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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
June, 1933
GOSPEL fo r cJufyershiious (^ßelgtum
A V $ 5 / 0
B y EDITH F. NORTON* Brussels, Belgium
A brilliant man o f science, psychologist and writer, said recently to one o f our workers, “ Those who possess real faith are the privileged «ones, but I— I have no faith. Be glad that you possess it.” This doctor was brought up in the Roman Catholic be lief but, like many others, he has become disgusted with it and has lost all faith. He had attended at one time one of our open air meetings in Brussels, and his comment was striking. '“ I do not weep easily,” he said to the worker, “ but that day I wept, as I saw the workers of your Mission com secrating their time and their lives to proclaiming such an ideal-igwhile on the other side the world was passing indif ferently, absorbed in their pleasures and material interests.” We believe this man is not far from the kingdom, and some like him have already entered in. At several posts o f the Mission, a real work of revival blessing is taking place, although all are praying for a sweeping movement. At one of these posts, Ath, where the pastor is most faithful with his people in praying for re vival, so great is the desire for the gospel that recently, in twenty-seven days, he conducted forty-one meetings, be sides meetings in the open air and factories. He has seen over forty of his own members enter into a life of conse cration, and several newly converted ones have joined the group. B ands of S uperstition Lest it be forgotten what a spiritually benighted land this is, let us cite a few instances of the pagan superstitions that abound. A woman converted at Hamoir told o f scapu lars sjie formerly made to protect children from convul sions. The secret had been imparted to her by a friend, and
I t is difficult for Ameri can Christians to realize the true and sinister character of European Roman Catholicism, for in our land, as in England, the existence of the open Bible keeps in abeyance the grossest o f Rome’s superstitions. R elics in C atholicism In our recent visit to Spain and Italy, we saw these things in all their most revolting as-, pect; we saw Virgins loaded with priceless jewels, possess ing wardrobes of incredible gorgeousness; we saw relics,
M rs . R alph C. N orton
such as the manger crib in which Christ was born, spikes from the cross, thorns from His crown, etc. But what shall we say o f other relics which exist in the Roman Catholic churches o f Europe, which border on the ridicu lous, as they also do on the blasphemous ? There are por tions o f the bodies of the saints and apostles, even of our blessed Lord Himself; of Saint John, there exist as relics, thirteen heads, four shoulders, five arms, and fifty index fingers! O f pieces o f the true cross, the number is legion. Absurd relics, such as straw from the manger, the tail of Balaam’s ass, and a feather from the wing of the angel Gabriel, are not wanting, and many others too gross to mention on this page. As one o f our Belgian Christians in telligently remarked, “ The Church of Rome throughout the ages has had but one mode of conduct; it is to Christianize pagan customs, that is, to cover gross paganism with a Catholic varnish.” Belgium is not behind in these pagan superstitions. She also abounds in miraculous Virgins, and relics which range from the Holy Blood, conserved at Bruges, to the grunt of Joseph, uttered as he worked in his carpenter’s shop. In the church at Hal, near to Brussels, the “ Black Virgin” proudly reposes above the altar, and behind a grating within the portals of the church can be seen the huge pile o f can non balls which she is reputed to have caught in her hands during a siege o f the city in the Thirteenth Century, thus saving Hal from destruction. On the walls are tablets de scribing her deeds o f prowess. Here is one telling o f a stillborn babe that she raised from the dead after it had lain for three weeks in the tomb. Others relate tales quite as incredible. E vangelistic F ervor But the Belgians are an intelligent people, and unknown thousands frequent the church for reasons o f policy but have no faith in her teachings, and in fact no faith o f any kind. Since the beginning of our work in Belgium, over 11,000,000 Scriptures and tracts have been distributed, and through the preaching at the more than fifty Mission posts and the meetings that are constantly being carried on in the open air, many thousands o f the Belgian people have been reached by the true gospel.
S treet P reaching in B elgium
the formula consisted o f a tooth, either human or animal, which was encased in plaster made with Holy Water. Mr. Claude, o f Stockay St. Georges, writes us o f the coarse idol, the “ Madonna o f Montserrat,” distributed by the resident priest to his parishioners at the time o f his re tirement. “ It is these images,” he says, “ so clumsily painted and modelled, that our poor Catholic friends have constantly [Continued on page 185]
*(Mrs. Ralph C .) Missionary of. the Belgian Gospel Mission.
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