Review and Herald, Vol. 82, No. 52. (12/28/1905)

Review and Herald

Dec 28, 1905

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Dec 28, 1905

The Banner of Truth

By Ellen G. White

THE LORD will put new, vital force into His work as human agencies obey the command to go forth and proclaim the truth. He who declared that His truth would shine forever will proclaim this truth through faithful messengers, who will give the trumpet a certain sound.

Let the world go into spiritualism, into theosophy, into pantheism, if they choose. We are to have nothing to do with this deceptive branch of Satan’s work. The Testimonies published in the future will urge still more strongly the necessity of lifting up and carrying high the banner on which are inscribed the words, “The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” God’s people are to let no one take this banner from their hands. The only hope for our people now is to take their stand on the true foundation. Higher and still higher they are to raise the banner of truth.

We are God’s commandment-keeping people. For the past fifty years every phase of heresy has been brought to bear upon us, to becloud our minds regarding the teaching of the Word, especially concerning the ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and the message of heaven for these last days, as given by the angels of the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. Messages of every order and kind have been urged upon Seventh-day Adventists, to take the place of the truth which, point by point, has been sought out by prayerful study, and testified to by the miracle-working power of the Lord. But the way-marks which have made us what we are, are to be preserved; and they will be preserved, as God has signified through His Word and the testimony of His Spirit. He calls upon us to hold firmly, with the grip of faith, to the fundamental principles that are based upon unquestionable authority.

Mrs. E. G. White.

Our Publishing Work

By Editor

The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. Psalm 68:11.

Any publication mentioned on this page may be ordered through your conference tract society or from any of our publishing houses or their branch offices. See last paragraph on this page for addresses of our publishing houses.

“SEER OF PATMOS” and “Daniel the Prophet” are companion volumes that treat on those two wonderful prophetic books, Revelation and Daniel. They were written by Elder Haskell, and their narrative style makes them interesting and entirely different in treatment from any of our other publications. Sold singly or in sets. Price, $1 for each volume, or $2 a set.

PRACTICAL lessons on home life are abundant in that wholesome story “Making Home Happy.” It tells in story form how a home was made happy through love and unselfishness, and impresses many useful lessons while keeping up an interest in the narrative. Your neighbors, old and young, will be interested in this little book, and its perusal may be of real help in making other happy homes. Bound in white cloth, 50 cents; in paper covers, 25 cents.

“WHAT others have not dared attempt, you have done, and done well,” is the testimony of a Baptist minister regarding “Lover’s Love.” This book is an endeavor to give expression to the depth of love manifest in the “unspeakable gift” of Jesus Christ, and has as its basis the wonderful verse, John 3:16, so familiar to every Bible student. The book contains a wealth of interesting incidents and word-pictures which make practical and forcible the author’s helpful suggestions on Christian living. Price in cloth, 75 cents.

IT is supposed that more than a million people have read to a greater or less extent that valuable little book “His Glorious Appearing.” This is on the basis that at least four persons see every book sold. Think what good must have been accomplished by its circulation, and then ask yourself if you have done all that you ought to bring the truth which it contains to your neighbors and friends. Perhaps you will need more copies for loaning during the winter months. Price in board binding, 25 cents a copy; in cloth, 40 cents.

THOSE who have come into the truth recently, and the rising generation of those who have been brought up in this truth, will be greatly benefited and more thoroughly established in “the present truth,” if they will carefully study the subject of the sanctuary. One of the best books for such study is Elder Smith’s “Looking Unto Jesus.” This book treats the subject in harmony with the teachings of this people for the last forty or fifty years, and gives to the sanctuary its proper and important position in relation to the other truths of the third angel’s message. The book contains three hundred pages, and costs 75 cents in plain cloth. HELP for the housewife will be found in the little cook-book, “A Friend in the Kitchen,” 25 cents in paper, 50 cents in cloth. More than one hundred thousand copies of this book have been sold.

THAT restless boy will be entertained by “My Garden Neighbors”—a book of true bird and animal stories. Price, $1. The girls will like to read the interesting experiences related in “How a Little Girl Went to Africa.” Price, $1.

ARE you familiar with the early history of this advent movement and with the experiences of the pioneers in the message? If not, it will do your soul good and establish you more firmly in the truth if you read Elder Loughborough’s book, “The Great Second Advent Movement.” Price, $1.50.

A VEGETARIAN cafe in the far West writes, “Double our order for Life and Health, and send us one hundred copies a month hereafter.” Orders and re-orders for the December number are being received, and renewals are coming in most encouragingly from the large number whose subscriptions expire with this month. An enthusiastic subscriber calls it the “common sense health magazine,” and many are the words of appreciation sent us. For yourself or for a friend who needs its healthful counsel it is worth many times the subscription price, 50 cents a year. New subscribers may have the November and December numbers free so long as the supply lasts.

THE National Reform Association laid plans at its annual convention in Allegheny, Pa., held the first of this month, to put copies of three tracts issued by the association into the hands of every national and State lawmaker, every attorney and public official, and every minister and school-teacher. Individual effort is to be put forth, too, for citizens, societies, and special classes of immigrants, in order to develop sentiment in favor of National Reform principles, and to secure the allegiance of every one possible. Does this not indicate such activity on the part of the advocates of wrong principles as should stir us to the most vigorous action in the circulation of literature dealing with the true principles of liberty? It would certainly seem that a more favorable opportunity for the circulation of our publications is not likely to present itself. Millions of copies of truth-filled leaflets should be placed in the hands of the people this winter. Will you do your part?

Orders for any publication mentioned on this page may be sent to any conference tract society or to any of the following: Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D. C., and Battle Creek, Mich.; Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View, Cal., also Portland, Ore., and Kansas City, Mo.; Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tenn., and Fort Worth, Tex.

Editorial

By Editor

The Outlook

As we face the new year with its perils and possibilities, it seems natural to consider what the indications are concerning the progress of this advent movement. Is there any ground upon which to base the hope that we may see the outward tokens of a more marked advancement of this cause than we have witnessed during the past year? If we can interpret the present situation correctly, it seems clear that those hindrances to onward progress which have been causing a delay in our work are now to be removed, and that renewed power is to be revealed in behalf of this message. “No longer are we to be a mixed multitude. . . . God now graciously calls to those whose souls are lifted up unto vanity to come to him. No longer are they to act as a stumbling-block to hinder the work of the Lord. Unless they change their attitude, the Lord will remove them; for his work is to be delayed no longer. . . . Long has he borne with men who have not glorified his name. He now calls upon his people to make thorough work, and remove every stumbling-block. Let us clear the highway for our God.” With these significant words of warning and exhortation come also these encouraging statements: “The Lord will work. Great facts will be revealed in the Word. There are rich experiences to be received from the great Medical Missionary. The knowledge of salvation through faith, and a full trust in a personal God and a personal Saviour, will be manifest. Those who have held the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end, will have the proof of the things which they have learned, by a personal experience. The gospel will be revealed and verified. The experience of the day of Pentecost will surely be repeated.” These messages which have just come to us through the spirit of prophecy encourage us to believe that we are “now, just now,” passing through the crisis which will bring deliverance from confusion in God’s work, and prepare the way for a mighty forward movement. God is to vindicate his messages of warning and encouragement, and “there shall be delay no longer.” The outlook is encouraging. Let us “hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.”

The Battle Creek University

By Editor

The announcement of “The Battle Creek Schools,” just issued, is a pamphlet of one hundred and twelve pages, profusely illustrated, and attractive in appearance. It is stated in the “Foreword” that “the real purpose of these schools, one and all, is to help forward the Christian altruistic movement of which the Battle Creek Sanitarium has been for more than a quarter of a century the acknowledged center.” It is further declared that “the return-to-nature idea dominates in every department of this educational system, and is accounted worthy of respect and recognition by all who attend these schools.”

Many and varied courses are offered by “this educational opportunity, really a university, but bearing the simple title of ‘The Battle Creek Schools,’” and seven pages are occupied in listing the various faculties. The announcement declares that “no other school offers so large a variety of practical literary, scientific, and medical work from which may be made up a course leading to the degree of Bachelor or Master of Arts.” Of its Biblical course we are told that “it is safe to say that nowhere in America can new students receive more thoroughgoing instruction in Bible themes than in this course.”

From the closing paragraphs of the announcement we quote the following: “The great purpose of this enterprise [the Battle Creek Sanitarium], which in forty years has grown from a small beginning to proportions which have given it world-wide recognition, is to lead those who are seeking for light and better things up to a higher, more wholesome, more spiritual, more natural life. To sober-minded young men and young women who are in sympathy with these purposes and ideas, we say, Come. We will give you a hearty welcome, and will do our utmost to help you to reach the highest usefulness which you are capable of attaining. Come prepared to work, to work hard, to make your whole business to embrace the great opportunities here afforded to prepare yourself for a happy, useful, and successful life. Nowhere else in the world, perhaps, are such splendid opportunities offered as here for a thorough and many-sided training.”

We have made these quotations from this announcement in order that our people may read in their own words the statements of the managers concerning the nature and purpose of their educational movement. These statements are full of significance to those who desire to know whether this movement is in reality an integral part of the organized work of this denomination.

It will be conceded, we think, without argument that the managers of this “university” movement entertain no mean ideas concerning “The Battle Creek Schools,” and that they have made such a pleasing announcement of their plans as is well calculated to draw young people to Battle Creek. If we knew nothing more about the influences which prevail there and their effect upon the young people who have been brought up to have confidence in the work and the leadership of this denomination than appears in this publication, we might easily be persuaded that Battle Creek was the best place in the world for Seventh-day Adventist young people. With our knowledge of the facts, however, we are prepared, in the face of this very attractive announcement, to advise the parents in this denomination, as well as the young people themselves, that it will be better to forego these “great opportunities” than to pay the price necessary to secure them.

We know from personal experience something about the bitterness of the experience which results from listening to constant insinuations about the fundamental truths of this message borne to the world by Seventh-day Adventists. We know what it means to struggle with the doubts and fears aroused by skilful

misrepresentations of warnings and counsels given through the spirit of prophecy. We know the power of that influence, apparently gentle, but really tyrannical, which through favor, flattery, and misrepresentation tries to hold all in subjection to itself, disappoints oft-times every worthy ambition, and embitters the life. We have learned our lessons through an experience from which we would gladly protect others, and therefore feel justified in speaking plainly when we see the snare set so seductively.

We regard confidence in the third angel’s message as God gave it to this people, a whole-hearted faith in the instruction which comes to this people through the spirit of prophecy, and an ambition to devote the life to labor in harmony with the work of this denomination as now organized, of infinitely more value than an education nominally free, but in reality purchased at the expense of all these. With young people of the world these considerations may have no weight, but to the young people of Seventh-day Adventists who do not wish to barter spiritual for intellectual life, they are big with meaning. The third angel’s message itself constitutes the greatest opportunity offered to young people in the world. In this crisis of the world an undimmed spiritual discernment is the pearl of great price. To be in harmony with God’s work in the earth is the greatest privilege afforded to young or old. Any proposal, however flattering it may be, which either lessens our estimate of these blessings or deprives us of them altogether, may well be disregarded.

‘And he led him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, To thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them: for it hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship before me, it shall all be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’

When it was proposed to reopen the Battle Creek College in the summer of 1903, and an announcement to this effect was made by the board of trustees, we expressed in the REVIEW of Aug. 4, 1903, our view of this matter in an editorial which closed with the following paragraph:—

Under all these circumstances we can but regard the reopening of Battle Creek College as an ill-advised move which will tend to confuse the minds of this people concerning the steps which have been taken under the counsel of the spirit of prophecy, and which will be likely to lead to many misunderstandings in the future.

In response to this editorial a statement appeared in the REVIEW of Aug. 27, 1903, signed by Alonzo T. Jones, E. A. Sutherland, P. T. Magan, E. D. Kirby, and J. H. Kellogg, from which we quote the following:—

From the preceding [statements and explanations] it will appear that the announcement of the opening of Battle Creek College does not mean the restoration or reopening of anything which has been closed. It does not mean the reorganization in Battle Creek of the educational work which was moved to Berrien Springs. The reopening is such only in a technical and legal sense, and the announcement was made for technical and legal purposes. No new educational work will be begun next fall, or at any other time, in consequence of the announcement which has been made. The educational work which will be done is simply the continuance of that which has been carried on ever since the Battle Creek College was announced to be closed, and since the opening of the work at Berrien Springs. The only difference will be that the work which has heretofore been done in private classes, and by tutors who are not legally qualified to give certificates which could be recognized by boards of regents and medical examining boards, will now be done by the same persons in the same way, but acting in the capacity of a legally constituted faculty who have the power to grant certificates and to confer degrees.

So there is no occasion that any one should take alarm, or to suppose that there is any lack of faith on the part of anybody, or that any new or unexpected thing is being done. . . .

The school at Battle Creek will be conducted in perfect harmony with the school at Berrien Springs. The president of the Emmanuel Missionary College is a member of the board of administration of Battle Creek College, and will take care to see that no steps are taken which could be detrimental to the interests of Emmanuel Missionary College. Certainly there is no member of the board of management who would willingly be connected with any such opposing movement.

In the same issue the following extract from a communication from Sister White, dated Aug. 4, 1903, was printed:—

There are many young men and young women among us who, if inducements are held out, would naturally be inclined to take several years’ course of study at Battle Creek. But will it pay? Has not the Lord some practical work to do in missionary lines? Manly young men will be needed to enter the printing-office when it is established in Washington, to learn the printer’s trade. Our publications are to be prepared to go forth to the world. Canvassers are to be educated to take up the work of circulating these publications. Our books and papers are to go to places that are still in the darkness of error.

The Lord calls upon young men to enter our schools. Schools are to be established in which our youth can receive an education that will prepare them to go forth to do evangelical and medical missionary work. Let these schools be established out of the cities. . . . A school such as has been planned for should be in some place where the students would not be closely associated with the large numbers who are expected to patronize the sanitarium at Battle Creek. It is not wise to plan to maintain such a school in a place where a worldly element prevails to so great an extent as to counterwork that which the Lord has outlined should be done for our youth in our educational institutions. So many youth should not be brought together in Battle Creek.

The Lord presented to us the reasons for removing the College from Battle Creek. This instruction should now be searched out and studied by those who are planning to organize another educational institution there. Let the light already given shine forth in its purity and beauty, that God’s name may be glorified.

The first step toward making Battle Creek an educational center, which we openly opposed, was taken in 1903. At that time we were assured that ‘no new educational work will be begun next fall, or at any other time, in consequence of the announcement which has been made.’ Only two years have passed, and now this professedly innocent movement which disclaimed the possibility of its being ‘any such opposing movement’ as ‘could be detrimental to the interests of Emmanuel Missionary College,’ has developed into a self-styled university with forty courses leading to diplomas and degrees. We are not especially surprised, for we anticipated just such an outcome when the first step was taken. It is simply a part of the well-defined plan to make Battle Creek a center of influence and control in this denomination in spite of all the counsels and warnings to the contrary.

Of course the managers of the Battle Creek Sanitarium are permitted to conduct their work according to their own ideas, and it is their privilege to disregard the instruction which comes to this people through the spirit of prophecy, but we purpose that our people shall understand these matters just as they are. When the true situation is clearly understood, then an intelligent choice can be made between denominational and undenominational work, and no one will be deceived. The time has come when those who desire that their sons and daughters should be helped to fill places of usefulness in the organized work of this denomination should know that they are not likely to attain this end by sending them to Battle Creek. There has been and there still is a strong, steady influence exerted from Battle Creek which tends to destroy confidence in, and respect for, the work and leadership of this denomination, and those who are held under this influence are likely to lose their desire to connect with the denominational work, or to make shipwreck of their faith altogether. It is high time that the parents and the young people of this denomination should be made acquainted with

these facts.

Young people of the world who wish to avail themselves of the opportunities offered at Battle Creek to become nurses and physicians may do so without losing an experience which they never had, but, however great the facilities and opportunities offered for an education at little cost in money, we can not advise the young people who believe the truths of this message as they were given to this people, to go to Battle Creek for their training. These are plain words, but we know whereof we speak, and we speak thus plainly because the interests of this work and of this people demand it.

The instruction which is now coming through the spirit of prophecy concerning this educational movement in Battle Creek is of the same nature as that which has come in the past. We quote the following paragraphs from a communication dated June 28, 1905:—

I say to our churches, Beware of the representations coming from Battle Creek that would lead you to disregard the warnings given by the Lord about the effort to make that a great educational center. Let not your sons and daughters be gathered there to receive their education. Powerful agencies have been stealthily working there to sow seeds of evil.

I must speak plainly. It is represented to me that the condition of things is just what we were warned that it would be unless the messages of heaven were received by the leaders of the medical work in Battle Creek. But notwithstanding the warnings given, some to whom they have been sent stand up in self-confidence, as if they knew all that it was needful for them to know. They claim that they are right in the sight of God, while they disregard the very warnings God has given, and deny every danger. Thus they show their need of turning away from the seductive spirit that is working to destroy faith in the messages of warning given in the past.

Very adroitly some have been working to make of no effect the Testimonies of warning and reproof that have stood the test for half a century. At the same time they deny doing any such thing.

Again I say to all, Keep your families away from Battle Creek. Those who have so often opposed the efforts to remove from Battle Creek will some of them be seduced from the truth. The warnings that have come were none too soon. The Lord will again visit Battle Creek in judgment. Those who wish to train their families to be workers in the cause of the Lord can not afford to place them under the seducing influences that will tend to spoil their faith and lead them to become infidels. I warn those who have acted and are acting a part in this seductive work, to break the spell that is upon them.

There is no mistaking the issue. It is time for each one to make his choice. This message will neither be superseded by a new philosophy nor overthrown by the influences which have worked against it. Other movements have succumbed under just such experiences as this, but there is a vitality in this final message of preparation for the coming of the Lord. God gave this message to this people; God has preserved it thus far; and God will carry it through. ‘We have not followed cunningly devised fables.’ We urge all our people to follow the light which has guided us safely in all the trying experiences of the past. It will not mislead us.

Scripture and the Holy Spirit

The first two Sabbath-school lessons to be used in this country during the next quarter are upon “The Word of God.” There is good reason for the renewed consideration of this vital subject. While a rampant skepticism is doing its destructive work, and the authority of “the inward light” is being substituted for the authority of the Word of the living God, it is fitting that we should examine anew the firm foundation of our faith in a “Thus saith the Lord.”

We have already presented some extracts from the writings of Dr. Adolph Saphir upon this general subject, and we think our readers will be interested in, and profited by, the reading of further extracts from the published works of this defender of the old-time faith in the inspiration of the Scriptures. We therefore take the following paragraphs from his book “Christ and the Scriptures:” —

It is because people do not believe that only the Spirit of God can reveal the things of God and Christ to our spirit, that they have no firm belief and enlightened view as to the Spirit’s special work—the Scripture. Had a Scriptural view of the person and work of the Holy Ghost been more powerfully prevalent in the church, not merely in her formularies, but in reality and life, there would never have been so much occasion given to represent the teaching of the church on the inspiration of Scripture as “mechanical,” “converting men into automata,” etc.; and the whole question would not have assumed such a scholastic and metaphysical form. For then the living testimony and the written testimony would appear both as supernatural and Spirit-breathed. The more the supremacy of the Holy Ghost, divine, loving, and present, is acknowledged, the more the Bible is fixed in the heart and conscience. But if the “Book” is viewed as the relic and substitute of a now absent and inactive Spirit, bibliolatry and Bible-rejection are the necessary results.

The whole history of Israel was under the immediate guidance of the Spirit. The tabernacle, as well as all the other institutions, was framed not by human wisdom, but, as Paul says, the Holy Ghost symbolized (signified) through them. Heb. 9:8. Israel received a word, embodied in Scripture and institutions which were formed by the Spirit. In like manner Jesus, the fulfilment, was conceived by the Holy Ghost. The world did not understand him, because he was from above: how could they testify of him whom they knew not? Who can testify of Christ, but the Holy Ghost? If Scripture is the testimony of Jesus, it must be by the Spirit.

This is granted by all Christians. But fix your mind on this thought still further. Who can understand Christ fully? Not even Paul could say he knew him, but only that he desired to know him (Philippians 3); and whatever measure of knowledge he possessed was, according to his own confession, by the Spirit. None can know Christ fully,

except the Spirit, even as none knoweth the Father but the Son. If we have in Scripture a full and adequate testimony of Christ (full and adequate, not absolutely, for no man knoweth the Son but the Father, but relatively for our life, in doctrine and walk, for us individually and as members of families and society, for the Jews and the church in all ages), who but the Spirit could be the author of Scripture? He only possesses this fulness, out of which he distributes severally to the various writers according to their position and character.

But does Scripture give any direct teaching on the subject?—It does, and that, not in a few isolated passages, but frequently and copiously.

Notice the expressions constantly used by the prophets: “Thus saith the Lord,” “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it;” “The word of the Lord came to . . .” In Hosea 12:10 we read, “I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.” And so distinct is this characteristic of the true prophet, that in Jeremiah we have the most fearful denunciations against false prophets, who ran without being sent by God, and who spoke without having received a message from God. Jer. 14:14, 15. The Spirit of Jehovah, the prophets assert, came upon them. It is an influence from without and from above. The hand of the Lord came upon them, in order to signify that it was not their meditation which elevated them to behold future things, but the Spirit of the eternal God. In the case of the three great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, they had each a special vision and solemn commission, setting them apart for their prophetic office. Isaiah’s mouth is touched with a live coal from off the altar; unto Jeremiah Jehovah saith, “Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth:” Ezekiel received and ate the roll God gave him; the message was divine, and according to God’s commandment Ezekiel said, “Thus saith the Lord God.” Most of God’s prophets were unwilling to go: the Lord had to compel them to go—Moses, Jeremiah, Jonah—that it may be more evident that God sent them to deliver his message and not their own thoughts: the origin of their prophecy as well as the message itself was divine.

In accordance with this, we find that in quoting from Moses and the prophets the Lord and the apostles sometimes mention the name of the individual writer, as Isaiah, David, etc., but more frequently the words are introduced with the expression, “He saith,” or, “The Scripture saith,” or, “The Holy Ghost saith.” In the epistle to the Hebrews the quotations are invariably attributed not to the human writer, but to the Lord, to the Holy Ghost, or to “one in a certain place,” thus carrying out most fully what is stated at the very commencement of this epistle, that it was God who spoke by the prophets unto the Fathers.

The manner in which the Scripture is quoted by our Saviour, the evangelists and the apostles, clearly shows that they regarded the men by whom the Word was written as the instruments, but the Lord, and more especially the Spirit, as the true author of the whole organism of the Jewish record.

So evident was this truth to the Jews, and to all whom the apostles taught, and so confirmed were they in this belief by the constant practise of their teachers, that we scarcely expect a formal deliverance on a point which indirectly was continually impressed on the early Christians. But when Paul looked forward to his approaching departure, and committed the work of the ministry unto Timothy, in the prospect of perilous times and false teachers, he reminded his dear son in the gospel of the supreme authority and sufficiency of Scripture, declaring that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” 2 Tim. 3:16. There can be no doubt as to the meaning of the terms employed; that “Scripture” means the writings of Moses and the prophets, as acknowledged by the Jews and confirmed by Jesus; that “all Scripture” means the whole of that Scripture (just as in Eph. 2:21 the same expression “all” means the whole building, and in Eph. 3:15 the “whole family,” and in 1 Peter 1:15, the “whole conversation”), the whole, showing both its organic unity (as Rom. 11:26, “all Israel”) and the perfection of all portions of the Book; and that “inspired of God” means that the Spirit of God is the author of this Scripture influencing the men who wrote in such a manner that their writings are pure and absolute truth.

The One Business

By W. A. S.

THAT was a true view of business that William Carey expressed while still cobbling shoes in the Northamptonshire village, long before he found the way out to India as the pioneer of modern missions. A well-meaning friend thought to give him a kindly warning to look out for his own interests better.

“Mr. Carey,” he said, “I want to speak to you very seriously.”

“Well, what is it?” inquired Carey.

“By going about preaching as you do, you are neglecting your business. If you only attended to your business more, you would be all right, and would soon get on and prosper; but as it is, you are simply neglecting your business.”

“Neglecting my business?” returned Carey, looking his friend steadily in the eyes. “My business is to extend the kingdom of God. I only cobble shoes to pay expenses.”

It was the rule of his life. And it proved a good business rule too; for in his India days he at times earned large salaries, five to eight thousand dollars a year, and still his one business was serving the Lord, and all income from his business, save for the bare necessaries of life, was turned into the mission treasury.

Surely, for believers in the soon coming of the Lord, there is but one business, that of hastening the advent message to the world. What other aim can men have who truly believe the end of the world at hand, that the cities of the nations are soon to fall, and the great day of God's wrath to break upon the world?

Carpenter or farmer, merchant or preacher, the one business is hastening the warning message onward. Just as truly as the Lord calls the missionary to toil unceasingly, with every power of his being and with all the means at his disposal, to carry the light into new fields, even so the call comes to the man toiling in business to dedicate that business to the cause of truth.

Whether it be the calling and gift of public ministry, or whether it be the calling and gift of earning means in business, it is one call to this last service, and those who go and those who send will share equally in the reward.

W. A. S.

Teaching Religion

By L. A. S.

The underlying principle of Protestantism is expressed in the phrase, “The Bible, and the Bible only.” This is the same as saying, The Word of God, and not the word of man; and this means, God, not man, the teacher of religion.

The evil change which came over the Christian church in the early centuries, and which marked the development of the papacy, was wholly the result of substituting the word of man for the Word of God in religious teaching, putting a human teacher in the place of the divine. When the Reformation arose, this process was reversed, and the people were taken back to the Word of God as the only authority and guide in the religious life.

The teaching of religion, that is, of Christianity, requires, on the part of the learner, an attitude of faith, and on God's part, the agency of the Holy Spirit. This at once severs religion from the province of state education, since the state can neither compel the exercise of faith nor exercise any control whatever over the divine agency through which God impresses his truth upon human minds.

Christianity can not be taught as other sciences are, because it is so far superior to all other sciences that only a divine text-book and divine agencies will suffice for the purpose. The science of Christianity touches the heart and character as well as the intellect, and determines destiny as well as the character of this present life. It has to do with the rights of God as well as the welfare of man. The teaching of this highest and broadest of sciences is the most important of all teaching, and he who imparts such instruction is the greatest of teachers. Jesus Christ was the greatest teacher the world ever knew.

The text-book of Christianity is the Word of God, and this text-book must be most rigidly followed. The ‘original’ thinker and investigator in this branch of teaching is a disastrous failure. No man is authorized to teach anything on his own authority or the authority of other men. None of the truths of Christianity have been produced or evolved by men. The part of the human teacher is simply to hold forth ‘the word of life,’ which God has given to the world. The most successful preacher, from a Christian standpoint, is he who can best call attention to the Word of God and most vividly impress that Word upon the minds of his hearers.

Because of the nature of the Christian religion, true Protestants oppose attempts to teach it in the secular schools, knowing that such attempts can only result in damage to the pupils and to the cause of Christian truth. Roman Catholics, on the other hand, favor religious teaching by the state because their religion, being the product of tradition, the word of man, and human authority, and having lost the divine from its make-up, is entirely adapted to human agencies for its propagation. The state can teach the Catholic religion or any false religion—it can not teach the religion of Christ.

L. A. S.

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