NOTHING is too daring for this redoubtable author of “Christian Science,” Mrs. Eddy. Whatever may be lacking in facts, there is no lack of positiveness in her statements and boldness in her assumptions. If she were asked the question, she would no doubt say that Christ is far superior to herself; yet the claims she puts forth in her book exalt her far above Christ:—
“Jesus demonstrated the power of Christian Science to heal mortal minds and bodies; but this power was lost sight of, and must again be spiritually discerned, taught, and demonstrated,” etc.—Page 4.
“Our Master healed the sick, practised Christian healing, and taught the generalities of its divine Principle to His students; but He left no definite rule for demonstrating His Principle of healing and preventing disease. This remained to be discovered through Christian Science.—Page 41.
That is, Jesus did the work in the same way that she does, and taught His disciples to work in that way, and taught them the generalities. But He did not write out His system, nor teach it fully enough for it to be preserved. So it was lost for want of a “definite rule,” and it was left for her to discover that so-much-needed “definite rule.” And on page 40 she assures us that “Divine Metaphysics [as she calls her philosophy] is now reduced to a system.” This system enables the learner to demonstrate anew the divine Principle upon which Jesus’ healing was based.
She declares, “The Bible has been my only text-book” (pages 4, 20); but we must have her book, because “outside of Christian Science all is vague and hypothetical, the opposite of Truth” (page 537), and her reasons are:—
First, because it is the voice of Truth to this age, and contains the whole of Christian Science, or the Science of healing through mind. Second, because it was the first published book containing a statement of Christian Science, gave the first rules for demonstrating this Science, and registered this revealed Truth, uncontaminated with human hypotheses.—Page 453.
There we have it plainly stated, and the whole meaning of it all is, Jesus did not, but I did. With this blasphemous assumption before him, let the reader recall the reproach cast upon the name of the Lord as shown in the previous article, and if a lingering doubt remained as to whether Satan is or is not the instigator of this system, it will certainly be removed.
Altho claiming to believe and teach the Bible, the author does not hesitate to deny a translation, or even the inspiration, of a portion, and to take the most unwarranted liberties. Of one Bible statement she says:—
“This could not be the utterance of Truth or Science.”—Page 537.
“The translators of this record of Scientific creation entertained a false sense of Being. They believed in the existence of matter, its propagation and power.”—Id.
So, of course, they made a wrong translation.
She rejects the second and third chapters of Genesis. Of the account given in Genesis 2, she says:—
“This second account is a picture of error throughout.”—Page 379.
Gen. 2:4, 5, she calls a “myth” (page 523), she strenuously objects to the Bible account of Adam, says the name is the synonym for error (page 522); that he never lost his inheritance and dominion over the earth, because it was never given to him (page 525); that he was not made in the image and likeness of God (page 571); and many other unpleasant things about him. But she ignorantly overlooks the fact that in Gen. 1:26, 27, which she quotes approvingly, the word man is from the Hebrew word Adam, so that it reads, “Let us make Adam in our image.” Verse 26. “So God created Adam in His own image, in the image of God created He him.” Verse 27. And therefore Adam was a part of the creation that God pronounced very good.
In order to make a show of Bible support for her theory, Mrs. Eddy makes the grossest perversions of its words. Referring to Moses’ rod being turned into a serpent, she says:—
“In this incident was seen the actuality of Science. Matter was shown to be a belief only. . . . The illusion of Moses lost its power to alarm him, when he discovered that what he apparently saw was really but a different phase of mortal belief.”—Pages 216, 217.
Again of Paul’s words:—
Paul writes, “If Christ [Truth] be not risen, then is my preaching vain;” that is, if this idea of the supremacy of Spirit, which is the true conception of Being, come not to your thought, you can not be benefited by what I say.”—Page 220.
She thus misquotes Christ’s words concerning Lazarus, “He is not dead, but sleepeth,” and tells us that “He restored Lazarus by the understanding that he had never died, not by an admission that his body had died, and then lived again” (page 241), and further says that, if Jesus had believed in the material existence of Lazarus, He could not have raised him. Of course, she conveniently forgets to quote those other words, “Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” John 11:14. Many other illustrations might be added to these if it were necessary.
The fact that any one having a sound mind can read her book without observing this effort to pervert and destroy the meaning of the Bible, and without seeing the vagaries, self-contradictions, and inconsistencies, in which the book abounds, is a most striking evidence that many in this age have wandered far from God, and have no knowledge of His Word in its simplicity and power; but, like the antediluvians, they are each seeking his self-chosen way.
We will next consider some of the self-contradictions and inconsistencies.
J. O. BEARD.
How They Became Convinced
[Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to tell in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.]
XLI.
When a child, as soon as I had learned to read fairly well, I read the Scriptures. There I received my first definite impressions concerning which day of the week is the real Sabbath of the Lord. In my childish simplicity I inferred that the first day was the seventh; for the reason that every one of whom I knew was keeping, or claiming to observe, the first day. A few times I heard persons remark that Sunday was the first day. I every time denied it. No one seemed to know enough of the history of the two days to lead me into the light.
When a lad in my teens I learned from an eccentric character, yet a well-read man, the general history of the two days, and of the assumed change, and that Sunday was the first day; hence, that the day previous was the veritable seventh day from creation, the real Sabbath.
I was assured by Ex. 31: 15, 16, that no change could occur so long as a vestige of Israel remained; that it is as “perpetual” as they. I then erroneously concluded that the virtual intent of the command was met in a dual compliance—one day in seven, and uniformity as to which day. This delusion the light of prophecy dispelled. The Sabbath reform for the last days, so clearly demanded by Isaiah 56 and 58, dissipated the clouds and mists from my spiritual eyesight, and I saw clearly for the first time that a double and radical reform must come. The identical day, and proper celebration, must be restored. God is particular to the word in what He requires. Jer. 26: 2. Craving the blessing of obedience, I hastened to remove my unhallowed feet from Christ’s holy day. W. T. DRUMMOND. Eastman, Ga.
XLII.
I was born of Sabbath-keeping parents, and reared in that faith. But when I had “come to years,” I had the question of the day of the Sabbath to settle for myself. I observed that the majority of professed Christians were keeping the first day of the week, instead of the seventh “according to the commandment.” On studying the question, I became confirmed in the belief that, according to the Protestant platform,—“the Bible, and the Bible only,”—the seventh day is the day divinely appointed for rest. I found that Christ kept that day, and I concluded that, as He is “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever,” it is His Sabbath still.
I learned that God’s special presence in things makes them holy, as the “holy ground” by the burning bush, etc., and I could see that it was God’s special presence in the seventh day that gives to it its sacredness, causing it to differ in nature from the “six working days;” consequently, if I wanted a Sabbath blessing, I must accept of it in “the seventh day.” From Isa. 58: 13 I could see that the Sabbath was an emblem or foretaste of eternal rest. Hence my attitude toward God’s weekly rest would determine whether or not I would enjoy His eternal presence. This conclusion I could not avoid, and I took a firmer hold on the Sabbath to love, keep, and recognize God’s presence in it. C. T. ADAMS.
DOCTOR TORREY ON THE HIGHER CRITICISM.
In his replies to questions from ministerial brethren in a recent meeting at Sydney, Australia, Dr. R. A. Torrey, the leader of the Moody Bible School, Chicago, answered an inquiry regarding his position in reference to the Higher Criticism as follows:—
The three great leaders of the Higher Criticism were infidels, and I don’t care to get my knowledge of theology from such a source. In the first place there is nothing new in their alleged discoveries. In spite of all their talk about the “new views,” there is scarcely anything in their theories that is not contained in Tom Paine’s scurrilous “Age of Reason.”
Indeed, Professor Osgood, who is a Hebrew scholar, stood on the floor of the Baptist Congress of Detroit, Mich., to speak on the Higher Criticism. “Before discussing the question,” he said, “I would like to read what I conceive to be the few positions that are taken up by the higher destructive critics.”
He went to work and read off these positions, one after the other. “Now, gentlemen,” he said to the supporters of the Higher Criticism, “is that a fair statement of the position?” “Yes,” they said. “Well, gentlemen,” he replied, “I have been reading6 (54)verbatim from Tom Paine’s ‘Age of Reason!’”
Brethren, if you are dabbling in that sort of thing, you do not know what you are doing. I used to be a higher critic myself. When Robertson Smith’s book came out, I welcomed it; in fact, I wrote a little book on the subject myself. I thank God that I did not publish it; I had not thought the thing through. Years ago, a dear brother spoke to me on the subject in our lecture room. He was a splendid man, tho not an expert in Bible study. He said to me, “Mr. Torrey, I do not know about these things. Men tell me that it is a purely literary question and doesn’t affect the authority of the Bible.” I said to him, “Don’t you let them stuff that nonsense down your throat; they are pulling the wool over your eyes. The next thing, they will be applying these very principles—which are now confined to the Old Testament—to the New Testament criticism, to the Gospels, and the life of Christ.” He hardly believed that. But what do we find in the last copy of the “Encyclopedia Biblica”? We find done that very thing which we predicted ten years ago.
Just let me say a few words about the origin of the Higher Criticism. The whole thing began with Jean Astruc. He was an immoral Jesuit, and he was the father of the Higher Criticism—the devil was its grandfather. Now I am not talking of something I know nothing about. The literary principles of the Higher Criticism are principles of literary criticism that have been spewed out of every other branch of literary and historical study. The methods by which the higher critics are trying to disprove the historicity of the book of Daniel, and other parts of the Old Testament, if applied to the history of England would disprove every fact in English history! They are the same methods that were applied at one time to Greek and Roman history. You know there were those who applied these methods to Greek and Roman history, and by means of their theories, swept away much of the history of Julius Caesar, Pompey, Troy—in fact, almost everything, so that there was but little left. But these methods have been given up, except in Biblical criticism.
They have been reduced to a reductio ad absurdum in every branch of historical study, and now these higher critics are applying them to the Bible.
One of the most awful things about theologians is that they adopt principles that students of every other branch of study in the world have tried and discarded. It is a hard thing to say, but it is a fact. By the same process Professor Fiske proved to a demonstration—provided you granted his premises—that there never was such a place as Troy, and shortly after Schliemann went and uncovered it. And just after it had been proved that Daniel could not be a historical character—because there was no such person known as Belshazzar—Rawlinson went and dug up a tablet bearing his very name—Belsharruzur.
Brethren, the Higher Criticism is an attempt to construct history—not from the records, but from your inner consciousness. Why, since I came to Sydney, I have read a pamphlet by a man who had the audacity to tell his readers that the Old Testament canon depended upon the decision of the Jewish Council, and upon the vote of Rabbi Akiba, the man who supported Bar Kokhba. He gave as his authority the Talmud. Now, any man who quotes a passage from the Talmud in a careless way, without telling his hearers what a mixture of fragments of truth with a mass of foolish legend the Talmud is, is either deliberately taking advantage of the ignorance of his hearers, or, what is more likely, some one has been taking advantage of his ignorance. The Talmud is the most marvelous mixture of truth with the most absolute nonsense ever written, and these men deliberately take one of the fables from the Talmud to show how the canon was settled. The authority of the Old Testament does not depend upon the Talmud, it depends upon the testimony of Jesus Christ; and no man who will put the Talmud up against the authority of Jesus Christ has any right to call himself a Christian.
FORCEFUL FOR GOD.
He whose heart is filled with love for the Master and is seeking to do His work, must ask himself from time to time, Is my work accomplishing anything for God? How often at the close of some effort, it may be after some sermon, some special meeting, some attempt to give individual help, or even at the close of a Sabbath-school review or a class exercise, there comes a feeling of dissatisfaction with the character of the effort you have made. You feel that you have not properly set before your audience, your division, your class, or that unconverted soul, Christ crucified and glorified. You feel that you have not reached the heart; that your lips had been touched with frosted steel rather than “coals from off the altar;” that your hearers had seen you and had not recognized the likeness of Christ; that they had heard your words and not the words of God; that hungry hearts have not been satisfied by what you have attempted to do. The Christian worker will never be satisfied with his efforts; but this dissatisfaction will at times be so keen that he is compelled to ask himself the reason therefor.
There may be a multitude of reasons—there generally is one, a failure rightly to connect with the great Source of power. In that, of course, is involved the matter of continuous consecration; but there the cause lies, tho a thousand things may have brought it about. The two important things are the recognition of the lack and the finding of the remedy.
Christ bade His disciples tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. They tarried; but while they tarried they were busy in prayer. There were others tarrying in Jerusalem, but the praying tarriers were alone endued with the power. They had consecrated themselves to His service already. So consecration and prayer made the combination which brought convicting and converting power from on high. That is the combination which will bring it now. But that consecration is a consecration that means service; and that prayer must come from the lips of those whose hearts are set on service—wherever the Master wills. That gave the power of Pentecost, it will give power now.
If your work is fruitless and unsatisfactory, try this combination: consecration and prayer. That means cutting loose from the attractions and ambitions of the world—not half-way, but wholly. It means the very life and all there is of one. The mind that is busy with worldly planning is not endued with the power of winning souls for Christ. The longer we continue in and of the world, the more tightly will the tendrils of our affections twine around the things of earth. We must cut loose, uproot, and reset.7That accomplished by God's help, consecrate all only to Him and “watch unto prayer.” That will bring into your life that oneness of purpose which will enable you to say with Paul: “I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” That oneness of purpose made Paul a power in the world for God. It will do the same for you. It is illustrated every day in the success which men of the world make by throwing all their energies into one thing. Marconi never would have telegraphed across the ocean had he divided his time among theaters, novels, horse-racing, stock-speculations, ship-building, manufacturing, mining, farming, and other things that take the attention of so many to-day. He won by making one thing his business, as other successful men of the world are doing. The Christian has one business set before him, the business of advancing God's kingdom in the earth. Our talents are not too many, nor our lives too important to give all into the work of God; and when that is done, God will crown that gift, that consecration, that concentration of purpose, with a power that will achieve mightily for Him. “Forgetting those things which are behind” [the things of this world], and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:13, 14. There was no half-hearted service about that, and no half-hearted servant will ever accomplish the work which Paul did. The secret of the whole matter is consecration and prayer. That will make the Christian powerful for God, because only to such can God entrust His power. Would you be forceful for God? Consecrate your life unreservedly to His service and be earnest and constant in prayer.
“WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?”
THIS is a Biblical question, and it is Biblically answered. The free man who was a slave asked it of the prisoner who was a free man.
A few hours before the free jailer had taken Paul and Silas the prisoners, beaten them with many stripes, cast them into an inner dungeon, and made their feet fast in the stocks. See Acts 16:19-34 for the story. No doubt they were sore, and the devil would tempt them to believe that God had forsaken them, and that the work in Philippi, which had begun so auspiciously, was doomed to come to naught.
Did they yield to the temptation? We do not believe it. Such things were not new to Paul. Doubtless they talked matters over, told the Lord all about it, tho He knew it better than they did, reminded Him that it was His work and they were His servants, and they knew He would care for the consequences. This was only one of the many things Paul was called to suffer for Christ’s sake.
So they prayed, and the praying ended in praising; for they sang hymns unto God. They were in harmony with the will of Him who sways the universe. He wanted them there. He would save the magistrates and the Roman jailer, and all others connected with them if possible. He therefore let them know that the power which could enable men to praise God in prison, backs sore from flagellation, feet fast in the stocks, was a power before which prison walls were nothing; and so the prison was shaken, the bolts shot back, and the prisoners were set free.
Then a strange thing occurred. The jailer thinking himself ruined by the escape of the prisoners, thought to kill himself, but heard the chief prisoner saying, “Do thyself no harm; for we are all here.” It was a strange voice to the Roman jailer. Why did not the prisoners escape? Why should the Hebrew agitators be solicitous of his welfare after receiving the treatment they had at his hands? The praying, the singing, the earthquake, and above all the Spirit of God in the prisoners, broke his heart, and he falls before the despised, mal-treated prisoners, and in agony of soul asks, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Not saved from the wrath of his superiors, but saved from the cruelest of all tyrants, sin.
The answer is explicit: “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved.” And then they gave further instruction, that he might know what was involved in the believing. Such instruction is still needed.
First of all, believing on the Lord Jesus is not a mere assent to the facts of His birth, His mission, His life, His death, His resurrection, His priesthood, His example, His coming again, His eternal kingship. One may assent to one or all of these and yet die eternally. Only the truth saves, and cold dead fact is not warm, living truth. “Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
Believing is not a mere saying, I accept Jesus as the Saviour, as the forgiver of sins. There are thousands who thus say, yet go right on in the sinning as ever before. The change they make is in profession only. The life and its lived purposes are the same.
What did Paul mean when he said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved”? Hear him in another place: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved; for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Rom. 10:9, 10. The “believe” of Acts 16 involves the “believe” and “confess” of Romans 10.
The belief which stops short of righteousness is spurious. The heart that cherishes such belief yet loves sin. The only righteousness which God sets before us is His righteousness. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Every other righteousness comes short of the glory of God, and God does not desire that one single soul shall come short. The heart that believes them will yield all, that the righteousness of God in Christ may be upon him, may possess him, may recreate him through and through. Believing unto righteousness is embracing the righteousness and rejecting all else. God counts the perfect righteousness of Christ in the sinner’s stead.
So much to the present; what of the future?—Logically, if we have accepted the righteousness of Christ for the past we must have it for the future. The only sure evidence we have that it is ours for the past is that His life and righteousness are ours in the present; that Christ lives His life in us. Gal. 2:20. So Paul told the jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus,” or on Jesus as Lord. So also in Rom. 10:9,—“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord.” To confess Christ as Lord is to acknowledge ourselves as His servants, our obligation to do as He says. Luke 6:46; Matt. 7:21. That means obedient hearts, walking as He walked, obeying as He obeyed, keeping all God’s commandments through the power of His life. This is believing. All else is but the belief of the demons, which will doom to eternal disappointment and destruction. “Believe on the Lord Jesus,” dear soul, as your righteousness and life, your Saviour and example, and in Him are you saved. Reject with all your soul that “belief” which issues in disobedience to God’s law or disregard of the life of Christ.
God Follows the Grain
By Benjamin M. Adams
WHEN God comes into a man He always follows the grain, just as lightning does when it strikes a tree.—Benjamin M. Adams.
What God Has Done, He Can Do Again
“WHATEVER God has done in men He can do again; and whatever God has done by men He can do again.”
WHEREIN MAN DIFFERETH FROM THE BEASTS.
By G.
ALL the creatures that dwell on the earth are of the earth. In the beginning God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind; and it was so.” Gen. 1:24. The previous day He had said, “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life [margin, ‘soul’], and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. . . . And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” Verses 20–22.
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Ch. 2:7. The difference between man and beast, as many suppose, is not expressed by the word “soul.” As before noted from the margin, the word translated “life” is also translated “soul.” So also in Ch. 1:30 we read, “And to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life [margin, ‘a living soul’], I have given every green herb for meat; and it was so.”
One difference between man and all other earthly creatures is expressed in verse 26 of chapter 1: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” But when man fell he forfeited the dominion to the one who overcame him. He chose to obey Satan, and thus became his servant. From being a ruler, he fell to the position of a servant. See Rom. 6:16. All over which Adam had been given dominion passed with him into subjection to the usurper, and the curse (death) passed upon all.
But the plan of redemption devised in heaven, as regards individuals, contemplated only the human race. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Salvation is for creatures capable of believing the Gospel. And herein is shown another difference between man and the subordinate creatures. Man, tho mortal, is capable of cultivating a moral character; the beast is not. “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding.” Ps. 32:9. Even before the fall, God held communion only with the man, into whose hands all other creatures were given.
Those who are susceptible to the Gospel call are such as the Holy Spirit can dwell in, and it dwells only in the hearts of believers. It does not dwell in impenitent man, therefore certainly not in the beasts. Ps. 34:18; Isa. 57:15. Only evil spirits are low enough to desire a habitation in the dumb brutes. Luke 8:30–33.
Like impenitent man, the beasts, especially beasts of prey, partake of the spirit of Satan—selfish in the extreme, with rare individual exception. Peter says that Satan, “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Speaking of the “ungodly,” of “them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness,” he also says that they are “as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed.”
Naturally the man and the beast have but one life. “I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.” Eccl. 3:18–20.
The way of salvation was devised for man, the beasts being irrevocably attached to the sin-cursed world to be destroyed with it. And only such men as “believe” and “obey the Gospel” will benefit by the grace of God. Those who choose to be “as natural brute beasts,” and “deny the Lord that bought them,” will take the consequence of their choice.
The contrast between man and beast is further shown by the psalmist: “Thou makest darkness, and it is night; wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.” They are all night walkers, and when “the sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.” But “man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening.” Ps. 104:20–23. The ungodly, however, are becoming more and more inclined to imitate the beasts in their nocturnal habits. Hence we read, “They that are drunken are drunken in the night.” And much of the ever-increasing crime throughout the land is committed or concocted in the night.
But those who accept the Gospel of Christ “are not of the night.” They live above the habits of the beasts. They are children of the day. “We are not of the night, nor of darkness.” Then “let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” G.
THE WORD OF GOD.
1. Christ Jesus sets His stamp of approval upon the scriptures of the Old Testament:—
“Is it not written in your law? . . . and the scripture can not be broken.” John 10:34, 35.
2. When He met the power of the devil’s temptations it was ever with the Word:—
“It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matt. 4:4.
“It is written, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God.” Verse 7.
“It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Verse 10.
3. Those scriptures, tho given through men, were inspired of God:—
“Thou hast known the sacred writings; . . . every scripture is inspired of God [God-breathed].” 2 Tim. 3:15, 16.
“No prophecy ever came by the will of man; but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:21.
4. God gave that Word as guide in the night of sin, as a light in the moral darkness of this world:—
“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path.” Ps. 119:105.
“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” Prov. 6:23.
5. There is power in God’s Word to heal and keep:—
“He sendeth His Word and healeth them, and delivereth them from their destructions.” Ps. 107:20.
“By the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.” Ps. 17:4.
6. The Scriptures are all-sufficient in themselves:—
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God [God-breathed], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.
7. It testifies of Christ Jesus:—
“Search the Scriptures; for . . . they are they that testify of Me.” John 5:39.
8. By that Word Christ cleanses and sanctifies the believer:—
“Already ye are clean because of the Word which I have spoken unto you.” John 15:3.
“Sanctify them in the truth; Thy Word is truth.” John 17:17.
9. God is particular concerning that Word:—
“Ye shall not add unto the Word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God.” Deut. 4:2.
Being born means coming out of. Now, are we born of God until God's power brings us out of the earth in the resurrection or changes us from mortality to immortality? F. A. A.
Born does not necessarily mean what you state. It rather means to bring into being, and is used not only of birth, but of begetting. In fact this seems to be the primary idea. The original word means “born,” by extension. The most important thing in man is character. The natural earthly character must be changed to an incorruptible heavenly character; and the new incorruptible character must as truly come from above as the incorruptible body. More, given the incorruptible character, and the like body follows. The great lesson that Jesus sought to impress upon Nicodemus was not that some time the Lord would change him and take him to heaven. As a Pharisee, Nicodemus doubtless believed that. The great thing for him and all others to learn is that the heart, the motives, the affections, the will, the conscience,—the whole moral man must be recreated, “born from above,” before he can be counted a member of the kingdom of God. See Col. 1:13; John 1:13; 1 John 3:1, 9; 1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18. Of course when Christ comes the incorruptible character will put on an incorruptible body. 1 Cor. 15:51–54.
What beast is referred to by John, the two-horned beast or the beast with the seven heads and ten horns? C. N.
There are two powers mentioned in these scriptures, the beast and the false prophet, two leading mighty influences in the last great apostasy of earth. “The beast,” it will be seen, by carefully reading from Revelation 13 to 20 invariably refers to the seven-headed, ten-horned beast. By comparing Rev. 19:20 with Rev. 13:12–17 it will also be evident that the false prophet is identical with the two-horned beast. Note the specifications: (1) The false prophet gave a false message; (2) he wrought miracles or signs in the sight of, or before, the beast, (3) he deceived the people into believing his false message by the signs which he wrought; (4) he induced them to worship the beast and receive his mark, the badge of his authority. This is just what the two-horned beast did. The false prophet and the two-horned beast are identical.
In Gen. 2:2 A. S. R. V. are we to understand that God did something on the seventh day? To finish a thing, does it not imply labor? It seems to me to end, or “ended” His work is better. F. M. H.
The word finished seems to be a good rendering of the Hebrew in that place. It is frequently rendered “finish” elsewhere. See Ex. 40:33; Ruth 3:18; 1 Kings 6:9, 14, 38; Ezra 6:14, etc. Finish comes from Latin finis, end. We should have preferred the simpler Anglo-Saxon. God used just a week, a period of seven days in making, preparing, the earth for man. The earth was not complete, its cycle of days was not complete, man’s home-period above all others, was not complete, till rounded out by the crowning day of God, the memorial of His power, the sign between Himself and His people. And this part of God’s work was wrought by God’s resting and forever establishing the seventh day as His rest day, even as He established the earth, forever. How He finished His work for man on the seventh day is told in Gen. 2:2, 3.
DRUNKENNESS AMONG WOMEN.
The Christian Advocate, wishing itself mistaken or the statistics incorrect, quotes The Apologetic, which credits Lady Isabel Somerset with saying that “fifteen years ago the ratio of arrests for drunkenness in London was five men to one woman, but it is now three women to one man. This is an astonishing statement.” The Advocate remarks further:—
It is a fact of serious import that drunkenness is greatly increasing among society women in this country. The afternoon teas of many of the imitators of the highest social circles are often not confined to the “cup which cheers but does not inebriate,” but that cup is strengthened by strong liquors. Arrests of well-dressed women, not of evil reputation for other vices, increase in frequency here. Sooner or later, what society does a large number will imitate. Women throughout England have been much more in the habit of drinking at bars than they ever were in this country. In frequent visits to London we have seen literally hundreds of women going in and out of the gin places, and crowds of them in the street at eleven or twelve o’clock at night intoxicated; but never so many in London as we have seen on a Saturday night in Edinburgh.
