International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Mar 4, 1889
THE Signs of the Times
"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.
VOLUME 15.
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, SECOND-DAY, MARCH 4, 1889.
NUMBER 9.
Who Needs a New Birth?
By Editor
"RELIGIONS," says the Christian Register, "as well as individuals, need a new birth; and Christianity needs, and, we hope, is experiencing, a new birth in this age, a renewal of its spiritual life and ethical power."
The individual needs a new birth, indeed "must be born again," because in his natural state he is totally unfitted for the service of God and for the society of holy beings. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," said the Saviour, and the apostle assures us that "the carnal [fleshly] mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be," hence the necessity of being born again, born of the Spirit.
But why must Christianity be born again? What change is demanded in Christianity to bring it into harmony with God? Can the Register suggest any improvement in the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ? Is it not true that Christianity is as perfect now as it ever was, and that it is professed Christians who need a new birth?
THE FRUITS OF FAITH.
By Mrs. E. G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
GOD is not pleased with ignorance. We must become better acquainted with the principles of divine truth, that we may know better how to deal with human minds. We must have a closer connection with Heaven. We must follow the light, and reflect its rays upon the pathway of others. We want to enter right into the work, to go out to minister to souls. We should not be satisfied until the converting power of God attends our labors. To him who "goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed," the promise is given that he shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Laborers are needed everywhere to reveal Jesus to the people as he is. Those who abide in him will not misrepresent the truth by complaining and murmuring. They will say with Paul, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." By faith we behold Him who is invisible. Our faith reaches up to lay hold of the realities of the unseen world, and the affliction of the present is esteemed light in comparison with what is reserved in Heaven for us.
The angels of Heaven are looking upon us to see what we are doing to proclaim the130truth for this time. Christ has made us ambassadors to make known his salvation to the children of men, and if we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and are filled with the joy of his indwelling Spirit, we shall not be able to hold our peace. The truth will be poured forth from hearts all aglow with the love of God. We shall long to present the attractions of Christ, and the unseen realities of the world to come. We shall reflect the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. We are to be partakers of Christ's suffering and his self-denial; and if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him. If we are partakers of his humiliation, we shall also be partakers of his glory. If we go forth weeping, with the heart broken, with self subdued, there will be no lofty lifting up of self instead of Jesus; but there will be the bearing forth of precious seed, and the certain returning with joy and with precious sheaves for the Master. The quickening influence of the grace of God will be made manifest. There will be an intensity of desire to follow in the path that Jesus trod. There will be an earnest longing that those around us may behold "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world." We shall want to see the salvation of souls. Our thoughts will be filled with loving zeal for the Master.
There are souls all around us who are starving for the bread of life; and how can we keep it to ourselves? Present truth must be preached to the people with unwavering faith and untiring effort. You must minister to those around you the truth that you have received. Diffuse the light that has fallen upon your heart. Paul's charge to Timothy is just as applicable to us to-day as it was to the young disciple. He said: "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." We are to be put every talent out to the exchangers, that it may be returned to God with usury. We are to do the work that Christ has committed to his followers, and preach the gospel to every creature. We do not realize what we shall be able to do when we are truly consecrated.
There are souls on every hand who are crying, "Come over and help us." Solemn responsibilities are resting upon the people of God. I thank God for our schools, where young men and young women may be prepared to labor in the Lord's moral vineyard. I thank God that the Bible is regarded as the most important study of our schools. Why should not the precepts of Jehovah be diligently studied? "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." It lies at the foundation of all knowledge and wisdom. When Daniel was in the court of Babylon, what was it that enabled him to stand as a rock amidst all the subtle and overwhelming temptations of the king's court? He had his eyes on the precepts of God, and he was determined to be a loyal subject of Heaven. He purposed in his heart that he would not indulge in the luxuries of the king's table, but that he would keep his faculties in the best order, and his mind in a condition to appreciate eternal and spiritual truths. And when the king inquired of him, he found him ten times wiser than all the astrologers and wise men in his court; for God gave him understanding and wisdom. Let the youth take the Bible as their guide, and stand like a rock for principle, and they can aspire to any height of attainment. There is no limit to the knowledge that they may reach. You may aspire as you wish, but there will always be an infinity beyond. Take God's word to balance the mind, and you will be led into large fields of fruitful thought. You may be fitted for positions of usefulness and trust in this world, and, in comparison with the wise men of earth, you may be found, as was Daniel, to be men of tenfold greater wisdom than all the astrologers in the realm.
The only means whereby humanity can be reached and saved is through the co-operation of the human with the divine. Humanity can reach humanity. If the angels could have been saviours, it would have been necessary for them to take on them human nature, as did Christ. They would have had to experience the trials and sorrows of humanity, in order that they might know just how to pity and aid men, and to give them moral and divine power. But there was none who could be the saviour of the world but Jesus, the Son of God. Through his merits, men stand before God as candidates for eternal life. We are to be overcomers. We are to gain the victory here and now; we are to obtain a precious experience in the things of God now. If we do not get that experience and victory in this life, we shall never obtain it.
Every day we can teach others precious lessons in forbearance, in love, in compassion. We are to be representatives of Christ in every action of our lives. We do not want an emotional religion, and we have not had it in the meetings at this place. The testimonies have been plain, simple testimonies, declaring that Christ had forgiven sins, and restored the joy of his salvation. As I have heard these testimonies, I have rejoiced; for I knew how angels looked upon the scene. There has been joy in Heaven among the angels of God. There has been among us a heavenly Guest who has been restoring the lost sheep to the fold. Sinners have been reclaimed and reconciled, and I praise God. All Heaven is interested in what has been going on here. You have been abundantly pardoned, and the grace of Christ has been imparted to your souls, and now you are to be Christ's representatives. Every treasure of his goodness is to be given again to others. Every ray of light that has fallen upon your pathway is to be reflected upon some other who is in darkness. You are to speak with this one, to pray with that one, to write a letter to another, and to go about doing good to all men as you have opportunity. You have been made stewards of the manifold grace of God, which you are to dispense to others.
Catholic School Assessed
A CATHOLIC paper says that at Plainfield, N. J., the Catholics are in a state of indignation, owing to the fact that a short time ago a parochial school had been built for St. Mary's parish and upon completion, placed on the city assessment books by the town assessor to the amount of $20,000.
Crafts’s Sunday-Rest Campaign
If Rev. W. F. Crafts, Secretary of the American Sabbath (Sunday) Union, carried out his program for February fully, he spoke in favor of the Sunday-Rest bill in Wilmington, N. C., Charleston, S. C., Savannah, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Mobile, Meridian, Louisville, Pittsburg, Altoona, Harrisburg, Wheeling, Zanesville, and Columbus.
Cardinal Gibbons and Educators
By Editor
The Catholic Mirror makes the statement that "his eminence, Cardinal Gibbons, has been invited to address the Convention of the National Teachers' Association, which is to meet in Nashville, Tenn.," and that probably "Bishop Keane, rector of the new Catholic University at Washington, will represent his eminence on that occasion." Why a Roman Cardinal should be asked to address a convention of American educators, is beyond our comprehension, for Rome is the inveterate enemy of our free school system.
Religion and the Drama
By Editor
A secular paper says: "Religion and drama are becoming intertwined in a measure. Rev. T. K. Beecher has had a little theater built within his church edifice, and, on the other hand, 'Martin Luther' and 'Robert Elsmere' are the titles of new plays."
"Religion" and the drama may be becoming intertwined, but Christianity and the drama are not and never can. The drama is part and parcel of the world, and the Christian is commanded to "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world; if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15.
Judaism Without Christ
The Jewish Messenger asks: "Why should not the Hebrew be a power which shall work for honesty and purity, for simplicity and high aims in the American life? Why should not Judaism be a force that shall preach personal morality to the Nation?"
The answer to the question is not far to seek; it is simply because with the rejection of Christ, Judaism lost all the spiritual force it ever had, and it stands to-day as it has stood for nearly 1900 years, without power to regenerate a single soul or to remove a single blemish from human character. They would not come unto Christ that they might have life and power, and to-day they are, as a people, witnesses to the truth of his words: "Without me ye can do nothing."
Europe’s Coming War Cloud
MANY persons profess to see in the great improvements which are being made in weapons of warfare, and in the immense preparations which the nations of the earth are making for war, the very best assurances of peace. But some of the great soldiers of the world do not so regard it. In a recent address in Birmingham, England, Lord Wolseley spoke as follows:—
"Those who study the map of Europe at the present moment, and the condition of things in Europe, must feel that there is hanging over us a war cloud greater than any which has hung over Europe before. It means that when it bursts—and burst it will as surely as the sun will rise to-morrow—it means not, as in former days, a contest between two highly trained armies, but a war of extinction, of devastation, between great armed nations whose populations are armed and trained to fight."
Moral Decay and Sunday Observance
Cardinal Manning is of the opinion that this country is in a state of moral decay, which he attributes to freedom of divorce, Sunday newspapers, and lax Sunday observance. It is not to be denied that the moral condition of the people of this country is bad enough, but this condition is not caused by freedom of divorce; this freedom does not make the people immoral, it simply shows that they are immoral. Why the cardinal should find fault with the manner in which Sunday is observed in America is not apparent, since it is more generally regarded than in Catholic countries; and certainly the reading of a Sunday paper is not more objectionable than the way in which most Romanists, both European and American, spend the greater part of the day. But as the Sunday festival in its present form is a Catholic institution, it seems only fitting that the Romanists should say what constitutes a proper observance of the day; and certainly if they feel that they are not keeping it as they ought, they should reform.
"THE MORNING COMETH."
By Zion's Herald
Lo! from his Eastern heights sublime,
I hear the herald's joyous warning;
Day's glory deepens; far upclimb
The rosy splendors of the morning;
See yon triumphant steeds of light
Chase the retreating hosts of night;
The valleys sing, the hills rejoice,
And sounds aloft one cheering voice,
"'Tis coming! Yes, 'tis coming."
'Tis coming! Yes, our night of tears
Shall fade before Immanuel's glory,
Which now to gild our earth appears,
Foretold in ancient song and story;
Foretold in that seraphic strain,
With notes which haunt our world again;
For traveling through the shadowy years
The Just, the Merciful, appears,
Behold! the Lord is coming.
—Zion's Herald.
THE WISDOM OF WORDS.
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Too often the "wisdom of words" explains the gospel away. It is possible to refine a doctrine till the very soul of it is gone; you may draw such nice distinctions that the true meaning is filtered away. Certain divines tell us that they must adapt the truth to the advance of the age, which means that they must murder it and fling its dead body to the dogs. It is asserted that the advanced philosophy of the nineteenth century requires a progressive theology to keep abreast of it; which simply means that a popular lie shall take the place of an offensive truth. Under pretense of winning the cultured intellects of the age, "the wisdom of words" has gradually landed us in a denial of those first principles for which the martyrs died. Apologies for the gospel, in which the essence of it is conceded to the unbeliever, are worse than infidelity. I hate that defense of the gospel which razes it to the ground to preserve it from destruction.—C. H. Spurgeon.
THE GOSPEL NOT ATTRACTIVE.
By L. C. Hall
WE have another commonplace on our list that does service even in high quarters for a moment's thought. People say with the utmost confidence, "The simple preaching of the gospel will always attract people." This is not true. It will not always attract people, or ever attract some people. As some men preach the simple gospel, it will attract and captivate; and as some men preach heresy and error, these will attract and captivate. Spurgeon keeps his tabernacle overflowing, but so would certain well-known preachers whose several churches have repudiated their teachings, as most of the readers of this think, rightly repudiated them. Christ preached the simplest, sweetest gospel, and men crucified him. Three years' hard work left our Saviour only a few hundred souls to testify to the attractiveness of his gospel when lived out.
But men are not attracted by the gospel. The wise of Christ's time said, "Do a miracle and we will believe!" The wise of our time say, "We might believe Christ if he had done no miracle!" To the Jews he is a stumbling block, to the Greeks he is still foolishness. Who has not heard the simple gospel story preached, yes, and with earnestness, to a handful of people on a fine, clear Sabbath night, with hundreds living about? But the gospel was stupidly read, or the manner was dull, or the131English an offense, or the preacher's knowledge of men defective, his imagination not fired or absolutely lacking, and the old, old story, even in its simplicity, was marred by the preacher's lack of brains.
A gathered crowd does not testify to truth. A pleased crowd seldom testifies to truth. When men are always pleased with the gospel, it often only shows that no one has as yet brought it to bear on the hardened conscience, so that the ointment smarted before it healed. Many of us are pleased with Christ's teachings as we understand them, when if we were only less blind and self-righteous, we too would go away sorrowful, because we had found out at last that Christ has been saying to us all these years, "One thing thou lackest!"—L. C. Hall, in N. Y. Observer.
SILENCE IS GOLDEN.
By Dr. Burton
KEEP still. When trouble is brewing, keep still. When slander is getting on to its legs, keep still. When your feelings are hurt, keep still, till you recover from your excitement, at any rate. Things look differently through an unagitated eye. In a commotion once I wrote a letter, and sent it, and wished I had not. In my later years I had another commotion, and wrote a long letter; but life had rubbed a little sense into me, and I kept that letter in my pocket against the day when I could look it over without agitation and without tears. I was glad I did. Less and less it seemed necessary to send it. I was not sure it would do any hurt, but in my doubtfulness I leaned to reticence, and eventually it was destroyed. Time works wonders. Wait till you can speak calmly, and then you will not need to speak, may be. Silence is the most massive thing conceivable sometimes. It is strength in its very grandeur. It is like a regiment ordered to stand still in the mad fury of battle. To plunge in were twice as easy. The tongue has unsettled more ministers than small salaries ever did, or lack of ability.—Dr. Burton's Lectures to Yale Divinity Students.
DEADLY EXPLOSIVES.
By Editor
THE following from the Boston Advertiser, in regard to the manufacture and sale of high explosives, is of interest as showing in an impassioned way the danger which threatens society from dynamite and other powerful explosives in the hands of desperate men. The Advertiser says:—
It is a serious question, demanding prompt attention, whether there ought not to be some legislative measures adopted with a view to checking the indiscriminate manufacture, use, and sale of dynamite and similar deadly explosives. As matters are now, any man can buy for a trifling sum of money materials which he can fabricate into missiles of awful destructiveness, carry on his person secure from observation, and employ with well-nigh irresistible effect against life and property. The art of making bombs is said to constitute a principal topic of instruction in the secret Anarchist schools. Newspapers devoted to the propagation of socialistic revolution have not scrupled to advise their readers to learn this art and teach it to their children, declaring that nothing is easier than to learn to make a dynamite bomb.
No adequate provision is contained in existing statutes for dealing with this menace to public welfare. The science of explosives is of very recent date, so far as its most important developments are concerned. Nearly all our legislation on the subject has reference to gun-powder, or, at most, gun-cotton, and nitro-glycerine. The statutes of Massachusetts are probably a fair sample of what has been thought necessary by law-makers in the direction of guarding against danger from explosives. Not one section or line in any enactment of this commonwealth can be found which recognizes the possibility that a man may carry about with him, secure from the knowledge of anyone but himself, an article no bigger than a good-sized playing marble, but which when thrown into a carriage or railway car, is liable to explode with such force as to tear in pieces everything within a radius of many feet. Yet the bomb with which one of the condemned Anarchists in Chicago took his own life was so small that it was believed to have been concealed in the hair of his head; and the dynamite ball that slew the Emperor of Russia, tearing him limb from limb, was said to have been of the size of a boy's marble.
The principle is fully established that public safety requires a strict regulation of all manufacture, sale, and use of explosive compounds. But hitherto restrictions have been devised mainly for the purpose of preventing accident, not crime. Our Massachusetts statutes do, indeed, provide penalties for destroying or attempting to destroy property by the use of explosives, but with that exception all our statutory provisions leave every Anarchist in the State practically free to follow the teachings of Herr Most and O'Donovan Rossa. Surely such ought not to be the case.
THE LAW OF GOD.
By C. B. Fitzgerald
EVERY Government must consist of a ruling power, and subjects to be governed by that power. But there can be no Government unless the ruling power makes known its will to its subjects. This expression of the will of the ruler to his subjects naturally takes the form of law. Therefore law is the basis of every Government, the divine Government not excepted.
That law which is the basis of the divine Government, the expression of God's will to man concerning his conduct, is nothing less than perfect, holy, just, and good. To deny this is to deny the perfect holiness and justice of its divine Author. But on this point let the word itself testify.
In Ps. 119:1, David by inspiration clearly states the nature and extent of the law of God. He declares that those who walk in the law of the Lord are "undefiled," that they "do no iniquity," thus testifying to its perfection as a standard of righteousness. Again he says (verse 172), "All thy commandments are righteousness." "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth" (verse 142). It is written (Ps. 19): "The law of the Lord is perfect." "The statutes of the Lord are right." "The commandment of the Lord is pure." Rom. 7:12, 14 declares: "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." "We know that the law is spiritual."
We might justly conclude that the divine law, which is in itself righteousness, which is the truth, is perfect, right, pure, holy, just and good, and spiritual, is not affected by the change of times or dispensations. The moral relations existing between God and man, and between man and man, are the same in all time, past, present, and future. The obligations which grow out of these relations are ever the same, and it follows that the law which defines and enforces these obligations is just as unchangeable. However self-evident these facts may be, we will turn with reverence to the sure "word of prophecy."
The Lord said to Isaac, "Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." Gen. 26:5. The statutes here spoken of are not mere commands to perform some acts, which, when obeyed, end with the act; but statutes are permanent principles of government. The principles of God's Government which Abraham obeyed in living faith, secured to him the divine blessing, and a holy character. Thus Abraham's "faith wrought with his works [acts of obedience], and by works was faith made perfect." Jas. 2:22. Then the law existed in the patriarchal age, in all its perfection and holiness.
In Ex. 16, God speaks of his law, not as something created for that time and people only, but as an existing, permanent principle of his Government. He would prove them whether or no they would walk in his law (verse 4), by giving manna on the six days, and withholding it on the seventh. And the reproof (verse 28), for refusing to keep his laws, was because some had tried to find manna on the seventh. Here is another record of the existence of the divine law, and that law commanded the Sabbath, at least a month before the covenant was made with the children of Israel at Horeb.
As recorded in Matt. 5:17, 18, our Lord said: "Think not that I came to destroy the law, or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished." (Revised Version.)
Jesus left the courts of glory and came into this world for a purpose; but that purpose, he says, was not to destroy the law or the prophets. Then we are forced to the conclusion, that by his advent into the world, the law will not be destroyed, but will remain as before his coming, "until heaven and earth pass."
The word "fulfill" used in these texts has a Scripture meaning which we will seek and abide by. James says (chap. 2, verse 8), "If ye fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well." As here used, the word "fulfill," applied to the law, means to obey. Those who fulfill the law, are the direct opposites of "transgressors." See verse 9. The word has the same meaning in Gal. 6:2, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill [obey] the law of Christ." To fulfill or obey the law, we must acknowledge its existence, our obligation to obey it, and the authority of the law-giver. Then, since our Lord by his mission to earth fulfilled the law (Matt. 5:17, 18), he thereby obeyed it, acknowledged it, and4honored its just claims by suffering its penalty in our stead, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, "He will magnify the law, and make it honorable." Isa. 42:21.
Paul, by inspiration acknowledges the existence and authority of the law in the Christian dispensation. In Romans 3, he presents the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and finally concludes "that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." But because we are justified by faith without the law, do we therefore make the law void? Paul asks and answers this question. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3:31. Then Christ did not destroy or abolish the law, but fulfilled it, magnified it, and made it honorable. He did not make it void in the Christian dispensation, but established it. The law thus defined and established is the same as that of which David testifies in Ps. 111:7, 8: "All his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." Again in Ps. 119:152: "Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them forever."
In Jer. 31:31-34, is a prophecy concerning the new covenant, which was confirmed and established by the ministry and death of our Lord. By the terms of this covenant, God says, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." When God thus speaks of his law, we cannot mistake his meaning. The law which is written in the hearts of Christians by the terms of the new covenant, is the same that Abraham obeyed, and which by faith was written in his heart. This we know, because the law written in the hearts of Christians has the same effect on their characters as it had on the character and life of Abraham. God never employed but one means for changing the characters of men from sinfulness to holiness, namely, the obedience of faith. If faith wrought with Abraham's works, and if by works was his faith made perfect, our faith must be made perfect in the same way. There never was but one way.
The law of God, which is so perfect in holiness, purity, and truth, the perfect expression of the divine will, we may expect to find stated in the Scriptures, plainly, directly, forcibly. In James 2:8, it is written, "If ye fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well." The royal law according to the Scripture, is no other than the law of God written in the Scripture. James continues the same subject through verses 8 to 12 inclusive, and in this connection but one law is spoken of. In verse 11, two commandments of the law are quoted. This is a quotation of Ex. 20:13, 14; and the commandments so quoted are a part of the law which was spoken by the voice of God amid the thunders of Sinai, and written by his finger on tables of stone. In this there can be no mistake. "The royal law according to the Scripture" is that which says, "Do not kill," "Do not commit adultery,"—God's ten commandments, which we transgress by showing respect to persons (verse 9). And in verse 12, he calls it "the law of liberty," and declares that by it we shall be judged.
The highest type of liberty is that condition in which men yield willing obedience to just and holy laws. Then, in the light of this fact, the law of God is supremely a law of liberty. The first commandment says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Here is liberty indeed. The heart renewed by grace obeys this commandment with alacrity and great delight. There is nothing here that would hinder the full enjoyment of the glorious liberty of the children of God. What may be said of this command may be said of the remaining nine.
David says, "Thy commandment is exceeding broad." So broad is it that it will cover every action in life; so "spiritual" (Rom. 7:14) is it that it reaches the deepest recesses of the soul. See Matt. 5.
Such is God's universal standard of divine justice. And such a law is becoming to God, who is infinite in every divine perfection.
C. B. FITZGERALD.
Gold Hill, Oregon.
IF I COULD ONLY KNOW.
"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7.
If I could only surely know
That all these things that tire me so
Were noticed by my Lord,—
The pang that cuts me like a knife,
The noise, the weariness, the strife,—
What peace it would afford!
I wonder if He really shares
In all these little human cares,
This mighty King of kings;
If He who guides through boundless space
Each blazing planet in its place,
Can have the condescending grace
To mind these petty things!
It seems to me, if sure of this,
Blent with each ill would come such bliss
That I might covet pain,
And deem whatever brought to me
The loving thought of Deity,
And sense of Christ's sweet sympathy,
Not loss, but richest gain.
Dear Lord, my heart shall no more doubt
That thou dost compass me about
With sympathy divine.
The love for me One crucified,
Is not the love to leave my side,
But waiteth ever to divide
Each smallest care of mine.
—Selected.
THE TRUE PURPOSE OF BIBLICAL STUDY.
By Charles A. Briggs
THE first work in the scientific and systematic study of the Scriptures is called textual criticism, or the lower criticism. It is first of all necessary to know the text in which the Scriptures are contained. Hence the candidates for the ministry devote a large portion of their time to a study of the sacred languages, the various versions and manuscripts of the word of God. All translations must be derived from a faithful study of the originals. It is indispensable that a living church should have a ministry who are brought into immediate contact with the divine originals. The Bible in unknown tongues is a Paradise fenced and barred. The acquisition of the original text removes the barrier; the translation into the tongue of the people opens the gates, that all who will may enter in. Hence our Protestant churches have made it an article of faith that the Bible must be given to the people in their own tongue, and continually interpreted to the people by ministers who know themselves the originals, and are able to remove misapprehensions that will always arise, to some extent, in connection with all translations and reproductions. But this first step of the mastery of the divine original text may be accomplished, and yet the grace of God that is in the Scriptures remain entirely unknown. It is as if a man should enter the king's garden and devote his entire attention to the study of the gates and walls.
The second step in Biblical study is literary criticism, or the higher criticism. The sacred Scriptures are composed of a great variety of writings of different authors in different periods of history, writing in many different styles, such as poetry and prose, history and story, epistle and prophecy. Some of this literature is exceedingly choice, from a purely literary point of view. An anthology of the choicest pieces of Biblical literature would certainly be a very profitable study for many of God's people. Their eyes would be opened to the wondrous forms of beauty in which God has chosen to reveal his grace of redemption. But to study the Bible as sacred literature is not to study it as a means of grace. Exclusive devotion to that theme is as if we should enter the king's garden, and, instead of going at once to his gracious presence, in accordance with his invitation, we should devote ourselves to the beautiful trees and flowers and ornamental shrubs and landscape.
The third work of Biblical study is Biblical exegesis. In this department the student in every way endeavors to get at the true meaning of the Scriptures. The particular passage and the entire writing under consideration must be studied with the most minute accuracy, and, at the same time, the most comprehensive summation of evidence. But even this may be carried on in a most thorough and successful manner in all its stages, except the last and highest, without finding God in Jesus Christ. Some of the best exegetes have not been true Christians. The peril in exegesis is, the becoming absorbed in details, and in giving ourselves to the quest after truth and scholarly accuracy. It is as if one entered the king's garden, and devoted himself at once to a scientific examination and classification of its contents, the survey and mapping out of its sections.
The fourth work of Biblical study is the study of the theology of the Bible, its religion, its doctrines, and its morals. This is the highest attainment of Biblical scholarship, but it is not the study of the Bible as a means of grace. It is as if we entered the king's palace, and devoted our attention to the principles and maxims of his administration, the rules of his household, while the king himself was graciously waiting to receive us into his own presence, and give us the kiss of fatherly salutation.
All of these various subjects of Biblical study are vastly important. The church has not yet awakened to the vast possibilities and the wonderful fruitage to be derived from Biblical study. No one could exalt these departments, each and all of them, more highly than we are disposed to do; but, notwithstanding, it must be said that, if all these studies could be accomplished in a most scholarly manner, the chief thing, the one supreme thing, might still remain unaccomplished, namely, the study of the Bible as a means of grace. This is the highest achievement of Biblical study; for prayer will seek first the presence and the person of God. It will not be detained by anything in the Bible. It will press on through the text, the literature, the exegesis, and the theology, giving them but slight attention, a mere passing glance, firmly advancing into the presence-chamber of God. It will run in the footsteps of the divine Spirit until the man is ushered into the presence of the heavenly Father and bows in adoration and love to the dear Saviour, and has the adoption and recognition of sonship. Then first will he be assured that the Bible is indeed the word of God, the inspired canon, when he has found God in the Bible; then first will he understand the Scriptures at their center, in their very heart, when he has recognized his Saviour in them; then in the light of the Redeemer's countenance the student may go forth to the enjoyment of all the beauties and glories and wondrous manifestations of truth and love in the Scriptures, and find them radiant with the love of Christ, and pervaded throughout with the effectual grace of God.—Charles A. Briggs, D. D., in Biblical Study.
ROME IN MEXICO.
In these days, when it is considered an evidence of intelligence and liberality to encourage Roman Catholic aggression in the United States, it is well to note what transpires in the adjoining Republic of Mexico. What the real feeling and endeavor of Romanism actually is, may be seen in the following extract from a letter by Mr. F. R. Guernsey to the Boston Herald. This well-known American resident in Mexico writes: "The two great political parties of Mexico are the Liberals and Conservatives, or Clericals. The first named party is that in power, whose chief is General Porfirio Diaz, and it is the party of popular education, the promoter of railways and of every kind of material improvement—in a word, the party of modern ideas. Its ultimate aim is to educate the masses of the Mexican people till they are fit to exercise intelligently the suffrage. The second party, which has for many years been the party of the opposition, does not acknowledge the authority of the Constitution, and therefore, is not a constitutional party. It is, in point of fact, a chronic rebellion, a perpetual protest against every idea which the liberty party stands for. It believes in abolishing the public schools and relegating education to the priests. It has bitterly opposed the building of the great railways which unite Mexico to the railway system of the Northern Republic. It contains within its ranks the diminishing party of imperialism, and its traditions and hopes are largely monarchial. If it ever gets into power it will throw the present Constitution overboard and establish a clerico-civil form of government, such as exists to-day in Ecuador, the only Spanish-American country where the Liberal party (universal in the Latin countries of this hemisphere) is not in power."