Through Five Republics on Horseback, Being an Account of Many Wanderings in South AmericaRay, George Whitfield
Religion
Through Five Republics on Horseback, Being an Account of Many Wanderings in South America
Ray, George Whitfield
Ray, George Whitfield, 1868- -- Travel -- South America; South America -- Description and travel
"Where was the quiet, peaceful scene of a few weeks before? Gone, and
in its place all terror and confusion. These ignorant people, believing
the words of the priest, gathered together their belongings and fled.
As I saw those poor, simple people leaving the homes which had
sheltered them for years, as well as their ancestors before them, and
with feverish haste hurrying down the valley--every few minutes looking
back, with intense sorrow and regret stamped on their faces--I thought
surely these people need some one to tell them of Jesus, for, little as
I know about Him, I am convinced that He does not wish them to be
treated thus."
The priest is satisfied with nothing less than the most complete
submission of the mind and body of his flock. A woman must often give
her last money for masses, and a man toil for months on the
well-stocked land of the divine father to save his soul. If he fail to
do this, or any other sentence the priest may impose, he is condemned
to eternal perdition.
Mr. Patrick, of the R. B. M. U., has described to me how, soon after he
landed in Trujilla, he attended service at a Jesuit church. He had
introduced some gospels into the city, and a special sermon was
preached against the Bible. During the service the priest produced one
of the gospels, and, holding it by the covers, solemnly put the leaves
into the burning candle by his side, and then stamped on the ashes on
the pulpit floor. The same priest, however, Ricardo Gonzales by name,
thought it no wrong to have seventeen children to various mothers, and
his daughters were leaders in society. "Men love darkness rather than
light because their deeds are evil." In Trujilla, right opposite my
friend's house, there lived, at the same time, a highly respected
priest, who had, with his own hands, lit the fire that burnt alive a
young woman who had embraced Christianity through missionary preaching.
Bear in mind, reader, I am not writing of the dark ages, but of what
occurred just outside Trujilla during my residence in the country. Even
in 1910, Missionary Chapman writes of a convert having his feet put in
the stocks for daring to distribute God's Word. [Footnote: I never saw
greater darkness excepting in Central Africa. I visited 70 of the
largest cathedrals, and, after diligent enquiry, found only one Bible,
and that a Protestant Bible about to be burned--Dr. Robert E. Speer, in
"Missionary Review of the World," August, 1911.]
Up to four years ago, the statute was in force that "Every one who
directly or through any act conspires to establish in Bolivia any other
religion than that which the republic professes, namely, that of the
Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, is a traitor, and shall suffer the
penalty of death."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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