Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/187

Rh This community embraces all who acknowledge his name, who call themselves Christians; thus are all isolated communities members of the community of Peter; that is to say, of the Roman church. Thus is she the mother of all Christian churches, and all churches are her subjects as daughters to their mother. She takes upon herself all their troubles; she may demand from them all reverence and obedience. She is the mother of all, and therefore has command over all her several members, amongst whom are emperors, kings, princes, archbishops, bishops, abbots. By virtue of her power over the keys she can appoint and remove them; she can give them power, not for transitory glory but for the well-being of many. They must therefore submissively obey. If they walk in the ways of sin, then will the holy mother convert them, and guide them into those which are right; if she do not so, then she sins through them. But he who builds up this mother, watches over her, follows and protects her, he obtains through her protection and benefit. The world now lies in wickedness; this age is the iron age; the church throughout the whole world suffers great tribulation. Renovation, and a better state of things, must proceed from the head of the church; she must proclaim warfare against, and annihilation of, all evil; all who have zeal for justice and virtue must stand by her; he who hates or oppresses the church is not a child of the church, but of the devil, and ought to be thrust out from her and cut off from all communion with mankind. Consequently, the church must be free, and all within her irreproachable and pure. The