Appearances or Realities?
G. CUPERTINO Associate Secretary, Ministerial Association Southern European Division
Among the many valuable lessons contained /\ in the history of ancient Israel is one * *- that should be very precious to Seventh-day Adventists living in countries where they represent a feeble minority and therefore en counter difficulties. It is the lesson of realities. The Bible tells us that the ten spies gave way to discouragement because of appearances, while Joshua and Caleb, directing their eyes Godward, spoke of optimism and courage.
Conditions analogous to those of the past recur today. In some of the countries of the Southern European Division, where Catholicism is the dominant religion, Seventh-day Adventists are courageously bearing witness to the truth. But it is nonetheless true that they are often troubled by the sights around them: imposing cathedrals, church rituals, the charm of music and art which act upon the emotions and hush the troubled conscience; the control of the press, schools, public opinion everything tending to remind one of an absolute power that it would be futile to resist.
Unbelief
And yet there is another and truer picture. Christians are counseled not to draw too hasty conclusions, "for the Lord seeth not as man seeth." The great statue of gold, silver, brass, and iron in Nebuchadnezzar's dream rested on a frail foundation. When we closely observe certain revealing aspects of this religion of the masses, we find the same condition. Then we discover, side by side with undeniable examples of sincerity and fervor, weaknesses that strike at the very foundation of that religion. The form of godliness is one thing form that can adapt itself to ignorance and superstition but a knowledge of God and of the principles of true spirituality is another.
Here are a few facts worthy of consideration: Italy is a country that is often held up before the world as being a religious unit. More than 99 per cent of the population are nominal Catholics. Yet the director of one of the most popular illustrated magazines of that country, an influential Catholic himself, does not hesitate to write the following:
"I have lived and been educated in a country where our children are christened, where they are admitted to full communion, where later they marry within the church, where blessings are in voked upon our houses without believing in God, and only because it is preferable not to have any annoyances either with God or with one's fellowmen." Oggi (Today), Oct. 1, 1953. Is it possible to describe with greater candor the pitiful spiritual condition of a multitude of persons "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof"? Perhaps someone will say, "Here we have to do with ignorant people, and their lack of education explains their incredulousness." Or: "Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God. I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them" (Jer. 5:4, 5). Let us then go to one of these "great men" the renowned Spanish-American philosopher, George Santayana, a militant Catholic and university professor. This great man died in a convent of Irish nuns in Rome at the age of ninety. Writing about him in the Corriere della Sera (Evening Courier), October 2, 1953 (the most authoritative newspaper in Italy), Emilio Cecchi says: "He was Catholic in everything in everything except the faith." And he adds that this great Catholic is the supposed author of the proverb: "God does not exist . . . and Mary is His mother." Superstition Only those who have lived in certain countries can grasp the strange truthfulness of this paradox incredulity and bigotry walking hand in hand. Another aspect of mass religion is superstition. A recent demonstration of this is the so called miracle of the statue of the holy virgin in Syracuse, Sicily. This statue, it is said, began to shed tears, thus causing fanatical manifestations in the whole town. Syracuse suddenly be came a shrine. Pilgrims from all over Italy and many foreign countries flocked there to see the "miracle."
A few days later a picture of this same statue began to weep, and a little later a third statue at Porto Empedocle (also in Sicily) shed tears. When persons with good common sense begin to criticize this tendency toward inordinate be lief in such "miracles" tolerated by the church but entirely foreign to the spirit of the gospel, this is the reply: "We have here demonstrations of mass emotions which the church cannot prevent and for which she is not responsible." Corriere della Sera, Oct. 25, 1953. This objection does not remove, however, the disquieting doubt that grips the heart of the impartial onlooker when he considers the "official" position of the church as expressed in L'Osseruatore Romano—the official mouthpiece of the church and in publications authorized by the mention con approvazione ecclesiastica (with ecclesiastical approval). Here, for instance, is what we read in L'Osseruatore Romano of July 7, 1943, in the column "Roma Sacra" (Holy Rome) under the title "Madonna dell'Archetto":
"The 9th of July is the 147th anniversary of the blessed day which will remain memorable in the religious history of Rome, for it was on this day that numerous statues of the most holy Mary, as a sign of her love and predilection for our city, miraculously moved her holy eyelids." This and many similar examples make it evident that the belief in such "miracles," far from being reprimanded by the Catholic Church, is on the contrary encouraged by its highest hierarchy. But let us return to the weeping Madonna of Syracuse. In the same Correire della Sera of October 25, 1953, a correspondent defending the Catholic point of view wrote under the title "Prudent Reserve of the Church Concerning the Miracle of the Weeping Statue": "What is the official position of the church concerning the miracles o£ the weeping Madonna . . . ? The church takes no position, affirm Roman ecclesiastical circles. The church, in short, fears an inflation of miracles. ... It often happens that similar incidents, making a great sensation in the beginning, are forgotten later. Sometimes popular infatuation continues, even though the pretended miracle has been officially denied or at least doubted, as in the case of the apparition of the Madonna of the Three Fountains' grotto near Rome. The church cannot prevent people from flocking to such shrines Page 22 and asking for blessings. It is admitted that even though the original fact does not exist, the intense faith of the suppliants can obtain the demanded favors."
The pretended miracle of the Madonna of the Three Fountains near Rome is now rejected or at least doubted, according to this Catholic writer. Thus it is that "miracles" suddenly manifest themselves, are multiplied, then are doubted, and finally pale into oblivion. And multitudes seem to prefer this form of religion a sensational religion that appeals to the senses and creates mass excitement. It still re mains a proved fact that it is easier to make long pilgrimages than to abandon one's beset ting sins; easier to perform certain rites than to change one's way of living.
Then let us not be too easily moved by false appearances. "Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil" (Ex. 23:2) was God's message to Israel through Moses. This injunction is for God's people of all ages. We are invited to search deeper than the surface to search realities and truth. Neither numbers, material splendor, nor age-old traditions are of essential value for the child of God. He who has the Holy Scriptures for his portion can bear solitude and derision. Our eternal destiny will be determined by whether we have simply cried, "Lord, Lord," or whether we have done the will of our Father in heaven.
