WHO ARE THE HEATHEN? by Wm. S. Foote

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 12, 1867

WHO ARE THE HEATHEN?

By Wm. S. Foote

There are two classes of people thus called in the word of God. The first are mentioned by David, in Psa. lxxix, 6. “Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.” These are they who do not worship their Maker, but gods of their own invention.

Another class is mentioned in Amos ix, 9. “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel (the true Israel) among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people (false professors) shall die by the sword, Psa. cxlix, 5, 7, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us (peace and safety cry, 1 Thess. 5, 3). In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old” (sealing of the law and binding of the testimony, Isa. viii, 16). The prophet goes on to say, of the righteous, “that they may possess the remnant of Edom (the ungodly), and of all the heathen that are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this.” We therefore come to the conclusion that a man may be called by the name of the Lord (Christian), and be in reality a heathen in the sight of God. If a man believes the tenets of any religious body, it is proper to call him by the name which that body bears, or by which it is known. So it makes a man a heathen to believe in the doctrines of the heathen. Is it not so? One thing is certain; if his religious faith contains a great amount of error, he cannot possess the “testimony of Jesus.”

The heathen, or many of them who have not known the name of the Lord, Persians, ancient Germans, and others, set apart the first day of the week, as time devoted to the worship of the sun. A large majority of the (so-called) Christian church, obeying the mandate of the Man of Sin, set apart the Sunday, instead of the seventh day or Sabbath of the Lord, as holy time.

Most heathen nations believe in the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. So do errorists generally—Spiritualists, Mormons, Mohammedans, Catholics, and infidels of every class, with but few exceptions. Excuse us for not being in such company. The Bible tells us that “God only hath immortality.” 1 Tim. vi, 16.

The heathen who have not known the name of the Lord, believe that mankind, both good and bad, are rewarded at death. Most of the professed Christian church believe the same doctrine, although our Saviour says of the righteous, that they shall “be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke xiv, 14.

The first-mentioned class of the heathen believe that the wicked will be punished by an endless life in misery. If we believe that “eternal death” means eternal life in misery, we are like the heathen who have not known the name of the Lord, in this particular.

Those who have not known the name of the Lord, believe that the dead exceed the living in knowledge. So do millions who profess to know the name of the Lord; although the Bible tells us that “the dead know not anything.” Eccl. ix, 5.

The heathen who have not known the name of the Lord, of course are not governed by his law, and are under the government of the Prince of darkness; following those who “teach for doctrine the commandments of men.” And thousands who profess to be governed by the Bible, are doing the same, either by rejecting the whole law openly, or by offending in one or more points, thus becoming guilty of all. Jas. ii, 10, 11. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John ii, 4. According to Psa. ii, 8, 9, the heathen are to be ruled with a rod of iron, and to be dashed in pieces like a potter’s vessel. And according to Obadiah i, 16, they are to be “as though they had not been.”

WM. S. FOOTE. Pendleton, O.