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Review and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 23.

The Father’s Voice

Review and Herald

Jun 6, 1907

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 6, 1907

The Father’s Voice

By Edith Virginia Bradt

The heavens opened, and a voice was heard; And they who might have caught the precious word Stood by with hearts unheeding and unstirred.
The throngs were gathering to praise and pray, And some were seeking Jesus by the way; But no one knew the Father’s voice that day.
Some said a crash of thunder rent the air; Some, that an unseen angel came to bear A message to the Master waiting there.
If I had tarried with that multitude, And heard the voice which they misunderstood, Should I have known? I wonder if I should!
Or like the throng should I have been misled, And, heedless, let the message pass instead, Misunderstood and misinterpreted?
May I so live that in this latter day I may not miss the voice along the way, But hearing, understand it, and obey.
—Edith Virginia Bradt.

The June Number of Life and Health

By Editor

THE JUNE number of Life and Health is filled with good things essential to all.
The first article is about the “Little Foxes” that spoil the influence, and it inspires the mind of the reader to an appreciation of the value of refinement in all the walks of life.
The old people will find this number especially helpful to them. It contains a treatise on “Diseases Incident to Old Age,” that will instil new courage and strong hope into their lives.
The sick are the beneficiaries in a part of the June number, for some excellent suggestions are given to their attendants that will prove to be better for them than medicine.
The deception of the patent medicine proprietors is exposed in the naming of the ingredients of their compounds so the people may not recognize them in the supposed remedies they are using.
The housekeeper is especially favored with practical hints in the preparation of palatable and nutritious foods.
All ladies are given a view “Behind the Scenes” of the would-be beautiful form. Some of the evils of tight lacing are clearly portrayed.
Mothers will find the June number of value to them in connection with the often perplexing question of child training,—“A Little Boy’s Confession” in the June number containing a valuable object-lesson.
The current comments are exceptionally good. A large number of practical topics pertaining to health are brought to the attention of the reader.
The editorials are unusually strong and very instructive, embracing a wide scope of practical topics.
The entire number will be found to be excellent for all classes. It will merit the praise that has come to each preceding number for some time in the past,—“the best yet published.”
We ask the co-operation of the REVIEW readers in giving this number a large circulation.
Subscription price, 50 cents a year; 5 cents a copy; 2½ cents when 25 or more copies of any one issue are ordered to one address; liberal commissions to agents for annual subscriptions.

The True Education Readers

THE new series of school readers are receiving hearty approval by our educators. This series of books is winning its way in the appreciation of the people. Orders are being received for them very encouragingly at the present time. The special purpose of these True Education Readers is to teach English reading; yet while teaching the art of reading, the subject-matter is so arranged that the pupil will be familiarized with the most important Bible truths. In the series, the pupils are taken three times over God's great plan from the beginning. The successive steps in the work of creation are given clearly, and with these certain selected Bible child biographies are included. It deals also with the work of Christ as a child, his sacrifice, the finished plan of salvation, and the new earth. No. 1 contains 204 pages, 75 cents; No. 2, 256 pages, 75 cents; No. 3, 304 pages, 90 cents.

Publishers' Page

Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Association
The Church
Its Organization, Order, and Discipline
Our readers do not want to overlook the fact that the book for the present is “The Church: Its Organization, Order, and Discipline,” by Elder J. N. Loughborough. Of this pamphlet, Elder George I. Butler, president of the Southern Union Conference, says: “The book covers two main features. The first part gives a very full and complete summary of the Scriptural teaching with reference to the church and its work. The second part enters into the real history of our cause previous to organization, recording the facts that led up to the organization, and giving a careful statement of the history of the work of organization and its practical benefits in the progress of our cause. The summary of questions growing out of the subject of organization is worthy of careful study, and will be a great help to many of our younger members who are not familiar with the phases of this important subject. The answers are most excellent.”
The subject-matter composing this pamphlet is no new man-made theory, but is the condensed, formulated instruction given to the denomination during its development, arranged in condensed form for reference and study. It is rendered convenient and practical by a thorough index, which will enable one to turn at once to any portion of a subject. It contains 184 pages, printed in clear type: price, 25 cents, post-paid.

Home and Health

THIS new health book is now ready. It is a large subscription book, designed especially for home reference, treating of the many details pertaining to the home and the care of the body.
Its general scope embraces “The Home”—how to make it; “General Housekeeping”—all of its details; “The Diet”—what it should be; “The Care of the Body”—revealing the simple things one must do to keep the body healthy; “The Care and Training of Children”—sound common sense for all parents; “The Home Treatment of Disease”—a valuable instructor, doctor, and nurse.
It contains the clean, strong principles of the gospel as it should be practised in our manner of living. It teaches some of the most practical means by which we may make our homes visible types of the invisible home above. It contains God’s message of health which is due just now in all the world. It tells how to live a plain, simple life. It contains information that will prove to be practical in the mechanical construction of houses. It will lighten the labors of many an overburdened housekeeper by giving choice recipes and healthful suggestions on all the practical features of housekeeping. It will prove to be an all-round, valuable counselor in every feature of home life. It contains 592 pages, and is illustrated with over 250 original drawings made especially for the book. The prices, post-paid, are: cloth, marbled edge, $2.50; full law sheep, $3.50; full leather, $4.50.
Agents wanted in all sections of the country. Write for particulars.

The Great Advent Movement

THIS is a timely publication, accurately citing the progress of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination from its beginning to the present time. The author, J. N. Loughborough, having been connected with the denomination from its beginning, is well qualified to prepare a book giving the history of the rise and progress of this denomination. With the exception of “The Church: Its Organization, Order, and Discipline,” this is one of the most important publications for REVIEW readers at this particular time. It will strengthen the faith and confidence of every individual who reads it. Its readers will have a more perfect knowledge of the dealings of God with this special people and of the message they are giving, and they will be encouraged to continue their efforts in advancing this great work. Let all not only read it, but study it. Price, $1.50.

The Seer of Patmos

THIS thrilling book contains a story on the prophecies of Revelation, written in simple narrative form, and contains a new setting of the important messages recorded in John's prophecy in the book of Revelation. It will be found to be interesting, instructive, and essential to all Bible students. It is illustrated with original engravings especially prepared for the book. Being written in story form, it is especially attractive to the young; no better book could be placed in the hands of a young man or young woman than the story of “The Seer of Patmos.” Price, $1, post-paid.

The New Testament Primer

THIS is a new book for children, composed of simplified nature and Bible topics, and sparkling with bright, two-colored illustrations; arranged in four graded departments, beginning with a Scripture alphabet, the first letter of the Scripture text being printed with two colors, and decorated with vines that grow in Palestine.
The second department is a nature display of trees, flowers, animals, birds, and insects, with a slate exercise in writing, drawing, and stick-laying.
The third and fourth departments contain simple stories of Christ and some of the leading disciples. The entire book is admirably adapted to attract and to teach the children—clean, cultured, and convincing. Beautifully bound in board and cloth covers, 25 and 50 cents.

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Orders for any publication mentioned on this page may be sent to any conference tract society, or to Review and Herald Publishing Association, Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C., or Battle Creek, Mich.
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Editorial

By William W. Prescott

Editorial Letter

Jottings from the Editor's Note-Book

CANTON is the most populous city in China, containing nearly one half as many human beings as are found in all Australasia, and yet it does not cover a large territory. There are no sidewalks, the streets are in most cases no wider than an average sidewalk in a Western city, and such things as parks and public gardens are an unknown quantity. Besides this the people are densely packed in the houses, sometimes three and four generations living under the same roof. These facts suggest the reasons why the census-taker (if there were such an official in China) would not be compelled to weary himself with long journeys in order to find the two and one-half million people.
The foreign settlement, called the Shameen, is in marked contrast with the native city, with its broad and well-shaded streets and its handsome buildings. Only a minute's walk across the canal separating these two districts so completely changes one's surroundings that he could easily believe that he had traveled half-way around the world. It is like a sudden leap from Europe into the heart of Asia.
Within the city of Canton there are neither carts, carriages, nor wheelbarrows, the only public means of conveyance being the sedan-chair. The river swarms with boats of all kinds—steamers, launches, “rice-power” boats (boats with a large paddle wheel at the stern driven by coolies), flower boats for pleasure parties, junks, and sampans of all descriptions. It is said that more than eighty thousand people live on the river, children being born and spending their whole lives with no other home than a house-boat. Both here and at Hongkong these house-boats are managed by women; and if there is a man on board at all, he fills a merely subordinate position under the direction of a woman, who at the same time may have a baby strapped on her back, and two or three other young children occupying reserved seats in that small part of the boat which serves as kitchen, dining-room, sitting-room, and sleeping-room. There may be a cat or a dog about the place, while one or more hens, and sometimes a pig, are kept in a little basket pen under the stern. With all the rest there is without exception a little altar somewhere about, where incense is burned to propitiate the malign spirits. I found no such an outfit elsewhere in all my travels. It is a merely local institution.
The headquarters of our mission in Canton is in a building on the river front, owned and formerly occupied by the Baptists. Brother J. N. Anderson lives in the upper part, while the lower part is finished off for a chapel and guest-room. Within easy walking distance live Brother E. H. Wilbur and family, and Sister Vanscoy, Brother Tidbury and wife, Brother Wong, Brother J. P. Anderson, and Sister Ida Thompson. Quite a large girls' school is conducted by Sister Thompson, a smaller one by Sister Vanscoy, while schools for boys and for the Hakkas are held in the house where Brother J. P. Anderson lives. Some Chinese helpers are associated with the different workers. Dr. Law Keem and wife have recently opened up work at Fat Shan, a “village” of from three to five hundred thousand inhabitants on the railway line about ten miles from Canton. We spent one day in visiting this place, and Dr. Law and his wife joined us in the meetings at Canton.
During my stay we had a Bible study every day, and usually one or two business sessions. The remainder of the time we spent in trying to become acquainted with the local field and its needs, and in counseling with the brethren.
The problem of providing more suitable headquarters for our work, and more healthful homes for our workers, is a pressing one, and considerable attention was given to it. No foreigner can, with safety to his health, live inside the native city, and even the outskirts of the new city where our workers now live, can not be commended for a health resort. At the same time, property is high, and the tendency is upward all the time. Canton is a city of wealth, and the longer we defer establishing a fitting memorial for the truth in that city, the greater the cost will be. This matter must have early and serious consideration.
A local committee to take direct supervision of the missions in the province of Kwangtung was chosen at this meeting: J. N. Anderson (Chairman), E. H. Wilbur, Dr. Law Keem, and J. P. Anderson. A committee for the school work (a large problem) was also selected: E. H. Wilbur (Chairman), J. N. Anderson, and Sisters Thompson and Vanscoy. This provision for local supervision will doubtless be found helpful in carrying on the work.
On the Sabbath the Chinese Sabbath-school was first held with thirteen classes, and an excellent attendance, including a large proportion of those in the different schools. After this the chapel was filled while Dr. Law Keem preached a stirring sermon, and then Dr. Miller and I each spoke for a short time through an interpreter. It was encouraging to see so good an attendance at these services, and to note the earnest attention given to the instruction imparted. Surely there must be some of these who will receive the seed into good ground. In the afternoon I gave a Bible study in English, and this brought to a close the services of a profitable Sabbath.
One morning I saw that a bamboo frame was being erected on the shore in front of Brother Anderson's home, and on inquiry I learned that a poor old woman had died in one of the boats, and preparations were being made for the funeral. I watched the whole program with much interest. After the framework had been put in position, it was covered with matting, and during the day various things were brought to it, including different kinds of food placed upon a table in front of a paper chair in which a paper figure of a woman was seated. A sedan-chair of paper, and some other articles which I could not name, completed the outfit. In the evening the funeral began, and it continued the greater part of the night. There wasmuch wailing, interspersed with the sad cry, “My poor mother, come back;” “My poor aunt, come back,” etc. The priests chanted over and over again a weird, monotonous ritual, accompanied with a flute of mournful sound; and as my room was only a few rods from the scene, my sleep naturally fled from me. At the close of the service all the articles made of paper were burned, and in this way sent on to the spirit world for the benefit of the deceased. Poor old woman! Poor deceived Chinese! How sorry I felt for them! How much they need the truth of the blessed gospel which lights up the tomb and reveals the glory beyond! O that the light of life might speedily shine in all that dark land!
Our closing meeting was held on Monday evening, March 11; and accompanied by Brother Anderson and Brother Tidbury, I left the next morning for Hongkong, to take the steamship “Princess Alice” of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Line for Europe. Fog delayed the arrival of the boat, so that she did not sail until Thursday forenoon, and I thus had the opportunity of seeing again Brethren Miller and Wilbur, who had visited a place suggested for the opening of a new station. As the brethren stood on the dock, and the great ship slowly moved out into the harbor, I felt deeply stirred on leaving these lands of the far East where I had spent three months in earnest work and such pleasant fellowship with the workers. With a greater sense of their need do I now pray for Japan, Korea, and China. May the time of their visitation speedily come.
W. W. P.

General Conference Committee

By W. A. Spicer

At Gland, Switzerland, near Geneva
The council opened on May 9, one day before the time appointed, inasmuch as the majority of the members of the committee had arrived in Gland, and were ready to take up the work. The camp is pitched among the oaks on the grounds of the sanitarium. It is an ideal place for a meeting, and the council has been favored with ideal weather. Sitting in the large pavilion, the congregation may look down upon Lake Geneva, and across to the snow-capped range of the Alps.
At the opening meeting Elder L. R. Conradi, in behalf of the European brethren, welcomed the council, and expressed the appreciation of the believers in Europe that the committee was assembled in this place. It was the first time in the history of the message that such a council had been held in Europe. All the four quarters of the earth were here represented. East and west, and the uttermost north and farthest south, met in council to seek endowment for service, and to lay plans for the more rapid advancement of the work.
Elder A. G. Daniells responded, suggesting what a sight this gathering would be to Elder J. N. Andrews, our first missionary to Europe, had his life been spared to meet with us. When he came to Europe in 1874, the Seventh-day Adventists in all the world numbered about seven thousand. Now, in Europe alone, there are about fourteen thousand believers in this advent message.
The following program was adopted for the council: Rising bell at 6 o’clock; breakfast at 7; social meeting from 8:15 to 9; Bible study from 9:15 to 10:30; business session from 10:45 to 12; dinner at 1; business session from 3 to 4:30; workers’ meeting from 5 to 6; supper at 6:30; reports or preaching from 7:30 to 8:45.
Friday, May 10
The social meeting, led by Elder Wm. Covert, was a blessed season. The text, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled,” stirred every heart. One after another of the visiting delegates thanked God for what their eyes had seen and their ears had heard of the rapid progress of the message in populous Europe. For many years, even since the early days of the message, some of these visiting brethren had worked and prayed and labored to help send the message across the sea from America, and now to see face to face the evidence of the blessing of God upon these labors filled their hearts with joy and gratitude, too deep for utterance.
Elder G. A. Irwin conducted the morning Bible study, dealing with the subject of the spirit of prophecy. While we shall not be able in these reports to give details as to all the services from day to day, we may in this opening report give the points made in this first Bible study. Some of the purposes of the Lord in the gift of the spirit of prophecy to the church are (1) to withdraw man from his purposes; (2) to hide pride from man (Job 33:15-17); (3) to bring people to obedience (Neh. 9:29, 30); (4) to witness to righteousness (Rom. 3:21); (5) to lead and to preserve his people (Hosea 12:13); (6) to establish his people and to bring prosperity to his cause (2 Chron. 20:20); (7) to restrain from wrong and apostasy. Prov. 29:18. The history of the past sixty years has demonstrated in this work the truth of every text, and through all these years the results of every repudiation of this gift by men who have left the faith have likewise shown that to turn against the means by which God seeks to lead his people is to reject the Lord and to plunge into darkness.
At the opening business session of the council the following members of the General Conference Committee were present: A. G. Daniells, G. A. Irwin, I. H. Evans, W. W. Prescott, W. A. Spicer, E. T. Russell, R. A. Underwood, R. C. Porter, Frederick Griggs, G. B. Thompson, G. F. Haffner, W. B. White, L. R. Conradi, E. E. Andross, P. A. Hansen, H. R. Salisbury.
It was voted that all conference and mission field laborers attending the council be invited to participate with the committee in the work of the council. Laborers were present as follows:—
From the United States: Wm. Covert, W. J. Fitzgerald, M. L. Andreasen, Dr. R. G. Edib, Mrs. R. G. Edib.
British Union: S. G. Haughey, M. A. Altman, W. H. Meredith, W. H. Wakeham, W. T. Bartlett, J. J. Gillatt.
Scandinavian Union: O. A. Johnson, J. C. Raft, Fred Anderson, David Ostlund, J. M. Erikson, S. F. Svensson, N. P. Nelson, Emil Lind, P. N. Lindegren, Erik Arnesen, A. C. Christensen, Jens Olsen, John P. Hansen, P. Christiansen, L. Muderspach.
German Union: H. F. Schuberth, J. G. Oblander, H. Hartkop, R. G. Klingbeil, H. J. Loebsack, L. Mathe, G. Schubert, E. Frauchiger, John F. Huenergardt, E. Enseleit, W. Ising, F. Zerndt, F. Prieser, G. W. Hockarth, J. H. Schilling, R. Fenner, H. Meyer, John Steiner, O. Luepke, Dr. Meyer, J. Pieper, J. T. Boettcher, D. P. Gaede, O. Wildgrube, Daniel Isaak, O. Madsen, J. Erzberger.
Latin Union: H. H. Dexter, J. P. Badaut, G. Roth, Paul Steiner, A. Matthy, Samuel Badaut, T. Nussbaum, U. Augsbourger, C. T. Everson, P. Fant, L. Benezet, Frank Bond, Walter Bond, C. E. Rentfro, E. Schwantes, Joseph Curdy, L. P. Tieche, Dr. P. A. De Forest, J. Vuilleumier, J. Robert, C. Reiland, P. Badaut, David Lecoultre, H. Provin, S. Jespersson.
India Mission: Dr. R. S. Ingersoll, Dr. Olive P. Ingersoll.
Besides these representatives many brethren and sisters are in attendance from near-by points, and in connection with the council will be held the meetings of the French-Swiss Conference and of the Latin Union Mission.
The chairman, A. G. Daniells, briefly reviewed the work of the last two years, showing encouraging growth in every department. The 1905 General Conference encouraged local conferences to plan definitely to share funds with the mission fields. In 1905 these conferences appropriated $97,696 to work outside of their own borders. The figures for 1906 are not yet compiled, but estimates place the amount at nearly $125,000.
In 1904 the Sabbath-school Department gave $40,278 to missions; in 1905, $49,894; in 1906 the schools have given $57,901 to missions, and thus the Sabbath-schools have become a most important factor in the missionary advance.
The Religious Liberty Department has been called into very active service in meeting the Sunday issue in Congress, and aiding throughout the field. The new journal Liberty has had a splendid circulation.
A Medical Department of the General Conference was organized at the 1905 conference. This department has been full of work, and great advancement has been made in our medical work. Nearly every sanitarium operated among us now stands related to our denominational organization just as do our educational and publishing institutions. The work has been unified and greatly developed. The institutions are enjoying the best patronage they have ever had. Six years ago our sanitariums numbered eighteen; they now number about sixty.
The educational work is vigorously growing, and our schools have the largest attendance in their history. We have now about 600 schools, 800 teachers, and about 14,000 of the young people of the denomination are studying in the schools. The Young People’s Department bears witness to the fact that the young people of the denomination are in line for service. The Young People’s Societies have been raising money for missions, and engaging in all lines of work.
The publishing work has taken a very encouraging turn during the last two years. Those in charge of the department and laborers in this branch have pushed the subscription-book work upon the original plans which proved successful years ago, and the renewed efforts have been greatly blessed. The sales for 1906 were one third greater than for 1905, and the year 1907, it is hoped, may be the year of largest sales of any in our history.
The organization of the North American Foreign Department has been a great blessing to the work among German, Danish, and Swedish peoples in America, and it is hoped that the establishment of a foreign depository in New York City will prove a great help to the work in foreign tongues in the United States.
Since the last General Conference nearly one hundred and fifty workers, including their wives, have been sent into the mission fields. Missions have been established in Hayti, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, Korea, Barotseland, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Algeria, Java, the Philippines, province of Hunan (China), India (North Hill Mission), and South Africa (Kafir Mission). During the two years the South American Union and West Indian Union Conferences have been organized, while the Pacific Union has been divided, forming the new and vigorous North Pacific Union Conference.
Very cheering is the manner in which former mission fields are taking up work beyond their borders. Australasia has laid hold of the work in Polynesia and the East Indies; the German Union is pushing forward in East Africa, establishing mission after mission; the British Union has opened the work in Uganda, while the Scandinavian Union is preparing this year to enter the new field of Abyssinia.
Sabbath, May 11
The Friday evening preaching service was conducted by Elder Prescott, who showed how this advent movement was the filling out in all its details of the prophetic outline given in Rev. 14: 6-12. These preaching services are translated on the one side of the tent into French, on the other side simultaneously into German, while a little group of Spanish-speaking people gathered in the rear are also served by an interpreter.
The Sabbath-school was truly a polyglot session, lessons being conducted in English, German, French, Danish, Swedish, and Spanish.
Elder Daniells spoke Sabbath morning, the thought being “Lo, I am with you alway.” Blessed lessons were drawn for workers facing all manner of perplexities in the fields, and the Spirit of God brooded tenderly over the whole encampment.
In the afternoon Elder Covert spoke of Christ as our Elder Brother bearing the heavy burdens, and this preaching service was followed by a testimony meeting. All hearts were full to overflowing. Brethren and sisters from far-separated fields testified to the grace of God, and confidence in the speedy triumph of the message. It was the same word from Russia, from Iceland, from Algeria, from Germany, from Britain, from Europe, or America. The conviction moves mightily in the hearts of the workers that the last issues of the mighty conflict are swiftly drawing to a close. It was a blessed Sabbath day. Many of the workers spoke of having messages from fields they had left that the believers remaining behind were remembering the council in prayer. In this polyglot assembly the oneness and unity of the world-wide work were touchingly realized. As one German brother put it, he heard a variety of languages from the lips, but it was all one language from the heart.
At the evening service Elder Thompson reported the recent meetings in India and Burma, speaking of the needs and the progress of the work among these millions.
Thus the council is just opened. All have realized the special blessing of the Lord, and are assured that his grace and wisdom will continue with the council as the business is proceeded with.
W. A. SPICER, Secretary.

A Bold Plan

By C. M. S.

THROUGH all past history Satan has carried on his work of counterfeiting the work of God. He has not scrupled even to ensconce himself within the sacred precincts of the sanctuary itself, and from that vantage-ground to tamper with and adulterate the ceremonies of the temple service. To that extent he had gone when Jesus, with the whip of cords, drove out the minions of greed, declaring that they had converted into a den of thieves that structure which was designed to be the dwelling-place of the Most High.
Satan has never faltered in his unholy ambition to “be like the Most High.” Through all the history of sin there has run the blood-red thread of Satan’s purpose to rule or ruin, and to rule by ruin. Every forward movement in God’s work has met his persistent onslaughts. It has been “a battle and a march,” and another battle and another march. When he has been unable to stay the progress of any movement from the outside, his next move has always been to get on the inside and put discord in the place of harmony, disintegration in the place of cohesion, confusion in the place of organization, contentions within, that he might thus reduce the ability of the force to contend against that which is without.
No army ever succeeds whose integral units have imbibed a spirit of distrust toward their leaders. No army ever succeeds which undertakes a radical and vital change in organization while the battle is on. To attempt it is to invite defeat. But neither of these contingencies can possibly approach in rashness and certainty of defeat such a proposition as the complete disorganization of our forces in the very face of the enemy’s charging legions. No leader of an army ever thought of it; no private would trust a leader who would think of it. The soldier who risks his life in battle must have confidence in the judgment and wisdom of his leaders; but one experience in that kind of military tactics would make him unwilling ever again to go into battle.
The theory of individual leadership and individual responsibility in this closing conflict may be made to appear beautiful,—as a theory,—but no movement is possible of success under such an arrangement. What made Babel?—Lack of organization. But God brought it about for the very purpose of bringing their work to naught. He disorganized them, and immediately their work ceased. It is impossible that it should be otherwise. They were doing a great work; but God was not pleased with it. He used the most effective instrument possible to bring their work to naught: he disorganized them. It worked so well that Satan, the great father of all counterfeitershas appropriated it and reserved it as a most effective agency with which to strike back at the great work which God is to do in the culmination of his work for man.
That such a blow is struck under the guise of religion should not blind our eyes as to its authorship and purpose. It takes more than a sacred name to make and keep a thing sacred. “Thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live; but seek not Beth-el.” Amos 5:4, 5. But why not seek Beth-el, seeing that Beth-el means The House of God?—Because Beth-el had come to be the abode of a people who dishonored God. He was dishonored there while still they called it his abode. He disowned it, and warned his people against it, notwithstanding the sacred sound of its name. So he will disown and so does he warn against any movement carried on to-day in his name whose purpose is to weaken and scatter his forces. C. M. S.

Note and Comment

FATHER SEARLE, rector of the Paulist Fathers' Catholic church, New York, in a recent sermon is said to have startled his congregation by declaring his belief in spiritism. This priest is a member of the Society for Psychical Research, and has made considerable investigation of spiritistic phenomena. In an interview following his sermon, he stated plainly that while these phenomena were supernatural, he believed them to be the work of devils. Speaking of the failure of spirit testimonies to agree with one another, he said: “It appears that these intelligences are not what they claim to be; and it seems more probable that they are deceitful than that they are ignorant. Besides, their control of a medium, when habitual, has been known to culminate in what is called diabolic possession; and in no case does it seem to have had a good moral effect.” He stated his positive belief that spirits can be communicated with through mediums, but that “these spirits are evil ones—fallen angels—who have never inhabited a human body.” Another part of his testimony is interesting because of the closing sentence. He said: “The overwhelming probability is that the spirits communicating are either devils or lost human souls subject to devils in hell. These devils are not confined in their operations to a local hell. Such may be the case after general judgment, but not now.” The idea of a future general judgment seems hardly to harmonize with the existence of “lost human souls” in hell “subject to devils,” at the present time before that general judgment has taken place.
A SUBSCRIBER to the Christian Herald sent in the following query to the editor:—
If we keep the first day of the week as the Sabbath, when God commanded us to keep the seventh, are we not transgressors of the law?
The editor makes the following astounding reply in the issue of May 15:—
Are you desirous of keeping the law? It is a step backward, and involves an extensive change in your habits, but there is no reason why you should not do it if you wish. Do not, however, try to persuade other people to follow your ridiculous example.
The reply is an astounding one, coming as it does from a professed Christian. A Christian is a follower of Christ. Christ said: “I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” John 15:10. Christ was our example. Would the editor call this example of the One whom he professes to follow, a “ridiculous example”? Christ said: “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the law to fail.” Would the editor brand that as a “ridiculous” teaching? That law fails that is not kept. If God's law is not to be a failure, it must be kept; and if the keeping of it is “ridiculous,” then it certainly is “ridiculous” to teach that it should be kept. Nevertheless Christ not only taught that the law of God should be kept, but he made it a part of the business of his followers to teach that it should be kept; and those who teach otherwise will rank very low in the kingdom of God, if indeed they ever enter there, for thus declares our Saviour again: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:19. This editor holds that the resurrection of Christ made such a complete metamorphosis in God's work in the earth that the keeping of God's law is a “ridiculous” act; that the law was abolished in Christ. Christ says: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil.” Matt. 5:17. He who would set Christ forth as a destroyer of God's law has failed to discern the first principles of the plan of redemption. How easily our Saviour could have escaped death for man's sins if the theory of an abolished law were true. Christ need only abolish the law, and then there would be no sentence of death hanging over the human race. With the law gone, there could be no transgression, hence no sin, hence no need of redemption, hence no need of a Saviour. Christ's death on Calvary proves the abolition of the law an impossibility. He paid the penalty for man's transgression of God's law, tasted death for us, and in our place, that his righteousness might stand in the place of our sin. Now shall we declare that law abolished because Christ's death paid for our transgression of it? Such teaching is more than “ridiculous.” It is a complete misrepresentation of Christ's mission to this earth, and is doing a terribly ruinous work in the world. Inspiration says: “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” Prov. 28:9. Again: “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:4. Let no characterization of our course as “ridiculous” cause us to falter in following the example of our Saviour.

The Cry of Peace and Safety

While a plan is in preparation through which the world hopes for universal peace, and while the Word of God plainly teaches the futility of any such hope, the world itself is furnishing the evidence that the predictions of the inspired prophets are true, and that the cry of peace and safety is a false cry. One page of one daily paper furnishes the following witness of the increasing troublousness of our times. From the head-lines on that one page we glean the following:—
Crime Floods Russia; New Outbreak of Terrorism Sweeping the Country; Provinces in Revolution; Human Life Cheap; Twenty Millions for New Prisons, and Only Twelve Millions for New Schools, Tells the Whole Story. Rebellion in China; Officers Assassinated by Insurgents in Hongkong; Mission Station Raided; Troops Are Being Hurried to the Scene; German Gunboat with Marines Sent to Protect Subjects; British Gunboat May Soon Be Dispatched. Slain Priest a Spy; Believed to Be an Agent of the Sultan. Lottery to Pay $300,000 Fine to Escape Imprisonment of Its Officials. Guatemalan Panic; Nation Is Near Anarchy; Nineteen under Sentence of Death for Complicity in Plot Against Cabrera; Terrible Slaughter Feared. Disorders at Santiago; Strike Leads to Clashes Between Rural Guards and Rioters. Four Shot in Race Riot.
And this is only a portion of the sensational news of one day. No cry of peace and safety, no resolutions of peace congresses, can change the hearts of men. It is only the power of Christ in the life that can bring peace, and only his protection can give safety. “Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them.” With the hearts of men unregenerated, no peace is possible to man; and with the world drifting further and further away from the only One who can bring about that regeneration, there is no possibility of universal peace in this earth till Christ sets up his throne to reign over a world purified by fire.
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