The Popes and Papal Propaganda.
The death of Pope Pius XII last October was the beginning of a period of intensive and worldwide propaganda on behalf of the Roman Church. But what especially disgusted and rendered indignant many in Great Britain was not merely the space given in the British press, but the altogether lavish periods of time devoted by the B.B.C. on Sound Radio and Television, to all the details of the illness, death and burial of the late Pope, and to the appointment and so called coronation of the new Pope, John XXIII. The Roman Catholics having official positions in the B.B.C., news departments, and those who are not Roman Catholics, and who aided and abetted them in this uncalled for publicity in Britain on behalf of the Vatican, all had a brazen effrontery in doing what they did. The number of Roman Catholics in Protestant Britain is but a few millions out of 55 millions of a population. And it was not surprising that members of the Protestant public on hearing so much on the Wireless about the Popes illness, death and life, were asking “What country are we living in?” Let those in Britain who might have been indifferent to this inordinate propaganda, enquire as to how much publicity would be given to any outstanding Christian and Protestant personality, in Spain, Italy or Colombia. Protestants were “heretics” in the eyes of the late Pope, and are “heretics” to the new Pope, and this includes our Queen and members of the Royal Family. In the basic teaching of the Roman Church the most evil treatment is good enough to be meted out to heretics. The spirit and dogma of the Spanish Inquisition is not dead in the Vatican; but external circumstances even in Italy and Rome, although not in Spain and Colombia, curb the attitude to “heretics.” In Italy about one quarter of the electorate were communists only recently. This is a strange result of the influence of Pope and priest. The late Pope proclaimed the new and lying, unscriptural dogma of the physical assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven. There is of course no ground whatsoever for this new and preposterous idea. It seems in this even, the late Pope was a rank deceiver of the dupes who followed his teaching. He made many statements regarding the marriage bond and matters relative thereto, which he and his celibate cardinals and priests are not really competent to speak of at all. When the Pope died, what is called “holy” water was sprinkled on his dead body. This water was no more holy than the water which flows in the river Clyde through Glasgow. What good the dead body of Pius XII got from this, we know not. Neither does anybody else. And yet there was in one paper a large photograph of this empty ceremony, and half a column of notes on this procedure. Then the Pope’s body was embalmed. It was reported that Professor Nuzzi and the Pope’s private doctor spent an afternoon rubbing aromatic ointment into the body. What the long term purpose of all this is, we know not. But we do know that the Scriptures declare “Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return.” Then the procedure and publicity connected with the election of a new Pope caused widespread amusement. The propaganda and extreme publicity here, with reports of black smoke and white smoke coming out of a chimney, brought much ridicule upon the men in the Vatican, sitting in conclave to elect a new Pope. Tradition or no tradition, it was enough for school children to send black smoke up a chimney to indicate to others their failure to do this or that, or to send white smoke into the air when they had accomplished something. The so called crowning of Pope John XXIII, was also given great publicity, to propagate arrogant, false and empty Papal claims. What were these? (1) He was crowned as “Father of princes and Kings.” And he is nothing of the kind, except in the case of princes and Kings who are so stupid and ignorant as to submit to his “Fatherhood.” (2) He was crowned as “ruler of all the world,” which of course any Britisher, African, or Indian etc., who has a modicum of common sense knows is just not true and is nonsense. The Pope is not the ruler of Scotland not to speak of the world. (3) He was crowned as “Vicar of Christ on earth.” This is a title, not given to the Pope by Christ, but assumed by the Pope who thus claims to be the representative of Christ on earth as the head of His Church. The Pope was elected, not by Christ, but by a conclave of Cardinals. He is not Christ’s special “representative” on earth, neither is any other man. When the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to the right hand of God, He left to His Apostles and Church on earth, the promise of the presence and power of the Comforter, the Holy Ghost. But all these false claims many do not trouble to examine. For example the Pope in his so called coronation, claims to be over and above our Queen. That sort of thing may have been accepted in the middle ages, but not by enlightened persons today. Times of Reformation broke so far the power of the Man of sin. We need fresh times of reformation to sweep away the insidious activities of the papacy in this Protestant, free and democratic country of ours.
Church of Scotland Tributes to late Pope.
There is no intention to be callous at the death of a fellow sinner such as the late Pope, when criticism is levelled at those professed Protestants who have indulged in unnecessary and fulsome praise of this man who was head of an organisation which would eliminate Protestantism from the face of the earth, if it could. Rev. Dr. J. A. Fraser, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, took upon himself, on behalf of his Church to say that the late Pope was a constant influence for good especially in the cause of peace etc. And Rev. Dr. Charles L. Warr, St. Giles’, Edinburgh, paid a lengthy, public tribute to the Pope also. It is astounding that from the pulpit of St. Giles’ the following words should be uttered regarding the Pope: “illustrious and beloved Father in God.” “… a prince and a great man has fallen in Israel.” “… a lamp of sanctity, wisdom and moral grandeur has shone from the Vatican.” Surely Dr. Warr is aware of the false claim of infallibility, the blasphemy of the mass, the worship of Mary, the invention of purgatory, and the lie of the Assumption of Mary, and the immoral moral theology of the Jesuits, and the present day persecution of Protestants in Spain and Colombia. What kind of “lamp of sanctity” was the late Pope at the head of all this? “If the light that be in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness?” As to the Moderator’s remarks, the Church of Scotland Synod of Clydesdale, dissociated itself from his statement that the Pope was “a constant influence for good especially in the cause of peace,” since these statements are not found to be correct on investigation of the late Pope’s relations with Fascism and Nazism. The Synod also referred to his failure as head of the Roman Church to end the persecution of Protestants in Spain and Colombia, and to the efforts by the Roman Church to force the Western democracies into an armed conflict with Russia.
Russian University of Atheism.
It was reported from Moscow in October last, that the Soviet Union had opened a University of Atheism in Ashkhabad, capital of its Central Asian Republic of Turkistan. The opening lecture was entitled “Marxism and Leninism on Religion and Ways of Overcoming it.” The course was to consist of 60 lectures. Such an institution is characteristic of the men who rule the people of Russia today. They think to destroy religion and any thought of God in the hearts of their poor people. These rulers will sooner or later discover in terrible judgment or mercy that there is a God in heaven and that He ruleth ever by His power. It seems that Marxism and Leninism have discovered something in true religion that must be overcome, if possible. If there be no God and no such thing as true religion why build a University to oppose and overcome religion? Poor atheistic communists!
Malicious Criticism of John Knox.
A journalist Colin MacLean reviewing several books on John Knox in the Glasgow paper, The Bulletin, of 16th October, 1958, devoted half a page of this paper to material which sought to scandalise and bring the great Reformer to the gutter in the eyes of Scottish readers. The main headline to the reviews was “This Man Knox: Villian or Hero.” Colin MacLean quotes from Dr. Agnes Mackenzie’s history that Knox “… though he lied like a Cretan, he never knew it.” From another book by Kirst Wittigs: Scottish Tradition in Literature, the claim that Knox’s Reformation blighted the arts in Scotland, is referred to. A book by Cyril Pearl: Bawdy Burns, is also quoted as follows, “The Puritanism that Knox introduced—castrated the human spirit and left it shackled in a dungeon of guilt and repression…” Then a pamphlet from the Roman Catholic Truth Society is quoted wherein it is asserted that Knox lived an evil life, and that he never wrote or spoke about education. One book favourable to Knox was referred to by Colin MacLean, viz., The Thundering Scot, by Geddes MacGregor. Even in reviewing this book the pen is turned unfavourably against Knox. And the reviewer, we noticed elsewhere, claims a Presbyterian background! Let Colin MacLean now devote half a page of The Bulletin to authentic history regarding the greatness of John Knox, a benefactor of Scotland.
Baptist Minister Praises Pope.
At the Baptist Union of Scotland Assembly held in Ayr, during October, Rev. Henry Cooke of London, said “The Pope was a very great man, and a very good man, and that propaganda against the Roman Catholic Church by other religious denominations should be brought to an end.” He is also reported as having said, that the Pope encouraged people to read the Scriptures, and that he helped to end Roman Catholic persecution in Spain, and it wasn’t reported that any of the committee of Assembly at which Mr. Cooke spoke, contradicted him or gave him any advice not to speak unadvisedly with his tongue. What does Mr. Cooke know about the late Pope being a very good man? The true history of the Popes from past times makes deplorable reading. We do not believe a word of it, that the Pope encouraged anybody to read the Scriptures. The authentic record of the R.C. Church reveals a centuries old antagonism to the free use of the Scriptures by the laity. If it were not for Martyrs, and translators of the Bible in Reformation times, the blessed Word of God might still be bound up in a dead language, Latin. Tyndale was put to death by wicked and violent servants of the Papacy, for giving the people of this Country the Scriptures in their own language. Mr. Cooke might be asked: why did the Pope allow any persecution of Protestants in Spain in modern times at all? Does Mr. Cooke not know that in several vital matters Protestants are still persecuted in Spain. The Baptist Union, if they are of the mind, would do well to watch Rev. Henry Cooke. Jesuits can turn Baptist for a while if it will serve their purpose and their Church.