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Character and Aims of the Papacy
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But notwithstanding all the efforts to establish Sunday sacred-
ness, papists themselves publicly confessed the divine authority of
the Sabbath, and the human origin of the institution by which it had
been supplanted. In the sixteenth century a papal council plainly
declared: “Let all Christians remember that the seventh day was con-
secrated by God, and hath been received and observed, not only by
the Jews, but by all others who pretend to worship God; though we
Christians have changed their Sabbath into the Lord’s day.” Those
who were tampering with the divine law were not ignorant of the
character of their work. They were deliberately setting themselves
above God.
A striking illustration of Rome’s policy toward those who honor
the Sabbath was given in the long and bloody persecution of the
Waldenses. Others suffered in a similar manner for their fidelity to
the same truth. Amid the gloom of the Dark Ages, the Christians
of Central Africa were lost sight of and forgotten by the world, and
for many centuries they enjoyed freedom in the exercise of their
faith. But at last Rome learned of their existence, and the emperor of
Abyssinia was soon beguiled into an acknowledgment of the pope
as the vicar of Christ. Other concessions followed. An edict was
issued forbidding the observance of the Sabbath under the severest
penalties. But papal tyranny soon became a galling yoke; and the
Abyssinians determined to break it from their necks. After a terrible
struggle, the Romanists were banished from their dominions, and the
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ancient faith was restored. The churches rejoiced in their freedom,
and they never forgot the lesson they had learned concerning the
deception, the fanaticism, and the despotic power of Rome. Within
their solitary realm they were content to remain, unknown to the rest
of Christendom.
The churches of Africa held the Sabbath as it was held by the
papal church before her complete apostasy. While they kept the
seventh day in obedience to the commandment of God, they ab-
stained from labor on the Sunday in conformity to the custom of the
church. Upon obtaining supreme power, Rome had trampled upon
the Sabbath of God to exalt her own; but the churches of Africa,
hidden for nearly a thousand years, did not share in this apostasy.
When brought under the sway of Rome, they were forced to set aside
the true and exalt the false Sabbath; but no sooner had they regained