Signs of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 46. (11/23/1915)

Signs of the Times

Nov 23, 1915

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, Cal. · Nov 23, 1915

THE COMING ONE

By Clarence Santee

Promises of His Coming—Both Saint and Sinner Will See Him—The Righteous Dead Arise to Meet Him

By CLARENCE SANTEE

The coming of the Saviour is a subject that has awakened emotions more varied, perhaps, than any other. Sages and prophets have sung and have dreamed of that event. Martyrs have joyously gone to the stake, “not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.” Heb. 11:35. This they expected at His coming.

Doubters have caviled and mocked, saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?” 2 Peter 3:4. Still others, uncertain, yet fearing its reality, have prayed that if it were a truth, they might be hid in the grave before its awful grandeur should burst upon a doomed world. And yet others, believing His coming to be near, have longed and prayed that they might live to see their descending Lord in His beauty.

WHY AND HOW WILL HE COME?

Will Christ come again? If so, how will He come? Why would He come with all the holy angels, and in unsurpassed glory, as some believe is portrayed in the Scriptures? If He comes, will His coming be visible to mortal eyes, or will it be in some form unseen by mortals, but taught by specially endowed men and women who will be instructed as to that appearing?

These, with many other questions of equal importance and interest, are aroused with the consideration of this theme.

The only solution that can be found of all these questions, must be found in the Bible. Men may say nature teaches that some great change is imminent. They do say it. But nature, much as it needs a change from the present manifestation, speaks nothing concerning a Saviour. God's word alone declares “the end from the beginning.” It offers the remedy for sin, and the fruition of all our hopes, in the coming of the Saviour. Please study some of the evidences upon which this statement is based.

PROMISES OF HIS COMING

First, the promises of His coming. God, speaking through the psalmist, said, “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.” Ps. 50:3. Through Isaiah He said, “For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind.” Isa. 66:15. Through Jeremiah, “Behold, He shall come up as clouds, and His chariots shall be as a whirlwind.” Jer. 4:13.

COMING WITH POWER

But the Saviour has not left to seers of ancient times alone the heralds of His coming. Turning to the New Testament, we see two of His angels, as the grand company of their fellows escort Jesus on His way from this earth to the presence of the Father, lingering to give to the disciples the glad message of His return. They said: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11.

Jesus, in the presence of His most loving disciple, as well as of His bitterest foes, in answer to a direct question from the high priest concerning His being a king, said, “I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Mark 14:62.

The disciples all believed in it. John, in his advanced age, under the influence of the Spirit, said, “Behold, He cometh with clouds.” Rev. 1:7. His eyes grew dim with age, and in his darkened chamber he awaits the fulfilment of all these precious promises.

Paul, the disciple who “labored more abundantly than they all,” and who, though comparatively young when his work was finished, was called “Paul the aged” (Philemon 9) on account of his life of wearing and unremitting toil for Christ's sake, had encouraging visions of this same coming. Hear him say to the Thessalonians, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout.” 1 Thess. 4:16.

To the Hebrews he said, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28.

To Titus he said, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13.

WILL WE SEE HIM?

In view of all this, who can doubt He will come again? I believe that He will. Will His coming be visible to mortal eyes? Some of the texts used above are equally explicit in answering this.

“Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him.” Rev. 1:7. “And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matt. 24:30, last part.

“Every eye shall see Him.” “They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven.” What could be plainer? Both righteous and wicked shall see Him come.

Mark's Gospel also has a straightforward way of expressing this thought of Christ's personal coming. It says, “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” Mark 13:26.

BOTH SAINT AND SINNER WILL SEE HIM

Both the saint who longs for that event, and the sinner who will call for “the mountains and rocks” to fall upon him to shut out the sight, will see Him come. His coming will be visible to all who will be living at that time.

How will He come? “Behold, He cometh with clouds.” Rev. 1:7. In many scriptures, His coming is said to be “with clouds.” Of what are these “clouds” composed? In Ps. 104:3, He says, “Who maketh the clouds His chariot.” In Ps. 68:17, He tells us that His chariots are composed of angels. “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels.”

ALL THE ANGELS COME

How grand will be the sight! Not an angel will be left behind as He comes to receive His own. The Saviour said, “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him.” Matt. 25:31.

The glory of the Father also rests upon the great, innumerable company, as they proceed from Him to descend to this earth, where the controversy has been worked out. Matt. 16:27.

THE DEAD COME FORTH

The righteous dead will be restored to life at that time, and the living righteous will be changed to immortality. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

Together the resurrected dead and the righteous living are caught up by the angels to meet their waiting Lord. Christ said, “And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matt. 24:31.

Will you have a share with one of these classes, gladly to be “caught up,” leaving behind all the traces of sin and death? You may have it so if you will. Loved ones cannot purchase the privilege for you, nor can enemies wrest it from you. All lies with your choice. It is worth the sacrifice. The reward is all eternity in the enjoyment of unfading pleasures at God's right hand.

The Vilest May Be Cleansed

By E. Hilliard

By E. HILLIARD

Through hereditary tendencies and sinful practice, all have become corrupt at heart. Only the Sinless One knows the full import of the evil that dwells in an unregenerated man. Christ said: “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man.” Matt. 15: 19, 20.

We receive this mass of corruption by inheritance. We are helpless of ourselves to eradicate it; yet if we expect to enter heaven, we must be cleansed from all defilement.

We cannot make ourselves one whit better. If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots, then we can make ourselves pure. Jer. 13: 23.

Jesus has pronounced a heavenly benediction upon the pure in heart. “Blessed,” said He, “are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Matt. 5: 8. The polluted soul can be made pure and free only through Christ. Sin, if cherished and practiced, will surely destroy the soul. Repentance, confession, and faith in the atoning blood of Calvary’s cross will wash away every stain of sin. When this has been accomplished, the law of God is written in the heart, and sin ceases. The individual becomes Christlike, and strong to resist temptation. The law written in the heart of the forgiven sinner reproduces the image of God in the soul. This is redemption. It is the restoration of our lost manhood.

Through the plan of salvation, God designs to rescue man from the bondage of sin, and restore him to the primitive, innocent condition of the father of our race. Thank God for the plan that makes it possible for the foulest sinner to be made pure through the blood of Calvary’s offering! Yes, the golden gospel chain, attached to the throne of God, reaches to the bottom of the pit of sin, and the vilest sinner can be cleansed from his guilt. “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6: 37. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev. 22: 17.

As a Drop of a Bucket

By Iva F. Cady

We look up at the myriads of heavenly bodies. Those we can see with the naked eye are only a small fraction of the whole. There are worlds upon worlds lying beyond, which are invisible to the inhabitants of this world. When we think that all these bodies were created and are upheld by the power of God, we do not wonder that in this one little world of ours, to Him all “the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.” Isa. 40:15

MRS. IVA F. CADY

SKEPTICISM IN THE PULPITS

By A. Earl Hall

Startling Statements Concerning Theological Seminaries — Leading Teachers and Doctors of Divinity Cultivating Doubt and Infidelity — Decaying Moral Power Results

By A. EARL HALL, B. A.

This is the second of Professor Hall’s articles on the reply of archæology to present-day Biblical criticism. His article last week stated the principles on which the higher critics work, and laid a general foundation for this series. His article next week will present the first part of the evidence he will bring before our readers, of the accuracy of Bible history as found in the records of the monuments and tablets of ancient Babylon, and other portions of the ancient world. The story is to be told concerning the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and the Behistun Rock, the two great “keys” that have enabled the archæologist to read the inscriptions on monument and tablet, and thus unlock the great store of knowledge preserved by the ancients.

This series of articles is a most valuable contribution to our columns. The readers will not only find pleasure in carefully reading them, but much profit, and the strengthening of their faith in the grand Book, by giving them a careful, critical, painstaking study.

Editor.

The immediate results of criticism are in a high degree disturbing. . . . The plain man who has been used to receive anything in the Bible as a veritable word of God cannot fail to be perplexed, and deeply perplexed, when he is told that much of the Old Testament and the New is unhistorical, and when he is asked to accept the statement that God reveals Himself in myth and legend as well as by truth of fact. . . . More than twenty years ago, the present writer asked Julius Wellhausen whether, if his views were accepted, the Bible could retain its place in the estimation of the common people. “I do not see how that is possible,” was the sad reply.—Comment of Sir W. Robertson Nicoll on speech of Mr. Balfour, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, on the occasion of the Bible Society’s centenary. Quoted by Prof. W. H. Griffith Thomas, “Fundamentals,” volume 8, pages 13, 14.

INFIDELS IN THE BACKGROUND

It is a well-known fact that very little is heard now about infidels. That class of persons has seemingly vanished from publicity in present-day affairs. That infidel scheme of the deceiver was somewhat overworked. It did not quite accomplish his designs. So another plan is now in operation. The same work is in progress, but in another and more popular guise. The following quotation will make this clear:

The Ingersolls of to-day are in the pulpit. Twenty years ago one minister said to his congregation: “You will notice that I conduct these services from Sunday to Sunday, that there are large parts of the Bible that I do not read. I select chapters or parts of chapters from both the Old and the New Testament. . . . Large parts of it I pass by. For what reason?—Simply because I wish to be perfectly frank and open with you in what I believe, and because I do not choose to spend half the morning, after I have read a passage, in telling you that I do not believe it literally, and in explaining to you in what sense I do take it. The time will come, when we have passed through the transient hour, when the results of the criticism of the Bible have been settled, when the thoughts of men have found their place—the time will come, I say, when I shall be able to read any part of the Bible from the pulpit, and not be misunderstood. I shall not be misunderstood to believe a miracle because I read the account of it. I shall not be understood to accept as history an Old Testament legend because I read it as a lesson.”—M. J. Savage, “Beliefs About the Bible.”

EXHORTED TO DOUBTFULNESS

The next quotation, from an instructor in a Wesleyan university, is taken from the North American Review for April, 1900, and shows exactly how Bible statements are approached in the “new” way:

“In every sphere of investigation, the student should begin with doubt, and the student will make the most rapid progress who has acquired the art of doubting well. . . . We ask that every student of theology take up the subject precisely as he would any other science; that he begin with doubt. . . . We believe that even the teachings of Jesus should be viewed from this standpoint, and should be accepted or rejected on the grounds of their own inherent reasonableness.”

DIVINITY INFIDELS

The two following statements, from instructors in the University of Chicago, as reported in the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Chicago Despatch, will show that this method of “Bible destruction” is not local, or confined to a few who are radically inclined:

“Prof. Clyde Weber Votaw, of the divinity school, says, ‘The Bible is not a fit subject for the children of to-day to study.’ . . . He calls the story of creation a myth. He taboos the catechism, and said that the day of judgment is coming, when the people of the world will have to make their choice between old-time religion and modern ethics. The Bible is not connected with twentieth-century life, and we should not be a first-century people. . . . We should make our own Christianity for our own age. Boys who go to Sunday school should not be allowed to study the Bible until they are ready to go to college. . . . It was written by grown up people for grown up people. We do not want our children to think the way the ancient Hebrews did about the creation and other miracles.”—Enquirer, July 21, 1909.

“Prof. William Duncan McMillan says: ‘Biblical chroniclers arranged the story of Adam and Eve from folklore, to explain the origin of man. There can be no doubt that Adam and Eve and the tempter—the serpent—never existed. The story cannot be considered anything but a myth, evolved by the ancients to account for the presence of humans upon the earth. The universally credited theory of evolution smashes the one-man and one-woman story. There never was a first man or a first woman.’”—Despatch, February 20, 1913.

THEOLOGICAL TEACHERS PRODUCE A GENERATION OF INFIDELS

It will be apparent, before this article closes, that the desire expressed in the former quotation is being realized: “We should make our own Christianity,” and, “We do not want our

children to think the way the ancient Hebrews did about the creation and other miracles.” When the instructors in the schools that prepare ministers for supposedly gospel work are not believers in the Scriptures, their pupils will not be; and in a short time, the masses will not believe the Bible. A generation is long enough to bring about such a condition, as can be seen from the next paragraph.

This section deals with a statement made by Dr. F. C. Monfort, editor of the Herald and Presbyter, before the Presbyterian Assembly held in Georgia in May, 1913. He charged, in open session, that the Union Theological Seminary, New York, taught “pantheism and Hindu philosophy,” and that “preachers were turned out who did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible or the resurrection of Christ.” It is said that he was in earnest, and spoke with great emotion.

A few statements concerning Dr. Briggs, mentioned in the article last week, are helpful in understanding this charge. On account of his heresy, the Presbyterian Assembly removed him from the ministry in 1893. He then began preaching for the Protestant Episcopal Church. The Union Theological Seminary at the same time declared their independence of the Presbyterians. His death on June 8, 1913, called forth many comments on his work. The Literary Digest of June 28 of that year declared that the editorials in general indicated “a growing spirit of tolerance in the religious world.” “The New York World, commenting on the ‘progress made in two decades in reading ‘the rule of reason’ into the Scriptures,’ remarks: ‘By a coincidence of interest as affording a basis for comparison in the liberalization of doctrinal tenets, only a few weeks before Dr. Briggs’s death, four graduates of the seminary, one a son of Dr. Van Dyke, were accepted for ordination in the Presbyterian ministry notwithstanding their doubts on such cardinal points of doctrine as the literal interpretation of the virgin birth and the physical death of Lazarus. Dr. Van Dyke in their defense stated that belief in these old fundamentals of orthodoxy “was not essential to the Christian faith,” and he denounced “the new attempt to exalt the letter above the spirit in judging the fitness of men for the Christian pulpit.”’”

WOULD NOT ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE

It may be said here that at the time of Dr. Briggs’s death, he was recognized as one of the “most conservative of theologians.” Convicted of “heresy” in 1893 by the Assembly, and a “conservative theologian” in 1913! The editors were right in noting “a growing spirit of tolerance in the religious world.” So did the apostle and prophet Paul. In 2 Timothy 4 we read: “Preach the word; . . . exhort with . . . doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; . . . and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” Verses 2–4.

SKEPTICAL DOCTOR OF DIVINITY

Another article that mentions this seminary and some of its graduates, brings in statements from the Rev. Charles F. Aked, a doctor of divinity of international reputation. We quote from the Ohio State Journal, February 5, 1914:

“In June, 1909, as pastor of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in New York, I preached a sermon justifying the New York Presbytery in admitting to the Presbyterian ministry several members of the Union Theological Seminary who hold exactly the same views that I preached Sunday. At the same time, I protested a heresy hearing then in progress against Dr. Foster, of the University of Chicago.”

From the same clipping, we quote further: “Dr. Aked said he would not support the doctrine of the miraculous conception and birth of Christ. ‘My conclusion upon this question,’ he announced, ‘is that the faith of Mark and John and James and Paul is good enough for me. It is good enough for any Christian. These men say nothing about Jesus’ having come into the world in a miraculous way. I prefer to stand with them. “What do we mean by saying He was divine? It is a question of quantity and not of quality. There is divinity in us, but so much more in Him that I prefer to call Him divine. Perhaps it would be better to speak of the divineness of man and the divinity of Christ.” These statements led to the trouble with the Presbyterian Ministers’ Association of San Francisco Bay, and a desire for Dr. Aked’s resignation.

PRESIDENT CARRANZA OF MEXICO AND HIS STAFF OF SECRETARIES

SHOCKED AT REAL CHRISTIANITY

A strong plea made before the Northern Presbyterian Assembly, 1913, by Dr. Matthews, its retiring moderator, is very pertinent. It is here given, with a reply from an editorial in the Independent, as further evidence of the point we wish to prove in this article:

“We should change the ground of our objection to candidates for the ministry who doubt or deny the deity of Christ. They ought to be rejected, not alone because they doubt or deny per se the deity of Christ, but because their denial is prima facie evidence that they have never been regenerated. No regenerated man can doubt or deny the deity of Christ, because you cannot doubt that which you know, and you cannot sincerely deny that which is to you a living, personal fact. No unregenerated man should be permitted to preach.”

The reply from the Independent is as follows:

“That is a shocking doctrine,—that no man can be regenerated who does not know, by a living, personal experience, that Christ was God. That condemns Isaiah (chapter 6) and John Milton and Edward Everett Hale. It contradicts Paul, who says that love is superior to faith; and Christ, who did not put it into the condition He gave to the young ruler. As an evidence of regeneration, it is not found once in the whole Bible. Dr. Matthews has borrowed it from the cursing and accursed clauses of the Athanasian Creed.”

THE BIBLE’S REPLY TO THE SKEPTICS

With these statements in mind, let the reader think about these texts: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” John 12:32. “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6.

Again, from 1 John 4:2, 3: “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.”

“For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” 1 Tim. 2:5.

THE END OF THE WORLD RIDICULED

A question answered in the Ladies’ Home Journal for January 1914, is of special interest in this article, from the standpoint of the answer of Dr. Lyman Abbott, because of his influence in theological circles:

“Is not the idea of ‘the world coming to an end’ based upon absolute fallacy?”

After acknowledging that there is evidence from the New Testament that an era is to follow the present Christian one marked by an additional manifestation of God to humanity, he says:

“The question whether the physical globe that we inhabit will be eventually destroyed is a question for the scientist. I do not know what the latest scientific information on that subject is, though I suppose there is a general belief that the life of the terrestrial globe will eventually come to an end.”

If the shepherds and the watchmen do not know about the “things which must shortly come to pass,” in what condition will the laity be, regarding those things which pertain to their soul’s salvation?

CONFESSION OF A MINISTER

A confession from a minister, and a great statement from an educator, may be very fittingly used to close this article:

“I was once a victim of ‘higher criticism’ so much so that I lost faith in everything, and stepped down and out of the pulpit for two years or more. A university professor whose teaching I sat under in a supposed ‘Bible college’ was my undoing. By the grace of God and an examination of the facts, I came back to an old ‘fogy’ acceptance of the old Book, cover and all. The public school teachers were teaching evolution. I started a course of sermons, with the result that they quit the work; and friends with children have come to me with thanks.”—F. W. Jackson, in circular of the Gospel Publishing House, New York.

It is a cause of great rejoicing that some have seen the errors of the movement, and returned; and the primary object of the following article is, to show, by “an investigation of the facts,” the truthfulness of the statement that “the Bible is an anvil which has worn out many a hammer.”

POWER IS LACKING

Prof. G. D. Strayer, in his work “A Brief Course in the Teaching Process,” says, “Whether we like it or not, we are forced to admit that the church no longer exerts the power over the lives and conduct of men that it once did.”—Page 12.

Again from the same book: “Regret it as much as we may, neither home nor church is as potent a factor in the development of morality as they once were.”—Id., page 146.

We here simply add that the cause is not hard to find.

It is manifestly impossible to do more than touch the subject in the compass of one short article. But it is confidently believed that sufficient evidence has been given to show that many of the leaders—ministers, teachers, and others—are in sympathy with the movement of “higher criticism,” and are active in passing the doctrines along. It cannot be long until the masses will be to a large extent and degree permeated with it. Let those whose “feet have not slipped,” thank God, and follow the example of the minister last mentioned—do all in your power to help those who are in danger of being led astray.

WOULD HAVE A STRICT SUNDAY IN OREGON

By Hampton Watson Cottrell

The Supreme Court Says Sunday Law Is Constitutional—Seeking by Initiative for a Stricter Law—Would Not Even Allow the Selling of a Sunday Paper

By HAMPTON WATSON COTTRELL

The people represented by this paper have been teaching, for more than half a century, that Sunday will be made a test through civil law, and that finally general persecution will be felt throughout the world. They have taught that this nation will take the lead in enforcing the Sunday institution by civil law, despite the fact that Sunday observance has no warrant whatever in Scripture.

There have been indications, all along, showing that forces were in preparation that would fulfill the prophecy. Recently there has been activity in many localities in the matter of the enforcement of state Sunday laws. There have been striking instances of this in Oklahoma. And now, as shown by the following article by Elder Cottrell, Oregon is having an epidemic of arrests for performing common labor on Sunday. A large number of cases are before the courts in Portland. Elder Cottrell promises to keep us fully informed on this matter.

To those who are watching the developments, it is clear that we are fulfilling that important prophecy. Such occurrences are intensely interesting. The success of the pope in securing freedom from Sunday labor on the part of prisoners in the various nations of Europe is also a very significant occurrence. And the many things taken together show the spirit that is seeking to take possession of the world. Dr. A. R. Bell's articles that are now appearing in this paper give a quiet presentation of the prophecies in Revelation and foretell the issues to be met in the world over the observance of Sunday, and what it will finally terminate in.

EDITOR.

The Oregon Sunday law has for years been practically a dead letter, but it has just been brought into prominence by two recent court decisions and the arrest of twelve Portland grocers. Judge Morrow, of the Circuit Court, rendered an opinion in which he declared the Oregon Sunday law unconstitutional. His decision was reversed by a written opinion of Justice Burnett, of the State Supreme Court, declaring it constitutional.

In his written opinion, Justice Burnett is quoted as saying: “The principle rendering it lawful to forbid the pursuit of an occupation on Sunday is settled in this state. . . . The underlying reason for the rule is the propriety of providing a day of rest and relaxation for those who are engaged in certain employments.” Again, “We are concerned only with the authority and not with the wisdom of the lawmakers.”

It will be readily observed that a chief justice questions the wisdom of the men who made the Sunday law, hence must of necessity question the justice and righteousness of the law itself.

Said he, “The law exempts from its provisions theaters, drug stores, doctors’ offices, undertakers, livery stable keepers, butchers, and bakers.” On the other hand, it prohibits the opening on Sunday of any “store, shop, grocery, bowling alley, billiard room, or tipping house, . . . or any place of amusement.”

UPHOLDS THE EXEMPTIONS

Justice Burnett justifies the statutory exemptions mentioned above, in the following language: “A good reason for this may be found in the fact that drug stores, doctor shops, undertakers, butchers, bakers, and livery stable keepers minister to wants that are more imperative, as a rule, than those supplied by the general run of business in the occupations named, while theaters afford mental diversion conducive to rest and relaxation. The emergency involved gives color and sanction to the exception. The law applies to all persons coming within the class described and limited in the statute. We are convinced that the classification set out in the statute is reasonable, and that the legislation is a proper exercise of the police power.”

Photo Underwood & Underwood. Troops from Newfoundland going to the front in the European war. This is a specimen of the splendid manhood that is being sacrificed to the god of war.

SUNDAY CLOSING AND THE MINISTERS

Quoting from the Portland Oregonian of September 28, 1915, in a report of the Methodist Episcopal annual conference held at Roseburg, we have the following: “One important resolution introduced was in regard to the ministers with reference to the Sunday closing law recently held to be valid by the Supreme Court. The resolution was entitled ‘The Sanctity of the Sabbath.’” It was further reported: “The ministers rejoiced in the decision of the Supreme Court, and declared it to be the resolve of every minister to do all within his power . . . to keep the law in effect and cause its strict enforcement.”

WILL MAKE A STILL MORE STRINGENT ONE

“Rev. G. L. Tufts, head of the social service committee, reported that a still more stringent law was in the making, and would be submitted at the next general election. He said he hoped to have the law so strict as to make it impossible even to buy a Sunday newspaper.”

CIVIL LAW TO ENFORCE SABBATH SANCTITY

Be it observed that this great body of ministers unhesitatingly associate Sunday law enforcement with the sanctity of the Sabbath, as before mentioned. Dr. G. L. Tufts, field secretary of the “One-day-of-rest-in-seven [Sunday] League,” was one of the assembly, and participated in their deliberations; and there is no record of his entering a protest against their frankly expressed idea of the “sanctity of the sabbath” enforcement by civil law. Yet he and his associates publicly profess that they desire civic rest only.

In the written opinion of the Oregon Supreme Court in which existing Sunday laws were declared constitutional, which decision was hailed with delight by Mr. G. L. Tufts, of Berkeley, California, and his associates in Oregon, the exemptions the law now makes, providing that certain stores and theaters remain open on Sunday, are also declared to be proper and for the best public good; and this, being in the same written

opinion, must also be, in the judgment of the supreme justice, constitutional. But this part of the opinion of the court does not meet the mind of Dr. Tufts; so he is reported as saying that “a still more stringent law was in the making, and would be submitted at the next general election. He said he hoped to have the law so strict as to make it impossible even to buy a Sunday newspaper.” By the proposed initiative Sunday law, they purpose to rescind existing exemptions in the present laws.

WILL “PERMIT” THEM

In a lecture delivered in the Centenary Methodist Church in Portland, October 17, 1915, Mr. Tufts, speaking of the proposed initiative Sunday law, said, “Opposition is expected from the Seventh-day Adventists, and others who are in the habit of observing Saturday as a day of worship; but the framers of the bill hope to

overcome this opposition by a provision in the measure that will PERMIT them to transact business on Sunday.”

If lawmakers have the right to grant exemptions to seventh-day keepers, they have equal right to repeal the exemptions at will. And this is the very character of legislation that our National Reform friends purpose to enact in the proposed air-tight Sunday lid law, to be so rigid that drug stores, doctors’ offices, theaters, baseball games, and all places of amusement shall thereafter be closed on Sunday, the day they believe to be the Sabbath. Surely all such laws are religio-civil laws; and so are all such proposed initiative measures when unmasked, as was done at the Methodist Episcopal conference, when, treating upon the question of the Sunday closing law, they are reported to have entitled their resolution “The Sanctity of the Sabbath.” The religious feature continually crops out.

WILL SHUT OUT THE EXEMPTION NEXT

Should the Sunday lid be sealed on in the proposed initiative measure to be submitted to the voters of Oregon at the next general election, with the exception of exemption made for seventh-day keepers, how long would it be until some one would arise claiming to seek the public good, and, again disagreeing with a written opinion of a Supreme Court relative to exemptions, propose another initiative measure to repeal the exemption?

Civil government was ordained of God to protect every man in the enjoyment of his natural, God-given rights, and in the free exercise of conscience, provided only that in the carrying out of one’s ideas of rights, he does not invade the equal rights of any other person. Hence it was not ordained to abridge

the rights of a class, or of the minority of men, not even the small minority of one man. Religious legislation is class legislation, therefore an invasion of divine rights.

IN THE INTEREST OF RELIGION AND NOT LIBERTY

The proposed initiative law is pretendedly sought in the interest of the continuously worked miners and shop and factory people. Yet the same proposed law, by placing them in slavery through forbidding them to attend theaters for relaxation, or baseball, or other games for amusement, savors of tyranny in the interest of sectarian religion.

Every voter should enter his protest against legislation in the interest of Sunday, Friday, Saturday, or any other phase of religio-civil laws.

There is no force exerted by the civil law in the religion of Jesus Christ. “We persuade men.” 2 Cor. 5: 11.

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