Concerning the Disclosures of Vice and Crime
By Editor
ON the subject of the disclosure of vice and crime, the New York Christian Advocate has this to say: “Startling disclosures of vice and crime should not impel us to denounce our age as wicked beyond the measure of former days. On the degradation of Roman society long centuries ago Juvenal wrote: ‘Posterity will add nothing to our immorality. Our descendants can but do and desire the same crimes as ourselves.’ Iniquity takes on new phases with the development of civilization, but it can not reach any darker depths than have already been sounded. Moreover, the public reprobation of evil was never more pronounced than now.” It is perfectly true that ancient Roman society became degraded, but Rome went down. It is also perfectly true that ancient Greece became degraded and vice-laden, but Greece is only a matter of history. It is perfectly true that Persia became infamous because of her luxurious debaucheries and vices, but Persia went down. And so it has been with every nation in the past that has become proverbial for its conditions of vice and crime and debasing luxuries. It is true that there are many strong and earnest voices in these times that are sounding a note of alarm and warning because of the evils of the day, and these voices will be heard stronger and stronger, and their influence is preparing some to be saved from the wreckage when all the wickedness of this world meets its doom at the second coming of Christ. There is a way of escape from the evils that threaten the age, but it is through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and through recognizing and believing His word, and His word has plainly told us that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse; and the facts are in harmony with the prediction.