p. 302 | American Sentinel, Vol. 11, No. 38. (September 24, 1896.)

Earlier text: CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP IN BABYLON.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN TENNESSEE.

By H. W. Reed

BY H. W. REED.

The 19th day of October, 1896, is the time set for the Circuit Court of Rutherford County, to be held at Murfreesboro, Tenn. During the session B. A. Philpott, a Tennessean by birth, and a worthy member of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, is to be tried for “nuisance,” the gist of his offense being Sunday labor.

It is charged that such labor, namely, labor done on Sunday, is immoral; but as the labor differs in no respect from labor on other days, it can be regarded as immoral only because the doing of it on Sunday is supposed to be irreligious.

We inquire, did the primitive Christians know that there was no command from God for Sunday observance? This is well answered by the following quotation from a Sunday-keeper: “The primitive Christians did all manner of work upon the Lord’s day [Sunday], even in the times of persecution, when they are the strictest observers of all the divine commandments; but in this they knew there was none.”—Bishop Jeremy Taylor.

This answer to the above question leads to the asking of another. Why should not the primitive Christians do all manner of work upon Sunday inasmuch as they knew that there was no divine command forbidding it? They ought, and they did just right in so doing. There is nothing now from God to prevent any person from doing differently. And no man is commanded differently unless it be by Church, State, or national Sunday laws—and these can only do so by abridging the rights of citizens. A God-fearing man will not violate a command of God in order to keep a command of the Church or of the State.

In all matters pertaining to religion individuals should acknowledge no sovereign but God. They should recognize no other power. God’s code of laws must be obeyed, even if for so doing one should be thrust into the fiery furnace, or the den of lions. The rendering of obedience to God rather than man has resulted in making millions of martyrs. Christ gave commission to his apostles to go forth and preach the gospel, but he did not invest them with civil or military power. They went out with “the sword of the Spirit,” the word, and God gave them complete victories.

But suppose the disciples had gotten hold of the civil power, and had compelled men to submit to the precepts of the gospel, of what value would such obedience have been? If men had been compelled to accept the doctrines of Christianity, how much would their faith have been worth so far as salvation is concerned? Their forced obedience and faith would not have had a particle of salvation in it. If they would submit to force they would thereby become hypocrites, and if they would not yield to force the ultimate end would have been martyrdom.

It is the will of God that men should act freely as to whether they will accept or reject his only begotten Son, whom he so graciously has given to save the lost. The Father loved us, and in love gave the best gift of heaven. No act which man may do has any moral excellence unless it springs from love of God. We should first know that we are right and then we should let nothing deter us from doing right. This is the way the primitive Church acted. They did just as a people ought to do to-day, and just as a people will do who know that no command from God forbids Sunday labor when they care more for God than for man; more for the commandments of God than for the commandments of men; more for heavenly things than for earthly things; more for eternal life than for this transient, temporal life.

What we want is, men of the primitive Christian type now—men who fear not to declare the whole council of God, who are willing to lay down their lives for the truth which they teach and obey. Men who will defend the institutions, doctrines and commandments of God; defend them unto death, not by the civil power, but by the eternal Spirit of God. Such men are needed now, and we can thank God and take courage, because we know that he will supply the demand for these liberty-loving and God-fearing men. It is the grandest sight in the world to see men loyal to God, standing in noble, unyielding defense of God’s despised and down-trodden truth. We need men to stand as did Stephen. He boldly declared the truth, while his face shone with the glory of heaven. His fierce and enraged enemies were so exasperated that they gnashed their teeth as though they would devour him. And what had he been doing? Only standing in defense of the truth of God. With earnestness he had made an application to them of that truth and they were incensed at the thought.

Thank God, that men are being raised up now to present the despised Sabbath of Jehovah to God’s professed Sunday-keeping Protestants, who are violators of this holy precept; but some of these will no more endure this close practical teaching than did the murderers of Stephen. Still it is glorious to have the Spirit of Stephen, that is, to have the Spirit of God. Nothing can glorify Christ in greater measure than this very thing. The death of Stephen has preached louder than his life. That love has touched many a hard-hearted sinner, has melted his heart, and won him to Christ. Let this same Spirit control us and we will be loyal to God and yield cheerful obedience to the commands of God’s royal law. This law which extends to the entire human race, and which all have transgressed, Christ has magnified and made honorable. But Christ never employed civil power to enforce Christianity. To do so would be contrary to the gospel. And yet in most countries the Church is united with the State and dependent upon it for support. Wherever the Church has been united with the State, both have become corrupted. The Church should be free and separate from the State. She is dependent for support and success, not on the power of the State, but on the word and Spirit of God. Every alliance of the Church with the State has been degrading, polluting, and every way injurious; and this will always be the result of such a union. The observer of the Biblical Sabbath will never ask for the sword of the civil magistrate to prevent any one from profaning it, for God has spoken, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” and the violators of this precept will answer to him. But the man-made sabbath has always sought protection from the civil power, and men are persecuted to-day because of these unjust, unscriptural Sunday laws. In the last fifteen years not fewer than one hundred Seventh-day Adventists have been deprived of their rights as American citizens by these unscriptural and unconstitutional laws.

Now comes the case of Bro. B. A. Philpott; a Christian must now appear before the Circuit Court for obeying God in doing what God has commanded him to do on the first day of the week. May he obey God rather than men.

In everything that pertains to religion, man ought to acknowledge no sovereign but God, no code of laws but such as are found in the Scriptures. The Church and the State are independent bodies, and which God has never intended should be united. One ought not to meddle with the affairs of the other. The Christian should be allowed to express his feelings and opinions with the most complete freedom, and with no fear of being brought to account and of being punished by the civil power.

When Christ sent forth his disciples to preach the gospel, he did not invest them with civil power. They were not to use the sword. He committed to them his word, and the preaching of this accompanied by the Holy Spirit was what gave success.

Life and liberty are the natural rights of all men. On this very principle the Constitution of the United States was founded. Every step taken in religious legislation since has been unconstitutional. State and national Sunday laws are a violation of this principle.

CLERICAL INTERFERENCE IN BEHALF OF A BRUTAL OFFICER.

[New York Sun, September 16.]

On Monday afternoon, in the rooms used for the trial of officers at Police Headquarters, there was told a tale which must have made the walls themselves blush for shame. Policeman Owen O’Sullivan and Doorman Henry A. Spaulding were tried before Commissioner Parker on charges made by Captain Moynihan of the East One Hundred and Fourth Street Station, of maltreating a prisoner, James Dalton, by name. We quote from the Captain’s testimony a part of the revolting story:—

I ran out and found Doorman Spaulding standing in the doorway of a cell. Inside were Sullivan and the prisoner. Sullivan was holding the prisoner with his left hand, and holding a club above his head with his right hand. The prisoner was grasping the club with both hands and yelling: “Murder! Have mercy on me! For God’s sake don’t kill me.”

I said: “Let go of the officer’s club.” The prisoner said: “No; if I do he will kill me. Help! Murder!”

Blood was running down over the prisoner’s face. The walls of the cell were spattered with blood, and there was blood on the floor.

“What did you hit him for?” I asked Sullivan. “To make him confess the name of his accomplice,” said Sullivan.

We do not believe that this savage policeman and his assistant will be allowed again to wear the uniform of this city. But is their punishment to be merely dismissal? Can an outrage so shocking pass unnoticed by the public prosecutor?

Another portion of Captain Moynihan’s testimony seems to us to warrant further and different investigation. He said to Sullivan:—

“Get away from me. I want no communication with you. You are a disgrace to the force, and the commissioners want no such men under them.” Then Sullivan went up to One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street and got a priest to come and talk with me.

Perhaps the people generally might like to know the name of this priest, and what he found in the case that made clerical interference necessary.

MONKS WHO OWN MILLIONS.

[From the Chicago Record.]

If boasts of Canadians are well founded, the two wealthiest institutions in America are the Bank of Montreal and the Seminary of St. Sulpice. They both stand upon the little square known as Place d’Armes, where Maisonneuve, the founder of the city, had a hand-to-hand fight with the savages and which for nearly two centuries was the common burial place of the pioneers. The Bank of Montreal dates from 1817 and has ever been the first financial institution of the country. It has branches all over the world.

The Seminary of St. Sulpice is much older, and was founded in 1641 by Jean Jacques Ollier. The venerable structure at present occupied dates from 1657, and is as quaint an example of monastic architecture as can be found in America, north of Peru. Beside it stands the church of Notre Dame, which is under the charge of Sulpician monks, the most elaborate and perhaps the largest ecclesiastical structure in North America. It will seat 10,000 persons without crowding and can accommodate 6,000 more. It has the finest chimes of bells in America, the largest known as Le Gros Bourbon, weighing 26,000 pounds. I believe there are only two larger in use in the world. The exterior of Notre Dame is plain and severe, but the interior is excessively ornate.

The wealth of the Sulpician monks is variously estimated from $20,000,000 to $50,000,000, but it is impossible for any one outside the order to obtain any accurate knowledge on that subject. They employ a man of business to look after their financial affairs and collect their rents, and he requires the assistance of twelve clerks and bookkeepers. There are only sixty corporate members of the order, and that number is never exceeded. If one of the brothers dies the vacancy is filled from among the ordinary brethren by some proceeding known only to themselves. It is a very close corporation, and the Canadians regard it with mysterious awe. In addition to the seminary for the education of priests, the Sulpicians have several other schools, a hospital, and an asylum in Montreal, and they have colleges in Baltimore and Ellicott Mills, Md. They own one of the biggest banks in Canada, the finest business property in the city of Montreal belongs to them, and they are said to have very large investments in the United States, besides a vast amount of well-paying securities stacked away in their vaults. They are certainly the richest religious order in the world.

LETTER FROM TENNESSEE.

By B. A. PHILPOTT.

Dillton, Rutherford County, Tenn.

Sept. 13, 1896.

MR. C. P. BOLLMAN—Dear Brother: Yours of the 6th received and read with much interest. I am trusting in the promises of God for grace and strength to do his will. I am fully assured that the blessed promise of my Saviour will not fail me in the time of trial in court. I can truly say that I love my neighbors and I love my God; and I am certain that I have not harmed anyone, nor disturbed anyone, nor hindered anybody from worshiping God as he believed.

I told my neighbors soon after coming here that my faith led me to work on the first day of the week, and that I did not work to defy the law or to show disrespect to them, but out of respect to God and his requirements. I also told them that I desired to live a neighbor in the fullest sense of the term—in sickness and every other way; and I have so lived and have done as I would wish to be done by.

My neighbors do not find any fault with me, only they think I ought to keep two days if I must keep Saturday. I have, however, made some good staunch friends here.

The work complained of has been common farm work. I hauled corn fodder one Sunday last fall. It was damp and just right to handle without breaking and wasting. I worked at clearing in the winter a few times on Sunday, but it was a long distance from anybody’s house or public road, at least from sixty to eighty rods, and surrounded almost entirely by a dense growth of timber and brush. I have plowed some in one field that could be seen from the public road, the work being about thirty rods from the road.

My nearest neighbor lived in sight of this field, but says he was not disturbed and did not know that I was in the field. All my work has been done in good faith that I was doing right according to the Bible, and did not disturb any of my nearest neighbors; at least they have so stated to me. However, some of my distant neighbors have complained, and said I ought to be whipped.

I also hauled wood from my clearing to my own yard, but it was not in sight of any house or road but my own. A neighbor came through our premises, and thereby saw me hauling and plowing, and visited and talked pleasantly with me.

Mr. Byron Freeman, whose name appears on the indictment as prosecutor, came to me a few days ago and said he did not know that his name was on the indictment as prosecutor. He said he did not want anything to do with it, and did not even want to appear against me as a witness, but could not help himself. Mr. J. L. Yearwood is the man that came through and saw me plowing and hauling wood at different times, and he has told me that he had to appear before the Grand Jury against his will; and when they asked him if he saw me hauling wood, he told them yes, but that it was no more than he had done on Sunday himself. So it appears that it is some of my distant neighbors that have made the complaint and caused me all this trouble.

But I am not troubled about it; Matt. 5: 10–12 is a consolation just now. The good Lord is giving me grace sufficient, so I praise his name, and rejoice in full assurance of the great reward that is promised to those that suffer for his sake. B. A. PHILPOTT.

NEWS AND NOTES.

The New Orleans Times-Democrat, of September 14, announces that the Sunday law was enforced at the suburban resorts at that city the previous Sunday for the first time since the act was passed in 1886.

THE “Woman’s Sunday League,” of New York City, have begun a crusade against Sunday trade in stores. On a recent Monday a dealer in dry goods was fined $10 for selling a handkerchief on the previous day.

“FOR every dollar spent by the United States for religion, twelve are spent for drink.” Such is the estimate made by Dr. Carroll, editor of the Independent. What better proof could be wanted that the United States is truly a “Christian nation”!

FREDERICK HERDER, a poor man, residing in the Jewish settlement of Carmel, N. J., was arrested on the 14th inst. for selling watermelons on Sunday, the 13th. The press report of the case states that “the old blue laws” were invoked by the complainant, Henry Miller, against Herder. Judge Williams fined the latter $10 and costs, which the prisoner was unable to pay. Hence he was sent to jail, where he remained until his wife managed to secure the money.

AT Deruyter, N. Y., the Board of Education have passed a resolution discontinuing all religious exercises in the public schools. This action was in response to a protest against such exercises which had been made by a resident of the place, the law of the State requiring that such protest must be heeded. The Board stated that they took the step with deep regret. The protesting citizen averred that the protest was called forth by a recent attempt to coerce pupils into attendance at these exercises.

The pulpit politicians of the country continue to wax fiercely eloquent before their Sunday congregations in the discussion of the monetary issue of the campaign. Press reports of “sermons” delivered Sunday, the 13th inst., by prominent clergymen in New York City, Brooklyn and Jersey City, furnish reading which in point of dignity and freedom from personalities is far below the level of the campaign speeches of the leading political candidates. One Brooklyn clergyman, the Rev. Cortland Myers, pastor of the Baptist Temple, went so far as to say that the Democratic platform was “made in hell,” and that “Altgeld and his comrades were the stenographers of his satanic majesty.” Their remarks were greeted at intervals with “laughter” and “applause” from their congregations.

The question as to whether Jews in New York City should be allowed to work on Sunday was decided in the affirmative by City Magistrate Cornell, Sept. 14. A number of Jewish establishments had been visited the preceding Sunday and Saturday by detectives under instructions from the chief of police, and three arrests were made for the purpose of testing the legality of such work. It was claimed that the prisoners had worked both Saturday and Sunday, but the latter denied this, saying that the Saturday work was done by their business partners. The magistrate said that the section of the Criminal Code which covered the cases provided that a man can work on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, provided he kept the day set apart by his religion. Under this ruling the prisoners were discharged.

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No minister of the gospel can ever properly get beyond the utterances of God's word. There seems to be an idea in many minds that regular gospel preaching—the preaching of Christ crucified and raised again to life—is suitable only to times when no special developments in the political world are claiming public attention. When some unusual development does arise—as, for example, when such an issue as is presented by the present financial question is before the people—it is necessary, they seem to think, to drop the preaching of the gospel of the power of God unto salvation, and preach upon the special political issue until that is settled. But the truth is that the self-same gospel which is suited to times of comparative peace and quiet, is just as well suited to the time of the greatest crisis. When God provided the gospel for the needs of a fallen race, he was not in the dark concerning any of the developments which were to take place in the political and social spheres in any age of the world's existence. He foresaw all the issues which would arise and claim the attention of the people, and with all these special movements and developments open to his view, he gave to mankind the simple gospel of salvation through faith in the power of his word. And that gospel has been found sufficient for every moral need of mankind, through every crisis of every age.

The idea that the time can ever come when the minister ought to stop preaching the gospel and preach politics, in order to meet some special exigency which has arisen, shows a very inferior conception of the power of God which the gospel embodies.

AN individual is not a church, neither is he a State. The sole purpose of the church is to reflect to the world the light of Christianity. To this end it is an organized body, endowed with the various “gifts” of the Spirit. The sole purpose of the State, on the other hand, is to afford men protection and freedom in the enjoyment of their natural rights.

To this end it also is organized and endowed with various functions. The individual may be legitimately employed in a secular trade or profession; the church would be manifestly out of place in a like position. The individual also may profess and practice the doctrines and ordinances of Christianity, but the State would be manifestly out of place in doing this. The individual may legitimately engage in any occupation necessary to the maintenance of his existence or the promotion of his own or others’ welfare.

The sphere of action of the Church or of the State is not so general. The action of both the Church and the State is individual action, since either one can act only through the individuals composing it; but in such a case the sphere of individual action is limited to the sphere of the organization. Organization presupposes a special purpose, upon which alone it is justified. Hence individual action which would be altogether wrong done in a representative capacity, may be perfectly proper if done without such capacity; and individual action in a representative capacity is justifiable only within the limits of that capacity as determined by the purpose of the organization.

ONE of the arrests for Sunday work in this city, referred to in “News and Notes,” was made on Bond Street, only half a block from the SENTINEL office.

WE are informed that there were three arrests for Sunday labor last week at Ford's Store, Maryland. We have not learned the particulars, but hope to be able to give the facts fully next week.

Zion's Herald, of September 2, contains a symposium on the question of the part which should be taken by the clergy in the present political campaign. The contributors are well-known clergymen and politicians in several Eastern States. As was to be expected, the contributions reveal a wide diversity of opinion on the question, showing that neither side can claim a monopoly of personal integrity. No one of them was able to quote any Scripture demanding political campaign work on the part of Christians.

It is an admitted fact that the public schools of this city are shamefully inadequate for the accommodation of the children of school age. Tens of thousands of children are excluded because “there is no room.” Rev. Madison C. Peters, of this city, gives it as his opinion that “the main reason why there is not enough school room for our children is because too many of the enemies of the public school system are its commissioners and teachers.” “Call the roll,” said he, “and you will find that at heart many of the commissioners and teachers are friends of a rival system.”

“THE powers that be are ordained of God.” Rom. 13:1.

But though divinely ordained, civil government has its limitations, for “we ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29.

As civil government is ordained of God, and as it has its limitations, it follows that they too are divinely ordained. “Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.” Rom. 13:3.

When therefore rulers become a terror to good works, it is by usurpation, not by rightful authority. “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”

As civil government is ordained of God, and its limits marked by a self-evident line, it is clear that within its own sphere there can be no conflict between man's civil government and God's moral government.

As legitimate, civil government administered by men, and moral government administered by God occupy different spheres, there can be no conflict between them.

Therefore it follows necessarily that the ambassador of Christ is accredited not to civil government but to individuals whom he beseeches to transfer their allegiance, not from God-ordained civil government to God, but from the government of Satan to that of God.

THERE is now a general conviction that Russia has become the supporter of the Sultan of Turkey, against the other powers of Europe which are anxious to put a stop to the massacres of which they deem him the instigator. And Russia is a “Christian nation,” according to facts upon which the theory of “national Christianity” is based.

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This utterance by the Pope is doubtless a bitter disappointment to the extreme Ritualists of the Anglican Church who have been yearning for union with Rome on the basis of acceptance of Anglican orders. Mr. Gladstone was the special champion of this idea, and it was largely due to his influence that the question was reviewed by Rome.

THIS decision will be the more humiliating to Ritualists since they have all along claimed that they were a branch of the Catholic Church; but the Pope refuses to own them, and puts them on the same plane with Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, etc. This doubtless seems to the Ritualist decidedly cruel, but they will get small sympathy from Protestants.

A LONDON dispatch of the 18th inst. states that the Pope has issued a pronouncement in which he says plainly: “After long study, I must confirm the decrees of my predecessors, that all ordinations made under the Anglican rite are absolutely invalid.” “The Pope,” it is added, “also entreats the Anglican clergy to return to the Catholic Church.”