The Protestant – Part 4

TimeWatch Editorial
December 09, 2016

In our final look at this subject as it has been dealt with in the Catholic Mirror, we come to the argument that has been developing throughout the series of articles. “The Christian Sabbath” published in the Catholic Mirror on September 23, 1893 opens up with the following sub-topic.

“The Genuine Offspring Of The Union Of The Holy Ghost And The Catholic Church His Spouse. The Claims Of Protestantism To Any Part Therein Proved To Be Groundless, Self-Contradictory, And Suicidal” “The Christian Sabbath” the Catholic Mirror, September 23, 1893

The developing argument utilized in the preceding articles finds its fulfillment here. The conclusive argument is introduced this way.

“Before closing this series of articles, we beg to call the attention of our readers once more to our caption, introductory of each; viz., 1st—The Christian Sabbath, the genuine offspring of the union of the Holy Spirit with the Catholic Church His spouse. 2nd—The claim of Protestantism to any part therein proved to be groundless, self-contradictory, and suicidal.” “The Christian Sabbath” the Catholic Mirror, September 23, 1893

The writer of this article now presents the position held by the Church of Rome regarding the two issues mentioned in the above paragraph. Listen carefully to the following statement.

“The first proposition needs little proof. The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday. We say by virtue of her divine mission, because He who called Himself the "Lord of the Sabbath," endowed her with His own power to teach, "he that heareth you, heareth Me;" commanded all who believe in Him to hear her, under penalty of being placed with "heathen and publican;" and promised to be with her to the end of the world. She holds her charter as teacher from Him — a charter as infallible as perpetual. The Protestant world at its birth found the Christian Sabbath too strongly entrenched to run counter to its existence; it was therefore placed under the necessity of acquiescing in the arrangement, thus implying the Church's right to change the day, for over three hundred years. The Christian Sabbath is therefore to this day, the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church as spouse of the Holy Ghost, without a word of remonstrance from the Protestant world.” “The Christian Sabbath” the Catholic Mirror, September 23, 1893

So this above paragraph is the Catholic position that The Christian Sabbath is the genuine offspring of the union of the Holy Spirit with the Catholic Church His spouse. Next we continue to look at the second point being made concerning the claim made by Protestants.

“Let us now, however, take a glance at our second proposition, with the Bible alone as the teacher and guide in faith and morals. This teacher most emphatically forbids any change in the day for paramount reasons. The command calls for a "perpetual covenant." The day commanded to be kept by the teacher has never once been kept, thereby developing an apostasy from an assumedly fixed principle, as self-contradictory, self-stultifying, and consequently as suicidal as it is within the power of language to express.” “The Christian Sabbath” the Catholic Mirror, September 23, 1893

Now comes the damning evidence that is presented in the argument being made by the Church of Rome against Protestantism and “their pretense for leaving the bosom of the Catholic Church.”

“Their pretense for leaving the bosom of the Catholic Church was for apostasy from the truth as taught in the written word. They adopted the written word as their sole teacher, which they had no sooner done than they abandoned it promptly, as these articles have abundantly proved; and by a perversity as willful as erroneous, they accept the teaching of the Catholic Church in direct opposition to the plain, unvaried, and constant teaching of their sole teacher in the most essential doctrine of their religion, thereby emphasizing the situation in what may be aptly designated "a mockery, a delusion, and a snare." “The Christian Sabbath” the Catholic Mirror, September 23, 1893

Not much then, is left to be said regarding the matter. Rome says clearly that leaving the Catholic Church, while at the same time continuing to worship on the day that the Church of Rome has determined they should worship, negates every other argument that they might make concerning the “Apostate Church.” Furthermore they are saying that even if every other element of their departure from the Church of Rome is legitimate, the fact that they worship on Sunday, the day determined by the Catholic Church, negates their worship in total. Finally, the writer of the article in the Catholic Mirror challenges any Protestant to argue against the thorough research that has been done in the series of articles. Listen to the challenge.

“Should any of the Parsons, who are in the habit of howling so vociferously over every real or assumed desecration of the Bible Sabbath, think well of entering a protest against our logical and scriptural dissection of their position, we can promise them that any attempt on their part to further argue their position, will be met with genuine cordiality and respectful consideration on our part. But we can assure our readers that we know these reverend howlers too well to expect a solitary bark from them in this instance. And they know us too well to subject themselves to the mortification which a further dissection of this anti-scriptural question would necessarily entail. Their policy now is to "lay low," and they are sure to adopt it.” “The Christian Sabbath” the Catholic Mirror, September 23, 1893

In other words, says Rome, we are willing to take on any challenge from these so called Protestants to our Biblical study of the facts regarding the Sabbath. But, says the writer of the article “we know these reverend howlers too well to expect a solitary bark from them in this instance.” In other words, they do not expect any challenge from any Protestant regarding their Biblical presentation. There has not arisen any published rebuke to the arguments made in the Catholic Mirror series in 1893. Not one solitary bark has arisen.

Cameron A. Bowen