Newspaper Page Text
November 15, 1911] TUB i
portant paper have warned the nation of the
tremendous and sinster influence that must
thereby be exerted in the near future on American
ideals and civilization.
Tlin * - -
xuc iwujuu ^uLiiunc vmurcn lias organized the
political rather than the religious society of
the Knights of Columbia, which counts already
about 300,000 members who are bound by
secret oath to defend the Roman Catholic
Church in public affairs and in political circles.
The Roman Catholic Church has organized
the American Federation of Catholic Societies,
which numbers already several thousand
local centers scattered all over the country. The
Roman Catholic Church has organized the
American Federation of Catholic Press, which
includes several thousand editors and papers,
and, through such powerful organizations, has
threatened to boycott certain business houses
and various editors of daily papers solely because
they are American enough to express
freely what they think about Roman Catholic
Hnntri npo nnrl rwonfl/ino. ?:il
j/iuv/w^b, ?uu ucnucr you nor
any one accuse the Catholic Church of unfairness.
narrowness and sectarianism.
In the last meeting of the American Federation
of Catholic Societies, held in Columbus, 0.,
August 20th to 24th, 1911 with a number of
bishops present and under the guidance of his
Excellency, the most Rev. Diomede Falconio,
the Apostolic Papal Delegate at Washington,
the Roman Catholic Church adopted strong
resolutions to boycott the sale and prevent the
distribution of the Encyclopedia Britanica, the
greatest product of the best English speaking
scholars, published by one of the most renowned
English Universities and endorsed by King
George of England and Mr. Taft, President of
the United States. Are such attempts fair and
American? Is not this boycotting worse than
any other monopoly or trust ? Is it not a shame
that American editors and American business
houses should be boycotted by a federation of
which the Apostolic Delegate has to say: "The
American Federation of Catholic Societies is
working distinctively under the protection and
guidance of the American hierarchy and with
the full sanction and the blessing of the Pope.''
And you have no words to protest against such
dangerous encroachments)
Finally do you know the tremendous significance
of the last decree of Pious X "Ne
temere," concerning marriages) Axe you
Q \TT Q l?Q fVlO-f o 4-U~~ J- ? 11 1 * * 1
ontMV abtviuuiu tyj tins uucree Uli xrroiesiant
marriages are considered null and void, if
the marriage ceremony be not performed in the
presence of and by a Catholic priest ?
Are you not informed that all Protestants
holding a license issued by the civil authorities
and united in the bonds of matrimony by a
Protestant minister of whatever denomination
are considered by the Pope and the Roman
Catholic Church as not married?
And is it not the height of narrowness and
sectarianism, and even insult, to proclaim that
neither you nor any other Protestant husband
M yet lawfully and canonically married?
Are there not laws in all the States of the
Union condemning bigamy as a crime liable to
imprisonment f
If such is the case, then what does a Catholic
priest, bishop or cardinal deserve, who, knowing
that some one has married according to the
laws of the country, proceed to perform a new
marriage? If such ecclesiastical dignitaries
can escape punishment and avoid prosecution
J.U - A- 1 A A Al * '
ucxuic me uuui lh, wii.y nut gram uie same privilege
to the Mormons? Do not the Mormons
also claim that they are following the tenets of
their own church where they are married to
more than one wife ?
PBSBBYTER1AN OF THB 8(
If the civil marriage performed in the prea
pnp.fi nf nnrl lw tho nivil ?
, .. wv i/nu auiuuuiiea, ur uy
Protestant ministers when the contracting parties
hold a license issued by the civil authorities
can be ignored by Catholics and they can pro
ceed freely to perform a new marriage, then
what are the legal grounds to ascertain a case
of bigamy ?
And if the marriage performed in the presence
of and by civil authorities and Protestant
ministers is a legal and valid one, then why not
prosecute and punish both the Catholic layman
who marries a second wife leaving undivorced
his first and the priest who well acquainted with
the facts performs the ceremony of the second
marriage t
And why do you not speak out and in no uncertain
terms as the Emperor of Germany has
done, through his government, against a narrow,
sectarian and pernicious decree which
will cause bitter division and be a source of
CrimPS nrirl immriT-o 1 if-rr?
All of the above statements are made not by
an enemy of yours nor of the Catholics, on the
contrary they are made by one who admires you
and loves Catholic people dearly.
"YE ARE MY WITNESSES."
BY REV. R. L. BENN.
'' Call the witnesses,'' says the judge; and one
by one the witnesses in a given case take their
place and give their testimony for or against the
man on trial. It is a solemn and impressive
thought that Christ is on trial before the world
and that he rests his claim, his argument, his appeal
upon his people. "Ye," he says, "Ye are
my witnesses."
Think, the qualifications of a witness.
A witness must know. A witness and a court
of justice must have knowledge of the case in
hand else he is dismissed. The word is from the
Saxon, witan, to know, the root of many kindred
1 i*i - -
woras line wit, wist, wisdom, and implies that
the witness must have knowledge of Christ. He
who knows can testify concerning Christ and the
great salvation before the tribunal of mankind,
while he who has no experimental knowledge of
Christ cannot testify. The verb to know is a
transitive verb which requires an object, viz: God
in Christ who "loved rae and gave himself up for
me." In the days of cant and denial and agnosticism
it is entirely refreshing and inspiring
to meet one who knows Christ as his personal Saviour
and who witnesses that the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation.
A witness must have the courage of his convictions.How
often does a man suffer or fail to
get justice simply because some one who really
knows keeps silent; and how often does the
cause of Christ suffer because some one who
knows him keens silent One mnot
_ x AUUOV A1U f U bUC
courage of his convictions. Like Daniel and his
companion in Babylon, like John the Baptist before
Herod, like Paul before Felix and Agrippa,
one must speak out concerning righteousness and
present the claims of God. It may render one
very unpopular, but the cause is worth more than
popularity. Besides, popularity is superficial,
principle is profound; popularity is fleeting,
principle is eternal. It is the world's greatest
asset and wins in the end, because the world
eventually bows before its acclaim.
A witness must be consistent. Again and
again the whole testimony of a witness is discredited
by the court because it lacks consistency. It
is frequently the case with a Christian's profession.
The world reads Christians a great deal
:* J- XL. J - i? J *
muic man il icaus me muie ana wnen n aoes noi
read a victory of Christ in one's life, it discredits
the whole testimony. The beauty and power of
IB1B (1083) 3
Christian testimony is in consistent Christian living.
Truth and personality must be joined together
and work in life, as one, and when the
power of truth is thus enforced and verified, its
iufiuence is incalculable. No one can estimate
the power of holy Christian character and
living. It is the only genuine chivalry. It is
the greatest argument for Christ.
A witness for flhrisf ia rm +V?o lL
? kuo llgUli 31UC) U16
logical side, the winning side. God the Father
bears witness to Christ; God the Holy Ghost
bears witness to Christ, and the best and noblest
people bear witness to Chiist. There are multitudes
whose character and life reveal Christ and
are luminous illustrations of the power of Christ
their Lord and master. In interpreting the character
of God, in revealing the power of Christ,
they stand as object lessons of what God can do
with human hearts and lives. Day by day they
grow in faith and wisdom, in dominion and power,
in purity and peace, and by and by they
shall shine as the lightness of the firmament, and
as the stars forever and ever.
Holy living, ceaseless praying, cheerful giving,
more single-eyed devotion to Christ, the master,
is the practical and peremptory way of witnessing
for Christ.
THE OLD TRUTHS.
A class of religionists are saying a great deal
in favor of what thev call n?w tmtho
need of their application to the spiritual necessities
of people to-day. These men have a
bitter contempt for the old truths of divine
revelation, saying that they have been outgrown
by the swift progress of the human race, and
by tne great advancement of science. They tell
us tnat tne old views oi tne Bible are altogether
out of date, and therefore are not adapted to
the needs of the * * modern man.'' But these conceited
men are the bond-servants of a blindness
which prevents them from seeing the absolute
necessity of the practical application of the
standard truths of the Bible to every sinner in
me world. Uod s plan of salvation is forever
unchangeable, its terms have never been subject
to revision. Human sin is the same to-day
as it ever was. Human depravity has had no
alteration since the fall of the first man and
woman. It is permanently inherent in the constitution
of every person and every child. Every
child has come into the world with a corrupt
nature. This nature cannot be changed by the
use of any new views of the Bihip nnr u ???
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sort of "new theology."
it will never become true in this world that
one in his natural state needs no change of
heart, no change of nature. The old truths of
the old Bible declared that a sinful nature needs
to be superseded by a new and pure nature.
They declare that the atonement of Christ is
a necessary basis for the forgiveness of one's
sins, and for the impartation of the divine life,
by which one becomes a new creation and a new
personality. The sinner will ever need a divine
Saviour. Nothinc pan p.hancrp thin truth TtnM
can be no true substitute for a personal faith in
Christ, and in him crucified. Nor is there anywarranted
substitute for the preaching of the
old truths of Christ's cross, and the vital doctrines
which are related to it.
C. H. Wetherbe.
Holland Point, N. Y.
'iflfcA
Conscience appears to have a three-fold office:
First, it is a witness, testifying what we have .
done; second, a judge, passing sentence upon
what we have done; third, it in some sort ex- ^
ecutes the sentence by complacency in the welldoer,
and uneasiness in the evil-doer.?Wesley.