But the individual, when he offered the prayer, was not an inhabitant of this world, but in hell. It was Dives, who requested Abraham to send Lazarus, that he might dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool his tongue. But Abraham said, "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." (Luke xvi. 25, 26.) The bad success with which he met, Demetrius, I think you will not consider a very encouraging precedent for praying either to saints or angels. Demetrius. The very reverse,—the most discouraging imaginable. I regret that I have suffered myself to be so long befooled by the Priests, instead of reading the Scriptures for myself; but for this, in the absence of all precept, and of all example, except that of a damned soul, whose prayer was unsuccessful, and in the very teeth of apostolic admonition and command, I never should have wasted my time, and insulted the one and only Mediator, Christ Jesus, by putting my cause into the hands of others, who, for any thing I know, never either saw or heard me. But henceforward, instead of turning to any saint or angel, I will seek unto God, and unto God will I commit my cause. Luke. I greatly commend your resolution, Demetrius; and my prayer to God is, that it may be permanent, and that you may uniformly act upon it. Make the word of God your rule of faith, and experience, and worship, and practice. And should your Priest have the impudence to forbid you to read the holy Scriptures, tell him they are as much given to you as to him; that Jesus Christ has commanded you not only to read, but to search them; (John v. 39;) and that you are as capable of understanding what Christ and his Apostles teach as he is. Image and saint and angel worship, Demetrius, found their way into the Christian church in a night of great ignorance of scriptural Christianity. They all have the same origin, and that origin is pagan. I have not time to converse longer with you at present; but I have a paper in my hand, which I shall now give you, which you may read at your leisure, and which will abundantly prove the correctness of my statement. I have taken it from a very valuable work, repeatedly referred to already, "The Popish Mass;" but, that the resemblance between Paganism and Popery may appear at one glance, I have taken the liberty to new-model it. Here it is, Demetrius: farewell: read it attentively, and all the Popish Priests in the universe will never, unless you deliberately turn Pagan, be able to make you either a saint or angel worshipper any more whilst you breathe. THE PAPER. PAGANISM. "1. The Platonists and Pythagoreans held, that there are vast numbers of intermediate powers dwelling in the airy regions between the highest ether and our earth, by whom our prayers and desires are carried up to the gods, and to whom the management of things here below is committed; and that to them religious worship is to be paid. Another heathen writer, Apuleius, who lived in the second century, says, 'These are the messengers who carry the prayers of men to the gods, and bring back gifts from the gods to men. They go and come to convey hence prayers, thence supplies. They are, as it were, interpreters between gods and men, and bearers of salutations.' It was commonly taught among the Heathen, that the worshipping of inferior deities, as well as images, was necessary to help human infirmity; and that, for She POPERY. "1. The Church of Rome says, that the one God who is supreme Lord and Master of all, is attended, honoured, and served by numbers of inferior deities, whom she calls by the soft names of angels and saints, though she sometimes calls them gods too, as Divus Paulus, Divus Augustinus, &c. says, they are so many messengers, interpreters, and mediators between God and men, carrying petitions to heaven, &c. She prays to them, and pays them religious worship; she considers them as so many guardians of mankind; she honours the sepulchres of the saints by worshipping their relics, &c.; she has divided the administration of the universe into so many departments, for each of which she has appointed one or other of the subaltern deities. PAGANISM. the instruction of the vulgar, the gods ought to be represented under human form. "2. The Heathens had their mother of god, nay, and mother of all the gods. "3. The Heathens neglected the worship of the true God, according as the popular deities came into vogue. POPERY. "2. The Papists, too, have their mother of God, 'the Virgin Mary,' who is the prime minister and grand superintendent of all. She is called Queen of angels and saints, nay, and of the whole universe. As God she is sometimes worshipped. They ask her to establish them in rest and peace; to forgive their sins; by her grace to bring them to the light of faith; to heal all their wounds, and deliver them from all evil; and to receive them at the hour of death. "3. The Papists very seldom call upon the true God; and when they do, they join the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist, and other saints, with him, for fear he could not, at least should not, do the business without them. They have such confidence in those saints, that it is one of them they always call upon when they are in distress. It is to them they make their vows, and to them they return their thanks, when they are delivered out of dan ger. PAGANISM. "4. The Heathens would not allow any deceased man or woman to be worshipped with divine honours till they were canonized. Thus Tertullian says, 'The fate of each of your gods depends upon the approbation of your Senate. Such or such a one is not to be honoured, because he had not a majority of voices in his fayour. Your gods stand or fall, according as they are received or rejected by the suffrages of men here upon earth.' 5. Minutius Felix reproaches the Heathens for representing their gods as employed in the vilest offices. Thus Hercules is represented turning dung out of stables; Apollo is cow-herd to Admetus; Neptune is hired by Laomedon to build the walls of Troy, &c." POPERY. "4. No one can be honoured as a saint, by the Papists, without the consent and approbation of the Pope and his conclave. But these being obtained, then he is invocated in the public offices and prayers of the Church. He has temples dedicated to him, and altars erected to his memory. Feasts are instituted, and masses said, in his honour. Hymns are composed in his praise. His image is set up to be worshipped. His relics are collected and preserved, and set upon the same altar with their host. In a word, people flock from all sides to kiss his ashes, his bones, his hair, and every thing belonging to him; and pay him the same adoration and honour they pay to God; nay, a great deal more, for they never call upon God all the while. "5. The Papists represent their saints as sometimes employed in mean and scandalous offices. Thus the Virgin Mary is represented to have come down from heaven to support a highway robber that hung on a gibbet, because he had an extraordinary devotion for her. Another time she turns tailor |