Fiery Cross, Volume 3, Number 38, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 July 1924 — Page 6

The Protestant Church

Errors of Roman Catholic Thought Have Served to -Stimulate the Religious Currents of Thought Through Centuries

It is a fact not to be denied that the Protestant church makes little use of the riches of the Christian ages. In the eagerness of its dissent from the unwarranted practices of the church at

Rome, it turns its back upon a thousand years over which the Roman church spread its almost undisputed claim of absolute authority. When the Book of Acts closes, the Protestant teacher opens the history of religion again at the time of Martin Luther and the Reformation. This is very unwise, just as up wise as it would be if in America we should read the history of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and all

previous history should be cast away.

Should Know History

It is well for us to know something of our history, not only as members of one of the five races, not only as citizens of this mighty republic, not only as members of some particular church, but the history from the time of the coming of tha Christ who gave to us our Christian form of worship. It seems to me that it would be" very' proper and worth while if our Protestant church were given more of the history of the church and its struggle through the middle ages so that as we worship securely in our various churches we shall have some idea at least of the courage and tenacity In the characters of those who lived before us, who preserved to us the religion which alone must lift up the world. The Bible gives us a splendid ex

ample of the necessity of teaching

history. In the old testament especially do we have the record of the development of the church as

It was established from time to time There is given to us for our reflection and information knowledge concerning those who opposed the es

tablishment of the religion of Jehovah and the worship of the one true God. Its pages are filled with the

thrilling stories of men and women who gave their lives for the sake of Jehovah worship and for the saving of the nation. As we look at the world today, and especially our own land, would we say that the development of America, or the complete establishment of a Christian commonwealth is of less significance than the establishment of religion for Israel? From the beginning of time God has had a plan for the world, and that plan sometimes set aside for a period, and at times men and nations have sought to break it,- yet through It all, God has had His witnesses who have ever been faithful to the great principles which He gave to the world. Errors Served as Stimulants It Is true that from the fourth to the sixteenth centuries Christianity wore the mask of secularism. In France there are two rivers that run

parallel with each other for a long

distance, finally they Join their

waters. One is crystalline and beautiful, the other is muddy and be

smirched by the soil through which

it flows. It is interesting to follow these rivers along and note the final

result, whether the muddy river shall make all the waters muddy or will the clear water rise in its power.

and as it flows on to the sea make clear and lovely all its waters? The

result is gratifying for we see the cloudy water soon beginning to clear and before many miles have passed

the pure water has succeeded in

eliminating the dirt which was cast

into it. The errors of the .Roman

Catholic church coming during the centuries we have mentioned have

only served to stimulate the religious currents of thought, while there was thrust into the thought life of the world, contamination from those seeking to capture the church for their own selfish ends, and although the channels of thought and action were like the- drainage from the sewers of our cities as they emptied into a river, polluting but not destroying it. Men have made the "river of God" as foul at times as the sewers of

Paris, but stilt it has gone along through the centuries, flowing between the great mountains of His purposes, pure at its source and sending life-giving properties wherever it found its way. During the years we have mentioned let us not think that all of those who professed the religion of our Lord fell from the lofty position

they had taken, but rather that through all the persecution and dis

loyalty of those centuries there were those who maintained the faith and secretly "worshipped God according to the dictates of their own consciences."

I should say that the reformation

would have been impossible had it not been for the true faith and spiritual life which had been preserved amid all the corrnptions of the socalled dark ages. They were not

preserved for use in future years but along the highway of time amid

the stench and putrid rottenness of

men and organizations, they remained true to the God who had

given His only begotten Son as the

only mediator between God and man

There has never been a time from

the beginning of the Christian era to the present moment that God has not witnesses to His power and' love. Object to Reading Church nistory There are some persons who object to the reading of church history because they say it Is largely a record of doctrinal controversies, ecclesiastical strife, bitter conten

tions, all of which the people will do well to be kept in ignorance of. May I say that it all depends what book we read for this history. The fault is not in the history but in the books which have been written as giving to us a true conception of the times. It was in the fourth century that

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one of the great lights of the Roman church, St. Martin, the glory of Gaul, and the light of the Western church in the fourth century left his church and sought that "light which lighteth every man to the throne of God." He was of pagan parentage, but even while a small boy he felt the call of God through the Holy Spirit to a more devout life. He became an officer in the army, and surprised all by his kindness and courtsey to the commonest

soldier. A poor man called on him

for help and he gave him a half of his military cloak. That night he dreamed that he saw the Christ clad

in the portion of the garment which he had given away. He asked for his discharge from the army so that

he could serve his people in a more

religious manner, but for this he was charged with being a coward, but replied "In the name of the Lord Jesus, and protected not by helmet and buckler, but by the sign of the cross, I will thrust myself into the

thickest squadrons of the enemy without fear." Allen Bhtler, who has given us the record of deeds performed by this godly man, says "the virtue of St. Martin was the miracle of the world." The history, of the church has been

emblazoned by the lives of great men who have given themselves that the religion of Christ might

live, knowing well that only as the nations of the earth built upon the Master Teacher, could they endure

Their spirit of devotion, the purity of their lives, the depth of their

spirituality we have seldom attained.

Many Faithful Worshippers

We must not forget that in Rome

were many of the most devout Christians of the early ages. The

monuments to these are found in the catacombs, lying deep -under the seven hills. It might be well for us to visualize the places of the sainted

dead. Men and women who for the sake of their faith'worshipped, died

and were buried beneath the hills of this ancient city. A collection of over eleven thousand Christian inscriptions were published at one time. These crypts are from two and a half to five feet wide and about eight feet high. They descend four or five stories, and rise tier on tier in each story. Times of persecution caused the stairways to be cut off, and other alterations which made it very unsafe for anyone to try and go through this- city of the dead. In 1837 a school of some thirty youths with their teacher, descended into this place for a visit and to examine some of the inscriptions on the tombs. They have never been seen since, and they could not be found. Experienced guides will not wander from the be'aten path for fear of being

lost. In these chapels erected underground the primitive believers as

sembled for worship. In these catacombs is a very interesting

fresco of the baptism of our Lord, being the earliest painting that we know anything of. Our Lord does not appear in baptism as some think He did, that of being .Immersed, but

He is seen standing in the pool, while

water Is being poured upon His

head.

In the catacombs of Paris was oncelound a spring. It was called

"The Spring of Oblivion" and adorned with an inscription from

Virgil.. Later there was placed upon

it the words of Jesus when He said "Whosoever drlnketh of this water

shall thirst again, but Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that ' I shall give him shall

be In him a well of water spring

ing up into everlasting life." It Is true that the water of ever

lasting life did refresh the lives of

the early Christians who now lie silent in these crypts, each telling the story of religious fervor, in whose hearts was the cradle of the

faith of Europe. Of the number of martyrs we have no record and can form no estimate. This we do know that for ages Rome was crimson with the blood tot the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. Cyprian said in the middle of the third century "the number of those who had suffered martyrdom was incalculable." Only at the last day will it be known. These who sleep beneath the

rjimbling of a city and underneath the burning streams of lava as it pours down the mountain sides breathe these words:-

reformation took place the Protestants refused to admit that the church wl Jen they had left was entitled to call itself catholic, and prefixed the adjective, Roman, while its adherents claimed the designation "catholic" without any limiting

Eomatt Catholic Beliefs he Roman Catholic church believes in the infallibility of the pope, while the Protestant church believes that Jesgs Christ is the only infallible guide to right living and

only by Him do we have access to the throne of God. The Roman Catholic church believes itself to be the church of the

new testament, with authority to de

fine faith, rules of action, and that all bodiea not in communion with her are heretical. This, theProtestant church not only refuses to believe, but denies.

"By their fruits ye shall know

them." This is a real test of life.

It is not what is said or believed but what is done. If the history of

the years from the fourth to the sixteenth centuries mean anything at all, we could not accept the action of the Roman Catholic church as being Christian in faith or act. Christ came to establish a universal church and His church will some day be universal, not having for its head the pope of Rome but having as its head Jesus Christ our Lord. In summing up these few thoughts in regard to the Protestant church, let us not forget that the church of which Stephen was a member, the first church in Jerusalem, was

Christian and universal. Using the word "catholic," meaning universal,

the early churches were all pat

terned after the first. Because that

church of Rome did not correspond

to the original principles and ideals of the church of Jesus Christ the

great Christian churches dis

sented from their viewpoint and placed the prefix "Roman" before the word "catholic" so that the

world might know the Roman Cath

olic church was not the original

church as organized in the time of

our Lord. The Christians became

Pro-test-ants hence the name Prot

estant, which name gives the correct idea as they protested against

the methods used by that branch

of the church now called Roman Catholic. The church has only one head, and that, Jesus Christ. The

world has but one mediator, that

Jesus the Lord. May we all hasten the time when we Bhall all be one

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

ATTRIBUTES HER SUCCTOK.K.R. Lansing Woman, Prominent in

Club Circles, Devotes Much Time to Americanism

A Nation's Greatness -

LANSING, Mich., July 14. Mrs. F. C. Dunn, prominent In social circles

in this city, today attributed her success in a business venture of some magnitude to a meeting of the

Women of the Ku Klux Klan. During her activity in the Red Cross, Mrs. Dunn, who had to some extent interested'herself in chemistry, compounded a powder of great antiseptic properties. Believing that she had made a worth-while discovery, she made sevornl thousand small samples which were distributed at a meeting of the Women of the Klan.

One hundred boys and girls all

children of Berlin journalists have

been taken to Denmark to get nour

ishing food. The children were se

lected by physicians who reported

that they had not been properly fed

for many months.

i 1 !

Mrs. F. C. Dunn

The powder grew into instantane

ous favor and today it is manufactured by The Fresca Company which Mrs. Dunn formed. Mrs. Dunn has always taken a prominent part In all progressive movements and is the wife of a prominent physician of Lansing. She is a graduate nurse. She is a member of many of the more prominent clubs in Lansing and has been very

active in promoting Americanism.

I

'What constitutes a nation's greatness? An old, old question, answered a thousand times. Yet it can not be

discussed too often. Every Inde

pendence Day its stupendous implications should be remembered. The enduring greatness of a na

tion does not consist of invincible

armies and a warlike people, other

wise the empire of Sargpn would not now be dusty mounds on a desert

plain ;

Nor in . religious rituals and stately

ceremonies, else the shepherd kings

would still be reigning in the valley

or the Nile;

Nor in beauty enshrined in splen

did structures and exquisite art, else

the Greece of Pericles would not be a pathetic ruin; !

Nor in imperial strength bending

fierce nations to an imperial will,

else Rome would not be a mere memory held by a broken arch, a crumb

ling wall;

Nor in rich argosies, bringing

merchandise from the ends of the earth, else Venice would not be the half-forgotten lilt of . an evening

song;

Nor in. streams of gold flowing a

gleaming river into national coffers, else Spain would not be mourning a long-lost age of glory and power.

Jiut a nation s greatness consists

in her men and women. The hardy

pilgrims with unflinching courage

facing the rigors of a winter in the

New England wilderness were infinitely greater than the pomp and splendor of the grand monarch.

The sturdy pioneers who subdued a

continent and never shrank from

the dangers of roaring torrent

trackless plain and towering moun

tain, proclaim a character nobler far than the spineless multitudes of

the orient, content to breed, fester

and die by the slow corruption of a

teeming ruck of humanity.

With all due admiration for the "glory that was Greece's" her

Parthenon and her unrivalled shrines, a democracy that rests on

liberty and equality is greater far than a social order wherein the majority of the inhabitants were slaves, without rights and privileges, even though it be dignified by the name of a republic. - Nor need- we detract from the

"grandeur that was Rome's" when we say that going to war to liberate another nation, giving freely, asking nothing in return, is a more glorious achievement than any exploit beneath the Roman eagles. The most magnificent temple,

erected to the most powerful deity, worshipped by sonorous ceremonies chanted by solemn priests in the most gorgeous vestments, leading

mighty multitudes of worshippers in

ecstatic adoration, sinks into a sub

ordinate position' compared withC'tta -'

public schools of a democracy. -

me character of a nation's citi

zens : is the true basis of national -

gTeatness, and that institution .existing to promote general knowledge,

intelligence and loyalty is the na-

tion's noblest asset.

Aged Woman Guides Family to Klan

Mrs. Lucinda Goodall celebrated her one hundred sixth birthday at her home in Marion, realm of Illinois, recently. Mrs. Goodall was born in Shiloh, Illinois, and is exactly as old as the state of her nativity. She has three daughters and innumerable descendants living, all

Americans, all Protestants and

mostly all residents of Marion. The youngest daughter is fifty-one years

of age. Most of the family are said to be either active or potential members of the Klan.

The Goodall clan gathered to cel

ebrate the birthday of their venerable relative. It was a gathering unique in the history of Williamson county and the state of Illinois, if not the United States.

Mrs. Goodall, or "Aunt Dude" as

she is affectionately known, is still active. She has attended every fair held by the Williamson county fair

association, starting sixty-seven years ago. She rode on a train for the first time twenty-three years ago when she went to St. Louis and saw the sights of the only city she has ever visited for the first and last time. And that she is . modern is evidenced by the fact that She likes to and "does ride frequently in automobiles.

$250,000 KLAN TEMPLE t TO BE BUILT IN IOWA

DES MOINES, la., July 14. At a meeting here last week final steps for the erection of a $250,000 Klan temple were completed. A seven-teen-acre tract of land has been pur

chased and stock shares of $10 each sold. It is said that $6,000 of stock were disposed of at the meeting

when the proposition -was proposed. The property is located on a: hill overlooking the state fairgrounds

and is ideal in all respects. -

TROT PROJECTS TEMPLE TROY, N. Y. Permission has been granted to raze the walls ot the old Masonic temple ruins, preparatory to erecting a new temple costing $1,000,000. Temporary headquarters will be in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute gymnasium and as they will be used for about two years a program of dedication of these quarters is being arranged.

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"This which you labor to destroy With so much madness, so much rage, Is but a vessel formed of clay. Brittle and hastening to decay. Subdue the indomitable soul ,

Which, when fierce whirlwinds rends

the sky Looks on in calm serenity. And only bows to God's control."

It is for us today having received

from the hands ot these martyrs of

the faith- of our Christian institu

tions, that we do not forget to bear witness to thejr faith, until like Christ, they shall rise clothed in

the brightness and glory of eternity,

and shall be crowned by Him who

abolished dea'h for every man, and

who was crucified .that we might

live. Origin of "Protestant"

We speak of the Protestant church

but what do we mean? The Protestants are the pro-test-ants. The name was given to those who on

April 19, 1529, at the second diet

of Spire, protested against the de

cision of the majority, that the per

mission, given three years before to

every prince to regulate religious matters in his dominions till the

meeting of a general council should be invoked, and that no change

should be made till the council met

Besides protesting they appealed to

the emperor and future council

The diet Tejected their protest, and

they Immediately presented a more extended one. The name is now extended to all persons and churches

holding the doctrines of the reforma

tion and rejecting papal authority

- The word catholic, meaning uni

versal, was used in the early church

and medieval times for the great

ecclesiastical organizations with

which the vast mass of early Chris

Train Stops When the Engine Is Cut Off

Here is a chewing gum story that is going the rounds: William Wrigley, manufacturer of gum, was approached one day by a man-who said: "Pardon me, Mr. Wrigley, but do you know you are wasting a lot of money?" "How," asked the manufacturer. "In advertising," Was the reply. "Your product is so well known that it is not necessary to advertise." "Maybe you're right," said Mr. Wrigley, "but what do you think would happen if the engine was cut off from this train?" "Well, I suppose the train would coast a little way and then stop." "That's exactly what would happen," said the manufacturer. "THAT'S WHY I DON'T PROPOSE TO CUT OFF MY ADVERTISING" BUSINESS METHODS THAT DISTRIBUTE CHEWING GUM CAN BE APPLIED TO ANY LINE OF MERCHANDISE Can you imagine any business institution making any kind of a success at all without salesmanship? In this line of trade, the dealer has either service to sell or produce for distribution. In either instance, salesmanship is a big factor in his ultimate success. ADVERTISING IS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FORM OF SALESMANSHIP and the successful dealer or distributor is getting best results through the publicity given in the advertising columns of

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tians were connected. When the