p. 3 | Development of Babylon by C. L. Emerson

Development of Babylon

By C. L. Emerson

HEATHENISM. No. 2.

Development of Babylon.

Heathen Philosophy.

Another feature, and a natural one too, of heathenism was the philosophers. God gave man a brain with which to think, and he will either think good or bad as long as reason remains. As he rejected God's thoughts by refusing to be led by the Lord, he had no thoughts but his own to think. The philosophy which was professed was but the teachings of men in their natural state—men who were led by their own deceitful hearts. Among other things the philosophers taught much about the soul of man. Those of whom we are now going to speak lived in an age after the true knowledge of God was lost. So we may say that the principles which underlie heathen philosophy were the cause of heathenism, while the philosophy was partially the result of heathenism; for the principles which were the foundation of philosophy were but accepting man's ideas as infallible; but when this principle had been applied, and the entire loss of the knowledge of God was the result, it was but natural for men with reason to ask: Who am I? how came I here? what is the object of my existence ? etc. Of course the only answer that man could give would be very unreliable; for, having lost the knowledge of God, he has no premises to reason from. Their mind might be ever so logical, but reason can not create evidence in anything, it can only weigh it. Therefore the best they could do under the circumstances would be to assume premises and reason from them as assumed. And just in proportion as they were logical, their conclusions were sure to be wrong when reasoning about spiritual things; for as spiritual things can be only spiritually discerned, the premises were sure to be wrong.

The ablest of the philosophers did as said above,—assumed their own premises. We will speak of Plato especially, as he is the “almost Christian” philosopher of antiquity. He tried to fathom the mystery of life. His imagination was the commanding faculty of his brain. His premises were therefore controlled much by this. His major premise and the one from which all others on this subject were drawn, was that the soul of man existed prior to his existence here. If it existed before its stay in the flesh, it certainly could exist after the flesh had passed away. Therefore, it was immortal. From this thought grew that system which in ancient times cursed the world under the name of witchcraft and demon-worship, and is to-day doing its Satanic work under the name of Spiritualism.

As God gave revelations of Himself to man, it was to Satan's advantage to communicate likewise to his children. It never is to his advantage to reveal his true character and give a full account of who he really is; so he put this idea of immortality into those whom he controlled, and then manifested himself to them as departed friends. In no other way could he gain so complete access to minds as this. He could thus speak to them “face to face,” and be sure that they would do his bidding. This was one of the most successful games that Satan ever played. It is like this: The heart is naturally evil, and so will do evil with a hearty good-will, especially if circumstances are favorable. An exceedingly corrupt friend or acquaintance dies. We wonder how it will fare with him. In a few days he appears. He tells what a grand home he has. He says our pious friend John who lately died occupies the same good home. Both are happy beyond the power of language to express. He may tell us no more, but that is enough. It is easier to do wrong than right, and the bad fare as well as the good, so we will act out our nature. Ancient heathenism contained all that was bad, and this one thing of itself would have made her possess all that was bad if no other wrong thing had been contained in her creed. But it is no more so with ancient heathenism than with Modern Spiritualism. Note this; for we will speak of Spiritualism again.

From whatever way we view it, we see that heathenism led downward with mighty strides. How could it be otherwise when it was originated and carried forward by man, with a wicked heart, led by a more wicked devil?

Second-class Battle-ship Texas.—Displacement, 6,315 tons; speed, 17.8 knots. Armor: Belt, 12 inches; deck, 2 inches; turrets, 12 inches; main battery, two 12-inch and six 6-inch slow-fire guns; secondary rapid-fire battery, six 1-pounders, four 37-mm. Hotchkiss, and two Gatling guns. Has two torpedo tubes. Of this class* of vessels England has 24, France 9, Germany 10, Italy 2, Austria 10, Russia 4, Spain 2, Netherlands 3, Turkey 8, Portugal 1, United States 1, Japan 2, Argentine Republic 1, Brazil 2, and Chile 2.

First-class Torpedo-boat Porter.—Displacement, 190 tons; length, 175 feet; beam, 17 feet; speed, 28.63 knots, or 33 miles, per hour; armament, four 1-pounder rapid-fire guns and three torpedo-launching tubes. Of the torpedo-boats of all classes, England has 190, France 249, Germany 174, Italy 191, Austria 76, Russia 191, Spain 48, Denmark 24, Netherlands 63, Turkey 36, Portugal 48, Sweden and Norway 57, United States 21, Japan 147, China 46, Argentine Republic 32, Brazil 33, Chile 13, Mexico 5.

God created man and gave him a pure heart and a happy home. It was His design that man should always remember his Creator, and thus remain pure and happy. That he might do this, God gave him a sign by which to remember. This sign was the Sabbath, Ex. 20:8-11. Man did not remain as he was created, but proved untrue to God. The Lord did not then give him up and cast him away forever, but by an infinite sacrifice to Himself offered him favor. When this favor is accepted by man, it entirely sanctifies him or dedicates him to the service of God. And so, that man might not forget that it is the Lord, the Creator, that sanctifies him, He gives him a sign—the same

sign which He gave in the first place, the Sabbath—as a token of remembrance. Thus the Sabbath is a sign of what God is to us, that He is our Creator; and because He is our Creator, He is able to be, and is, our Redeemer. Eze. 20:12.

But Satan had no idea of letting man remember his Creator and Redeemer if it was in his power to hinder him. He could not bring all the fruits of rebellion to maturity in the lives of one generation of men, but he led them as rapidly as they would go. Just in proportion as they were led to forget God, the sign of God fell into disrepute. So just in proportion as they worshiped other gods in His stead, the rival of the Sabbath, the sign of man's way and so of heathenism, “the wild solar holiday of all pagan times,” was exalted.

The Dynamite Cruiser Vesuvius.—Displacement, 929 tons; length, 252.3 feet; width, 26.5 feet; speed, 21.4 knots an hour. Has three 15-inch guns for throwing dynamite projectiles. This vessel is an experiment as yet, but; it is designed that a single shot from her will destroy an enemy’s ship.

The Submarine Torpedo-boat Holland.—Displacement, 75 tons; length, 55 feet; diameter, 10¾ feet. Armament is one white-head torpedo discharge tube, one aerial dynamite gun. Another Holland torpedo-boat larger than this one is being built by the United States.

The Torpedo-boat Destroyer Daring, of the English Navy.—Displacement, 220 tons; length, 185 feet; beam, 19 feet; maximum draught, 6 feet 3 inches; speed, 28.6 knots, or about 33 miles.

The First-class Battle-ship Massachusetts.—Displacement, 10,288 tons; speed, 16.2 knots. Armor: Belt, 18 inches; deck, 2¾ inches; barbettes, 17 inches; turrets, 15; casements, 6 inches. Main battery consists of four 13-inch, eight 8-inch, and four 6-inch guns; secondary battery has twenty 6-pounders, four 1-pounders, four Gatlings, and two field guns; has three torpedo tubes. Of this class* of vessels England has 29, France 15, Germany 6, Italy 8, Russia 14, Spain 1, Turkey 1, Japan 5, United States 4 completed, 5 being built, and 3 more authorized to be built.

Let none think I have drawn the picture with too lively colors when I say that the “wild solar holiday” was the sign of man's way, and so of heathenism. It is a recognized fact that every nation of antiquity which was idolatrous recognized the Sunday as a day on which to worship the sun. That is what gave it its name, and why it is also called the “wild solar holiday of all pagan times.” It is also noteworthy that in these heathen times every people who worshiped the Lord did it on the day before the heathen worshiped the sun.

In the above we have a faint glimpse of some of the sins of the heathen world, and this should teach us about our own hearts and where they would lead us if we would follow them. Well has the Spirit of truth said, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool,” but that “the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” The above is but a faint glimpse of the first Babylon developed. The whole evil thing was in the first step,—in leaving the Word of God. So when any one leaves God's Word, the Lord says Babylon, and may rightly impute all these works to them. C. L. EMERSON.