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oi iuu muge ui h siuiui ingenuity. -cen-, The Devil.th I -e- 1 EXTRACTS FROM THE BECEXT PASTORAL Orrn BISHOP ELDER, OF MlSSIsstTPLas _:h *’Three thousand three hundred years ago, a people among the wealthiest of the known world had some methods of conjurations, by If- | which they believed they could converse with ed ; the spirits of the dead, and learn things from IW ' them which were not otherwise known. Almighty God condemned this ‘seeking truth lie trom the dead' in the same sentence with the barbarous superstition of passing children through the fire. He pronounced both prae: tices to be abominations: and declared that these and other sorcerers were the cause why He had sentenced those people to be utterly destroyed, and given their enemies power t o accomplish it. (Deuteronomv, c. xviii., v. '.) 12.)‘•These rains of old abominations men are now rebuilding among us, and boasting of them as new discoveries, and triumphs of progress.St. Paul called the devil ‘the god of this world who has so blinded the minds of unbelievers that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ may not be seen by them.’ (2d Corinthians, ch. iv., r. 4.) And now we see the forbidden intercourse with evil spirits erected into a religion as the worship of he God.he Should we wonder; then, if God did allow the devil more influence over the affairs of men, and more power to use the storms and flames with which he is familiarAs bad men can use their knowledge oi , the nature of gunpowder, steam and poison e- for the injury of their neighbors, so can the “ _ devils use their vastly superior knowledge oi the powers ot their elements to work their Jls | malice. They can do this, of cotirse. both le‘ 1 men and evil spirits, only under the permis-k* sion ot God aud within the limits allowed bv ic-Him.‘•Some persons tbiuk they see an increase of this power for evil, at the present time, in the number aud grievousness of the disasters which mark our day. Whether this be so or not, we have reason to fear God’s special anger ia our time6, because indifference to God is a marked characteristic of the present day. * ' 'The same God who created the material world and the laws which govern it created also the minds of men. and it is He who, in each successive age, gives men the power to discover from these laws of nature just as much as He pleased to let him know, and nothing more. In our generation God has been lifting the curtain a little higher than before und men are learning something more about the elements and their mode of action. I3at with too many, instead of being thankful, they have only grown conceited—and set aside God him self and His teachings as beneath the notice of scientific men.It fcwonld not be strange, then if God should confound their ingratitude and pride by letting the evil spirits have greater freedom to destroy their works and baflia the in ventious of their science. It is not our place to say that He will do so, but it is the place of all who fear and love Him to offer Him reparation for this spirit of pride, by showing in every wav the opposite spirit of humble faith aud childlike trust in Him. or-1 The safeguards urged by his eminence are ■ig- prayer and good works, but especially those external forms cf prayer which manifest the Catholic faith, before men and devils, i. e.. the use of the sign of the cross, holy water, lift- beads, scapulars, medals, holy relics, images. Agnus Deis. etc.[This pastoral of Bishop Elder is but the merest drop from the bucket of Catholic mys-‘|'n tic theology. The policy of the Church is to . l’ 1 avoid (he subject, regarding everything con-cerning it as a sort of unwholesome knowl-!' edge, and the priest or the bishop never ' “ draws from the accumulated experience of the Church except when he has a case iu hand a spiritual patient needing such treatment, fth This is certainly an extraordinary pastoral.]»g-latke.ex-ld-u.If.]ivety-ndty.inao-ofreety-ngin*.for
Newspaper Details
Atlanta Daily Herald
Atlanta, Georgia, US
Sun, Jun 01, 1873
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
David J.
USA 05 Feb 2024
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