careless indifference of the masses who blindly follow on, is what makes the creation and perpetuation of divisions among Christians possible. Perceiving that the division of the church would destroy its power, its leaders strove with might and main to preserve its unity. Had they exalted the Christ and used his Word, the sword of the Spirit, they would have succeeded. But they were ambitious and worked for a united church so they could use its power to exalt themselves and their opinions and crush those opposed to them. Human creeds, as standards of orthodoxy, were invented, and more stress was put on correct speculative opinions than on faith in Christ and Christ-like living. Persons who would not subscribe to the speculative opinions of man-made creeds were persecuted and anathematized. The church formed a league with worldly rulers and used the strong arm of the law to crush those who would not accept its human standards of orthodoxy. The Inquisition, with the dungeon, stocks, guillotine and other diabolical means of torture, was called into requisition. It is claimed that no less than fifty million human beings were martyred in this effort of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, calling itself the church, to maintain unity on a human creed. Although this effort at union was largely successful, it was not Christian union. Paul says that Christian union is where Christians are of the same mind and judgment and all speak the same things (1 Cor. 1:10), while this union was maintained by suppressing conscientious convictions and their utterance. _The Reformation of the Church._