A Religious Revival to End the War

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 24, 1916

A Religious Revival to End the War

VICE ADMIRAL SIR DAVID BEATTY, commander of the first British battle cruiser squadron, in a letter to the annual convention of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, urges a greater religious revival in England as necessary before war can end. An extract from this letter appeared in the Washington Post of Jan. 30, 1916, from which we quote:—

“Surely, Almighty God does not intend this war to be just a hideous fracas or a blood-drunken orgy. There must be a purpose in it; improvement must come out of it. . . . England still remains to be taken out of the stupor of self-satisfaction and complacency into which her flourishing condition has steeped her. Until she can be stirred out of this condition, until a religious revival takes place, just so long will the war continue.

“When she can look on the future with humbler eyes and a prayer on her lips, then we can begin to count the days toward the end.”

It is undoubtedly true that God has a purpose in the calamities which he allows to come upon the earth. While in the case of any special calamity, his purpose may not be clear; yet trouble is often the means of turning the minds and hearts of men to Christ and the promises of the Bible. We cannot, however, share the hope entertained by some that war will yet be entirely banished from this present world; for the Scriptures indicate otherwise.