assumption that lorded it over kings and princes , and claimed the prerogatives of God . Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human liberty and slew the saints of the Most High .
The papacy is just what prophecy declared that she would be , the apostasy of the latter times . 2 Thessalonians 2:3 , 4 . It is a part of her policy to assume the character which will best accomplish her purpose ; but beneath the variable appearance of the chameleon she conceals the invariable venom of the serpent . " Faith ought not to be kept with heretics , nor persons suspected of heresy " ( L ’ Enfant , volume 1 , page 516 ), she declares . Shall this power , whose record for a thousand years is written in the blood of the saints , be now acknowledged as a part of the church of Christ ? It is not without reason that the claim has been put forth in Protestant countries that Catholicism differs less widely from Protestantism than in former times . There has been a change ; but the change is not in the papacy . Catholicism indeed resembles much of the Protestantism that now exists , because Protestantism has so greatly degenerated since the days of the Reformers .
As the Protestants churches have been seeking the favour of the world , false charity has blinded their eyes . They do not see but that it is right to believe good of all evil , and as the inevitable result they will finally believe evil of all good . Instead of standing in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints , they are now , as it were , apologizing to Rome for their uncharitable opinion of her , begging pardon for their bigotry . A large class , even of those who look upon Romanism with no favour , apprehend little danger from her power and influence .
Many urge that the intellectual and moral darkness prevailing during the Middle Ages favoured the spread of her dogmas , superstitions , and oppression , and that the greater intelligence of modern times , the general diffusion of knowledge , and the increasing liberality in matters of religion forbid a revival of intolerance and tyranny . The very thought that such a state of things will exist in this enlightened age is ridiculed . It is true that great light , intellectual , moral , and religious , is shining upon this generation . In the open pages of God ' s Holy Word , light from heaven has been shed upon the world . But it should be remembered that the greater the light bestowed , the greater the darkness of those who pervert and reject it .
A prayerful study of the Bible would show Protestants the real character of the papacy and would cause them to abhor and to shun it ; but many are so wise in their own conceit that they feel no need of humbly seeking God that they may be led into the truth . Although priding themselves on their enlightenment , they are ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power of God . They must have some means of quieting their consciences , and they seek that which is least spiritual and humiliating . What they desire is a method of forgetting God which shall pass as a method of remembering Him . The papacy is well adapted to meet the wants of all these . It is prepared for two
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