The Roman Church, T.T. Shields, WWII, and Canadian Christians
By: Jacob Reaume
Dr. Thomas Todhunter Shields is one of the most notable Baptist leaders that Canada has ever seen. His father was a British Methodist preacher who accepted the Baptist distinctives while Shields was but a boy. Shields Sr. moved the family to Southern Ontario from England while Shields was still young. T.T. Shields began preaching as a young man in Southern and Western Ontario. He pastored several churches prior to his call to Jarvis Street Baptist Church of Toronto in 1910.[1] He remained at Jarvis Street until his death in 1955.
Shields, a faithful steward of the oracles of God, developed a reputation for his incendiary use of rhetorical polemics. In this context, we'll examine his polemics against Roman Catholicism. Perhaps doing away with his flavour of sensationalistic controversy was a wise decision for Canadian Christians, but I wonder if we've overreacted by voluntarily silencing our bold public refutation of error. This is not a call for a resurgence of unhelpful incendiary language, but it is a call for Canadian Christians to become bolder, clearer, and more public in our attempt to silence lies—lies that have both theological and political implications.
Historical Context
At the beginning of his pastorate, Jarvis Street Church was considered the Cathedral Baptist Church in Canada. It was an exceptionally influential pulpit, probably the most influential pulpit in the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec. He enjoyed nine fruitful and peaceful years while at Jarvis Street. In 1919, however, he became the spokesman for fundamentalism amidst the modernist-fundamentalist controversy at McMaster Divinity School, the seminary for Ontario Baptists.[2] He eventually led approximately sixty Baptist churches out of the BCOQ to form the Union of Regular Baptist Churches of Ontario and Quebec. Among other accomplishments, he founded and edited The Gospel Witness, a weekly publication to propagate militant Protestantism. He founded Toronto Baptist Seminary, a school designed to train fundamentalist Baptist missionaries and clergymen. He also organized The North American Baptist Bible Union as well as The Canadian Protestant League, two organization used to advocate Protestant Fundamentalism.
This article focuses on one specific aspect of Dr. Shields’ life and ministry, his opposition to Roman Catholicism between the years 1940 and 1942. During this time frame, World War II was roaring fast in Europe. The Nazis had conquered much of the continent and they were a constant threat to the British Empire. This particularly affected Canadian citizens, Canadians themselves being subjects of the British Throne.
W.L. Mackenzie King was the prime minister of Canada. He faced the task of fighting a war in Europe. He brought the issue before parliament and Canada declared war on Germany, September 10, 1939; on Italy, June 10 1940; and on Japan, December 8, 1941. During a referendum, Quebec voted against conscription, while the rest of Canada voted for it. This caused for much disharmony between Quebec and the rest of the provinces. King simply “side-stepped the issue as long as possible.”[3] T.T. Shields was quick to point out King and Quebec’s apathy towards the conscription issue.
Mitchell Hepburn was the Premier of Ontario during this time. Along with Shields he was a feared opponent of Mackenzie King. Hepburn accused King of being an “anti-British traitor,” when he refused to push conscription.[4] Despite the common ground with Shields, however, Hepburn was considered a drunken womanizer by Mackenzie King.[5] No doubt, King, Hepburn, and Shields were an interesting and colourful match for Toronto politics!
Within Ontario, the Protestants and Roman Catholics were constantly taking part in a war of words against each other. Along with the conscription issue was the separate school question. French Canadians had the right to their own Roman Catholic schools in Ontario, but British Protestants saw this as unfair. Protestants thought that Canada should be primarily English and Protestant, and thus French Catholics were not entitled to their own schools. This issue was very heated also.[6]
In this politically charged environment, T.T. Shields was a staunch opponent of the Roman Catholic Religion’s doctrine and public influence. [Updated: To be clear, this is an attempt to accurately portray the teachings of T.T. Shields. This is not a commentary on the Roman Church, its doctrine, or its political influence. Repeating what Shields taught does not infer that we believe all that he taught or that he commented accurately on all things pertaining to the RCC].
T.T. Shields on Roman Catholic Dogma
On the evening of Sunday October 13, 1940, Dr. T.T. Shields rose to his pulpit at Jarvis Street Baptist Church to preach a sermon that would send shockwaves across the Dominion of Canada. “Why I Am Not A Roman Catholic,” was the title. It was discussed in the French language newspapers of Quebec, in the Ontario Legislative Assembly, and in the House of Commons in Ottawa.[7] It was a clear attack on the key tenants of Roman Catholicism. He gave seven reasons, all Biblically based, as to why he was not a Catholic, shooting holes in the Roman doctrines of the priest, the mass, confession, baptism, purgatory, and the Pope. Concerning the mass, he said,
The Mass is the grosses perversion of Christianity. It is sheer, unadulterated, idolatry; an evidence of the densest kind of superstition…Some Protestants assume Romanism is just another form of Christianity. No it is not…It is a pagan system.[8]
Perhaps those words may seem harsh but they are nothing compared to what he said about the Papacy.
Romanism…is a system which makes merchandise of the souls of men…The Roman Church is the biggest racketeering organization in the world, and the Pope – others may call him ‘His Holiness’ if they will – but I declare to you that the Pope of Rome is the biggest racketeer the world has ever known, professing to sell the things of God for a price instead of proclaiming the freedom of sovereign grace to all.[9]
This sermon was published in the Gospel Witness of October 17, 1940. Is there any wonder why such a massive protest resulted? Shields’ stance on Roman Catholicism was a common theme in his sermons.
In a similar way, on August 2, 1942, Dr. Shields rose to his same pulpit to deliver a sermon, entitled, “Why I am a Protestant.” The same issues were discussed. Again the Mass, purgatory, the pope, and other Catholic doctrines were maligned. He boldly declared,
I am a Protestant because I do not want the god of the Roman Catholic Church. He is a pagan god; he is not the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ…This is the God Whom I worship, the God Who is revealed in Christ; not the god whom the Pope claims to represent…the god of the system called Romanism – is the devil[10]
Also, about the Mass, he said, “(it) is blasphemy. It is a horrible, damnable doctrine. There is no word in the dictionary sufficiently expressive to describe its wicked presumption.”[11] His emotionally charged language, when preached to the ears of loyal Protestants, without a doubt evoked sheer hatred of Roman Catholic dogma.
In another sermon, entitled “Romanism and Protestantism in the Old and New Testaments,” Shields took more shots at the Roman Church. Preached during the evening service at Jarvis Street Church on August 16, 1942, he declared Roman Catholicism to be nothing more that a natural religion, invented by the carnal and depraved desires of wicked men. He preached, “There is nothing on earth that is so significant of human pride, arrogance, and vainglory, as the Roman Catholic Church.”[12] He compared the Roman system of works to the true Gospel of grace. He likens the Roman teachings to the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament, saying “They are methods or principles by which men have presumed to hope they might climb up to heaven and invade the courts of the most high.”[13]
Other sermons of Shields that attacked Roman Catholic teachings include, “Why I Never Go To Confession or To Mass,”[14] “Where Are The Dead – In Paradise, Or Purgatory, Or Asleep,”[15] and “The Gospel Of Grace, Which Needs Neither Priest Nor Pope.”[16] In the sermon, “Purgatory – Romanist Invention For Terrorism and Extortion,” Shields made further offensives on the doctrine of Purgatory. About it, he said, “The more I study the philosophy of Romanism, the more profoundly convinced I am that it is not of human origin…Romanism is inspired from below.”[17]
On top of the regular assault that was lead through Sunday sermons, Shields attacked Roman doctrine through weekly articles in the Gospel Witness. In the article, “The Assumption of Mary,” Shields attacks the Roman teaching on Mary. He disseminates the teaching and tares it apart using Biblical proof.
The assaults that Dr. Shields took on the Roman Catholic Church were not received well by many Roman Catholics. Especially in Quebec was a massive uproar heard. A Montreal Newspaper received an open letter from a French Roman Catholic, pleading to see Shields hanged. Translated into English it read,
The actions of that crook are of such extreme gravity, we immediately venture to suggest to you a radical, drastic, unfailing means of wiping that parasite from the face of Canada. A court case would accomplish nothing. Nor would an internment. Let us use means that will eradicate the evil. Let us hang Pastor Shields.[18]
The hatred that many Roman Catholics had for Dr. Shields was provoked by the rhetoric he used to attack their religion. He hated their doctrine, and used any means possible to oppose it.
T.T. Shields on Roman Catholic Political Interference
Not only did Shields attack the doctrines of Roman Catholicism, but he also attacked the Roman Catholic Church’s interference in public affairs. He claimed that the Roman Catholic Church was a hindrance to the war effort, united with the Nazis, and poisonous to democratic liberties.
On August 10, 1941, T.T. Shields preached a sermon titled “Catholic Quebec’s Paralysing Effect Upon Canada’s War Effort." He claimed that the Papacy was disrupting national unity in a time of crisis by demanding their own separate school system, as well as their own chaplaincy service in the army. Quebec was also behind the rest of Canada in supplying troops. Shields believed that it was the Roman Catholic influence in Quebec that was causing that province to hinder the rest of the country. He said, “My charge is that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy is the cancer that is impairing the economic, education, moral health of Canada; and is paralysing our war effort.”[19] Also, on May 3, 1942, Shields preached a sermon, titled “Shall Quebec’s Papal ‘No’ Be Allowed To Limit Canada’s War Effort?” At this time, Canada had just finished a national referendum over the issue of conscription. While the majority of Canada voted “yes” to conscription, Quebec voted “no.” Shields does not attack Quebecers, but attacks the Roman Catholic Church for influencing their decision. He said,
I should like to think of my fellow-French Canadians as being loyal subjects of His Majesty the King, worthy citizens of a united Dominion, and a united Empire. And they would be if it were not for the unmitigated curse of Roman Catholicism.[20]
His attack on the Roman Catholic influence of the war effort in Quebec was obvious.
In speaking of the war, he would often compare the Roman Church with the way of Hitler and Mussolini. He often claimed that the Pope and Petain[21] were united. In one article, entitled “the Pope and Petain,” Shields wrote,
The Roman Catholic Church is the greatest political force in the Dominion of Canada…Quebec is the ball and chain around Canada’s ankle…The Roman Catholic Church is the bitter, implacable, but satanically subtle enemy of civil and religious liberty in all nations. Some day it will clearly appear that the Pope of Rome is just as implacable a foe to the British Empire as Hitler himself.”[22]
At a time when England was constantly being threatened by German attacks, this statement was particularly potent.
In December of 1940, the Gospel Witness published a twenty-eight page “Special Edition on the Papacy’s Fifth Column.”
It is because there are ever-multiplying evidences of the diabolical machinations of Jesuitical Rome in the affairs of Canada, of the Empire, and of the United States, as well as in the awful desolations of Europe, that we are endeavouring to arouse people everywhere to a recognition of what we are certain is a fact, that neither Mussolini nor Hitler is a greater foe of Britain and the United States than Antichrist’s forerunner who calls himself the Pope.[23]
The Pope was portrayed not only as the enemy of Christianity, but also as the enemy of social liberty in the free world.
In late April of 1941, Shields published a sermon in the Gospel Witness, entitled, “The Protestant Samson and the Papal Delilah.” For some reason, he decided to send a copy to every Catholic member of the House of Commons in Ottawa. The Gospel Witness records what M.P. Mr. W.R. McDonald had to say in parliament about the publication.
The contents of it (the sermon) being of a very insulting nature to the Catholic faith and the members of that church, the reverend gentleman thought he was privileged to add insult to injury and forward copies to the Catholic members.[24]
There was some amount of dialogue that took place in parliament over the issue. Shields published the entire account in his magazine and responded to the MP with an open letter.
For the 1941 Annual Convention of the Union of Regular Baptist Churches, Dr. Shields asked Dr. L.H. Lehman, a converted Roman Catholic Priest, to be the keynote speaker. The subject of the Convention was “The Menace of Romanism.” Presentations included “The Relationship of Catholicism and Nazi-Fascism;” “Rome’s Political Aims In Canada;” and “Catholic Action and Hitler’s New Order.”[25] The Convention was basically designed as an anti-Catholic information conference, all crafted by Shields.
During Wartime, it was popular for Shields to associate the Roman Catholic Church with Hitler and portray it as an organization opposed to the well being of the Empire during the war. However, it was equally popular for him to publicize Rome as just simply poison to any society, war or no war. In one sermon he said,
The Roman Catholic Church has produced, and trained, and released upon society, with its blessing, more traitors to every principle of righteousness and truth, than any other institution the world has ever known.[26]
Another sermon was called “The Papacy, Democracy’s Chief Enemy.”[27]
In September of 1941, the Roman Catholic Church was granted permission by the Canadian government to host Mass at the entrance of the parliament buildings in Ottawa. In response to the Mass on Parliament Hill, Shields organized massive protest rally. Jarvis Street Baptist Church hosted the rally on September 16, 1941. On the 12th, he advertised the Protest in the Toronto newspapers. 5 Anglican, 7 Baptist, 5 Presbyterian, 1 Reformed Episcopalian, and 3 United Church clergymen sponsored it. There was such a large response at the rally that the Gospel Witness reported,
Nearly one hundred were seated on the platform; hundreds of chairs were put in beside; all vestibules were packed with standing people; and where chairs could not be placed, people stood about the building; and large numbers who could not get within hearing distance were turned away.[28]
They spent the evening preaching and praying against the Roman Catholic political influence in Canada. The outcome of the evening saw the majority of the attendants voting that a Protestant Vigilance League be formed.
Weeks later, Shields and several other Toronto Protestant clergymen formed The Canadian Protestant League to submit “Romanism to the laboratory test of Holy Scripture, and (to) endeavour to show the people of Canada that it is a cancer.”[29] The popularity of the league spread nation-wide, having branches in many parts of the country. Meetings were well attended enough to fill large venues like Massey Hall in Toronto.
Conclusion
Although, Dr. Shields’ opposition to Roman Catholicism was not the only facet of his ministry, he did play a key role in speaking and working against the Roman Catholic Church. This occurred through his opposition to Rome’s teachings as well as to her political influence. This was demonstrated through his sermons, his writings, and through the Catholic response to his work.
Shields found himself in a time where his rhetorical polemics were received by a loyal following of Christians. While his incendiary use of rhetoric might not be a good model for us, I do think Canadian evangelicals should note his boldness. Perhaps a reaction to the sensationalistic rhetoric of an earlier generation, many Canadian Christians appear now to have lost their prophetic edge. Losing the bombastic sensationalism was perhaps a good move on our part, but not at the expense of scripturally measured polemics. I'd welcome a courageous return to the unabashed public proclamation of truth and to the fearless rebuke of error.
[1] Leslie K. Tarr, Shields of Canada (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1967), 47-52.
[2] T.T. Shields, The Plot that Failed (Toronto: The Gospel Witness, 1937), 139-147.
[3] J.L. Granatstein, “King, William Lyon Mackenzie,” in The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 11 (Toronto: World Book, Inc., 1993), 324-327.
[4] “The Grand Old Man of the Liberal Party,” CBC News Viewpoint, accessed 3 December 2002: available from http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/columns_zolf/zolf020819.html
[5] Ibid.
[6] Paul-Andre Liteau, “French-Canadian Nationalism,” Microsoft Encyclopedia Encarta, [CD-ROM], 2001.
[7] The Gospel Witness, October 2 1941, 21.
[8] T.T. Shields, “Why I Am Not a Roman Catholic,” The Gospel Witness, October 17, 1940, 9-10.
[9] Ibid, 11.
[10] T.T. Shields, “Why I Am A Protestant,” Gospel Witness, August 6, 1942, 6.
[11] Ibid, 7.
[12] T.T. Shields, “Romanism and Protestantism in the Old and New Testaments,” Gospel Witness, August 20, 1942, 5-10.
[13] Ibid, 6.
[14] T.T. Shields, “Why I Never Go To Confession or To Mass,” The Gospel Witness, August 28, 1941, 1-4.
[15] T.T. Shields, “Where Are The Dead – In Paradise, Or Purgatory, Or Asleep,” The Gospel Witness, April 2 1942, 1-6.
[16] T.T. Shields, “The Gospel of Grace, Which Needs Neither Priest Nor Pope,” The Gospel Witness, October 30, 1941, 1-5.
[17] T.T. Shields, “Purgatory – A Romanist Invention For Terrorism and Extortion,” The Gospel Witness, September 11, 1941, 1-5.
[18] Raymond Plaisence, “The Hanging of Pastor Shields!,” [Montreal] L’Union, 13 November 1942, 4. Taken from Gospel Witness Dec.3/42.
[19] T.T. Shields, “Catholic Quebec’s Paralyzing Effect Upon Canada’s War Effort,” Gospel Witness, August 14, 1941, 1-9.
[20] T.T. Shields, “Shall Quebec’s Papal ‘No’ Be Allowed To Limit Canada’s War Effort,” Gospel Witness, May 3 1942, 6-10.
[21] Petain was a Frenchman who was convicted of treason for betraying his country and turning it over to the Nazis during WWII.
[22] T.T. Shields, “The Pope and Petain,” The Gospel Witness, July 18 1940, 1-2.
[23] “The Reason For This Issue,” The Gospel Witness, December 5, 1940, 19.
[24] “The Gospel Witness Is Discussed in Parliament,” The Gospel Witness, March 13, 1940, 1-8.
[25] “Tentative Programme,” The Gospel Witness, September 25 1941, 12.
[26] T.T. Shields, “The Pope’s ‘Fine Italian Hand’ in Petrain’s Treachery,” The Gospel Witness, July 27 1940, 3-9.
[27] T.T. Shields, “The Papacy Democracy’s Chief Enemy,” Gospel Witness, August 21 1941, 1-7.
[28] T.T. Shields, “Pontifical Mass on Parliament Hill: A Great Meeting of All Denominations,” The Gospel Witness, September 18 1941, 2-8.
[29] T.T. Shields, “The Canadian Protestant League,” The Gospel Witness, October 23 1941, 1-12.
