Earlier text: General ArticlesHow Differently Received!
By R. F. Cottrell
God has willed that the Third Angel's Message shall be proclaimed in the world as the closing message of probation. He has also pledged his word that it shall be given. He has dictated the terms of the message, and no man may add thereto, or take therefrom. It positively declares, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” This message must be, nay, it is being proclaimed. But how differently it sounds to different individuals! To one it is only a horrible denunciation of unmixed wrath; to another it is the tender warning voice of sweet, long-suffering mercy. To the transgressor of God's holy Law who is determined to continue in transgression, it is a most unwelcome message, nay, it seems to such to be “perfectly savage.” But to those who are willing to obey, who really desire to know their sins that they may turn from them, and thus be prepared to meet the Coming One, how welcome the message! Perhaps they have often wondered how it came, that while the Bible taught one thing, the Christian world were practicing another—while that taught the observance of the seventh day, and that only, the world were keeping the first day. How welcome to such the clear light that is now shining upon the subject of the change. They feel to thank and praise God that he has not left them to smother the slight convictions that they had, and go on in sin, but has sent a special message for their help, in the perplexing circumstances they were in. Their language is, Let me see the light and know the truth, and, by the help of God, I will walk in it. The temple of God is now opened in Heaven, and while others would gladly close it, because the ark is there containing the hated fourth commandment, these still desire to look in, because they see the mercy-seat above the ark, and a merciful High Priest standing before it. While those see nothing but lightnings and hear nothing but thunderings, indicative of the wrath of God against the transgressors of his Law; these see the mercy-seat sprinkled with that blood that can take away sin, and hear the voice of love in sweet and melting strains proclaiming: “Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.” Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. F. COTTRELL. The Bible’s Enduring Power
THE charge is made now and again by the little skeptics who swing their lanterns in the face of the sun and claim the credit of making the world light, that thinking men have done away with the Book of books. But the sun shines on, and the world at large does not mistake lantern-light for sunlight. The glad truth remains that the Bible is not the transient book of a buried past, but the permanent possession and impelling power of an ever-living present.—The Standard. The Faults of Prolonged Strife
By Thomas Fuller
WHEN worthy men quarrel, only one of them may be faulty at first; but, if strife continue long, commonly both become guilty.—T. Fuller. Immortality a Gift.
By S. P. Bollman
WITHOUT entering into a discussion as to what that principle or element denominated the soul of man is, or attempting an analysis of a body so "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps. 139:14), I propose to inquire briefly into a few particulars whether the Bible warrants the belief that there is in man a conscious principle or entity, which leaves the body at death, for an eternal existence, either in happiness or misery. This question correctly decided, and that decision cordially received and incorporated into the creeds of the popular Christian denominations, would eliminate from their articles of faith one of the most prolific sources of evil extant within the pale of professedly Christian organizations. If the Bible be taken as the standard of judgment on this question, we must conclude that there is no such entity as an immortal soul pertaining to any mere man. For in 1 Tim. 6:15, 16, we have this declaration, "The King of kings, and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality." This Bible statement alone ought to be sufficient to forever settle the question in the negative; but when we find this cardinal negation of the soul's immortality corroborated by all other scriptures bearing on this point, and that such a view only harmonizes all parts of Scripture, and makes more clear the wonders of redemption, and the inexhaustible fullness there is in Christ Jesus, who is the Christian's life, we wonder that a fallacy so obvious should ever have gained so wide a currency among denominations of professedly Christian people, whose professed rule of faith and life is divine revelation. It is somewhat significant that while the word soul is found eight hundred and seventy-three times in the original Scriptures, it is never once called immortal! And yet in sermons, prayers, exhortations, and so-called Christian instruction, "immortal soul," "never-dying soul," and equivalent expressions abound. The word immortality is found in 1 Tim. 1:17, but is applied to God, and not to man. The celebrated Olshausen says: "The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and the name, are alike unknown to the entire Bible."—Com. on 1 Cor. 15:13. Seventh-day Adventists teach, that immortality is a gift bestowed upon the righteous at the resurrection; and this view is in perfect accord with the Scriptures. In Romans 2:7 there is a class of persons spoken of, "who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for immortality." This passage is comprehensive, and doubtless includes all true Christians, and conveys the idea of an utter destitution of the thing sought for, as well as an exhortation to earnestly strive for it. How those who believe that man is naturally immortal, can reconcile that idea with an exhortation to seek for immortality, we cannot understand. In all God's requirements of man, in relation to securing his salvation, there is a beautiful propriety, nothing unnecessary, nothing superfluous. But if man has immortality already, or inherently, why seek for it? The idea is absurd, from a logical point of view, and ought to be rejected because of its antagonism with a line of scriptures which are totally, irreconcilable with man's inherent immortality, but which teach the sad truth that man is mortal, and that even if he is a subject of "the redemption which is in Christ Jesus," he will not receive the boon of immortality until Jesus comes "the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28. Compare also Rev. 22:12. In Job 4:17 we have this expression, "Shall mortal man be more just than God?" If the theory that man is inherently immortal were true, Eliphaz (the speaker in the above quotation) certainly would not have made use of the expression mortal man. Eliphaz evidently intended to draw a sharp contrast between God, who only hath immortality, and man, who hath it not, who is perishable and destined to pass into that state of unconsciousness referred to in Job 14:10, 21; also Eccl. 9:5, 6, and Ps. 6:5; 146:4. These passages, with many others of like import, are so strong and emphatic in relation to the mortal and perishable nature of man, that we cannot wonder at Paul's inference, if there be no resurrection "then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." 1 Cor. 15:18. This declaration would be strange and unwarranted if the "souls of believers pass immediately into glory" at death (as popular theology teaches). If the body is only a clog of clay, as Spiritualists and immaterialists would have us believe, why should Paul make such an ado about the body, when the jewel, the immortal (?) soul, escaped from its worthless prison (the body), is safe in Heaven? It may afford a fine foundation for such so-called sacred poetry as, "I want to be an angel;" or, "A never-dying soul to save," but such a theory has no support from the Bible, and seems to have been unknown to those who "spake [and wrote] as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:21. In contradiction of such fine-spun sentimentalism, the solemn truth which the Bible clearly and in various phraseology makes known, remains, "The dead know not anything; . . . neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Eccl. 9:5, 6. The Bible assumes that man is only a probationer for immortality; and if it becomes his in actual possession, it will be because of a certain perfection of character, and will be given as a gift from the Lord Jesus ("I give unto them eternal life," John 10:28), who is the life of every Christian; which transaction is thus expressed in the volume of inspiration: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. 3:4. This we know, because Christ hath brought to light, or made manifest, life and immortality through the gospel. 2 Tim. 1:10. Thus we find a line of scriptures bearing on the when and how man becomes invested with the attribute of immortality, which, with the perfection of every Christian grace, launches him on the broad ocean of an endless felicity, in that glorious home which the Saviour has gone before to prepare for them who through "faith and patience inherit the promises;" even the kingdom which the "saints of the Most High are to take and possess forever and ever." The time when and the manner of this grand consummation, is beautifully set forth in 1 Cor. 15:52-54: "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." The complete triumph over the corrupt and perishable condition in which we pass our probation here will then have had a glorious consummation in "an abundant entrance" into the New Jerusalem, from which all evil is forever excluded, and whose grand register is the Lamb's Book of Life. S. P. BOLLMAN. THE Hebrew word here used by David to express heart-cleansing, is not employed in any superficial sense. It refers to a washing that touches the inner substance, not the mere outward surface. There is another Hebrew word that indicates this latter office. We all need to offer this prayer of David. Our hearts are full of vanity, selfishness, and secret pride. That which only gives us a fair exterior, and does not change the innermost springs of the heart, is sadly deficient. All that may be done, and leave the cause of our soul's unrest still untouched. The cleansing blood of Christ is all-sufficient because it goes down to the deepest defects of the soul, and removes the secret sin itself. O that we may apprehend our lost condition, and avail ourselves of its purifying and healing power.—Sel. EVERYBODY knows that a small number of men own the bulk of the land in Great Britain, but there is always something startling about the figures. The total area of England and Wales (excluding London) is 37,243,859 acres, or about that of New York, New Jersey, and Delaware combined. One man owns 186,397 acres, or one-two-hundredths of the whole; a second, 132,996 acres; and a third, 102,785 acres; 66 persons own 1,917,076 acres, equal to Delaware and the three lower counties of New Jersey; 280 own 5,425,764 acres, a tract considerably larger than New Jersey; 874 own 9,267,031 acres, at which rate 1,000 persons would own a full third of New York State. A body of men, which does not exceed 4,500, owns more than one-half of all England and Wales. In Scotland, the situation is still worse. The area of that country is 18,946,694 acres, which is a little more than that of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont together. One man owns 1,326,000 acres, which is as though a single individual owned a tract as large as Rhode Island and all of Massachusetts from Fall River to the end of Cape Cod; two others own 431,000 and 424,000 acres respectively, or between them more than enough to make another Rhode Island; 24 men own 4,931,884 acres, which falls but little short of the area of Massachusetts; 12 persons own nearly one-quarter of Scotland; 70 persons own about one-half of it, and nine-tenths of the whole country belongs to fewer than 1,700 persons. Ireland contains 20,195,678 acres of land, which makes it not quite the size of Maine. One person owns 170,119 acres; 292 hold about one-third of the island; 744 hold about one-half of all the land. Two-thirds of England and Wales is held by only 10,207 persons; two-thirds of Ireland, by 1,052; and two-thirds of Scotland, by but 330.—N. Y. Evening Post. IN China, where moon worship largely prevails during the festival of Yue-Ping, which is held annually during the eighth month, incense is burned in the temples, cakes are made like the moon, and at full moon the people spread out oblations and make prostrations to the planet. These cakes are moon cakes and veritable offerings to the queen of heaven, who represents the female principle in Chinese theology. If we turn now to Jer. 7:18, and read there, "The women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods," and remember that, according to Rashi, these cakes of the Hebrews had the image of the god or goddess stamped upon them, we are in view of a fact of much interest. The interest becomes greater when we learn that in parts of Lancashire there exists a precisely similar custom of making cakes in honor of the queen of heaven. From these facts, the discovery of two buns, each marked with a cross, in Herculaneum, and other evidences, we are driven to the conclusion that the "hot-cross buns" of Christian England are in reality but a relic of moon worship.—All the Year Round. The Need for a Better Model
"People seldom improve when they have no better model than themselves to copy." WE now know from the foregoing exposition, that the answer to the question, "Of what use, then, is the law?" may justly be paraphrased thus: "It was spoken in order that all sin might be perfectly well known to be sin, until the coming of Christ should bring the fulfillment of the promise." And now before the reader hastily jumps to the conclusion that this implies the doing away of the law at the second coming of Christ, let him carefully note the following points:— 1. The law existed in its fullness before it was "spoken" from Sinai. This has been amply demonstrated. It is the foundation of God's throne, and was in existence from the beginning of God's Government. The giving of it from Sinai added no feature that had not existed for ages. 2. It was spoken from Sinai for a special purpose. That purpose, as stated by Paul in Rom. 5:20, was that sin might be made to appear more plainly than it did before. God hated sin just as much before that time as he did afterward. And there were men who understood fully the nature of sin, and that God required "truth in the inward parts;" but the mass of mankind had wandered so far from God that he could not communicate with them as he did with Adam, Enoch, Noah, and such ones; and the only way that they could constantly know his will was to have it in writing. By the law in written form, they could always know God's will, just as well as if they could converse with him; for the law is a likeness of his character. 3. The making of sin to abound by the entering of the law, was necessary to the fulfillment of the promise. The inheritance can be given to none but the righteous; there must be no spot in those who inherit the earth. Matt. 5:5-8. It is true that righteousness can be obtained only through Christ, but sins must be confessed before they can be pardoned, and that cannot be done till sin is known. If the law had not been "spoken," perfect knowledge of sin could not have been had. The inheritance was not promised through the law, but through faith; but this, instead of making the law unnecessary, called for the clearest statement thereof. The law points out sin; the knowledge of his sinful condition drives the sinner to Christ as the only source of help; Christ imputes to the repentant sinner his own righteousness, which is the righteousness of God, and enables him to live up to the requirements of the law, thus making him "meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." 4. When Christ comes, this design will have been accomplished. Under the second covenant the law will have been written in the hearts (see Jer. 31:33) of all who have desired the better country, and thus they will "all be righteous," and fit to "inherit the land forever." Isa. 60:21. They will be righteous because the law is written in their hearts. They will then be as pure as was Adam when he was first created, with this advantage, that their characters will have been fully tested. When that time comes, the prophet says: "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." Jer. 31:34. It will not be necessary for them to teach one another, (1) because the law will be written in their hearts, and (2) because they can go direct to the great Fountain of truth. The prophet, speaking of the time when the promise shall be fulfilled, says: "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." Isa. 54:13. When "the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them;" when "they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads," there will be no necessity for one man to say to another, "Know the Lord." When men can come in person to that glorious and awful throne of God, whose foundation is the perfect law of God, and can talk face to face with the author of that law, then there will be no need for copies of the ten commandments written in books, or even engraved on rock of man's hewing. The preaching of the gospel will be no more heard, and Bible societies will not be known. The law will have done its work in bringing men to Christ, and thus to perfect obedience to it, and then "They shall all know the Lord," for his law shall be in their hearts, and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5. To say that when that time shall come there will be no less law than there is now, or than there was in the days of Abraham, or of Adam, or before it was spoken from Sinai, is now unnecessary, for all must see it plainly. Indeed, it will then be far better known than it has been at any time since the fall, for men will literally "walk with God," as did Adam and Enoch. This point will be still more fully developed when we consider verses 24 and 25. The Restoration of the Papacy.
By J.
THAT our own country will play an important part in the restoration of the Papacy to that place where it can make war upon the saints, we are fully satisfied. And that causes are now at work which will bring it about, we regard as certain. Not that the Papacy as such will gain power here, for that we do not believe. But that the organization that does secure the power will exert it in favor of the institutions of the Papacy, and by the help of the Papacy. In the words of the prophecy, he "causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." Rev. 13:12. In this country the spirit of anarchy is rife as well as in Europe. The conflict between labor and capital is growing more and more bitter. The so-called labor element is so unsteady, and so violent in its methods, that capitalists are becoming afraid to invest in large enterprises, and capital by the millions lies unused in bank vaults. In connection with these things there is a large train of evils which all see and which many dread, but which we cannot here take time to trace. Now in the midst of all these troubles, and upon them in great measure as its capital, there is rapidly rising into prominence a party which traces all these evils directly to the "secular character of the Constitution of our country," and proposes to rectify all these difficulties by a religious amendment to that instrument. This party argues that God is not once named in the Constitution; that neither Christ nor his religion is recognized there; that the Bible receives no legal sanction as the law of the Nation; that under this order of things the tests of the Christian religion are not applied in this country; that, consequently, the land is filling up with multitudes of foreigners who bring the baser elements of European society with them; that all the troubles that afflict the land—the strikes, the floods, the cyclones, &c., &c.,—are but the judgments of God upon the Nation for its terrible shortcoming in the matter of the deplorably secular Constitution; and that the only remedy, the only possible escape, is to so amend the National Constitution that in it God will be declared487to be the Sovereign, Christ the King, and the Bible the law, of the Nation, and so "place all Christian laws, institutions and usages of our Government upon an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land." This is not a Catholic movement. It is essentially Protestant; it originated with Protestants, and is carried on by Protestants, though willing to enlist the Catholics wherever practicable. And though directly contrary to Protestant principles, it is favored by almost all denominations of Protestants. It will be seen at a glance that such a scheme, if successful, would be nothing short of a union of Church and State. For when Christian laws, Christian institutions, and Christian usages, become a part of the fundamental law of the land, the State becomes the great conservator of the Christian religion. Religious tests must be applied, obedience to religious precepts must be enforced, and in all disputes the State becomes the expounder of Christianity; the State by its judicial authority decides what is, and what is not, a Christian law, a Christian institution, or a Christian usage. But the main question is not whether such a movement, if successful, would be a union of Church and State; this is conceded by all, except those who advocate it, and it is not to be expected that they would concede it; but the question is, Will it be successful? We verily believe that it will. The great majority of the nation do not yet so believe. Thousands do not believe that it will succeed; other thousands do not believe that, even were it successful, there would ever any such evil follow, that any such menace to liberty would attend it, as has always attended such an illicit connection. And in this very unbelief lies one of the most probable elements of its success. With the history before them, of all such unions, it is difficult for men in this enlightened age to realize that there could be any danger of a repetition of such things. But all such doubts rest upon an overweening confidence in human nature. Human nature is the same in all ages. Religious bigotry and priestly ambition are ever the same whether found in the sixteenth century or in the nineteenth. Clothe with the civil power Protestant religionists who are ambitious to obtain it, and their oppressiveness will be as cruel as would be that of Catholics in like circumstances. What then are the evidences of the success of the religious amendment movement?—First, and the greatest of all is, of course, the prophecy. There stands the scripture, Rev. 13:11-17, which describes the rise and work of a power in the earth; and every specification of the scripture is fully met by our own nation, and not one of the specifications is met by any other nation. That scripture speaks of this power "saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live." The beast is the representative of that union of Church and State which formed the Papacy. An image to the beast, therefore, could not be formed otherwise than by a union of Church and State, and with such union formed by Protestants. For if formed by Catholics it would be but a part of the beast itself and not a likeness. But when such a union is formed by Protestants, as it is in defiance of Protestant principles, it is simply a formation of an image, a likeness, to the Papacy. It is true that while the prophecy is an evidence to us who believe in this application of it, it can be an evidence to others only by our giving to them evidence of the justness of the application. But when the prophecy so plainly points out that such a thing shall be; and we see working before us in this nation the very thing which the prophecy shows; then with confidence we point to this as proof that our application of the prophecy is correct. Aside from this however, there are many evidences which point strongly towards the success of the movement. We repeat, Almost all the Protestant churches favor it. The Prohibition Party in most of the States favors it. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union favors it. True the women cannot vote; but they can influence a multitude of votes. But it is not absolutely certain that the women will not yet have the right to vote—the party which is working for the religious amendment, favors woman suffrage also;—and if they do obtain the right, they will vote for the religious amendment. The movement will have the almost undivided support of the workingmen throughout the nation. And besides all these the Catholics favor it. Yea, the men who lead in the movement are willing, and even glad, to receive the support of the Catholic Church. Now take the churches, the Prohibition Party, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the workingmen, the Catholics, and all the politicians who will go as they see the tide going, and bring all these together at the polls and the movement would carry. The probability that it would is increased by another element that enters largely into the subject. That is, the argument that is swung in on every possible occasion by the advocates of this amendment, to the effect that to oppose this movement is to support atheism, and that, in fact, all such opposition is atheism. There are thousands of people who might not really favor the amendment, yet rather than to be set down and treated as atheists, they would hesitate to oppose it. There is one thing that yet remains to be mentioned,—the one thing that underlies this whole subject; the one thing upon which all these parties, churches, and people, heartily unite; the one thing that is the key of the whole movement; the one thing which in itself carries the evidence of the success of the proposition to form a religious amendment to the Constitution,—that is, the Sunday and its protection, the "American sabbath," and its preservation. This has already been the leading question in States, and it is fast becoming the leading question in the Nation. Almost all the pulpits of the land denounce the "desecration" of Sunday and demand laws for its protection; the Woman's Christian Temperance Union works earnestly for Sunday and for laws to enforce its observance; the Prohibitionists resolve that man needs the Sunday sabbath; the workingman in all occupations must have his Sunday rest, and to make it sure he must have half of Saturday besides; the Catholic Plenary Council earnestly appeals to all Catholics without distinction to use their influence and power as citizens to assist in the movement for a better observance of Sunday; politicians in political conventions will move, and give, rousingly, "three cheers for the triumph of this great principle" of the religious Sunday enforced by law; the Spiritualists join in the cry; and the National Reform Party gathers them all into one grand movement to amend the National Constitution so that Sunday, the one grand distinguishing institution of the Papacy, may be declared by law to be the Christian sabbath, and so that all people shall be compelled to observe it as such. Now we say, Let this question be agitated but a few years more, and let it be brought to a vote with the Sunday as the test, as it surely will be, and its success is certain. And just as surely as its success is certain, the union of Church and State is sure and persecution inevitable. Thus will be formed the image to the beast—the likeness to the Papacy—and he "causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast [the Papacy], whose deadly wound was healed." So shall apostate Protestantism exalt the Papacy in this country and compel all, under civil pains and penalties, to do her honor. When this question is viewed in the light of these events of fact which are recurrent before the eyes of all people, the imminence of the terrible ordeal that is involved in it is startling. The discussion of the question of persecution, we are compelled to defer to another article. J. The End of the Tribulation of Those Days.
By Editor
‘WHEN, where, and who, was the last martyr? My neighbor thinks it was in 1778, but we cannot find it in any book that we have. Christ said: ‘Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.’ Now what we want to get at is. What great event shows the end of the days of tribulation?’ S. H. Your neighbor is mistaken; there have been several martyrs since 1778. In 1780 there was a woman burned by the Inquisition in Spain; and in the same country, in 1826, a Jew was burned, and a Quaker schoolmaster hanged by the same power. In Italy, as late as 1850-1855, there was severe persecution, and at Fermo one person died under torture. This is the latest martyrdom of which we know; and we think that it is the last one. You will find it mentioned in Eugene Lawrence’s ‘Historical Studies,’ in the article ‘Dominic and the Inquisition,’ fifth paragraph from the end. In the same article you will find mention of the woman burned in 1780; and in the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica,’ article ‘Inquisition,’ you will find mention of the deaths of the Jew and the Quaker. It is a mistake to so interpret the scripture referred to as to make it reach to the last martyr. The scripture says, ‘after the tribulation of those days.’ Now occasional and local persecution, with three or four, or a half-dozen martyrs in a century, could not properly be called tribulation, much less could it be the tribulation referred to in the text, ‘Such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.’ Matt. 24:21, 29. This could be no less than universal, a flood poured upon the whole church, and so great that, except the days had been shortened, there had been none ‘elect’ surviving. Therefore when this great general persecution ceased, then it may be said the tribulation ended. This brings us to your last question: ‘What great event shows the end of the days of the tribulation?’ We believe there is an event clearly marked by a date upon which we may definitely fix as the end of the tribulation upon the church. The Inquisition was the great arm—the tribulum, threshing-sledge—of the Papacy in the dreadful tribulation which is laid upon the church of Christ for ages; and the Order of the Jesuits was the strength of the Inquisition. On this point we could present a volume of evidence, but we have space for hardly more than a word. Here is one testimony:— ‘A Jesuit plotted with Mary of Scotland for the assassination of Elizabeth. Another strove to blow up James I. and the English Parliament with gunpowder. The Jesuits were charged with being constantly on the watch to assassinate William of Orange, and Henry of Hanover. Anthony Passevin, a Jesuit, is stated by Maurovieff, the church historian of Russia, to have taught the Polish Catholics to persecute the Greek Christians, and to have plunged Russia and Poland in an inexpiable war. Jesuits were constantly gliding over Europe from court to court, engaged in performing the mandates of popes and kings; and, if we may trust the records of history, the fatal vow of obedience was often employed by their superiors to crush the instincts of humanity and the voice of conscience.’—Historical Studies, Loyola and the Jesuits. ‘To what country of Europe shall we turn where we are not able to track the Jesuit by his bloody foot-prints? What page of modern history shall we open and not read fresh proofs that the papal doctrine of killing excommunicated kings was not meant to slumber in forgotten tomes, but to be acted out in the living world? We see Henry III. falling by the dagger. Henry IV. [both of France] perishes by the same consecrated weapon. The King of Portugal dies by their order. The great Prince of Orange is despatched by their agent, shot down at the door of his own dining-room. How many assassins they sent to England to murder Elizabeth, history attests. That she escaped their machinations is one of the marvels of history. . . In the Gunpowder Plot we see them deliberately planning to destroy at one blow the nobility and gentry of England. To them we owe those civil wars which for so many years drenched with blood the fair provinces of France. They laid the train of that crowning horror, the St. Bartholomew Massacre. Philip II. and the Jesuits share between them the guilt of the ‘Invincible Armada,’ which instead of inflicting the measureless ruin and havoc which its authors intended, by a most merciful Providence became the means of exhausting the treasuries and overthrowing the prestige of Spain. What a harvest of plots, tumults, seditions, revelations, torturings, poisonings, assassinations, regicides, and massacres has Christendom reaped from the seed sown by the Jesuits.’—Wylie’s History of Protestantism, book 15, chap. 5, par. 5. ‘Its [the Order of Jesuits] services to Roman Catholicism have been incalculable. The Jesuits alone rolled back the tide of Protestant advance when that half of Europe which had not already shaken off its allegiance to the Papacy, was threatening to do so, and the whole honors of the counter-reformation are theirs singly.’—Encyclopedia Britannica, art. Jesuits, par. 11. As the Inquisition was the tribulum by which the Papacy inflicted such sore tribulation upon the church, and as the Order of the Jesuits was the strength of the Inquisition, therefore we believe that the abolition of the Order of the Jesuits is the event that marks the end of the tribulation. They had been expelled from Portugal in 1759, from France in 1764, and from Spain in 1767; but these decrees could not be permanently successful as long as the Jesuits retained their Order intact, and had the support of the Pope. But it was not long before the Pope was forced to turn against them, and the final crash came. Of this event we give the following narrative:— ‘At last came the final blow that was to shatter into pieces the great army of Loyola. For more than two centuries the Jesuits had been fighting the battles of Rome. To exalt the supremacy of the Pope, they had died by thousands in English jails and Indian solitudes, had pierced land and sea to carry the strange story of the primacy to heathen millions, and to build anew the mediæval church in the heart of Oriental idolatry. And now it was the Pope and Rome that were to complete their destruction. By a cruel ingratitude, the deity on earth whom they had worshiped with a fidelity unequaled among men, was to hurl his anathemas against his most faithful disciples. France and Spain elected Pope Clement XIV. upon his pledge that he would dissolve the Order. He issued his bull July 21, 1773, directing that, for the welfare of the church and the good of mankind, the institution of Loyola should be abolished.’—Historical Studies, Id. For these reasons we believe that the abolition of the Order of the Jesuits is the event, and July 21, 1773, is the date, when ‘the tribulation of those days’ ended. J. NOTE.—The Jesuits were restored in 1814, by Pope Pius VII.; but not to their persecuting power. In the different countries of Europe since that time the Order has been expelled and restored several times, and even by the Papacy once. But Pius IX., after his return from Gaeta in 1849, gave them his entire confidence till the day of his death, and in his Vatican decrees is seen the crowning triumph of Jesuit Ultramontanism. Baptist Gifts to Missions
The Baptists of Great Britain averaged a dollar apiece in gifts to missions last year.