st was the divinely
inspired judge and truly he was the supreme ruler till the time of
David, and again after the captivity. He would ask counsel of the Lord
if a new ruler was worthy or not and accordingly grant or regret the
appointment of the ruler. It is the privilege which the Pope derives
from Eleazar and trying to exercise this privilege against the rulers of
Europe for fifteen centuries became the menace in the progress of
humanity. The high priest had also unlimited power upon the funds of the
sanctuary. And it may be out of proportion in this book to give a
complete description of all the privileges and regalia of the high
priest, yet the reader could easily imagine the frivolities
unfortunately existing even today in the ceremonial dress of the high
priest, and to confirm this fact he only has to enter in the first
Russian or Greek or Roman Catholic church at any day of some special
celebration and there he cannot help but observe an imitation of the
lamentable vanity of a high priest of the old Jewish faith. And the
truth is visible to the naked eye. Would ever sincerity and priesthood
meet in one and the same person it would make the most paradox
phenomenon, and such exceptional occurrences are very rare in the
ecclesiastical horizon, for virtue and priesthood are the very logical
antithesis, and chemically speaking they are protogon matters not
yielding to adulteration. Between priesthood and Christ there is an
abyss of argument, but there is no bridge to join both sides. Priesthood
on one side in the most pharisaic manner imposing its superfluous
authority upon all mortals. And Jesus the Christ of God with his wounded
side, in the most emphatic manner, condemning the pharisaic scheme,
which is a continuation in the Greek--Russian--Roman Catholic church:
"For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on
man's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of
their fingers." And if the words of the blessed Christ himself speaking
in the 23d chapter of Matthew, have no effect upon the consciousness of
the priest, there is all vain to any other way trying to bring him into
the light of wisdom. In the history of all mankind there are three
distinct stages of priesthood, and in its two former stages it had been
a complete failure, in its present stage is falling so fast, and it is
condemned, already, by all reasoning minds, that it is only a matter of
time before the human race s