The Gospel Day; Or, the Light of Christianity

by Charles Ebert Orr

“Papist children may accuse their parents of heresy, although they know their parents will be burned.

“A priest may kill those who hinder him from taking possession of any ecclesiastical office.

“Servants may secretly steal from their masters as much as they judge their labor is worth more than the wages which they receive.

“A woman may take her husband's property to supply her spiritual wants and to act like other women.

“A witness is not bound to declare the truth before a lawful judge, if his deposition will injure himself or his posterity, or if he be a priest; for a priest can not be forced to testify before a secular judge.

“Priests may kill the laity to preserve their goods, etc.”

Such appears extremely shocking to a man of integrity [pg 392] and principle. Such laws and tolerations and the direct sale of indulgences brings a blush of shame to a moral man, and much more to the Christian. The sale of indulgences is not true of Romanism only. Throughout the realms of Protestantism there is a shameful sale of these indulgences in an indirect way. Wicked and designing men are tolerated and fellowshiped by the sect ministry because of their liberality to the church. It is true it matters not if a man does occasionally get drunk, or if he does defraud his neighbor, or commit adultery, abuse his wife, attend theaters, and such like sins, if he is a liberal contributor to their treasury, he is smiled at, welcomed and encouraged to be faithful.

While in the papacy we find such titles as “Holy Father,” etc., in Protestantism we find the “D. D.” and “LL. D.” and “Reverend.” They who assume such honorary titles set themselves up to be equal with God. The word “reverend” is from the Hebrew “yare,” and means “to be feared.” So man is thus setting himself up as one to be feared, when the Word of the Lord tells us to “fear not man, but fear God.” “Holy and reverend is his name.” God alone is to be revered, and for man to prefix such a title to his name is to sit as God the temple of God.

Popes and bishops are found in the councils and conferences framing laws and passing resolutions for the government of their membership and for the qualifications of a minister, like as if God had ceased to [pg 393] reign and there was no Bible and they alone were invested with power to govern and control the kingdom of heaven. The qualifications of a minister in some of the popular denominations of to-day are a certain number of years in school and a certain number of histories and commentaries mastered. The qualifications as given by Paul are almost wholly ignored. The profession of the ministry in the sect world has been dragged down to a level with the professions of the world. A young man decides to be a physician. He goes to school and learns his profession. He receives his diploma, comes out and practises what he was taught at school, and makes his living thereby. Another young man decides to be a lawyer. He studies for that profession, is admitted to the bar, practises, and makes his living thereby. Another young man decides to be a preacher. He goes to school and learns his profession. He is licensed, comes out and preaches, and makes his living thereby.

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work.” This is the spirit of antichrist, of which John says, “even now already is it in the world.” This antichrist, apostate spirit is a mystery. It contains a hidden mysterious power that has blinded and deceived millions of souls. Even in Paul's time it began its hidden mysterious working. The Roman Catholic sect arose and met this description of the “man of sin” as given by Paul. The Waldenses in [pg 394] the thirteenth century looked upon the church at Rome as the “whore of Babylon,” and the “man of sin.” Those blinded by the mysterious, delusive spirit of iniquity considered such language against the “holy church” as blaspheming against God. Protestantism to-day with its great bishops and reverends and D. D.'s and creeds and systems, forms and ceremonies, almost as perfectly meets the description of the “man of sin” as does the Roman hierarchy. The same hidden mysterious delusive spirit has so intoxicated its subjects that they consider such speech as blasphemy.