Second advent library

52 nrssnnrurxou on 'rasunderstand the church; by the wildemess,we must understand, driven away from the"great city which rules over the kings ofthe earth." Revelation xvii. 17. Or, -inplain English, it is the true church of Christ,separatingherself from the abominations andcommunion of the old mother of harlots andabominationsy of the' earth; the Romanchurch being the only church which hasreigned over kings, especially the ten kingsof the ,Romanempire.The time speci ed is twelve hundred andsixty years,-thesame time Daniel's"littlehorn" and John's"mother of harlots"were to reign over the kings. Of course, thechurch of Christ must have separated herselffrorn the mother church at the time thechurch of Rome obtained her power to reignoverkings, in the year 538, when the Ariankings were subdued and made to yieldobedience to the orthodoxy of the bishop ofRome, from which time many schismatics,as the historians of the Roman church tellus, separated themselves from the catholicchurch,as they call her. And Moshiemtells us, that in the beginningof the sixthcentury, many who professed Christianity,opposed the worshipping ofsaints and images,and many of the unmeaning mummeries ofthe Roman church.Then twelve hundred and sixty yearswould bring us to the year 1798, when freetoleration was given to all churches, of