Central New England ...................... $2,772.18
Greater New York ............................ 1,496.31
Maine ........................................ 836.51
New York .................................. 2,326.50
Southern New England ...................... 1,210.50
Vermont ................................... 1,331.74
Western New York .......................... 2,069.09
Total ..................................... 12,042.83
Chesapeake ................................... 615.28
Eastern Pennsylvania ..................... 2,548.91
New Jersey ............................... 1,199.95
Ohio ..................................... 6,300.43
Virginia ................................ 1,034.77
West Pennsylvania ........................... 1,905.67
West Virginia ............................. 558.86
Total .................................... 14,163.87
***District of Columbia***
Washington churches ...................... 1,384.54
Lake Union Conference
East Michigan ............................... 3,155.46
Indiana .................................. 5,243.02
North Michigan .............................. 1,705.22
Northern Illinois ......................... 2,912.36
Southern Illinois ........................... 1,404.46
West Michigan ............................ 8,730.70
Wisconsin ................................... 4,447.55
Total .................................... 27,598.77
North Pacific Union Conference
British Columbia ............................. 216.00
Montana ...................................... 611.39
Upper Columbia ........................... 3,036.43
Western Washington .......................... 2,679.93
Idaho ....................................... 1,019.40
Western Oregon .............................. 2,899.49
Hawaii ........................................ 16.05
Alaska ........................................ 20.00
Total .................................... 10,498.69
Northern Union Conference
Iowa ........................................ 7,242.30
Minnesota ................................. 5,686.28
South Dakota ............................. 2,664.47
North Dakota ............................. 2,129.93
Conference not specified ....................... 73.82
Total .................................... 17,796.80
Pacific Union Conference
Southern California ........................ 2,853.63
Arizona ................................... 466.79
California-Nevada ....................... 10,249.03
Utah ...................................... 434.58
Total .................................... 14,004.03
***Southern Union Conference***
Conference not specified ....................... 70.82
South Carolina ............................ 266.09
Alabama ...................................... 613.14
Tennessee River .......................... 1,405.01
Florida ................................... 951.48
North Carolina .......................... 1,028.70
Cumberland ............................... 1,347.32
Louisiana ................................ 572.54
Mississippi .................................. 413.08
Georgia ................................... 457.97
Total ..................................... 7,126.15
Southwestern Union Conference
Not specified ................................ 22.82
Arkansas ..................................... 894.63
Oklahoma ................................... 3,924.79
Texas ...................................... 2,285.24
Total ..................................... 7,127.48
Western Canadian Union Conference
Alberta ................................. 1,203.80
Manitoba .................................... 336.55
Saskatchewan Mission Field .................... 59.60
Total ..................................... 1,599.95
Algeria ................................... 13.33
Australia ................................... 178.71
Bermuda ...................................... 36.00
China ....................................... 165.60
South Africa ............................... 439.02
Jamaica ...................................... 66.01
Yukon Territory .............................. 20.00
England ..................................... 278.61
West Africa ............................... 50.00
Mexico ....................................... 65.97
Costa Rica .................................... 6.25
India ....................................... 187.50
South America ............................... 76.43
Switzerland ................................... 9.69
Panama ....................................... 27.11
Nicaragua ..................................... 9.00
Central American Mission ..................... 26.00
Trinidad ..................................... 28.69
Norway ....................................... 25.00
Japan ........................................ 12.50
Hayti .......................................... 5.00
Egypt ..................................... 51.55
Palestine ...................................... 2.00
Tobago, W. I. .................................. 1.22
Cuba ............................................ 8.00
Hungary ......................................... 3.00
Tahiti ......................................... 14.88
France .......................................... 6.80
Philippine Islands ............................. 1.00
Samoa ............................................ 8.00
Barbados ......................................... 5.00
Portugal ......................................... 1.00
Straits Settlements ........................... 10.08
Pitcairn Island ............................... 20.00
New Zealand ...................................... 1.52
Fiji ............................................. 4.87
St. Kitts ........................................ 7.51
Total ..................................... 1,872.85
Grand Total .............................. $132,392.03
I. H. EVANS, Treasurer.
The American Sabbath
THE well-known writer, Margaret E. Sangster, has an article in the Christian Herald of February 26, on the preservation of the American sabbath. The advice she gives on how to conduct one's self on the day he believes to be the Sabbath is good, as is also the expression which we quote:—
In order to preserve the American sabbath we do not need legislation; we require atmosphere and influence.’
The sabbath that depends upon human legislation for a force impelling men toward its preservation is leaning on a broken reed that will pierce the hand of the leaner.
The Spirit of War
THE feeling of the immanence of war and a necessity of preparation for it is felt in all parts of the earth. Most of the large nations are pushing their interests to the verge of rupture with powers standing in the path of their purpose. For instance, Japan would quickly take Manchuria if she were sure Germany and America would not cross her path. Both England and Russia covet Persia, and their spheres of influence have met near the center of that country. France is feeling her way gingerly in North Africa, remembering the Fashoda incident, and understanding the attitude of Germany. It is safe to say that England’s control of Egypt is not so complete as it would be if she knew she could tighten her grasp without a conflict. This situation naturally begets an uneasy state of feeling among the smaller nations and the colonies of the larger ones. That is why Canada desires a navy, and it is why Australia feels a similar need. Concerning this an English journal says:—
Even the colonies of England are beginning to prepare for war. Mr. Deakin, the prime minister of the Australian Commonwealth, has introduced a bill for universal compulsory military service. Only a short period in camp, sixteen days each year, is called for under the bill, but the time can easily be extended, once the principle is admitted. Mr. Deakin hopes, in the course of eight years, to have a national guard, trained to arms, of 218,000 men. He is also proposing the purchase of three submarines and two destroyers every year for three years as the nucleus of an Australian navy. Thus the war fever secures another victim.
R. C. PORTER
By R. C. PORTER
The Ax Laid at the Root of the Trees—No. 2
R. C. PORTER
FEARFUL will be the account that will be met by false shepherds in the day of judgment. It were better for a man that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he drowned in the depth of the sea, than that by his unfaithfulness to the solemn charge of his ministry to “preach the word” he should allow souls to drift to ruin unwarned, and their blood be upon his garments.
More than fifty years ago we were instructed through the spirit of prophecy that the time would come when there would be a shaking among us. It was stated plainly that this shaking would be caused by a revival of the straight testimony. When we see the shaking coming precisely as predicted, caused by the revival of the straight testimony as declared, shall we then be longer in a state of questioning as to where we should stand in this crisis? The present situation is the strongest confirmation of the truthfulness and reliability of the spirit of prophecy. It declared that we should see just this at this very time. It declared that some would be shaken out. It stated plainly that these who would not receive the straight testimony, would endeavor “to unsettle the established faith of the body.” The next step brings us to the latter rain.
When the shaking time is past, the body will not be left torn and distracted, as the result of the shaking. In place of that, the ones who were opposed to organization, and unwilling to harmonize with church order, will have been shaken out. “My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping and praying with agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers.”—“Early Writings,” page 132.9
They had not accepted theories of organization that would lead to disorganization. The established faith of the body on the subject of organization was still adhered to.
Page 133 of the same book records the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. It did not fall upon those who renounced the established faith of the body. It came to the body when the testimony of the Faithful and True Witness was heeded by it. “I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs, has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it, will obey it, and be purified.”—“Early Writings,” page 132.
The test of truly receiving the testimony of the Faithful and True Witness, is obedience to the messages given. These, obeyed, will result in purifying the heart. It is easy to proclaim faith in the spirit of prophecy. The test is obedience to its messages.
In the illustration of the human body representing the church in the New Testament, there is the most explicit organization. In that illustration every member is given his place “as it hath pleased Him.” In this there is the most perfect order. Every member of the body is directed by the head, but the nerve through which the direction is given is interwoven with the tissues of the body. It is not individual direction independent of the body. The individual direction given through the body is always in harmony with the action of the body directed by the same head. God has committed the proclamation of his gospel to men. He guides them in the work. The Holy Spirit co-operates with Christ in directing the work. “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” Therefore “in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” There is no safety in individual independence that ignores counsel. The message will finish its work on the same platform on which it was begun—the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy.
“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Hamilton, Mo.
My Keeper
By Alice M. Avery Harper
ALICE M. AVERY HARPER
My help shall come from yonder hills
Where beams my Father's gracious face;
For he it is my being thrills
With gleams of joy and wondrous grace.
He will not suffer me to fall;
He watches o'er me while I sleep,
He hears my oft-repeated call,
And leadeth all his fainting sheep.
Though anguish be my portion here,
And care unnerve the weary heart,
I will look up beyond the hills,
And from his truth will ne'er depart.
Though heaven and earth may be removed,
And every island flee away,
Jehovah God shall be my help
Through darkest night or cheerless day.
Beyond the hills, those sacred hills,
Where brightly gleam those gates of pearl,
The glories of that peaceful land,
With all its treasures, shall unfurl.
In those green pastures, broad and fair,
Where weary pilgrims shall be blest,
Where fragrant breezes fill the air,
With his redeemed I'll be at rest.
For me his heart was rudely pierced;
With grief and shame his head was bowed;
On lonely Calvary's awful crest
He died, amid the mocking crowd.
That tender face, that saddened brow,
That dreadful cruelty I see,
When Christ was smitten for my sins,
And crucified on Calvary.
And yet my dear Redeemer lives,
My precious Saviour, King, and Friend;
My contrite heart to him I give,
His trusting child he will defend.
Beyond the everlasting hills,
Beyond the shadow and the pain,
This vision sweet my spirit thrills.
He lives! the Lamb for sinners slain!
Laingsburg, Mich.
Words to Teachers and Students
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
We have been instructed again and again that the character of the education that has long been current, can not stand the test of the Word of God. The subject of education is one that should interest every Seventh-day Adventist. The Lord says to us, Seventh-day Adventists are not to place themselves under the counsel and instruction of teachers who know not the truth for this time. The molding and fashioning of minds should not be left to men who have not comprehended the importance of a preparation for that life which measures with the life of God.
Some among our teachers have been charmed by the sentiments of infidel authors. In a representation given me I saw one holding in his hand one of these books and recommending it to our teachers as a book from which real help could be obtained along educational lines. Another was holding in his hand books of an altogether different character. He placed his hand upon the one who had recommended the infidel author, and said, “Advice of the kind you have given is opening the door for Satan with his sophistries to find easy entrance to your schools. These books contain sentiments that your students should be instructed to avoid. Human minds are easily charmed with studies that lead to infidelity. These books produce in the minds of the students a distaste for the study of the Word of God, which is eternal life to all who follow its instruction. Such books are not to find entrance in any school where the youth are being taught to be learners of the greatest of teachers.”
With solemn voice the Speaker continued: “Do you find with these authors that which you can recommend as essential to true higher education? Would you dare recommend their study to students who are ignorant of their true character? Wrong habits of thought, when once accepted, become a despotic power that fastens the mind as in a grasp of steel. If many who have received and read these books had never seen them, but had accepted the words of the divine Teacher in their place, they would be far in advance of where they now are in a knowledge of the divine truths of the Word of God, which make men wise unto salvation. These books have led thousands where Satan led Adam and Eve—to a knowledge that God forbade them to have. Through their teachings, students have turned from the Word of the Lord to fables.”
I am instructed to say to students, In your search for knowledge, climb higher than the standard set by the world; follow where Jesus has led the way. And to teachers I would say, Beware how you sow the seeds of unbelief in human hearts and minds. Cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. The crowning glory of Christ’s attributes was his holiness. The angels bow before him in adoration, exclaiming, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. He is declared to be glorious in his holiness. Study the character of God. By beholding Christ, by seeking him in faith and prayer, you may become like him.
The standard of education in our schools is lowered as soon as Christ ceases to be the pattern of teachers and students. Teachers are to understand that their work is not to be confined to the knowledge contained in text-books; it is to reach higher, far higher than it does. A course of self-discipline is to educate them to conform the character to the divine similitude. Self dies hard, but when the teachers have that wisdom that cometh from above, they will discern the true object of our educational work, and reforms will be made that will give the youth a training that is according to the Lord’s plan of development and growth, and will fit them to help become members of the family of heaven.
We need now to work in spiritual lines, seeking to purify ourselves from every defect of character. Christ must be formed within, the hope of glory. He must be received by every individual who would have an individual experience. We are to be rooted and grounded and established in the faith by the teachings of the Word. The truth has power to sanctify the receiver, and this work of sanctification will be accomplished for us as we have an individual knowledge of Christ, and learn to link up with him, and to walk by faith and prayer.
An Instructive Type; the Go’el
By George W. Draper
GEORGE W. DRAPER
Not only in the services of the sanctuary, as prescribed by the Levitical law, but in all the institutions of the Old Testament may be traced a symbolical character. It is as if He who knows the end from the beginning had so overruled in the development of society and in the course of history as to present to this unbelieving age an overwhelming mass of testimony to the divine origin of Christianity.
Many of these institutions which were typical of heavenly things served at the time a utilitarian and even beneficent purpose. Of these may be noted as examples the year of release for bond-servants, the year of rest for the land, the jubilee, and the customs and regulations concerning the Go’el. But by far the greater importance, especially to us for whom the record of these institutions has been preserved (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11), attaches to their symbolical meaning. Let us thus consider the institution of the Go’el.
Go’el is a Hebrew word which has no equivalent in the English language, for the reason that we have no such institution among us. Its full meaning will be developed as we proceed, but as a preliminary definition we might say that a Go’el was one who stood as the representative of another in certain relations to other individuals and to society. It is variously translated in the Old Testament; as, “near kinsman,” “redeemer,” “one that hath right to redeem,” “avenger,” etc.
In the patriarchal age—and in Oriental countries the custom has continued to the present time—the unit of society was not the individual, but the family. All the members of one family were united by the bond of relationship and common interest, and stood together as one man in dealing with neighboring families. An injury done to an individual was an injury to the family to which he belonged, and all were bound to assist in securing redress; on the other hand, an offense committed by an individual was reckoned as chargeable to the entire family to which he belonged. See Genesis 34; 2 Sam. 21: 1-9.
In minor matters, however, the entire kindred of a man were not required to exert themselves to secure his rights. This duty fell upon his father, his brothers, and in default of these, upon his nearest kinsman, however remote the relationship. This individual was known as his Go’el.
A man’s Go’el could require, and it was his duty to demand, the performance of all the obligations which were owing by others to the person he represented. On the other hand, it was his duty, and others could require him, to perform all duties owed by his kinsman, including those mentioned in Lev. 6: 1-7.
The chief obligations of the Go’el were those which had to do with the perpetuation of the family and its inheritance. These are the ones which are specifically enjoined in the Old Testament, and the ones with which we are chiefly concerned as types.
The stern law, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” and “a life for a life,” rigidly prevailed, and in case of a man’s death by murder it was his Go’el’s duty to exact the penalty. There were no civil officers whose duty it was to execute the murderer; he died by the hand of the murdered man’s Go’el. “The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.” Num. 35: 19; Deut. 19: 11, 12.
The Go’el’s duty to his murdered kinsman was not ended with having avenged him. If a man had died, whether by murder or in any other manner, and left no son, it was his Go’el’s duty to take the widow and “raise up seed for his brother” or kinsman. Deut. 25: 5, 6. The perpetuation of the family, that no family should perish in Israel, was of supreme importance, and the man who refused to perform this duty was publicly insulted, and his name became a reproach. Deut. 25: 7-10.
It is commonly supposed that this service was performed only by a brother of the deceased, but this is not the fact. It was the specific duty of a man’s Go’el, his “nearest kinsman,” whether that was a brother or a more distant relative. See Deut. 25: 5, 6, marginal reading. That this was true is shown in the book of Ruth, which would seem to have been written especially to illustrate this phase of a Go’el’s duty.
Elimelech and his wife Naomi, with their two sons, in time of famine went to the land of Moab to dwell. The sons married women of Moab, and died without issue. After ten years, Naomi, then a widow and childless, returned to Israel, accompanied by Ruth, the widow of one of her sons. Ruth went to glean in the harvest-field, and met Boaz, who showed her special favors. When this was related to Naomi, she recognized Boaz as belonging to the kindred of Elimelech, her deceased husband, and, she supposed, the Go’el of her son, the deceased husband of Ruth. “The man is near of kin unto us,” a Go’el, she said to Ruth. Ruth 2: 20.
Naomi then directed Ruth how to proceed to call the attention of Boaz to the duty he owed to his deceased kinsman. Ruth found favor in the eyes of Boaz, and he expressed a willingness to assume the obligations of a Go’el; but he was better informed regarding the family relationships than was Naomi, who was a member of the family only by marriage, and had been absent from the country for ten years. He informed Ruth that there was one nearer of kin, and therefore with a better right than10himself; but that if this other kinsman refused, he would fulfil the obligation himself.
“Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down. And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s: and I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. And the kinsman said, I can not redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself: for I can not redeem it. Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor: and this was a testimony in Israel. Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.
“And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day. And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. . . . So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife.” Ruth 4: 1-13.
The first son born of such a marriage was counted as the son of the deceased man, and inherited his land. All subsequent sons belonged to the Go’el himself. In case but one son was born, the Go’el would be reckoned childless, and consequently without an heir to preserve his name and family. It was in view of this contingency that the kinsman in Ruth 4 refused to perform his obligation, “lest I mar mine own inheritance,” and received the legal tokens of the contempt which was felt for “that man that will not build up his brother’s house.” Deut. 25: 7-10.
Not only the contempt of men, but the displeasure of the Lord was visited upon the man who shirked this duty, as may be seen from the penalty inflicted in another such case, as recorded in Gen. 38: 1-10. The subsequent actions of Tamar were not so reprehensible, in view of the law and custom regarding the duties of a Go’el, as they would have been under other circumstances. She merely resorted to strategy to secure the rights guaranteed her by law and custom, and of which she had been fraudulently deprived by Judah. It is to be noted that the sons born of this union were reckoned as legitimate, and one of them is included in the ancestry of our Lord.
The reference to the redemption of land in the narrative in the book of Ruth brings to view another of the rights and duties of the Go’el. As it was of supreme importance that the family should be perpetuated, it was also of great importance that its inheritance should be preserved, so that no family in Israel should ever be reduced to a permanent condition of poverty.
To this end the land of Israel, after its division among the different families in the days of Joshua, was declared to be the inalienable possession of such families. A man might indeed sell the parcel of land of which he held possession, but such sale was only in effect a lease. In the year of jubilee it returned to his possession, or to that of his heirs. Lev. 25: 13, 28, 39-41. As the jubilee recurred every fiftieth year, in all ordinary cases the family inheritance would be entire at least once during the lifetime of each individual, no matter how prodigal he or his fathers may have been.
But he also possessed the right to redeem it at any time, and if he was unable to redeem it, his Go’el had the right, and if he was able, it was his duty to redeem it. Lev. 25: 25. And if his kinsman, on account of his poverty, had been reduced to bondage, it was the right and the duty of the Go’el to redeem him also. Lev. 25: 47-49.
In drawing a lesson for ourselves from the institution we have been considering, the first and foremost feature, and one so prominent that it can not be overlooked, is the great doctrine of substitution—one individual standing in the place of another, and in his stead paying his debts, discharging his duties, and fulfilling all the obligations which that other had failed or had been unable to meet himself. The Go’el was thus a most expressive type of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in order that he might be of kin to us, and thus have a right to stand in our place as our Go’el, was born of a woman, of the stock of Abraham and the seed of David. Heb. 2: 11-14. He who denies or ignores the doctrine of substitution has missed the meaning of the entire Old Testament, and the New Testament as well.
But we must here confine ourselves to the typical meaning of the Go’el. Besides being in general a type of our Saviour standing as man’s substitute, the Go’el, in performing each of the duties enumerated in this article is a significant type of our Lord.
Satan, who “was a murderer from the beginning,” overcame and destroyed our first parents, despoiled them of their inheritance, and reduced their posterity to bondage. The Son of God, taking Adam’s nature in order that he might be of kin to him, assumed the position of his Go’el. He undertook the task of avenging him by destroying “him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2: 14); of redeeming him and his posterity from their condition of bondage (Gal. 4: 3-5), and through the new birth raising them up as a new seed unto his brother; and finally of restoring to them their lost inheritance. Eph. 1: 14. Blessed be he who is mighty to perform all that he has promised.
Beloved, has the enemy in the insolence of his power done you grievous injury, which you are powerless to avenge? Have you, because of your own or your fathers’ weakness, fallen into bondage, galling to endure? Have you lost your claim to, or ceased to hope for, the inheritance which is the natural right of a child? Then take courage. Despair no longer. Exercise the faith of Job, who, in his deepest affliction, bereft of kindred and friends, exclaimed, “I know that my Go’el liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.” One who is mighty, One who is nigh of kin to you, is ready to avenge all your wrongs, to redeem you from bondage, and to place you in everlasting possession of an inheritance more glorious than you can conceive.
Centralia, Ill.
Where Shall We Go for Our Education?
By E. C. JAEGER
E. C. JAEGER
ONE reason why God's true church, both here and in eternity, dwells in unity is that every man shall know the Lord: “for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.”
Through faith, we know God. Rom. 5: 1, 2. Then faith is necessary for salvation. How does faith come?—“Faith cometh by hearing.” Rom. 10: 17. But what shall we hear?—If we are of God, we hear his words, and through them have faith. John 8: 47. If, then, we wish our youth in our schools and colleges to “grow in grace” and in the knowledge of God, from what source shall they draw their knowledge? It is essential that we give them as food for thought and meditation only the best of literature, and the best can be no less than that given by the great Master of wisdom, Jehovah, the God of gods. In his Word there lies the best subject-matter we can use as a basis for our studies. In its sacred pages lies the world's greatest literature, second to none. As a work of literature the Bible stands complete in every way. In contradistinction to a great share of literature, it contains only the purest and most elevating types of thought.
Richard G. Moulton, professor of literature in English in the University of Chicago, and late university extension lecturer (Cambridge and London), most11pertinently says: “It is one of the curiosities of our civilization that we are content to go for our liberal education to literatures which, morally, are at an opposite pole from ourselves,—literatures in which the most exalted tone is often an apotheosis of the sensuous, which degrade divinity not only to the human level, but to the lowest level of humanity. Our hardest social problem being temperance, we study in Greek the glorification of intoxication; while in mature life we are occupied in tracing law to the remotest corner of the universe, we go, at school, for literary impulse to the poetry that dramatizes the burden of hopeless fate. Our highest politics aim at conserving the arts of peace; our first poetic lessons are in an Iliad that can not be appreciated without a bloodthirsty joy in killing. We seek to form a character in which delicacy and reserve shall be supreme, and at the same time are training our taste in literature which, if published as English books, would be seized by the police. . . . Prudish fears may be unwise, but there is no need to put an embargo upon decency. It is surely good that our youth, during the formative period, should have displayed to them . . . a people dominated by an utter passion for righteousness, a people” in “whom ideas of purity, of infinite good, of universal order, of faith in the irresistible downfall of nations,” reigned supreme. The Hebrew people were the only people who had a high moral and spiritual ideal. The deities of all the other nations, and hence their devotees, were either non-moral or immoral. With such conceptions of God, what could we expect but that their literature should abound in all that is immoral, lustful, dishonest, deceitful, and supremely selfish? But over against all these literatures, place the Bible, freighted with its ideas of love, purity, and holiness. Looking at its sacred pages, the student can not but imbibe the spirit of its holiness. Hence it is not surprising that Ruskin should say, “All that I have taught of art, everything that I have written, every greatness that has been in any thought of mine, whatever I have been in my life, has simply been due to the fact that when I was a child, my mother daily read with me a part of the Bible, and daily made me learn a part of it by heart.”
But we go to the Bible not for literature alone; it is God's Word, his great, unfailing guide, chart, compass, his message to men of a salvation proffered and needed, his revelation of himself, his character, his purpose on our behalf. It is a mirror in which we see our own imperfections and sins, and it reveals to us also God's remedy therefor. It contains the only solution of the great problem of good and evil. More than that, it contains God's last message to this world before the culmination of its history. It is worth while to study it; it is worth while to send our children to schools where it is taught.
Riverside, Cal.
Missionary Publications
By Mrs. D. A. Fitch
MRS. D. A. FITCH
Persons who are sufficiently interested in the progress of the third angel’s message to send publications in answer to requests for them must also wish to save postage on papers which can not be used, and, too, to preserve from mutilation every precious page. Hence a few suggestions from one who receives many packages may not be out of place.
Occasionally those so badly soiled, as to be totally unfit to leave even in an obscure place are sent. More frequently some which were clean at the start do not remain so, because of insufficient wrapping, and so the outer periodical must be discarded. The wrapper should cover all parts of the printed matter.
A roll of Life and Health, Little Friend, or folded copies of the Instructor are sometimes placed in a copy or two of the Signs of the Times rolled full length. The invariable result is that the ends of the outer paper remind one of the efforts of a three-year-old to make a ruffle, and no effort of the ironer can restore the paper to its original plainness. Since none but clean, smooth papers should be used, this must be thrown aside. Each package should be of uniform size throughout its entire length, to prevent rumpling in the mails.
Since the REVIEW AND HERALD is not quite so well adapted to pioneer missionary work as several other of our papers, could it not mainly be used among those of our members who are unable to subscribe for it, or among those somewhat negligent about furnishing themselves with the periodical which should be the first to find a place in every Seventh-day Adventist home?
Papers dated years ago contain matter to lead souls into the truth, but are not generally as eagerly read as though fresh and “up to date.” Articles from such may be advantageously used in scrap-books. If some choice portion is printed on both sides of a leaf, fasten it by the margin only. If too large for the book, fold it conveniently, and it will be both safe and readable.
One sister takes the first-page cover from two copies of the REVIEW AND HERALD and pastes them together, second pages inside. They are carefully smoothed and dried, to be sent to a hospital and distributed to such patients as are unable to hold a book or full-sized paper. The precious poems and Scripture texts are food for the soul. The remainder of the paper is almost as suitable for filing or study as before the covers were removed. Let us study to make the best use of every scrap of printed matter containing the precious truth.
‘God’s truth as it is passed out will multiply greatly. And as the disciples by Christ’s direction gathered up the fragments that nothing might be lost, so we should treasure every fragment of literature containing the truth for this time. None can estimate the influence that even a torn page containing the truths of the third angel’s message may have upon the heart of some seeker after truth.’—Mrs. E. G. White.