"WHILE he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
The life of Christ was one of earnest activity. Tho opposed at every step, he was continually engaged in teaching the people and in healing the sick. To all appearance, the work he took upon himself was a great tax upon him, and this was a source of anxiety to his relatives. They heard that he devoted entire nights to prayer, that through the day he was thronged by great companies of people, and did not give himself time so much as to eat. The sons of Joseph, his brethren, enlisted Mary to go with them; for they knew that his love for her would add to their influence in seeking to prevail upon him to be more prudent. They felt that their own honor was compromised in the criticisms that came upon Jesus. They were not at all pleased with his startling denunciations against the religious leaders of the Jews, and felt the reproach that came upon them in consequence of their relation to him. They knew what a great tumult his words and works created, and were not only alarmed at his bold statements, but indignant at his denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees. His words previous to their coming to seek to compel him to cease this manner of doing had thoroughly aroused them. The record
says that he began "to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not." He had said: "Wo unto thee, Chorazin! Wo unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you." And with the sternness of a judge he said: "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee."
To the charge of the Pharisees that he and his disciples had broken the Sabbath, he had plainly shown them that their charge was false, and that he had done nothing contrary to the law. In the very face of their rebukes he had healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day, and had declared himself Lord even of the Sabbath. The Pharisees were filled with madness against him, and they had made their threats to the brethren of Christ as to what they would do. They held a council against him, and planned how they might destroy him. "But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence; and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; and charged them that they should not make him known; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased; I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the gentiles trust. Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb; and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils."
The people were convicted that Christ was the son of David. They were amazed at his mighty works and words. But the more Christ healed the infirmities of the people, the more vehement were the accusations of the Pharisees. They acknowledged that there was a manifestation of supernatural power; but they would not agree that it was the power of God. They charged him with casting out devils through Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. Every charge they brought against Christ was proved false. To this charge he stood forth, presenting arguments against their position, and showing that all their theories were as ropes of sand. He said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand; and if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your
judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."
Those who made this charge against Christ were on perilous ground. They were quenching the last ray of light emanating from the throne of God to their prejudiced, benighted souls. Jesus warned them of their danger, saying: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."
Tho Christ had given them evidence upon evidence of his divine power in healing the sick, in casting out devils, in opening the eyes of the blind; and in doing many mighty works, yet certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees came to him, and said: "Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas; for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Then he goes on to illustrate the manner of their unbelief, and the consequences that would come upon them. He said: "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here."
Jesus spoke with supreme, personal authority, and yet he always made the impression upon the people that he spoke by the authority of his Father. He placed himself on a level with the eternal throne. The glory of God fell directly upon him, and was shed upon those who would receive the light, and who would become light-bearers to others.
While many of the people believed on him, his own brethren, connected with him by ties of relationship, were unbelieving, and thought he was beside himself in thus claiming divine authority, and in placing himself before the Pharisees as a reprover of their sins. His brethren knew that they were seeking to find occasion against him, and they felt that in the words he had spoken, he had given occasion enough. They must make some determined effort to prevent him from uttering words that would not only involve him in difficulty, but bring down upon his family the denunciations of the Pharisees. While he was speaking these decided words against those who were unbelieving, his disciples brought in the message that his mother and his brethren were without, and desired to speak with him. He knew what was in their hearts. He knew that they did not understand his character or mission, or realize that he came forth from the bosom of the Father. They did not realize that he was born to bear witness unto the truth, and did not understand his words of calm authority, that came forth from his lips with6an earnestness proportionate to their reality and importance.
After hearing the message that his mother and his brethren were without, and desired to see him, he asked: "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hands toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
He had come to earth as man's substitute and surety, and those who would receive him by faith, believing that he was the Sent of God, were more closely related to him than were those who were united to him by the ties of human relationship. Such would not perish, but have everlasting life. They would become one with him, as he was one with the Father. His mother, as a believer and doer of his words, was more nearly and savingly related to him because of this fact than because of her natural relationship in the flesh. Those who were his brethren in a natural way, would not be the least benefited by their relationship to him, unless they accepted him as their personal Saviour. But how precious are the words of Christ to those who believe! What cause of rejoicing should they be to every soul who is linked to Christ by saving faith! What a support Christ would have found in his earthly relatives if they had believed in him as in one from heaven, and had co-operated with him in doing the work of God. But the inspired word declares, "Neither did his brethren believe on him." Christ had stated a sad fact in his experience when in Nazareth he said, "No prophet is accepted in his own country."
Christ uttered no sentiments, notions, or opinions that were simply such. That which he spoke was the truth. He had come forth from the bosom of the Father, and was the revealer of the infinite mind. He spoke with the authority of the divine oracle. He uttered the words of eternal life, unfolded truths of the highest order. Then what comfort should come to the believer as he reads these words: "Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
MY ALL IN ALL.
O STEADFAST love! that never tires,
Inconstant though I be,
To-day my yearning soul aspires
To lose itself in Thee.
O matchless grace! that hath no bound,
In largess more and more;
I, through Thy ceaseless bounty crowned,
Yet further gifts implore.
O heart of strength! that can not faint,
How close so'er I cling,
My utter wants is all my plaint,
My weakness all I bring.
O gentleness that wearies not!
O tenderness of Christ!
Earth has no holier, dearer spot
Than where the Lord keeps tryst.
O sweetness in the midst of pain!
O rest beyond relief!
O pierced hand I clasp again!
O Friend of friends the chief!
O light, and love, and joy, and hope!
A beggar though I be,
Heaven's gates before my vision ope,
I fain would climb to Thee.
—Selected.
THE INQUISITION AND ITS "HOLY OFFICES."
By Arthur T. Pierson, D.D.
BY ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.
Few people, even among intelligent Protestants, are familiar with the history of the Inquisition. When in Rome, few spots more repay investigation than the Palazzo del Santo Uffizio, near the Vatican, the building formerly used for the "Holy Office," as instituted by Paul III., in 1542. The tribunal was abolished by the Roman Assembly after the revolution of February, 1849, but restored in the June following by Pius IX. During the French occupation of Rome, the old Palazzo was turned into barracks, and the business of the Inquisition was transferred to the Vatican.
When Paul III., seeking to deal a death-blow at the Protestant Reformation, issued his bull in 1542, creating the tribunal of the "Holy Office [!]," he appointed six cardinals—Caraffa and Toledo being the chief inquisitors—who were clothed with power to appoint successors, and with authority to decide all cases as a court of final appeal. All parties, rich and poor, patrician or plebeian alike, were given over into their hands to imprison on suspicion, to punish on conviction, to torture by way of compelling confession. The only power not entrusted to them was the right of pardon—his "Holiness" reserving that prerogative to himself. And the Inquisition thus became, in a double sense, a court that showed no leniency, and its victims had indeed "judgment without mercy."
The rules of its action are a curious relic of papal equity: (1) In affairs of faith there must not be a moment's delay, but on the slightest suspicion proceedings must be taken. (2) No regard must be paid to any potentate or prelate, whatever his power or dignity. (3) On the contrary, the greatest severity must be shown toward those who seek to shelter themselves under the protection of a ruler; only where confession is made are leniency and fatherly compassion to be shown. (4) To heretics, and especially Calvinists, no toleration must be granted.
The cardinal chiefs of the Inquisition did full justice to their "Holy Office" as thus defined. And if Paul III. was a severe superintendent, his successor, Paul IV., out-Heroded Herod for the violence of his persecuting zeal. When he assumed the papal tiara he was already in his eightieth year, yet it was said of him proverbially that he knew not what it was to make a concession; and certainly in his conduct of the "Holy Office" he exhibited an unrelenting hatred of heretics, mixed with a severity which was absolutely merciless, and an intolerance that was absolutely unbending. He was the impersonation of Talus with his iron flail. His very eyes flashed fire, and his tall, erect, spare form seemed wrought of iron, with nerves of steel. To one end all his energies were devoted,—at any cost, to put down heretics and make the Roman Catholic See triumphant over all "reformers," a world-wide power with undisputed supremacy. In fact, so terribly hard was his iron rule that when, on August 18, 1559, he died, a riot arose, and "hell broke loose." The prison of the Inquisition was broken open and fired, the prisoners being released. The rioters went to the chamber of the Inquisition and slew the chief inquisitor, burned or spoiled all the archives, and were hardly restrained from burning also the convent of Sofia Minerva, where the old court of the Inquisition existed, and where Galileo underwent his famous ordeal of trial for astronomic heresies.
About the saddest things there is often a grim humor; and the "Holy Office" is not without its absurd and semi-ridiculous aspects, as when, for instance, in the name of religion, it calmly and systematically countenances the most atrociously irreligious and barbarous proceedings. For example, in the new Palazzo, near the Vatican, one may see the cells lined with reeds, in which a prisoner could not stand upright. A curious advertisement appeared in 1880, offering for sale the "halls of the tribunal, prisons, and dungeons of torture."
Dr. John Stoughton saw, while in Rome, that unique volume whose title is, "Sacro Arsenale, over operatica dell' officio della Santa Inquisition—con l'insertione d'alcune Regole fatta dal p. Inquisitore, Thomaso Menghini Domenicano, e di diverse annotazioni del Dottore gio Pasqualone. MDCCXVI." The sixth part, which treats of the detection of heresy, unblushingly describes methods of interrogation by torture. One would think even the "Holy Office" would hesitate to put such things in print and give such a formidable weapon to the "reformers" and other enemies of the "Holy Roman See," but the reader must be the judge of the depravity akin to madness that can unhesitatingly commend such atrocities.
Three of these modes of examination by the agonies of torture are specified: Tormento del fuoco, or torture by fire; tormento della stanghetta, or torture with the bolt or bar; and tormento della cannetta, or torture with the soldering pipe! Here, as Dr. Stoughton remarks, is a typical example of "framing iniquity by a law;" and in the pages of this extraordinary volume, with the coolness of the most audacious effrontery, rules are given for the infliction of the most exquisite pain.
And yet, with the most pious conformity to a religious routine, all this holy vivisection was inflicted on the helpless human victims in the name of the church and the compassionate Christ! The inquisitors assembled in solemn fashion, invoking the name of Christ, and prayerfully proceeded to the duties of the Holy Office! Records were put before them of persons—suspectos heretica pravitatis, as the names of prisoners are entered on the calendars of Newgate, and they summoned before them the accused parties.
Severe questioning, accentuated with exhortation, threatening, persuasion, extorts confession; if not, then the gentle persuasions of flame and bolt and soldering pipe and other humane appliances are added to elicit the truth, until, to get rid of the intolerable torment, the victim acknowledges anything, however false—for no confession satisfies the Holy Office which does not confirm previous suspicion. It is a hall of judgment in which judgment is virtually pronounced in advance, and the examination must confirm the previous decision. Penalties of greater or less severity follow—a public whipping, confiscation of property, solitary penance, slavery in the galleys for any period, life incarceration; public abjuration is the least of penalties, the auto da fe is the greatest. And all this for what?—For holding that there is no future purgatory; that auricular confession is not necessary; that there is no sin in eating meat on proscribed days; that images and relics are not to be worshiped; that Christ is our sole advocate with God; that popes who do not live like Peter are not his true successors; that papal indulgences and anathemas are not of any value or weight, and priestly absolutions are not efficacious; that justification is by faith alone: and that the host is not the real body of Christ.
How one exults to trace the history of these victims of papal tyranny, who, like the three holy children, could not be intimidated even by torture—like Bartolomeo Bartoccio, who after two years in a cell, doomed to the fires, walked with a bold step up to the stake, and amid the flames shouted: "Vittoria! Vittoria!" It was said of Savonarola that as the bishop of Florence threw at him a burning brand, crying, "I cut you off from the church militant!" he triumphantly replied: "Aye; but you can not cut me off from the church triumphant!"
We have not in this brief paper traced the Inquisition either to its beginnings or into its ramifications. Suffice now to say, by way of7completeness to the outline of its history, that the first permanent court of inquisition was established in 1248 under Innocent IV., the chief direction being vested in the then recently established Dominican order. Previously it had been local; now the tribunal became general, and was introduced successively into Italy, and Spain, and Germany, and southern France. In France, the Inquisition came to an end under Philip the Fair, tho under Henry II., an unsuccessful attempt was made to revive it as an engine of extermination against the Huguenot heresy.
In Germany, it fell into disuse in the days of the Reformation. But in Spain and Portugal it has a history which has perhaps no parallel in the annals of the race. Early in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, Sixtus IV., in 1478, revived the organization after a long period, during which it had but a nominal existence, the crown, however, both controlling the acts and appointing the actors of the court.
In 1483, a little more than four hundred years ago, the Spanish Inquisition began its terrible career under Thomas de Torquemada. The number of victims, as given by Llorente, the popular historian of the Inquisition, is nothing short of appalling. During the sixteen years of Torquemada's tenure of office alone, there were nearly nine thousand persons who were burned! Under Diego Deza, the second head of the tribunal, in eight years, over sixteen hundred suffered at the stake. Some have doubted or denied the accuracy of these statements; but after making all possible deductions and reductions it is impossible calmly to contemplate the amount of cruelty undoubtedly practised. The rigor of the Spanish Inquisition abated in the later part of the last century, after a period of three hundred years, the full history of which can never be written.
The whole method of inquisitorial proceedings illustrates the irony of history. A party, on mere suspicion could be arrested and imprisoned at will, and kept in prison until it pleased his judges to submit him to examination. The proceedings were secret. He was confronted by no accusers, nor did he even know their names, and, in some cases, not even the grounds of suspicion! The evidence of an accomplice was inadmissible, and torture was always the last resort to extort confession of guilt. If, after the torture ceased, the victim disowned the confession made on the rack, he was put to torture again, till he once more "confessed the truth" as before. The fact that no such tribunal is in operation to-day proves, alas! nothing but that the Holy Roman Catholic Church has no longer the autocratic power which made such high-handed atrocities possible. When Father Hecker can boldly assert that "Heresy should be reckoned and punished in the thought," intolerance is not dead, and only the power is necessary to revive the Holy Office. Rome no more tolerates Protestant heresies to-day than at any other time since 1248. Let us not deceive ourselves, nor abate our solemn protest against the errors which ensnare human souls in the name of Christianity. "Separation" is the watchword of the day, not "Union," and charity itself demands this separation, that we "be not partakers of her plagues."—Condensed from Missionary Review of the World.
