The dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that
prohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the
church showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the
conspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on
them. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the
Roman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the
extermination of the Bible and Christianity.
The French made merry over their blasphemous work. Says Dr. Croley:—
“A very remarkable and _prophetic_ distinction of this period, was the
spirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and
all the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and
shows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under
the most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency,
variety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of
perpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn
till night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearly _eight hundred
persons_, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all
possessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris
alone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open,
filled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the
‘triumph of reason.’ ”
In Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a
procession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the
supposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the
terrors of God’s word, and the church would no more torment them.
“After three days and a half,” would be that number of years from the
suppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th day of June,
1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious
worship, CAMILLE JOURDAN, in the _Council of Five Hundred_, brought up the
memorable report on the _Revision of the Laws Relative to Religious
Worship_, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire
edifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and
subjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt
any religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the
dismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses
were again in a position to resume their testimony.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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