(324-325) How do we know this to be the Catholic view of the matter? Because, a8 usual everywhere throughout Papacy’s kingdom, “pontifical requiem masses for the repose of his soul” are being performed—for the stilling of his soul’s anguish in purgatory. Surely this would not be done for him if he were believed to be in heaven—in glory! Poor old man! Time after time, during his long carcer, he had fresh sacrifices of the mass said for his sins, and thus, theoretically, had thousands of years of purgatorial suffering remitted, and finally had all sin absolved, and yet to be obliged to go to purgatory to suffer and scorch—for how long no Catholic knows! He and his followers surely have our sympathy in the calamity of so unsatisfactory a faith. We inquired of a more than ordinarily intelligent vatholic how these seeming inconsistencies were harmonizable, and got the reply—‘Well, you know, in matters of such importance we tecl like using every precaution.” Poor things! it 1s all a matter of doubt and uncertainty. Blind faith in the words of men (proclaimed infallible by men but not by God) can uever give “strong consolation” nor “full assurance of faith.” As the poor Romanist thinks of his pope (“a very God on earth’) in purgatory, he shudders for his own fate and that of his friends. Nor are Protestants much better off. By rejecting the doctrine of purgatory and making the rewards of the prcsent life to be heaven or hell—eternal bliss or eternal miscry—they in some respects increase the difficulty. They must admit that only “saints” have the heavenly promises of the Scriptures, and few of them claim saintship. Besides, even the saintly must concede that but few of their neighbors and kin are saints. They are thus driven to doubt, or to the unreasonable hope that those who were unkind, dishonest, unneighborly, or brutal and bestial and savage are the kinds God is taking to heaven. In which case their reasonable hopes of heavenly bliss and harmony and joy would be rudely shaken. * * >» How refreshing to turn from all this unscriptural nonsense —from all this darkness of the dark ages—and to glance at the reasonable and plain teaching of the Bible on this subject of sin, its punishment, and the divinely provided salvation from these. Death, the penalty for sin, is comprehensible—reasonable, Scriptural. The resurrection hope, based upon the fact that “Christ died for our sins” (paid the penalty against us), is also reasonable. That God is now ealjling and electing a “little flock” of “saints” out of every nation, people and tongue to be associated with Christ in the kingdom work of the Millennial age, is also reasonable, And that all others than the saints must wait for the kingdom of God (of which Papacy’s kingdom was but a counterfeit)—wait in the tomb (where Pope Leo XIII. is now waiting), in which there is neither wisdom nor knowledge nor device, until the kingdom time—is also reasonable. It gives us pleasure to know on the strength of God’s Word that Leo XIII., and all the millions of the dead Catholics and Protestants, are waiting in the great prison-house of death until, at the command of the Redeemer, “all that are in the graves shall come forth.” In due time Leo XIII., and all the other popes and people of the world, blinded by Satan, “the god of this world,” will come forth to a purgatorial condition, but a very different one from that preached by Romanists. The Millennial kingdom will be a purgatoria] kingdom—established for the purpose of blessing ail the families of the earth by binding Satan and destroying his blinding influence, and by chastisements (administercd in love) purging from all people (or from so many as will submit joyfully) all their sins and weaknesses and blemishes. This purgatorial kingdom will last only one thousand years and will accomplish its designed purpose (Isa. 55:11). At its close all not in fullest heartharmony with the Lord will be “destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3:23), and throughout the whole of the cleansed world praises shall ascend to God and to him who loved us and redeemed us with the one sacrifice of himself, which needed no addition of repeated mass sacrifices. And thereafter there shall be no more sorrow or dying or erying, because all the former things of sin and darkness and error shall have passed away.—Rev. 21:4; Isa. 35:10. VIEWED FROM ANOTHER STANDPOINT Evidently others view the above matters quite differently, for, aceording to newspaper reports, prayers have b2en ascending to God all over the land, from Protestants as well as Catholics, that the aged pontiff might not die. Evidently many good people are of opinion that 93 years was too young for this man’s death rate. They seemed to consider their opinion on the matter worthy of divine consideration, but God was unmoved by their numbers and influence. Again the ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, Pa. Apostle’s words are verified: cause ye ask amiss.” However, one error always leads to another when the fault is with the heart, and hence, so far from realizing divine disapproval in the rejection of their prayers, we may expect that Protestants thus carried away with admiration for the head of Antichrist will be still further misled. Indeed the indications are that “mother” System (Rev. 17:5) and her daughters are surely coming into fuller harmony than has ever before existed between them. This will be recognized as in perfect aceord with what we have already pointcd out to be the teachings of Revelation,—that in the close of this “harvest” time Papacy and Protestantism will codperate to arbitrarily coerce the people of Christendom and thereby lead to the great catastrophe of anarchy ;—‘‘a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.”—Dan. 12:1. The following from the Sun (N. Y.) is to the point:— “On Sunday prayers for the dying pope were offcred up in several Protestant churches, of whose services we have particular reports and, probably, in many more as to which we have no such information. “They were indicative of a change in the attitude of Protestantism toward the Roman Catholic church which is one of the most remarkable religious developments of recent years. Even not more than a quarter of a century ago that ehureh, by far the greatest in Christendom, was usually exeluded from consideration by Protestants when they were discussing the means and agencies for the propagation of Christianity. The article on the Pope in the Westininister Confession, in which he was described as ‘that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition,’ represented the prevailing Protestant belicf. “Twenty-five years before, this whole country had heen stirred by a political agitation against the Roman Catholic church which seemed to some prophets ominous of a religious war. That church, then comparatively feeble, has now grown into the strongest in the Republic, yet, instead of the bitterness of hostility against it, proclaimed and predicted by the old Know-Nothingism, there have come harmony and respect. In Protestant churches prayers were offered up for the suffering and dying pope. The Roman pontiff has become a Christian brother, and Protestants join with Catholics in celebrating the spiritual exaltation of his character and the services he has rendered to Christianity. He was described by a Methodist preacher of New York on Sunday as ‘leader of the great army of the Lord’s hosts,’ a ‘spiritual commanderin-chief, a ‘champion of the faith who has never wavered from the Catholic position and the theology of Thomas Aquinas,’ ‘who has done much for the progress of civilization,’ who ‘has restored the golden age of the Papacy in its best sense.’ . .« . . Jt cannot be denied, however, that frequently this new spirit of toleration is due to lessened partizanship because of lessened religious conviction.” THE CHARACTER CF NEXT TWO POPES PROPHESIED Long ago, a Catholic whose name even is lost, affected to prophesy the characters of future popes. He did this by giving to each a “motto.” And so accurate have some of his predictions been that Catholics respect them greatly. For instance, the Pope Leo XIII., motto was “Lumen in celo” (Sunshine in heaven). His motto for the next pope is “Ignis ardens” (A burning fire), and that for his successor is “Religio depopulata” (Religion laid waste). The reign of Leo XIII. certainly has been a very sunshiny one for papal interests, and it would be well in accord with our anticipations of the future should his successor have a brief and strenuous experience, to be followed by the general collapse of Daniel 12:2. “GUT OF THINE OWN MOUTH’’ A sister in Christ, once a Presbyterian, handed us a copy of the Central Presbyterian of February 18th, with several items marked, saying: If Zion’s WatcH TOWER contained such caustic criticisms of “Babylon” and her methods, they would be thought severe and uncharitable, even if admitted to re true. We present four extracts; the last going far toward sustaining the true Gospel of “good tidings of great joy, which shall [yet] be to all people” :— “Dr. J. M. Buckley, the renowned editor of the New York Christian Advocate, at the meeting of Methodist ministers in that city, disputed the statement of Dr. Thompson of Chicaro, that a million and a half converts had been made by thc Methodist church in the last four years. He declared that statistics showed that Methodism was actually declining, at any rate in some of the Eastern conferences. “Dr. Buckley added that many ministers will plainly state in publie their frank doubt as to the truth of the Pentateuch. He continued: “Ye ask and receive not, be [3228]
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