Lectures on Romanism...

Contents

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Introduction

Every one who has studied the Holy Scriptures, is familiar with the remarkable prediction therein recorded, of the rise and reign of a certain mighty power ; the greatest and most deadly enemy to the church of God, and the liberties of mankind. By Daniel, from the lofty mount of inspiration, his approach was first descried. He is introduced to him, in vision, as '■'■ the little horn;'''' and his rise is fixed in general terms as posterior to certain great political events. This " horn," or power, " diverse from the first," we cannot discover in any Pagan or Moslem nation. Indeed, the attempt to discover it there, instead of a Christian country, would be a positive violation of the truth of the divine prediction. The " little horn" sprung up after the rise of the fourth great beast of Daniel, which is admitted by every sound writer, to be the Roman empire. That was the power which " letteth, and did let, until it was taken out of the way," of the little horn. Hence it sprung up after the fall of the Roman pagan empire. For it sprung up after the rise of the " ten horns." But there were no ten horns, or ten distinct kingdoms in Europe previous to the fall of the pagan empire of Rome. Hence this new and *' diverse horn," rose in no Pagan or Moslem country. It sprung up in Christian Europe.

Besides, it is described by the spirit of inspiration as an apostacy, or "a falling away" from the Christian faith. 2 Thess. ii. 3. 1 Tim. iv. 1. This can be applied to no Pagan or Mohammedan power. These never were in the church of God. In no sense, therefore, can they be called an apostacy from the Christian faith. Thus we get rid of the argument of the Romish doctors who refer this prediction to the persecuting power of Rome Pagan. There is another identifying circumstance. The " little horn" plucked

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up three of the other horns by the roots : or, in the words of the angel, " he subdued three of the other kings." History points out no other power in Europe " diverse from the first power" which has done this, than that one which seized upon 1st, the consular power of Rome, which was equal to a "horn of royalty;" and 2d, plucked up the royal power of Lombardy, and took possession of it ; and 3d, attained by characteristic enormities, the exarchate, or royal power of Ravenna. And that power now wears the triple crown ; one for each of these royalties. And that is the head of the Roman church, — the Pope of Rome!

This power is identified also with that which St. Paul calls ,"The Man of Sin." 2 Thess. ii. 3. In this character he fulfils the prophecy of Daniel. "He speaketh great words against the Most High; and thinks to change times and laws :" and also of St. John, — "a mouth was given to him speaking great things and blasphemies." What " apostate" power has done this? Every papal bull, thundering from the Vatican, proclaims his name and characters!

As THE Man of Sin, he makes merchandise of " the souls of men." Rev. xviii. 13. He deals in sin; he traffics in sin at the confessional. By his seven sacraments, the Man OF Sin barters away his ghostly wares to men for money, in granting indulgences, dispensations, and "judicial pardon of sins" by his priests, — tenentes locum Christie — holding the throne and power of Christ/ There is a book entitled ♦' Taxe Sacre Penitentiarie ;" a copy of it now lies be* fore me. Herein crimes are registered ; and a regulated tariff price of each is set down to guide the ghostly tax gatherer in his charges for the sins of the soul.* And from every circumstance it must be manifest to all, that the revenues collected by the Man of Sin will thrive and swell to excess, just in proportion as vices and crimes increase among his subjects. For the greater the sin, the greater

* See Mendham's Life of Pope Pius Y. p. 267. An original copy of the Roman Catholic edition of tlie "Taxe," printed by the authority of Pope Leo X. is in possession of Mr. Mendham. This book we must carefully distinguish from the Pope's " Chancery Book.-' Dr. Milner and Dr. England attempted to bewilder their opponents by confounding" them; in order to escape from the overwhelming- fact of the existence of the Taxe Sacre Penilentiarie, and its disg-usting contents.

the price of absolution ! Could there be a more appropriate title for the head of this immoral and lawless power than this, given by the Spirit of God, The Man of Sin ?

There is another prominent feature which will help us to identify the Man of Sin with " the Horn" of Daniel. He seats himself on his throne "as God, in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

This prediction is fulfilled to the letter in that court, and in that alone, in which one is seated on his throne as the supreme king and head of the church ; and receives the spiritual honours of his subjects as they bow down on their knees and kiss his feet, while they give him this salutation of divine honours, '' Noster Dominus Deus, papa/ The Lord our God the Pope T This prediction is fulfilled in him alone, whom Mussus, the Bishop of Bitonto called in public, " Him who is to us as our God 1" It is fulfilled to the letter in Pope Innocent III., who openly declared to the world, that » the Pope holds the place of God." " Papa locum tenet Dei in terris." See Pithon, Corpus Juris, Paris edit, of 1687, p. 29, and Cibert. Corpus, Tom. ii. p. 9. It is fulfilled in Pope Julius II. who, in the fourth session of the Council of the Lateran in 1512, received this homage from C. Marcellus, assented to by the other fathers, "Tuenim pastor, &c. Thou art the shepherd, thou the physician ; thou the ruler ; in fine, thou art another God in the earth ; tu denique alter Deus in terris.'" See Labbei, et Cossartii, Sacra Concilia, Tom XIV. p. 109, Paris edit. 1672. It is fulfilled in the Roman head, who, arrogating to himself the power of" changing laws and times," has added twelve new articles to the creed of the apostles ;* and five new sacraments to the two ordained by Christ ; and has " changed the law" of God by virtually'abolishing the second precept, and excluding it from his Latin Catechisms, and by rejecting the essential doctrines of the gospel. One of his breviaries, lying before me, sanctioned by two Popes, has excluded the second commandment entirely. It is accomplished in that great apostacy, which decreed in the Council of Trent, (session 14, canon 9,) that " if any one shall say that the sacramental absolutions of the priest is not a judicial acty

* See Pope Pius's Creed; and Cramp's Text Book of Popery, pp. 450, 451.

but merely a naked ministry of pronouncing and declaring that sins are remitted to the person confessing, provided only that he believes, &c. let him be cursed ! !" This is fully accomplished in that apostacy from the faith, taught by St. Paul, which " gives heed to the doctrines of devils," by exalting demons, or departed souls, or saints to the rank of gods, and causing his subjects to worship them under the pain of death ; and which " forbids marriage" to his priests and bishops ; and as a god over the bodies of men, forbids the use of meats on certain days ! See 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2, 3.

We identify with this power also the second beast seen in vision by St. John, in Rev. xiii. 11 — 18. It rose in the same place, and in the stead of the first beast of St. John, (chap. xiii. I,) which was Rome pagan. "It had power to give life to the image of the first beast." The papal power has actually put forth this power, and has given life to paganism by raising it up and placing it in its temple as Ch?'istianityf For the entire systenn of popery is tagan- ISM baptized and perpetuated. From the pagan emperor has the Pope borrowed his title of " Pontifex Maximus, chief priest." The pots of holy water, the altars, the priestly offices, an,d their motly dresses; the pots of incense, and the office of boys in the surplice; wax candles lighted up at noon-day ; the round cakes or wafers of the mass ; images ; canonized saints; are all of them borrowed exclusively from the temples and worship of the Roman heathen ! " All the world was to wonder after the beast" thus revived. The Pop'^'s claims to catholicity and universal power over all churcues and kingdoms, fulfils this to the letter. He was " to cause all men to receive a mark in their foreheads and in their hands." The Pope's priests put a literal mark on the forehead and hands of his slaves with holy water and ashes. It was foretold of him that he would permit none of his subjects to buy, or sell, or traffic in any way with those who had not this mark. This mode of nersecution the cfreat Apostacy borrowed from the heathens. Pope Alexander III. forbade all traffic with the Waldenses. The Council of Constance abrogated all contracts made with " heretics ;" and forbade all conimerce between Papists and Christians. The number of the name of this beast was to be 666 ; that is, a name set down in letters of the alphabet instead of Arabic figures, which should contain the number 666, would show who that beast should be. Take we the letters of the Greek word Lateinos, arrange them in a column, place opposite them the number of each from a Greek Grammar, they make exactly 666 ! and Lateinos is the Greek word for Latin church ; or the Latin man ! In like manner, RoMiiTH contains that number exactly ; and that is the Hebrew name for Roman church !

" The woman seated on the scarlet-coloured beast," seen by the holy apostle, in Rev. xvii. is also identified with this power. She occupies the same seven hills. She is borne along by "the beast" whom she rules and directs; and which, clothed in the appropriate robe of vengeance — scarlet, she employs in shedding the blood of the saints. " In Roman Catholic Europe," says Dr. Jortin, " the Pope was judge, and kings were his hangmen !" Each of the " ten" kingdoms of Europe has given its power to the woman on the seven hills. The papal power has declared all civil power and governments inferior to his spiritual power. Taberna. vol. ii. p. 288, teaches that " a priest cannot be forced to give testimony before a secular judge." Emanuel Sa, in his Aphor. p. 41, taught that " the rebellion of priests is not treason, for they are not subject to the civil governments.^^ And this is literally carried out in all the countries of Europe and South America which are subjugated by popery. Bellarmine, who may be styled the prince of Romish writers, declares in his Controv. lib. v. cap. 6, p. 1090, that " the spiritual power must rule the temporal by ^\[ means and expedients when necessary." But by fa^ ihe most sublime claim is put forth by Stanislaus Ozichorius, in his book, the Chimcej'a, folio 99. It is this : " A common priest is as much better than a king, as a man is superior to a beast : nay, as much as God Almighty excels a priest, so much does a priest excel a supreme magistrate." See Demoulin's Papal Usurpations, p. 19 ; Morn. Exer. on Popery, p. 67. St. Thomas Aquinas declares, in his OpuGC. Contra Grcecos, that " it is essential to a man's salvation to be subject to the Pope's power." And the same saint gives utterance to the true doctrines of Rome in his book l)e Regim. Princip. Lib. iii. cap. 10 and 19, thus: "The Pope, as supreme king of all the world, may impose taxes on all Christians ; and destroy towns and castles for the preservation of Christianity ;" he means to say Romanism. See Barrow oa the Pope's Supremacy, N. York edition, pp. 16, 20.

g INTRODUCTION.

This " woman" of the Apocalypse was seen in vision, as "clothed in purple, and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones," &c. Whoever has seen the Pope's court, or an inquisitorial, or festival procession, or an assembly of the bishops, vicars, and priests, even among ourselves, in their theatrical dresses, can perceive at a glance, who are figuratively intended by this " woman." She is, moreover, " the mother of harlots," and every nameless "abomination." Rev. xvii. 5. Be this taken in a spiritual or a literal sense, all nations unite in pointing to Rome as the power distinctly marked out here by the finger of prophecy. In spiritual idolatry, and in literal idolatry, and in the leprosy of pollution, the Roman priesthood and laymen, friars, monks, and nuns, stand forth pre-eminent among the guiltiest nations under heaven I Rome stands forth without even the aid of a mask, as " the Mother of Harlots !" The mouth of the Lord had declared it ; and impartial history demonstrates the truth of the vision of John !

And to close the appalling prediction, the apostle saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints ; and wiih the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Rev. xvii. 6. The history of the Roman court and church is written in letters of fire and blood ! For several centuries, she has originated the most of the wars in Europe. The number of the victims of her assassination, of her massacres, and the " infernal inquisition," have never been fully ascertained. Pains have indeed been taken by historians to discover the true amount. But the deaths of myriads have never reached the ear of the historian. Our calculation does, therefore, rather fall short than transgress the bounds of exact truth. These details fill us with horror ! Papal Rome has been " drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus," besides the blood of millions of others of our fellow-men. Rome has been " drunk with the blood" of fifty millions of martyred Culdees, Waldenses, Albigenses, Bohemian Brethren, Wicklifites, and Protestants ! Rome has been " drunk with the blood" of fifteen millions of Indians, butchered in cold blood in Cuba, Mexico, and South America! Rome has been " drunk with the blood" of three millions and a half of Jews, and Moors in Spain ! I Thus " the Mother of Harlots," seated on the scarlet-coloured beast, is drunk with the blood

of SIXTY-EIGnX MILLIONS AND FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND

INTRODUCTION. J

HUMAN BEINGS ! ! No wonder is it that the holy apostle John beholding, in vision, the horrid carnage of this sanguinary power, "did wonder with great admiration." Had it been Rome pagan seen in vision by him, or any other barbarian power, he would not have wondered. But who would not have been overwhelmed with astonishment to have seen, in vision, a church, boasting itself the only Christian church, thus " drunk with the blood" of so many millions of men, women, and children!

And while the sanguinary church of Rome was — to use the words ofDaniel — thus *' wearing out the saints of the Most High God," she was, at the same time, giving a fresh and painful evidence of her identity with the " horn" of Daniel, and the great " beast" of St. John. To the head of the papal church " was given a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies against the Most High." Daniel vii. 25. Rev. xiii. 6. By his legislators in the Council of Trent, the Pope has solemnly pronounced the Holy Bible to be a prohibited BOOK V^ Thus the Antichrist puts himself between God and his subjects; and ventures to declare in the face of the Almiahty, and in the ears of all men, that he will not allow man to hear God's word as it comes from him : that he will 7int allow our Lord to speak to us through any other medium than his priests ; and only in a garbled and corrupted version of the Bible, if it mvst be allowed at all ! He creates what he caUs a Hiring teacher, and a living judge. He puts himself and his priests, with his traditions, bulls and canons, in the stead of God's holy word, and his ordinances, and his true gospel ministry ; the Pope claims to be that living teacher and judge///

Moreover, the prophet says that " he opens his mouth in blasphemies against the Most High." He does not even hesitate to declare it as an article of doctrine, that Mary was immaculate ; that is, born without sin ; that she is " the Mother of God ;^'' and that her mother, St. Anna, was, of course, the grandmother of God //I By the mouth of his

* Cvitn experimento manifestam est, 8cc. It is manifest from experience that if the sacred Bible, translated into the vulvar ton,^ue, be indiscriminately allowed to each one, more mischief than g-ood will arise from it, by the temerity of man, &c. De Lib. Prohit. Regula. iv.

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servant, called St. Liguori, he has put forth as solemn trutha of Rome, the following unparalleled doctrines and forms of devotion.* And here let me say, that I quote him in this place for three reasons : St. Liguori is the last saint that has been canonized ; this having taken place in 1831, or 1832 ; besides, the book is little known among us; and lastly, it proves that the doctrines and enormous idolatry of Rome at this day are precisely, in all points, what they were in the Dark Ages.

The Pope, by his sainted servant Liguori, has taught that " as God the Father so loved us, that he gave his only begotten Son for us, — so may we express the love of Mary. Yes, says St. Bonaventure, Mary has so loved us, that she gave us her only son." Chap. i. Sect. 3. Again : " The king of heaven has given us his mother for our mother; and in her hands he has, if we may say so, resigned his onmipotence in the sphere of grace!" Chap. iii. Sect. 1. Again: "The Lord, O Mary, says St. Anselm, has so exalted you, that his favour has rendered you omnipotent! Yes, says Richard of St. Lawrence, Mary is omnipotent! For, according to all laws, the qveen enjoys the same privileges as the king; and that power may be equal between the son and the mother, Jesus has rendered Mary omnipotent, — the one is so by nature, the other by grace !" Chap, vi. Sect. 1. Again: "The Virgin Mary was assumed up into heaven (bodily) to intercede confidently for us. Hence she is the arbiter of our lot. As an arbiter decides between two parties, thus Jesus permits his mother to decide between him and vs" Chap. vi. Sect. 3. Again : " O how many sinners would have persevered in their wickedness, and thence had been damned eternally, but for Mary^s intercession!'*^ Once more : " We can say of the saints, that God was with them ; but to Mary it is given not only to conform herself to the will of God; but that God liimself has been conformed to her will. And while we say that virgins follow the Lamb ; we can say of Mary on earth, that the Lamb followed her." Chap. vi. Sect. 1. "Who could know God except by you, O holy virgin, says St. Germa-

* St. Liguori*s Book. The Glories of Mary, the Mother of God, translated from the Italian, and revised by a Roman priest. Dubhn: printed by John Coyne, 1833.

nus ; who could be saved, O all powerful Virgin, except by your intercession !" Chap. v. Sect. 2. " Holy Virgin, I shall no longer apprehend my sins since you can repair them, nor the devils since you are more powerful than hell ; nor your son (Jesus) when justly irritated, since one word from you will appease him/" Chap. ii. Sect. 2. " O my sovereign Mary, says St. Francis of Sales, be my advocate with your son ; I dare not recur to him." " When Christ said on the cross, ' Behold thy mother,' this means, no one shall be made partaker of the merits of my blood but by the intercession of my mother. My wounds are fountains of grace; but Mary is the canal through which they flow,"&c. " To this question of David, ' Who, O Lord, shall stand in thy holy place?' St. Bonaventure replies, he will stand in thy holy place who devotes himself to Mary! If she wills our salvation, it is already secured." " By you, O Mary, says St. Bernard, heaven has been opened ; hell has given up its prey ; the celestial city has been peopled ; and eternal life given to those who deserve hell." Chap. viii. Sect. 3.

This is a specimen of" the great things and blasphemies, uttered by the mouth of this antichristian power. And, to crown the whole, this new-made saint adds : " All power, O Mary, is given to you in heaven, and on earth." " All are subject to Mary's empire, even God himself, — imperio Virginis omnia famulantvr, etiam Deus ! ! /" — (Chap. vi. Sect. 1, p. 131.) And if there be "a lower deep, in this lowest deep," we find it in the following unique effusion of St. Bonaventure; "O Felix puerpera, nostra plans scelera, jure matris impera Redemptori I" "O holy Mother of God, atoning for our crimes, exercising the rights of a mother, lay thy commands imperatively on the Redeemer; impera Redemptori." Again: "Jure matris impera dilectissimo tuo filio Domino nostro Jesu Christo." " Command thy beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!!!"*

And I add, these superlative specimens of blasphemies have been sanctioned by the present Pope, Gregory XVI. In his "Encyclical Letter," or bull, issued in 1832, he says, in the close, " Now, that all these events may come to pass

* St. Bonavent. Cor. B. M. Virg. Tom. vi. Morn. Exercises on Popery, p. 523. 1 happily, and successfully, let us lift up our eyes, and our hands to the most holy Virgin Mary, who alone has destroyed all heresies, and is our greatest confidence^ even the whole foundation of our hope ! ! P''

Such are the predictions of the rise and establishment of the great and fierce power which was to wage war against Messiah, and the liberties and lives of mankind. And such has been the fulfilment of them, even to the letter, in the rise and establishment of the Roman Catholic Church. But our blessed Lord comforted his church with the assurance that the ghostly and temporal reign of this sanguinary and idolatrous power is limited to " time, times, and the dividing of a time,''^ that is, three and a half prophetical years; or, in the words of St. John, forty -two months. And multiplying 42 by 30, the number of days assigned by the ancients to each month, we discover its correspondence with the other form of expressions by St. John, namely, 1260 days. And opening this mystery by the key given to us by the Lord to the prophet, Ezekiel iv. 6, namely, " I appoint thee each day for a year," we arrive at the true time of the enemy's duration, namely, 1260 years. Now, our Divine Master has pronounced his blessing on those who read and understand. Hence, while we search into this, it is delightful to derive courage and consolation from the assurance of the approaching downfall of this Man of Sin. From the year 260 or 270, down to the close of the reign of Constantino, the great Antichrist was born and cradled. Certain rites and superstitions, which were derived from paganism, and peculiar to popery, were introduced into the Christian world, by several individuals. Add the 1260 years to these respective dates, and we arrive at the times of the glorious Reformation ; when the Man of Sin received what may be called his first death-blow. But the year 606 is the date of the consummation of the Pope's spiritual power. He was then made universal bishqp, or Pope. These two numbers being added, brings us to the year 1866 ; when we expect a glorious deliverance from his spiritual tyranny. And, finally, the Pope became, in prophetic language, " the Beast," in 756, when he gained the triple crown, and became a temporal and ghostly power. Adding these two numbers, we arrive at the year 2016, when he will be ut-

INTRODUCTION.

terly destroyed in the light and glory of the ushered in Millenial day !

It is generally understood, I believe, by all judicious commentators, that this fierce and sanguinary power will put forth its desperate, persevering, and last struggle, for some time preceding its final overthrow. I am inclined to believe that our readers will admit that we are now living in that very period. The struggle is simultaneous on the continent of Europe, and especially in Britain, Ireland, and the United States. The reckless desperadoes of the Jesuit sect, revived by Pope Pius VIL, in 1814, are now enacting in Europe, and in our republic, the very scenes which formerly convulsed every nation in Europe. The present struggle is a desperate one. We are in the midst of it, and it is high time that each one of us should, like our brother Berg, buckle on our armour, in good earnest. This anomalous and persecuting power is pouring in upon our republic its colonies, and invading armies. It must be obvious to every intelligent person, who examines it carefully, that it is not, strictly speaking, a Christian church, or, a religious system, derived from the Holy Bible ; if it were, we should not apprehend danger from it, to our free institutions, and our holy religion. We apprehend no danger whatever from any one of all the various denominations of the Christian world. The spirit and pursuits of all these are essentially different from those of the Roman Catholic sect. It is a great POLiTiCALengine,cunningly contrived, and put together by the genius of the mere men of the world, and men of pleasure ; for the purpose of obtaining power and dominion over men. Hence it is admirably adapted to abstract the wealth of communities, and nations, and turn it into its own treasuries. Two results follow the steady and continued operation of this political religion. On the one hand, the lay population of the nation under it, waxes poorer and poorer ; and that " church" waxes richer and richer. It cost Spain fifty m.illions, annually, to support this ghostly and tyrannical power; which sat as an incubus on her. The old Mortmain law of England was enacted for the express purpose of pj*eventing the Pope's tax-gatherers, the Roman priests, from gaining to " the church" the whole landed property of England !

On the other hand, wherever Romanism gains the ascendency, pure religion, and sound morals, wither and die under its blighting doctrines, rites, and priesthood. Were it a true Christian church, the diffusion of its spirit and influence, would make man happy, industrious, steady, temperate, and thence above want. The true church of God has, usually, been poor. The world's church — the Pope's church — is rich. Were Rome a Christian church, it would revive, and sustain Christianity, sound doctrine, genuine godliness, and pure morals. But, no, it is merely a great political engine, moved and propelled by men of the world, who feel it necessary, for profitable ends, to wear the mask of religion. The great leading sects of Romanism are waked up. The Jesuits take the lead. They are all in full operation, in our republic, and in Europe. Those emissaries of Rome, the successors of those who have convulsed every nation in Christendom, and shed the blood of the saints in torrents, are all now labouring in the one only thing in which they can all agree; namely, to undermine, and ultimately, destroy, the Protestant religion ; and Protestant liberty, and, with these, our republican institutions.

We implore the candid, and very earnest attention of every liberal-minded man, who abhors every thing like "a persecuting religion" to this subject. This denomination of political religionists are absolute exclusives in the hopes of salvation. No man under heaven is right but themselves! All except themselves are hopeless reprobates 1 It is a boldly avowed dogma of Romanism, that not one s&ul can he saved out of the pale of their sect ! This is not an unjust imputation. Pope Pius's creed thus closes, after an enumeration of the novel doctrines, idolatrous rites, and marvellously superstitious ceremonies of the Romish church : " This is the true Catholic faith ; out 6f which no one can be saved,' extra quam nemo salvus esse potest." Hence no charity can be cultivated by the genuine Romanist. In proportion as he rigorously clings to his faith, he hates all his dissenting fellow men, with a zeal proportioned to the strength of his faith in his church. Hence his unsubdued bigotry. He reasons not. There is no use in his hearing reasons. His church is infallible. She cannot err; she never has erred. All, of course, who differ from her, are ^ in MORTAL sin! Hence a thorough bred Romanist, under the zealous training of his priest, looks on the Protestant, just as