p. 6 | And Knowledge Shall Be Increased by Edward Quinn, Jr.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 9, 1913

"And Knowledge Shall Be Increased"

By Edward Quinn, Jr.

EDWARD QUINN, JR.

"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Dan. 12:4.

By studying the prophecies of the Bible, we learn that one of the signs of the end is an increase of knowledge; and in less than a century wonderful changes have taken place in the world around us. Does this advanced knowledge result from the fact that men have greater intellectual ability than formerly? It hardly seems so when we read of the great mental powers of the men who lived in the early part of the last century.

The reason for this great increase of knowledge is found in the Word of God, for we read in Matt. 24:14: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Practically all the signs foretelling Christ's second advent have been fulfilled, and his gospel is truly being carried to all parts of the earth. What makes this possible? — Simply the increase in scientific knowledge during the past few decades. The following incident in the life of Edison will be read with interest: —

"In a great city telegraph-office scores of instruments were busily clicking away. Presently, in the midst of the din and clatter, the door opened, and in walked a young man — a stranger. He was tall and rather awkward, with a linen duster reaching nearly to his heels. In response to his request for employment the chief operator motioned him to a chair. By and by another instrument began to click. The most important work of the day was on hand. The press despatches were ready at a distant city; and by his table in that city sat one of the swiftest writers and most skilful operators in the service, waiting to begin his rapid sending. The chief motioned to the tall young man to take his seat at the table at which the press news was to be received. He quietly did so. The other workers lifted their heads from their instruments to look askance at the rustic stranger in his attempt to 'take' the fastest man on the line. They were watching for him to fail. But he had no notion of doing so. Answering the call, he took up his pen and began to write. And there for hour after hour he sat. Without a break, without a halt, writing a hand like a copperplate in its clearness and beauty, he tossed off sheet after sheet of copy to the waiting messenger boy, while all the office stared in astonished admiration. When the work was finished, the position was his without any further question. When asked his name, he replied — Edison."

From that time the steps in electrical progress have been very rapid.

The following citation from the London Quarterly Review of 1825 gives an excellent example of conditions as they existed at that time: —

"What can be more palpably absurd and ridiculous than the prospect held out of locomotives' traveling twice as fast as stage-coaches? We should as soon expect the people of Woolwich to be fired off upon one of Congreve's ricochet rockets as trust themselves to a machine going at such a rate. . . . We trust that Parliament will, in all railways it may sanction, limit the speed to eight or nine miles an hour, which, we agree with Mr. Sylvester, is as great as can be ventured upon with safety."

Think of it! Eight or nine miles an hour! then think of the great trains running from New York to Chicago, a distance of 908 miles, in eighteen hours, and steamships crossing the Atlantic in less than five days. Truly the end is near; the agencies for carrying the gospel are prepared, and this gospel is rapidly being preached to all nations. It is high time for every believer in this last message to arouse to a realization of the times in which we are living, and be active in doing something in the Master's service.