The-papacy-its-history-dogmas-genius-and-prospects-wylie

598 GENIUS OF THE PAPACY.Such was the Papacy. It was the labour of a million ofminds, and the growth of a thousand years. For we holditimpossible that the genius of one man, however powerful,could have contriven such a system ; nay, we hold it impossiblethat the intellect of Satan himself, vast as it is, couldhave conceived beforehand soperfect and comprehensive ascheme. The entire plan, order, and government of thekingdom of heaven, that is, the Church, were sketched outfrom the beginning, and revealed in the New Testament.Thus, when the apostles began to build, they knew bothhow their work was to proceed, and to what it was to grow.But the author of the Papacy acted strictly on the developmenttheory. The general outline of his system he plagiarisedmanifestly from the Scripture-revelation of the gospelkingdom.principles of hisIt is equally manifest, that the more fundamentalscheme he obtained by a process of perversion; that is, he made counterfeits of the leading doctrinesof the gospel, and on these proceeded to build.But as thevt'ork went on, he introduced novelties both of principle andof form, according as the spirit of theage and the circumstancesof the times allowed or suggested. With a raregenius, the exigencies of the times were ever understood,and the modifications and amendments which they requiredwere executed at the proper moment and in thehappiestway. Working in this manner, Satan at last produced hismasterpiece,—the Papacy.The Papacy is the most wonderful of all human systems.It stands alone, unrivalled and unapproached, throwing allformer systems of error into the shade, and challengingalike the power of man and the cunning of Satan to produceanything in after times that shall surpass it. Theancient polytheisms were comparatively simple in their planand tolerant in their spirit. Not so the Papacy. It selectsthe worst passions of our nature,—the sensuality of the appetites,the idolatry of theheart, the love of wealth, the lustof dominion, pride, ambition, the desire to dictate to thefaith of others. It gives to these passions the largest de-