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The Relics of Popery

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Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Oct 10, 1878

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 38.

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The Relics of Popery

and so that the prophecy has failed, and the Scriptures are unreliable. The matter had better stand as the prophecy has placed it; and the claim which the pope unwittingly puts forth had better be granted. When a person is charged with any work, and that person steps forth and confesses that he has done the work, that is usually considered sufficient to settle the matter. So, when the prophecy affirms that a certain power shall change the law of God, and that very power in due time arises, does the work foretold, and then openly claims that he has done it, what need have we of further evidence? The world should not forget that the great apostasy foretold by Paul has taken place; that the man of sin for long ages held almost a monopoly of Christian teaching in the world; that the mystery of iniquity has cast the darkness of its shadow and the errors of its doctrines over almost all christendom; and out of this era of error and darkness and corruption, the theology of our day has come. Would it then be anything strange if there were yet some relics of popery to be discarded ere the Reformation will be complete?
A. Campbell (Baptism, p. 15), speaking of the different Protestant sects, says :—
“All of them retain in their bosom, in their ecclesiastic organizations, worship, doctrines, and observances, various relics of popery. They are, at best, reformations of popery, and only reformations in part. The doctrines and traditions of men yet impair the power and progress of the gospel in their hands.”
Therefore, let the reader beware, lest he make the mistake of supposing he is following the Lord Jesus Christ, while he is only following his pretended vicegerent, the anti-christ of Rome.
It may be proper to add a word respecting the testimony of history on this question, and answer an objection that may arise in some minds.
1. The whole theological world are assiduously taught that the first day of the week has been called the Lord's day, and unanimously observed as the Sabbath by Christians ever since the days of Christ. This claim is not sustained by either the Bible or history.
Rev. 1 : 10, is the only scripture that is brought forward to prove that the term “Lord's day” had become the familiar title of the first day of the week in the days of the apostles. There are a number of objections to such an application of this text.
First. John does not say that it was the first day of the week which he here calls the Lord's day, nor does he make the least statement from which such a conclusion can be inferred.
Secondly. John wrote his gospel two years after his Revelation (see Thoughts on Revelation, p. 28); and in his gospel he twice speaks of the first day of the week, and calls it, not Lord's day, as he would have done if that had come to be the general name for that day when his Revelation was given, but simply “first day of the week.”
Thirdly. The seventh day of the week is in the most express manner called God's holy day. It is the one day of the seven which he has reserved to himself. And the Son of man, through whom the worlds were made, John 1 : 3; Heb. 1 : 2, and who was consequently associated with his Father in the institution of the Sabbath at the beginning, expressly styles himself the Lord of the seventh day. Mark 2 : 28. Hence we say that the Lord's day of Rev. 1 : 10, is the seventh day of the week, not the first.
No ecclesiastical writer previous to A. D. 194 gives the title of Lord's day to the first day of the week. The so-called epistle of Barnabas is spurious. The letter of Pliny to Trajan speaks of a stated day, but does not specify which day of the week it was. The epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians is itself a forgery; and the passage which is made to speak of Sunday as the Lord's day has been interpolated into that forgery. Justin Martyr, A. D. 140, does not use the term Lord's day, as is so often asserted. Clement of Alexandria, A. D. 194, uses the term ambiguously, perhaps referring to the first day of the week. Victor, bishop of Rome, A. D. 196, attempted to honor the day by an effort to have Easter uniformly celebrated on that day. Tertullian, A. D. 200, furnishes the first evidence of abstinence from labor on that day. In A. D. 321, Constantine made a law in behalf of the “venerable day of the sun,” which was the first Sunday law. But this was a pagan edict, Constantine not yet having become even nominally Christian. At his so-called conversion, two years later, in A. D. 323, this law for Sunday as a heathen festival, being unrepealed, was made use of by Sylvester, bishop of Rome, now reckoned in the line of popes, to enforce Sunday observance as a Christian institution.
These are the indubitable facts of history, authenticated by a reference to the original authorities in the History of the Sabbath, by J. N. Andrews, to which the reader is particularly referred :—
2. The objection. The papacy was not fully established till A. D. 538, more than two hundred years after Constantine's law. How, then, can Sunday be called an institution of popery, and the change be attributed to the little horn, according to the prophecy of Daniel, which is a symbol of the papal power?
Let it be remembered that Sunday, as a subject of prophecy, is Sunday as a Christian institution. The question, then, is, What power or influence established this observance in the Christian church? Not Constantine; for his legislation referred to it as a heathen festival; although he furnished a means which was shrewdly manipulated by Pope Sylvester in enforcing it among Christians. But it was brought in by the working of that influence which finally resulted in the establishment of the papacy. The papacy existed in embryo long before Constantine's time. The mystery of iniquity worked even in Paul's day, 2 Thess. 2 : 7, waiting only the removal of the Roman empire, as Gibbon and others reveal.
The root of the papacy was then introduced into the church; and it continued to grow into a tree whose branches have extended far beyond all other institutions. Sunday is the badge of Christ's pretended vicegerent; it is the character of the beast; it is the mark of pagan and papal combined; and it is what we are to expect.
To the thoughtful, who look into the future and see the end, the present state of religion is a heart interest. Religion has lost its power. They seem to be following the form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. They do not deny the name of Christ, but they deny the spirit and life of true religion. And the dread of the coming storm has driven many from the doctrines of Christ, and left them drifting in the dark and in the gloom of infidelity, without a star of hope or a line of truth. The great mass of the world are in the same condition. They are in the gross darkness, and the light of heaven shines not in their hearts. The gospel to them is a dead letter. The truth of God is not in them. The love of God is not in their hearts. The fear of God is not before their eyes. The hope of heaven is not in their souls. The joy of the Lord is not their strength. The peace of God is not in their hearts. The comfort of the Holy Ghost is not in their souls. The grace of God is not in their hearts. The truth of God is not in their souls. The love of God is not in their hearts. The fear of God is not before their eyes. The hope of heaven is not in their souls. The joy of the Lord is not their strength. The peace of God is not in their hearts. The comfort of the Holy Ghost is not in their souls. The grace of God is not in their hearts. The truth of God is not in their souls.
In fact, the religion of the present day is a religion of earth, and not of heaven. It is a religion of time, and not of eternity. It is a religion of sense, and not of faith. It is a religion of the world, and not of God. It is a religion of man, and not of Christ. It is a religion of the flesh, and not of the spirit. It is a religion of the devil, and not of God.
In fact, the religion of the present day is a religion of the earth, and not of heaven. It is a religion of time, and not of eternity. It is a religion of sense, and not of faith. It is a religion of the world, and not of God. It is a religion of man, and not of Christ. It is a religion of the flesh, and not of the spirit. It is a religion of the devil, and not of God. It is a religion of the earth, and not of heaven. It is a religion of time, and not of eternity. It is a religion of sense, and not of faith. It is a religion of the world, and not of God. It is a religion of man, and not of Christ. It is a religion of the flesh, and not of the spirit. It is a religion of the devil, and not of God. It is a religion of the earth, and not of heaven. It is a religion of time, and not of eternity. It is a religion of sense, and not of faith. It is a religion of the world, and not of God. It is a religion of man, and not of Christ. It is a religion of the flesh, and not of the spirit. It is a religion of the devil, and not of God. It is a religion of the earth, and not of heaven. It is a religion of time, and not of eternity. It is a religion of sense, and not of faith. It is a religion of the world, and not of God. It is a religion of man, and not of Christ. It is a religion of the flesh, and not of the spirit. It is a religion of the devil, and not of God.
Thus, it is evident that the present state of religion is a sad one. It is a state of darkness, and not of light. It is a state of error, and not of truth. It is a state of sin, and not of holiness. It is a state of death, and not of life. It is a state of the devil, and not of God.
A PROBING question for the highest intelligence. In reading the history of the past, one cannot help but be impressed with the fact that the greatest minds have often been the most mistaken. What you may consider as the highest expression of human intellect, may, in this class of cases, be the very thing that leads you astray. The things that are termed the highest expressions of human intellect are often the most erroneous. The things that are imagined to be the highest expressions of human intellect are often the most foolish. The things that are thought to be the highest expressions of human intellect are often the most absurd. The things that are supposed to be the highest expressions of human intellect are often the most ridiculous. The things that are believed to be the highest expressions of human intellect are often the most nonsensical. The things that are held to be the highest expressions of human intellect are often the most irrational. The things that are deemed to be the highest expressions of human intellect are often the most illogical. The things that are considered to be the highest expressions of human intellect are often the most unsound. The things that are regarded as the highest expressions of human intellect are often the most unsatisfactory.
PRAYER is the soul's sincere desire, known to God, and to him alone. It is the language of the heart, and is understood by him who reads the heart. It is the breath of the soul, and is heard by him who listens to the voice of the soul. It is the cry of the soul, and is answered by him who hears the cry of the soul. It is the plea of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the plea of the soul. It is the petition of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the petition of the soul. It is the request of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the request of the soul. It is the desire of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the desire of the soul. It is the wish of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the wish of the soul. It is the hope of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the hope of the soul. It is the longing of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the longing of the soul. It is the aspiration of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the aspiration of the soul. It is the yearning of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the yearning of the soul. It is the craving of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the craving of the soul. It is the thirst of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the thirst of the soul. It is the hunger of the soul, and is granted by him who grants the hunger of the soul.