housand, yes, a hundred thousand copies of the Book of
God. In the words of an early Reformer concerning the Christian church,
"The Bible is an anvil that has worn out many hammers." Saith the Lord,
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue
that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn."(428)

"The word of our God shall stand forever." "All His commandments are sure.
They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and
uprightness."(429) Whatever is built upon the authority of man will be
overthrown; but that which is founded upon the rock of God's immutable
word shall stand forever.

16. THE PILGRIM FATHERS.

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The English Reformers, while renouncing the doctrines of Romanism, had
retained many of its forms. Thus though the authority and the creed of
Rome were rejected, not a few of her customs and ceremonies were
incorporated into the worship of the Church of England. It was claimed
that these things were not matters of conscience; that though they were
not commanded in Scripture, and hence were non-essential, yet not being
forbidden, they were not intrinsically evil. Their observance tended to
narrow the gulf which separated the reformed churches from Rome, and it
was urged that they would promote the acceptance of the Protestant faith
by Romanists.

To the conservative and compromising, these arguments seemed conclusive.
But there was another class that did not so judge. The fact that these
customs "tended to bridge over the chasm between Rome and the
Reformation,"(430) was in their view a conclusive argument against
retaining them. They looked upon them as badges of the slavery from which
they had been delivered, and to which they had no disposition to return.
They reasoned that God has in His word established the regulations
governing His worship, and that men are not at liberty to add to these or
to detract from them. The very beginning of the great apostasy was in
seeking to supplement the authority of God by that of the church. Rome
began by enjoining what God had not forbidden, and she ended by forbidding
what He had explicitly enjoined.

Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which
characterized the primitive church. They regarded many of the established
customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry, and they could not
in conscience unite in her worship. But the