THE bloodless revolution in the world of thought which has brought such remarkable changes during the last quarter of a century is acknowledged by discriminating observers in every civilized land. As an illustration of the view now taken by many of the best thinkers, we quote the following paragraph from the Contemporary Review for January:—
The consideration formerly shown for authority—religious, political, social—is now undeniably on the wane, while disregard for things established and hallowed by wont and tradition is gradually affecting the views taken of private property. Even institutions which church and state still combine to preserve, such, for instance, as marriage, are no longer beyond the range either of criticism or of experiment. In the British empire the change in this respect may still be hardly noticeable. But in other countries it is manifest to the least observant. On the decay of religious fervor and its manifold causes it is needless now to dwell. It may be enough to say that this phenomenon also is at least real, however we may be inclined to explain it. Religion, as our forefathers understood it, is being transformed. Even when the ecclesiastical shell is preserved, the kernel has undergone a change. Ancient dogmas are ceasing to command belief; pious practises are discontinued as irksome or meaningless. Church discipline, in so far as it used to be felt as a real check, is now very often shaken off as a soul-fetter. And worst of all—if one can give ethical designations to laws of human development—no fresh revelation has yet been vouchsafed to numb the pain caused by blasted hopes, to kindle new and fruitful aspirations, or to restore balance and serenity to the disenchanted. For the aching unrest of unsatisfied souls the principal anodyne yet offered is beauty in art or symbolical truth in mysticism.
This is a fairly accurate description of the results which have thus far appeared from the rejection of the special light of truth offered to the world in the heavenly message of preparation for the coming of our Lord; but the end is not yet. The only way of recovery from this downfall will be by the acceptance of that regenerating truth which is designed to prepare a people for translation; and this will be an individual rather than a collective experience.
Back to Colonial Days
AN incident of recent occurrence in the State of New Jersey harks back to the days of the colonial church establishments, when men were compelled by law to contribute to the expenses of the church. We quote from the United Presbyterian:—
A New Jersey judge has decided that pew rent may be collected from tardy or unwilling church-members by deducting the amount due from a bill for work done for the church. A member of a Roman Catholic parish had done work for the congregation, and when it came to payment for it, the priest deducted a sum due for a church sitting. The parishioner appealed to court, and the court decided against him.
If there was ever an instance in which a man's means was taken from him without “due process of law,” this is one, and is but a foretaste of what we may expect to see in days to come, when the Roman Church has gained the influence and power she seeks.
Observing Lent
INTELLIGENT Roman Catholics are quick to note the various evidences of the growing influence of their church, and of the increasing tendency on the part of Protestants to conform their practises to papal tradition. An instance of this kind is found in the following editorial paragraph from the New World (Catholic), of Chicago:—
It is a curious fact, moreover, that lent, as a season of prayer and fasting, seems to be growing in popular favor. Some years ago, Catholics were alone in keeping it. Now all the Christian bodies are beginning to follow the custom. It helps one to grasp the fact that there is a world-wide trend toward Catholicity.
A Political Threat
THAT the time may come when the members of all the churches will combine to enforce the demands which they make upon the political parties is plainly intimated in an editorial in the Christian Advocate (Methodist), from which we quote this paragraph:—
The political world as well as the general public know that only a small minority of the people who wish for the universal prohibition of the selling of liquors to be drunk on the premises have affiliated with the Prohibition party, so called. They have hated to break up their party affiliations, and many of them are conscientiously in favor of the national principles laid down by the party—whether Republican or Democratic—with which they have always voted. But it is easy to foresee a time when all churches, Roman Catholic and Protestant, will be driven to vote against any party that will sell out or give away the power of the state to prevent the sale of liquor on Sunday, to any municipality so demoralized as to wish to legalize the sale of liquor on Sunday, and thus make the fifty-two holy days holidays in the worst sense of the word.
It is evident that the real principle at stake is the sanctity of Sunday rather than the prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors. If this were not so, the same combination would be threatened for a refusal to enact laws which would prohibit the sale of liquors on all days of the week.
Joyful in Him
By WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
THERE'S a whisper in the treetops,
There is music by the sea,
There's a murmur, mid the rushes,
Of the brook across the lea;
There's a voice from wingèd flowers,—
Hum of hopper and of bee,—
And a myriad-throated warble
From the feathered minstrelsy.
O, the night is one sonata,
And the day a chorus grand;
And our life a glorious anthem
When our Master has command!
For the minor chords, though plaintive,
Lend enchantment to the strain,
And the final hallelujah
Shall in joy engulf all pain.
Tune thy heart to sense the measure;
Train thine ear to hear each chord;
Every day conclude some measure
All harmonious to thy Lord.
Portland, Ore.
Two Kinds of Service
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
(Concluded)
Higher Education a Preparation for Service
As men and women who profess to believe the truth for this time, we have no right to place ourselves in any wrong relation to God or his cause. We have a work to do for the Master, a work to do for the rising generation. We can not afford to send our children to the public schools. This has been presented to me for years. For years we have been establishing schools, but they are not perfected yet. There are some who think that we must pattern after the schools of the world if we would give our youth a complete education. What we need to give them is a complete education in that Book which assures us of that life that measures with the life of God. If we will obey his commandments, we shall live. This is the Book of books. It is to be the great study book for all who profess the name of Christ.
My brethren and sisters, do not neglect your children. Teach them that they have souls to save or to lose. Teach them to come into right relation to God. Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It was because of such a training as this that Daniel and his fellows, when they were taken captives to Babylon, were able to stand the test. They had received the education that God gives, and he was able to make right impressions on their minds.
Do not fold your hands, and find fault with God, as did the class of worshipers the prophet Isaiah brings to view. They said, “Wherefore have we fasted, . . . and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?” This class of professors makes no sacrifice for God, although for them he has made the sacrifice of his only begotten Son, sending him to our world that they might be sanctified and made holy, and that by learning to represent the character of Christ, they might bear a living testimony to all with whom they associate. We must take a higher standard than this.
I read in books that come to me how we must attain to a higher education, but these writings do not interpret what is meant by “higher education.” What is higher education?—It is coming into unity with Jesus Christ. It is being made one with God. It is bringing God into mind and heart. Unless we have Christ in the life, we can not reveal him. To learn to humble self, to subdue self,—this is the higher education. Higher education,—the education which we should have, is that which proceeds from God and imparts a knowledge of what saith the Lord. It is to walk in the footsteps of Jesus,—to preach as he preached, to work as he worked.
“Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold of it.” This is Bible sanctification; this is the higher education. When we make the Bible our book for study, and give to our students a knowledge of the Word of God, there will be no need to ask the question, Have they the higher education? What we need is an acquaintance with God, who “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
We do not half serve God. We do not honor him as we should. We have a name to live, but O, so many of us are dead! We need to study the Word, and see if we are preparing to meet our Lord when he shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. I want to stand in right relation to God. I have been in his work since I was sixteen years old. I do not want to fail now.
Everywhere there is missionary work to be done, and every soul of us should have an active part in it. It is astonishing to see how fields are opening everywhere. Workers are calling for means to carry on the work. Many students from our schools are going out and educating themselves in the languages, and opening the Scriptures to peoples of other tongues. This is an excellent work, just the work the Lord would have them do.
We need to become students of prophecy. We need to labor for every one that possibly can be helped. Now while there is opportunity, let us get the light before the people. There will never be a more favorable time for work than this; for the judgments of God are coming upon the earth more and more. We need Christians at this time, and to be a Christian means to be Christlike.
Speaking of those who have joined themselves to the Lord to serve him, God says, “Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” This is what we want. The Lord receives too little glory from the lips of any of us, but much of complaint. Shall we not change in this respect, and begin to offer praise and thanksgiving to God? Let us begin to do the works here brought to view. Let us bring the poor that are cast out to our house. Let us lay no yokes or burdens upon the people. Let us come to God with humble, lowly hearts, with tongues sanctified, and brain powers sanctified. If we will do this, there will be praises to God offered in every congregation. The songs of thanksgiving and joyful praise will be heard coming from happy hearts, and men will know that we enjoy the true religion of Jesus Christ.
There are just two classes of people brought to view in the Word of God. With which class are you standing? If all were brought together in heaven with their different temperaments unsanctified, what kind of heaven, think you, would we have? Do we not want to be transferred from this school below to the higher school above? There Christ will walk and talk with his people, and open to them the scriptures they do not understand. There we shall pluck the fruit of the tree of life. We shall see the King in his beauty, and behold his matchless charms. There will be no contention there; then let us not have it on earth. We are to begin here to obtain the higher education. We are to learn here to guard the lips, to govern the words. Christ gave his life for us, and he wants us to give our lives to him,—lives that are sanctified, soul, body, and spirit. Shall we not let our righteousness, as Isaiah has said, “go before” us? Then the glory of the Lord will be our rereward.
How few there are who praise God! But this is part of our higher education. In this life we are to learn to honor him by offering our praises and thanksgiving to him. It is only those who on earth have learned to glorify God that will be given a place in the courts of glory. If we are translated, we shall be translated just as we are. We are to be made perfect in this life; in this life our tongues are to be sanctified, our thoughts purified. Then let us take up this work of education now. Let us do those things that we shall wish we had done when the time comes that our work is finished.
I long to hear the voice of thanksgiving to God. I long to hear praises offered to him. I long to see happy Christians. Let us seek the Lord while he may be found. Let us bring Christ into our family circles. Let us invite the joy of the Lord into our homes and into our hearts. How much glory we could9bring to God if we would consider that Christ died on the cross to make it possible for us to come into right relation to him in this respect. He worked out a perfect life amid the fiercest opposition that could be instituted against him. Then shall we not make earnest endeavors to be Christians? Should we not, when we meet to worship God, offer praise from hearts filled with thanksgiving? We have everything to praise God for. He “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Interesting Facts Concerning Babylon’s Fall
By George I. Butler
GEORGE I. BUTLER
The fall of Babylon was announced by fifty thousand earnest believers in Christ’s soon coming. This message was given in consequence of a great spiritual declension in the churches, and this declension has become more and more apparent as the years have gone by.
The careful and observing reader of The Revelation will notice that in each instance where the fall of Babylon is mentioned, there is a repetition. In the second angel’s message (Rev. 14:8) we read: “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen,” etc. In Rev. 18:1-4, the subject of Babylon’s great and final apostasy is more fully stated. “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. . . . And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Then the revelator proceeds to describe her complete destruction. Let the interested reader notice this point distinctly: the fall of Babylon and the destruction of Babylon are two distinct events. The destruction comes as a consequence of her fall. Her fall is a declension, or apostasy, because of the rejection of light. Instead of being the pure and faithful spouse of Christ, she becomes the worldly, proud, haughty mistress of the rulers and great men of the earth; in other words, church and state, politics and religion, are blended into one system. God holds such a union in abhorrence; but it is rapidly forming.
The second angel’s message, announcing the fall of Babylon, is not said to be proclaimed with a great and loud cry; but both the first and the third angel’s messages are said to be thus proclaimed; while of the proclamation contained in Revelation 18, already quoted, this is said most emphatically and most impressively. The angel is represented as “having great power,” and the effect of his proclamation is that the whole earth is “lightened with his glory.” He cried mightily, with a strong voice: “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen;” and then is brought to view the awful effects of her fall,—she “is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” She “is become” such; as much as to say she was not always such. The process of her fall and apostasy was gradual, at times perhaps almost imperceptible; yet it was going steadily on, developing before the world, and especially before the student of prophecy, till at last the fruits of evil became so fully ripened that all candid believers of the Bible could plainly see her condition, which is then proclaimed with mighty power, and the solemn, awful command goes forth, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
Much of this was not proclaimed in the first announcement in the second angel’s message. It would not have been true at that period when spiritual Babylon first rejected light. That first evil step led away from God’s truth. “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.” Walking is a movement indicating progress.
There occurred an important change in the attitude of the popular churches when they rejected the sure word of prophecy, which the apostle Peter says is a light in a dark place till the day shall dawn. When that light is rejected by the church, she must of necessity walk henceforth in great moral darkness. From that point when the first announcement was made, “Babylon is fallen,” great changes for the worse have been going on. Preceding that time, many noble Protestant teachers and leaders were earnest students of prophecy, and expositors of grand prophetic truths. Martin Luther and his leading associates of the great Protestant Reformation were familiar with the prophecies concerning the papal church and its awful work of apostasy and persecution. Luther, looking forward from his time, thought the Lord would come in about three hundred years. Three centuries after Luther’s day, multitudes of devoted followers of Jesus, in studying the same scriptures that Luther studied, reached the same conclusions he had reached, and publicly proclaimed the same great facts. If Luther had lived in our day, he would have been an Adventist.
In the grand Methodist revival, led by John Wesley, Adam Clarke, and many other devoted men, prophecy was highly prized and much studied. In some particulars their views were incorrect, yet it is a fact that much important light on the prophecies was brought out from the sacred page by them. John Wesley looked forward to about 1836 for the coming of the Lord, to about the time when William Miller began to proclaim the soon coming of the Saviour in the clouds of heaven.
We cite these well-known facts to make manifest the great change of attitude on the part of these modern churches, which took place about 1844, when, because of persecution, some fifty thousand Adventists were obliged to leave their communions. The popular churches turned their backs upon these great and glorious truths. What was their reason for so doing? They rejected most important Bible truths, and as the result, darkness came upon them, and they have become proud, worldly, fashionable churches, “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” The apostle says, “From such turn away.”
The process of spiritual declension from this interesting point when the first announcement of Babylon’s moral fall was made, has been rapid and conspicuous. So plain are the evidences of this, that the careful student of prophecy is forced to the conclusion that we are rapidly nearing the time when the mighty angel of Revelation 18 will join the second angel of Rev. 14:8, and the loud cry, “Come out of her, my people,” will go forth. This point can not be far away. This last and mighty movement is but the completion of the message of the second angel’s work of chapter 14:8. They are similar in nature and character. One goes forth at the beginning of the process of unbelief and apostasy; the other sums up the final completion of it, and powerfully announces the terrible result. Then Christ comes, and great Babylon receives her final doom.
Soon after the disappointment in 1844, and the time when the Adventist believers were really forced out of the popular churches, many realized that a great change had occurred in those churches. Spiritual coldness prevailed, and many confessed it in great alarm. They themselves in a degree realized that a change for the worse had occurred. Many publicly confessed this fact. The trend of the current downward toward worldly standards has since become most noticeable. In the purer days, most of the churches had strict rules of living, to which it was expected their members would conform. In these rules of living were defined duties which were in harmony with Bible requirements. Fashionable clothing, the wearing of jewelry, attendance at card parties and theaters, were prohibited as works of the flesh and the carnal mind. Attendance at meetings, supporting the cause of God, taking part in religious services, etc., were expected of the members. These provisions long ago became a dead letter in the popular churches. Church-members now take the lead in the wearing of fashionable clothing, jewelry, etc., and many attend card parties and theaters, and find enjoyment in worldly pleasures. And so common have these practises become that they are scarcely noticed. The members of several leading churches once renowned for their humble piety, plainness in dress, obedience in discipline,10are now among the foremost of pleasure-seekers.
The methods of raising funds to help forward the gospel work has become, in many instances, a disgrace to the cause of God. Lotteries, grab-bags, big suppers, gambling, and various other devices, have been in vogue till even magistrates have referred to them as disgraceful. It is painful to refer to such matters; and though vastly more might be said, we forbear, with the passing remark that these customs are an indubitable evidence of backsliding, and a certain indication of a great moral fall in the leading churches of the Protestant world throughout Christendom.
Bowling Green, Fla.
(To be concluded)
The Need of Vital Power
By R. D. QUINN
R. D. QUINN
WHEN David was called from the sheep-cotes and from following the sheep, to be made ruler over God's people, he was first of all anointed for his mission, and for the great work to which he had been called. The record reads that “Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. . . . And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him.”
When Moses was called from the wilds of Midian to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, he hesitated to undertake the great task, until God had repeatedly promised him that his presence, or Spirit, would go with him. Forty years later, when the burden of this mission was transferred from Moses to another, it was “Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit,” who was selected.
Elijah, called of God to begin a mighty reformation in the time of apostasy, was so anointed for his mission that he has by some been termed “the fire prophet.” By his faith and prayers, he called down fire from heaven, and finally went to heaven in a chariot of fire, with horses of fire. One thousand years later, the angel Gabriel, in announcing the birth of John the Baptist and the marvelous work that would be accomplished through him, also, could compare that work to nothing greater than the “spirit and power of Elias.” Yet Elisha, as a preparation for his life-work, asked for and received a double portion of the spirit that had rested upon Elijah.
When Christ began his public ministry, the Spirit of God descended from heaven upon him, and he was “anointed . . . with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
The disciples were told to tarry in Jerusalem, until they were baptized with the Holy Ghost for service; and when they had received the anointing, it was not long until they filled all Jerusalem with their doctrine, and all other places, so that the gospel was preached to every creature which was under heaven, in that generation.
Now the cause of the marvelous success that attended all these men, and many others too numerous to mention, is obvious. They received the unction; they were anointed for their mission; they were sent forth by the Holy Ghost. It was the presence of the mighty God of Jacob that made them great. “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.” We are told that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”
The secret of success in God's work, is the union of divine power with human effort. Those who achieve the greatest victories are those who take God into account, and who rely most implicitly upon the almighty arm. When, because of the murmurings of the children of Israel in the wilderness, the faith of Moses was severely tried, he cried to God for help. Again and again the record states, “When Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.” “He endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” His successor, Joshua, who commanded, “Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon,” is the man who for hours lay prostrate upon the earth in prayer in the camp at Gilgal. The men of prayer are the men of power.
David's courage and boldness in going forth to meet the Philistine champion, were inspired by his keen sense of the presence of God. He said to his antagonist, “I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.” He was reckoning on those invisible armies of light and power that attend the righteous from day to day; and their presence, though unseen by mortal eye, was just as real to David as was the presence of Goliath. With a mighty faith like his, what had he to fear?
After recounting the deeds of men of this type, Paul says, “What shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, . . . escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin [of unbelief] which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
And now let us ask ourselves this living question: Shall we be satisfied with less power than characterized the lives and work of these men? Certainly there was never a time in the history of this world when the work of God was more in need of just such men of faith and power as is revealed in Paul's missionary roll-call of past dispensations.
“Why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit, since this is the means by which we are to receive power? Why do we not talk of it, pray for it, preach concerning it? The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to us than parents are to give good gifts to their children. My brethren and sisters, plead for the Holy Spirit. God stands back of every promise he has made. With your Bibles in your hands, say, ‘I have done as thou hast said; I present thy promise, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”’”
“The dispensation in which we are now living is to be, to those that ask, the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. Ask for his blessing. It is time we were more intense in our devotion. To us is committed the arduous, but happy, glorious work of revealing Christ to those who are in darkness. We are called to proclaim the special truths for this time. For all this the outpouring of the Spirit is essential. We should pray for it. The Lord expects us to ask him. We have not been whole-hearted in this work. What can I say to my brethren in the name of the Lord? What proportion of our efforts has been made in accordance with the light the Lord has been pleased to give? We can not depend upon form or external machinery. What we need is the quickening influence of the Holy Spirit of God. ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.’ Pray without ceasing, and watch by working in accordance with your prayers. As you pray, believe, trust in God. It is the time of the latter rain, when the Lord will give largely of his Spirit. Be fervent in prayer, and watch in the Spirit.”
Bozeman, Mont.
One
By G. B. STARR
G. B. STARR
“Consider the lilies. . . . Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Jesus singled out one lily. It has received the personal attention of God, the Master Artist, to bring it to a degree of perfection, as much as if there were no others in the world. The perfection of a field depends upon the perfection of each one. Jesus was a kindergarten teacher. He used nature as no other ever did or could. Men and women were his pupils. He came to reveal the love of God to the individual.
We are not lost in the great mass of mankind; there is not another in the universe like any of us; there are really no doubles; our features, our figures, our voices, our powers of body and mind, are not just like those of another. We each feel at times that no one in the world fully understands us; and that is true. But there is One who understands us, and who specially loves us.
He “loved me, and gave himself for me,” to bring me to perfection, as if there were no others needing such love and attention.
The parable of the one lost sheep, in11which the ninety and nine were left that the one might be found, teaches the same lesson. The one prodigal son was not forgotten by the father. It is not the will of the Father that one of these little ones should perish.
The one woman who touched Jesus in the crowd is singled out by him, and sent away with his personal blessing; she is not lost in the crowd. Our names are individually written in the book of life, and engraved upon the palms of Christ's hands. He loves us with an infinite love, and we are ever present in his thoughts.
In John 14:23 we read: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
He will give to each of us “a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” Rev. 2:17. This name represents the exact character each has formed.
He hears our individual prayers. John 16:23-27. Our voices are not drowned in the din of the crowd. “He heareth us; and we know that he heareth us, . . . we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” 1 John 5:14, 15.
We may esteem others better than ourselves for the very sake of the special gifts and graces which they possess, and which we lack. We influence others by these very qualities in which we differ most. Each is a center of influence all his own.
“He knows each individual by name, and cares for each as if there were not another upon the earth for whom he gave his beloved Son.”
Wahroonga, N. S. W., Australia.
Rise and Decay of Christianity in Abyssinia
IN the days of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, Meropius, a Christian physician of Tyre, accompanied by his two nephews, Frumentius and Edesius, undertook a trip upon the waters of the Red Sea. Their ship was wrecked on the coast of Ethiopia, and the two nephews of Meropius were the sole survivors of the disaster. They became slaves, and were sold to the king of Abyssinia, who soon learned to love them, and raised them to honored positions. Finally, a short time before his death, he gave liberty to both, and upon his death-bed made Frumentius the administrator of the kingdom and the guardian of the minor heir to the throne. Edesius returned to Tyre, but Frumentius did his best for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the land of his adoption. Having caused Christian merchantmen from Egypt to come and settle in Abyssinia, he went finally to Alexandria to visit Bishop Athanasius and ask his help in spreading the gospel among the people of his country. Athanasius made Frumentius a bishop, and the head of the missionaries whom he sent with him. Frumentius received the titles of Abba Salama (father of peace) and Abuna (our father), and this last title is still applied to the head of the Abyssinian Church. The connection of the Egyptian and Abyssinian churches also still continues, and the abuna is always imported from Egypt.
Under Frumentius and his successors, Christianity made such rapid progress that the whole land was Christianized about the year 500 A. D. With the spread of Christianity in Abyssinia came the missionary spirit, which offered the gospel to the surrounding multitudes still in heathen darkness, and created the Ethiopian translation of the Bible. But suddenly disaster came. Theological dissensions severed all connection between the Egyptian and Abyssinian churches and the remainder of Christendom, and soon after Mohammedanism began its mighty onslaught upon Africa. Abyssinia was enabled to withstand it, though North and Northeastern Africa succumbed; but alas! Abyssinian Christianity was badly crippled under the continuous troubles of the wars, and gradually it decayed and became the counterfeit of Christianity, which it is to-day. The Christian churches in modern Abyssinia have three courts, like the ancient temple in Jerusalem: the court of the men (women must remain in the forecourt); the holy place for the priests, which can be overlooked, however, through the holes in the walls; and the holiest of holy, where the sacramental dishes are kept and the sacramental elements are consecrated by the highest priest, who alone can enter it. In the holiest of holy the tabot (the holy ark) is kept. In the festal processions it is carried about under a great umbrella, and young and old reverently bow and kneel before it.
The chief priest is called the abuna, who has been called the pope of Abyssinia, though he is dependent on the king. Monks and nuns are numerous, and are ruled by the etschégé, who is also the confessor of the king. These monks and nuns are said to be lazy, living in licentiousness and luxury, and utterly ignorant. The priests are not much better. They can read the ancient, sacred Ethiopic translation of the Bible, though few of them understand it, and know by heart the long formulas of their liturgy and the Nicene Creed. Sermons are unknown.
The first and seventh days of the week are kept holy, and the year has one hundred eighty fast- and feast-days. Every Wednesday and Friday is a fast-day, when no eating or drinking is to be done between sunrise and sunset, or only bread and vegetables are to be eaten after the total fast until the ninth hour. Advent, lent, etc., are kept as fast-days.
Many saints are worshiped. Mary, the mother of God and queen of the heavens, is given the highest place among them. But it is the general doctrine that fasting, giving of alms and of large presents to their confessors, and kissing the doors of the churches insure eternal happiness to believers.
The sacraments are charms, not means of grace. Baptism is preceded by circumcision, and children are immersed, adults are sprinkled. After baptism a blue cord is fastened around the neck, a badge which is not removed till death. The bread of the Lord’s supper is soaked in wine, and fed to the communicants with a spoon. Men between twelve and forty years of age are debarred from the Lord’s supper, because they are thought unable to keep the sixth [seventh] commandment. The marital relation is not kept holy, and plural marriages are frequent. Wedding ceremonies are scarce.
It has been said that Abyssinian Christians are in morality far below the Mohammedans, and show all the vices and lusts of the wild inhabitants of Africa. Though nominal followers of Christ, the Abyssinians are lazy, liars, drunkards, and voluptuous in the extreme.—The Missionary Review, June, 1908.
Consecration
By Florence Ketring-Harper
FLORENCE KETRING-HARPER
The daily life of the Christian is a life of surrender. There will be a giving up of self and selfish plans,—a laying of all at the feet of Jesus.
We do not know the way we should go. We do not know what lies before us. We have not wisdom or discernment to choose what is best, and to discard that which is of least worth among the many things forced on our attention as we go through the day. By choosing our own way, and withholding from God a surrender of self, we lose much time, and overlook valuable opportunities of doing good to others and of building up our own characters.
If we are too busy to cultivate the acquaintance and friendship of Christ by communion with him in meditation and prayer, our lives will be filled with fretfulness, anxiety, fear, and care. This is not God’s will. “My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord,” says the psalmist.
We do not know the beautiful things he would tell us,—the things that would make us strong, and our lives bright and helpful and a song of praise and gladness in spite of the trials and cares he lets come,—if we only had the wisdom to stop and listen; and this wisdom he will give if we only will let him begin the day for us, and go through it with us.
Many the temptations that would be warded off by the angel at our side,—temptations that are “more than we are able to bear;” many the cares that would be lifted; rich and refreshing the sweetness that would come into our lives instead of the bitterness, if we would only let God rule our days.
In the words of another: “Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. . . . Surrender all your plans to him, to be carried out or given up as his providence shall indicate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ.”
Wichita, Kan.
I Sought Him
By Helen A. Saxon
I SOUGHT Him in the broad and shining ways,
Where beauty makes her infinite appeal,
In rainbow arches and swift clouds that steal
Their flaming glory from the sunset blaze.
I sought him in the snowy peaks that raise
Vast shoulders to the skies they half conceal,
And in the marvels midnight hours reveal
When circling worlds give him unceasing praise.
I found him in the slums, midst dust and mire,
Where passions breed, and evil things are rife.
I found him shaping into something higher
Dim, suffering souls submerged in sin and strife,
And fanning into flame each least desire
That yearns aloft for purity of life.