Religious Notes by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Sep 28, 1882

Religious Notes.

By Editor

-Barnes, the "mountain evangelist," is drawing great crowds in Indianapolis, by the excitement which he has raised.

-Rev. Otis Gibson, of San Francisco, in his sermon before the Methodist Conference, held in Oakland last week, urged his hearers to work together for the preservation and enforcement of the Sunday Law.

-Dr. Edward B. Pusey, of the Church of England, died in London, Sept. 16. From his zeal in advocating ritualism, that movement took his name, and was known as Puseyism. Although nominally a Protestant, he was actually a Catholic, believing all the Catholic dogmas, and was instrumental in leading many Protestants to the Romish Church. Of him, it was truly said that "he ate the bread of England, and worked for Rome." Could his influence die with him, the world would be better off.

-The Vidette states that Judge Terry, the author of the anti-Sunday plank in the Democratic platform, "has got them into difficulty with God about the fourth commandment." We think our contemporary must be troubled with defective vision. We have seen nothing in the platform of either party concerning the fourth commandment, although they have had a good deal to say about Sunday. It is a fact, however, that most of the people, the Vidette included, are directly opposed, in practice, to the fourth commandment; and we have the authority of the Scriptures for saying that, unless they act in harmony with its teachings, they will get into serious and irremediable difficulty with its author.

-A young Methodist preacher, who had a tendency to "liberality," was advised by his presiding elder to devote himself to the work of saving souls, and the Cal. Christian Advocate, says: "We think first of all, that a young minister should be a religious man, and then if he thinks his business is not chiefly to save souls, he ought instantly to quit preaching, and go to selling dry goods, or to some other profitable work. We, too, join the old elder, and with considerable modesty advise young ministers to try to save the people. O friends, for Christ's sake, let Darwin and Huxley alone, and preach Jesus and the resurrection." To all of which we say, Amen. We are only too glad to be able to agree with our contemporary.

-The S. S. Times says there was never a country in greater danger from love of riches and the pursuit of wealth, than our own, and quotes the following from the American: "That covetousness is a more abounding sin in this land and age, than even intemperance, we shall not stop to prove. Any who may ask proofs of it show that they have made very scanty observation of the moral condition of the country. Not only does it pervade 'the world' outside the churches; it is a deadly dry-rot in the churches themselves. So low have we got, that the right of a man to give his whole energy to getting money for money's sake, is no longer questioned outside the pulpit, and rarely enough in it." And in this, too, the Bible student sees evidence that we are in the last days. See Jas. 5:1-3.

-It seems that in the mind of Rev. E. H. King, pastor of the First M. E. Church, of Birmingham, Ala., the privileges of the gospel are to be accorded only to white persons. Color, and not character, is the test of fellowship. Very lately, Rev. C. L. Harris, pastor of the African M. E. Church, attended a service at the church of which Mr. King is pastor, and his presence caused some trouble, whereupon Mr. King issued the following card in the local paper: "In view of certain occurrences, and a misapprehension which exists in the minds of some, I desire to make the following statement through the columns of your paper: The First Methodist Episcopal Church in this city, of which I am pastor, is for white persons exclusively, and colored persons are not invited or expected to attend." That a man should occupy a pulpit, is a libel on the Christianity that he pretends to teach.

-Talk no more of the blindness of the early disciples, in supposing that the Messiah was about to overthrow the Roman power, and sit on the throne as a temporal ruler, and that they would be advanced to high rank. In this nineteenth century, a man writes to the New York Weekly Witness, on the subject, "Shall Christians Vote?" and says: "If the worldlings are the only ones who ought to vote and enter politics, and rule the nation generally, what will Christ do for officers when his kingdom shall rule the whole earth?" Christ said: "My kingdom is not of this world," and "Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's," plainly showing a distinction between earthly governments and his own. But modern Christians ignore this distinction, and think that by their votes they can Christianize this nation. The blindness of the Jews was slight, compared with that of their modern followers.

-The religio-political leaders are piling up the authority for Sunday-keeping. One of them in a recent lecture said: "Sunday, as a day of rest and recreation, is not a new thing with us. It was not first discovered and introduced in America. No, the Spanish Cavaliers brought it with them from Spain to Florida; the Hollanders engrafted it upon the old Holland purchase in New York and Pennsylvania; the descendants and followers of Frederick the Great planted it upon American soil and gave it root upon every spot where their industrious hands have touched our land; the Mayflower landed it upon Plymouth Rock; and France gave it expression in Louisiana. Indeed, it is a custom of our country, brought here from the fatherland. Dear to all men, and injurious to none." That is a formidable array, but we have something stronger than that for the true Sabbath. The Creator of the heavens and earth, in whose sight "the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance," has said to all men, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any work." Whom shall we follow, the creature or the Creator?

-If it were not so serious a matter it would be amusing to notice the inconsistencies in the popular comments on Mark 13, the subject of the international S. S. lessons. The Independent, on verse 25, makes "the powers that are in the heavens," mean the literal constellations. But on the verse following, "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds," &c., it says: "Probably still figurative. We cannot tell how far the figure goes; very likely through the whole description." That is, Christ's coming in clouds is figurative. Let us see how that interpretation will stand. In Acts 1:9-11 we are told that when Christ ascended, a cloud received him out of the sight of his disciples, and that two men in white apparel told them that he would come again in the same manner that they had seen him go into heaven. That is, that he would come in clouds, personally and visibly. See Rev. 1:7. But we are told that his coming in clouds is figurative; then of course his ascent must have been figurative. Then he didn't really ascend. But perhaps it was only a figurative Christ that is spoken of, and the angels were also figurative, and the disciples existed only in figure. Who knows? Oh, for a little sanctified common sense in Biblical interpretation!

-The Catholic Mirror, of Baltimore, announces the organization of the Catholic American Union of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the political objects of which are "to support honest and just measures for the general office, regardless of their religious belief or opinions, and to oppose men who deny to their Catholic fellow-citizens equal rights and liberty before the law." This certainly seems to be a harmless society, but one of the conditions of membership is this: "no one can become a member of this organization except he acknowledge implicit obedience in spiritual affairs to the constituted ecclesiastical head of the diocese." And the creed which all members of the Catholic Church are required to subscribe to, contains the following: "I promise and swear true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, prince of the apostles and vicar of Jesus Christ." When it is remembered that with Catholics Rome is always chief, it will be seen that the organization is not so harmless as it seems. It will be objected that this obedience required is only in spiritual matters; but ecclesiastical and civil matters blend together in the Catholic mind, as shown by the history of the past. In this, however, they do not differ much from the majority of the Protestants of to-day.