in France. " ' And, oh, strange thing,' added the advocate general, ' th^ head of the church, whose chief care it should be to preserve the integrity of the faith, has not ceased, since he has been seated on the chair of St. Peter, to carry on intercourse with dangerous men, who have declared them- selves the disciples of Jansenius, and whose doctrines' his predecessors have condemned ; he loads them with favours, he has openly praised them, he has declared himself their protector, even against kings ; and this faction, which is subversive of all political and religioiis authority, which has not forgotten how, during thirty years, to sap slyly all spirit- ual and temporal powers which were not fevourable to it, which wishes to substitute a republic for the throne, freedom of thought for the Chris- ^an faith, erect altars to the pope, beeaufle he sustains and foments the (bals. What would have, become of the pe^ce of the church, if the forsight and indefatigable cares of the great king, towhom he even. gave birth, to be the defender and buckler of religion, had not stricken the heretics with the sword of his justice ! A singular spectacle, given to the world by a prince whose piety, intelligence, and faith render him infallible, when thB"pontifif of Eome, the successor of the apostle, pre- EXPOSED. 271 oipitates himaelf into tlie abyss of error. Thus, Fr^nc^, Europe, the Christian world, beaoech by my mouth, the oldest son of the church, the descendant of St. Louis tp save the belief ot our fathers, by usiiig his powsr, not only to maiiitiia the franchises in their full extent, but also to put an end to the disorders which the vacancy of the bishoprics, in the kingdam produces, to prohibit his subjects from sending away money to the court of Rome, and to overthrow the unworthy priest who soils the pontifical tbrone-by his abominations.' Louis the Fourteenth, who had thus decreed himself to be the supreme arbiter, In his diflerence with Inno- cent the Eleventh, did not hesitate to follow the injunctions of the advocate general; lie first seized ori Avignon, confined the cardinal Kanuoci, the apostolic nuncio at St. Oleron, and announced that he was about to appoint Monseigneur de Harley, archbishop of Paris, patriavch of Prance. " Although these threats were of a nature to inspire serious fears in the sovereign pontiff, he still persisted in his resistance, and was unwilling to listen to any arrangement or any concession. If we should seek on what as- sistance he r,elied in daring to enter upon a strife with the most powerful monarch of Christendom, we will find that it was not on the hope of pro- ducing a reaction b.y his censures, nor on the authority of his apostolical power, nor on the zeal of Catliolic princes for the interest of religion, but upon that general hatred which was beginning to be felt towards Louis the Fourteenth, and which was to be so fatal to France. Still, Innocent the Eleventh had not the satisfaction of seeing t}ie defeat of his enemy ; for he died on tlie 12th of August, 1689, broken down by old age, and worn out by sickness." (pp. 343, 344.) Let it be remembered, that Innocent the Eleventli was the thirteenth pope after the Keformation ; and, in Schaffi's view, a legitimate head of the church. Behold the man, grossly ignorant of fundamental doctrines of the gospel, provokiiig Louis to persecute and murder Christ's saints, by assuring him of heav- enly glory, as a reward o|!-such horrible crimes ! ! 1. CHAPTER XXIY. THE PAPACY OR BOMISH CHURCH GUILTY OF HIGH TREASON AGAINST THE LORD OF GLORY, ANB THE MURDER OP HIS SAINTS. _Paul speaking of " the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory," says, " Which none of the princes of this world knew ; for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (1 Cor. ii. 7, 8.) In view of all that has been urged against the Romish church, from scripture predictions and histori- cal facts, well sustained, no intelligent reader can be surprised that, in the nineteenth century, the, accusa- tion stated above should be brought against the Romish church. , >. A SUPPOSITION. Suppose that, in one of the monarchies of Europe, a portion of the subjects were to combine together and actually throw away their allegiance to theii monarch, by establishing a republican form of goV' ernment ; and should endeavor, with zeaj and activity to persuade many other of his subjects to unite witl them under their new government ; what would fol low ? How would their forsaken monarch feel ' What would he do ? EXPOSED. 273 Would he not feel indignant, as soon as lie heard of the rebellion of his subjects ? and would he not de- vise means for reclaiming, them from their errors? Would he not issue his proclamation, -warning them of the consequences of their rebellion, urge them to abandon their dangerous- project and return to their allegiance, under pain of his majesty's displeasure ? Would he not prepare to enforce his proclamation, by niilitary po-wer, if necessary ? To pursue this supposition any farther is unneces- sary, for it has recently been realized by' facts occur- ring in Hungary^ A. D. 1848. That people, oppressed for a long time by the tyr- anny of Austria, but enlightened by the publications of Kossuth, became acquainted -with their rights. Thus prepared for asserting them, they resolved to free themselves from the oppressive-dominion of Aus- tria, by establishing a republican government, ■ in 1849. Kossuth -was chosen their President. The time -seemed propitious. A revolution had taken place in France, -which resulted in the establish- ment of a republican government. The whole soul of their president was engaged, in the noble enterprise ; and to sustain their cause, he employed all the great powers i>f his mind. Provi- dence seemed for a time to smile upon the enterprise ; and Hungary might halve become a free and indepen- dent Eepublio,- had not Eussia interfered and* sent to Austria's aid 150,000 troops, -by which the small armies of Hungary were overwhelmed. Eesistance became unavailing. Submission was compelled. And why did the northern despot send his armies to erush the infant republic ? The czar was, prompted Vy amte^o^ and pure despotism, to extinguish all 274 POISON OP POPERY. X ideas of liberty in Europe, and to remove every obsta- cle against his aspirations for universal empire. The subsequent conduct of the court of Vienna to- wards Hungary is well known. The exemplary pun- ishment of many Hungarians, — the blood shed by her ■ general Haynau, that butcher of humanity,— and the degraded state to which poor Hungary was reduced, form already many distnal pages of history. Kossuth escaped by fleeing to Turkey for protec- tion. The Turks granted it, to a professing Christian. He afterwards oame to this country to enlist the U. S. A. in belialf of down:trodden Hungary. But here he proved that, great as his mental powers, and bril- liant as his eloquence, certainly are, he lacks judg- ment, and is far from being a judicious and practical statesman. His project to involve this country in a war with the nations on the eastern continent for his beloved country, Was perfectly, visionary.* Now for the application of the supposition and illus- tration. Jesus Christ has proclaimed himself, according to the decree of his Eternal Father, to be The Lokd of Glory, The sole Head and King of His Church, Triumphant in Heaven, and militant on earth. (Heb. i. ii. iii. x : 14-23.) , NOTE'. — Our mission on this Western continent, is manifestly a mission ot peace. Here a place of refuge was provided by God for his saints perse- cuted in Europe, to flee to and enjoy religious liberty. Congress wisely withheld their patronage from the eloquent Hungarian's visionary project, and determined to leave the example of a republican gov- ernment, established in the U. S. A., to continue to operate on the world, as heretofore, by its mokal influence. This is our true policy. Let us persevere in it. We have difficulties enough to contend with, in order to preserve the peace and unity of -^ar multiplying States. EXPOSED. 275 Jesus Christ, -when he ascended into heaven, direct- ed his apostles to remain at Jerusalem, till the descent of the Iloly Ghost to qualify th^m for their mission. (See Acts i.) On the day of Pentecost the promise o£ the Father was fulfilled. (See Actsii.) Being now qualfied for their great work, the apos- tles immediately entered on the discharge of its im- portant duties, by preaching the gospel, and by bap- tizing three thousand, who made a profession of repentance and faith in, Christ, on that memorable day. Under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, the apostles ' founded a church at Jerusalem, in conformity to the platform of their LoED apd Master ; and after- wards in other parts of Judea ; and then, as they were led by divine Providence, in the Gentile world. This platform, and the instructions under which they acted, are found recorded in the New Testament. Such churches were every where in different parts of the world, established by the apostles during their life-time. Their successors preached the gospel in purity, and formed churches after apostfjlic exariiple. Christianity flourished; its influence soon became apparent in the Eoman empire. The Spirit of opposi- tion was awakened, and bitter persecution ensued. The seeds of heresy too were soon sown by satan, the great enemy of the church. Against these the churches had been warned by Peter, Paul and John. Notwithstanding all opposition from pagan philoso- phers, heretics of every kind, and great and terrible persecutions of Eoman emperors, designed to over- turn and es;terminate the church, Christianity still flourished; Christians so multiplied in numbers, that Constantme felt it to be his interest to profess the true 276 POISON OF FOPEEY religion, to put down paganism, and declare the Eoman empire christian. This remarkable event delivered christians froni the bitter and long continued persecutions of Pagan Eome ; but, as we have shown, (pp. 176, 177,) proved highly detrimental to the progress of gospel truth, and the simplicity of Christian conduct and worship. Moreover, the assumption of authority, by the first christian emperor, being an encroachment on the prerogatives and rights of Jesus Christ, the sole Head of the church on earth, was so offensive to God Almighty, that it brought on the western part of the Roman empire his frowns; which, in its consequences, resulted in its ruin, and prepared the way for the great, apostasy so clearly predicted by the prophets b'oth of the Old and of the New Testaments. (See ch. xvi. pp. 191-203.) How abundant the proof that the Eomish church is guilty of high treason against the Lord of glory ! Equally abundant is the proof that she is guilty of the murder of multitudes of his saints 1 (See chapters xviii. xix. xx. xxi.) A tiAUTION. I wish my views to be distinctly understood. The charge of high treason against the Lord of Glory, and the murder of his saints, lies against the Papacy, as such, and not the common people. The Papacy, from the time when it first entered the church, in the early part of the seventh century, was and is, an impious iisurpation, destitute of every right, either divine or human. EXPOSED. 277 It entered the churcli in opposition to the will of Jesus Christ, clearly revealed in the New Testament, And in the Old, as -well as in the New Testament, it was clearly foretold, as the great apostasy. (See phap, xvi. p. 191-194.) CONSTANTINE the Oreat, who put down paganism, and declared his empire Christian, erred grievously by interfering with the arrangements of the Christian cliurch ; so as to encroach on the prerogatives and rights of her exalted and divine Head, and bring down upon his empire the displeasure of the A1-" mighty. The result was its ruin, and opening the way for the Papacy, in the seventh century. Wliat possible right, then, had Phocas, the mur- derer of the emperor Mauritius and his family, to constitute Boniface III. universal bishop, which Gre- gory the Great regarded as the forerunner of anti- Christ? (Seep. 193.) The doom of the Papacy or Anti-Christ is predict- ed in Rev. xix. 17-21. Such will be the end of the hierarchy, or of the beast and the false prophet. But when this fearful punishment shall have been inflicted on them, and their final ruin sealed, by re- markable displays of God's righteous displeasure, we are authorized to believe that multitudes of Roman Catholics, now deluded by the Papacy, will, by the preaching of the gospel, be delivered from their ruin- ous delusions, converted by the Holy Spirit, and united to the Protestant church. Then, too, will the Protestant church become purer in faith, more united in their views of the truth, and labor with more fervent zeal and increasing liberality for the conversion of the whole world ; and bring on, in the appointed time^ the millenial glory, or the 24 S78 POISON OF POPEBT. reign of light and trutli, love and peace over the four quarters of this miserable globe. Oome, Lord Jesus, come quickly, and reign as Lord, acknowledged as Redeemer and King, by all nations and their civil rulers. Amen. i».a^xi.T HI. FIVE CONTRASTS, WITH TWO GERIAN DEVELOPMENTS. CONTRAST I. The first contrast is between the doctrines of the German Eeformed Church in 1832, and what they have since become through the corrupting agencies of Professors Nevik and Schaff. For this I am indebted to the Rev. Albert IIel- FENSTEEsr, Senior, of Lancaster. On sending to him a copy of my " Antidote to the Poison of Popery " in Schaff's his-tory, he was induced to translate the address, which, by appointment of the. Synod, he delivered at the inauguration of the Eev. Dr. Ranch into his office as principal of the ''contem- plated classical school, and as Professor of Biblical Literature." I had no knowledge of its existence till I received it, accompanied with a letter dated June 22, '54. In that letter he expresses his thankfulness on re- ceiving my " Antidote," and says he sends the transla- tion of his address " by way of contrast with the pres- ent theological aspect of our church." He expresses high approbation of Dr. Proudfit's review of S.'s history ; mentions the voilent sensation produced by it iji the editor of the Messenger and others ; and re- marks, " "When a man proves or attempts to prove too much, we are apt to say he proves nothing. This is the case with their tirade on the Review." He " hopes Dr. Proudfit will valiantly do battle for the cause of truth." 284 THE TRANSLATION 0¥ HIS ADDEESS. " This truly was and is a higUy important — a very solemn day. This forenoon, Mr. F. A. Eauch, Doctor of Philosophy, was dedicated to the sacred ministry by the imposition of hands : and now, in the after part of tlie day, we are about to instal him as princi- pal of the contemplated Classical School, and as Pro- fessor of Biblical Literature. " It has become my duty to deliver the introduc- tory address on this infei'esting occasion. It, there tore, will be necessary to take into consideration the two-fold relation which Dr. Eauch will sustain, and to communicate such views as are deemed most ap- propriate on tliis subject. " It would scarcely be necessary to occupy our time with remarks on the necessity of establishing a Clas- sical School, as a preparatory institution ; presuming this to be self-evident to every intelligent person ac- quainted with the peculiar relation in which our church stands. But considering that few, compara- tively, reflect that our church is German, and still, in most places, employs the German language in com- municating religious instruction, it may not be super- fluous to make a few remarks in regard to this matter. " Classical Schools, in which the rising generation are prepared for the higher branches of learning, are indeed found in every respectable town or neighbour- hood ; — nor is there a deficiency of colleges in which the youths of our land may lay the foundation to qualify themselves for any of the learned professions; but among all these institutions we discover none that are adapted to the peculiar demands of our church ; 2.85 because, in all of them, so far as we are acquainted, the English is the only language used in communica- ting instruction. By educating our youth in these institutions, thej indeed may come forth well fur nished with science ; but generally they' are uot pre- pared to enter our Theological Seminary for the pur- pose of becoming useful and efficient pastors in our German congregations. If , we take these circum- stances into consideration, the necessity of connecting with our Seminary a Classical School, in which the Gerntan lauguage and literature occupy a prominent place, must ai)pear evident to every unbiassed mind. " When I speak of a Classical School in connection with the Seminary, I therefore do not mean one of an ordinary character, in which the learned languages are taught exclusively ; but a gymnasium, in which the higher branches of science are gradually intro- duced ; — so that in process of time such an institution may be reared as will prepare perfect materials for the Seminary. It indeed cannot be expected that the services of one man can accomplish these designs ; but we hope to realize them at some future period, as we have full confidence in the discernment, ability, and high standing of the principal, and calculate on the- active support of the church. " A Classical School of this description must not only be highly important in regard to the youth, but also in relation to the church. The lads or youth, having become acquainted with the elementary books, are subsequently taught to read and study the higher classics, such for example, as Virgil, Horace, and Homer, in poetry; and Cicero, Tacitus, Demosthenes, Longinus and others, in prose. The charms of sdng, the brilliancy of wit, the refinement of taste, have immortalized the names of the former ; while commanding eloquence, admirable ethics, deep histor- ical research, and eloquent sublimity, have secured unfading celebrity to the latter. In order to enter deeply into the spirit of these authors, and to separate the beautiful and the good from those parts in their compositions -which might make unfavorable impres- sions upon the mind, it is necessay, not only to be in- timately acquainted with these works, to possess a discriminating judgnnent and a cultivated taste, but also to have a familiar acquaintance with the geogra- phy of the countries in which these men lived, with the antiquities of their customs and manners, and with the mythology of their religion. But while the pro- fessor is thus engaged in teaching his students the art of entering into the spirit and age of those far famed authors, how easily might they imbibe the sentiments and feelings of a heathen, rather than a Christian, if the teacher himself be not acquainted with the incom- parable excellence of the Christian religion — does not appreciate its superlative value — and experience its blessed influence in his own heart. Should therefore the church not be concerned to have a man of this character at the head of such an institution ? " The other relation which commands our attention with increasing interest, is the Professorship of Bibli- cal Literature. Here is opened to our view a very extensive field of learning, which is best appreciated by him who has explored and made himself intimately acquainted with it. I will merely offer a few hints, for the purpose of recommending, in some measure, its high value and great importance. This field of theological science requires that the sacred text be as- certained and explained, to discover what Ls scripture 287 and what is its meaning. Witli this view it is requi- site to investigate critically, the writings of the Old and New Testaments, to determine the principles which should be applied to their inj;erpretation, and to illustrate their language and import, from the various sources which philology and history so amply afford. It is easily perceived, that this general view embraces much within its limits. Our design, how- ever, is merely to suggest some hints, that we, in some measure, may perceive and appreciate the importance of the professorship to which our attention has been called. " The intimate connexion between the Classical In- stitution and this professorship, therefore, will appear evident to every' impartial pei'son. No student could obtaia the full benefit that is to be derived from the latter, who had not acquired the preparatory knowl- edge which is communicated in the former. The propriety of having this chair occupied by a man who is acquainted with biblical literature, in its various branches, is equally evident. It is desirable that he not only should be a learned Philologist, who is famil-' iar with the grammatical structure of the oriental lau- guages, but who also possesses a correct knowledge of Hermeneutics and Archeology. Philosophy and Met- aphysics also command our high consideration ; yet it is to be lamented that the learned of modern date, in- stead of employing these sciences to illustrate, have applied them to darken and degrade the sacred vol- ume. If men attempt to explain the bible by reason, inflated with the pride of science, and require that divine revelation shall pay homage to human logic, instead of reason and logic bowing with reverence and submission to the warning declaration, " Thussaith 288 the Lord ;" it is no -wonder that the pure church of Christ mourns over so large a number of rationalists and nealogians. " The German Reformed Church expects better and holier things of the Rev. Dr. Rauch. His excellent testimonials, together with his own candid and une- quivocal declarations, are to her so man}' pledges that he is a genuine friend of divine revelation, and that her doctrines, as they are essentially exhibited in the Heidelberg Catechism, are, in his estimation, worthy of respect, purely biblical, truely acceptable, and ob- jects of faith. '■ This confidence the church has expressed by her representatives, who met in session as an ecumenical Synod, in Frederick City, Md., in Sept. 1832, when the Rev. Dr. Rauch was elected to the important office into which he presently will be formally and solemnly inducted. " The speaker having communicated his views in relation to this highly important office, suffi.'r him. Rev. Dr., in conclusion, to propose some considera- tions, which he trusts will make a direct ajtpeal to your heart. " As the Principal of the Classical School, we would commend the youth to your special and affectionate regard. You, doubtless, know how much depends upon the first impressions that are made upon the youthful mind. If these impressions are good, a happy result may be expected in relation to their fu- ture mode of thought and action ; but if they are the reverse, evil consequences may be apprehended. We think we say not too much, when we assert that, by ed- ucation, the youth can be moulded almost into any character except one — I mean the " clean hesirt and 289 right spirit," which is peculiar to scriptural regenera- tion, and is produi;ed by the blessings of grace. But if we, as christian teachers, conscientiously perform our duty in educating them, we are encouraged to hope that God will co-operate, by his grace, and thus ena- ble us to attain this high, holy, and christian purpose. Endeavor, therefore, so to regulate, purify, and dec- orate the classical intruction you impart, as to create in us the confidence that our youth shall acquire the character of enlightened and well educated christians, and become the ornaments of our church. " As Professor of Sacred Literature, it would be needless, perhaps, to commend to your consideration the bible, as a holy, divine, and invaluable book, did not duty place me under the obligation. When you examine tlio bible, as a learned theologian, you stand not in the same relation which the classical scholar occupies, who is engaged in making glosses on Virgil and Homer. The latter may be satisfied with the impulse of the same spirit which animated those heathen bards ; but the former should be endowed with the spirit of grace which inspired those holy men who spake and recorded the word of God. 0, surely 1 when we engage in examining the bible, we approach a " burning bush," in which divinity dwells, and stand on " holy ground," where, in the most profound reverence, we t^hould " put the shoes off from our feet." When we examine the bible, we indeed may wish to behold the full glory of the Lord ; but we must be content with a view of his " back parts," in- stead of seeing his face. When we examine the bible, we stand in the temple of God, wherein is the sanc- tuary of the Most High, into which none may enter with safety, bat such as have been consecrated. I 25 290 mean, the bible contains mysteries which dare not be profaned, and which appeal to oar implicit faith. Whoever, therefore, undertakes to educate priests of the living God, should be firmly established in bibli- cal truth. " We then take for granted, Rev. brother, that there is no discrepancy between your views of the doctrines of faith and those of the church. Ljt it, however, not be supposed that we desire to cramp your spirit of research in the investigation of truth ; — yet it must be conceded, there are general p inciples of evangelical doctrine, from which a man, in your cir- cumstances, may not essentially deviate, if he would not disturb the peace of the church. But we trust you are a man whose religious sentiments are so firmly fixed, that you will not be " carried about by every wind of doctrine ;" and whose moral integrity and christian sensibility will not suffer him to depart from tlie essential doctrines of our church, and, in his official capacity, communicate his new views to the students, without having announced them to the higher judicature of the church. " As you. Rev, Dr., belong to the Faculty of the Seminary, whose duty it is to watch over Ihe moral deportment and religious and pious sentiments of the students, you will also attend to this concern, that the expectation of the church may be realized. It follows, of course, that no immoralities of any des- cription can be tolerated among the students. But 'how soon may the proper sense of religion and piety be extinguished, if it be not nourished, revived, and sustained by religious and devotional exercises. Even the most diligent student, who will spare no time nor application for any other purpose than to advance and perfect himself in science, may, by these very ef- forts, becom.e, so much the sooner, cold and dead in the divme life. It is indeed customary to, have religious exercises in the Seminary, as well as, social prayer meetings ; but if the student neither has the right dis- position, nor will spare the proper time to hold pri- vate intercourse with God, he is in great danger of losing'the pious sentiments and feeling he may pos- sess, notwithstanding all other religious exercises in which he may engage.' Tiie necessity, therefore, of encouraging the students to cultivate genuine and practical piety, you no doubt fully appreciate. " Permit me to make one more remark, which per- haps may appear superfluous to ■• > ne, but which to me ' is important. The student shouUl endeavor so to qual- ify himself for the pastoral office, that the polished man of the world may find no just cause of offence in his intercourse with society. Crude, uncultivated man- ners, in a minister of the gospel, are indeed unpleasant and disgusting, respectable as may be his attainments and talents. On the other hand, a timid, bashful, re- served deportment is disadvantageous. Should there- . fore our youth be censured for seeking occasional relaxation in refined society ? It is, however, not our intention to say anything farther on this topic, than merely to remark, that it affords us sincere pleasure to know that the students have so fair an example of polite refinement in the deportment and manners of their professor. " Thus far have I communicated my views, to- gether with such remarks as appear to me appropriate, in relation to the important office which the church. Rev. Dr., has entrusted to your care. " Do I say that this office is important ? It cer- 292 tainly is, — ^particularly as our clxurch, at present, has arrived at a very important crisis. It now must ap- pear, whether she shall decline or improve. But, with the help of God, she shall and must rise. This, however, can be ace miplished only by united and christian effort. United we stand; but divided we must fall. Not selfishness and party spirit, but fra- ternal concord must prevail. Not his own, but the interest of the church, each and all must seek ; then are we united. If we, to whom the interests of the church are committed, are governed bj those princi- ples, then will your arduous office be rendered com- paratively light. And if all the true friends of the church unite and sa}', with the help of God she shall come forth in full bloom, by the blessing of God she will and must, not only blossom like the rose, but yield the rich fruit of an abundant harvest. We therefore say, Eev. Dr., be encouraged. Discharge the duties of your office with faithfulness, with dig- nity, with firmness, with a christian and independent sense of your rights, and iu full reliance on the prom- ise of Him who hath said, " The gates of hell shall not prevail against my church." " Thus will we, hand in hand, each in his place, and in proportion to his influence, his ability, his strength, in humility and faith promote the work of the Lord. Then will this important and solemn day be to you, and to us, and to the church, a blessed day. We will, if it be the good pleasure of the Lord, in advanced old age, look back upon this day, and pro- nounce it blessed. Our children and children's chil- dren, to the remotest generation, will speak of this day, and pronounce it blessed. And when the pres- ent economy shall have terminated, and divine pur- 2^S poSps shall be fully accomplislied, through the media- tion of the great and adorable head of the church, and God shall be all in all ; may we still experience the unspeakable mercy of remembering this blessed day : — and, in company with the glorified multitude who see face to face, and know even as they are known, sing the celestial hallelujah." A very excellent address. I thank my brother- for it. May it open the eyes of those who have gone astray, and bring them back from their delusions and apostasy. CARE OF THE GEBMAN REFORMED CHURCH TO PRESERVE PURITY OP DOCTRINE. " Art. 4. No person can be elected a professor, who does not profess the doctrine of the German Ke- formed Church. " Art. 5. At his inauguration, a professor elect shall solemnly affirm the following declaration,' as by an oath, in the presence of God, in a public assem- bly: " ' You, ISr. N"., professor elect of the Theological Seminary of the German Reformed Church in the United States, acknowledge sincerely before God and this assembly, that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, which are called the canonical scrio- tures, are genaine, authentic, inspired, and therefore divine scriptures ; that they contain all things which relafe to the faith, the practice and the hope of the righteous, and are the only rule of faith and practice in the Church of God ; that, consequently, no. tradi- tions, as they are called, and ho mere conclusions of 294 reason, which are contrary to the clear testimony 'of these Scriptures, can be received as rules of faith or of life. You acknowledge farther, that the doctrine contained in the Heidelberg Catechism, is the doc- trine of the Holy Scriptures, and must, therefore, be received as in accordance with divinely revealed truth. You declare sincerely, that in the office you are about to assume, you will make the inviolable divine au- thority of the Holy Scriptures, and the truth of the doctrine contained in the Ilcidelberg Catechism, the bnsis of all your instructions, and faitlifully maintain and defend the same, in your preaching and writing, as well as in your instructions ; you declare, finally, that you will labor, according to the ability which God may grant to you, that, with the divine blessing, the students intrusted to your care, may become en- lightened, pious, faithful and zealous ministers of the gospel, who shall be sound in the faith.' " CONTRAST II. Dr. NeviN will furnish this contrast. It will lie between the solemn avowal of his faith and most solemn engagements, when he accepted the office of Professor in the Theological Seminary ofthe German Reformed Church, and the subsequent dis- closures of his belief. 1< oTE. — 1 transcribe from the ConBtitution, Appeoyed by the Classes, and adopted by the Synod of the Ger. Eef. Ch., &o., in 18i6. Printed &t the " "Weekly Messenger " office, in 18i7. 296 That Dr. Kevin was educated in the Presbyterian Church, and was afterwards inaugurated as a Profes- sor in their "Western Theological Seminary, is well known. At his licensure to preach the gospel, at his ordina- tion to the ministry, and especially when inducted into the Western Seminary, he made avowals of his faith, and sacred engagements to teach and preach doclrines widely different from what he has since taught. V What a wonderful revolution has taken place in his mind ! When he left the Presbyterian Church, no change in his views of scriptural truth was known to have occurred. He was elected a Professor in the German Eeformed Theological Seminary with great unanim- ity ; and his letter of acceptance gave universal satis- faction to that church. Let the reader turn to pp. 293-294, and he will there see the solemn avowal of his faith, and sacred engage- ments to teach, and preachj and defend the doctrines contained in the Haidelberg Catechism. How is it possible for Dr. Nevin to reconcile the faith he then avowed, and the solemn promises he then made, with his subsequent conduct, and teach- ings, and publications? May, 1840, he was installed at Mercersburg, Profes- ' sor in the Theological Seminary of the German Re- formed Church, and entered on the discharge of his duties ; and I have been informed that the church re- mained in peace and harmony till 1843. The Rev. ^ Dr. Mesick has shown that his publications in " Th.e Weekly Messenger," up to Nov. 25, 1840, were Prot- estant and anti-popery in a high degree. (See p. 159.) 296 Now they are so notoriously different,, that I need not specify his different anti- Protestant publications. • In my " Antidote," in pamphlet form, I merely re- ferred to the page of his sermon preached before the triennial convention, to show his papistical tendency ; but now I shall transcribe it, to let the reader see whither Dr. N. has gone in his downward course. " The whole humanity of Christ, soul and body, is carried over by the process of the christian salvation, into the person of the believer ; so that his glorified body, no less than his glorified soul, will appear as the natural and necessary product of the life in which he is thus made to partake." Here is a clear popish development — the result of German philosophy run wild ; which he in vain at- tempts to sustain by quotations from Calvin, whom he does not understand. He might as well attempt to quote from Calvin's writings to prove that he up- held the abominable mass. And as he mistakes the meaning of Calvin, so he did grossly misunderstand the views of the leading brethren of the Dutch Church, as having " given ex- plicit testimonies in its favor." (See Appendix to his sermon, p. 192.) I am authorized by Drs. Ludlow, Van Vranken, and How, the three leading brethren of the Dutch Church, who .attended the triennial 'convention, to state that they did not (by voting for the publication of his sermon, if they voted, or in any other way) ex- press their approbation of any sentiments differing from the confession of faith contained in the Heidel- berg Catechism ; and one of them said : " I thought the sermon mystical ; I did not unders'tand it ; I wished to see it in print." Shortly after this, the Dutch 297 Churcli withdrew from the convention, lest they should countenance serious errors. The sentiments contained in this sermon, deisigned to sustain Schaff's heterodox viewfe^Jjvbeing pub- lished in connexion with his " Principle ofTi«<4gstant- ism," were contrary to the doctrines of the Heidelberg Catechism. Dr. Nevin has too much intelligence not to know the fact. lie knows they were not the views he entertained, when, at his inauguration, he adopted the Heidelberg Catechism, as required by the Constitution of the German Reformed Church. Was there not here a manifest departure from that stand- ard of doctrine ? Was there no violation of promise, in this ? If so, such conduct was wrong ; for the violation of a solemn promise can never be right. David states it as characteristic of a righteous man : "He sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.' (Ps. XV. 4.) We may be asked, must not a minister study the Holy Scriptures, and if he find them not in accordance with that infallible rule, change them ? Doubtless. But in making the change known, he must not do it so as to violate a solemn promise. Dr. IsT. having adopted a different standard of right and wrong from what I hold, we cannot reason to- gether. But, however far he may be involved in the mists of popery, he cannot deny himself to be a sin- ner ; and I may be allowed, in conclusion, to ask him this question : " Have you adopted, as part of your creed, the mass, as one of the seven sacraments of the Eomish church, that impart grace ? The mass, which thB Heidelberg Catechism stigmatizes as "at bottom a denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry ?" Alas ! you once knew the truth ; for you adopted this catechism. 298 The German Eeformed Church seemed not to be aware how soon Dr. Nevin's departure from the truth began. The Princeton Review detected it as early as the year ISil. After speaking of the " Eulogy on the Life and Charaeter of the late Rev. Dr. Frederick Ranch, &c.," by John W. Nevin, D. D., with due praise, the article says, " We wish we eould pass in silenoe one feature of this discourse, which we noticed, wc confess, with more pain than surprise. There is a tone of apology for some ot the worst systems of German philosophy, a designating of destructive errors by the respectful appellation of ' foreign forms of thought,' which we think unworthy of the stedfastness and fidelity of a teacher of Christian doctrine. We know very well that nothing we could say on this subject would have the least effect upon the author of this Eulogy. It would be set down to the score of ignorance and bigotry ; and thus be pitied and forgiven. But we think it should excite some misgivings in the minds even of those who have made the profouudest attainments in German philosophy, to find that good men in Germany itself, men not restricted by the trammels which ore sup- posed to confine all English minds, regard with disapprobation and even abhorrence the systems which are directly or indirectly eulogized in this discourse. A man should be very well at home in his subject, and very sure of himself, to be able, without imeasiness, to find himself fondling as scientific forms of trntli, doctrines which German scholars of the first eminence regard as atheistic. Dr. Nevin we know, and have known long, and doubt not he has in liis American education and in the grace of God, an anclior which will prevent his being carried over the cataract to whose fearful brink, attracted by the rainbow tints of the mists which overhang the ' hell of waters,' he seems to us to be drawing perilously near. We have not courage to follow in his wake." (Princeton Eeview, vol. xiii. 1841, pp. 463-4640 As Dr. Nevin once knew and professed to love the truth, we may express a hope, and put up a fervent prayer, thai he will review his wandering from the sheep-fold, and return from his departure, and em- brace the truth again with all his heart and soul. God grant it. Amen. Mote. — Here P. Eeview acted well. But we shall have occasion to show hereafter, that the P. Eeview failed to fulfil its high vocation. CONTRAST III. Dr. Schaff will furnish it. By birth he was a German. He lived in_ Prussia. He had spent much time in studying history, espe- cially ecclesiastical history. He had studied Moshetm, and esteemed him very highly ; and was a pupil of Neander. All this appears from his own history, re- cently published in the English language. The call to become a Professor in the Theological Seminary of the German Eeformed Church, was pre- sented to him in 1843. - As an honest, intelligent man, on receiving the call, he would naturally inquire. Who are the German Eeformed Church? From what parts of Germany did they go to the United States ? iind for what pur- pose? Their very name, German Eeformed, would, at once, suggest to him that they must have migrated, not from the portions of Germany occupied by the Eoman Catholics ; nor from those where the Luther- ans lived ; but from those where the Eeformed lived. Any information he needed, it was easy for him to obtain from those who were appointed by the Synod of the church to present and prosecute the call. In a matter of so great importance, it is reasonable to suppose, their leading and most influential men, who loved their church, its purity, and best interests, were appointed. Nor is it to be doubted, they took care to put Dr. Schaff in possession of all needed in- formation, that he might know who they were, what 300 was tbeir great standard of doctrine, whence their fore- Fathers had come ; that they had fled from persecu- tion, and come to this country to enjoy civil and reli- gious liberty ; to live in it, and worship God according to the dictates of their own minds, and retain the true, scriptural, and blessed faith, for which their an- sestors in Germany had bled and died, as well as suf- fered the loss of all things, under the persecuting tyranny of Louis the Great, who, in 1685, revoised the edict of Nantz. ^ All this information. Dr. Schaff, we may suppose possessed before he made up his mind to accept the 3all of the church in this country. He arrived here in 1844 ; and delivered his Isr aug- ural Address at Reading, on the 25th of October, 1844. So we are informed, by Dr. Nevin, in the arst sentence of his Introduction of Schaff's " Prin- siple of Protestantism," published in 1845. And in that sentence he also tells us, " the work has grown Dut of that Address, and still retains, to some extent, its original form." He adds in the next sentence, md two following, "Only a part of the Address, aowever, as previously prepared, was spoken at that ;ime ; and it has been since considerably changed and snlarged in the way of preparation for the press. It s now, accordingly, more like a book than a pam- phlet. If this may be supposed to require any apol- )gy, it is to be found in the difficulty and importance 3f the subject, and the anxiety of the writer to have lis views with regard to it fully understood by the jhurch which has called him into her service." See :he next sentence closing the first paragraph. The third paragraph is a most singular one, and shows how much De. Nevin was already Germanized, m is infected with the poison of popery. He was prepared to depart from the faith of the Protest- ant religion, nearlj as soon as Sohaff arrived in this country. When 1, read it, after its publication in 1845, I wrote on the margin, with a pencil, this sen- tence :!' The Bible is the same among all nations. Everywhere it teaches the same truths." And now, to give the reader some idea of this sin- gular paragraph of De. Nevin, I add, that a German need not change his " constitution," and become an American, to understand the Striptures as an Ameri- can does. . The ancestors of the German Eeformed Church in- terpreted the Bible in Germany, just as their descend- ants in this country did, one hundred years after- wards; and just as the sound part of the church did in 1844, when Dr. Scbaff delivered his Inaugural Address, October 25th of that year; and just as Dr. Nevin did, when he wrote his letter of acceptance of their call to be a Professor in their Theological Semi- nary, which gave the church so niuch pleasure. Had Dr. Schaff been really and truly a German Reformed Protestant, he would in Germany have understood the Heidelberg Catechism, just as he would understaind it if he were to live thirty j/ears, longer in this country, and lay aside many habiis peculiar to Oermany, and in these respects hecoms American, Th!s may be illustrated by referring. to the case of Dr. Nevin himself. He has never lived in Germany, and 3'et he has imbibed many erroneous German ideas in regard to the Christian religion ; and were he to go to Gerniany, he might, the week after his arri- val, deliver an address prepared in America, exhibit- ing the very views of truth entertained by Schaff, so 26 803 far as lie has imbibed them ; though his Accent, tone of voice, and pronunciation of the German language, ■would much d'lffer from his teacher. He has never lived either in Italy or in Eome ; and yet how far has he gone in adopting the great and ruinous errors of the Romish church ; and even ad- vanced in a downward course that would have startled many an ancient advocate of that apostate church !* Professor Schaff has no excuse for publishing errors, so discordant from the standard of truth he had sol- emnly avouched to bo his belief, and so solemnly promised to teach, and to maintain against opposers, on the very day of his inaugurdtion, and afterwards more at lar;/e, as soon as he had time to swell his address into a " book," in 1845. The Minutes of the "German Reformed Churcli for 1844, has, on page 26, this rpcord: " The Committee appointed to hold; a Tentamen ■with the Rev. Dr. Schaff, report ' " That they have had satisfactory evidence of his being in regular ecclesiastical connection as a minis- ter with the Evangelical Church in Prussia,^ having been ordained in the Reformed Church of Elberfeld last April. They have satisfied-theniselves also that as he was born in the bosom of the Reformed Church, so he cc)ntinues to be still true to its faith as exhibited in the floidelbcrg Catechism, and that he is prepared, moreover, to conform to the constitution and order of the same church as exhibited in this country. They recommend, therefore, that he be received as a mem- ber of this Synod. Respectfully submitted, John W. Nevin, Chairman.^ * In ^roof, see bis publications ably reviewed by J)is. Hodge and Prondflt. f Dr. N., ilreody a, Papist, and others like him, were on this CommiM»«' lOS "The report was adopted, and .Dr. Schaff instructed to connect himself with the Classis of Mercersburg." On page 51, is this minute, "The Committee ap- pointed to attend to the inauguration of the Rev. Dr. Schaff, in case he accepted of the Professorship, to ■whicL he was elected, reported that they have made arrangements to have his inauguration take place at Eeadiiig, Pa., on Friday the 2oth instant. The report was accepted, and the Oommittee continued," Dr. Schaff was inaugurated at the appointed time^. and delivered his address, which afterwards grew into what Dr. Nevin calls a boot. ISfb wonder the sound part.Of the church became alarmed. No wonder that the Classis of Philadelphia complained to the Synod against his " Principle of Protestantism," as militating against their standard of doctrine, the Heidelberg Catechism. (See Miuutes for 1845, page 23, No. 14.) '.v,- ■ True, the Committee of Synod brought in a report, which was carried by a large majority ; against which Dr. Berg entered his protest. In my opinion, i,he vote of Synod only goes to show how far the poison of popery had been already diffused in that denomi- nation by the united labors of the two Professors. No wonder the Board of Visitors of the Theological Seminary,- alarmed by the representations of Dr. Schaflf's errqneo'is views; felt constrained to request him to appear before them at the meeting of the Synod, at Carlisle, October, 1846. Having heard his statements and explanations, the Board stated in a resolution, which was afterijfrards adopted by the Synod, " that they could not endorse the viewd of Dr. Schaff; but they did not deem it of sufficient importance to call for any spepial action." (Se,e Minutes.) 804 ITere the maxim was forgotten ; " Ohsta principiis.'' How is it possible for Scbaff, or any intelligent man, to reconcile his laudation of the state of the church during the Middle Ages, with historical truth, and especially with the Iloly Scriptures, jvhen, in fact, it was in the most corrupt state, both as to doc- trine and worship 1 lie had solemnly received the ' Heidelberg Catechism, which so plainly teaches that there are only two sacraments. Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and the Mass to be " a denial of the one sacri- fice and sufferings of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry," as the confession of liis faith. How then, can he, or anv man, reconcile this declaration with the praise which he immediately after bestowed on the seven sacraments of the Romish church, in his inaugural address, enlarged as it was afterwards, and published in a book, in 1845, without excepting the Mass, til at accursed idolatry I I feel the reconciliation to be impossible.* CONTRAST IV. • BETWEEN GERMANY ENLIGHTENED AND VIVIFIED BY THE REFORMATION, AND WHAT GERMANY BECAME AFTER THE COUCIL OF TRENT, SHKoUDED AND PARALYZED BY FATAL ERRORS. Both professors boast of modern Germany, as the seat of science and theological knowledge ; and seem * Let the reader compare the extract from his " Principle of Protes- tantism," in Part I. pp. 17-19, with his oatli, p. 293. m to think no one is capalale of interpreting the Bible, unless he has sat at the feet of some German teacher. We, therefore, take the liberty of reminding them of an important passuge of Holy Scripture, which should never be forgotten : " The natural man (as all are bora) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are fpolishness unto him : neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 .Cor. li. 1-1.) A natural, man may, from reading the Scriptures and hearing the gospel faithfully preached, form a correct, speculative creed ; and yet being unenlightened by the Holy Spirit to dTscern the truth' in a spiritual manner, and. unrenewed by bis saving grace, remain in aa unconverted state, desti- tute of spiritual life. Such, alas! was my own case, till I had entered my twentieth year. I had, in the parochial school pf the Eeformed Dutch Church, taught by Mr. Steenbeck, in Garden, now State Street, alter my father's return to New- York, on the conclusion of the peace in 1783, beenindoctrinaiedin the Heidelberg Catechism, befor6 I went to the grammar school to leaxu Latin and Oreek, required for entering Columbia College. It was my privilege to sit under the ministry of orthodox, evan- gelical ministers. Hence, while studying in College, my speculative views of divine truth remained cor- rect ; and I was prepared, in disputes with my Epis- copal classmates, to' contend for the doctrine of elec- tion, &c. But I remained in a natural, unrenewed state till January, 1794, when, on the-first day of the new year, it pleased God to visit me with sickness. I was advised to leave the church and go home. I declined following the advice, the thought occurring, by remaining I may obtain instruction and profit. m On the (j&nclusioti bf the service, of course I went home ; and immediately took to my bed. It proved to be the scarlet fever. . In the evening I became greatly alarmed at the prospect of death. Convictions of sin and guilt seized on my mind. I called for a religious book. The colored woman put. into my hands a psalm book. I read it. So great was the agony of my mind, that I was thrown into a .violent perspiration. The physician came and ordered. my linen to be changed. The disease was broken and my life saved. My convictions did not cease. The good work went on, and resulted, I trust, in a change of heart and living faith in Christ. " My purpose was changed. Instead of studying medicine with the attending physician, I resolved to study for the ministry. This our German philosopher may sneer at as pietism. Be it so. Such a change he must' expe- rience, or he will never be saved, with all his German theology. But we return to the contrast. How vast the difference between the portions of Germany enlighted by writings of Luther, and Melanci thon, and Ursinvs, and many others, great and pious men, during the Reformation, through the enlightening and vivifying influence of the Holy Spirit accompa- nying the instrumentality of the word printed or spoken, and those same portions of Germany since the council of Trent, now covered with a dark shroud, by rationalism, — neology, — pantheism, — infi- delity, and atheism ; — the natural, legitimate brood of the Papacy or Komish church, unenlightened and un- vivified by the Holy Spirit, who will not use the heret- ical dogmas of Rome, which have been substituted for ioi Grod's word ; and who has left them to darkness and barrenness, ^the certain consequence of being de- prived of the light and warm beams of the suii of righteousness. This contrast cannot be denied v?;ith- out contradicting all history. In support of the position I have taken, I shall offer the testimony of two eminent divines ; one of whom Dr. S. will be much surprised to find, at the close of his life, bearing his testimony against German theology, after having experienced in his own mind, its baneful influence. First, hear the venerable Dr. Dana, of Newbury- port, in a sermon entitled, " The Faith of Formes Times." Text, Hebrews xiii. 7 — " Whose faith fol- low, considering the end of their conversation." The sermon was delivered August 1, 1847, on "the hundredth anniversary of the South Church of Ips- wich, the author's native place. It has been subse- quently preached, with some omissions and variations, in several places. By the advice and request of judicious friends, it is now submitted to the public." (Si e Preface.) ; He writes : " Look at Germany ; the birth-place of Luther ; the cradle of the Reformation ; the abode, for ages, of great and pious ministers, '^of pure churches, of truth-loving and ardent Christians. Who would not have hoped that this distinguished country would have continued, for many an auspicious century, the blessing of Europe, the light of the world, the cham- pion of pure and primitive Christianity ? And what is Germany now ? The seat of learning, of science, of philosophy, bf meta{)hysies, of bound- less investigation and discussion, of religious theories without number, of expositions of Scripture without 808 end' — tlie seat of every thing, in short, hut truth, and reason, aud common sense. IT tliere is a country on earth, in which philosophy, breaking away from the Bible, has pre eminently displayed its weakness and folly, it is Germany, If there is a spot on the globe which has been a radiating point of darkness and error ; of false religion, false and corrupting morality, and universal skepticism, it is Germany. " With truth it may be said, that there is not a doc- trine of the Bible, from its first to its last page, which has not been, by scores of its learned men, distorted, denied, vilified, and held up to the public scorn. VVilh equal truth it may be said, that there is ncjt an error which has infected the church, from its earliest birth till now, which has not been gravely defended by scores of its clergy ; men who have even put to the blush the absurdities of former ages, by still greater absurd- sities of their own invention. " But can there be any danger of such awful degen- eracy and corruption among ourselves ? — My brethren, let us not shut our eyes. There is real and great danger. The very writings which have been described have already found admission to our country, have received a wide circulation, and are eagerly devoured by thousands of readers. The minds of multitudes of theological students have come into contact with them ; and not a few have imbibed the sweet poisi -n. Others, it may be hoped, have remained uncontaminated. But is there no danger in breathing infected air? " It iS often suggested, that many German writers, possessed of fine powers and great learning, exhibit likewise a portion of orthodoxy, together with the substanlials of piety. It is said, likewise, that in the case of many of these writers, tliere is a great retroces? 309 sion from errors whicll have long prevailed in that country. Lsjt these facts be admitied, and let ihem be rejoiced in. But the question still arises : Is the dimness of -twilight to be preferred to the splendor ol day ? Or must we graVely plunge into twilight, in order to reach that day which shone upon us long be- fore a single ray of light from modern Germany bad dawned upon our land ? " It cannot be denied that in the best of the writers referred to, there are generally found notions too in- distinct and vacillating, of essential gospel doctrines. "We may give thetn the praise, of great and varied learning; of refined thought ; often of tender, and ap- parently pious sentiment. But for clear and accurate statements of Christian doctrine, we ordinarily look, to them in Vain. Generally, too, -they are indecisive, at best, in regard to the proper and plenary inspiration of the Scriptures. And here, in this very spot, is found the baneful and productive source of most of the errors and heresies which prevail throughout our country. The minds of our people haVe broken loose from the inspiration and infallibility of the Scriptures : Ajad what is the consequence? -Truths, doctrines, which beam from their pages with overpowering light, are by thousands doubted, or disbelieved, or ridiculed, or set at defiance. " And what, my hearers, if the same experiment which has been made in Germany, should be repeated in our own country ? What if our Theological Sem- inaries, (and I say it with grief, it is in Theological Seminaries that error and heresy have been apt to commeace their deleterious course,) what, I say, if our Thjological Seminaries should become scenes of heresjT — ^foiintains of error — ^sehoolB in which every 310 thing shall be taught, rather than the pure, unadul- terated doctrines of the gospel ?— Most" of these semi- naries, it is believed, are furnished with scriptural and orthodox creeds. But wliat if their instructors should turn their back on those creeds? "What, if by a strange hallucination, they should think it right to inculcate doctrines essentially diverse froin those which they have solemnly professed to believe, and promised to teach ? And what if their pupils should come forth to the churches, surcharged with learned error, with false philosphy, false metaphysics, false theolgy ; and teaching every thing but the pure doc- trines of the word of God ? What hope could we then indulge for our country, for the Church of God, for the souls of men, for the cause of pure religion ? " We advance, then, to a new thought. Unless we return to the faith of our fathers, the pure faith of the gospel, the interests of vital and practical piety must lan- guish and die. Truth and piety have a natural con- nection. God has joined them. Every attempt to separate them must be at once impious and abortive. There is a world oi instruction in our Saviour's prayer. Sanctify them through thy truth. It is the truth, and not error, that sanctifies. Wherever, by an individ- ual, or a church, or a community, the truth is un- known, or forgotten, or disregarded, or trampled down, there, as surely as night follows day, a count- less host of evils will enter. Insensibility, worldli- ness, impiety, neglect of God, of Christ, of prayer, of the soul, of eternity, will soon make themselves man- ifest. " The reasons of this may be easily assigned. If God has distinctly declared to his ministers, what doctrines they shall deliver, and these doctrines are 811 actually preached, it may be hoped that he will sanc- tion and seal such preaching by the accompanying influ'eiices of his Holy Spirit. This is natural. And this is ordinarily the fact. Earely is the gospel preached in its purity, without some saving effect. But what if the gospel be withlield ? Or what if it be mixed and corrupted? — and all human mixtures are corruptions. Can a bleasing be expected in such a case? Will the Most High solemnly prescribe to his ministers the doctrines they shall preach, ajid will he sanction, by the influences of his Holy Spirit, doctrines materially diverse. It would be wonderful indeed if he did. " The matter may be considered,, in another view. The doctrines we have briefly detailed to-day, exhibit man not only as a sinner, but as in himself, wholly lost, undone and helpless. They lay him at the foot- stool of sovereign mercy. Without the interpositions of that mercy, he is undone — undone forever. These, my dear hearers, are the doctrines which break the slumbers of the human intellect, and lay a strong grasp on the inmost heart. All other doctrines are feeble and inefficient. We may preach our own fan- cies, and our hearers may be amused. But they will be neither sanctified nor saved. They will not even be greatly interested or alarmed. Human depravity, human pride and stupidity, strong in their intrench- ments, will laugh at our puny assaults. While the pure , doctriues of the gospel, simply delivered, will, by the grace ofheaven, arouse the conscience, subdue the heart, and save the soul." (See pp. 15-18.) " On one point, I must be indulged a free remark. Much is said and preachedy in our day, on the subject of men's natural ability. And the object probably is, tp deprive tliem of all excuse for neglecting their souls and religion. But many hearers, - not compre- hending the philosophical distmction, turn from it in disgust, and from -ysrliatever of gospel tr.Hth may be' connected with it. Many others a,ccept the flattering unction ; and learning that they can change their own hearts, if they please, resolve to do this disagreeable work when they please ; that is, at a future time ; a time that, with most, never comes. " Thus, by a philo.«ophical subtilty, not to say, a gross error, the soul is lost. '' On the whole, we may set it down as an unques- tionable truth, that until we return to the faith of our fathers ; to the pure, unsophisticated doctrines of the gospel, little can be hoped in favor -of religion. In- deed, of the real religion which remains among us, a great portion is the iruit of those old-fa.ihioned, neg- lected doctrines ; and not of the superficial and modish opinions, which have usurped their place." (See pp. 18, 19-) , The paper of Dr. Moses Stuart I shall publish en- tire, from the American Messengek for January, 1854; because Anuover Seminaey was injured by him. Where is it now ? " DANGERS OF GERMAN THEOLOGY." " The late Professor Stuart, whom none will accuse of undue prejudice against modevn German tlitologi- cal writers, gives the following warning as to their rationalistic tendencies in one of the last articles from his pen. " ' Could thejr position in r^^a^d tp the Scriptures m be received by, the THidisGriinmating multitude nioators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with, mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor dliinkards, nor revilers, nor extor- tioners, shaU inherit the kingdom of jQ-od." (See 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10.) Peter too has pronounced their doom : " But there were false prophets also among the people, even ag there ^hall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring, in sdamnable heresies, even -denying the Loxd that bought ttem, and bring upon themselves §30 swift destruction. And many shall follow -tlieir per- nicious ways ; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoten of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you : whose judgnient now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of dark- ness, to be reserved unto judgment ; and spared not the old -world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the uiigodly ; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah inttf ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly." (See 1 Peter ii. 1-6.) :. Professor Schaff should abandon his vain attempts to infuse life into the papal church by talking of her stately cathedrals — her turrets storming the heavens — her stained glass — ^her mysterious devotional gloom — her saints and Madonnas. By artful descriptions, prompted by a morbid imag- ination, he cannot infuse life into dead stones. Nor can he, by any contrivance, quicken into spiritual life dead souls ^ such as the souls of popes and cardinals have always been during the Middle Ages, so highly lauded by him. Equally impossible for him is it to turn idolaters into worshippers of a holy God, who requires to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Nor can he change debauchees, such as filled the papal court during those ages, on which he delights to dwell, into men of piety and chastity, who loved to honor God. Such was" the general life of the church " during the middle ages, — wicked, impious, impure, debauched 3S1 in tke extreme ! And was it possible for' any artists to stand "so completely in the general life of the church, and yet be so occupied only with the honor of God in theiir work, that with a divine carelessness, &c." Impossible ! Such praise we have shown to be false, — the fruit of a vain imagination ! Ah ! had Professor Schaff felt as he ought to have felt toward a pure and holy God, how differently would he have written jfrom what we took from his " Principle of Protestantism," as the foundation of our Contrast 1 It would, I believe, do him no harm, were he to put this question to himself. Is there no danger of my being found among the false prophets of whom Peter speaks, and of being involved in their just doom ? Before I close, I may be permitted to address a word of exhortation to the ministers and elders of the German Eeformed Church, who have followed the Professors in their erratic and dangerous course. You know the very solemn profession of faith in the Heidelberg Catechism you made, when you were in- ducted into your respective ofSces ; and the sacred pledges you gave to the church, to maintain that faith, demanded from every minister and elder by her Constitution. Should you not recall your confession of faith and solemn promises of fidelity to the church, and placing yourselves in the presence of a heart-searching God, inquire, have I fulfilled my promise, and kept my oath? They are recorded on high. Allow me to exhort yoii to meditate on, and pray over, those remarkable words addressed by Paul to the Gaktians : " 3S2 " I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Mm that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another gospel: "Which is not afaothet; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ, " But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. " As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which, ye have received, let him be accursed, &c." (See Gal. i. 6-12.) Oh I how infinitely important it is for you and me to build our hopes for eternity on the rock of ages, and not on a sandy foundation ! I would not exchange the foundation on which my hopes for eternity have been resting, more than sixty years, for that recommended by your deluded profes- sors, for t&n thousand worlds ! Papists talk of the merit of good works ! Good works performed by sinful - mortals, unenlightened and unrenewed by the Holy Spirit ! Oh ! what a de- lusion of Satan to ruin the souls of men ! Judged by the perfect law of God, I confess that I have no merit at all ; and therefore, I rely, for accept- ance with God, and for salvation, simply and entirely on the finished righteousness and all-sufficient atone- ment of the Lord Jesus Christ, regarding my own righteousness, in the matter of justification before Godj as utterly unworthy of notice! I know what Paul has written (Heb. vi. 10) : " For God is not unrighteous, to forget" your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do S33 minister." I know tliat the bfessed Eedeemer, in. in- finite condescension, identifies himself witli his saints, and that he willj in the day of judgment, say, in reply to their inquiry,' " Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (MTatt. xxv. 40.) Nor have I forgotten that it is written (Dan. xii. 3): "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteou§ness as the stars forever and ever." But I cannot forget the true connexion between our imperfect works and the reward which God is graciously pleased to confer on us for them ; that it is all of grace, and not at all of merit. Our salvation is all of grace, from beginning to end, as we are clearly taught in the Seripiures-. (See Eom. iii. 20-28, v. 20-21. I regard my salvation as the effect of God's rich and sovereign grace, and therefore, I do now, and will forever hereafter, ascribe it to puee grace. And yet I may, with all humility, to the praise of j;he same grace, say, that since the year 1802, a pain- ful doubt of my being in a state of acceptance with God has not crossed my mind. All this time I have, through God's good pleasure, enjoyed sweet peace and undisturbed tranquility ; for which I ought to be Very thankfUl, But let me add, I have been careful to guard agaijst self-deception ; an(J for this purpose, I have ex- amined myself, not only before each communion season, but hundreds of times besides, and almost every week. To God be all the glory. Amen. And here,, were space left, I should like to address my country, and show, from the facts of our past his- 834 tory, and from the language of propliecy, why T en- tertain tho iuope that God design* to purify Hifl oliuich in these U. S. A,, and, by reviving puro and undefilc] relig^ion throughout our extended States, to prepare our country for being used, in his hands, 'm an instru- rnont of great good to tho -world — for spreading the gospel and its dyiiv/Aiag influenw, and happy and beneficent rcsulta on l^j^man society over the four qiiartera of our globe. But I must content myself, at present, -with this hint. To what I have written I wish to make two addi- tions. The first is, that I might here unfold my views of the operations of the sixth vial, which I believe to be pouring out, as to its eifects on Turkey, as well as to its effects on the papal hierarchy. But this would enlarge the present volume beyond my design. My intention being to reserve this for a subsequeut publi- cation, if it shall please God to proloTjg my life, and continue my intellectual Acuities long enough Uj pre- pare the work, I, therefore, ior the present, content myself with this renutrk as to Papal Boine, That she in musterifjg her forces from the w?u>h worU, V) bring on that terrible conflict that is to take place in Paht- tirie, 'I'iiioitnniit'A, "The battle of that great day of God ALMiGJjar," that which will produce such a destraetion of human beings, and result in the &mv