Signs of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 12. (3/20/1884)

Signs of the Times

Mar 20, 1884

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 20, 1884

General Articles.

By Ellen G. White

Science and the Bible in Education.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

THE foundation of all right education is a knowledge of God. Many parents who make great sacrifices to educate their children, seem to think that a well-trained intellect is more essential than a knowledge of God and his truth. They neglect to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and act as though they supposed this important part of education would come naturally, as a matter of course. But the first and most important lesson to be impressed upon young minds is the duty of regulating the life by the principles of the word of God.

Parents and teachers should make God first. The influence of his Spirit purifies the heart and stimulates the intellect. If the fear of God is made the basis of education, the result will be a well-developed and symmetrical character, one that is neither dwarfed nor one-sided. Care should be taken to keep constantly before the mind the fact that we are dependent on God, and that we owe him willing obedience, a lifetime of loving service. The true object of education is to fit us for this service by developing and bringing into active exercise every faculty that we possess. Satan desires to defeat this object. He is the great enemy of God, and it is his constant aim to lead souls away from their allegiance to the King of Heaven. He would have minds so trained that men and women will exert their influence on the side of error and moral corruption, instead of using their talents in the service of God, to save souls and bless society. His object is effectually gained, when, by perverting their ideas of education, he succeeds in enlisting parents and teachers on his side; for a wrong education often starts the mind on the road to infidelity.

The conclusions which learned men have reached as the result of their scientific investigations are carefully taught and fully explained; while the impression is distinctly given that if these learned men are correct, the Bible cannot be. These philosophers would make us believe that man, the crowning work of creation, came by slow degrees from the savage state, and that farther back, he was evolved from the race of brutes. They are so intent upon excluding God from the sovereignty of the universe, that they demean man, and defraud him of the dignity of his origin. Nature is exalted above the God of nature; she is idolized, while her Creator is buried up and concealed from sight by science falsely so-called.

Cold philosophical speculations, and scientific research in which God is not acknowledged, are a positive injury. The thorns of skepticism are disguised; they are concealed and made attractive by the bloom and verdure of science and philosophy. Skepticism is attractive to the human mind. The young see an independence in it that captivates the imagination, and they are deceived. Satan triumphs; it is altogether as he meant it should be. He nourishes every seed of doubt that is sown in young hearts. He causes it to grow and bear fruit, and soon a plentiful harvest of infidelity is reaped. Teachers who sow these doubts do not lead the mind through the mist of unbelief to faith in the inspired word. But ignorance of God, of his might, his infinity, and his majesty, is the real reason that there is an infidel in the world.

Many teach that matter possesses vital power. They hold that certain properties are imparted to matter, and it is then left to act through its own inherent power; and that the operations of nature are carried on in harmony with fixed laws, that God himself cannot interfere with. This is false science, and is sustained by nothing in the word of God. Nature is not self-acting; she is the servant of her Creator. God does not annul his laws nor work contrary to them; but he is continually using them as his instruments. Nature testifies of an intelligence, a presence, an active agency, that works in, and through, and above her laws. There is in nature the continual working of the Father and the Son. Said Christ, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."

God has finished his creative work, but his energy is still exerted in upholding the objects of his creation. It is not because the mechanism that has once been set in motion continues its work by its own inherent energy that the pulse beats and breath follows breath; but every breath, every pulsation of the heart, is an evidence of the all-pervading care of Him in whom we live and have our being. It is not because of inherent power that year by year the earth produces her bounties and continues her motion around the sun. The hand of God guides the planets, and keeps them in position in their orderly march through the heavens. It is through his power that vegetation flourishes, that the leaves appear and the flowers bloom. His word controls the elements, and by him the valleys are made fruitful. He covers the heavens with clouds, and prepares rain for the earth; he "maketh grass to grow upon the mountains." "He giveth snow like wool; he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes." "When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures."

Parents and teachers should aim to impress minds with the beauty of truth. They should realize that the safety of the young depends upon combining religious culture with general education, that they may escape the snare of unsanctified knowledge. Who and what are the men of learning, that the minds and characters of the young should be moulded by their ideas? They are not connected with the great Source of wisdom; and if they do not actually deny God, they at least lose sight of his direct agency in the operations of nature. But his care is over all the works of his hands. Nothing is too great to be directed by him; nothing is too small to escape his notice.

God is the foundation of everything. All true science is in harmony with his works; all true education leads to obedience to his government. Science opens new wonders to our view; she soars high and explores new depths; but she brings nothing from her research that conflicts with divine revelation. Ignorance may seek to support false views of God by appeals to science; but the book of nature and the written word do not disagree; each sheds light on the other. Rightly understood, they make us acquainted with God and his character by teaching us something of the wise and beneficent laws through which he works. We are thus led to adore his holy name, and to have an intelligent trust in his word.

The Bible should be read every day. It is the correct standard of right and wrong and of moral principle. A life of devotion to God is the best shield for the young against the temptations to which they are exposed while acquiring an education. The first consideration should be to honor God; the second to be faithful to humanity, performing the duties and meeting the trials that each day brings, and bearing its burdens with firmness and courage. Earnest and untiring effort, united with strong purpose and entire trust in God, will help in every emergency, and will qualify for a useful life. Such a life is a series of triumphs, not always seen and understood, but reaching far into the future, when we shall see as we are seen and know as we are known.

If we work in harmony with the Spirit of God, we shall see of his salvation. The education begun here will not be completed in this life; it will be going forward through all eternity,—progressing ever, never completed. Day by day the wonderful works of God, the evidences of his miraculous power in creating and sustaining the universe, will open before the mind in new beauty and grandeur. In the light that shines from the throne, mysteries will disappear, and the soul will be filled with astonishment at the simplicity of the things that were never before comprehended.

THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

By Sarah Doudney

ART thou alone on earth, a stranger here, Without one kindred spirit dwelling near To soothe thy sorrows, or thy joys to share, Or breathe thy name to Heaven in secret prayer? Be comforted, for thou hast still a Friend. Lo! Jesus loves thee—loves thee to the end.

Art thou in sickness? Lift thy weary eyes Unto that cross whereon he bleeds and dies; Behold the pierced hands, the riven side! For thee he suffered and was crucified; And thou with him hereafter shall ascend, For Jesus loves thee—loves thee to the end.

Art thou in poverty and sore distress? The Saviour's touch can make thy burden less. Life's load is heavy, but he knows its weight, And thou shalt leave it at the golden gate— To which thy feeble footsteps surely tend; For Jesus loves thee—loves thee to the end.

Art thou in sorrow for some secret sin— Hating the evil that lies so deep within? One crimson fount can make thee clean and fair, Go thou and wash thy soul's stained vesture there. Draw near, nor fear thy boldness shall offend, For Jesus loves thee—loves thee to the end.

His sweet voice speaks to weary ones like thee, In Love's eternal language, "Comfort ye." And all his ancient promises divine Were made to those who felt such need as thine. Goodness and mercy shall thy steps attend, For Jesus loves thee—loves thee to the end.

—Sarah Doudney.

The Ancient Scripture.

By Dr. J. A. Smith

No CURRENT questions have, in late years, more commanded attention than those which concern the literature and the interpretation of the Old Testament. The interest of these questions has almost pushed the physical scientists from their stools. Instead of Tyndall, and Darwin, and Huxley, and Haeckel, and Virchow, we have now Robertson Smith, Delitzsch, Kuenen, and Wellhausen. The date of an Old Testament book is now a more absorbing issue than that of the origin of species, while keener optics than those which lately were scrutinizing flint hatchets and old bones, are now searching the Messianic psalms and the statues of Leviticus. Naturally, one is led to ask what may be the significance of all this, and how it shall be interpreted.

In part, it must be said, the interest in Old Testament study, now so manifest, is simply critical and archæological. We ought not to be surprised that there should be scholars who study our ancient Scripture not as theologians, but only as scholars. Their customary work has been largely in the line of other archæological literature. They have studied, with the zeal of explorers, both Egyptology and Assyriology. That old buried world, which now after so many centuries is having a resurrection, absorbs them in the revelations made of the life, and thought, and worship of what are in a somewhat strict sense pre-historic times. During the ages in which that old world was the living world our ancient Scripture was written. Of this fact these explorers and scholars are constantly reminded. They turn from the tablet and the papyrus to the familiar pages of the printed Bible. As they read this page they are still archæologists and critics. They have not the doctrinal interest there which some of the rest of us have. That their conclusions on many points should be different from ours, is not surprising. Of two things we need to be aware, as we take note of the claimed results of their investigations: (1) that critics are apt to be over-critical; (2) that the studies in which these scholars habitually engage are such in their nature and the discipline they afford, as to justify the expectation that there must be value, of some kind, in the results.

Naturally, this form of the prevailing interest in Old Testament study prepares the way for another. Those who have been accustomed to regard the date and order of the books in our ancient Scripture as settled beyond all possibility of question, also the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, the integrity of Isaiah's prophecy and the Messianic character of certain psalms, are surprised to find all these points treated as still open to dispute, while the confident tone of conclusions announced regarding them excites uneasiness. What does it mean? Are these conclusions sound? If so, what does it all import? Is faith in the Old Testament about to part from its moorings, and are we soon to be afloat? Must even the inspiration of these ancient books be virtually given up? When such issues as these are present to the mind, whether really involved in the questions under debate or not, one feels that he must look into the matter. And doubtless he should, remembering, meanwhile, that the critics are apt to be over-critical, and that zeal for discovery often makes one on the outlook imagine that he sees land, while what he does see is a cloud in the horizon, or a fog-bank far away under the blue.

Once more, it would seem that very many of us are coming to be conscious that there is an interest and value in our ancient Scripture of which we had grown in a measure inappreciative. It is not very long ago that many, believing the Old Testament to belong to a dispensation wholly past, had almost come to regard it as no longer of interest for a Christian.

Some, even, doubted if it were well for ministers to take texts from it for their sermons. The Christianity of the Puritans had a strong Old Testament cast; that of their children seemed in danger of reaching an opposite extreme even more mistaken. We find, now, that its relation to the New Testament, in its exhibition of a most interesting and momentous stage in the steady growth of divine revelation and the kingdom of God on earth; as an ancient literature, some of it perhaps the oldest in the world; as running parallel with those other ancient literatures now coming to light and yet in most wonderful contrast with them; as a repertory of primitive thought and faith, preserved by special divine interposition from the corruption and darkness into which all in the world beside was plunged; as a memorial of ancient genius, plumed for fight by divine inspiration and guided on its way by attending divine ministries—we are now awakening to the fact that, as all this, our Old Testament is a most wonderful book, or, rather library of books. The infidel has done his worst in assailing it. Possibly we had consented in some measure to his disparagement. We now see that what he found in it as peculiar, and therefore open to attack, is peculiar just because it is old; and that what he did not find in it is a treasure of knowledge and faith worth more than all the wisdom of the world beside.—Dr. J. A. Smith, in Chicago Standard.

Identity of Papacy and Paganism.

By James Watson Esq.

MIDDLETON traced the altars of the Romanists to the altars of the pagans. His papist adversary of course preferred deriving them from the altar of incense in the temple of Jerusalem; and is surprised therefore how I can call it heathenish! Yet it is evident, from the nature of that institution, that it was never designed to be perpetual, and that, during its continuance, God would never have approved any other altar, either in Jerusalem or anywhere else. But let him answer directly to this plain question. Was there ever a temple in the world not strictly heathenish in which there were several altars all smoking with incense within one view and at one and the same time? It is certain that he must answer in the negative, yet it is certain that there were such temples in pagan Rome, and are as many still in Christian Rome. And since there was never an example of it but what was paganish before the time of popery, how is it possible that it could be derived to them from any other source? Or when we see so exact a resemblance in the copy, how can there be any doubt about the original? Many altars under the same roof indicate many objects of worship, and the Polytheism of the church of Rome is manifested by the first view of the interior of their cathedrals. This similarity in the Polytheism of paganism and popery is most clearly shown in the pope displacing Jupiter and all the gods from the Pantheon, to make way for the Virgin Mary and all the saints. The noblest heathen temple now remaining in the world, is the Pantheon or Rotunda, which, as the inscription over the portico informs us, having been impiously dedicated of old by Agrippa to Jove, and all the gods, was piously consecrated by Pope Boniface IV. to the blessed Virgin and all the saints. With this single alteration, it serves as exactly for all the purposes of the popish, as it did for the pagan worship, for which it was built. For as in the old temple every one might find the god of his country, and address himself to that deity whose religion he was most devoted to, so it is the same thing now—every one chooses the patron whom he likes best, and one here may see different services going on at the same time at different altars with distinct congregations around them, just as the inclinations of the

people lead them to the worship of this or that particular saint.

Middleton shows very well not only that the rites of the papist are borrowed from the pagan, but that many of those rites were condemned both by the Christian church and the Christian emperors even when religion was much corrupted.

The Christian emperors strictly prohibited their pagan subjects to light up candles, offer incense or hang up garlands to senseless images, for these were then reckoned the notorious acts of genuine paganism. Yet now we see all these very acts performed every day in popish countries to the images of the popish saints. In a word, since there never was an image in the temple of the true God in any part of the world, yet a perpetual use of them in all the temples of the heathen, it is in vain to dispute about their origin. The thing is evident to a demonstration. They must necessarily be derived to the present Romans from those who always used, and not from those who always detested, them—that is from their pagan, not their Christian, ancestors.

In their very priesthood they have contrived, one would think, to keep up as near a resemblance as they could to that of pagan Rome. And the sovereign pontiff, instead of deriving his succession from St. Peter, may, with more reason and a much better plea, style himself the successor of the Pontifex Maximus, or chief priest of old Rome, whose authority and dignity was the greatest in the republic.

We see a simpler and more honest representation of popery than any that Bossuet or the doctors of the church afford in the conduct of the Portuguese, when they first arrived in India. In their devout and unsophisticated minds, popery and paganism were completely identified. The continual shouts of Chrishnu, Chrishnu, they confidently mistook for the invocation of Christ; the idol temples appeared to them Romish cathedrals, and the Brahmins, popish priests. From this place the kutwal escorted the general to one of their pagodas or idol temples, into which they entered, and which the kutwal said was a church of great holiness. This the general believed to be the case, fancying it to be a church of the Christians, which he the more readily believed, as he saw seven little bells hung over the principal door. In front of this entry there stood a pillar made of wire as tall as the mast of a ship, on the top of which was a weather-cock, likewise made of wire. This church was as large as a moderate convent, all built of freestone, and covered or vaulted over with brick, having a fine outward appearance, as if its inside were of splendid workmanship. Our general was much pleased with the church, as he actually believed himself in a Christian country, and gladly entered along with the kutwal. They were received by the priests, who were naked from their waists upward, having a petticoat of cotton hanging down from the girdle to their knees, and pieces of calico covering their armpits; their heads, legs, and feet bare. They were distinguished by wearing certain threads over their right shoulders which crossed over their breasts and under their left arms, much in the way in which our priests used formerly to wear their stoles when they said mass. These men are called kafirs, and are idolaters, serving as priests in the pagodas of Malabar; and on the general going into the pagoda, they took holy water with a sprinkler from a font, and threw it over the kutwal and him, and their attendants. After this, they gave them powdered sandal wood to throw upon their heads as used to be done amongst us with ashes; and they were directed to do the same on their arms. But our people, as being clothed, omitted this latter part of the ceremony, complying with the other. In the pagoda they saw many images painted on the walls, some of which had monstrous teeth

projecting an inch from their mouths, and some had four arms; all of them so ugly that they seemed like devils, which raised doubts amongst our people whether they were actually in a Christian church. In the middle of the pagoda stood a chapel, having a roof or dome of free-stone like a tower, in one part of which was a door of wire, to which there led a flight of stone steps. On the inside of this tower, an image was observed in a recess of the wall, which our men could not see distinctly, as the place was somewhat dark, and they were not permitted to go near, as none were allowed to approach except the priest. But, from certain words and signs, our people understood this to be an image of the Virgin; on which the general and his attendants went upon their knees to say their prayers. John de Sala, however, being very doubtful that this was a Christian church, owing to the numerous images on the walls, said as he fell on his knees, If this be the devil, I worship God—at which the general looked at him with a smile.

Popery is paganism under a thin disguise of Christianity, and accordingly, in all things it is but a gross and material counterfeit of true and spiritual religion.—James Watson Esq.

John Ploughman's Talk on Patience.

PATIENCE is better than wisdom; an ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains. All men praise patience, but few enough can practice it; it is a medicine which is good for all diseases, and therefore every old woman recommends it; but it is not every garden that grows the herbs to make it with. When one's flesh and bones are full of aches and pains, it is as natural for us to murmur as for a horse to shake his head when the flies tease him, or a wheel to rattle when a spoke is loose; but nature should not be the rule with Christians, or what is their religion worth? If a soldier fights no better than a plough-boy, off with his red coat. We expect more fruit from an apple-tree than from a thorn, and we have a right to do so. The disciples of a patient Saviour should be patient themselves. Grin and bear it, is the old-fashioned advice, but Sing and bear it, is a great deal better. After all, we get very few cuts of the whip, considering what bad cattle we are; and when we do smart a little, it is soon over. Pain past is pleasure, and experience comes by it. We ought not to be afraid of going down into Egypt when we know we shall come out of it with jewels of silver and gold.

Impatient people water their miseries, and hoe up their comforts; sorrows are visitors that come without invitation, but complaining minds send a wagon to bring their troubles home in. Many people are born crying, live complaining, and die disappointed; they chew the bitter pill which they would not even know to be bitter if they had the sense to swallow it whole in a cup of patience and water. They think every other man's burden to be light, and their own feathers to be heavy as lead; they are hardly done by in their own opinion; no one's toes are so often trodden on by the black ox as theirs; the snow falls thickest round their door, and the hail rattles hardest on their windows; and yet, if the truth were known, it is their fancy rather than their fate which makes things go so hard with them. Many would be well off if they could but think so. A little sprig of the herb called content put into the poorest soup will make it taste as rich as the Lord Mayor's turtle. John Ploughman grows the plant in his garden, but the late hard winter nipped it terribly, so that he cannot afford to give his neighbors a slip of it; they had better follow Matthew 25: 9, and go to those who sell and buy for themselves. Grace is a good soil to grow it in, but it wants watering from the fountain of mercy.

To be poor is not always pleasant, but worse things than that happen at sea. Small shoes are apt to pinch, but not if you have a small foot; if we have little means it will be well to have little desires. Poverty is no shame, but being discontented with it, is. In some things the poor are better off than the rich; for if a poor man has to seek meat for his stomach, he is more likely to get what he is after, than the rich man who seeks a stomach for his meat. A poor man's table is soon spread, and his labor spares his buying sauce. The best doctors are Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, and Dr. Merryman, and many a godly plowman has all these gentlemen to wait upon him. Plenty makes dainty, but hunger finds no fault with the cook. Hard work brings health, and an ounce of health is worth a sack of diamonds. It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy that makes happiness. There is more sweet in a spoonful of sugar than in a cask of vinegar. It is not the quantity of our goods, but the blessing of God on what we have that makes us truly rich. The parings of a pippin are better than a whole crab; a dinner of herbs with peace is better than a stalled ox and contention therewith. "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith." A little wood will heat my little oven; why, then, should I murmur because all the woods are not mine?

When troubles come it is of no use to fly in the face of God by hard thoughts of providence; that is kicking against the pricks and hurting your feet. The trees bow in the wind, and so must we. Every time the sheep bleats, it loses a mouthful, and every time we complain, we miss a blessing. Grumbling is a bad trade and yields no profit, but patience has a golden hand. Our evils will soon be over. After rain comes clear shining; black crows have wings; every winter turns to spring; every night breaks into morning.

"Blow the wind never so fast, It will lower at last."

If one door should be shut God will open another; if the peas do not yield well, the beans may; if one hen leaves her eggs, another will bring out all her brood; there's a bright side to all things, and a good God everywhere. Somewhere or other in the worst flood of trouble, there always is a dry spot for contentment to get its foot on, and if there were not it would learn to swim.

Friends, let us take to patience and water-gruel, as the old folks used to tell us, rather than catch the miserables, and give others the disease by wickedly finding fault with God. The best remedy for affliction is submitting to providence. What can't be cured must be endured. If we cannot get bread, let us bless God that there are still some cabbages in the garden. Must is a hard nut to crack, but it has a sweet kernel. "All things work together for good to them that love God." Whatever falls from the skies is, sooner or later, good for the land: whatever comes to us from God is worth having, even though it be a rod. We cannot by nature like trouble any more than a mouse can fall in love with a cat, and yet Paul by grace came to glory in tribulations also. Losses and crosses are heavy to bear, but when our hearts are right with God, it is wonderful how easy the yoke becomes. We must needs go to glory by the way of Weeping Cross; and as we were never promised that we should ride to Heaven in a feather bed, we must not be disappointed when we see the road to be rough, as our fathers found it before us. All's well that ends well; and, therefore, let us plow the heaviest soil with our eye on the sheaves of harvest, and learn to sing at our labor while others murmur.

Riches

RICHES.—A very rich man recently said: "I worked like a slave till I was forty to make my fortune, and I've been watching it like a detective ever since for lodging, food, and clothes."

Concealed Infidelity.

By N. Y. Examiner

It is startling to a Christian mind, in turning over the pages of recent books, to find how thoroughly modern literature is tainted with the essence of infidelity. It rarely appears, in these times, in a gross and revolting shape, but in the far more dangerous disguise of a poor, sweet, humanitarian philosophy, a religion of science and nature; a sort of Christian paganism, in which the phrases and many of the doctrines of the Bible are so artfully interwoven as to present a deceitful appearance of the truth of God. This tendency is not confined to books that treat avowedly on religious topics, but pervades, in a greater or less degree, every department of modern literature. Out of a dozen new novels, books of science, political treatises, or whatever you choose, at least six or eight, on being read, will leave an impression behind unfavorable to Christianity; yet perhaps without containing a sentence that could be interpreted as openly hostile to religion. It is the general tone that does the evil work. One feels, without being able to say exactly how, that the tendency of thought is destructive of religious belief; that, somehow, his faith has received a wound, as from a weapon tainted with subtle poison.

In this characteristic lies the great danger of such books. Open arguments against the Christian religion can be met and refuted, as they have been met and refuted a hundred times already, until they have lost the power of influencing the minds of thinking men. But how shall this sly, insinuating, serpent-like spirit be met? Its presence is hardly perceptible until its evil work has been accomplished. This is especially true, we are pained to say, of books intended for the young. Under the attractive garb of a story told with exquisite simplicity and beautifully illustrated, there is too often taught a spurious morality that gently sets aside the Bible, and insinuates doubts that eventually culminate in various forms of infidelity. Let no one under-estimate the extent of this danger.—N. Y. Examiner, 1867.

Vicissitudes of Faith.

How common it is for Christians to talk of their faith being strengthened by gifts from God which are just in the line of their desires and fancies; and of their faith being weakened, or sorely tried, by things from God which are not what they have asked for. This is much as it would be, for a child to measure his father's love by the amount of candy and the number of toys brought home to the little one. A father's love is shown in the gift of school-books and medicines in their time, quite as surely as in the gift of candy and toys in their time. And God's love is shown quite as much in his bestowal of what we shrink from, as in his gift of what we long for. It is very well for us to talk of our faith being strengthened by the evident results of God's dealings with us; not by our estimate of the dealings themselves before we can know the reason for them as God sees it now, and as we can hope to see it by and by. Faith is not sight; faith rests on the Giver, sight measures the gift. Christians are to "walk by faith, not by sight."—Sel.

Greatness Forgives Injuries

IGNORING or quickly forgetting personal injuries is characteristic of true greatness, when meaner natures would be kept in unrest by them. The less of a man a person is, the more he makes of an injury or an insult. The more of a man he is, the less he is disturbed by what others say or do against him without a cause. "The sea remembers not the vessel's rending keel, but rushes joyously the ravage to conceal." It is the tiny streamlet which is kept in a sputter by a stick thrust into its waters by a willful boy.

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