“But, my lord, with my people, I have put these words because we want to obey only the bishops who follow the Word of God. We want to submit only to the church which respects and follows the Gospel of Christ.”
In an irritated manner, he quickly answered: “Take away from your act of submission, those ‘Words of God,’ and ‘Gospel of Christ,’ and ‘Bible!’ or I will punish you as a rebel.”
“My lord,” I replied, “those expressions are there to show us and to the whole world, that the Word of God, the Gospel of Christ and the Bible, are the fundamental stones of our holy church. If we reject those precious stones, on what foundations will our church and our faith rest?”
He answered angrily: “Mr. Chiniquy, I am your superior, I do not want to argue with you: You are my inferior, your business is to obey me. Give me, at once, an act of submission in which you will simply say that you and your people will submit yourselves to my authority, and promise to do anything I will bid you.”
I calmly answered: “What you ask me is not an act of submission, it is an act of adoration. I do absolutely refuse to give it.”
“If it be so, sir,” he answered, “you can no longer be a Roman Catholic priest.”
I raised my hands to heaven, and cried with a loud voice: “May God Almighty be forever blessed.”
I took my hat and left to go to my hotel. When alone, in my room, I locked the door and fell on my knees, to consider, in the presence of God, what I had just done. There, the awful, undeniable truth stared me in the face. My church could not be the Church of Christ! That sad truth had not been revealed to me by any Protestant, nor any other enemy of the church. It was from her own lips I had got it? It had been told me by one of her most learned and devoted bishops! My church was the deadly, the irreconcilable enemy of the Word of God, as I had so often suspected! I was not allowed to remain a single day longer in that church without positively and publicly giving up the Gospel of Christ! It was evident to me that the Gospel was only a blind, a mockery to conceal her iniquities, tyrannies, superstitions and idolatries. The only use of the Gospel in my church, was to throw dust in the eyes of the priests and people! It had no authority. The only rule and guide were the will, the passions and the dictates of sinful men!
There, on my knees, and alone with God, it was evident to me that the voice which had so often troubled and shaken my faith, was the voice of my merciful God who wanted to save me. It was the voice of my dear Saviour, who wanted to bring me out of the ways of perdition in which I was walking. And I had tried so often to silence that voice!
“My God! my God!” I cried, “The Church of Rome is not thy church. To obey the voice of my conscience, which is thine, I gave it up. When I had the choice between giving up the Church or the Bible, I did not hesitate. I could not give up thy Holy Word. I have given up Rome! But, O Lord, where is thy church? Oh! speak!! where must I go to be saved?”