Uncle Sam or the Pope, which? by Rev. L. L. Pickett ...

Front matter

UNCLE SAM

I

POPE

CHAPTER I. Romish Claims and Pretensions

He who could purchase the Papist system at the price it merits, according to its actual worth, as weighed in the scales of Scripture and humanity, and sell it on the basis of its lordly pretensions would be forthwith a multi-billionaire.

According to the creed of Pius IV., those who unite with the Roman Communion take the following oath : "I acknowledge the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church for the Mother and Mistress of all churches ; and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome — -Successor to St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, Vicar of Jesus Christ." He further says, "I profess and sincerely hold, this true Catholic faith, without which no one can be saved ; and I promise most constantly to retain and confess the same, entire and inviolate with God's assistance, to the end of my life/' But it cannot be both "Roman" and "Catholic." "Roman" pertains to the city of that name and is necessarily limited, local. But "Catholic" means universal. No church can be, therefore, both limited and universal or Roman and yet of a truly world character. These terms nullify each other. She may be essentially Roman, but she cannot be really Catholic or universal. But she does assume universal prerogatives.

Cardinal Manning puts into the mouth of the Pope the following haughty words : "I acknowledge no civil power; I am the subject of no Prince ; I claim to be the supreme Judge and director of the consciences of men : of the peasant who tills his field and of the Prince who sits upon his throne ; of the household which sits in the shade of privacy and of the legislator who makes laws for the kingdom. I am the sole, last, supreme judge, of what is right and wrong. Moreover, I declare, affirm, define and pronounce it to be necessary to salvation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff." Wonderful assumption! Ungodly pride!

If this teaching is true, then every man or woman in this or any other Nation who is not connected with the Roman Catholic Church, is on the way to 'hell. Who can believe this? Yet it is asserted by their theological teachers, that outside of their fold there is no salvation. Boiled down, her creed is, "Accept Rome as your Mother and Mistress or he damned."

Now I resent this as insufferable ecclesiastical egotism and infallible proof of satanic pride and bigotry. It is born of a spirit that despises God's authority and tramples on the rights of men and of nations. But the Pope is doomed : for "pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall."

According to The Catholic World, "Each indi-

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vidual must receive his faith and law from the Church, * * * with unquestioning submission and obedience of the intellect and will * * * We have no right to ask reasons of the Church (that is of the Pope) any more than of Almighty God. As a preliminary to our submission, we are to take, with unquestioning docility, whatever instructions the Church gives us." What man is thus willing to throw away his own intelligence? Are we not thinking beings? Have we no conscience ? Are w r e not to be allowed to maintain our own individuality? Shall we forfeit our personality, surrender our souls to the keeping of a despot, and concede ourselves amenable to the Roman Bishop, instead of to God? Such absolute surrender of one's conscience of personal rights and individuality is belittling. It thoroughly unmans and dehumanizes one. Such preposterous claims are an insult to every upright, thinking man.

The following extracts are from the Canon Law of Rome. There are eighty propositions. We give only a few samples:

1. "All human power is from evil and must therefore be standing under the Pope." He means that all must be subject to the Pope.

2. "The temporal powers must act conditionally, in accordance with the powers of the spiritual.

3. "The Church is empowered to grant, or to take away, any temporal possessions.

4. "The Pope has the right to give countries and nations which are non-Catholic to Catholic regents, who can reduce them to slavery.

5. "The Pope can make slaves of those Christian subjects whose prince or ruling power is interdicted by the Pope.

6. "The Church has the right to practice the unconditional censure of books.

7. "The Pope has the right to annul State laws, treaties, constitutions, etc. ; to absolve from obedience thereto, as soon as they seem detrimental to the fights of the Church, or those of the clergy.

8. "The Pope possesses the right of admonishing and, if needs be, of punishing, temporal rulers, emperors and kings, as well.

9. "Without the consent of the Pope no tax, or rate of any kind, can be levied upon a clergyman, or upon any church whatsoever.

10. "The Pope has the right to absolve from oaths, and obedience to the persons and the laws of the princes whom he excommunicates.

11. "The Pope can annul all legal relations of those in ban, especially their marriages.

12. "The Pope can release from every obligation, oath or vow, either before or after being made."

The Pope claims to be the rightful ruler of the world, its only real king and God. Pope Pius IX. declares that "the profession of the papist is indispensable as a qualification for the exercise of

Romish Claims and Pretensions. 13

civil and political rights." He also denounced what he is pleased to term "the absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience as a most pestilential error — a pest of all others most to be dreaded in a state." (Encyc. Let. Aug. 15, 1854.)

The declarations and encyclicals of the Pope are binding upon the consciences of all real Catholics. The Pope is considered infallible. His utterances are authoritative. The Bible can only be read in the light of the teachings of the Church ; it, accordingly, cannot speak with absolute authority; but the Pope can. Hence, his word is more binding upon the conscience of his people than the word of the living God — it supersedes the Bible as authority. The Pope can condemn, not only individuals and nations, but all princes, presidents, kings, potentates and law-givers. He claims supreme authority over both the souls and bodies of men, and he consigns to perdition those who deny his power or repudiate his authority. He claims both temporal and spiritual power. He wears a triple crown, indicating that he is Lord of heaven, earth and hell. If this be true, then, as Lord of heaven, he supplants God ; as Lord of earth, he supplants all temporal rulers; and as Lord of hell, he actually assumes the prerogatives of his Satanic Majesty. Wonderful powers ! marvelous pretensions !

Pius IX., in a Papal Bull (1860) claims that his dominion of the world is derived directly from God, that unlimited temporal ability is necessary for the propagation of the Gospel, and that it is absolutely indispensable "that he be not restricted by subjection to any civil power or authority." "How can this independence of civil authority be secured? Only in one way — the Pope must be a Sovereign." No temporal prince, emperor or king, president or any legislative body, can have any lawful jurisdiction over him.

What right has the Pope to be independent of every civil ruler? He has it, according to papal demands, in virtue of his dignity as the Vicar of Christ. Christ Himself is King of kings. The Pope governs the Church in the name of Christ and as his representative. His divine office, therefore, makes him superior to all political, temporal and human governments. Such are the Hierarchical assumptions.

Any reader of history knows how the Romish Church has enforced her decrees; how she has made her mandates effective with fire and sword. She has trampled upon and well-nigh destroyed whole nations, deluging them in blood, because the people had consciences of their own and desired to follow Christ rather than the Pope. Kings have been dethroned; princes have been driven from their dominions ; ministers have been expelled from their pulpits; husbands have been torn from their wives and wives from their husbands; children have been wrenched from their parents and parents from their children. Tears and blood that commingled would well-nigh float the navies of the world, and sighs that combined

Romish Claims and Pretensions. 15

would create a desolating storm, have been the result of the cruel demands of power on the part of this "Dark Age" abomination. Yet this tyrannical oppressor demands that we recognize it is the Church of the holy God.

In the eloquent language of the Rev. I. J. Lansing, I denounce the Pope and the tyrannous system of which he is head :

"I impeach him in the name of liberty of conscience, whose rights he has denied; I impeach him in the name of freedom of worship, whose temples he would close; I impeach him in the name of a free press and free speech, whose voice he would smother in the smoke of fire and fagot ; I impeach him in the name of civil liberty, over whose just laws he has claimed the sovereignty of Romish councils ; I impeach him in the name of the marriage-bond of the majority of the happy households of the 'Christian world, which he has stigmatized as "filthy concubinage," because not contracted in his name. I impeach him in the name of Protestantism, which he calls heresy and against w^hich he provokes the persecution of the civil government and the tortures of the Inquisition ; in the name of progress, which he has tried in vain to stay ; of modern civilization, with which he cannot be reconciled ; in the name of the free and enlightened governments of the world, against whose beneficent laws he has hurled his anathemas; in the name of the Holy Bible, whose free circulation he has pronounced a pest ; in the name of free America, whose overthrow he has plotted ;

in the name of Almighty God, whose prerogatives he has blasphemously usurped : in the name of all these, I impeach the Pope and the Hierarchy which dominate the Roman Catholic Church and summon them to the bar of oppressed humanity and Divine Justice." — ("Rom. and the Republic," pages 85, 86.)

CHAPTER II. "The Man of Sin."

II. Thes. 2:3-12.

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day — the day of Christ's coming and kingdom — shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition ; who opposeth and exalteth him- 'self above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things; and now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time, for the mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) doth already work. Only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way. (Rev. Ver.) And then shall that Wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth (that is the preaching of the Gospel) and shall destroy with the 'brightness of his appearing; (At his return our Lord shall blot this evil power from the earth), even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved ; and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie ; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. "

This passage contains many things worthy of our careful study. A proper analysis of the prophecy will give us a key to unlock the centuries that follow. Paul had preached in Thessalonica very strongly, and evidently very much, on the second coming of our Lord. He had awakened in them great expectations as to the nearness of the glorious event. They were looking for the return of Jesus in their own life time.

Loving this great doctrine as he did, he was not willing that they should be misled as to the time of the event. Having created a premature expectancy of the advent, he must now Clear the atmosphere of error and let them know a very sad fact. Prophetically, the apostle saw a dark picture, a great "falling away" from primitive Christianity. This, he briefly delineates. Observe the following clearly revealed points :

1. An Apostasy.

He tells the people that Jesus will not return until there has come a great falling away. What is this apostasy? It cannot be heathenism. The great heathen religions, such as Brahamism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Confucianism, etc., were all older than the 'Christian religion. Christianity attacked them and proposed to supersede them; hence, the apostasy, a falling away from Christianity, could not possibly be any manifestation or branch of original heathenism.

2. Nor could this spiritual decline be represented by Mahammedism; that arose in Arabia several centuries later. It had no connection, whatever, with the Church of Jesus Christ. It was a thing entirely apart. But the great evil foreseen by Paul was not a separate institution; but a decay in original Christianity.

3. Nor could it be Protestantism, as Rome vainly asserts. The evil that the apostle saw was already setting in. He said, "The mystery of iniquity doth already work." This indicates that the apostasy foreseen was even then beginning. It was a spiritual decline, a moral corruption ; it was heart-rot. No outside system such as Heathenism and Mahammedism could possibly meet the conditions described, since they lacked connection with Christianity ; nor could it be Protestantism because of the great time intervening between the writing and the rise of the Lutheran reformation. Luther was not born till 1483, so, it is evident, he could have no connection with the apostasy which was even then beginning ; its evil leaven that was already at work.

4. But there was a restraining power. Do you ask, What ? My answer is the Heathen Government of Rome ; the Emperor. Why should he restrain the apostasy? Because of the conflict of interests. The Emperor proposed to maintain his power and rule. The apostasy would beget a rival, consequently, the rival and competitor could not come into his own, into the place of power which he should seek, until the Pagan ruler had lost his dominions. The papacy could not develop, assert its kingly prerogative and sway the sceptre of empire, until the decay of the empire and the departure of its heathen ruler from Rome. Any student of history will tell you that Constantine ruled when the empire was breaking up, the result of which was a capital at Constantinople, as well as at Rome; in the East as well as in the West. The throne had to pass from the empire of the Caesars before it could fall to the lot of the Pope.

5. It is noticeable that the apostasy should head up into a man. This is not true of other spiritual declines. We often find in history a decay of spirituality; people lose their touch with the Infinite; the spirit of holiness departs from them; the .light burns low. This sad condition may be found today, throughout a large part of Christendom ; but it has no special head-ship. It is not organized ; it is simply a weakening of moral character and a decay of spiritual tone.

But the "falling away" foretold by the great apostle to the Gentiles had a head. It was an organized system of evil. This head is set forth under a special title, and is labeled by inspiration, THE MAN OF SIN, THE SON OF PERDITION. It is not necessarily a single individual, any more than a king or an emperor is merely an individual. We speak of the Kaiser; we mean, not the man, but the office; still this office centers in a man. It is not necessarily William I., William II., nor Frederick, but simply the Kaiser. In like manner, we speak of the Pope; this does not mean, necessarily, Alexander VI., Paul III., Pius IX., or Benedict XV. ; it (mean® the office that is occupied by the man, and his perpetuated successors.

Now the Pope is the head of the system, and I affirm that he and he only can fulfill the conditions of the prophecy ; he therefore is officially, and in endless succession, "The man of sin, the son of perdition."

6. This apostate head of the fallen church is preeminent in evil. The apostle describes him as "that Wicked," meaning, evidently, that no other bad man can equal him ; that he is the most evil, corrupt and corrupting of all the forces of sin. His character and official life make him the supreme representative of sin, the quintessence of concentrated and double-distilled wickedness. This does not necessarily represent the essential innate wickedness of an individual pope, but the corrupting, God-defying, soul-polluting effect of the system of which he is head.

Another rendering of the word is "the lawless one." Is the Pope especially lawless? He is. Let us notice a few claims made by and for him. Nicholas I., himself a pontiff, declared, "It is evident that the Pope can neither be bound nor unbound by any earthly power." Pope Gregory in his maxims, declares : "It is lawful for the Pope to depose emperors; he can absolve subjects of their oath of allegiance." Cardinal Manning has the Pope saying, "I acknowledge no civil power; I am the subject of no prince." Pius IX. said, "It is an error to hold, that in the case of conflicting laws, between two powers, the civil law ought to prevail." Thomas Aquinas wrote, "The temporal power is subject to the spiritual." The Roman Canon Law says, "The Pope has the right to annul state laws, treaties, constitutions, and to absolve from obedience thereto." Leo XIII., (Encyclical of 1890) .declares, "If the laws of the State * * * set at naught the authority of Jesus Christ, which is vested in the Supreme Pontiff, then indeed, it becomes a duty to resist them, and a sin to render obedience."

From these quotations, we see that the Pope is not simply a personal law-breaker, but that he heads a system that defies, spurns, rejects, annuls and condemns the laws and constitutions of all governments outside of his own. Then he is emphatically, "THE LAWLESS ONE."

7. "The man of sin" even proposes to supplant God. Observe that he takes his place in the temple and house of God and there becomes the rival of the Most High. "He exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped"; yea, he even "showeth himself that he is God ;" it might be rendered, "showeth himself off as God." Nicholas wrote, "that the Pontiffs held the place of God upon earth." One of the papal titles is "Our Lord God the Pope." He grants indulgences, extends absolutions, claims to have the keys to the Celestial City, yea, and to the infernal regions. He promises heaven to those who do his bidding and excommunicates and consigns to hell those who reject his superlative claims. Men call him "The Holy Father;" Inspiration calls him "the son of perdition." Men call him "His holiness ;" God calls him "that Wicked." Men worship him ; God consigns him to hell.

8. His power is Satanic. We read that his "coming is after the working of Satan"; no divine power here ; no Spirit of God in this system, but the Spirit of the Evil One. God is not in it, but Beelzebub is. God gives no power or blessing to the Pope, but hell sanctions, encourages and nerves him for evil.

9. His teachings are false. Those who believe them are under a strong delusion; it is said that they "believe a lie." His work is promoted by falsehood, for it advances "with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." It is said of his victims that they "perish," yea, even, "that they might be damned" who have pleasure in unrighteousness. If men believe God, the less they have to do with this evil and accursed system, the better it will be for them.

Marie Alacoque represents Christ as saying: "If I have given thee a commandment and thy confessor giveth thee another, it is thy confessor whom thou must obey." Has not the Pope assumed the place of God when he claims the power to forgive sins and has men kneel before him? From the life of Pius IX., we read the followiig: "Two Cardinal Deacons then conducted him behind the high altar where he assumed the pontifical habit, and then in front of the altar to receive the hoimage of the Cardinals." (Page 63). This refers to the time when Cardinal Ferretti was elected Pope, assuming the title, Pius IX.

"The Cardinals, archbishops and bishops gathered at an early hour in the Vatican; then, robed in white coats' and mitres, they passed the great hall in front, and thence to the vestibule of St. Peter's to await the coming of Pius IX., the Sovereign Pontiff. He soon appeared; all knelt in prayer ; the Pope intoned Veni Creator Spirltm in his clear voice, and as the choir took it up, the procession moved back into the palace and down the Scala Regia to the vestibule of St. Peter's. First came the cross, with burning lights and clouds of incense, then the long line of mitred abbots, bishops, archbishops, primates and patriarchs, a glorious line, most of them men of age, their faces showing the line of care, the impress of experience ; all ibishops in their very look. Italian, Greek and German; Persian, Syrian and Hungarian, Spanish and Copt, Irish and French; American, English, Chinese, Australian; a very world gathering. Then comes the cardinals, the most venerable body in the world ; but even they were forgotten, as the Hoiy Father appeared, borne in his curule chair, ALL KNEELING (my caps. P.) as he passed. The unmitred heads of religious orders closed the line. All knelt in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, exposed on the high altar, and, then the procession entered the transept." — (Life of Pius IX., pages 321 and 322),

A sight for men and angels, as those idolaters gather from all parts of the world and kneel before their f ellowman, and before the wafer which they are pleased to call the "Blessed 'Sacrament." Elsewhere, this writer speaks of the same Pope as follows : "To the Catholic, the moments when we knelt at the feet of the great Vicar of Christ, were remembered with a pious consolation through life that seemed supernatural." (Ibid, page 457).

In this same book, we have a sketch of Leo XIII. The writer is telling of his election to the Papacy. "After two ballots on Monday, the third ballot on Tuesday morning showed that Cardinal Pecci had received thirty-six votes for the election, only five less than were needed. Cardinal Franchi, to whom the next highest number of votes had been given, then rose and advanced to the seat of Cardinal Pecci. His example was followed by many, and when Cardinal Franchi knelt, Cardinal Pecci's election was virtually accomplished." (Page 463).

This is a strange way to make a God. When these cardinals all gathered on that Tuesday morning, February 19, 1878, they were only men, Monsieur Pecci with the rest, but when their ballots were cast and the majority were found to be in favor of Mr. Pecci, lo, he was at once a God. Others who entered as his equalls now knelt before him as though he were the Almighty. In further description of this scene at the elevation of Leo XIII., we read (Life of Pius, 463-464) : "He was at once attired in the white cassock of the Sovereign Pontiff, the walled window was broken open, and the new Pope, surrounded by the Cardinals and Deacons, passed through the broken wall of the balcony window, and stood for a moment in sight of the subjugated capital of Catholicity, no less than twenty thousand of the faithful kneeling there to receive the first Papal benediction."

Did not the apostle tell us that he opposeth and exalteth himself above God?

Romanists insist that Peter was the first Pope, We wonder what Cardinals elected him? We recall that when he came into the presence of Cornelius (Acts X) the Centurion knelt before him, but Peter's Pontifical lordship had not been fully developed, accordingly, "He took him by the nand saying, Stand up ; I myself also am a man." This glorious apostle was an humble follower of Jesus Christ, the lowly Man of God. These blasphemers, these lordly man-gods are glad to have cardinals, and others humble themselves before them. No wonder the apostle Paul labels them jointly as the continuous head of the 'hell-born hierarchy, "That Wicked."

On the lonely isle of Patmos, the beloved John found himself in the radiant presence of a Celestial Visitor. Before such majesty and greatness, we are not surprised to hear the good m ^ a say, "When I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the teet of the angel" (Rev. 22: 8). l>ut this angel was no Pope. Fear him say to the kneeling apostle, "See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them that keep the sayings of this book, Worship God." If the Pope had the spirit of this divine and glorious angel and of those who "keep the sayings of this book," he would say to his kneeling dupes, "See thou do it not; Worship God." But this, the Pope never does. His blasphemous pride feasts and fattens on the duplicity and sin of his craven followers.

Reader, have you considered the etiquette of the Vatican ? Should you go to Rome and be accorded an introduction to the Pontiff, you would at the hour set, arrive at the door and be brought into his presence by servants, whose duty it is to do so. Approaching him, you would kneel, rise, move forward, kneel again, again rise and go forward till you came into his very presence. He does not rise to receive you, as one man should receive another, but remains seated upon his throne ; you kneel at his feet, lift his hand to your lips, and thus acknowledge in this debasing, obsequious manner, your lack of manhood and his claim to deity. What blasphemy on his part; what truckling on yours! How can a self-respecting man thus debase himself and encourage the blasphemous pretensions of another? It is wicked, foolish, degrading. Any one who does it is ever afterward less a man for having done so. I would be ashamed to look an honest dog in the face if I so far debased my manhood as to do it.

Chapter III. A King's Dream

Dan. 2.

In the book of Daniel, we find a record of two dreams or visions. The first was given to Nebuchadnezzar in the night, but it faded from his memory. He was unable to reproduce it, and having called upon the wise men of Babylon to give him the substance of 'his dream and its interpretation, he was greatly angered because of their inability to do so. Daniel, with other devout men, his 'brethren, joining in prayer, obtained by revelation the dream and its meaning. In this dream Nebuchadnezzar saw an image of a mighty man. Its head was of gold, followed on a descending scale, by arms and breast of silver, belly and sides (margin) of brass, legs of iron, and feet and toes of iron and clay mixed.

By way of interpreting it, the prophet informed the king, "Thou art this head of gold. After thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass which shall bear rule over all the earth. The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron/' which, he says, "breaketh in pieces and sufodueth all things.' ' The prophetic explanation of the feet and toes shows a divided condition in human governments, they at the end period containing elements of strength, mingled with weakness.

Finally, the stone cut out of the mountain without hands Semites the image, "upon his feet, that were of iron and clay; he brake them to pieces and then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away. * * * And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." (Daniel 2).

By way of further exposition the prophet informs us that the image pictures the kingdoms of the world in the course of earthly empire.

Nebuchadnezzar represents the Babylonian Empire. This head of gold, is the kingdom that was superseded 'by the Medo-Persian. This in turn was followed by the Macedonian, represented by the force and triumphs of Alexander the Great, who conquered all the known nations of the earth and was himself destroyed by the Demon Rum at the early age of thirty-three.

Next, we have the Roman Empire which was the mightiest of the world dominions. It was in its glory in the days of Jesus. Later, this mighty kingdom began to split up, resolving itself into a double J headed empire. The Eastern capital was at Constantinople and the Western at Rome. The dominion of the Romans was finally overthrown by the barbarians, and out of the one world-wide empire came some ten kingdoms.