redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to
worlds afar,—worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human
woe, and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul.
With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the
wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and
understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation of God’s
handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon the glory of creation,—suns
and stars and systems, all in their appointed order circling the throne of
Deity. Upon all things, from the least to the greatest, the Creator’s name
is written, and in all are the riches of His power displayed.
And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more
glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so
will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God,
the greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens
before them the riches of redemption, and the amazing achievements in the
great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more
fervent devotion, and with more rapturous joy they sweep the harps of
gold; and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of
voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise.
“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I
saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”(1194)
The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire
universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the
vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness,
throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the
greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed
beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.
APPENDIX.
General Notes.
Page 50. TITLES.—In a passage which forms a part of the Roman canon law,
Pope Innocent III. declares that the Roman pontiff is “the vicegerent upon
earth, not of a mere man, but of very God;” and in a gloss on the passage
it is explained that this is because he is the vicegerent of Christ, who
is “very God and very man.” (See Decretal. D. Gregor. Pap. IX. lib. 1. de
translat. Episc. tit. 7. c. 3. Corp. Jur. Canon. ed. Paris, 1612; tom. II.
Decretal. col. 205.)
For the title, “Lord God the Pope,” see a gloss on the Extravagantes of
Pope John XXII., title 14, ch. 4, “_Declaramus_.” In an Antwerp edition of
the Extravagantes, dated 1584, the words “_Dominum Deum nostrum Papam_”
("Our Lord God the Pope") occur in column 153. In a Paris edition, dated
1612, they occur in column 140. In several editions published since 1612,
the word “_Deum_” ("God") has been omitted.
Page 52. IMAGE WORSHIP.—“The worship of images ... was one of those
corruptions of Christianity which crept into the church stealthily and
almost without notice or observation. This corruption did not, like other
heresies, develop itself at once, for in that case it would have met with
decided censure and rebuke: but, making its commencement under a fair
disguise, so gradually was one practice after another introduced in
connection with it, that the church had become deeply steeped in practical
idolatry, not only without any efficient opposition, but almost without
any decided remonstrance; and when at length an endeavor was made to root
it out, the evil was found too deeply fixed to admit of removal.... It
must be traced to the idolatrous tendency of the human heart, and its
propensity to serve the creature more than the Creator....
“Images and pictures were first introduced into churches, not to be
worshiped, but either in the place of books to give instruction to those
who could not read, or to excite devotion in the minds of others. How far
they ever answered such a purpose is doubtful; but, even granting that
this was the case for a time, it soon ceased to be so, and it was found
that pictures and images brought into churches darkened rather than
enlightened the minds of the ignorant—degraded rather than exalted the
devotion of the worshiper. So that, however they might have been intended
to direct men’s minds to God, they ended in turning them from Him to the
worship of created things.”—_J. Mendham, __“__The Seventh General Council,
the Second of Nicæa,__”__ Introduction, pp. iii-vi._
For a record of the proceedings and decisions of the Second Council of
Nice, A.D. 787, called to establish the worship of images, see Baronius,
“Ecclesiastical Annals,” Vol. IX, pp. 391-407 (1612 Antwerp ed.); J.
Mendham, “The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nicæa;” Ed.
Stillingfleet, “Defence of the Discourse Concerning the Idolatry Practiced
in the Church of Rome” (London, 1686); “A Select Library of Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers,” second series, Vol. XIV, pp. 521-587 (N. Y., 1900);
C. J. Hefele, “History of the Councils of the Church, from the Original
Documents,” bk. 18, ch. 1, sec. 332, 333; ch. 2, sec. 345-352 (T. & T.
Clark ed., 1896, Vol. V, pp. 260-304, 342-372).
Page 53. EDICT OF CONSTANTINE.—The law issued by Constantine on the
seventh of March, A.D. 321, regarding a day of rest, reads thus:
“Let all judges, and all city people, and all tradesmen, rest upon the
venerable day of the sun. But let those dwelling in the country freely and
with full liberty attend to the culture of their fields; since it
frequently happens, that no other day is so fit for the sowing of grain,
or the planting of vines; hence the favorable time should not be allowed
to pass, lest the provisions of heaven be lost.”—_A. H. Lewis,
__“__History of the Sabbath and the Sunday,__”__ pp. 123, 124 (2d ed.,
rev., 1903)._
The original (in the “Codex of Justinian,” lib. 3, tit. 12, leg. 3) is
quoted by Dr. J. A. Hessey in his Bampton Lectures on “Sunday,” lecture 3,
par. 1, and by Dr. Philip Schaff in his “History of the Christian Church,”
Vol. III, sec. 75, par. 5, note 1. See also Mosheim, “Ecclesiastical
History,” cent. 4, part 2, ch. 4, sec. 5; Chambers’ Encyclopædia, art.
Sabbath; Encyclopædia Britannica, ninth ed., art. Sunday; Peter Heylyn,
“History of the Sabbath,” part 2, ch. 3 (2d ed., rev., London, 1636, pp.
66, 67).
Page 54. PROPHETIC DATES.—See note for page 329.
Page 56. FORGED WRITINGS.—Among the documents that at the present time are
generally admitted to be forgeries, the Donation of Constantine and the
Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals are of primary importance.
In citing facts concerning the question, “When and by whom was
Constantine’s Donation forged?” M. Gosselin, Director of the Seminary of
St. Sulpice (Paris), says:
“Though this document is unquestionably spurious, it would be difficult to
determine with precision the date of its fabrication. M. de Marca,
Muratori, and other learned critics, are of the opinion that it was
composed in the eighth century, before the reign of Charlemagne. Muratori,
moreover, thinks it probable that it may have induced that monarch and
Pepin to be so generous to the Holy See.”—_Gosselin_, “_The Power of the
Pope during the Middle Ages_,” _Vol. I_, _p. 321_ (translated by the Rev.
Matthew Kelly, St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth; Baltimore, J. Murphy &
Co., 1853).
On the date of the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, see Mosheim,
“Ecclesiastical History,” bk. 3, cent. 9, part 2, ch. 2, sec. 8. As Dr.
Murdock, the translator, points out in a foot-note, the learned Catholic
historian, M. L’Abbé Fleury, in his “Ecclesiastical History” (diss. 4,
sec. 1), says of these decretals, that “they crept to light near the close
of the eighth century.” Fleury, writing near the close of the seventeenth
century, says further that these “false decretals were looked upon as
authentic for the space of eight hundred years; and it was with much
difficulty that they were given up in the last century. It is true that at
present there are hardly any, though meanly instructed in these matters,
who do not acknowledge that these decretals are false.”—_Fleury_,
“_Ecclesiastical History_,” _bk. 44_, _par. 54_ (G. Adam’s translation,
London, 1732, Vol. V, p. 196). See also Gibbon, “Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire,” ch. 49, par. 16.
Page 57. DICTATES OF HILDEBRAND (GREGORY VII.).—See Baronius.
“Ecclesiastical Annals,” An. 1076 (Antwerp ed., 1608, Vol. XI, page 479).
A copy of the “Dictates,” in the original, may also be found in Gieseler,
“Ecclesiastical History,” period 3, sec. 47, note 4 (ed. 1836, tr. by F.
Cunningham). An English translation is given in Mosheim, “Ecclesiastical
History,” bk. 3, cent. 11, part 2, ch. 2, sec. 9, note 8 (Soames’ ed., tr.
by Murdock).
Page 59. PURGATORY.—Dr. Joseph Faa Di Bruno thus defines purgatory:
“Purgatory is a state of suffering after this life, in which those souls
are for a time detained, who depart this life after their deadly sins have
been remitted as to the stain and guilt, and as to the everlasting pain
that was due to them; but who have on account of those sins still some
debt of temporal punishment to pay; as also those souls which leave this
world guilty only of venial sins.”—“_Catholic Belief_,” _page 196_ (ed.
1884; imprimateur Archbishop of New York).
See also K. R. Hagenbach, “Compendium of the History of Doctrines,” Vol.
I, pp. 234-237, 405, 408; Vol. II, pp. 135-150, 308, 309 (T. & T. Clark
ed.); Chas. Elliott, “Delineation of Roman Catholicism,” bk. 2, ch. 12;
Catholic Encyclopædia, art. Purgatory.
Page 59. INDULGENCES.—For a detailed history of the doctrine of
indulgences, see the Catholic Encyclopædia, art. Indulgences (contributed
by W. H. Kent, O. S. C., of Bayswater, London); Carl Ullmann, “Reformers
before the Reformation,” Vol. I, bk. 2, part 1, ch. 2; M. Creighton,
“History of the Papacy,” Vol. V, pp. 56-64, 71; L. von Ranke, “History of
the Reformation in Germany,” bk. 2, ch. 1, par. 131, 132, 139-142, 153-155
(2d London ed., 1845, tr. by S. Austin, Vol. I, pp. 331, 335-337,
343-346); Chas. Elliott, “Delineation of Roman Catholicism,” bk. 2, ch.
13; H. C. Lea, “A History of Auricular Confession and Indulgences;” G. P.
Fisher, “The Reformation,” ch. 4, par. 7.
On the practical outworkings of the doctrine of indulgences during the
period of the Reformation, see a paper by Dr. H. C. Lea, entitled,
“Indulgences in Spain,” published in “Papers of the American Society of
Church History,” Vol. I, pp. 129-171. Of the value of this historical
sidelight, Dr. Lea says, in his opening paragraph: “Unvexed by the
controversy which raged between Luther and Dr. Eck and Silvester Prierias,
Spain continued tranquilly to follow in the old and beaten path, and
furnishes us with the incontestable official documents which enable us to
examine the matter in the pure light of history.”
Page 59. THE MASS.—On the doctrine of the mass, see Cardinal Wiseman’s
work, “The Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in
the Blessed Eucharist;” also Catholic Encyclopædia, art. Eucharist
(contributed by J. Pohle, S. T. D., Breslau); “Canons and Decrees of the
Council of Trent,” sess. 13, ch. 1-8 (London ed., 1851, tr. by T. A.
Buckley, pp. 70-79); K. R. Hagenbach, “Compendium of the History of
Doctrines,” Vol. I, pp. 214-223, 393-398, and Vol. II, pp. 88-114; J.
Calvin, “Institutes,” bk. 4, ch. 17, 18; R. Hooker, “Ecclesiastical
Polity,” bk. 5, ch. 67; Chas. Elliott, “Delineation of Roman Catholicism,”
bk. 2, ch. 4, 5.
Page 65. WALDENSIAN VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE.—On early Waldensian
translations of portions of the Bible into the language of the common
people, see Townley, “Illustrations of Biblical Literature,” Vol. I, ch.
10, par. 1-13; E. Petavel, “The Bible in France,” ch. 2, par. 3, 4, 8-10,
13, 21 (Paris ed., 1864); G. H. Putnam, “The Censorship of the Church of
Rome,” Vol. II, ch. 2.
Page 77. EDICT AGAINST THE WALDENSES.—A considerable portion of the text
of the papal bull issued by Innocent VIII. in 1487 against the Waldenses
(the original of which is in the library of the University of Cambridge)
is given, in an English translation, in Dowling’s “History of Romanism,”
bk. 6, ch. 5, sec. 62 (ed. 1871).
Page 84. INDULGENCES.—See note for page 59.
Page 85. WYCLIFFE.—For the original text of the papal bulls issued against
Wycliffe, with an English translation, see J. Foxe, “Acts and Monuments,”
Vol. III, pp. 4-13 (Pratt-Townsend ed., London, 1870). See also J. Lewis,
“Life of Wiclif,” pp. 49-51, 305-314 (ed. 1820); Lechler, “John Wycliffe
and His English Precursors,” ch. 5, sec. 2 (pp. 162-164, London ed., 1884,
tr. by Lorimer); A. Neander, “General History of the Christian Church,”
period 6, _sec. 2_, part 1, par. 8.
Page 86. INFALLIBILITY.—On the doctrine of Infallibility, see Catholic
Encyclopædia, art. Infallibility (contributed by P. J. Turner, S. T. D.);
Geo. Salmon, “The Infallibility of the Church;” Chas. Elliott,
“Delineation of Roman Catholicism,” bk. 1, ch. 4; Cardinal Gibbons, “The
Faith of Our Fathers,” ch. 7 (49th ed., 1897).
Page 103. INDULGENCES.—See note for page 59.
Page 104. COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.—On the calling of the Council of Constance
by Pope John XXIII., at the instance of the emperor Sigismund, see
Mosheim, “Ecclesiastical History,” bk. 3, cent. 15, part 2, ch. 2, sec. 3;
J. Dowling, “History of Romanism,” bk. 6, ch. 2, par. 13; A. Bower,
“History of the Popes,” Vol. VII, pp. 141-143 (London ed., 1766); Neander,
“History of the Christian Religion and Church,” period 6, sec. 1 (1854,
5-vol. ed., tr. by Torrey, Vol. V, pp. 94-101).
Page 128. INDULGENCES.—See note for page 59.
Page 234. JESUITISM.—For a statement concerning the origin, the
principles, and the purposes of the “Society of Jesus,” as outlined by
members of this Order, see a work entitled “Concerning Jesuits,” edited by
the Rev. John Gerard, S. J., and published in London, 1902, by the
Catholic Truth Society. In this work it is said that “the mainspring of
the whole organization of the Society is a spirit of entire obedience:
‘Let each one,’ writes St. Ignatius, ‘persuade himself that those who live
under obedience ought to allow themselves to be moved and directed by
divine Providence through their superiors, just as though they were a dead
body, which allows itself to be carried anywhere and to be treated in any
manner whatever, or as an old man’s staff, which serves him who holds it
in his hand in whatsoever way he will.’
“This absolute submission is ennobled by its motive, and should be,
continues the ... founder, ‘prompt, joyous, and persevering; ... the
obedient religious accomplishes joyfully that which his superiors have
confided to him for the general good, assured that thereby he corresponds
truly with the divine will.’ ”—_The Comtesse R. de Courson, in
__“__Concerning Jesuits,__”__ p. 6._
See also L. E. Dupin, “A Compendious History of the Church,” cent. 16, ch.
33 (London ed., 1713, Vol. IV, pp. 132-135); Mosheim, “Ecclesiastical
History,” cent. 16, sec. 3, part 1, ch. 1, par. 10 (including notes 5, 6);
Encyclopædia Britannica (ninth ed.), art. Jesuits; C. Paroissien, “The
Principles of the Jesuits, Developed in a Collection of Extracts from
Their Own Authors” (London, 1860—an earlier edition appeared in 1839); W.
C. Cartwright, “The Jesuits, Their Constitution and Teaching” (London,
1876); E. L. Taunton, “The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580-1773”
(London, 1901).
Page 235. THE INQUISITION.—See Catholic Encyclopædia, art. Inquisition
(contributed by J. Blötzer, S. J., Munich); H. C. Lea, “History of the
Inquisition in the Middle Ages;” Limborch, “History of the Inquisition,”
Vol. I, bk. 1, ch. 25, 27-31 (London ed., 1731, tr. by S. Chandler, Vol.
I, pp. 131-142, 144-161); L. von Ranke, “History of the Popes,” bk. 2, ch.
6.
Page 265. CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.—On the far-reaching
consequences of the rejection of the Bible, and of Bible religion, by the
people of France, see H. von Sybel, “History of the French Revolution,”
bk. 5, ch. 1, par. 3-7; H. T. Buckle, “History of Civilization in
England,” ch. 8, 12 (N. Y. ed., 1895, Vol. I, pp. 364-366, 369-371, 437,
550, 540, 541); _Blackwood’s Magazine_, Vol. XXXIV, No. 215 (November,
1833, p. 739); J. G. Lorimer, “An Historical Sketch of the Protestant
Church in France,” ch. 8, par. 6, 7.
Page 266. PROPHETIC DATES.—See note for page 329.
Page 267. EFFORTS TO SUPPRESS AND DESTROY THE BIBLE.—Referring to the
long-continued efforts in France to suppress the Bible—particularly
versions in the language of the common people, Gaussen says: “The decree
of Toulouse, 1229,” which established the “tribunal of the Inquisition
against all the readers of the Bible in the vulgar tongue, ... was an
edict of fire, bloodshed, and devastation. In its 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th
chapters, it ordained the entire destruction of the houses, the humblest
places of concealment, and even the subterranean retreats of men convicted
of possessing the Scriptures; that they should be pursued to the forests
and caves of the earth; and that even those who harbored them should be
severely punished.” As a result, the Bible “was everywhere prohibited; it
vanished, as it were, underground; it descended into the tomb.” These
decrees were “followed for five hundred years by innumerable punishments,
in which the blood of the saints flowed like water.”—_L. Gaussen, __“__The
Canon of the Holy Scriptures,__”__ __ part 2, bk. 2, ch. 7, sec. 5, prop.
561; and ch. 13, sec. 2, prop. 641, par. 2._
On the special efforts made to destroy Bibles during the Reign of Terror,
late in 1793, Dr. Lorimer says: “Wherever a Bible could be found it might
be said to be persecuted to death; so much so, that several respectable
commentators interpret the slaying of the two witnesses in the eleventh
chapter of the Apocalypse, of the general suppression, nay, destruction,
of the Old and New Testaments in France at this period.”—_J. G. Lorimer,
__“__An Historical Sketch of the Protestant Church in France,__”__ ch. 8,
par. 4, 5._
See also G. P. Fisher, “The Reformation,” ch. 15, par. 16; E. Petavel,
“The Bible in France,” ch. 2, par. 3, 8-10, 13, 21 (Paris ed., 1864); G.
H. Putnam, “The Censorship of the Church of Rome,” Vol. I, ch. 4 (1906
ed., pp. 97, 99, 101, 102); Vol. II, ch. 2 (pp. 15-19); S. Smiles, “The
Huguenots: Their Settlements, Churches, and Industries,” etc., ch. 1, par.
32, 34; ch. 2, par. 6; ch. 3, par. 14; ch. 18, par. 5 (with note); S.
Smiles, “The Huguenots in France after the Revocation,” ch. 2, par. 8; ch.
10, par. 30; ch. 12, par. 2-4; J. A. Wylie, “History of Protestantism,”
bk. 22, ch. 6, par. 3.
Page 276. THE REIGN OF TERROR.—On the responsibility of misguided leaders,
in both church and state, and particularly in the church, for the scenes
of the French Revolution, see W. M. Sloane, “The French Revolution and
Religious Reform,” Preface, and ch. 2, par. 1, 2, 10-14 (1901 ed., pp.
vii-ix, 19, 20, 26-31, 40); P. Schaff, in “Papers of the American Society
of Church History,” Vol. I, pp. 38, 44; S. Smiles, “The Huguenots after
the Revocation,” ch. 18, par. 4, 6, 9, 10, 12-16, 27; J. G. Lorimer, “An
Historical Sketch of the Protestant Church of France,” ch. 8, par. 6, 7;
A. Galton, “Church and State in France, 1300-1907,” ch. 3, sec. 2 (London
ed., 1907); Sir J. Stephen, “Lectures on the History of France,” lecture
16, par. 60.
Page 280. THE MASSES AND THE PRIVILEGED CLASSES.—On social conditions
prevailing in France prior to the period of the Revolution, see H. von
Holst, “Lowell Lectures on the French Revolution,” lecture 1; also Taine,
“Ancient Régime,” and A. Young, “Travels in France.”
Page 283. RETRIBUTION.—For further details concerning the retributive
character of the French Revolution, see Thos. H. Gill, “The Papal Drama,”
bk. 10; E. de Pressensé, “The Church and the French Revolution,” bk. 3,
ch. 1.
Page 284. THE ATROCITIES OF THE REIGN OF TERROR.—See M. A. Thiers,
“History of the French Revolution,” Vol. III, pp. 42-44, 62-74, 106 (N. Y.
ed., 1890, tr. by F. Shoberl); F. A. Mignet, “History of the French
Revolution,” ch. 9, par. 1 (Bohn ed., 1894); A. Alison, “History of
Europe,” 1789-1815, Vol. I, ch. 14 (N. Y. ed., 1872, Vol. 1, pp. 293-312).
Page 287. THE CIRCULATION OF THE SCRIPTURES.—In 1804, according to Mr.
William Canton, of the British and Foreign Bible Society, “all the Bibles
extant in the world, in manuscript or in print, counting every version in
every land, were computed at not many more than four millions.... The
various languages in which those four millions were written, including
such bygone speech as the Mœso-Gothic of Ulfilas and the Anglo-Saxon of
Bede, are set down as numbering about fifty.”—“_What Is the Bible
Society?_” p. 23 (rev. ed., 1904).
A hundred years later, at the close of its first centenary, the British
and Foreign Bible Society was able to report a total distribution of
Bibles, Testaments, or portions thereof, by that society alone, to the
number of 186,680,101—a total that, in 1910, had grown to upwards of
220,000,000 copies, in nearly four hundred distinct tongues.
To these totals must be added the millions of copies of the Scriptures or
portions thereof, in many languages, distributed by other Bible societies
and by various commercial agencies. The American Bible Society,—the
greatest of the daughters of the British parent society,—during the first
ninety-four years of its work, reported a total distribution of 87,296,182
copies. (See _Bible Society Record_, June, 1910.) According to
conservative estimates, about six million copies of the Bible are printed
annually by commercial houses, which, added to the combined output of the
Bible societies, gives a total yearly circulation of more than fifteen
million copies.
The Scriptures, in whole or in part, have been printed in more than five
hundred distinct tongues; and the work of translation into new languages
and dialects is still carried forward with unflagging zeal.
Page 288. FOREIGN MISSIONS.—Dr. G. P. Fisher, in a chapter on “Christian
Missions” in his “History of the Christian Church,” outlines the
beginnings of the missionary movement, which, in “the later years of the
eighteenth century, ushered in a brilliant era of missionary activity, an
era which, in the history of missions, is only less remarkable than the
first of the Christian ages.” In 1792, “the Baptist society was founded,
with Carey as one of its first missionaries. Carey sailed for India, and
there, with the help of other members of the same society, founded the
mission of Serampore.” In 1795, the London Missionary Society was founded;
in 1799, there was formed “the organization which in 1812 became the
Church Missionary Society.” Soon afterward, the Wesleyan Missionary
Society was founded.
“While the missionary activity was growing up in Great Britain, the
Christians of America were becoming animated with a like zeal.” In 1812,
they founded the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; and
in 1814, the American Baptist Missionary Union. Adoniram Judson, one of
the first missionaries to go out from America, sailed for Calcutta in
1812, and reached Burmah in July, 1813. In 1837, the Presbyterian Board
was formed. (See Fisher, “History of the Christian Church,” period 9, ch.
7, par. 3-25.)