Becoming the Theme of Discussion
ONE of the early writers in connection with this great advent movement said: “God means that testing truth shall be brought to the front, and become a subject of examination and discussion, even if it is through the contempt placed upon it. The minds of the people must be agitated. Every controversy, every reproach, every slander, will be God’s means of provoking inquiry, and awakening minds that otherwise would slumber.” The Bible student readily understands that the second coming of Christ is one of the most prominent doctrines in the sacred Book. It is the central theme of divine inspiration from the days of Enoch, before the Flood, until the time of John on the Isle of Patmos. During this generation, thousands of persons, from the study of the prophecies of the Bible, have reached the conclusion that nothing can be more clearly demonstrated than that the second coming of Christ is very near. The teachers of this doctrine used to be ridiculed more or less everywhere; but a remarkable change is now coming over the world, and in every part of it men are rising up to proclaim the second coming of Christ. In some instances, they are telling the story as the Bible tells it. In many other instances, they have vague and fanciful notions concerning it, that are unscriptural and consequently untrue. But nevertheless, in harmony with the prediction made at the beginning of these paragraphs, the subject is coming to the front, and becoming the theme of discussion. Toward the latter part of April, in southern California, a discussion on the second coming of Christ was held between the pastor of one of the churches and an attorney from New York. The reports of the discussion occupied whole pages in the leading dailies of Los Angeles, the distinguished metropolis of southern California. Thousands upon thousands of people earnestly discussed the subject. In this way, their attention is called to the prophecies of the Bible; and furthermore, every honest-hearted soul is having the opportunity to study for himself the insuperable evidence of the divine Book, which discloses the great truth that Jesus of Nazareth is soon coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.