i has been objected to by the Protestants.
ew bY ae Wy TR ES TE NAY, TY I, Sor es IR
Page Two
r
“And many shall follow their pernicious ways:
by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil
spoken of.
“And through covetousness shall they with
feigned words make merchandise of you; whose
judgement now of a long time lingereth not, and their
damnation slumbereth not. Second Peter 2:1-3.”
Notice the word “Privily.” That word connects
these verses with verse twenty of chapter one. These
false teachers are those who claim a private interpre--
tation given them by some divine power or providence.
Thus making them the interpreters of the scriptures.
This power is used by some in the council of officials,
by others in the chief head and by others in prophets
and spiritual gifts. The pgople have been so
thoroughly educated by this class, that today each
denomination looks to them for the interpretation of
the Bible. The prophet Hosea says, “They enquire
of their stock (sect) and their staff (preacher) de-
clareth it unto them.” The Roman Catholic church
has been greatly condemned by the Protestants for
holding to this private interpretation of the scrip-
tures. All who know the principles of the Roman
church know that all translations of the scripture
must have the sanction of the high authority of the
church before they can be accepted. And second, that
is not sufficient. Explanatory foot notes must be
placed to the scripture which notes must also be passed
by the censor of authority before the scriptures can be
placed in the hands of the people. When this is done
then the prayer book is furnished the member with
other endorsed literature which has also passed the
censorship.
The membership, in addition to this, is notified
that it is not becoming or safe for them to read any
other interpretation of the scripture. This is the
logical results of the private interpretation. It is
claimed that the Catholic church is the only church
authorized by God and hence the Lord uses the head
of the church to represent Christ on earth, that Christ
has given that church the kevs of the kingdom and
vested them with all wisdom and authority. All this
But are they
justified in doing so? We reply, No. When we ex-
amine the various organizations of Protestantism we
find every principle which thay condemn in the Cath-
olic, in each and every one of them, from the greatest
to the smallest. All have patterned after the older
church preceding them {ill there is in the last one
no difference. Tha organizations all claim that some
divine providence raised them up, and some special
providence was given them in the understanding of
the scriptures that caused their existence. Each pos-
sessing som2 peculiar feature, but in the main, the
same principles governing them. This divine power
is claimed by the followers for their founder, and his
THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL
[= —— ——— ——————
—— — —  —— 5.
ways, methods, peculiarities and mind are so followed
that the class is known by the peculiar characteristics
of the founder. They are seen in the followers as ;
clearly as in a child marked by the peculiarities and
features of the parents. All this is the result of their
claim for divine providence, and that the power of
private interpretation has been given the founders of
the sect. Thus superstitious fear is placed over all
minds till they lose the power of logical reasoning, ;
comparing scripture with scripture to know the truth i
of God. And God and Christ are hid from the people
by the headship on earth.
Comparison.
By comparing the organization principles of the
Catholic and the Protestant in church polity we see
the similarity and verification of my statement that
the condemnation of the Catholic by the Protestant is #
not justified.
The Catholies have as their head the pope, next
the cardinals, next the archbishop, next the bishop
1
and last the priest. We now take a late Protestant
crganization. First, the president of the general con- |
ference, second the general conference committee, a
third, the president of the union conference, fourth, 3
the president of the state conference and last the oo
ministry. Each department of both, control, subject
to the general head, a certain portion of territory and 1
people, the same as the officials of the Catholic church. ;
The Catholics have their church schools and colleges . y
fior the education of workers in the church. These rE
workers, from the ministry up, are to reach a certain q
standard before they can be accepted. The Protest- “3
ants do the same in their various organizations. Each
and all workers must accept all interpretations of the
church on the scriptures.
The next step is the propaganda of each church. -
After the school, the Catholic is to work for the sick.
The Catholic builds hospitals in all cities. The prin-
cipal solicitors for these and their maintenance are
the Sisters of Charity. This system is all conducted
as a propaganda for the church. As the final result.
Protestantism is following the same method. Recent-
ly a Protestant evangelist rented a large hall in one
of the cities. He was advertised as an evangelist of
a certain association. He had under him a company
of trained nurses... These nurses visited the homes
of the sick and gave free treatment. Multitudes at-
tended the meetings. Later, however, it became
known this evangelist belonged to a certain sect, and’
the doctrine of the sect were next preached in a
general way, but not specific. For further instruc-
tions on such points, the people were invited to the
church building of that certain sect on certain nights
of the week to learn more specifically the church
doctrines. But in the meantime more and moraz of the
doctrines were taught in the assembly room. Atl last