Earlier text: INSTRUMENTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESSTHE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.
By Wm. Covert
The people of God are called “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.” Isa. 61:3. The prophet also states that the object of growing these trees is that God “might be glorified.” God is glorified in the beautiful living of the righteous. Jesus expressed the thought by saying, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” John 15:8. The fruit is always produced from the life of the tree or plant on which it grows. The quality of the fruit is dependent upon the nature of the tree which bears it. “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by his fruit.” Matt. 12:33. Fruit can not be grown without its tree; neither can the tree bear fruit contrary to its own nature. Thorns are not found on the grape, nor do figs grow from thistles. Matt. 7:15. If there is anything righteous seen in the life, it is but a manifestation of the Spirit. “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.” Eph. 5:9. The same truth is also stated by another in these words: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17. The sum of the matter is that everything either good or true known by man, comes to him as the fruit of the Spirit of God. The character of the work of the Spirit is thus described by the apostle: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” and then concludes the thought by remarking that “against such there is no law.” Gal. 5:22, 23. God is love, and all his works are done in love; it follows, therefore, that in all the actions of those who live in the Spirit there will be deeds of love. God’s Spirit will exclude from the heart all hatred, variance, and jealousy, and permit nothing but that which is good. All pure love comes from God through the Spirit, and its very nature is joy and peace. Through the Spirit the Christian thinks God’s thoughts, “for God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit”—revealed the beauties of the world to come and the joys that await us there. “For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” This mind of the Spirit associates the believer, in mental life, with the joy and peace of eternity. It takes away that dread and the tormenting fear which brings misery to the sinner, giving in its stead the glory of God’s character and the consolations of salvation. This atmosphere of heavenly grace and holy joy is composed of beams of love which radiate from the throne of God. The Spirit is real life that fertilizes, through faith, the mind of him who believes. This forms a living connection in vital touch with heaven through the Spirit, and the result must be fruit endowed with the nature which is strongest to control. All the qualities of fruit mentioned by the apostle in the list quoted above are blended in one life. Peace is always contained in love and joy, as truly as heat is found in fire. Long-suffering, gentleness, and goodness all belong with love. None can exist separately. All are required to make the one. The fruit of the Spirit is an aggregation of all good things, growing from the same bloom in one composite formation. The existence of any good thing is evidence of the Spirit’s power and presence, and therefore proof of the existence and love of God. Not only do these things proclaim the existence and love of God, but by them his present, living, working power is manifested before our eyes. In awe we behold our Father at his work throughout the moving, glowing heavens. With wonder we see his divine hand in all the earth around us. By faith we feel the quickening power of his tender Spirit in our own hearts. While we study this theme, we believe, and wonder, and rejoice; and yet no words can be found to express the emotions that arise in the heart as the realities open just a little to our view. Is it possible that we are children of such a Father? Can it be that such worthless worms are the subjects of so much attention and care? To think that the eternal Son died to redeem us from sin and death, is wonderful beyond the power of words to tell. But yet it is all true. It is through the power of that Spirit by which all things were created that we are now permitted to study this blessed subject. It is through the eternal Spirit that we shall yet be enabled to live, and love, and know more and more of God through all eternity. THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST.
By W. N. Glenn
THE character of the kingdom of Christ is fully set forth in the sermon on the mount. That was an ordination sermon, setting forth to his disciples in particular, and incidentally to the multitude in general, the principles which he desired to have inculcated in the world. Mark says (chap. 3:14, 15) that “he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.” They were to be with him in order to be fitted for proclaiming the principles of his kingdom. In Luke 8:1 we read that “he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God; and the twelve were with him.” Further on, in the ninth chapter, it is stated that “he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.” Verse 2. “And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the Gospel, and healing everywhere.” Verse 6. The great commission of Matt. 28:19, 20 is a command to the apostles and their colaborers to teach all nations “to observe all things whatsoever” he had commanded them, “even unto the end of the world.” That the kingdom which Christ and his apostles preached is a spiritual kingdom, is clearly shown all through the detailed instructions of the famous sermon to which we have alluded. That the interests of this kingdom were to be advocated and its principles taught contemporaneously with the existence of a government of a different character, is also clearly shown here, as elsewhere. For instance: “Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.” Matt. 5:25. Again he says, “If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.” Verse 40. Now we note this general principle: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” It is clear that this principle could be carried out as a government policy only where every individual had the Spirit of Christ. And in such a government there would be no adversary, no suing at the law, and no prison. Such instruction could not apply to any temporal or civil government, for the reason that such a system was ordained only because of sin and the consequent necessity of restraining the vicious conduct of sinful beings. The thought herein suggested may be elaborated at will by the reader who has sufficient interest in the subject to carry the study on throughout the Lord’s great expository discourse as recorded in Matthew, chapters 5-7. We might add that the thought is emphatically expressed in the very first utterance of this discourse: “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Chap. 5:3. Also verse 10: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” A further evidence that the kingdom which the Lord is developing during the probationary period is a spiritual kingdom, running side by side with the temporary civil governments of earth, is found in such expressions as these: “The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you” (Luke 10:9); “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation” (chap. 17:20); “The kingdom of God is within you” (verse 21); “It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (chap. 18:25); “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), etc. That this kingdom, the principles of which are now operating in the hearts of those who willingly accept Christ, who “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” will in his good time become a glorious visible kingdom, and fill the whole (new) earth, is also fully set forth in the Scriptures of truth. But before that time all earthly kingdoms will have been destroyed by the glorious appearing of the Lord in glory. This is shown by the great image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which was broken in pieces by the stone cut out without hands, which filled the whole earth. It is shown in the second epistle of Peter, who, after foretelling the melting of this earth by fire, and the destruction of everything in it, gives this assurance: “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens9and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Chap. 3:13. It is also shown in the prophetic view of the apostle John (Rev. 11:15): “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.” David tells us in the prophecy of the second psalm what the Lord will do with these kingdoms: “I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Verses 7-9. For years the National Reform Association has been endeavoring to have the Constitution of the United States amended. In harmony with the efforts of past years they succeeded in introducing before both Houses of Congress the following amendment:— “We, the people of the United States (acknowledging Almighty God as the source of all power and authority in civil government, the Lord Jesus Christ as the ruler of nations, and his revealed will as of supreme authority in civil affairs), in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” A “hearing” was had on this proposed amendment before the House Committee, March 11. There were present representatives of the National Reform Association, the Secular League, Spiritualists, Unitarians, Hebrews, Seventh-day Adventists, and Seventh-day Baptists. For the advocates of the measure a half hour was given at the beginning and close, and for the opponents an intermediate hour. The general opinion, except from the ultra friends of the measure, is that the hearing was an utter defeat, so far as the House Committee was concerned, of the amendment. For the Seventh-day Christians, Dr. A. H. Lewis, editor of the Evangel and Sabbath Outlook, spoke, and from that paper of March 26 we reprint his speech. It is a happy tho brief setting forth of these just principles. It is as follows:— “I know that this committee will not be affected by the issue of mere debate, neither do I wish to waste time in following the remarks of the affirmative, in detail. I can not, however, refrain from noting two or three points before I discuss the fundamental objection to the amendment proposed. “We are told by the first speaker that the nation has reached a high plane as a ‘Christian nation’ under the present Constitution; under a tendency which has carried us steadily away from the early colonial theocracy, which this amendment proposes to repeat. If this be true, I venture to ask, ‘Why not let well enough alone?’ If, under a ‘Godless and Christless Constitution,’ we have become such an excellent ‘Christian nation,’ and since we know that much may be lost by attempting amendment, why not rest content? If we are a Christian nation now, every plea made for the amendment is nugatory. “Again, we are told that this is a most wicked and conscienceless nation. The pictures drawn by the affirmative are contradictory and self-destructive. But in so far as we are conscienceless, the main reason lies in just such methods as are here proposed; methods which put the low human standard of civil law between man and God; methods which create standards that push God and divine authority out of sight and mind, and leave no ground for conscience. “Again, to say that this amendment does not propose a union of church and state is an unworthy ‘play on words.’ It does propose to make the Bible, the source and foundation of every Christian church, in theory at least, a part of the constitutional law of the nation. Under such a constitution, any question of religion, and the relation of that question to the Bible, and the teachings of the Bible upon the point in question, might become an issue for the courts. The end would be that the Supreme Court of the United States would become the final arbiter and interpreter of the Bible. But more: Christianity exists and must exist in organic form. It is not an unreal something which drifts about like the airy shadows of a dream. The nation must recognize it in some organic embodiment. What shall that be, Romanist or Protestant? Presbyterian or Baptist? This is union of church and state in the worst sense; a sense too nearly allied to the Middle Ages to find recognition by you, gentlemen, in these last years of the century. “But I hasten to the fundamental objection against the amendment. I am here, not as a ‘secularist,’ but as a devout Christian, orthodox and unyielding. I make objection for the sake of Christianity and the Bible. I oppose the amendment on the broad ground that I do not wish the question of religion brought into politics, to be kicked about as a football from ward primaries to national conventions. Principles in history never lose their essential character, nor fail to produce their legitimate fruitage. The fundamental principle which underlies this amendment is not Christian. Christ said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’ When the decaying pagan empire of Rome saw that Christianity promised to become a vigorous ally of the state, it adopted it as one of the state religions. To the pagan Roman, religion was only a department of the state. It was a civil affair. The emperor was ‘chief priest’ ex officio. Under Constantine the Great, 312 A.D. and forward, this pagan principle attacked Christianity, enfolded it, poisoned it, paganized it. He was the first great religious censor of Christianity. In 324 A.D., while his hands were red with the blood of his brother-in-law, whom he murdered, he presided over the Council of Nice, which settled certain questions about the nature of Christ, the keeping of Easter, etc. The results of this iniquitous union are written on every page of subsequent history. Christianity ascended the throne of the Caesars, it is true, but she left her sweetness and purity, her divine loveliness and power for good, behind. The centuries grew heavy with the burden, and dim with the darkness which followed. Protestantism has done something to retrieve the lost ground, and the religious liberty on which our Constitution is founded has done more. The Old World has clung to the church and state idea, which has weighed down Christianity and strangled it like the ‘old man of the sea.’ It found a place in the theocracy of our early colonies, wherein only an ‘orthodox’ church member might be a citizen. We left this behind 200 years ago, and now these men, strangely blind to the lessons of history, come here and ask you, gentlemen of the committee, to turn the hands of progress back to a point which would bring again the evils of the past with the added power of national sanction. “As a lover of the Bible and of Christianity, I protest against such a prostitution of their divine mission and character. I plead for such religious freedom from all human or legal restraints as leaves every soul alone with God, and face to face with the eternal. Christianity is more life than creed. Put no human standard between man and God. Let men stand heart to heart with him, understand him as they can, and learn to obey him because he is the only, and the supreme, authority in all matters religious. Keep the Bible out of politics, out of the unseemly scramble which would follow its introduction into the constitutional law of the nation. Teach its truths, and let them flow abroad, uplifting the lives and purifying the souls of men, and trust the event with God.” The Evangel and Sabbath Outlook has the following notes on the amendment:— “In the cross-questioning, which was put upon the speakers who closed the debate for the affirmative, various members of the committee, able lawyers, brought out the weak points in overwhelming confusion. One speaker, who will neither vote nor hold office under the present ‘wicked constitution,’ gave way under the fire, and another took his place. This part of the hearing developed the fact that the Sabbath question is a prominent feature of this movement. The logic of the situation was set forth by a member of the committee, when, by questioning, he showed that under the amendment, if a case of ‘Sabbath-breaking’ were carried to the Supreme Court, the advocates of the amendment would be compelled to abandon Sunday and keep the Sabbath. He showed that no ‘interpretation’ could permit any other decision under the text of the Bible. That episode alone was worth a volume of arguments in favor of the Sabbath.” “The amendment will undoubtedly ‘die’ in the committee or be reported ‘adversely.’ Whatever the purpose of the advocates of this amendment, the results would create an actual union of church and state, or of Christianity and the state, which could not fail to work great evil.” Saviour, thy dying love thou gavest me,
Nor would I aught withhold, dear Lord, from thee. Kate Allen hummed the tune softly, as she swayed to and fro in a hammock in a shady corner of the piazza. She was in the exalted mood in which she had returned from the League prayer-meeting the night before. It had been a most inspiring meeting, and Kate, while listening to the eloquent address from a talented young clergyman who was visiting the parsonage, had experienced, with many others, a rise in the temperature of her religious zeal and devotion. She had said at the gate to Mrs. Ripley, her Bible class teacher, who had walked home with her:— “Christ never seemed so real and so beautiful to me as he does to-night, and I want to do something for him.” “Don’t look too long nor too far for the ‘something,’ Kate,” said Mrs. Ripley, as she bade her good-night. Kate had gone about her light part in the household tasks the next morning dreaming of some great sacrifice which she might perform for the Master; and as she sat down for her piano practice, her hands dropped idly upon the keys, and her face took on a look of rapt and blissful meditation. It was Bridget’s afternoon out; Mrs. Allen had an engagement at the church; Gypsy, Kate’s youngest sister, had been invited to join a sailing party; so it fell to Kate to remain at home, for the family never left Aunt Lavina alone. If any one had told the Allens that they were not kind to Aunt Lavina, they would have resented it bitterly; but the fact is her illness had been an old story to them, and they waited upon her with a joyless haste, as if they were doing their duty and would be glad to be through with it and off to some more congenial task. Aunt Lavina was one of those proud, sensitive souls, to whom had come that keen martyrdom of being a burden to others. For years she had been obliged to accept the services of unloving and reluctant hands.10She had learned to make as little trouble as possible, “to express less rather than more,” to suppress all the small whims and fancies of an invalid, and to content herself in the thought that her room was neatly kept and her meals were on time. Her bedroom opened by a French window on that corner of the piazza where Kate’s hammock hung. The afternoon was so sultry that Kate was quite willing to remain at home. Aunt Lavina heard the gentle, rhythmical creaking of the hammock, and disliked to ask for the drink of water for which she longed. Some work of love begun,
Some deed of kindness done,
Something for Thee, sang Kate dreamily. She made a pretty picture of ease as she lay there in her fresh, cool muslin and white ribbons. “Who knows but I may be a deaconess, or perhaps a foreign missionary?” thought she, thrilling with the completeness of her self-sacrifice. “Katharine!” came a feeble voice through the open window. Kate was not quite sure that she heard the call, and it was repeated. The girl’s brow contracted with a frown, and there was an undertone of irritation in her voice as she presented herself at the window and said:— Aunt Lavina’s thirst had become positive torture. “Some water, please, dear. I’m so sorry to trouble you.” Kate turned without a word, and went out into the kitchen. The fire had only just gone out, and the room was unbearably warm. The water pail stood in its usual place. Kate knew that it had been freshly filled at lunch time, two hours before, and that the water was now hardly palatable. The well, however, was on the south side of the house, and quite a little distance off, in an unshaded spot. “I guess this will do,” said Kate, and she picked up an old stone china cup with a nick in it, which usually stood there, filled it from the insipid contents of the pail, and started for the invalid’s room. Just then Mrs. Ripley’s words flashed across her mind: “Don’t look too long nor too far for the ‘something,’ Kate.” The girl stopped in the middle of the floor. A crimson flush overspread her face. If Jesus Christ had asked her for a drink of water, would she have offered this to him? Yet this stale water in the old, coarse, cracked cup was for his lips, for Aunt Lavina was one of his very own! “Something for Thee!” Her lips curled at her meanness, even while her eyes filled with quick, sorrowful tears. She took her garden hat from its nail, emptied the water pail, and carried it out to the well. She felt the fierce heat of the sun with delight, and, filling the pail with the ice-cold, sparkling water, she rinsed and refilled it, and returned to the house. Then she went to the china closet and selected a dainty bread and butter plate with a border of forget-me-nots, and took down one of the fragile cut-glass tumblers from the precious half dozen which cousin Beth had given to Mrs. Allen last Christmas. Nothing was too good for the Master. Her hands trembled as she filled the gleaming glass, set it on the plate, and started again for the sick-room. The invalid noticed the pretty things in Kate’s hands with a strange thrill of delight, and reached out eagerly for the water. “How delicious! How refreshing!” she said softly; and it was not alone her burning thirst that was relieved, but something of love and pity in Kate’s eyes went right to Aunt Lavina’s poor, parched heart, “like gentle rain from heaven.” It was easy then for Kate to see that the pillow needed to be arranged, and the window shade to be drawn down a little. She also thought of the great masses of sweet peas growing by the east porch. Strange how no one had thought to give Aunt Lavina a bouquet that summer. It did not take the swift young fingers long to cull a cluster of the beautiful flowers, and to place them in a vase on the small stand beside the bed. “Why, Katharine!” said Aunt Lavina, in gentle, grateful surprise, that smote upon Kate’s soul like a sharp blow. Kate looked at the patient eyes, the thin, suffering face, and saw as by a great light how Aunt Lavina had been left out of their hearts. Her thoughts had been traversing sea and land for some work for her Lord, while a service worthy of an angel lay within her door. She did not speak of the past to the invalid, nor of the future, but the Master heard the voice of her spirit saying with humble joy, “Lo, glad am I; I delight to do thy will, O God!” And Aunt Lavina heard a word which gave her a fresh surprise:— “I’ve lots of time to-day, auntie. Shall I read to you awhile?”—Zion’s Herald. THE HOME-LAND.
By Llewellyn A. Morrison
BY LLEWELLYN A. MORRISON. Land of delight and splendor!
Beautiful home above!
When shall my weary spirit
Rest in thy perfect love? Jesus, my Saviour, guide me;
Lead thou my spirit on;
In the white throne-light hide me
Safe, when the toil is done. Oft, o’er the halcyon meadows,
Hear I the vesper song,
Low in the twilight shadows
Hymned by the ransomed throng. Heaven, with its joys eternal,
Heaven will be one day mine;
Safe in its realms supernal,
I shall have life divine. Here, mid the burdens lowly,
Serve I in pain and strife;
There, in the home-land holy,
I shall have perfect life. SPRING TONICS.
By O. C. Godsmark
The use of “alteratives,” “spring tonics,” “blood purifiers,” etc., as the warm weather approaches, having become such a habit or supposed necessity with so many, the matter justly demands our attention at this special season of the year. That the systems of many do become so clogged with impurities during the winter as to require special attention at the approach of warm weather, we are well aware; and it is with the desire to help this very class that we call attention to the causes that, either singly or combined, have produced this condition. While we do not feel ourselves specially called to expose “medical frauds,” decry charlatans, or denounce as “quacks” all who do not agree with our ideas of the medical art, yet we would warn our friends against the use of the many preparations thrust upon the public, bearing the various titles of “Tonics,” “Alteratives,” “Blood Purifiers,” “Bitters,” etc.; for many of these are in no sense whatever true to the name they bear. Only recently a most wonderful (?) remedy came under my observation, the formula of which had been given to the medical fraternity by an eminent physician, and was indorsed as containing wonderful curative properties; but I noticed that four of the five ingredients were rank poisons, requiring but a few grains of any one of the elements to equal a fatal dose. Of course it was so prepared that the amount taken would not manifest these serious effects immediately, but what can be the final effect of continually taking virulent poisons, in small (medicinal) doses, even tho the system may, in its efforts to expel the intruder, manifest for a time a degree of activity that may be mistaken for returning health. Cheap whisky, calomel, quinine, and arsenic make up much of the medicinal properties of many of the patent medicines sold under the most alluring and promising advertisements. Better by far were the old root and bark bitters that our grandmothers used to make and force down their children in the days of long ago; for whatever were their merits or demerits, they were not deadly poisons, nor so advertised as to extort needed means from suffering humanity. With many the idea obtains that the spring time is especially unhealthful; and with many families this is all too true; but it need not be so. Let us look at one of the many causes that produces this condition, and then see if we can not take the steps necessary to avoid the difficulty with our own families; and perhaps a little judicious missionary work along this line may not be out of place. A blood purifier! Yes, a good purifier is absolutely needed at this season; and unless we make a thorough application of it, our blood will most certainly become loaded with the germs of disease. But what shall it be, and how shall we take it? Let us see. There is the back yard, back kitchen, drain pipes, back steps, cellar way, and surroundings generally, that all need purifying before we can hope to have very pure blood. As warm weather comes on, the air will become pregnant with the foul gases escaping from these places, and, tho we may not be able to perceive any odor from them, yet it is there and needs purifying. The back yard of many houses during the present winter has been made the receptacle of slops from the kitchen, crumbs from the table, and decaying vegetables from the cellar. They have been carried, perhaps but a few rods from the door, a little at a time, and so have been accumulating during the long winter; and the same warmth that causes the ice and snow to disappear, causes the myriads of germs that have been lying dormant during the cold weather to multiply and fill the very air in which we live; and so we become exposed to their attacks. Let the work of purifying begin at once. Do not wait until the grass begins to grow, but as fast as the ice and snow release their hold on the bits of boards, chips, and rubbish generally, let it be raked into piles and carted off. There will be enough to do after a while in raking away the dead leaves, weeds, and grass that have blown about the fence and buildings near at hand. The cellar way, that perhaps has been banked over with straw or covered with strips of carpets to keep the vegetables from freezing, needs thorough cleaning out. Let the sun’s rays and pure air reach every corner and crevice about the place, as they are nature’s best purifiers. The collection of old boards, boxes, barrels, pails, etc., that is so often allowed to adorn the back yards, only adds to the unhealthfulness of the surroundings and should never be allowed to remain. In our next we will consider a number of “blood purifiers” that we can heartily recommend, after which we will notice a few “tonics” and “alteratives” that will also be helpful at this season of the year, giving with each the exact formula, as we have in this case, so that none may be misled. HYGIENIC VALUE OF PERFUMES.
DOCTOR ANDRES, of Philadelphia, a few years ago made the discovery that the ozone in the atmosphere, which is the great purifier, was mainly supplied from blooming flowers, and for this reason blooming plants were healthful in dwelling houses, as well as attractive. Some interesting experiments with the odors of flowers have been made in the Old World, and it is found that many species of microbes are easily destroyed by various odors. The odor of cloves has been known to destroy these minute creatures in thirty-five minutes; cinnamon will kill some species in twelve minutes; thyme, in thirty-five. In forty-five minutes common wild verbena is found effective, while the odor of some geranium flowers has destroyed various forms of microbes in fifty minutes. The essence of cinnamon is said to destroy the typhoid fever microbe in twelve minutes, and is recorded as the most effective of all odors as an antiseptic. It is now believed that flowers which are found wrapped with Egyptian mummies were placed there more for their antiseptic properties than as mere ornaments or elements in sentimental work.—Trained Nurse and Hospital Review. Jealousy and Its Injurious Effects
“JEALOUSY forbids all outflows of affection or generosity into any other channels than its own, thus inflicting untold injury to all concerned.” THE INFLUENCE OF THE BIBLE IN INDIA.
FROM an article on “The Change of Front in India,” by Rev. Jacob Chamberlain, M.D., D.D., in the Missionary Review, we take the following extracts:— “In February, 1861, I met a venerable Brahman pilgrim, who told me of his sixty years of pilgrimages—of twice ten thousand miles—to every sacred shrine in India, all made on foot and begging his food by the way. ‘And yet,’ said he, sadly and with disappointment—‘and yet the burden of sin is just as heavy as when, a young man, I started on this quest. O, sir, does your Véda tell how I can get rid of this burden of sin, and be at peace with God?’ One sees no such pilgrims now. “Then hook-swinging and spike-walking and self-torture and immolation were real verities. Yearly the shrine of Juggernaut saw its throngs of a hundred thousand devotees, from hundreds or thousands of miles of toilsome pilgrimage, and thousands gripped the long cables, dragging the ponderous car of Juggernaut, while devotees were throwing themselves beneath its wheels. “Now all is changed. Britain’s sway, indeed, has put a stop to torture and immolation, but the waning faith of the people in their religion has been putting a more effective quietus to the ancient order of things, until recently Juggernaut’s priests issued the dismal wail that not enough pilgrims came to pull the car around its annual outing, and scarce were they able, with all the coolies they could hire, to move it back to its home. “The throngs of devout worshipers, making toilsome journeys, with costly gifts, have ceased. Lessening multitudes now go, indeed, but by train, with more or less comfort, to many of the shrines, and perfunctorily engage in some of the less irksome ceremonies, but little or none of the religious spirit is seen. “Then the rich endowments of the temples were yearly increased by the liberal gifts of those who believed they could thus buy release from sin. Now myriads of temples are slowly going to ruin, and a wail comes up from the priests of the most noted shrines at the smallness of the offerings, while the people are openly accusing the priests of squandering in voluptuous licentiousness the revenues from the endowments of the pious dead. But let us note Hindu testimony upon this point. “One hundred of the chief residents of Tirupati, the most noted shrine of southern India, signed and sent a memorial to the viceroy of India, in May, 1894, calling his attention to the desperate condition of Hindu religious endowments in general and of those of Tirupati in particular, and praying that government would provide more efficient means of safeguarding the interests of such endowments.” “It seems now to be the profound conviction of all thoughtful Hindus that Hinduism as it now exists, as it was when Christian missions began their campaign in India, as it has been for the last thousand years, must go. ‘The staunch, orthodox Brahman editor of a vernacular newspaper’ is quoted by The Missionary, London, as taking this gloomy view of the situation:— “We entertain no more any hope for that religion which we consider dearer to us than our life. Hinduism is now on its death-bed, and, unfortunately, there is no drug which can be safely administered to it for its recovery. There are native Christians nowadays who have declared a terrible crusade against the entire fabric of Hinduism, and many men of splendid education are also coming forth, even from our own community [Brahmans], who have already expressed a desire to accept Christianity; and should these gentlemen really become, first, Christians, and then its preachers, they will give the last death-blow to Mother Hinduism. This terrible crusade is now carried on by Christians with a tenacity of purpose and a devotion which in themselves defy failure. “But while all thoughtful Hindus seem to agree that Hinduism, in its modern form, at least, must go, they are not, by any means, agreed as to what shall take its place. All agree in fighting aggressive Christianity. They have even borrowed Christian tactics, and have formed in many cities of India ‘Hindu Tract and Preaching Societies,’ and are issuing millions of pages of tracts attacking Christianity, and scattering them broadcast. Some of them are of a most blasphemous character, and filled with grossest falsehood. Others are simply designed to arouse Hindus to a sense of their danger.” “There are three distinct trends of thought on the part of those who unitedly oppose aggressive Christianity. One party seeks to resuscitate Vedic Hinduism, to purge modern Hinduism of all its undesirable later accretions, and restore it to its pristine purity. But no two agree as to what its ‘undesirable accretions’ are, nor as to what the ‘pristine purity’ should consist in. Some say that it must be monotheistic and without caste. Others wish to retain a few of the more popular gods, and to keep up caste distinctions. There seems at present no prospect of an agreement as to what this ‘revival of Hinduism’ should consist in, tho there are multitudes of preachers of such a revival. What will be the outcome of this no one can say.” “The second trend is toward the acceptance of a Christianity without Christ—that is, the accepting of Christ’s teachings as a system of morality, without accepting the name of Christians, and without admitting Christ to be divine. They would simply add Christ, with his inimitable life and teachings, to their pantheon, but remain Hindus or non-Christians all the same. To this end the Aryya Literary Society in Calcutta, composed of non-Christian Bengali gentlemen, we are told, ‘are now engaged in translating the Bible into classical Bengali. They have asked and obtained the assistance of representative men of the Christian communities, lest anything should appear in the translation which should make it antichristian in tone.’ “The third distinct trend is toward agnosticism, and this I regard as the most portentous trend of all, for it exists not only among those who openly so avow themselves, but untold numbers who for social reasons ally themselves with some one of the other parties, have really thrown themselves into blank and cheerless agnosticism; and the number is increasing faster than we know. “There is, however, in spite of all the above-mentioned opposition, an unquestionable undercurrent tending toward evangelical Christianity. There came to me secretly in my tent, when out upon a tour, a native gentleman, high in office, in caste, in social position, wishing to have a private conversation with me on the claims of Jesus of Nazareth to be the Saviour of the world. After a somewhat extended conversation he said to me, in substance:— “Sir, I am not a Christian. I am still regarded as a devout Hindu. I still perform enough Hindu ceremonies to avoid suspicion, but in my heart I dare not deny the claims of the Bible. I see the power of Jesus Christ in the lives of his followers so distinctly that I can not deny his divinity. He must be divine or he could not work such a change in the lives of those who become his disciples. He is not yet my Saviour. Caste, wealth, position, family, all hold me back; but even now I never allow him to be spoken against in my presence. I have long been reading the Bible in secret. The more I read of Christ, and ponder over his life and teachings, and the power to conquer sin, which comes from embracing his religion, the more do I feel that in the end I shall have to accept him, at any cost, as my personal Saviour; but how can I do it now, and bring ruin upon my family? “There are more such than we have any idea of. The surface currents so often fail to tell what the deep-sea movements are.”