Religious Icons—Their Ancient Roots

In the beginning of the eighth century, in the full magnitude of the abuse, many of the Greeks were awakened to the conviction, that under the name of christianity they had restored the idolatry of their fathers; and they heard, with grief and impatience, from Mohammedans and Jews the incessant charge of worshipping daemonials images, which were incapable of defending themselves, much less the cities which superstition had placed under their protection. In ten years, the Saracens had subdued all the daemonially protected cities of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, by which conquest, in their opinion, the Lord of hosts had pronounced a decisive judgment between the adoration and contempt of their mute and inanimate idols. In this season of distress and dismay, when the worshippers sought death, but found it not; and desired to die, and the death fled from them (ix. 6) the eloquence of the monks was exercised in the defence of images. "But," says the historian, "they were now opposed by the murmurs of many simple or rational christians, who appealed to the evidence of texts, and of the primitive times, and secretly desired the reformation of the church."

This reformation was attempted by Leo III, surnamed Iconoclast, who ascended the throne of the Eastern Third, A.D. 726. After ten years, he proscribed the existence, as well as the use of religious pictures; the church-bazaars of Constantinople were cleansed from idolatry; the images of Christ, "the Virgin, and the saints," were demolished, or a smooth surface of plaster was spread over the walls of the edifice. For these things, Leo the Isaurian, and his party, were styled Iconoclasts, or Image breakers; by whom under six emperors, the East and West were involved in a noisy conflict of one hundred and twenty years. They held a synod in Constantinople, A.D. 754, which, after a session of six months, decreed, that all visible symbols of Christ, except in the eucharist, were either blasphemous or heretical; that image-worship was a corruption of christianity and a renewal of paganism; that all such monuments of idolatry should be broken or erased; and that those who should refuse to deliver the objects of their private superstition were guilty of disobedience to the authority of the church and of the emperor.

The patient east abjured, with reluctance, her sacred images; while they were fondly cherished, and vigorously defended, by the Italians. Their popes were the chief advocates of "the daemonials and idols." It is agreed, that in the eighth century, their dominion was founded on rebellion, and that the rebellion was produced and justified by the heresy of the Iconoclasts. In the epistle of Pope Gregory II to the Emperor Leo, A.D. 727, he says: "You now accuse the catholics of idolatry; and by the accusation you betray your own impiety and ignorance. To this ignorance we are compelled to adapt the grossness of our style and arguments: the first elements of holy letters are sufficient for your confusion; and were you to enter a grammar school, and avow yourself the enemy of our worship, the simple and pious children would be provoked to cast their horn books at your head." After this very episcopal salutation, he maintains a distinction between the idols of antiquity and the catholic images. The former were the fanciful representations of phantoms or daemons; while the latter are the genuine forms of Christ, his mother, and his saints, who have approved by a crowd of miracles the innocence and merit of this relative worship; and falsely asserts the perpetual use of images from the apostolic age. Then addressing Leo, he continues: "You assault us, O Tyrant! with a carnal and military hand; unarmed and naked, we can only implore the Christ, the prince of the heavenly host, that he will send unto you a devil, for the destruction of your body and the salvation of your soul. You declare with foolish arrogance, I will despatch my orders to Rome, I will break in pieces the image of St. Peter; and Gregory, like his predecessor Martin, shall be transported in chains, and in exile, to the foot of the imperial throne. Incapable as you are of defending your Roman subjects, the maritime situation of the city may perhaps expose it to your depreciations; but we can remove to the distance of four and twenty stadia, to the first fortress of the Lombards, and then -- you may pursue the winds. Are you ignorant that the popes are the bond of union, the mediators of peace (daimones daemons, in the sense of ch. xviii. 2), between the east and west? The eyes of the nations are fixed on our humility ("pride that apes humility"); and they revere, as a God upon earth, the apostle Saint Peter, whose image you threaten to destroy. The barbarians have submitted to the yoke of the gospel, while you alone are deaf to the voice of the shepherd. These pious barbarians are kindled into rage: they thirst to avenge the persecution of the east. Abandon your rash and fatal enterprise; reflect, tremble, and repent. If you persist, we are innocent of the blood that will be spilt in the contest; may it fall on your own head."

When Leo’s proscriptive edict arrived in Italy, the catholics trembled for their domestic deities; the images of Christ and the Virgin, of the angels, martyrs, and saints, were abolished in all the church-bazaars of the country; and a strong alternative was proposed to the pope, the imperial favor of the Dragon Chief as the price of compliance, or degradation and exile as the penalty of disobedience. Gregory refused to submit, and gave the signal of revolt. The Italians swore to live and die in the defence of the pope, and the holy images. They destroyed the statues of Leo, withheld the tribute of Italy, and put to an ignominious death the officials who undertook to enforce his decree. To punish these flagitious deeds, and to restore the dominion of the Dragon in Italy, Leo sent a fleet and army into the Adriatic gulf. In a hard fought day, the invaders were defeated, and the worship of images vindicated in a baptism of blood. Amidst the triumph of the idolators, their Chief Pontiff, with the consent of a synod hastily convened, pronounced a general excommunication against all who by word or deed should attack the traditions of the fathers and the images of the saints. They spared, however, the relics of the Byzantine dominion. They delayed and prevented the election of a new emperor, and exhorted the Italians not to separate from the body of the Roman monarchy: and till the imperial coronation of Charlemagne, A.D. 799, the government of Rome and Italy was administered in the name of the successors of Constantine.

While the popes established in Italy their freedom and dominion, the images, the first cause of their revolt, were restored in the eastern empire. The tree of superstition had been hewn down, but the stump was still enrooted in the soil. The idols were secretly cherished by the monks and women, whose fond alliance obtained a final victory over the reason and authority of man. The ambitious empress Irene, A.D. 780, undertook the ruin of the Iconoclasts. In her restoration of the monks, a thousand images were exposed to the public veneration; and a thousand lying legends invented of their sufferings and miracles. The seventh general council was convened at Nice, A.D. 787. The legates of the Roman God, and the eastern patriarch, sat in the synod of three hundred and fifty bishops, who unanimously decreed, that the worship of images is agreeable to scripture and reason, to the fathers and council of the church. The acts of this council are still extant; a curious monument of superstition and ignorance, of falsehood and folly. The comparative merit of image worship and morality in the judgment of these bishops, is illustrated by the following anecdote. A monk had concluded a truce with the daemon of fornication on condition of interrupting his daily prayers to a picture that hung in his cell. His scruples prompted him to consult the Abbot. "Rather than abstain from adoring Christ and his Mother in their holy images, it would be better for you," said he, "to enter every brothel, and visit every prostitute in the city."

The final victory of "the daemonials and idols" was achieved by a second female, the empress Theodore, who was left guardian of the empire A.D. 842. Her measures were bold and decisive. She ordered the Iconoclast patriarch to be whipped with two hundred lashes. Upon this the bishops trembled, the monks shouted, and idolatry reigned supreme. The churches of France, Germany, England, and Spain, steered a middle course between the adoration and the destruction of the idols, which they admitted into their temples, not as objects of worship, but as lively and useful memorials of faith and history. Among the barbarians of the west the worship of idols advanced with silent and insensible progress, because among them were "nourished the Woman and the Remnant of her seed" (xii. 14-17); but a large atonement is made for their hesitation and delay, by the gross idolatry of the ages which precede the protestant modification of Romanism, and of the countries, both in Europe and America, which are still immersed in the gloom of daemonial superstition.

Thus, having become inveterate idolators "the inhabitants of the earth" were given over to their delusions, and nothing remained but to inflict upon them the sanguinary judgments of the three woes, or fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpets. As I have said, the second woe ended in A.D. 1794; and since then, the third woe has been doing its work upon the daemonialists and image worshippers of the European and American sections of the globe. Its judgments have not yet ceased; for "the rest of the men" have "not changed from the works of their hands, that they should not worship the daemonials and idols;" nor have they of the "religious world" abandoned murder, sorcery, fornication, and theft. Therefore the judgments of the third woe will not cease, until all the catholic, protestant, and sectarian systems of Daemonialism shall be destroyed; and Yahweh be alone exalted as Elohim and King over all the earth in a peaceful and glorious reign of one thousand years (v. 10; xx. 4,6).

Parallel with the ascendancy of the Caliph-Angel of the Abyss, and far transcending the epoch of his loss of temporal power; that is, from A.D. 660 to A.D. 1200, the Woman’s Seed, under the tolerating government of the Arabs, and under the cruelly persecuting rule, both of the image-worshipping and Iconoclastic Greeks, was exceedingly active in opposing the superstition of the catholics of the Eastern Third. We shall have to speak of these more particularly in the exposition of the eleventh chapter; I need therefore only say here, that, while their labors were beneficial to individuals in regard to their eternal salvation, and as a protest against iniquity, it worked no change in the public conscience. The one hundred and thirty years that intervened between the Caliph-Angel’s loss of temporal power, and the loosing of the first of the four angel-powers from its Euphratean boundary, were a period of supine superstition. Indeed, not only for this period, but "from the beginning of the eighth century," says Gibbon, "to the last ages of the Byzantine empire, the sound of controversy was seldom heard; curiosity was exhausted, zeal was fatigued, and in the decrees of six councils, the articles of the catholic faith had been irrevocably defined; and the prostrate Greeks were content to fast, to pray, and to believe, in blind obedience to the patriarch and his clergy. During a long dream of superstition, the Virgin and the Saints, their visions and miracles, their relics and images, were preached by the monks and worshipped by the people, including the first ranks of civil society." The Iconoclasts somewhat rudely disturbed this dream; but the Eastern World embraced or deplored its visible deities, and the restoration of images was celebrated as the feast of orthodoxy. In this passive and unanimous state, the ecclesiastical rulers were relieved from the toil, or deprived of the pleasure of persecution. The old pagans had been superseded by the new; the Jews were silent and obscure; the disputes with the Latins were rare and remote hostilities; and the sects of Egypt and Syria enjoyed a free toleration under the shadow of the Arabian Caliphs. One enemy alone remained to disturb their spiritual slumbers; and these were the Altar-Worshippers of the apocalypse, whom they selected as the victims of diabolical tyranny: "the earth" that "helped" them (xii. 16) was at length exasperated to rebellion; and the exile into which they were driven, scattered over the west fresh seeds of antagonism to the Papal Power, styled "the Beast and his Image" (ch. xiii).

What, then, could be done with such an incorrigible generation of daemonial and idol-worshippers, but to prepare powers, which when loosed against them, should proclaim idolatry a sin punishable with slavery or death? This was the course of the Eternal Spirit, as revealed in the vision of the second woe. The Euphratean Powers were prepared powers -- powers prepared for a special mission, and therefore "angels" or messengers; and messengers are so called, because they are sent to perform, or execute missions. The mission of these Euphrateans was to make war upon idolatry with sword and gun, until the dominion of the Eastern Dragonic Third should be transferred to the Conqueror; and so, in relation to the daemonial and idol-worshipping community, to all intents and purposes, "killed." In the order, then, of things presented to our hand, I shall proceed to relate the [1. Preparation of the First Angel]

Religious Icons—Their Ancient Roots

“Icons are a way of joining us to the goodness and holiness of God and His Saints.”—GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA

ON THIS sultry August day, the sun’s rays beat down on the cement steps that lead up to the monastery of the “Most Holy Mother of God,” on the island of Tínos, in the Aegean Sea. The scorching heat does not dampen the determination of the more than 25,000 devout Greek Orthodox pilgrims who inch along trying to reach the heavily decorated icon of the mother of Jesus.

A young girl, lame, obviously in pain and with a desperate look on her face, crawls on her badly bleeding knees. Not far from her, an exhausted old lady who has traveled from the other end of the country struggles to keep her tired feet going. An eager middle-aged man perspires heavily as he anxiously tries to make his way through the jostling crowd. Their goal is to kiss an icon of Mary and prostrate themselves before it.

These deeply religious people are no doubt sincere in their desire to worship God. How many, though, realize that such devotion to religious icons traces its origins to practices predating Christianity by centuries?

The Prevalence of Icons

In the Orthodox world, icons are everywhere. In church buildings, icons of Jesus, Mary, and many “saints” occupy a central place. Believers often honor these icons with kisses, incense, and burning candles. Additionally, almost all Orthodox homes have their own icon corner, where prayers are uttered. It is not uncommon for Orthodox Christians to say that when they worship an icon, they connect with the divine. Many believe that icons are imbued with divine grace and miraculous powers.

Those believers would likely be surprised to learn that first-century Christians did not favor the use of icons in worship. The book Byzantium states: “The early Christians, inheriting from Judaism a repugnance toward idolatry, had looked askance at any veneration of pictures of holy persons.” The same book observes: “From the Fifth Century on, icons or images . . . became increasingly prevalent in public and private worship.” If not from first-century Christianity, from where did the use of religious icons originate?

Tracing Their Roots

Researcher Vitalij Ivanovich Petrenko wrote: “The use of images and its tradition comes from well before the Christian era and had an ‘ancestry in paganism.’” Many historians agree, saying that the roots of icon worship are found in the religions of ancient Babylon, Egypt, and Greece. In ancient Greece, for example, religious images took the form of statues. These were believed to be invested with divine powers. People thought that some of these images were not made by hands but had fallen from heaven. During special festivals, such cult images were taken in a procession around the city, and sacrifices were offered to them. “The cult image was considered by the pious to be a deity himself, although attempts have been made . . . to distinguish between the deity and his image,” said Petrenko.

How did such ideas and practices seep into Christianity? The same researcher observed that, in the centuries after the death of Christ’s apostles, especially in Egypt, “Christian ideas were confronted by the ‘pagan amalgam’—made out of Egyptian, Greek, Jewish, Oriental and Roman practices and beliefs which were practiced alongside Christian confession.” As a result, “Christian artisans adapted [an interfaith] method and made use of pagan symbols, putting them within a new context, although not purifying them totally from pagan influence.”

Soon icons became the focus of both private and public religious life. In the book The Age of Faith, historian Will Durant describes how this came about, saying: “As the number of worshiped saints multiplied, a need arose for identifying and remembering them; pictures of them and of Mary were produced in great number; and in the case of Christ not only His imagined form but His cross became objects of reverence—even, for simple minds, magic talismans. A natural freedom of fancy among the people turned the holy relics, pictures, and statues into objects of adoration; people prostrated themselves before them, kissed them, burned candles and incense before them, crowned them with flowers, and sought miracles from their occult influence. . . . Fathers and councils of the Church repeatedly explained that the images were not deities, but only reminders thereof; the people did not care to make such distinctions.”

Today, many who use religious icons would similarly argue that images are merely objects of respect—not worship. They might claim that religious paintings are legitimate—even indispensable—aids in worshiping God. Perhaps you feel the same way. But the question is, How does God feel about this? Could it be that veneration of an icon really amounts to worshiping it? Can such practices actually pose hidden dangers?



What Is an Icon?

  Unlike statues widely used in Roman Catholic worship, icons are two-dimensional images of Christ, Mary, “saints,” angels, characters and events of the Bible, or events in the history of the Orthodox Church. Usually, they are painted on portable wooden boards.

  According to the Orthodox Church, “in Icons of the Saints, the pictures do not look like pictures of ordinary flesh and blood.” Also, on icons “perspective is back to front”—the picture does not get narrower as it goes into the distance. Usually “there are no shadows, or ways of showing day and night.” It is also believed that the wood and paint of an icon can “become filled with God’s presence.”

Do ‘Icons Never Become Idols’?

  “Icon” refers to a specific kind of image, namely, religious paintings venerated by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Some are representations of Christ; others represent the Trinity, Mary, “saints,” or angels. Like Roman Catholics, Orthodox theologians justify the veneration of icons as a relative act that passes devotion on to the heavenly one represented. “The icon,” claims Russian theologian, Sergey Bulgakov, “remains only a thing and never becomes an idol or a fetish.”

  At the same time, though, the Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that an icon can bring special benefits to a worshiper who prays in front of it, provided the icon has been “sanctified” by the church. “The rite of the blessing of the icon,” states Bulgakov in his book The Orthodox Church, “establishes a connection between the image and its prototype, between that which is represented and the representation itself. By the blessing of the icon of Christ, a mystical meeting of the faithful and Christ is made possible. It is the same with the icons of the Virgin and the Saints; their icons, one may say, prolong their lives here below.”

  Furthermore, many icons of Mary are believed to possess miraculous powers. “Although she remains in heaven,” asserts Bulgakov, “she still lives with us the life of our world, suffers with its suffering, and weeps with its tears. She intercedes for the world before the throne of God. She reveals herself to the world in her wonder-working icons.”

Does Archaeology Prove that Baptism May Be Administered by Sprinkling?

Does Archaeology Prove that Baptism May Be Administered by Sprinkling?
by Wayne Jackson
Christian Courier: Feature
Wednesday, December 1, 2004
The claim is commonly made that ancient literary documents, supported by
archaeological discoveries, sustain the idea that “sprinkling” was an accepted form
of ancient “baptism.” Examine this issue with us in this month’s Feature article.
Those who practice ritualistic “sprinkling” as a substitute for water immersion,
commonly allege that “baptism,” from the very commencement of the Christian age,
was implemented either by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling. They claim that
ancient literary references, together with modern archaeological discoveries,
support this diversity. Will this assertion stand up under the test of critical
scholarship?
First, it must be noted that the expression “baptismal sprinkling” is an oxymoron.
The original term baptizo meant to “dip, submerge, immerse.” The Greek historian
Polybius (cir. 203-123 B.C.) used the word to describe a sinking ship (2.51.6). In the
Greek version of the Old Testament (Septuagint), the cognate form, bapto, clearly is
distinguished from the terms “sprinkle” (rhantizo), and “pour” (cheo) (see Leviticus
14:15-16).
To speak of “baptismal sprinkling,” therefore, would be the equivalent of talking
about a “walking swim.” The verbs represent entirely different actions.
Second, there is not a solitary passage in the New Testament that lends any
support to the idea that the act called “baptism” by the New Testament writers,
was administered by the sprinkling or pouring of water upon a person’s head. The
theological connection between “baptism,” and the burial and resurrection of Christ
(Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12), negates the notion that the rite may be
performed by sprinkling or pouring.
The celebrated Lutheran historian, John Mosheim, declared that “baptism was
administered in this [the first] century, without public assemblies, in places
appointed and prepared for that purpose, and was performed by an immersion of
the whole body in the baptismal font” (p. 35).
It is not surprising, therefore, that evidence for this doctrinal aberration should be
sought beyond the confines of sacred literature. Let us approach this brief study
from two angles.
Literary History
The careful student of history does not hesitate to acknowledge that a digression
from the biblical pattern of baptism came fairly early in the post-apostolic period.
The first historical reference to a departure from immersion is in a document
known as the Didache (cir. A.D. 120-160). It sanctions pouring water upon the
head – as an emergency measure (7).
The first defense of sprinkling was offered by Cyprian (cir. A.D. 200-258), a writer in
Carthage, who allowed sprinkling as a substitute for immersion, but only when
“necessity compels” – as in the case of acute sickness (Epistle lxxv).
The first specifically documented case of sprinkling involved a man by the name of
Novatian (cir. A.D. 250), who lived in Rome. Novatian was believed to be at the point
of death, and so was sprinkled in his sick bed. However, the case was very unusual.
Eusebius of Caesarea (cir. A.D. 263-339), known as the father of church history,
described the incident. He wrote that Novatian thereafter was restricted from
being appointed as a church officer. Why was this? Because it was not deemed
“lawful” that one administered “baptism” by “aspersion, as he was, should be
promoted to the order of the clergy” (Ecclesiastical History, VI.XLIII). For a more
complete discussion of this case, see McClintock & Strong (pp. 209-210).
Even when the church already had become deeply engulfed in various elements of
apostasy, the Council of Nemours (A.D. 1284) “limited sprinkling to cases of
necessity.” Thomas Aquinas (cir. A.D. 1225-1274), one of the most prominent
Catholic theologians, acknowledged that immersion was the “safer” mode, though
he allowed sprinkling or pouring. In was not until the Council of Ravenna (A.D. 1311)
that sprinkling officially was made an option for administering “baptism” (Schaff, p.
201).
The literary records of antiquity afford no comfort to the advocates of the sprinkling
and pouring ritual.
Archaeological Evidence
Much has been made over the past century of the archaeological evidence that
purportedly demonstrates that sprinkling was an accepted practice in the primitive
church. Charles Bennett’s work particularly has been cited frequently in this effort
(pp. 395-408).
Professor Bennett, a Methodist scholar, contended that “a large measure of
Christian liberty [was] allowed in the Church, by which the mode of baptism could be
readily adjusted to the particular circumstances” (p. 407). Bennett’s conclusion was
based upon certain discoveries, principally frescos (paintings done on fresh plaster)
in the ancient catacombs (underground tunnels) near the city of Rome.
An evaluation of that evidence, however, demonstrates that it falls far short of the
coveted case. Here are some of the basic facts.
1. The oldest examples that Bennett introduced (pictured in his book) are
classified simply as “pre-Constantine”; they reach back, he says, “in all
probability, to the second century” (p. 402). More recent studies of the
catacombs (e.g., Paul Sytger’s work) “seem to indicate that the oldest
Christian catacombs go back to about A.D. 150” (Free/Vos, p. 290).
However, as we have shown already, there is no dispute about the fact that
the digression of pouring and sprinkling dates at least to the middle of the
second century (Didache, 7). But that is not New Testament evidence.
Moreover, one must remind himself that even in the age of the apostles,
indications of apostasy already were being manifested (cf. 2 Thessalonians
2:1ff; esp. v. 7).
2. Even in those earliest scenes (depicted in Bennett’s volume), there is
considerable diversity of opinion as to what the images represent. In not a
single instance is there any concrete evidence of sprinkling or pouring. The
graphics simply show the alleged candidate standing out in the water (either
unclothed or partially clothed), while another person is nearby on the shore.
Professor Cobern, citing Schaff, even says that “the very oldest picture
represents the new convert as ‘coming up after immersion from the river
which reaches over his knees’. . . ” (p. 400). Schaff, a pedobaptist, goes on to
suggest (based upon the reference in the Didache) that the immersion may
have been supplemented by the pouring of water. But his statement is mere
speculation; the artwork itself provides no suggestion of that.
3. Perhaps the oldest and best preserved representation of the “baptism” of
Christ (which depicts John pouring water upon the Lord’s head) is a mosaic
from a baptismal font in Ravenna, known as San Giovanni. But this artistic
representation dates only to the mid-5th century A.D., far removed from the
apostolic period.
Even Professor Bennett confesses that this mosaic also contains a symbol of
the Jordan “river-god,” thus has a heathen mixture (p. 404). It can hardly be
representative of genuine Christianity.
4. In an article published two decades ago, Dr. George E. Rice, associate
professor of New Testament, Andrews University Theological Seminary,
argued the case that the archaeological evidence overwhelmingly testifies to
immersion as the usual mode of baptism during the first ten to fourteen
centuries of the Christian era (Rice). This fact really is beyond dispute.
Conclusion
The claim that the discoveries within the Roman catacombs provide evidence for
the practice of sprinkling or pouring, as a form of “baptism,” is borne more of desire
than evidence. The distinguished R.C. Foster has summed up the matter poignantly.
“The catacomb evidence has been the subject of much controversy. De Rossi tried
to use the inscriptions and pictures to establish the teachings and claims of the
Roman Catholic Church. He was vigorously answered by the archaeologist Schultze.
Various attempts have been made by pedobaptists to use the catacomb pictures as
proof that the original action was sprinkling or pouring. But the very fact that the
catacomb pictures are filled with heathen figures and conceptions intermingled with
the Christian, show that the simple faith had already begun to be corrupted, and
that too much weight can not be attached to pictures which combine the Good
Shepherd with flying genii, heads of the seasons, doves, peacocks, vases, fruits and
flowers” (p. 22).
There simply is no proof, biblical or otherwise, that the original Christians – under
the leadership of inspired men – practiced sprinkling as a form of baptism.
Sprinkling is a digression from the New Testament pattern and ought to be
abandoned by those who are interested doing God’s will correctly.
SOURCES
Bennett, Charles W. (1890), Christian Archaeology (New York: Hunt & Eaton).
Cobern, Camden M. (1921), The New Archaeological Discoveries (New York: Funk
& Wagnalls).
Eusebius (1955 ed.), Ecclesiastical History (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House).
Foster, R.C. (1971), Studies in the Life of Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker Book
House).
Free, Jack & Vos Howard (1992), Archaeology and Bible History (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan).
McClintock, John & Strong, James (1970 ed), Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological,
and Ecclesiastical Literature (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House), Vol VII.
Mosheim, John Lawrence (1959 ed.), Ecclesiastical History (Rosemead,CA: Old
Paths Book Club), Vol 2.
Rice, George E. (1981), “Baptism in the Early Church,” Ministry (March).
Schaff, Philip, et al. (1894), Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
(New York: Funk & Wagnalls), Vol I.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.
This is a respectable sect, not so much for its humility, spirituality,
and piety, as for its number, wealth and learning. It has about 170,000
members. Several churches, originally Congregational, have merged
into Presbytcrianism, The Congregational clergy in England, fraternize
with those of this church in America, indeed, the only real
difference between these two sects is in their church government·
The Congregational, until about 1809, was the established faith
and order of New England, and like the Presbyterian, and its sister
churches, Holland and Geneva, equally an inheritor of the unmerciful
spirit of John Calvin. Religious hypocrisy became a passport to
civil offices, under the "divine influence" of Connecticut Calvinism.
No one was permitted to hold an olFice who was not sound in the faith:
no dissenter from Calvinism, the established faith of that dominion,
was allowed to vote for civil officers; if a ^erton turned Quaker, he
was to be banished, and if he returned, to suffer death; no hospitality
was to bo shown towards a heretic; no Catholic Priest was to abide
in the colony, on pain of death, &c. See Blue Laws of Connecticut·
Every Dissenter, down to the year 1811, was compelled to support
the clergy man of the Parish, whether he approved him or not. The
General Court of Massachusetts passed a law against the Baptists»
in 1651, inflicting banishment on them, if they persisted in dissominating
their doctrines. In 1557, they cut the ears and bored the
tongues of the Quakers who became obnoxious to them, with a red
hot iron; and in 1656, put four to death for rofusing to leave tho state·
The Presbyterian church, like its Scottish parent, is not deHcientin
worldly policy, and, opportunity fitting, is not backward in offering
incense to those in power. However fair to tho eye this daughter of
Babylon may appear, decked with all her trappings of a learned
priesthood, colleges, professors, gaudy temples, benevolent societies,
wealthy and fashionable flocks—she has the elements of discord, the
seeds of dissolution rankling in her body: and, judging lrom the

avowed misgivings of her adherents, the e?e of an explosion teem·
near at hand. Calvinism, Anninianism *nd the Creed are the
conflicting elements in this, as in all other religious establishments;
and an approaching convention at Pittsburgh threatens to shiver into
contending factions, this "pure faith, primitive order," and * peculiar
theology!»
There are other sects of this church, concerning which we need not
enter into detail· It will be sufficient to lay their names before the
reader, who can make further inquiry respecting them, as his leisure
Or cariosity may prompt· Their names are as follow:
Relief Presbyterians, 1752; Dutch Reformed Church, U. 8.
1639; German Reformed Church, U. S. 1746; Cumberland Pres*
byttrians, 1810; Irvingites, 1833.

NEW INDEPENDENTS

GLA8SITES OR SANDEMANIANS.
This sect observed the weekly administration of the Lord's Supper;
the weekly collection before tho Lords Supper for the support of the
poor, ayd defraying other expenses, mutual exhortation, and a plurality
of elders* pastors, or bishops, in each church. In the choice of
these elders, want of learning and engagemeut in trade, were no
sufficient objection, if qualified according to the instructions given by
Paul to Timothy and Titus. In their discipline they **ere strict and
severe, and separated from all other religionists, who they conceived
dii not profess the simple truth, or walk in obedience to it. All
which is Scriptural and Apostolical and highly commendable. Nevertheless,
thef had tho mark of the Beast on their foreheads, which they
did not wash off. They were unbaplized baby sprinklers. Out of the
controversies between those professors and the established church
arose another sect about tho year 1797, called th

NEW INDEPENDENTS.
Messrs. R. & I. Haldane wero the chief originators of the societies
classed under this name. They were aided tty Messrs. innes, Aikman,
and Κ wing, clergymen of the national church: The Η aidants were
laymen and men of the most unbounded liberality, and primitive
self-denial. Robert Haldanc : old bis large estates and devoted his
fortune to the enlightenment of his countrymen from onef"end Of
Scotland to the other. Ho attacked the corruptions of the church,
and was more indebted to the government, than to the ecclesiastical
powcrf, that ho was not subjected to tbe rigor of the law for his nonconformity.
He educated several young men at his own expense,
and sent them forth as missionaries 10 attack the strong holds of Satan
Many oi% these arc in the United States, among the Baptists.
Robert Hdldane, after having convulsed the clergy on their thrones,
and having enlightened the minds of the people to a considerable
extent» at length becime a Christian by being immersed into the name
of Christ. AUo in 1797, the celebrated Mr. V\ ilberforce, surprised
the publ.c by appearing as a religious writer, in England, his work
was iiiMtled a "practical view of the prevailing religriou* system of
professed Christians, in the higher and middle classes in this country,
contrasted with real Christianity." He lived and died a Churchman,
notwithstanding his protest. The period we have now arrived at
coincides with the resurrection of the Witnesses, which took place at
the French revolution. The Bible Society was established at or about
this time, which, from its foundation, must have circulated some mil·-
lions of copies of the Testimony of the Apostles and Prophets,
Ihroueh all the nations of the earth. It will also be remarked that
from the breaking out to the termination of the war against the Two
Witnesses there was the bitterest opposition imaginabie to the circulation
of their testimony among the people; but at their resurrection
it became fashionable to patronize the Parent and Auxiliary Bible
Societies. This» is another incident confirmatory of my view of this
subject before treated of. All the sects that arose between 1685 and
1790, can have no pretensions to the character of Christian churches,
for during that period, the bodies of the Witnesses laid dead and unburied
in the street (Platea) of the city, which runs thrDugh the nations
of different languages. Many of the New Independents becamo
Christians, and by doing so added to the number of the witnesses for
the truth.
While Mr. Glass was strengthening his sreessron, some other divine?,
on different grounds, were meditating their retreat from the National
Church. They wished to reform the establishment, but rot succeeding,
they renounced their allegiance to the assembly, and formed now congregations.
Four of the olergy were suspended in 1733 and in 1740
debarred from aU clerical functions in the Kirk. The cliiof of thorn
was Ebenezer Erskine. Their disciples rapidly increased* and were
at length embodied under the generic denomination of
6ECEDERS.
The Scotch Burgess oath in a certain clause runs thus—UI profets
and allow with my heart the true religion presently professed within this
realm and authorized by the laics thereof. I it ill abide at and defend tht
sime to my hfet end, renouncing the Romish Η eh'β ion, called Ρ apis·
try." Whoever took this oath declared that he believed the National
25
Kirk was the true religion. One part, therefore, of the Seceders
refused to take it; the other contended it might be taken with a safe
conscience, as the religion of the State was still the true faith, though
many abuses had crept in. Each party adhered to its own opinions,
and» about the year 1747» split into two opposite and contending factions,
called
BURGHERS AND ANTI-BURGHERS.
^ The Anties are more numerous than their opponents. The pugnacity
of John Knox still flows in the veins of his disciples; for the Burgess
oath still keeps some of their congregations asunder even in this
Country, so remote and independent or the scene of action· The dis-
Ciplee of Scotch divinity and metaphysics in the United States, must
be considered as Seceders from the Church of Scotland, not from principle
or choice, but from necessity. The revolution it was which severed
them from the mother Kirk; a revolution originating in political,
more than religious, disputes. The first society of emigrant
Presbyterians, was constituted in 1700, thirty· three years before the
quarrel between the Erskines and General Assembly. Their first Presbytery
was formed in 1704. They continued to increase till 1788,
when this ecclesiastical body was consummated in the formation of
the General Assembly of the
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

T H E GENEVES Ε BRANCH OF T H E APOSTACY.

THE GENEVES Ε BRANCH OF THE APOSTACY.

While the credit and authority of tho Roman Pontiff were on the
docline in Germany, they received a mortal wound in Switzerland
from Uiric Zuingle. a canon of Zurich. He was a man of heioio intrepidity,
of an adventurous genius, and of an uncommon degree of
knowledge and penetration. He is said to have been much buperior
to Luther in learning, capacity and judgment; and Dr. Mosheim ad*
mite, that the spirit of revolt began to show itself in Zuingiius before
Luther came to an open rupture with Rome. r»s early as 1516, he
began to explain the Scriptures to Uic people, and to censure the errors
of Papalism The impious traffic of indulgences started Zuirtgle
into open rebellion against the Pope in Switzerland, as it afterwards
did Luther in Germany; and had Zuingiius enjoyod the patronage of
t'rinces and had so important a theatre of action, it is ptobab!e we
should have hea d more of the reformation of Zuingl us than of Luther
» Bernardino Samson, an Italian Mon-k,wa* the Pope's merchant
or agent in tho Cantons, for the sale of licenses to sin. Like ' e?zel
in Germany, he was very zealous in his master's business. But Zuingle,
in 1516, spoiled his craft, by exposing tho worthlessncss of his
spiritual wares. His steadiness, resolution and courage were crowned
with success, and tho Helvetic Cantons soon rejee cd and denied tho
doctrine of the Pope^a supremacy. Zuingle and Carlostadt, both
maintained that the bread and wine in the "JSactampnt" were nothing
else but bread and wine, appointed an emblems ol the body and blood
of Jesus: in opposition to Luther and the Pope. As these leaders
taught, so their disciples believed; hen^o it became an article of %faith.
From...the ye.ir 1524, this became the standard of orthodoxy in Switzerland,
The form of ^ trill-worship " established for the Swiss, by
Zuingiius, the founder of their religion, was remarkable for its eimplicity,
compared with other forms set up by other founders of new
religions.
21
THE CHURCH OF GENEVA,
or as it is romelttnes called, the Reformed Church, had scarcely been
established as the National religion by Zuingle, when the'Oirw/utfi
Hero," as he is termed.in 153U fell in a batile that was fought between
tho Protestants of Zurich, who drew the sword in defence of Zuinjglianisin,
and the subjects of the Pope, who threw away ihe scabbard
in the cause of Romanism. **lt was not, indeed, to perform," says
Mosheim. "the sanguinary office of a soldier, that Zuingle was present
at this engagement, but with a view to encourage and an,mate, by
his counsels and exhortations, tho val ant defender» of the t'roic*taot
Cause." And so much the worse. Who is tho greatest man slayer,
he that shed» the blood of five men with his his own hand, or he who
infuse courage into thousands to animate them in the slaughter of
their tens of thousands? It is the cause of Antichrist, under a new
and more disguised form, that needs rivulets of human bloc d to moisten
and cement its foundation and defences. Thus did the l.utheian,
English and Gcneve*e churches establsh themselves, by t-hc.dding the
blocd of their opponents. **/f any one slay trilh ihe suord ht shall
himself be slain ttith the sword. Rev. nii. 9. The d"om. therelore, of
the^e churches, founded by their "learned and pious" military apuslle*f
is unalterably fixed. "If any one has an ear Itt him hear."
Hitherto Zurich had bten the nursery of this religion; bx)l about
the year 1536* there appeared a champion on the sta^e, who gave a
new impulse to the tenets of Zuingle; and drew the attention of the
world from that Canton to the ci y of Geneva. This was no other
than the celebrated John Calvin, a native of Picardy, and by profession
a lawyer. His admirers have placed him at the head of the re*
formers, ait of whom he surpassed, at least in learning and parts,
as ho also did tha greater part of them in obstinacy, a*penly and iur*
bulence. Ί his **divine'' held an important post in that city. ts| ucially
in those remarkable times· Ho was made "professor of d trinity;" for
which ho was well qualified, having an incurable propt't sity to \ rv into
the eecrets. and, therefore, unrevealed counsels arid decrees of God·
His opinions are too «veil known to need description In 1541, he returned
to Geneva,from wti^nco his opponents had c.tprlic»! him. and
in fact, though not in name, became the Lord Bishop of the new c hurch
of Switzerland. He also obtained a high degree of influence in the
political administration of that republic; in attempting to acquire
which none of his disciples havo been backward, even to ι Ins day.
The fruits of this inflienre were fatally, felt by the unfortunate £er*
vetus. His views and project* were grand and extensive Th · Senate
of Geneva founded, a university in that city, at his requ^t, and
appointed him and Theodore Beza professors. This institution he
proposed to make the seminary of a!l the reformed rhur< hcs>; and
aimed at nothing less than rendering the government, discipline and
doctrine,of Geneva, the model and rule of strict imitation to all the
reformed churches in the wor'd. Geneva, then, and not JERUSALEM,
was to be the *Jtfolfiet of us all;" and the doctrine of Calvin, not the
Apostles' doctrine, tho model and rule of our imitation!! Ho died,
having accomplished his project in part, in I5G4, aged 55, much lamented
by his folio wore and friends.
The ecclesiastical government of this church and it· children is
Presbyterian. He restricted the power of the civil magistrate in
church affairs; put the clergy on aa equal footing; procured law· U

be enacted for the regulation of religions matters; all of which was
confirmed by a majority of the Senate. He contended for a real but
spiritual presence of Christ in the bread and wine, which Zuinnle did
not. The following churches constitute the chief of the progeny of
Geneva:—the Church of Heidelberg^ the Church of Bremen; alter the
HUGONOTS had finished their testimony, and virtually apostatized irom
the pacific principles of their ancestors, and the yet more sacred principles
of the ancient gospel they professed—they also wero adopted
into the family of Antichrist; and became confessors of John Caivin
instead of Jesus. The Belgic Provinces in 157 L, publicly adopted
Calvin's system* Since the United Provinces revolted from Spain»
the Calvinistic Belgic Church is better knowu as the Reformed Dutch»
or Church of Holland. The last church we shall notice of the Genevese
branch of the Apostacy is the Church of Scotland and its descendants.
The light of Christianity is said to have dawned upon Scotland during
the third century. There is nothing improbable in this assertion*
bat it is not built upon incontestible authority. While thus Kingdom
was», member of the Chureh_of Rome, the power of the Pope was
Tery great. It was sustained and seconded by inhuman laws and
barbarous executions, which choked, for many years, the seeds of roligious
liberty, which were sown very early in Scotland, by several
noblemen of that nation, who had resided in Germany during the re·
Kgious disputes that divided the empire. The vicus 01 the Romanist
clergy were excessive· [ndeed the character of the superstition and
priests of Rome, was of the same debasing kind in all the kingdoms
of Europe under tbeir yoke, prior to Luther's rebellion. The first and
most successful opponent of the Papal rule in Scotland, was John
Knox, a disciple of Calvin, and one who "never feaffed the face of man."
Hit» eloquence was persuasive, his fortitude invincible—he was the re·
tolute reformer of a fierce and barbarous people· He is sometimes
called the Apostle of Scotland; but the Apostle of Calvin in Scotland,
would be more appropriate. He set out from Geneva, among the
mountaineers of Switzerland, for the rugged but mere barien hills of
Caledonia, in L559; where he soon inspired the hardy Scots with α
violent aversion to the superstitions of Rome, so that the majority of
the Nation aimed at nothing less than the total extirpation ot Popery·
The indignation of the people was soon turned upon the persons and
offices of the Bi>hop*; «o thai the religious insurrection in this country
extended not only to doctrine, buf also to the government of the
Popish church. The faith and order, composing the religion which
John Knox introduced into Scotland, was well suited to the ruggedness
and barrenness of the country, to the coldness of the climate,
and to the barbarity and fierceness of the tempers of the people at that
time. It was the "peculiar theology" of Switzerland and the low
countries. The basis of its system was the fatalism of Antichrist,
and not very dissimilar to that of Mohammed and the Greek church.
Episcopacy was abolished, after the shedding- of blood on both sides,
and Presbyteries, Synods and General Assemblies, with the King for a
head instead of the Pope, were established in its room. From this
period to the present times, the gloomy doctrine, worship and discipline
of the churches of Geneva and Holland, established by the same
influence that consumed Servelus at the stake, have been upheld with
the most invincible obstinacy and zealt undex the imposing title of the
as
NATIONAL CHURCH OF SCOTLAND,
commonly called the Presbyterian Church, which was established by
law on its present basis, at the revolution in 16d#, when Episcopacy
breathed Us last and final breath in that realm. Let it be chronicled,
however, that the National church of Christ in Scotland, had recourse
to arms so late as Charles 11., to oppose an attempt to introduce certain
amendments or ''innovations ' into its discipline and worship!!
After witnessing a series of tho most dreadful convulsions and deplorable
scenes, John Knox, the founder of Presbyterianism, ended his
tumultuous career in the year 1572. During the Commonwealth, the
Scotch attempted to establish their religion in England, by "β solemn
league and covenant" formed with the republican malcontents of the
South. They fought and conquered. Presbyterian ism and the Westminster
confession of i'aith, gained the ascendant by force of arms;
but was again expelled and driven back into the regions of the North,
at the restoration of Royalty, 1662, leaving behind it only the shadow
of a name. Those wh » retain it have neither Presbyteries, Synods,
nor Assemblies; they still hold the endowments, though of Sccinian
principles, under the name of English Presbyterians. The climate of
England is too genial lor Scotch divinity. It is a remarkable fact, that
the strongest Calvinism is to be found in the coldest countries. Predestination
is nurtured in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Scotland. Hoi.
land, Switzerland, Germany, and the New England states; a southern
sun thaws its ice-cold frigidity into the milder and more benevolent
opinions of Arminius.
The Scottish daughter of Babylon remained entire until the year
1727; when an independent spirit, named John Glass laid the axe
nearly to the root of our genealogical tree, and denounced all national
churches as antichrLstian:—a position as true as the gospel. He was
a clergyman of the establishment. For this and other opinions he
was first suspended, and afterwards deposed for his contumacy, in
1730. The secession of Mr. Glass was continued by Robert Sandeman
in 1757, who was an Elder among the followers of Mr. Glass·
He maintained the forgiveness of sins by tho imputed righteousness
of Christ. If any act, exercise, or exertion of the mind, were necessary
to our being accepted of God, be conceived there would be
"whereof to glory." I his is Slcighism. The name given to this first
aud oldest of the Scottish sects is
GLA8SITES OR SANDEMANIANS.

METHODIST CHURCH

ENGLISH INDEPENDENTS AND THE AMERICAN CONGREGATION
A LISTS.
The founder of this sect was John Robertson, who raised the standard
of Independency or reformed Brownism, at Loyden, 1595. Hie
sect acquired the title by which they are designated, from their main·
tabling that every church is an independent society, and ought to be
governed by its own laws» independent of any foreign jurisdiction.
The first church of this name was established in England, A D. 1616.
Cromwell was very partial to this sect, and made use of it to keep
the Presbyterians, always an ambitious sect, in their proper sphere;
for be always disliked Presbyterian usurpation as be did Episcopal
tyranny· When Presbyterianism fell from heaven, at the restoration
of Royalty and Episcopacy, its sons formed a coalition with the Independents
in and about London, in 1691, under the name Untied
Brethren· About the Restoration, thny dropped the name of Independents
and assumed that of Congregational Brethren* and their re·
ligious assemblies Congregational Churches· The English Prcsbyte·
Hans, with whom they once united, are more properly Socinians or
UNITARIANS There is no important difference in doctrine between
the English and American Congregationalists, and the Scotch and
19
American Presbyterians; they all coincide with the "peculiar theology *
of the Geneveso reformer.
My design is not to write a history of the sects of Antichrist; bat
simply, to exhibit to my readers the curious transmutations the Mystery
of Iniquity has undergone in its different ramifications from the
Apostles' days; and this, too, in as concise a manner as possible, or
compatible with the subject. I shall, therefore, bring my narrative of
the English branch of the Aposlacy to a close, by observing that hundreds
of thousands of dissentients have weakened the power of the
National Ecclesiastical Despotism of England, by ranging themselves
under different leaders, who have successively unfuiled their standards
of revolt against Episcopacy. These are known as Quokfrs, Shaker*%
Universalists. and Deslruetwnists; Mystics* Muggletonians, and
Fifth Monarchy Men% Jlntinomians, Hyper and Hypo Calvinists* besides
many others too numerous to detail. These are all Puritans
under various names After 1662* they were called Nonconformists,
and subsequently Dissenters. One sect, however, is, numerically
speaking, of too much importance to be pretermitted, or simply named
without a notice. The sect to which 1 refer is the
WESLEYAN EPISCOPAL METHODIST CHURCH·
The infusion of Arian, Trinitarian, Socinian, Calvinistic, and
Arminian subtleties into the Church of Rome, some of them under
other names, mainly originated ail those "peculiar theologies" we have
noticed as the sects of Antichrist; as regards the characteristics of their
distinguishing doctrines, as they are termed. The seeds of that grand
defection from the religion of England, we are now considering:» were
sown in its establishment by Armimus, a disciple of Beza,in the year
1600. His tenets are arranged undercut heads, which were stated in
opposition to Ihefioc points of Calvinism, at the famous Synod of Dort
in 16 IB. The tender mercies of Calvinism, in Holland, caused Barneveltto
lose his head; and doomed Hugo Grolius to perpetual imprison·*
went. The fate of Servetus is well known. The articles of the Church
of England are Calvinistic; but her clergy chiefly Arminian. About
1729. the church, and indeed the whole Kingdom, were tending fast
to open infidelity; so much so that to sneer at religion was becoming
quite a fashionable thing. In 1735, the National religion sustained a
shock which convulsed it to ite foundations; for Armmianipm and Calvinism,
headed up in the persons of brothors Wesleys, and George
Whitfield, attacked tho apathy of the Church, and the degeneracy of
the ti nes with so much vigor, that a hue and cry was raised against
them throughout the land. The Wesleys contracted a serious turn of
mind, in the midst of Collegiate dissipation, by imbibing· the spirit and
sentiments of William Law. the celebrated Mystic. They came over
to Georgia, to impart the doctrine of saving grace; but with little effect.
These two "divines" were very enterprising, preaching and propagating
their opinions with great success; especially the doctrine of salvation
by faith alone. After porno time, Xhrfincpoinls divided Wesley
and Wit'afield; the latter setting up for Cahmislic Methodism, tho
former for Arminion, and so, like Lot and Abraham, tho one went to
the right and the other to the left*
The celebrity of Mr. Whitfield's opinions and piety, attracted the
attention of Selina, the Countess Dowager of Huntingdon, who
erected meeting houses, and a college, for the use of hie disciples.
The sect is well known in England as Lady Huntingdon's Connexion The first Methodist Episcopal church in the United States, was
formed in New York. 1766 Their clergy consists of Bishops. Presiding
Elders, Elders, Deacons and an unordained order of licensed preachers.
A schism has recently taken place in this body of religionists·; It may
be termed a revolt of the laity against the clergy, in which the people
determined to divide the authority with their imperious masters, in conformity
with the spirit of the age. Thoy organized themselves ml
Baltimore in 1630· under the name of
THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH,
COMPRISING THE
48800rATED METHODIST CHURCHES.
This is the youngest daughter of the antichristian family; one of
the most liberal and democratic of all.
The Methodist Episcopal church has 567,568 member*, and 2,230
priests* besides 159 superannuated. The priests of the Methodist Episcopal
church, call themselves *'thc divinely authorized expounders of
Gospel docttines, ordinances and mom I discipline!" We believe there
are many other shades of Methodism too numerous to mention.
Having thus descended to tho minor twigs of the t>»glish branch
of the Mystery of Iniquity, we shall now proceed to trace out the
several principal ramifi ations of
ΠΙ. T H E GENEVES Ε BRANCH OF T H E APOSTACY.

PURITANS

PURITANS.
The Reformers who took refuge in Germany, may be said to have
originated this schism from the Church of England. To show the
spirit of Lutheranism,it is sufficient to observe, thai they who were just
delivered from persecution themselves,expelled the English refugees
from many of their towns, and denied them hospitality; and for no
other reason than because they denied the real presence of tho body
and blood of Jesus in the bread and wine. Many, however, found
an asylum at Frankfort, where they fell out among themselves. On
their return U> England, they imported their disputes with them, and
6ndmg tho people's minds in a prepared state, they propagated their
advetse and peculiar theologies with great rapidity and success. The
more violent among them demanded the denatiocaltzing of the religion
of England; but when they became legislators themselves in the
New Ent/l&nd colony· they erected their own opinions into a system
tantamount to an establishment. The wilder and inoro moderate
amon£ them desired only liberty of conscience, with the privilege of
celebrating their own-.worship in their own way. Elizabeth listened
to neither party; but determined to coerce them into obedience, which
neither she, nor any of her successors have been ablo to do: but on
the contrary, the religion she set up bids fair to be abrogated by
their descendants, Thi» controversy wae not carriei on with excessive
animosity and zeal until 1588. when the fiamo broke out with redoubled
fury. Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, assencd 'hat the Episcopal
order was superior to the bod ν of Ptesbyters, by virtue of djvine
appointment. To sustain this,the High Commissioners asserted that
the Church of ilnme was a true church, though corrupt and erroneous
in many points of doctrine and government. This doctrine the Fame
church maintains to the present day, since they could not otherwise etaim tike honor of deriving the Episcopal dignity by the "procession
of the Holy Ghost," in tn uninterrupted stream from the Apost!es9
days!! This fact fairlj establishes the connexion between the f'apal
and Protestant Horns of the Beast with the horns of a I amb, and
that spoke like a dragon. The Puritans stoutly denied the assumption,
but their descendants appear to have fallen in with the idea, and
to claim apostolicity to themselves. Had these religionists been united,
they would have been formidable, but their sentiments, views and
measures were quite otherwise, and this large and heterogeneous body
was suddenly divided into a variety of sects, of which some spread
abroad the delusions of fanaticism, which had turned their own brains,
white others displayed their folly in inventing new and whimsical plans
of church government.
Of ail these seots, the most famous was that which was formed
about the year 1581, known by the name of
BROWNISTS.
The founder of this sect was one Robert Brown, an insinuating man,
but unsettled, inconsistent, inconstant. In doctrine, he did not differ
much from the Puritans or the church He discarded all societies but
his own; and protested against the Church of England as a spurious
church, whose ministers were unlawfully ordained, whose discipline
was Popish and antichristtan. and whose sacraments and institutions
were destitute of all efficacy and virtue. AM of which is perfectly
true. Persecuted in England, the Brownists fled to the Netherlands,
where they founded churches. Their founder renounced hie tenets,
returned to England, and obtained a benefice. The Puritan txiloe,
his followers, some of whom had settled at Ley den, dispersed in the
year 1595; and it is to be noticed, that some of the members of
this church, transplanted themselves to America and laid the founda*"
lion of the colony of Now England. Others followed from the same
quarter in 1620, and settled at iNew Plymouth. Nine years after, their
Bombers were augmented by a second emigration from England, and
by a third in 1633. Out of the Brownists1 principles arose the
ENGLISH INDEPENDENTS AND THE AMERICAN CONGREGATION
A LISTS.

THE ENGLISH BRANCH OF THE APOSTACY.

THE ENGLISH BRANCH OF THE APOSTACY.

But to return from these days to which we have descended through the Lutheran line of the dposiacy, let us rttraet our steps to the era

at which the consumption of the Law lets One began It will easily

be perceived, that it was the spirit of his mouth, by which the Lord

Jesus was consuming him, when it is remembered that these convulsions

in the Kingdom of the Clergy were mainly attributable to the

circulation of the Holy Scriptures in the languages of rhe cifferent

nations. 1 he Hible was rendered into the German, Dutch, Swedish,

Danish, French, and English, besides several others. Ί he people read

them with avidity. The light of truth dispelled the darkness of their

minds ta some extent. They saw the gross absurdity of the superstition

they had received from their ancestors, and they felt the grinding despotism

of the clerical yoke. But they did not withal discover the impossibility

of national being the true religiou of Jesus. Their crafty

oppressors bad the sagacity to discern the invincible character of the

new opinions, when opposed by the ancient superstition; and displayed

profound policy in preserving their dominion to a certain extent, by

falling in with the new measures. For the most part they sided with

royalty. When kings resisted th« reforming innovations of the times,

the clergy seconded their views; when they favored them, the clergy

did tho same. This class of men, as α body, have generally proved

recreant to principle, but staunch to the interests of time. Exceptions

have occurred, but these only establish the rule. The history of the

Apo tacy in England sufficiently illustrates this position. When

John Wickliffe a ose in that country, A. D. 136u\ and attacked the

monks, the Pontifical power, and other ecclesiastical vices and abuses,

lie became the object of their inveterate hate, and persecution, and

15

would have assuredly expiated his "heresy" on their bloody altars,

But Wickliffe was patronized by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster,

and other noblemen, and thus escaped the grasp of their hypocrital

and execrable tyranny. From this era may be dated the dawn of religious

liberty in England. Had Wickliffe been patronized by the king*

as Luther was by the princes of Germany, we should have hcaid

more of the Rector of Lutterworth, than of the Augustin, Friar of

Eiselben. But the period for the grand revolt had not yet arrived;

howbett, England, Bohemia, Hungary, and other parts of Europe,

were rilled with the doctrines of Wickliffe before Luther was born.

Thus was the train laid for that explosion, which afterwards occur·

red in England, when the pillars of Papal despotism were shaken to

their foundation, by an event which did not seem, at first, to promise

such important results. Henry VHf, a man of the most detestable

character, was the chief agent in this revolution. This Kinir—the

uxorious Henry—the murderer of hie wives, was styled by his "Holy

Father," the "Defender of the Faith?' because ho had maintained the

doctrines of the "Sevon Sacraments" in opposition to Luther. The

faith ho defended was the faith of Rom nism, which he afterward*

labored might and main, to destroy in some of its relation?; nevcrthe·

less, his royal successors, who founded tho present sprite faith, primi*

tive order and Scriptural liturgy" of the Episcopal Church, assumed

the same title, and wear it atiih Not long after he had been declared

champion of the Faith, Henry quarrelled with the Roman Pontiff,

Clement VI!.,-and set up for tkSupreme Head of the Church" in his

own dominions; and thus, the English nation was transferred from

the tyranny ot the "Inngc of tlit Hcast"— the POPE—to that of ONB

of his Ten Worm—their King. He suppressed the monasteries, and

applied their revenues- to State and other purposes; yet he still considered

himself as master of the religious sentiments of his subjects.

Hence religion wss continually changing during his reign, floeu*

perstitiously retained the greater part of tha Reman Mystery, with

its imperious and persecuting ppirit; and frequently presented the

terrors of death to those who differed from him. fie caused Bilney,

Bay man, the famous Tyndal, 14 Anabaptists, and many other?, to

expiate their ''heresies" at the burning stake; and even struck with

terror tho conforming priests. Thomas Cranmer· Archbishop of Canterbury,

was his favorite, and the great Apostle of his master, after

the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey. What can we think of a clergyman.

notwithstanding1 all the eulogies passed upon him by hie admirers

who could continue the favorite of such a savage monster as Henry

VIII.? He was useful in his day in facilitating the growth of the

Protestant Horn of the "Two HORNED BEAST," which with all its

"LamVMike pretensions speaks with the voice of a Dragon, (Rev. xiii.

11.) A hint to the wise is enough; we shall pursue this idea hereafter*

Henry, who had retarded rat her than promoted the establishment

of the neic opinions in England, died in 1547. He was succeeded by

Edward VI during whoso short reigrn, Protestantism advanced considerably.

He invited Martin Duccr, and Paul Fagius from the

continent. Under the influence and instructions of Cranmer, he

endeavored to purge his country from ι he vile fictions of popery, and

to establish what Episcopalians call, the pure doctrines of Christianity,

in their place. John Calvin also, despairing of the Protestant cause in

Germany, aud assuming the authority of an Apostle, tendered his ter •ices to Cranmer· in a letter; suggesting new regulations for the church.

Cranmer, however, declining, the Geneves© reformer, next addressed

btiheelf to the Protector Somerset, whom he prevailed on to obtain

for him considerable influence, in the revision of the Liturgy which

was soon after undertaken· Thus the seeds of A'lgustinism, revived in

Calvinism, for which» says Lord Chatham, "diabolism would be a

better name '—were introduced into the National Religion; and afterwards

distributed among the leading factions, which split ciffrom the

establishment. This young king died 1553, before he could accom*

plish fully his designs. His sister the bigotted and bloodthirsty Mary*

^legitimatized by her fatherV divorce from Catharine of Arragon,

acceded to the crown. She had now a fair opportunity to wreak her

vengeance on her mothers enemies, which she did not fail to improve.

8he burned 277 persons during her reign; and among these the Archbishop

himself· It is usual with Protestant writers to eulogize this

arch prelate as a martyr for the truth equal to any of the primitive

age· 1 look at the whole affair in a very d ι He rent light, (-ranraer,

it ie admitted, possessed some laudable peculiarities; but it must be

recollected that a man may be a martyr fur his opinions without,

therefore, being a martyr for the truth. Tho Apostles were martyrs

for the truth; but the Protestant martyrs were such only for their

opinion 9. During the war of S male aid tene of thousands fell, righting

ill the cause of Protestantism and human liberty. But shall we say

that they were martyrs for Jesus? Besides, Cranmer, the martyr of

English Episcopacy, is less in-tilled to the compassion bestowed upon

him than is generally supposed; for. when in power, he followed the

execrable cxampU of the Romanists, by committing to the flames,

against the will of King Edward, two supposed heretics, two unfortunate

foreigners, whom, one would have supposed, humanity would

have spared, and whose destruction nothing could justify. Should

we not rather say, in justice to the memory of these murdered exiles,

that retributive justice had overtaken the arch primate at last; than

to celebrate his praise as a paragon of Christian virtue? lie had the

horns of a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

Mary restored her realm to the jurisdiction of the Pope. Her despotic

reign, however* was happily a short one. Siiu died, leaving no

issue, 1558. Elizabeth succeeded. She br%ke anew the despotic

joke of Papa] authority and superstition. This ''illustrious and pious

princess" was a perfect viiago. Her familiar spirit was the demon of

persecution, transmitted to her by regal descent. If any one refused

to worship God according to her appointment* ho was cast into prison

» where many exellent men wete left to perish. She burned two

BrowniFts, and two Anabaptists: in short, her hands were stained with

the blood both of Papists and Puritans. Such are some of the acts

of this "Christian" lady, who consummated and established upon its

present basis, the "pure faith, primitive order% and Scriptural liturgy"

Of the

NATIONAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Let my readers lake a review of tho period we have sketched;

namely, from Henry's quarrel with the Pope, down to the feign of

Elizabeth—and let them candidly and ingenuously confers if the

Episcopal Church arising out of, and constituted of such elements as

therein developed can have any pretensions to the character of a

17

Church of Christ. It is founded in human gore, watered with it, and

sustained by it at the present time· Look at Ireland· The tear· of

widows and of orphans; tho criej of oppression ascend ing from the

woods and forests of America—the whizzing Ush and the cracking

thongs, with which the Baptist*» were scourged in these colonies—al·

cry aloud for judgment on this splendid daughter of Babylon. Yes,

her consumption has long since began, and her utter destruction is at

the door. The former is coeval with her establishment. For though

Elizabeth, her foster-mother, passed la**e to compel all men to belong

to this cqmmunion; the spirit of English liberty was too elastic to be

subdued. Although great numbers of the clergy still lived * ho sha ped

their religion to the times, there were ethers who could not conceive

what right the Queen had to set up her opiniona as a standard of the

faith, and practice of her subject;. Elizabeth, ever fond of parade,

preferred a pplendid to a simple form of worship, and, therefore,

retained the gew gaws of tho clerical dress, besides other obnoxious

papal observances. This caused great di>content amon^ great η urn··

hers of her subjects, which was fermented by many of the reformers,

who now returned fnm Germany, to wtiich they had fled for safety

and fur succor during the Marian persecution. Multitudes refused to

attend at the churches where the popish habits and ceremonies were

used; the clergy, who conformed, were treated with contempt; and

from the superior purity, and simplicity of the "will-worship" they

adhered to, they obtained the name of

PURITANS.

NATIONAL EPISCOPAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF DENMARK

NATIONAL EPISCOPAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF DENMARK.
Tn the establishment of tbo«o two churches the bishops were deprived
of their honors privileges, and possession*, of which, the last were
acquired by tho most perfidious stratagem». They posseted enormous
poJssions in wealth, castto·. fortified towns; so that heir
suppression was a» affair of great political importance to the lungs aob2e*,and people. In the room of the bishops, Chrisliern HI created
mn order ot* men» with the denomination of suptrinlendants, who performed
the spiritual part of the Episcopal office without the least
shadow of temporal authority. Lutheramsm, as well as all the other
teligions of Europe, exists in the United btates in a denationalized
Ibrm. It was established in this country in 1743, under the name of the
LUTHERAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH OF THE UNITED STATES.
A nobleman and son of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, emerged
from tho region* of the noith, and set up a church of a new description.
His name was Emanuel •Sweder.borg; a visionary fanatic, yet
not too visionary υr fanatical to gain converts from tho worshippers
of the Beast. His opinions are too absurd, insignificant, and con·
temptibie to mention» further than to shew to what a ciimax of folly
the human mind wiii aspire*. Ho dates the origin of his church
from the year 1757; and pretends that his scheme is the commencement
of a new Christian Church, called in the Apocalypse

THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH.
The society is also known by the name Swedenborgian. They are
•rgantzed in this couniry into a general convention, consisting of
pastors, teachers, and lay delegates. They have 29 clergymen. It
wou/d he a gt>od thing had the other sects no more. Ί he* are said
to use a liturgy, and instrumental as well as vocal music in their
worship. Their founder died in fellowship with the Lutheran Church.

The Donatists

The Donatists

The Donatists were a very numerous body in the Roman Africa, and, indeed, seem to have been almost as multitudinous there as the catholics themselves, which, considering the strictness of their discipline and their firm adhesion to the laws of Christ’s house, is gratifying to contemplate. There was scarcely a city or town in the Roman Africa in which there was not an ecclesia of these believers. A public conference was held at Carthage, A.D. 411, at which 286 bishops belonging to the catholics were present, and of the Donatists 279; and when we take into account, not only their rigid discipline, but also that they were a proscribed sect, and frequently the subjects of severe and sanguinary persecution from the catholic rulers, there is good reason to conclude that we have before us in the Donatists the very people foreshadowed in the servants to be sealed. They must have been energized by an enlightened faith, which gave them an intellectual and moral superiority over the imbecile and drowsy sacramentalists of the time. Their increasing numbers attracted the attention of the authorities, who were anxious, if possible, to conciliate them, and form a union between them and the catholics. The emperor Constans, A.D. 348, ten or a dozen years after the death of his father, Constantine, deputed two persons of rank to try to bring about a reconciliation between the two parties. When it was urged upon them that it was their duty to study the peace of the church and to avoid schism, they urged the unscriptural nature of the alliance which had recently taken place between church and state. "Quid est imperatori cum ecclesia?" said they -- in plain English, "What hath the emperor to do with the church?" A more important and pertinent question could not have been propounded. Had civil rulers known their proper sphere, they would have accorded protection to citizens in all their rights, and have left them to their own convictions in matters of faith and practice. The civil powers would then have restrained all ecclesiastics within the spheres of their own pales; and we should have had no "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and Abominations of the earth." The atrocities of the Roman Church would not have soaked the soil with the blood of the saints and witnesses of Jesus for hundreds of years, until she became drunk with their gore. Little was Constantine aware of the consequences that would follow his conferring wealth, and honour, and power upon the bishops, presbyters, and so forth, of the Laodicean Apostasy, which, in the ignorance of all concerned, was mistaken for the Spouse of Christ. Could he have foreseen the racks, the fires, the massacres, the butcheries, that were to follow his misplaced liberality, he would, doubtless, have thrilled with horror and disgust at the iniquity he had unwittingly evoked.

NATIONAL EPISCOPAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF SWEDEN

NATIONAL EPISCOPAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF SWEDEN.
The contagious principles of liberty soon infected tho neighboring kingdoms. Chrisliern 11., whoso savage and infernal cruelty rendered his name odious and his memory execrable, was nevertheless desirous of delivering hie dominions from the yet more execrable and cruel tyranny of Rome. For this purpoHO, in «520. he pent for Martin RcLnard, one of the disciple» of Carlostadt, out of Saxony. Jn a y* ar after he died at Cop3nhagcn, and was succeeded by his master, Carlostadt himself; who noon returned to Germany- In 1523, Christiorn was deposed; and his uncle Frederick, Duke of flotation, placed on the Danish Throne. In 1527, he passed ati act in favor of iiberty; permittinp his subject» to choose tbe religion of Luther or the Pope. But it was reserved for Christtern HI. in 1539, sanctioned by the Assembly of the State* at Odensoe, to establish the former as :he NATIONAL EPISCOPAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF DENMARK.

THE LUTHERAN CHURCH,

TBS GERMAN BRANCH OF THE JkPOSTACY,
OR, THE LUTHERAN CHURCH,
was established bylaw upon an equal basis with that of its Mother; the
Church of Rome. After various debates, the following memorable
acta were passed, on the 25th of Sept. that the Protestants should be
for the future entirely exempt from the jurisdiction of the Roman
Pontiff, and from the authority and superintendance of the Bishops;
that they should have perfect liberty to enact laws for ihemselve?,
relating to their religious sentiments, discipline, and worship; that all
German subjects should judge for themselves in religious matters, and
join what church they please; and, that all who should injure or persecute
any person under religious pretexts should be proceeded against
as public enemies of the empire, invaders cf its liberty, and disturbers
of its peace· The foundation of this church is laid in the Confession
of Augsburg, which was read before the Diet of the German empire,
assembled in that city JuneiiO, 1530, by Christian Bayer, Chancellor
of Saxony. It differs least of all the national churches from the Mother
in point of doctrine. Lutheranism, however, has undergone some
alterations since the days of Martin. He rejected the epistlo of St.
James as inconsistent with the doctrine of St. Paul in relation to justification,
that IF, in his opinion· Why he did not reject Paul as inconsistent
with James, is apparent from his maintaining the doctrine
of St. Augustine and the Greek Church on predestination in which he
believed. He also sot aside the Apocalypse; because it is probable,
he could not understand it. Dr. Martin and Dr. Sleigh perfectly
coincide on the subject of justification, which Luther asserts is solely
by the imputation of the merits and satisfaction of Christ. Justification
by faith alone* which all "orthodox" reZtgumu/j plead for now; no wonder
they and their friend Luther dislike St. James1 epistle. In common
with the Greek Church» the Lutherans believe in Cojisubslantiaiion
13
affirming that the body and blood of Christ are materially present is
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper» though in an incomprehensible
manner. They approve of images in churches, distinguishing vestments
of the ctargy, the private confession of sins, the use of wafers
in the eucharbit, ihe form of exorcism in baptism, as tolerable, and
some useful. The superior power is vested in a consistory, over which
there is a president, with a distinction of rank and privileges, and a subordination
of inferior clergy to their superiors, different from the parity
of Presbyleri&ntsm. Perfectly papistical! Such is the Politico- fcccle·
«astical organization of this revolted province of the Pope's Spiritual
Kingdom»
But the dawn of liberty was not confined to Germany alone, other
nations began to partake of its blessings; for the change of religious
despotism from a sterner to a milder form, though the civil authority
should remain the same, is certainly a blessin?. Soon after Luther's
rupture with Rome, Olaua Petri, one of his disciples, introduced his
opinions into Sweden. Fortunately Pern's efforts were powerfully
seconded by Gustavus Vasa Ericsnn, tho King. This renowned hero
regarded Luther's doctrines as favorable to the temporal state and
political constitution of the Swedish Dominions, lie caused Petri's
translation of the Bible to be circulated to prepare tho'wav fora
change· of the national Religion, in 1527, the question was debated
in the Assembly of the States at Westeraa?, Romanism or Lutheran'
ism the Religion of the Slate?—The Clergy in general and the Lordly
Bishops in particular vehemently opposed nny change, the resolution
in favor of Lutheranism, however, was passed chiefly by the magnanimity
and firmness of the King, who declared pub jcly, that ho would
lay down his Sceptre and retire from his kingdom, rather than rule
a people enslaved to the orders and authority of '.he Pope, and more
controlled by the tyranny of their bishops, than the laws of their
monarch. Thus the Papal Empire in Sweden was overturned, and
the King acted thenceforward as head of the
NATIONAL EPISCOPAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF SWEDEN.

THE KINGDOM OF THE CLERGY

THE KINGDOM OF THE CLERGY·
The head of this dominion is "His HOLINESS the POPE/1 The
Crown or Tiara is elective; and though the Monarch is called his
holiness, he is tho most adulterous hypocrite and blasphemer among men· A wild beast is not more savage thin this Lamb-speaking, but
bloodthirsty monster. The prophet Daniel describes him as a Horn
having eye*, an episcopal power,/i/ce the eyes of a man, and a moutk
that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fel*
lows· And he tells us that this Horn made war with the saints (or
woman in the wilderness) and prevailed against th<m, ihi» same pros
phet predicted that he would speak great words against the Most High%
end wear out the taints of the Most High, and think to change times
and laws; and he continues that the saints would be given into his
power, till a time, limes, and the dividing of lime or 1260 years. Dan.
•ii. 8,20,21, 25· All which the concurrent testimony of ancient and
modern history assures us has been literally accomplished by means
of the tyranny we are contemplating. Another proof of the authenticitj
of the Scriptures; for Daniel prophecied 1000 years before the
event 8 took place» In this Horn, or I mace of the Beast, the MAN of
8m, the Son of PERDITION, the LAWLESS ONE, or as Justin Martyr,
who lived before the middle of the 2d century, calls him—the Man of
Blasphrmy—w&s ful y revealed. His manifestation began in Constantino,
and by "the profession" of the spirit, or Mystery of Iniquity,
through his successors was at last consummated in the Topes:—
through whom the same spirit has been transmitted to all the religious
factions that oow prostrate and desolate society· It has flowed like
a mighty torrent, from the Apostles1 days, through the "Clergy" and
"Fathers" of the first age?, through Constantine, and his successors,
their prelates and disciples,—through the lopes. Cardinals, Archbishops,
Bishops· Priests an:: Deacons,—and through all tho Hierarchies,
and Sects. wh;ch revolted against their Master, the Pope, even
to the most insignificant of our age; all having impressed upon them
the matk of the Beast in thir foreheads or in thtir hands." Ί he Pope,
ie called tho SON of PERDITION, because his dominion will betaken
away and destroyed. Tertullian. who lived at tho end of the 2d
century, expounding these words, "only he who now hinders will fire·
vent* until he be taken out of the way" saye "Who can tins be but the
Roman State, the division of which into ten kingdoms will bring on
Antichrist (this word may signify both the enemy of Christ and the
vicar of Christ: and no one is more the enemy of Christ than he who
arrogates his name and power, as no one more directly opposes a king
than he who assumes his title and authority. Anli signifies pro, vice%
loco as well as contra, e regione. ex ad verso;' ηηά anlibasiieus is prorex
or viceroy* anthvpatos proconsul; the criticism therefore is fully sustained)
~"and then the WICKED ONE shaft be revealed. And in his
Defence he assigns it as a particular reason why the Christians prayed
for the Roman Empire, because they knew that the greatest calamity
hanging over the world was retarded by the continuance of it.*' Let my
sceptical readers examine Dan. vii.2 These, ii. Kev.xii. 13· The duration
of this ecciestastical tyranny in not to continue longer than 1260
years from its rise. It will be overthrown,therefore about the year 1647.
The destruction of the Popcdom or dominion of the Clergy, was not
to be destroyed instantaneously, but progressively. Not by any one sudden
convulsion but by ihe SPIRIT OF HIS MOUTH was the Lord Jesus to
consume him; and by the BRIGHT SHINING OF HIS COMING is the Lord
utterly to destroy him. At the Wight shining of the rising sun the
darkne-s flees away: so by the near approach of the Sun of Righteousness
shall this Mystery of Iniquity be destroyed, whose coming
was according to the energy of Satan, with all the powtr% and signs and
of falsehood. 3 These, ii. 9· The woman who fled into the
wilderness (Rev. xii,) the true witness for Jesus, who maintained his
testimony, m hich is the spirit of prophecy; —yOF, the true Church of
Christ» "the pillar and support of the truth," was to maintain the testimony
of the Apostles and Prophets—the TWO WITNESSES—THE TWO
OLIVE TREES, and the TWO LAMPS, b'azing and shining in the gloom
of the dark ages,—SHE was to "prophecy," (exhort, dehort, edify, and
console) for 4*2 months or 1260 days (a day for a year) chthed tn sack·
doth, ihe symbol of anguish and distress. These witnesses stand before
ike Lord of the whole earth. *\Hnd when they shall be about finuhing
(hotan lelesoosi) their testimony," the Kingdom of the Clergy was to
open a war against them of the moat wild, savage, and bloody character.
Their testimony was to finish in the year 1573*6; and as history
informs us the war against them broke out on the memorab e eve of
St. Bartholomew's Day, 1572, which lasted ceven days, and in which
near 50,000 were murdered in the streets of Paris, and 25,000 in the
provinces of France. This war lasted 113 yean», when the witnesses
were "conquered and slain." In I'j55, and 1656,. the Waidenses suffered
tremendous persecution. In the siuth of r ranee alone 1,000,000
were put to death. In Ireland, on Oct. 23, 1641,50,000 were murdered
in a few days. Within the same period, 100,000 wete put to death by
the hand of the executioner, in Holland; this was one cause of the
United Provinces throwing off the Spanish yoke. In Oct. 18, IG85,
100,000 victims were sacrificed on the clerical altars, and 500,000
driven into exile. This date closes the war of 113 years. The number
Above cited amounts to 1,325,000, which falls far short of the eurn
total. "And they who dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them,
and be g!ad; and shall send gifts to each other." Header! observe
the fulril-iient of John's prediction. "When Che letters of ihe Pope's
Legate were read in the assembly of the Cardinal?, by which he assured
the Popj that all was transacted by the express will and command of
the King, it was immediately decreed that the Pope should march with
his Cardinals to the Church of St. Mark, and in tho most solemn
manner give thanks to God for so great a blessing conferred on the
See of Rome and the Christian world; and that, on the Monday after,
solemn mass should be celebrated in tho Church of Minerva, at which,
the Pope, Gregory XIII., and Cardinals were present; and that a
jubilee should be published throughout the whole Christian world,
and the cause of it declared to be, to return thanks to God fur the
extirpation of the enemies of the Truth and Church in France. In
the evening the cannon of St. Angelo were fired to testify the public
joy; tho whole city illuminated with bonfires; and no one sign of
rejoicing omitted that was usually made for the greatest victories
obtained in favor of the Roman Church.9'
The truths which these witnesses maintained against Papal corruptions,
were prostrated in all the Papal Kingdoms, or provinces of the
Kingdom of the Clergy. In France, in all the territories of the house
of Savoy; in Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, and all the other dominions
of the bloody house of Austria, and in the other Papal states where
they most abounded, they were either murdered, banished, or «ilenced,
•o that they have scarcely been heard of since. But. mark! the retributive
vengeance of the Lord God Almighty. After a lapse of three
prophetic periods and a half (105 years) their enemio^who thought
them perished forever, were seised with terror at the sight of their
resurrection. This resurrection of the witnesses, or as it is expressed»

their ascension to heaven in a cloudy in the sight of their enemies—took
place about the year 1790; when the Constituent Assembly of France
solemnly recognized the rights of men* and proclaimed liberty of con*
science, and of religrous opinion* to all the French nation. This is
Called the breath of life from God entering int9 them% when ihey were
Again free to renew their prophesying. This was the great voice tcLy*
ing unto them* Come up hither* And immediately, xn that same hour%
the French monarchy -the tenth fart of the city of Mystic Babylon fell
by a great and terrible political convulsion, which destroyed 7000 titles
of men, belonging to the Kingdom of the Clergy. Among these titles
may be enumerated the names of Right Reverend Fathers in God,
Most Reverend Bishops, Most Reverend Mothers, or Lady Abbesses,
Prioresses, &c. Metropolitans, Rectors, Vicar?, Canon?, Curates, Arch
Deacons, Deans, and Reverend Doctors, Carmelites, Augustines, Dominicans,
Jacobines, Franciscans, Capuchins, Je.-uites, Minimes, Jansen
is ts, Dtikc3, Earls, Marquises, Counts, Barons, Baronets, Knights,
Bannerets, Kings, Queens, Piinces, and Princesses, besides sn infinite
company of others whose numbers it is not easy to define. All these
were swept away and banished from the Realm of France. The persecutors
became the persecuted, and reduced to a vagrant life in remote
and foreign Iand9. The calamities of France during the REIG Ν of TER·*
KOR, are well known. Nor did other countries escape the wrath of God;
for, by the hand of NAPOLEON, his destroying angel. He poured out tha
vial of bis wrath upon the Sun, or governments of the earth. Rev·
xvi 8 And by the six me messenger, he wreaked his vengeance on
the throne of the Beast - Rome- and his Kingdom- Italy- was darkened,
and they gnawed their tongues for anguish* and reviled the i>od of hea~
ven^for their pains and their ulcers, and reformed not from ihtirw^rks —
•. 10, 11. Those who are acquainted with the history of Europe for
the last 45 years, will know how to appreciate these bints. My design
dees not require that I should enlarge furthor on those interesting
matters at present; all I request is, that my readers will peruse what
I have advanced, with the Apocalypse in their hands,reading diligently
the 11th, 12th. 13th and 16th chapters.
We have arrived now at that period in the history of the Kingdom
of the Clergy, in which the French nation abolished their authority in
France. The Catholic Clergy are reduced to a level with their brethren,
and their tyrannical and absurd superstition rejected as the religion
of the state. We await another explosion in Europe, which will
make the ears of them that hear tingle at the report. Wo! to the
Clergy; a third and tremendous wo awaits them! The second wo is
past* but the third wo comes quickly.
From what has been advanced, the following would seem to be the
da tee of the fulfilment of the Apocalyptic predictions, tibularly arranged.
A. D.
Foundation of the Kingdom of Heaven, 33
The Woman brings forth her Masculine Son, 313
And escapes into the Wilderness, between that period and 316
Having testified in sackcloth for 1260 years, a» the two witness.
es, she* finishes her testimony in the Papal states, 1573-6
The Kingdom of the Clergy make war upon her on the eve of
St Bartholomew's, 1572
The war or period of persecution, lastg one hundred and thirteen
years, and terminates after the massacre ensuing the
11
A. D.
ι evocation of the Edict of Nantz, October 18th, with the death
of the witnesses, 1685
They lie unburied for three days and a half in the streets of the
city. A day for a Lunar month of years. A Lunar month
days days days
is 30 X 3 — 90 X 15 = 105 or years. 105 X 1685 gives the
era of their resurrection co-eval with the French Revolution, 1790
Kingdom of the Clergy organized of Pope, Priests and Kings,
having one purpose, 587
This litile Horn or Kingdom to continue 1260 years, which,
added to 587, gives for its final overthrow the year, or a very
few years after, 1847
Two periods have to be considered: First, when the consumption of
this Kingdom began; and secondly, when it is to be utterly destroy L
Tho former is a matter of History, the latter οι Prophecy. With facts,
therefore, at present, or with things accomplished, we have to do.
Tbe power of a Kingdom may be consumed by internal dissension
and external aggression. Truth is more powerful than error, and a
Kingdom divided against itself must be subverted. With the aggressive
influence of the truth, we meddlo not just now. That will be
investigated hereafter· It is to the dissensions we direct attention.
They are of two kinds; first, national rebellions against the Pope*s au~
thority; and second\y^ disputes and quarrels among the Clergy themselves.
The revolt of nations, however, against the authority of the Roman
See, being consequent on their clerical disputes, we shall chronologize
them as we proceed, under their respective and appropriate heads,
premising always, that wherever a clerical faction has gained the ascendant,
by their partizans having recourse to arms, neither it, nor the
minor factions, which shall be found to have subsequently split off, can
in any wi«Q claim apostolicity, or lay any pretensions to the character
or constitution of churches of Christ. His church is not stained with
the blood of its opponents, neither was it founded or upheld by the
power of the *woid. On the contrary, the churches of England, Ire·
land, Scotland, Switzerland, Holland, and of Luther, aro all baptized
in blood by tneir adherents. And be it remembered, that so long as
the Two true Witnesses against Papal corruption cherished the spirit
of non-ros stance, they maintained their gr< und in the presence of
their enemies but as soon as they drew tho sword in thoir own defence,
their adversaries overcame and s-lew them.
About th? beginning of the 26th century, the Roman Pontiffs reigned
in the utmost trnnquility, having triumphed, as wo have seen, over
the enemies of Romanism. Complaints, however, reached him, from
powerful princes and «overeign states, against his own despotism, and
tho unbridled licentiousness and enormous and unparalleled crimes of
hisadnerents, the clergy and monks of^evcry name and dinominatian"
These remonstrants demanded publicly, as their ancestors had dono
before thorn, a reformation of the CHURCH OF ROME, in ail its several
departments. In short, the epoch was at hand, when God was about
to put it in their hearts, by the means antecedently and subsequently
developed, to BEGIN to hate. the. harlot and make her desolate and naked;
and to eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. Rev xvii 18. The means
which effected this great and rr.uch Hosired POLITICO RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION,
were the invention of printing, A. D. 1430, Iho revival of
learning, the progress of scientific discovery, the sudden rice of

men of genius, and the undaunted and praiseworthy daring of an
obsoure Augustinian Eremite, named MARTIN LUTHER; who offered
himself to public view in the year 1517. as a protester against the sale
of Papal indulgences This extraordinary man, was a native of
Eieelbeit in Saxony; and at this time, professor of the scholastic the*
ology of the age, which was a ruere jumble of absurd superstition,
in a University at Wittenberg. The Pontifex Maxim us of the Roman
world, at that time, was the learned, effeminate and luxurious
Leo X, Luther was an independent thinker, but a disciple of St.
Augustine, though more partial to the decisions of Scripture, and the
dictates of reason, than to the authority and opinions of fallible men.
The events of his life were not originally premeditated; but circumstances,
by their successive developements, led him on in the perpetration
of his memorable, high handed rebellion. Some of the political
leaders of the German Confederacy saw in him a fit instrument to aid
them in throwing off the Roman yoke. The Elector of Saxony and
others, patronized the Au^ustin friar, and under pretence of a zeal for
religion, made war upon the Emperor and Pope. The war of Smal-.
eald was the consequence, A. D. 1546. Before the first shot was fired,
Luther died in peace at his native place, and thus escaped the calami·
ties that threatened his country. The deplorable scenes of bloodshed,
desolation and discord which ensued, continued till 1555, when a "religiouspeace"
was consented to, by the articles of which
TBS GERMAN BRANCH OF THE JkPOSTACY,
OR, THE LUTHERAN CHURCH,