Instead of apostles and prophets there came, as time went on, a very different ecclesiastical order from that instituted by the Lord. The Church established by the Redeemer was taken from the earth because of continued persecution and apostasy, until there was but a dead form of the true Church left. The great ecclesiastical organization that arose and claimed to be the Church of Christ was of gradual growth. The change from truth to error was not made all in one day. It commenced in the first century and continued during the immediate centuries that followed, until the Church established in the days of the apostles was no more to be found among men. Without the direction of inspired men, who could communicate with God, the change was a natural one.
Rise of the Church of Rome
In the beginning of the fourth century this great religious power, under the Emperor Constantine became the state religion of the Roman Empire. From that time forth its dominion spread and before many years had passed away it became the ruling power in religion in the so-called civilized world. By it “times and laws” were changed. The simple principles of the Christian faith were embellished almost beyond recognition with pomp and mystic rites borrowed from pagan worship. The priests and potentates, who officiated in these ceremonies, no longer followed the simple customs of the humble fishermen of Galilee but, dressed in splendid and costly robes, with mitres on their heads, they performed their various parts in pride and with mystifying ceremonies that over-awed and bewildered the humble people.
Changes in the Doctrines of the Church
The correct doctrine regarding the Godhead taught by Jesus Christ, was changed into a mystery. The ordinance of baptism was changed from burial in the water for the remission of sins, to sprinkling of a little water on the head. Sprinkling of infants, miscalled baptism, a custom which “is mockery before God, denying the mercies of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit,” became a fixed and universal custom. Changes in the administration of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper were also introduced, and the doctrine advanced that the bread and wine became the flesh and blood of our crucified Redeemer, by transubstantiation. Those who entered the ministry were forbidden to marry, and many other changes, which need not be mentioned here, were made in the principles of the Gospel, in the functions of the Priesthood and the worship of the Lord.
Temporal Power of the Pope
Rome became the capital of this ecclesiastical power and the bishop or pope, as he was called, its head. As its power grew it claimed dominion not only in matter religious, but in civil affairs as well. During the acme of its glory it ruled practically the known world. By it kings were made and by it they were dethroned. Unless they bowed before the papal power in abject submission they were made to feel the weight of its mighty hand.
Frederick Seebohm, in his Era of the Protestant Revolution, says: “Kings were not secure on their thrones till they had the sanction of the Church. On the other hand the clergy claimed to be free from prosecution under the criminal laws of the land they lived in. They struggled to keep their own ecclesiastical laws and their own ecclesiastical courts, receiving authority direct from Rome, and with final appeal, not to the crown, but to the pope.”
“To establish an accusation against a bishop,” writes Motley, in his Rise of the Dutch Republic, “seventy-two witnesses were necessary; against a deacon, twenty-seven; against an inferior dignitary, seven; while two were sufficient to convict a layman.”