“For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.”
“Debtor to do the whole law.” It is curious that many, in considering this statement, have made it mark a distinction between two laws, and have made it exclude the law of God from the subject under consideration, by allowing to the word “debtor” only the sense of “obligation.”
They know, by the scripture, that it is the whole duty of man to fear God and keep his commandments. They know that there can not be any other scripture to contradict that. They know that every man is under obligation to keep the whole law of God, whether he is circumcised or uncircumcised. And, allowing that this term implies only obligation,—that if he is circumcised, he is under obligation to do the whole law,—they conclude that this must exclude the law of God; they conclude that it must be some law that no person is under any obligation to do unless he be circumcised; and that therefore the “whole law” here under consideration must be only the whole ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings.
On the other hand, there are those who hold themselves under no obligation whatever to keep the law of God, who wring in this text to support them in their disobedience and opposition. They will have it that only those who are circumcised are under any obligation to keep the law of God, and that it was only by being circumcised that the obligation comes; and they know that they are not under any obligation to be circumcised. From this they argue that they are under no obligation to keep the ten commandments.
But both of these are wrong: both of them fail to see the thought that is in this verse. And the cause of this failure is in their allowing to the word “debtor” only the sense of “obligation.”
It is true that the word signifies “obligation.” But, in this place, and in every other place in its connection with men's moral obligations, the word has a meaning so much broader and deeper than that of mere obligation that the sense of mere obligation becomes really secondary.
The word “debtor” in this verse—Gal. 5 : 3—signifies not only that a person is in debt, and under obligation to pay; but that, beyond this, he is overwhelmingly in debt, with nothing at all wherewith to pay. If a man is debtor, and so under obligation, to pay one thousand dollars, and yet has abundance, or even only the ability to pay the one thousand dollars, that is easy enough. But if a man is debtor, and so under obligation, to pay fourteen millions of dollars ($14,000,000), and has not a single cent wherewith to pay, and is in prison besides, and has no ability whatever to make a cent wherewith to pay his debt, to that man the word “debtor” signifies a great deal more than mere “obligation to pay.”
And that is precisely the case here. That is the thought in this verse. That is the meaning embodied here in the word “debtor.” This because the word “debtor,” when used in connection with morals, implies, and can imply, only sin: that the man is a sinner.
This word “debtor” in Gal. 5 : 3 is precisely the word that is used in Luke 13 : 4,—“Those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?”—where the word “sinners” in the text, is “debtors” in the margin.
It is the word used in the Lord's prayer (Matt. 6 : 12), “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;” and which, in Luke's version of the prayer, plainly expresses the thought of sin, in the words: “Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.” Luke 11 : 4.
It is the same word also that is used by the Saviour in Luke 7 : 41, 42: “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing [with which] to pay, he frankly forgave them both.”
It is the same word also that is used in the parable in Matt. 18 : 23–35. Indeed, from the verse, Luke 13 : 4, where the word “sinners” is used in the text and “debtors” in the margin, the reference is direct to this parable in Matthew 18. That is the parable in which it is said that when a certain king “had begun to reckon” with his servants, “one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents,”—about fourteen million four hundred thousand dollars,—and he had nothing with which to pay. Then the lord “forgave him the debt.” But when the servant found one of his fellow servants who owed him about fifteen dollars, he would not forgive him the debt, but cast him into prison until he should pay the fifteen dollars. Then the king called up his debtor, “and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” Matt. 18 : 23–35.
That thought of delivering the debtor to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to his lord, belongs with the word; for “the use of the word involves the idea that the debtor is one that must expiate his guilt.” And “sin is called ὀφείλημα, because it involves expiation and the payment of it as a debt, by punishment and satisfaction.”
From these scriptures the attentive reader can begin to see that in the words of Gal. 5 : 3,—“he is debtor to do the whole law,”—there is far more suggested than that he is merely under obligation to accept the claims of the law upon him, and do his best to meet them. All this shows that he is not only under obligation to recognize the binding claims of the law of God, but that he is actually debtor to render to that law all the claims that it has upon him. And in this it is further shown that, of himself, he must everlastingly be debtor; because he has absolutely nothing wherewith to pay, and of himself has no means of acquiring anything with which to pay.
And this indebtedness lies not only in his obligation to do the law from this time forward; it also lies in obligation to make satisfaction for all that is past,—for all the accumulations of the past, up to the present time.
Accordingly, of himself, every man is everlastingly a debtor in all that is implied in this thought in Gal. 5 : 3, and the kindred texts that we have here cited; because “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” And whosoever would be circumcised in order to be saved, and thus seek to be saved by works of self-righteousness, thereby takes upon himself the obligation to pay to the law of God his whole debt, from the beginning of his life unto the end of it. And in that, he also takes upon himself the obligation to expiate all the guilt attaching to his transgressions, and accumulated thereby.
That is what it is to be “debtor to do the whole law.” That is what is stated in the words: “I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.” He is not only debtor; but, by that transaction, he himself voluntarily assumes of himself to discharge all that is involved in his indebtedness.
Now it is true that every man in the world is, of himself, that kind of a debtor. It is also true that any man to-day who seeks justification by his own works, even in the doing of the ten commandments, or of anything else that the Lord has commanded, does thereby assume, and bind himself to pay, all that is involved in the indebtedness. But he can not pay. There is not with him the first element of any possibility, in himself, to pay any of the debt. He is overwhelmed and lost.
But, thanks be to God, whosoever has the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, whosoever depends only on the Lord Jesus and that which Jesus has done, though he be of himself debtor just like any other man, yet, in Christ, he has wherewith abundantly to pay all the indebtedness. Christ has expiated, by punishment and satisfaction, all the guilt of every soul; and by the righteousness of God which he brings, Christ supplies abundance of righteousness to pay all the demands that the law may ever make in the life of him who believes in Jesus.
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift of the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh, believe it! Oh, receive it! Poor, overwhelmed, lost “debtor,” “buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed.” “Yea, come, buy . . . without money and without price.”
TAKE HEED.
By C. S.
These words mean “to regard with care and consideration; to be circumspect, and treat with earnest thought and attention.” The Scriptures are full of this injunction. It applies to occasions where there is danger and peril, and where there is great good to be obtained; where to follow the wrong would result in eternal loss, and to follow the right would secure infinite good. If men would conscientiously act upon the admonition, they could scarcely go astray. For all along the pathway of human history, at every turn in the road, at every new epoch and era in man’s history, and at every stage of the pilgrimage of the church, this sign is erected on all sides for the benefit of the willful or unwary,—“Take heed! Take heed!”
Thus Moses addressed the people of his time: “And Moses, and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day.” Deut. 27:9, 10.
The building of the temple, to be the sanctuary of the Lord, was an important work; and this solemn charge was given to Solomon, in regard to it: “Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.” 1 Chron. 28:10. If they who built the sanctuary were to take heed to the matter, and artisans were especially endowed by the Holy Spirit for the sacred work they were to perform (Ex. 35:30–35), certainly the people in whose behalf its ministrations are carried on should take heed, and relate themselves properly to its sacred work.
The matter of judging the people is another solemn charge to which this exhortation applies: “And [Jehoshaphat] said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.” 2 Chron. 19:6, 7.
Emphasis is laid on the keeping of the commandments of the Lord. Thus Joshua addressed the people: “But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Joshua 22:5. “Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.” 2 Chron. 33:8.
The exhortations to “take heed” become more numerous, and are made more emphatic, as we come into the perils of the last days. “Take heed,” said Christ, instructing his people in reference to the closing scenes of time, “that no man deceive you.” Matt. 24:4. This throws every one directly back on the testimony of the word of God, and his own understanding of it, for his knowledge of this crowning event, the coming and kingdom of our Lord. For it does not matter who is trying to instruct us, nor how; we are to be so well acquainted with the Word that we shall be able at once to detect any variation from the word of the Lord, and know that one is trying to palm off upon us a deception. We are to take special heed that we are not misled by any deceptive preaching of this kind.
And these teachings, says our Lord, will spring from the doctrine of false Christs and false prophets, agents elsewhere said to be able to do great marvels and to work wonders. Pay no attention, says our Guide-book, to any wonders, however supernatural they may seem, which exhibit only power, but no love. Disharmony with truth condemns538everything. Truth will stand; all else will be shaken out and pass away. Miracles may be false, because wrought by a power that manifests itself for the very purpose of misleading the mind, and so inducing one to disbelieve what God has set forth in his word to be the truth for this time. On this point, therefore, take heed. Bring everything to the test of the Word. If it is not in accordance with this, it is because there is no light in it. This injunction is many times enforced upon us, in reference to the last times, as in Mark 13:33: “But take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”
The range of subjects to which this instruction is applied covers the whole field of Christian duty and experience. It rebukes self-confidence, and puts us on the very intensity of watchfulness. It says, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” 1 Cor. 10:12.
The light shed upon our pathway by the lamp of prophecy is to be taken heed unto. For the apostle-prophet says: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place;” or, as the Revised Version reads, “We have the word of prophecy made more sure,” that is, by the wonderful transfiguration scene just alluded to by Peter. Not that the prophecy itself is made more sure, but a better and clearer idea of it is given by an object lesson setting it forth to the very senses; just as Paul’s description of the sanctuary in heaven, though as vivid as language can make it, in the book of Hebrews, is beautifully supplemented by John’s vision on the Isle of Patmos, wherein he was permitted to look into heaven itself, and behold, in actual perspective, the objects that Paul so fully and definitely described to the Hebrews.
And when we have received the light, we are to cherish it, and foster it with the utmost care: “Take heed therefore that the light that is in thee be not darkness.” Luke 11:35. How can the light that is in us be darkness?—When we refuse to follow the light, and the mind becomes darkened, that which before seemed clear, and to point out the way, becomes perverted, and seems capable of some other application, which leads to still further confusion of ideas, and dimness of perception. This is brought about by letting what the Bible calls “thorns” grow up and choke the good seed, so that it becomes unfruitful. Matt. 13:22.
Against this a special warning is uttered: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” Heb. 2:1. Some who have well learned the truth for this time, and have apparently been full of interest and love for the cause, we are sorry to see letting these truths slip from their minds, or letting them run out, as the original word signifies, as water from a leaking vessel. It does not run out all at once; but the result is the same. Just as the truth slips out of their hearts, they are slipping out of the truth; and when we see one after another departing from the faith, we, in whose eyes the gospel telescope still retains its focus, ought to give the more earnest heed to strengthen our grasp on that which remains. “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain,” says “He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars.”
We are warned against errors and heresies. “And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.” The Pharisees were the formalists of the first century; and the Herodians, the unprincipled and worldly politicians. And what Christ here warns against is formalism and pretence in religion, and cunning and craftiness in worldly things. These evils press upon us to-day as heavily as they did on the people when Christ spoke the words, and the scripture was written. Take heed and beware of them. The caution applies to all false teaching of this time as well as others; to all the false lights held up to lure us upon the rocks; to all the false voices raised to charm us with their siren songs.
It is as important now as it ever has been to obey the instruction given to Timothy: “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine.” 1 Tim. 4:16. All latter-day Timothys should do the same. Doctrine needs to be guarded on every hand.
We are to take heed how we hear, and how we build up work, which is to stand the test of the great day. Luke 8:18; 1 Cor. 3:12. Disunion and alienation in the church are warned against: “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” Gal. 5:15.
But this list of warnings would hardly be complete without referring to another special charge regarding the nature of the times and dangers in the last days: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” Luke 21:34. To be overtaken by that day unawares is to be lost. We are also to take heed and beware of covetousness, which is a besetting sin of the latter days, and which is idolatry. 2 Tim. 3:2; Col. 3:5. Covetousness, saving self-love, heads the sins that are to characterize those who, in the last days, have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. Of this we are to be particularly aware. Luke 12:15; 2 Tim. 3:2.
The apostle Paul gives another very comprehensive caution in Heb. 3:12: “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”
Is there any sin that these admonitions do not cover? any dangers against which they do not warn us? Ministers and hearers are admonished. 2 Tim. 4:1, 2; Matt. 7:24–27. A young man is told how to cleanse his way. Ps. 119:9. The perils and dangers of the last days are pointed out, and we are told how to avoid them. And we are warned against the spiritual evils and temptations that beset the best men, and are told how to overcome them. “Take heed” is the voice that sounds above the carnage of war and strife, and the roar and rattle of business in the busy marts of trade. In view of all this testimony, what excuse will one give, in the Judgment, for failure?—He will simply have to answer that he loved self more than he loved God; and, moreover, that he didn’t believe what God had said about these things, any way. But “God is not mocked,” says the apostle; that is, no man can treat him thus with impunity. C. S.
THE KING OF MODERN BABYLON EXALTS HIMSELF AGAINST GOD.
The prophecy says of the little horn that “he shall be diverse from the former” kings. The ten horns represented “ten kings,” and so “another horn” would be another king, and yet this power was to be diverse from the preceding. From the work ascribed in the prophecy to this little horn, it is evident that it combines the office of priest with that of king, and that it would therefore claim to exercise both temporal and spiritual dominion. As a king, it was to be small, a little horn, but in its spiritual jurisdiction it was to be satisfied with nothing short of putting itself in the place of God. As a temporal ruler, the papacy has never extended its territory beyond narrow limits, and in 1870 it was deprived even of this; but as a spiritual ruler, this modern Babylon “is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
In that perversion of the gospel, in which the visible is substituted for the invisible, so that “the mystery of godliness” became “the mystery of iniquity,” the circumstances demanded that the pope in his assumed office of “true vicar of Christ” should be a priest-king. Of the Messiah it was prophesied: “Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne.” The “King of glory” was also to be “a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” And when the gospel has completed its work, the praise will all be given unto: “Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.” It is a fundamental teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that “the pope is the representative of Christ on earth,” the visible head of the church; and in assuming this rôle, he must necessarily conform, at least in outward appearance, to the pattern that he imitates—the true Head of the church. It was inevitable, therefore, that he should be a priest-king, and the prophecy has so declared it.
The “mouth speaking great things” and the “look . . . more stout than his fellows”—haughtiness both of speech and of aspect—were prominent characteristics of the little horn, and the presumptuous words are not simply directed against man, but “against the Most High.” While claiming to act for God, and to be his vicegerent in the earth, yet he “opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” While pretending to take the place in the earth of him who is “meek and lowly in heart,” he has for many centuries, against king and subject alike, uttered his great swelling words, pronouncing his anathemas upon any one who declined to submit mind, soul, and body to his absolute control. These utterances he himself calls “thunders,” as if claiming equality with the Deity, even as “God thundereth marvelously with his voice,” “he thundereth with the voice of his excellency.”
In the titles that the Roman pontiff assumes, he arrogates to himself the honor due to God alone. He has permitted himself to be called “The Holy Father,” “The Most Holy Father,” “His Holiness,” “God on earth.” And as the climax of all his blasphemous claims and assumptions, by the action of the Vatican Council it was taught and defined as “a dogma divinely revealed that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, . . . is possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that his church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith and morals.” “The new doctrine was promulgated July 18, 1870, in the midst of a storm that darkened the church of St. Peter’s. Within a few hours there burst over Europe a storm of war, which stayed not until it had swept away the throne of the infallible pope from underneath him.”
It was this crowning act of blasphemy which attracted the attention of the prophet, and which he thus describes: “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake.” This was after “the judgment was set, and the books were opened.”
What an astonishing situation is revealed by these facts! At the very time when the conduct of men is being investigated, and their character weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, and tested by the eternal law of God, the papacy, which had for centuries warred against the kingdom of God in the earth, and had poured out like water the blood of the subjects of that kingdom, and had even openly changed the law of the kingdom, by a formal, weighty decree claimed for its head an attribute that belongs only to “God that can not lie.” Was the name and the character of God ever more openly blasphemed?
On that last night in the history of Babylon of the Chaldæans, Belshazzar exalted himself against God, and offered insult to his face by using the vessels from the house of God, in which to drink the wine of Babylon, while he praised the false gods. To do this after the knowledge of the true God had been revealed, and the gospel of the kingdom had been proclaimed, sealed the fate of the king and his kingdom. To exalt himself then instead of glorifying “the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways,” was a sufficient cause for the handwriting on the wall. And so in adopting this dogma of infallibility, which renders impossible any repentance for the past, and reform for the future, the papacy has sealed its own destruction. Individuals who now hold the teaching of the papacy may be saved through their personal repentance539and faith, but this modern Babylon is doomed. And so the call is even now being sounded, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
Other powers have caused the death of thousands and hundreds of thousands of men, but the remarkable thing about this little horn is that it shall “wear out the saints of the Most High.” “The same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.” John saw in vision this same power under the symbol of the beast “having seven heads and ten horns,” to whom it was given “to make war with the saints.” Rev. 13:1–7. And again he saw the woman, who wore the title, “Babylon the Great,” “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” Rev. 17:5, 6. “The Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep,” but the “universal chief pastor (shepherd), the Roman pontiff,” has reversed this, and has taken the lives of the sheep. For hundreds of years any who were unwilling to accept the word of God as interpreted by popes and councils, or the traditions of the church in the place of the word of God, were anathematized as heretics, and their lives and their property were forfeited. “The duty of putting heretics to death is among the infallible and irrevocable decrees of its general councils, like those of the mass and purgatory; and when Luther dared to say that it was against the will of the Holy Spirit to burn with fire men convicted of error, the court of Rome, in its bull Exsurge, placed this declaration among the number of the forty-one propositions for which it condemned Luther, and ordered, under severe penalties, that he should be seized and sent to the pope.”
To the woman taken in open sin, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” In what marked contrast with this has been the course of the self-styled vicegerent of Christ! From city and country, from mountain and valley, from palace and dungeon, from rich and poor, through the long night of the Dark Ages there comes a volume of testimony, so terrible as to be almost incredible, and yet unimpeachable, which is the answer of history to the statement of the prophecy, he “shall wear out the saints of the Most High.”
W. W. P.
EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE.
By L. A. Hoopes
In pursuance of the counsel of some of the leading brethren from the General Conference Committee, an educational conference, consisting of the heads of our schools, the president and the secretary of the General Conference, and Elder S. N. Haskell, and P. T. Magan, was called to convene at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Aug. 1, 1900. There was a brief time in which to prepare for the meeting, and the only time that would be at all suitable was in the first part of August, before the opening of the schools. If it could not be held at that time, there would not be any time before the next General Conference.
The telegrams and notices sent out found the teachers all engaged, or under appointment to go elsewhere. However, the conviction seemed to settle upon each one that he must not remain away from the conference. So all were there.
The object of this meeting was to call together the representative heads of our various schools, to consider some of the special features of the educational work. Meetings of this character have been held in the past; some attempt has also been made at our General Conference sessions to discuss some of the important features of the educational work; but, for lack of time, there has not been given to the school work the consideration that its importance demands.
A simple program for the meeting was arranged, as follows: Rising bell, 5 A. M.; morning meeting, 6:30 to 6:30; council, 8 to 9:30, 10:30 to 12, and 3 to 5. The general subjects considered are as follows: (1) Text-books; (2) courses of study; (3) methods of teaching; (4) school government and discipline; (5) industrial work; (6) relation to public schools; (7) home and church schools; (8) financial management.
It was arranged that two teachers should talk on the respective topics, after which the question would be open for a free discussion on the part of all. Everyone was given an opportunity freely to speak his mind on any subject under consideration. It will be seen at once that the subjects considered were those that are of the deepest interest to every one engaged in school work, and they therefore elicited remarks from everyone present.
It would be quite difficult to say which topic was of the most importance. Circumstances have a great influence in the working of the several schools. The discussion revealed the fact that, while there was much diversity of opinion and sentiment as to methods and the details of the work, yet there was the greatest harmony and unity on the general plans of the educational work, and the reforms that should come into this department of our denominational work. All recognized that we are far behind our privileges as a denomination; that the light which the Lord let shine upon our educational work at its very beginning has not been heeded; that after so many years we are brought face to face with those problems, and are now struggling to get them inaugurated before the world, under a pressure of circumstances which are not the most encouraging; and that we have lost much by our neglect and indifference.
There was a unanimous opinion that our text-books should contain the pure, untarnished truth. While it may be necessary to continue to use some of the plain, simple text-books in use in the common schools, until better ones can be prepared, yet in selecting books to be continued in use, those containing infidel sentiments must be avoided; and as new text-books are brought out, they must be given a thorough examination, and be tested in actual practice in our schools.
In the question of the relation to the public schools, there was no tirade made against those schools. The fact was recognized that the public schools have an entirely different object in view from what our schools have. The public school has in view the preparation of the individual for a position as a citizen in the affairs of the earth, while the aim and object of the church school is to prepare the individual for work in the Third Angel's Message. Therefore in our educational system we should seek continually to arrange our school work with this in mind.
Very much was said on all topics under consideration; much was read from the Testimonies relative to the several subjects in the program. Elder Irwin read several communications from Sister White, bearing upon our educational work. Elder Haskell occupied the early morning hour in Bible study, emphasizing the fact that the study of the Bible and nature go together. The point most prominent was that, in order to get the idea of God on any particular topic, that topic should be traced all through the Bible.
Professor Magan laid before the conference the plan for the liquidation of the debts on our colleges, as set forth by Sister White in her communications to the committee that has in charge the enterprise for the book “Parables of Jesus, or Christ’s Object Lessons.”
When we take into consideration the brief time in which the meeting was planned; the attendance of members from all parts of the United States; the unanimity of sentiment on the general plans of the work; and the expression of gratitude that came from every member present, we believe that it was one of the most important meetings ever held, especially from an educational standpoint. All seemed to feel that there is a responsibility resting upon them as educators, as representatives of the institutions that have the molding effect upon the rising generation. There was a unanimous request that arrangements be made for the discussion of some of these topics at our next General Conference, where the general plans of our educational work may be considered by the delegates; and that at some time another meeting similar to this one be held, where the representatives of our schools may come together for counsel and prayer, as at this time.
Everything indicated that the meeting was in the order of the Lord. The teachers returned to their respective fields of labor full of courage in the Lord, each one feeling that he has a more definite understanding of how the other schools are working; and with the desire that the part he has to act should be in harmony with the great work of reform that God is calling for at this time.
