p. 15 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 44. (11/7/1895)

THE LAW OF GOD

As Changed by the Papacy.

Here we have arranged the papal assumptions and admissions side by side with the law of God. These selections are all taken from works of acknowledged authority among the Catholics, and are therefore valuable for reference. Price of cloth, $1.00; paper, 5½x8½ in., per 100, 50c. Address Pacific Press Publishing Co., Oakland, Cal., or 43 Bond St., New York City, or 18 West 5th St., Kansas City, Mo.

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NEWS AND NOTES

SINCE OUR LAST ISSUE.

FOREIGN.

—A severe earthquake shock visited Rome on the morning of November 1. It is reported that considerable damage was done, several palaces and the Bank of Italy being so severely wrenched as to make occupancy unsafe.

—England will now have a very plausible excuse to declare war against Venezuela, or demand heavy indemnity, if the report is true that Venezuelan cruisers have fired on British traders. Late advices state that such attack has been made, and the captain of the British ship killed.

—The French Cabinet on October 29 resigned in a body, the impelling cause being charges preferred against certain members of complicity in the unsavory affairs of the South of France railroad. The ministers could not deny the charges, and so resigned. M. Bourgeois was appointed by President Faure to form a new ministry, which, we are notified, has been successfully accomplished.

—The report that a Russian fleet was making for Korean or Gulf of Pechili ports has been confirmed by the arrival of thirteen Russian war vessels at Port Arthur. The uneasiness aroused by the news has in nowise abated, and it is now wondered what England is going to do about it, while very little sympathy is felt for her. It is further strongly hinted that a treaty has been formed between Japan and Russia. Perhaps the only real certainty lies in the fact that Russia is determined to make her presence felt in the Orient as she has not before.

—An extraordinary piece of news comes from Texacopa, Mex. The auxiliary judge of that town, claiming to be acting under directions received in vision from the Virgin of Guadalupe, thrust into jail ten persons accused of being heretics and leading evil lives. Following instructions (?) the building was set fire to and the heretics burned. The district authorities immediately arrested the fanatic, with twenty others, but it is reported that the leader persistently justifies his course, and is upheld by the ignorant and superstitious people of his town. Did the quiet Spirit of Christ, who judged no man for not believing on him, actuate this fiend in his work?

DOMESTIC.

—Rev. T. De Witt Talmage has accepted the co-pastorship of the First Presbyterian Church of Washington, D. C., preaching his first sermon in his new position October 27.

—Patrick Callahan, seeking fame by jumping from the Poughkeepsie bridge into the Hudson River, a distance of 212 feet, made the leap October 27, but, in the gaining of his object, lost his life.

—The pope has announced his intention to advance Mgr. Satolli to the cardinalate. The preliminary ceremony, or conferring of the beretta, the red cap of a cardinal, will be performed by Cardinal Gibbons.

—A New York magistrate has decided that the repairing of a punctured bicycle tire on Sunday is a work of necessity. This judgment was given in the case of a man arrested for violating the Sunday law by doing such work. This is only an illustration of the many like religious decisions the civil magistrate must make under Sunday laws.

—On the morning of October 31 a severe earthquake was felt in the Middle States, the center of the disturbance being Missouri. In some places chimneys toppled off the houses, brick walls were sorely wrenched, and plate-glass windows broken, while in what is known as the volcanic region near Charleston in that state, sand and water were forced out of fissures made in the ground.

—On October 27 a mob at Tiffin, O., attempted to take a murderer from the county jail for the purpose of lynching him. The jail was broken into, but the mob was met by several shots from the guard, killing two of the number. They fled, vowing vengeance upon—not the murderer, but the guards, thus showing the spirit prompting such lawless work. Protection was afforded the sheriff by Governor McKinley, in the shape of state troops.

—Miss Flagler, the Washington lady who shot and killed Ernest Green, a young colored boy, on August 2, has been indicted by the Grand Jury for manslaughter, the penalty for which may be a fine of $1,000, or imprisonment not to exceed ten years. It is generally believed that Miss Flagler can not be convicted on this charge, as the shooting was due, it is claimed, to recklessness and not to malice. The trial will not take place probably for several months.

—The trustees of Chicago University have been made happy by a gift of $3,000,000 from John D. Rockefeller. One million of this is in cash, unconditional. The balance will be given provided the trustees can raise a like amount before January 1, 1900.

—Decisions have been reached in two criminal trials that have been given wide publicity. One is the case of H. H. Holmes, the wholesale murderer of Chicago, who has been found guilty of the murder of Benjamin Pietzel. The other is the case of Theodore Durrant, of San Francisco, who was found guilty, on the first ballot, of the murder of Blanche Lamont in the Emmanuel Baptist Church on April 3. Durrant must now stand trial for the murder of Minnie Williams in the same church. Appeals will probably be taken by both parties.

—According to the Scientific American, the proposed North River bridge will overshadow the seven wonders of the world at every point. The report of the engineers appointed by the Secretary of War is based on a structure having a clear span of 3,200 feet between towers. Sixteen cables, each 21½ inches in diameter, will be necessary to sustain the immense weight and provide the strength needed. When loaded to its full capacity, the bridge can carry, at a height of 150 feet above the water, 17 loaded freight trains, weighing 26,000 tons. The two masses of masonry comprising the substructure will contain more material than the great pyramid of Gizeh, and from these will rise four steel towers over which the cables will be strung, higher than the Washington monument. The total weight of the steel and wire works will be about 109,000 tons, and the cost of the bridge is estimated at $22,186,540.

—On October 29 a mob at Tyler, Tex., in the presence of thousands of citizens gathered to witness the sight, burned a negro at the stake. True, the wretch had committed a crime which would have given him the death sentence in a court of justice, and which would have been his fate had not a mob assumed the office of executioner. Such scenes of bloodthirstiness are becoming more and more frequent, and, we are sorry to say, reveal the fact that the perpetrators of them and their sympathizers are still governed by a spirit of savagery and barbarism supposed to belong to a past age or to uncivilized people. Such an exhibition manifests, not so much a distrust of the effectiveness of the law, as is sometimes urged, as it does a spirit of lawlessness, a disregard of all law, so growingly characteristic of the times. In the eyes of the law, every lyncher is a murderer, but will they be so dealt with? This occurred, too, in a state whose governor a few weeks before stirred his commonwealth from center to circumference in his zeal to pass a law to prevent a prize fight. We understand he administered a mild rebuke to the sheriff of the county where the above lynching occurred, after the burning. We can not say the criminal did not deserve the punishment, nor that the people of Texas are worse than other people. There can be no sympathy for murderers, but we do say the occurrence shows a deplorably benumbed condition of respect for the law, and a low realization of individual and public attitude in relation to it and its claims.

ANGELS, Their Nature and Ministry.

Revised by the late J.H. Waggoner. In two parts. Part Two considers some hints on the Origin, History and Destiny of Satan, as gleaned from the Scriptures. Bible Students’ Library No. 83. 140 pages. Paper covers. Price, 20 cents.

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The Law of God as Changed by the Papacy

Is the title of a large Chart just issued, which shows in a striking manner the blasphemous pretensions of the Papal power. The testimony of the Best Catholic Authorities is given, and shows, by quoting their own words, that Sunday is a child of the Catholic Church. These quotations, together with admissions from standard Catholic works, are arranged in parallel columns on either side of this Chart, while the center column contains the Ten Commandments as taught by the Catholic Church. The whole forms a collection of extracts of incalculable value for every Bible student.

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National Lecturer W. C. T. U.

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Where Is the Proof?

Troublesome

The Herald and Presbyter further says that Seventh-day Adventists, “in proportion to their numbers, are more troublesome and harassing” than any other people; that they have “made themselves felt as troublers in the land;” that “their attitude is that of troublers,” “attacking the faith and practice of nearly the whole Christian world.” These charges are not new; and they do not discourage us. Elijah, the prophet of God to Israel, which had departed from the pure worship and Sabbath of Jehovah to the sun-god Baal and the heathen times, was called a troubler in Israel. Said the sun-worshiping king, “Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” 1 Kings 18:17. Surely he was the troubler; for had there not four hundred and fifty prophets of the sun-god and sun-day and four hundred prophets of “the groves” felt his “influence”? Did he not “attack” their “faith and practice” ? And then he would not coöperate as a citizen to uphold Ahab and Jezebel in their course! Surely he was a “troubler,” “troublesome,” and “harassing.” And so have God’s people ever been. It was said of the apostles, “They that have turned the world upside down have come hither also.” Orthodox Pharisees and liberal Sadducees were alike troubled. It mattered not that the one class had made void the law of God through tradition, and the other class had taken away by their influence the reproof of the prophets, Christ and his disciples were the troublers. So also were the Christians to Pagan Rome. So were the Reformers to Papal Rome. So were the Presbyterians to the Church of England. So will every one be who follows the ever-increasing light of God’s word and who bids others to follow also. But, as in our previous note, we ask our readers, not for our sake, but for theirs, let God’s word decide.

Where Is the Proof?

There is another charge which the Herald and Presbyter makes to which we wish to call attention, and ask that paper for correction or proof. That charge is found in the following:—

“In more than one quiet community they have courted martyrdom, not by observing Saturday as the Sabbath, as they have a right to do, nor by working quietly on Sunday, but by doing this as noisily and ostentatiously as possible, and interfering with the peace and quiet to which the community has a right. Seventh-day Adventists have no more right to blast rocks, reap, thresh, or work the highways on Sunday than a baseball team has to disturb a community with a noisy game, and in some states neither one of these things is permitted, and when the law of the land which secures a day of rest and quiet is broken, those who break it are lawbreakers, and not martyrs, whether baseball players or Seventh-day Adventists.”

We have printed in Italic the particular item to which we have referred. The uniform testimony of witnesses for the prosecution, so far as they have testified on this point at all, and we do not recall a single exception, has been that the work done on Sunday for which Seventh-day Adventists have been prosecuted, was done in the most quiet and unostentatious manner possible. This has been the testimony of the courts which have tried them. In some cases they were convicted on their own testimony, contrary to law. We would like proof of the charge. Will the Herald and Presbyter furnish it?

As to baseball playing, men have as much right to play on Sunday, so far as man is concerned, as any other day. The peace and quiet of religious worship or religious meetings is sufficiently guarded in all states on all days, apart from all Sunday laws. Baseball players, as Seventh-day Adventists and Presbyterians, are responsible to God as to how they observe the Sabbath, any sabbath, or no sabbath. But in this, as in other duties, let the word of God decide. To him and his law all are amenable. We desire for the good of all that all should find the same blessed peace, rest, and power which comes by loyalty to God’s law through Jesus Christ. We have no desire to compel or criticize; we only entreat.

Wonderful Evidence.—

A contemporary publishes a sermon on the Sabbath in which the speaker says:—

“I read nothing of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob keeping the Sabbath, and nothing of the Israelites keeping it till they came out of Egypt.”

Strange! We do not read of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, John the Baptist, or other prophets keeping the Sabbath; ergo, the Sabbath was done away! For hundreds of years after the wanderings of Israel the Sabbath is not mentioned; ergo, the Sabbath was not obligatory in the Levitical dispensation! It is just this sort of negative argument, which proves nothing, that men rely on to show that the holy Sabbath of the eternal God is not now obligatory. By the same method the “character” of noted criminals is proved good. By the same kind of “evidence” other of the Ten Commandments can be “proved” to be nonexistent during various periods of the world’s history. God’s law is eternal, based on his character, and in the very nature of things. The Sabbath is a part of that law. It was given in the beginning (Gen. 2: 2, 3); it will endure to all eternity (Isa. 66: 22, 23).

Who Decides Religious Observance Under Proposed Sunday Law

Our Sunday-law people propose a law which shall exempt all those who observe the seventh day “religiously.” Who is going to decide this? What tribunal, without the tortures of the Inquisition, will be able to tell whether a man observes any day religiously or not?

Puzzling Questions.

It might be well for the California Sabbath Association to consider this question—anyhow we will propound it,—When this “Christian nation” is prepared to adopt “Christian laws,” what tribunal shall decide what is “Christian” and what is not? If the majority is to decide this, they may adopt the “Jewish Sabbath,” make it the “American sabbath,” and, the nation being “Christian,” this would make the “Jewish Sabbath” the “Christian sabbath,” wouldn’t it? If not, why not?

Let the Word Decide.

The Herald and Presbyter, of Cincinnati, in a recent issue has an editorial on “Seventh-day Adventism,” which simply declares in so many words that Seventh-day Adventists hold “very grievous errors,” and states what to its mind these errors are, without any attempt “to discuss or expose their errors at this time.” Well, all that we ask for the views of Seventh-day Adventists is this: Let them be compared with God’s word; let that word decide. “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, there is no light in them.” Does the Herald and Presbyter ask more? Neither age of religious organizations nor number of religious organizations is decisive of truth. What does God’s word say?

The Rights of the People by A. T. Jones

We have not yet had time to finish a careful reading of "The Rights of the People," by A. T. Jones, but the first six chapters are most excellent and timely. It is a pamphlet which should have the widest circulation, and every one who desires to become intelligent in the living issues of this time should read it. It is worthy of study. It is time to understand the foundation principles.

Change of the Sabbath

It is sometimes said that the change of the Sabbath was made by the pope of Rome. Technically speaking, this is not strictly correct. What is meant by the expression is just this: The change of the observance of the days—from the Sabbath of the Lord to the Sunday—was brought about in the Christian church by the great apostasy which culminated in the Papacy, of which the pope is the head. He is therefore spoken of many times as representative of the whole system. That apostasy, or mystery of iniquity, began to work in the church even in the days of the apostle. 2 Thess. 2: 3-7. For proof of this see “Sunday; Origin of Its Observance in the Christian Church,” price 15 cents; “Who Changed the Sabbath,” price 3 cents; or, “The Lord’s Day the Test of the Ages,” price 15 cents. These pamphlets are numbers respectively 80, 107, 134 of the Bible Students’ Library. Address, Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal.

California Sabbath Association Meeting Demands Sunday Law

The California Sabbath Association held a general meeting in this city on October 31. Although the meeting was supposed to be advertised in all the churches within miles of Oakland, but few were present either in the afternoon or evening. One of the officials remarked that he was ashamed and amazed to see so few present, yet he thanked God that so many were there. Their resolutions were a mixture of truth and error, clothing the Sunday with the divine honors of the Lord's Sabbath, and asking for a state law to enforce the institution. It was not demanded as a civil institution, but it was frankly assumed that it was “the duty of government to recognize it [the sabbath] as a divinely benevolent institution,” and “enforce the law of God;” and it was demanded “in the name of the Lord” that all liquor saloons be closed on Sunday during all its hours. Certainly no one can contend for a moment that it is not the religious day that they thus demanded; for it is boldly contended that it is, and that a “Christian nation” ought to have Christian laws. The student of Scripture well knows that this means men's interpretations of God's laws, men putting themselves in the place of Christ, and union of church and state, with all its consequent evils.

CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY.

THE Christian Advocate of recent date has the following note:—

“We should not be surprised if before long Mr. Gladstone should come out in favor of the doctrine of conditional immortality. This view seems to many to relieve the Gospel and God’s plan for the creation from the odium of provision for the eternal existence of moral evil. It is questionable, however, while it is not scriptural, whether in the plane of pure reason this is correct. Should he commit himself to it, a discussion of intense interest to all Christians will be opened.”

But why should not the question be of interest to all, whatever Mr. Gladstone may say, or whether he speaks at all. It is not a question for him to settle, but for every man in the light of God’s word. And it should not be difficult. The word tells us that God “only hath immortality,” and that Jesus Christ hath brought it to man through the Gospel, conditional on man’s acceptance, by faith. Conditional immortality is most scriptural and reasonable and beautiful.