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Review and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 12.

In Its New Dress!

Review and Herald

Mar 25, 1909

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 25, 1909

In Its New Dress!

LIBERTY MAGAZINE for the Second Quarter, 1909, appears for the first time in its beautiful new cover, with two-color design. That it is an unusually interesting number is easily seen by glancing at the following table of contents.

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL: The Church and the State, a Review of Four Catholic Utterances—A “Legal Sunday” for Boston—George Washington’s Famous Letter on Religious Liberty—Review of a Congressman’s Letter Regarding a Sunday Law—Answers to Questions Asked at a State Legislature Hearing—A Review of Cardinal Gibbons’ Article in the March “North American Review.”
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLES: The Rise and Fall of Religious Liberty—Reply to “A Common Rest Day” Article in the “Nebraska State Journal”—Sunday as a Legal Rest Day—Twenty-three Reasons Why We Oppose Sunday Laws—Religious Liberty Again Wins in California—The Recent Victory in the District of Columbia—Recently Proposed Religious Amendment to the United States Constitution—A Great Declaration.
TEMPERANCE: America’s Enormous Liquor Traffic—“Personal Liberty” Arguments Reviewed—The Truth About Wine Drinking.
RELIGION AND SCIENCE: The Literal Creation Week—Creation in Science—A Fatal Weakness in the Argument for Evolution.
Yearly subscription, 25 cents; 10 or more copies, to one person or to separate addresses, for one year, cash with order, 15 cents each.
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HOW ABOUT THE CHILDREN?

Beginning April 1, 1909, the entire Sabbath-school will enter upon the study of the Life of Christ. This series of lessons should be the most interesting we have ever had, even to the children, as they may build the lesson, and tell the story as they build it.
“Bible Object Lessons.” A book of fifty-two especially prepared lessons on the Life of Christ, with thirty original hymns and songs for the kindergarten; thirty-six beautiful full-page, half-tone illustrations and colored plate; fifty-two original pen drawings, showing how to use the kindergarten material when teaching the lesson. Over 50,000 children have been interested in the Life of Christ by use of “Bible Object Lessons.” Why not give yours a chance? Single copies, cloth, $2.00; board, $1.50; postage, 16 cents extra.

The Kindergarten Outfit

Holds the children’s attention. Impresses the lesson—a child who builds a lesson seldom forgets it. Minimizes the teacher’s worry and trouble, leaving her mind free for teaching. Makes Sabbath-school the children’s delight.
The Kindergarten Material—Three boxes. No. 1 contains maple Cubes and Triangles; No. 2 contains maple Squares and Oblongs; No. 3 contains Miscellaneous Supplies—2 cones and 2 domes; 10 1-inch and 20 2-inch mounted orange sticks, representing people; 36 2-inch and 24 1-inch unmounted green sticks for outline and street building; 10 miniature sheep; crumpled green tissue paper to represent water. Single set, $2; postage, 40 cents extra.
## The Kindergarten Outfit 1 Copy, “Bible Object Lessons.” 3 Boxes Kindergarten Material. 6 Children’s Chairs. 1 Teacher’s Chair. 1 Round Table.
Chairs—Ornamental with bent rim. We include seven of these with the outfit—six for the children and one for the teacher. Single chairs, 50 cents for 11-inch; 60 cents for 14-inch; freight extra.
Table—A round table 22 inches high; hard wood top, thirty-eight inches in diameter (will seat six to eight children, with the teacher); folding legs, and a drawer large enough to hold all the material needed for any lesson. Each, $5.50; freight extra.
THE ENTIRE OUTFIT, including table, seven chairs, one book, one set materials, and “Portfolio of Blackboard Sketches,” will be shipped for only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12.50
Freight charges to be paid by receiver. Shipped f. o. b. Battle Creek, Mich. Where the entire outfit is sent, mail or express charges are saved on the material and book, as these are placed in the drawer of the table.

Review and Herald Publishing Association

New York City　　　　　　　　　WASHINGTON, D. C.　　　　　　　　　South Bend, Ind.

The Lord’s Day

In the difficult and somewhat discouraging effort to find a New Testament basis for the observance of Sunday as the sabbath, some advocates of Sunday sacredness seem to be forced to adopt far-fetched arguments which evidently had their origin in the vivid imagination of some versatile thinker. One such argument has recently been brought to our attention. It is used in connection with the well-known text, “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day.” Rev. 1:10. The claim is made that the word here translated “Lord’s” is a new word, not previously employed in the Greek Scriptures, but especially coined to designate that “the Lord’s day” is a new institution. It may be well therefore to give some consideration to this effort to find some Scriptural proof for the change of the Sabbath.
The word translated “Lord’s” in this text is kuriake, the feminine form and dative case of the adjective kuriakos. This adjective kuriakos is derived from the masculine form of the adjective kurios, which with the article prefixed is used as a noun. This noun is defined by Robinson in his Greek lexicon of the New Testament as meaning “lord, master, owner.” It is frequently used in the New Testament, generally referring to Christ, and in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament it is employed to render the Hebrew word Jehovah. With the meaning “master,” or “owner,” it is used in such passages as Matt. 21:40, “The lord [owner] therefore of the vineyard;” Matt. 15:27, in the plural, “their masters’ table;” Luke 19:33, “the owners thereof.” In the same way, the same word is used in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament in such passages as Ex. 21:28, “the owner of the ox;” verse 29, “his owner;” verse 34, “the owner of the pit.”
The same word is used in Mark 2:28, “The Son of man is lord [owner] even of the Sabbath.” As Christ, the Son of God, the eternal Word, was the agent in creation (John 1:1-3), although then manifested as the Son of man, he could with all propriety declare himself to be lord or owner of the Sabbath which was instituted by him at creation as a memorial of the creative work. Even those who advocate a change in the Sabbath at the time of the resurrection will admit that in this statement Christ referred to the original Sabbath, the seventh day of the week.
What now could be more appropriate than that the day of which Christ declared himself to be the lord and owner should be called “the Lord’s day,” using to express this lordship and ownership, in the adjective form, the same word which is used as a noun in Mark 2:28?
It appears therefore that there is absolutely no sound basis for the assertion that a new word was coined in order to convey the idea that an entirely new institution had been established, inasmuch as the word used is simply another form of a very familiar word constantly employed throughout the Scriptures. Furthermore, the idea that there is one day which belongs to the Lord in a special sense, and which he has designated as his own, is by no means new, dating back to the very origin of the Sabbath. It should also be noted that the emphasis in the expression used in Mark 2:28 is not to be placed upon this well-established principle of the ownership of the day, but upon the other thought that the lordship, or ownership, of the Sabbath was then vested in the Son of man, who was God manifest in the flesh.
The assertion that the expression “the Lord’s day” was in common use at the time when The Revelation was written, as designating the first day of the week, is entirely unwarranted in the light of the fact that the apostle John wrote his Gospel after he wrote The Revelation, and that in the Gospel he calls the day following the Sabbath “the first day of the week,” and in no instance refers to it as the Lord’s day. If the expression “the Lord’s day” was in general use at that time as the proper designation for a new sabbath, which, as is claimed, was established by our Lord’s resurrection and recognized by his disciples as taking the place of the original Sabbath, we should certainly expect that the latest written book of the New Testament would employ this phrase, and certainly so, if the same writer had previously used this expression in referring to the same day.
If the use of a term in the New Testament Scriptures not previously used in the Greek Scriptures is evidence that a new institution had been established, or a new experience had been realized, we shall be driven to some strange conclusions. For example: the Greek word thraskeia, signifying “religion,” is used in the New Testament, but is not found in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Was religion therefore a newidea, or a new experience, in New Testament times? So also the Greek word pro-orizein, “to predestinate,” is employed in Rom. 8:30, but is not found in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Are we therefore to understand that predestination was entirely a new idea introduced into the Christian economy by the apostle Paul? These illustrations are sufficient—although there are many others—to show that the mere fact that a certain Greek word is used for the first time in New Testament writings does not prove that a new institution or a new idea has arisen.
Those who accept the teaching of the Scriptures as a whole, and in their obvious meaning, are not compelled to resort to any such groundless arguments in order to establish the plainly revealed truth that the seventh-day Sabbath is of continued obligation, and that the real Lord’s day is the day of which the Son of man declared himself to be the lord.

Direct Access to God

THERE is a direct and personal relationship existing between God and every one of his children. It is not necessary to seek audience through priest or prelate, but every soul may go direct to his Creator and Redeemer for aid; and no human influence can cut off the means of communication. God will hear the cry of every longing heart, whether it be the prisoner in his cell or the king in his freedom. Before him every man of every race and station stands on equality; he has regard for character alone.

God’s Care for Every Detail

God’s greatness is shown no less in his taking account of the little things in his universe than in his cognizance of the great things. We naturally expect that he will take account of the revolution of the planets, the rise and fall of nations, and of matters which pertain to the general affairs of his government. He does all this, and more; he is so great in power that he deals with every individual member of the human family, and takes account of every detail of the life and experience of each. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without his notice. Truly such power, dedicated as it is to the good of his creatures, should command the reverence and love of every intelligent mind.

Editorial

By Editor

CHRISTIANITY is not a mere formal profession of Christ. It is not a question of mental perception alone. It is the manifestation of Christ's character in the lives of his followers. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

The Divine Principle of Organization

By W. A. S.

Gospel Order—No. 1

The Divine Principle of Organization

The Lord is a God of order. All his works reveal the perfection and simplicity of divine organization. “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” 1 Cor. 14:33.
The church of Christ is to reveal on earth the order and harmony of the kingdom of heaven. The “Great Shepherd of the sheep” leads the flock of God. The closer the members of the flock press to the Shepherd, the closer do they press together. And the counsel of the Lord through the spirit of prophecy to all believers just now is, “Press together, press together.”
The Lord led the church of the exodus out of Egypt, and by the gift of prophecy organized it as one body to represent the unity of his work. He led forth the church of apostolic days, as one body, its organization being developed according to the need, under the instructions of the gift of prophecy placed in the church. In this advent movement he has raised up a church to bear the final gospel message to the world. He has organized the movement as one united body, giving instruction by the gift of prophecy placed in the church.
There were in “the church in the wilderness” those who rebelled against the organization that maintained unity and order. There were those in apostolic days who worked against the order and harmony of the church. There have now and then appeared in our own midst those who have opposed the order and organization established in the church in harmony with the Word of God and the counsel of the spirit of prophecy. But all along—in the wilderness, in apostolic days, in these last days—it has been God’s order and God’s leadership in the church that has been set aside.
“God is not the author of confusion.” He is the author of order. Every thought in divine organization is to secure to his children the greatest liberty to develop a godly character. Harmony with God’s order is Christian liberty. “So long as all created beings acknowledged the allegiance of love,” says the spirit of prophecy, “there was perfect harmony throughout the universe of God.”
Lucifer is the author of confusion. Coveting the supremacy that belonged to Christ, he charged that the order and harmony of heaven imposed a restraint upon the liberty of the angels. So came rebellion in heaven. “It was pride and ambition that prompted Lucifer to complain of the government of God, and to seek the overthrow of the order which had been established in heaven. Since his fall it has been his object to infuse the same spirit . . . into the minds of men.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, page 403. His principles make for separation and disorder.
If it be but secular work in which numbers of people are engaged together, the value of system and organization is universally recognized by the thoughtful and successful. Much more is organization to be valued in God’s work, in which “all things” are to be “done decently and in order.” 1 Cor. 14:40.
The organization of believers is no arbitrary or mechanical arrangement, but the natural and spiritual expression of Christian fellowship in service, a means of personal strength and blessing to the individual, and a sign of the “unity of the Spirit” among the members making up the “one body.” The spirit of prophecy says:—
Angels work harmoniously. Perfect order characterizes all their movements. The more closely we imitate the harmony and order of the angelic host, the more successful will be the efforts of these heavenly agents in our behalf. . . . Those who have the unction from on high, will in all their efforts encourage order, discipline, and union of action, and then the angels of God can co-operate with them. But never, never will these heavenly messengers place their indorsement upon irregularity, disorganization, and disorder. All these evils are the result of Satan’s efforts to weaken our forces, to destroy courage, and prevent successful action. . . . It is his studied effort to lead professed Christians just as far from heaven’s arrangement as he can; therefore he deceives even the professed people of God, and makes them believe that order anddiscipline are enemies to spirituality. . . . All the efforts made to establish order are considered dangerous, a restriction of rightful liberty, and hence are feared as popery.—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. I, page 649.
But all the Bible history shows that thorough organization is one of the heavenly appointed safeguards against popery. This is why those who have risen in rebellion against the truth, to lead away disciples after themselves, have always struck at organization. This has been as a hedge round about the people of God, securing the protection of the angelic host.
The details of organization may vary according to conditions and work, but ever as God has called his church together there has appeared in it the spiritual gift of order and of government, the spirit that rules in heaven. Harmony with God’s truth and work for the time has been shown by orderly and harmonious co-operation with the body of believers. And all along the enemy who began his attack on organization in heaven, in order to detach the angels from the ranks and lead them astray, has worked against the organization of the body of believers on earth, in order to divide and scatter.
W. A. S.

The Inadequacy of the Sociological Gospel

AMONG the many publications which come to our table, we are glad to find one occasionally which attempts to defend the original gospel as revealed in the Scriptures and taught by Christ and his disciples. Nearly all the religious and semireligious papers and magazines of the present day have adopted, to a greater or less degree, the evolutionary scheme as an explanation of both material and spiritual things, and are therefore led inevitably to such a modification of old-time views concerning the Bible and the gospel message as is practically equivalent to the substitution of human philosophy for revealed truth. It is therefore especially pleasing to find occasionally such paragraphs as the following, which we take from a recent issue of the Christian Herald:—
The cross of Christ has been very aptly called “the stumbling-block of the New Theology,” and the statement is literally true. These reconstructive theologians, while accepting Jesus as a great teacher and even as quasi-divine, insist that his philosophy—not his works, his miracles, or his sacrifice on Calvary—is what concerns us. What the human race needs, they tell us, is enlightenment to free men from the bondage of ages of superstition. They must lift themselves, en masse, up from the depths of ignorance. They are advised to attach no importance to the story of a race sunk in sin, the path to whose redemption has been opened by God’s plan of divine love and atonement. As to the message of inspiration, and the way of salvation, it is to such teachers what it was to the ancient Greeks—foolishness.
Such teaching confuses sociological and spiritual things. It is utterly incapable of reaching the heart and transforming the life. If Nicodemus had applied to some such adviser, he would never have learned of the new birth. It is simply a case of men who are themselves unfortunately still in spiritual darkness, yet who profess to enlighten others. The moment one of our new theologians takes hold by faith of the real gospel truth, that moment he will become emancipated, and will have his eyes opened to what the Christian religion really means. He will understand something of its tremendous power over the hearts and lives of men and women, and why people hold it as the most precious of their possessions, and are willing to suffer and even to die for it. Until we attain to the truth ourselves, it is impossible to convey it to others.
No one thing has contributed more to this confusion of sociological and spiritual things than the rejection of the doctrine of the personal second advent of Christ. The members of the early Christian church were taught to look to the return of Christ as the time for the establishment of his kingdom and the permanent cure of the evils of this present world, but the exploiters of the modern gospel are themselves attempting to establish the kingdom of Christ in this world by their own methods, depending upon evolution rather than upon the revelation of the Son of God in the clouds of heaven. The outcome will be a shock and a terrible disappointment.

The Law and Our Lack

By C. M. S.

A GREAT heart-reader is the law of God—a veritable searcher of souls. Spoken amid the thunders of Sinai by the lips of Jehovah himself, it stands as the “word of God” no less truly than any other portion of Scripture; and the characteristics of the Word of God as given by Inspiration fittingly apply to the law of God: “The word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4:12.
A delicate instrument is this, so delicate as to perform a work which human minds can not conceive of even after it is performed, nor can man measure nor weigh the things upon which it operates. Men have attempted to conform their lives outwardly to its requirements, and counted themselves righteous in the eyes of both earth and heaven. At the same time that law was piling up a record against them that would shut them out of heaven as truly as it does him who makes no pretense of observing its precepts. To the standard of its requirements our lives must come. It demands righteousness. It demands what it can not give, and the demand must be met. Because it does demand what it can not give, hasty minds have thought the law unjust and its Maker unreasonable. They forget that it is not the province of any instrument of test to supply the thing it is testing for. The government inspector of gas-meters requires that each meter come up to a certain standard of efficiency. If it fails to do so, he is not permitted to make up the deficiency, but must put that deficiency on record and let it remain.
A man who owns a piece of property may find it necessary at some time to place a mortgage upon it in order to raise means to extricate himself from some financial difficulty. The law requires that after a certain time that mortgage be paid. The date of payment arrives, and the man is unable to meet his obligation. The law can not meet it for him. It can only demand payment, and if payment is not forthcoming, it exacts the penalty, the forfeiture of ownership. Another comes forward and meets the obligation, and the mortgagor is released.
This illustrates, in an imperfect way, the operation of the law of God in respect to us. We are the debtors, unable to effect our own release, unable to meet the requirements of the law by any power we possess. The law itself can not release us; we can not be released while the deficiency exists; the law can not make up the deficiency. There is One, however, who can do all that for every soul whose heart is set to do the will of God. Jesus Christ meets the requirements of that law on behalf of every such soul who comes unto God by him. Belief in God’s Word, loyalty to his holy law, faith in Christ, his power, his love, his sacrifice in our behalf, put us in the channel of God’s working purpose, set us free from the condemnation of death, and make us joint heirs with him in that “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.” “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Rom. 7:12.
C. M. S.

The Test of Faith

By Francis McLellan Wilcox

God has but one way of saving man, and that is through the grace and merit of the Lord Jesus Christ. Man on his part must comply with one condition, and that is the exercise of saving faith in Christ as his Saviour. But saving faith in Christ is something more than mental assent to the fact that he died and arose again. It is more than a sentiment expressed in words, or tears, or songs of praise. There is much that passes for religion which is nothing but sentimentalism, affecting the emotions only, and not the deep purposes of the heart and life.
Man can not possess living faith in a passive, abstract form. Faith follows the channels of concrete expression. The highest test of love to God is obedience, and the only true exercise of faith will be manifested in works. The apostle James says: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.” The redeemed will be saved by their faith, but they will be judged by their works, as the true and genuine expression of the faith they possess.
Among the tests of love and the proofs of faith which the Word of God imposes, two particularly stand forth as safeguards against man’s natural selfishness and covetousness. One relates to the dedication of a portion of time to God, and the other a dedication of a portion of the income. Every week the Lord asks that his children cease from their personal pursuits and labors, lay aside their plans, and devote to his service the seventh day. This affords expression for their joyful love and willing obedience.
He asks likewise that of the means entrusted to man’s use, he shall count one tenth of his income as belonging to his Creator. He who recognizes the goodness of God in the health and strength given for labor, and the power possessed to earn and accumulate means, will return to God his own as an expression of grateful thankfulness. A sense of duty will not prompt the service. It will be counted a blessed privilege, a channel by which his love may be manifested.
And this service will not be rendered after every other claim has been satisfied; but as a debt of love and gratitude to a kind Benefactor, it will come first of all obligations. Rendering to God his own in tithes and offerings is a test of discipleship. It is an evidence of consecration. Let no man deceive himself into believing that he is truly consecrated when he is negligent in these matters. He may be honest with his fellow men, but he is not honest with God. He may pay debts incurred in his business, but the great debt of honor and gratitude, due the Giver of all, he fails to discharge, and God counts him unfaithful. Mal. 3:8.
Complete consecration to God places all on the altar. It affects the pocket-book as well as the heart. It makes one honest in the dark as well as in the light. It will lead him to regard an obligation resting upon conscience and honor alone as sacred and as binding as legal obligations. His word will be as good as his bond. Consecration means the sanctification of body, soul, and spirit to the service of the Master, a surrender and subordination of every hope and plan and purpose to the divine will. When this is done, selfishness will be eliminated. The chief joy of the heart will be in learning and doing thewill of the Father. Duty will then become pleasure, and the sacrifices of time and money offerings of love upon the altar of God’s service.
May our faith find joyful expression in doing the will of the One to whom we owe the life that now is, and through whose mercy and grace we hope to achieve the life that is to come.
F. M. W.

The Prerequisite of Acceptable Service

By C. M. S.

WE are not on safe ground until we can count as a loss everything we have gained outside of Christ, whatever it may be. The more men load themselves down with worldly honors or wealth, the more difficult it is for them to enter the narrow gate and walk in the straight way.
The most important lesson of Paul's experience was this: “What things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ.” Phil. 3:7, 8. There never will be a time when the kind of service that wins heaven's approval will have the approval of the self-seeking, clamoring world, or be popular with the ease-loving, amusement-seeking church-members. There are two ways, the broad and the narrow; two services, that of self and that of Christ; two goals—and they are far apart. The broad way needs to be broad, for it must accommodate many professed church-members, as well as the great motley throng that has never professed the name of Christ.
When the very Christianity of Christ becomes a part of our being, there is a transformation wrought in us which is equivalent to a new creation. Then the things we once loved become hateful to us, and those things which seemed of no value, because self had darkened our perception, become as the apple of the eye. It must be so, else God can not use us to accomplish his purpose. While we treasure the things of earth, heaven's realities are dimly seen or entirely obscured, and self assumes most wonderful proportions. So long as this condition exists, the streams of our beneficence are all turned inward to nourish our vanity and pride. We are like the geyser, a noisy, self-attracting fountain, whose waters return again inward and bring benefit to none. When true conversion comes, there is a complete transformation. Self shrinks, and disappears; the streams of our beneficence flow outward; the geyser becomes a sweet, bubbling spring that flows quietly through the woods, meadows, and gardens, blessing everything along its course, causing trees and fields to yield their food for man and beast. Such is the true Christian, watering souls and bringing the bread of life to the hungry and perishing.
God can use such, and only such. The self-centered and self-serving, whatever the profession, are destitute of the great prerequisite that makes for the advancement of God's cause and kingdom. They are running without a message, hindering what they pretend to advance. There is only one remedy—contrition of heart, sacrifice of self, full surrender of the whole man to the cause of Christ—in short, conversion. That is the prerequisite of true service. That brings heaven's approval and the divine commission. That assures success in the saving of souls.
C. M. S.

The Holy and the Profane

By F. M. W.

THE Word of God makes a plain and clear distinction between the holy and the profane. There are some things which are given man to use freely, but there are other things which God has reserved as holy unto himself. Satan has sought to destroy this distinction. He has made every effort to subordinate the holy to the level of the common, to bring the things of God down to the plane of the things of men. These efforts are illustrated in many doctrines taught today. Many apostles of so-called advanced thought advocate that the Bible possesses no inspiration peculiar to itself, and that the writings of Moses, Isaiah, Paul, and other Bible characters do not differ from the writings of heathen sages, and great men of all ages. Equally as pernicious, but more subtle, is the claim, which, while admitting the divine origin of the Sacred Scriptures, contends that God gave to other nations, as well as to the Hebrews, revelations of his will, as contained in the sacred books of heathen philosophies and beliefs.
The same principle is seen in the arguments used to deny the perpetuity of the Bible Sabbath. While some contend that in this dispensation the observance of no sabbath day is enjoined, others argue that all days are now holy, and that the Christian should observe every day as unto the Lord.
Another class, while admitting the distinction existing between sacred and common days, and between books of a holy and profane character, set up the claim that in the Christian age no part of man's income is reserved by God, but that all money is holy, the nine tenths equally with the one tenth, and should be used by the holder in good and laudable work, but not necessarily in gospel work.
All these classes claim that the old-time beliefs regarding inspiration, holy days, and holy money were designed as the initial steps, the first principles, leading to broader faiths and deeper experiences, where God could be seen in every religion, his presence sanctify every day, and all possessions be counted holy unto his service.
Regardless of the motives which prompt their advocates, all these specious arguments have but one influence and tendency, and that is to break down the plain and positive distinctions which God makes between the holy and the common. It matters not whether it be argued that there is no divine revelation to man, or that there are a dozen sacred books; that there be no sabbath, or that all days are holy; that no tenth is holy, or that the ten tenths are sacred; equally, in any case, the line of demarcation between the things of God and the things of men is obliterated, and it is left to each to follow the whim and caprice of his own mind with no chart or compass to guide him in his wanderings.
There is a sense in which all time may be dedicated to God, but this by no means removes the distinction which God has made between days, a distinction affecting the character of the days themselves. He made the seventh day holy; this is its character. This character was not bestowed upon the other days. Hence even though one may devote to God his whole time, as every Christian should, he still must recognize the distinct character of each day, in the class to which God has assigned it. And surely no man can acceptably devote his whole time to God, and fail to render to his Creator the one particular day which he has reserved for himself, and in the particular manner in which he says it should be rendered. God has given explicit directions as to how the seventh day should be used; the six days he permits man to use as he himself shall elect.
In the same specific manner God has made a difference between the tithe and the nine tenths. The former he declares to be holy for his service. Lev. 27:30. This holy character and holy use distinguishes it from the common character and common use to which the nine tenths may be devoted. And it is safe to say that he who truly devotes to God his whole income, and counts naught that he possesses as his own, will see to it that the one tenth of his income shall be used in the specific and particular manner which God designates in his Word. Otherwise it would be safe to conclude that his claim of having devoted all to God was but a subterfuge to cover up his selfish appropriation of the means which had been entrusted to him, but which God had reserved for his own service.
The church of God is threatened by an invasion which would juggle with the plain statements of divine revelation,and seek to spiritualize away the truth of God. In revealing his will to the human family, God knew what he wanted to say, and was entirely capable of correctly expressing his will and purposes.
Let us conclude as well that he means what he says, and take his Word in its plain, obvious reading, making that distinction which he makes between the sacred and the common, between the things of God and the things of men. In this way only can we preserve inviolable the truth in its simplicity, of which God has constituted his children the conservators. F. M. W.

Note and Comment

Infidelity in the Pulpit

THE leaven of infidelity has permeated the minds of so many professedly religious teachers that the departure from old-time orthodoxy can no longer be denied or concealed, and the effect of the wide-spread unbelief in the Scriptures is being felt on all sides. The present situation is well described by the Christian Herald in an editorial from which we take this paragraph:—
In scattered pulpits here and there, and in not a few theological schools, it has become the fashion to flout the old Bible. Some preachers and professors have tried to prove how much superior is their understanding of spiritual things to that of the prophets, the evangelists, and the great leaders of the faith, who lived close to Christ and followed in his footsteps. But souls are not saved by belittling the Scriptures, nor are hearts won from sin to righteousness by undermining the faith of the simple. It would be a charitable conclusion to think that such attacks ordinarily proceed from intellectual vanity or sheer love of sensation. This is doubtless true of a majority of the shallow and superficial assaults on the old Bible and the religion of Jesus Christ. It is surprising how few of the great thinkers and eminent scholars are to be found in the ranks of infidelity. But it is not the open and avowed infidel who is the most dangerous foe of the Christian faith. It is the veiled infidel, the agnostic, the man who subtly slurs inspiration and miracles, who questions Biblical authority and authenticity, who reads into the old Book new and doubtful meanings, who is full of smart suggestions concerning passages that are apparently contradictory, but which have been long ago cleared up satisfactorily by able and reverent scholarship.
It is not possible to deny the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures and at the same time to maintain intact the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. Those who commenced by attempting to interpret the plain teachings of the Bible to make them harmonize with the claims of modern science have yielded one thing after another until they are now openly denying the doctrines of sin, of the atonement, of the resurrection, and of the second advent. A speculative philosophy has largely taken the place of revealed truth, and is being taught from many pulpits of the land.
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