Review and Herald, Vol. 53, No. 15. (4/10/1879)

Review and Herald

Apr 10, 1879

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 10, 1879

EVIL EFFECTS OF THE PLATONIC PHILOSOPHY.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.

RESTORATIONISTS AND UNIVERSALISTS.

It is also noticeable that a large number of those in the Christian church who first began to believe and teach the Platonic notion of the immortality of the soul, with it also taught the restoration, or universal salvation, of all souls. This fact is so well known that I do not stop to give the proof here. If any wish the evidence in full, they can read it in the “Ancient History of Universalism,” by Hosea Ballou; or in “Debt and Grace,” by C. F. Hudson; or in “The Scriptural Doctrine of Future Retribution,” by Edward Beecher.

This view was held by Origen, A. D. 230; Gregory Thaumaturgus, A. D. 243; Pierius and Theognostus, A. D. 282; Methodius, A. D. 290; Pamphilus, A. D. 294; Eusebius, A. D. 320; Titus, A. D. 362; Didymus, A. D. 370; Jerome, A. D. 380; Gregory Nyssen, A. D. 371; Diodorus, A. D. 378; Theodore, A. D. 394; Maximus, A. D. 662; and Nicholas, A. D. 1096. All these, and probably others, held to restorationism.

Origen went so far as to hold that the devil himself would finally be saved. Others held to the same. Indeed, restorationism and universalism appear to have been the popular faith during the labors of Origen in the third century, and for some time after. Universalists admit that they can find but few traces of their doctrine in the church till the close of the second century. The fact is, there is no trace of it until the Platonic doctrine of the soul was introduced.

That Origen, who was thoroughly in love with Platonism, and who, as all agree, did more than all others to corrupt the simple doctrines of the gospel by introducing Platonic philosophy, was the man who introduced the doctrine of universalism into the church, is confessed even by Hosea Ballou. He says, “It appears that Origen introduced the doctrine of universalism and that of the pre-existence of souls together.” He then quotes Origen as saying of the doctrines he was introducing, “Indeed, they are advanced by us with much hesitation, and more in the way of investigation and for the sake of discussing them, than as pronouncing them certain and indisputable.”

Here, in the beginning of the third century, was the origin of universalism in the Christian church. This doctrine came in naturally with that of the immortality of the soul; but finally the doctrine of an eternal hell and endless suffering crowded it out, and it was condemned as heretical.

THE HEATHEN HELL MAGNIFIED.

Finally, the most horrid of all the results of receiving Plato’s dogma of man’s natural immortality was, that with it also came the heathen theory of the torments of the damned in Tartarus, or hell. Had even this view been left as the old pagans taught it, it would not have been so fearfully horrid. But getting the idea from thence, the Romish priests, aided by the ignorance and superstition of the people, added greatly to the doctrine, increased its dimensions, and intensified all its infernal horrors. The number of those who went there was vastly larger than the number of those sent there by the pagans. They only doomed some of the worst cases; but now all out of the church must go there, together with heretics and apostates from the church. Plato’s hell only lasted till the periodical renovation of all things, as we have seen. This was a very long time, yet it was only a drop in the ocean compared to an actual eternity. But the Romanists made it eternal, sure, without hope of end. All the strong words the language knew, all the illustrations ingenuity could invent, were exhausted to convey the idea of its unending duration.

Plato had described hell as a place of great suffering; but now these sufferings were multiplied and intensified a hundred-fold. With Plato, hell was only a speculative idea, which affected nobody; but with the Romanists it was an ever-present, almost visible reality. The first thing the prattling child learned was to fear hell. The mother talked of it, the father warned of it, the teacher described it, and the priest threatened it. “Never,” says Michelet, “can we know in what terrors the Middle Age lived. There was all abroad a living fear of men, fear of the State, fear of the church, fear of God, fear of the devil, fear of hell, fear of death. Preaching consisted very much in the invitation, ‘Submit to the guidance of the church while you live,’ enforced by the threat, ‘or you shall go to hell when you die.’”

“A gloomy mist of credulity enwrapped the cathedral and the hall of justice, the cottage and the throne. In the dark shadows of the universal ignorance, a thousand superstitions, like foul animals of night, were propagated and nourished.” The learned author continues: “Suffice it to say, the monks appeared at midnight in the cells of various persons, now impersonating devils, in horrid attire, breathing flames and brimstone; now claiming to be the souls of certain sufferers escaped from purgatory; and again pretending to be celebrated saints, with the Virgin Mary at their head. By the aid of mechanical and chemical arrangements, they wrought miracles, and played on the terror and credulity of the spectators in a frightful manner.”

The Mediæval belief in a future life was practically concentrated, for the most part, around the ideas of Satan, purgatory, the last Judgment, hell. Says Neander, “The inmost distinction of Mediæval experience was an awful sense of another life and an invisible world.” “No oblivious draught, no pure spiritualization, had freed the departed souls from earthly bonds and associations. Light pretexts drew them back to their wonted haunts. A buried treasure allowed them no rest till they had led some one to raise it. An unfinished task, an uncanceled obligation, forced them again to the upper world. In ruined castles, the ghosts of knights, in their accustomed habiliments, held tournaments and carousals. The priest read mass; the hunter pursued his game; the specter-robber fell on the benighted traveler.”

Ghosts and specters walked on every hand, and lurked in every dark corner. The devil, with his cloven feet, long tail, horns, and breathing fire, was often seen. He made special contracts with desperate men to serve him for so long for certain worldly prosperity. Souls from purgatory frequently appeared, and told of their awful sufferings and who were there with them. They warned their surviving friends to believe the church and obey the priests. Now and then the door of hell was opened, and certain persons saw the smoke and the flames, and heard the cries and moans of the damned. Hell was no myth, no merely symbolical place, not simply a guilty conscience. No; hell was a dread reality, a real place, a lake of burning, literal fire. The belching of a volcano was the vomit of uneasy hell. If a man wishes to get a correct idea of the popular feeling touching hell in the Middle Ages, let him read the “Divine Commedia” of Dante. The transactions of hell were thought of and spoken of as familiarly as we now speak of the business of a neighboring city from which come the cars and the papers daily!

THE FIRES OF HELL LITERAL.

“Many persons who have not taken pains to examine the subject, suppose that the horrifying descriptions given by Christian authors of the state and sufferings of the lost were not intended to be literally received, but were meant as figures of speech, highly wrought metaphors, calculated to alarm and impress with physical emblems corresponding only to moral and spiritual realities. The progress of thought and refinement has made it natural that recourse should often be had to such an explanation; but unquestionably it is a mistake. The annals of theology, both dogmatic and homiletic, from the times of the earliest fathers till now, abound in detailed accounts of the future punishment of the wicked, whereof the context, the train of thought, and all the intrinsic characteristics of style and coherence, do not leave a shadow of doubt that they were written as faithful though inadequate accounts of facts. The church, the immense bulk of Christendom, has in theory always regarded hell and its dire concomitants as material facts, and not as merely spiritual experiences.

“Tertullian says, ‘The damned burn eternally without consuming, as the volcanoes, which are vents from the stored subterranean fire of hell, burn forever without wasting.’ Cyprian declares that ‘the wretched bodies of the condemned shall simmer and blaze in those living fires.’ Augustine argues at great length, and with ingenious varieties of reasoning, to show how the material bodies of the damned may withstand annihilation in everlasting fire. Similar assertions, which cannot be figuratively explained, are made by Irenæus, Jerome, Athanasius, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventura, Gerson, Bernard, and, indeed, by almost all the Christian writers. Origen, who was a Platonist, and a heretic on many points, was severely condemned for saying that the fire of hell was inward and of the conscience, rather than outward and of the body.”

“For the strict materiality of the fire of hell we might adduce volumes of authorities from nearly every province of the church. Dr. Barrow asserts that ‘our bodies will be afflicted continually by a sulphurous flame, piercing the inmost sinews.’ John Whitaker thinks ‘the bodies of the damned will be all salted with fire, so tempered and prepared as to burn the most fiercely, and yet never consume.’ Jeremy Taylor teaches that ‘temporal fire is but a painted fire in respect of that penetrating and real fire in hell.’ Jonathan Edwards soberly and believingly writes thus:—

“‘The world will probably be converted into a great lake, or liquid globe of fire,—a vast ocean of fire, in which the wicked shall be overwhelmed, which will always be in tempest, in which they shall be tossed to and fro, having no rest day or night, vast waves or billows of fire continually rolling over their heads, of which they shall forever be full of a quick sense within and without; their heads, their eyes, their tongues, their hands, their feet, their loins, and their vitals shall forever be full of a glowing, melting fire, fierce enough to melt the very rocks and elements; and also they shall eternally be full of the most quick and lively sense to feel the torments; not for one minute, nor for one day, nor for one age, nor for two ages, nor for a hundred ages, nor for ten thousands of millions of ages one after another, but forever and ever, without any end at all, and never, never be delivered.’

“Outraged humanity before the contemplation cries, ‘O God, horror hath overwhelmed me; for thou art represented as an omnipotent fiend.’ It is not the Father of Christ, but his antagonist, whose face glares down over such a scene as that! The above diabolical passage—at the recital of which, from the pulpit, Edwards’ biographers tell us, ‘whole congregations shuddered and simultaneously rose to their feet, smiting their breasts, weeping, and groaning’—is not the arbitrary exaggeration of an individual, but a fair representation of the actual tenets and vividly held faith of the Puritans. It is, also, in all its uncompromising literality, a direct and inevitable part of the system of doctrine, which, with insignificant exceptions, professedly prevails throughout Christendom at this hour. We know most persons will hesitate at this statement; but let them look at the logic of the case in the light of its history, and they must admit the correctness of the assertion.”

“The world is to be burned up, and the damned, restored to their bodies, are to be driven into the everlasting fire prepared for them. The resurrection of the body,—still held in all Christendom,—taken in connection with the rest of the associated scheme, necessitates the belief in the materiality of the torments of hell. That eminent living divine, Dr. Gardiner Spring, says, ‘The souls of all who have died in their sins are in hell; and there their bodies too, will be after the resurrection.’ Mr. Spurgeon also, in his graphic and fearful sermon on the ‘Resurrection of the Dead,’ uses the following language:—

“‘When thou diest, thy soul will be tormented alone; that will be a hell for it; but at the day of Judgment thy body will join thy soul, and then thou wilt have twin hells, thy soul sweating drops of blood, and thy body suffused with agony. In fire exactly like that which we have on earth, thy body will lie, asbestos-like, forever unconsumed, all thy veins roads for the feet of pain to travel on, every nerve a string on which the devil shall forever play his diabolical tune of “Hell’s Unutterable Lament”; and, if this doctrine be true, no ingenuity, however fertile in expedients and however fiendish in cruelty, can possibly devise emblems and point pictures half terrific enough to present in imagination and equal in moral impression what the reality will be to the sufferers. It is easy to speak or hear the word “hell,” but to analyze its significance and realize it in a sensitive fancy, is difficult; and whenever it is done, the fruit is madness, as the bedlams of the world are shrieking in testimony at this instant. The revivalist preachers, so far from exaggerating the frightful contents latent in the prevalent dogma concerning hell, have never been able—and no man is able—

to do anything like justice to its legitimate deductions.

“‘Edwards is right in declaring, “After we have said our utmost, and thought our utmost, all that we have said and thought is but a faint shadow of the reality.” Think of yourselves seized just as you are now, and flung into the roaring, glowing furnace of eternity; think of such torture for an instant, multiply it by infinity, and then say if any words can convey the proper force of impression. It is true these intolerable details are merely latent, and unappreciated by the multitude of believers; and when one, roused to fanaticism by earnest contemplation of his creed, dares to proclaim its logical consequences and to exhort men accordingly, they shrink, and charge him with excess. But they should beware ere they repudiate the literal horrors of the historic orthodox doctrine for any figurative and moral views accommodated to the advanced reason and refinement of the times,—beware how such an abandonment of a part of their system affects the rest.”

CUMBERED ABOUT MUCH SERVING.

“Come ye yourselves apart, . . . and rest awhile.” Mark 6:31.

Christ never asks of us such busy labor As leaves no time for resting at his feet; The waiting attitude of expectation He oftimes counts a service most complete.

He sometimes wants our ear, our rapt attention, That he some sweetest secret may impart; 'Tis always in the time of deepest silence That heart finds fullest fellowship with heart.

We sometimes wonder why our Lord doth place us Within a sphere so narrow, so obscure, That nothing we call work can find an entrance; There's only room to suffer, to endure!

Well, God loves patience! Souls that dwell in stillness, Doing the little things, or resting quite, May just as perfectly fulfill their mission, Be just as useful in the Father's sight,

As they who grapple with some giant evil, Clearing a path that every eye may see! Our Saviour cares for cheerful acquiescence, Rather than for a busy ministry.

And yet he does love service, where ’tis given By grateful love that clothes itself in deed; But work that's done beneath the scourge of duty, Be sure to such he gives but little heed.

Then seek to please in whatsoever he bids thee, Whether to do, to suffer, to lie still; 'Twill matter little by what path he led us, If, in it all, we sought to do his will —Standard and Home Journal.

THE LAST DAYS.

By B. F. Wise

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come; for men shall be . . . despisers of those that are good.” 2 Tim. 3: 1–3.

The present age is especially noted for its hatred of the good. It has always been thus: the evil have hated the good; and the apostle tells us that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. He also tells us that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. It makes no difference what people may profess, he who is not with Christ is against him. It is through much tribulation that God’s people shall enter into the kingdom. They shall not reach the rest that remains for the people of God without being contemned and scorned by the world, and persons who will not serve God themselves often hate those who do.

In reading the history of the Jews, we find the same spirit manifested among them. When they apostatized, they stoned the prophets, persecuted the servants of God, and even slew them; yet they claimed to be favored children of God. Years after, when the prophet was in his grave, when he could not rebuke them, they honored him and were loud in his praise. But if a prophet had appeared, and denounced them for their sins and covetous practices, he would very likely have been stoned to death, or put out of the way in some equally ignominious manner. Those who were so loud in praising the prophets, especially referring to Abraham and Moses, when Jesus was on earth, were the very ones who cried, “Away with him; crucify him.” Because he reproved them for their hypocrisy and deadness of heart, and they could not endure his just and merited rebuke, they cried out for his blood, they hated and slew him without just cause.

The same spirit prevails to-day. We find men who speak very highly of Jesus Christ, the twelve apostles, the martyrs, and the reformers; but if Jesus and these holy men were on earth to-day, and took the same stand they did when here, they would be despised and persecuted by the very ones who praise them so much now because they are out of harm’s way. The living ones are not the favored of earth. In all ages the real servants of God have been called to withstand persecution for truth’s sake while alive. They cannot cease proclaiming God’s word and his truth, and they consequently incur the displeasure of many who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. They cannot endure sound doctrine. So long as the gentile dispensation continues, will the world love its own. Jesus said, “If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but ye are not of the world, for ‘I have chosen you out of the world.’” If a man or woman is lifted up from the depths of sin, and becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus by obeying the commandments of God, and keeping the faith of Jesus; by discarding the mythological orthodoxy of the day; by waiting for the Son of God from Heaven; by believing God’s promises concerning the new heavens and the new earth; by expecting immortality only through Jesus Christ at his coming,—he or she, as the case may be, becomes a mark for reproach, a sort of gazing stock to the community; but, unmindful of these things, the man of God is willing to suffer the reproach of the world, that he may bask in the sunlight of God’s love.

Those whose religion is only a formality are to-day “despisers of those that are good.” An upright man is not apt to be rich; for the majority of men become rich by fraud and oppression, by grinding those whom they get into their power; yet men who are rich are honored. No matter by what means a man obtains his wealth, whether by selling liquors, gambling in stock, getting up corners on wheat and crushing those who are unfortunate enough to be short, or by various other tricks that are dark and vain,—no matter how,—if a man only has wealth, the world will fawn upon and flatter him. The poor man is despised, yet it is more likely that he is the honest and generous man. The upright man follows Him who had not where to lay his head. He is a pilgrim and stranger on the earth. He looks for a city that hath foundations, and longs for the rest that remaineth for the people of God. Consequently, he has little time and no desire to become engaged with the jars and wrangles of the age, and because he will not do so, he is despised. But let him stand on the street corners, and talk Republicanism, Democracy, or Greenbackism, and traduce and calumniate those who think differently, let him buy votes with money or brandy, and that man straightway becomes honorable and popular in a worldly point of view. But because he will not stoop to such trickery, he is despised.

The man of God asks no honors that are obtained by fraud. Wealth that passes away, and that shall perish in the fires of the last day, is not to be desired. His treasure is in Heaven, from whence he also looks for the Lord Jesus Christ. His crown is laid up for him, and for all those who love our Lord’s appearing. He cannot stop for trifles; for beyond this world he sees his rest and joy. He is willing to wait for the glory that shall be revealed. Of course, by living thus in waiting and expectation, he puts himself in direct opposition to earthly things. He finds himself in a minority, and a very small one at that, because his belief and practice are not at all popular. He cares not for majorities; his ambition is to be right, knowing that righteousness will in the end have success.

He is called a fool and a fanatic by those who pass judgment, but never investigate. He is strange, peculiar. His opinions are worthless, because he has no position in society, no money; in fact, he is esteemed as nobody. But he has in mind the words of his Master, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you.” He knows that when men are petted and popular, “first-rate fellows,” etc., they are far from the kingdom. There are foolish girls who spend on dress all they can earn or can coax out of half-ruined, indulgent fathers, so that they can make a good appearance in society, with stylish dresses, stunning hats that are neither useful nor ornamental, and all manner of gewgaws and jewelry; who are exceedingly careful of manners in public, but not so careful of morals in private; who associate with men of depraved natures and infamous characters, but scorn the man whose garments are not in style or perhaps are threadbare, or who has not a beaver hat, or a flashy chain and jewelry, or a fragrant havanna. Such girls do not consider the godly man desirable, nor are they to him; for brains and common sense are of greater importance to him than powder and paint. A meek and lowly spirit in woman is to him of great price; but such a treasure he finds not in the ranks of those who import their styles and morals from that modern Sodom, Paris.

Men who desire all manner of evil, who do not love to hear the truth, are greatly troubled and agitated because the man of God has the boldness to denounce their crimes. He is termed a busy-body; for if no one said aught against them, they could rest easier with their ill-gotten gains. Those who crush the poor, and strip him of all he has,—those who oppress, rob, and commit all manner of iniquities, fairly hate the sight of him who tells them of a Judgment to come. Of course, they have preachers who officiate in mammoth piles of brick and mortar, but they are paid to say smooth things. They do not talk about a Judgment to come; or if they do, they sugar-coat it by saying that it is a great many hundreds of thousands or millions of years hence. So their hearers think, “Well, that is a great ways off; perhaps it will never come at all.” And they are lulled to sleep in false security, and on Monday pursue their old tricks with new zeal.

The well-paid and well-fed minister is very careful not to say anything that would cause a pang of conscience. If he did, he would soon get his discharge; for the time has come when men will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts they heap unto themselves teachers having itching ears, and they turn away their ears from the truth unto fables. So, in order that the prophecy may be fulfilled to the very letter (unknown to him, however), the minister makes a beautiful prayer, and reads a short essay on “The True and Bountiful,” “The Philosophy of Religion,” “The Æsthetic Tendencies of Christianity,” or “The Difference between the Objective and the Subjective.” Perhaps he tells his hearers to contribute liberally for the poor heathen in Africa, who are in sad need of the excellent light they have on the Scriptures, and also cautions them not to forget the sociable at Bro. K.’s house. He wants them all to turn out, and have a jolly time. Of course, they turn out en masse to the sociable, and are merry; but how many attend the prayer-meeting?—Perhaps ten or a dozen, who sigh and cry for the abominations done in their midst. After another beautiful prayer, the minister dismisses these poor, misguided mortals, who go marching out to the music of the organ. The more interesting the fable, the more palatable the smoothly told lie, the higher the salary. The man who cannot bind his conscience to such proceedings, which God has never warranted, becomes an outcast, and is despised. The man who is fearless in doing right, knowing that he must give account to Him who is ready to judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, becomes a by-word and a reproach. The actions of the so-called Christian world are to him sufficient evidence that we are in the last days, and that perilous times have come, when men should be “despisers of those that are good.”

B. F. WISE.

Winterset, Iowa.

DENYING THE POWER.

By A. Smith

We are forewarned in the Scriptures of a class of religionists that should appear just prior to the second advent, possessing a form of godliness, but denying its power. Evidently the Holy Spirit would not name a peculiarity as distinguishing any time, place, or people, without also making it possible to determine what constitutes such peculiarity. It is not likely that the class in question will deny what they believe to be the power of godliness; but, on the contrary, we may expect them to boast of possessing it, for they are declared to be boasters. Their negations, therefore, must be concerning what really constitutes the power of godliness.

This power, at any time, evidently consists in believing and accepting the truth of God for the time then present; and a denial thereof consists in denying such truth.

Had the Jews accepted the testimony of John the Baptist, when he preached the first advent of Christ, they would have been prepared to receive the Messiah; their policy and nation, freed from a foreign yoke, and their sacred capital with its beautiful temple, would doubtless have stood forever. But the care with which the zealous sects of that day taught and practiced their ancient customs and ceremonies, had no power to save while they denied what to them was present truth, and rejected and crucified the Saviour.

The flood, the exode, the Babylonish captivity, and the first advent, were all events to the preaching of which the Holy Spirit witnessed in due time; but had any man or class of men undertaken to transpose them, the Holy Spirit could not have applied the testimony to the hearts and consciences of men, though such testimony should have been given in the prescribed form, except as to the time of application; and such preaching would have failed to save the souls of men.

The preaching of the second advent as an impending event is God’s truth for this time, or it is a fanatical movement upon which Heaven will frown. Let the fruit which it bears witness to its character. From a small beginning, within the present generation, it has become mighty in its power, and world-wide in the extent of its influence. But, what is better, it has transformed the infidel into a devout believer; changed the thoughtless, selfish worldling into the humble Christian; and raised the child of God, whom it found in fetters of error, to an elevated plane of spirituality and usefulness. Is this the fruit of fanaticism, the result of deception? No. God is in this movement; and in the Judgment those who clog its wheels or delay its progress will have to answer to him for their misdeeds.

That there are many now claiming to be Christians who deny the importance of the advent movement, and especially reject the Sabbath of the Bible, even after the claims of the third angel’s message have been set forth before them with convincing power, is apparent to the most casual observer. Professed ministers of the gospel will, from the desk, infer or directly express their antagonism to the whole law of God, in order to get rid of the Sabbath which it embodies. The destiny of souls may hang upon their words, yet they do not fear to allow personal feeling or interest to dictate their enunciation.

What a fearful responsibility rests upon those who, while claiming to be ambassadors for Christ, and pointing the way to Heaven, lead souls on to irretrievable ruin!

Reader, God has given you the Bible as a sure guide amid the errors of these last days; then, though a professed angel from Heaven should appear with a testimony not confirmed by that holy word, receive him not. “If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa. 8:20. “From such turn away.” 2 Tim. 3:5.

A. SMITH.

A LIE AWFULLY VERIFIED.

It is recorded of the excellent Archbishop Leighton, that while traveling on one occasion from Glasgow to Dunblaine, he was overtaken by a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning. As the storm came on, he was seen, while still at a considerable distance, by two men of bad character. Not having the courage openly to rob him, but wishing to hit upon some method of extorting money from him, one of them said, “I will lie down here by the wayside, as if I were dead; and you must tell the archbishop that I have been killed by the lightning, and beg money to bury me.” When Dr. Leighton arrived at the spot, the wicked fellow told him this fabricated tale. The archbishop

condoled with him and gave him money, and then proceeded on his way. But when the man returned to his companion, elated at his success, he found him really lifeless! Immediately he cried aloud, “Oh, sir, he is dead! oh, sir, he is dead!” On which the archbishop, perceiving the fraud, left the man with this serious admonition: “See, it is a dangerous thing to trifle with the judgments of God!”—Christian Herald.

Roman Catholic Colonization.

The Catholic World is always interesting by reason of its vigorous treatment of topics of instant interest from the Roman Catholic standpoint. Its current number, for April, is especially so, with pungent essays on “Our Diplomatists,” “The Proposed Expulsion of the Teaching Orders from the Public Schools of Paris,” “Private Charities and Public Lands,” and “Catholic Colonization as actually Established.” The last-named paper is specially worthy of Protestants’ attention, as throwing light upon the method by which the Roman Catholic Church is quietly pushing ahead in its effort for the ecclesiastical possession of the country through the interior and the great West. We do not think the effort will be a successful one; but in the bravery, intelligence, and fervor of it there is much to admire and imitate.

The work in Minnesota may be taken as happily exemplifying the system and its operation. There is in that State a “Catholic Colonization Bureau,” which is under the auspices of the Coadjutor-Bishop of St. Paul’s. It is the object of this Bureau to encourage, direct, and nourish the planting of Roman Catholic colonies in the State, upon lands either bought of the railroad companies or taken up under the Homestead Law. Four such colonies have been successfully placed since 1876. One, that of Swift county, occupies a strip of territory lying for thirty-six miles along the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, one hundred and twenty miles west of St. Paul City. This colony is organized in two parishes, each with its pastor, church, and schools. The farms range from eighty to five hundred acres each. Grain elevators, stores, mills, trade-shops, immigrant depots, and no saloons, dot the landscape; and such township names as St. Michael’s, St. Joseph’s, St. Francis’s, attest the ecclesiastical atmosphere which pervades the same.

Beyond Swift county lies the colony of Graceville, where in three months last year one hundred and seventy-five families were located. The first building up was the church. Around this is now grouped a pretty village, and at least a hundred and fifty settlers’ cabins have arisen within a radius of half a dozen miles. In Southwestern Minnesota is a third colony, of St. Adrian, where the Bureau controls seventy thousand acres, of which twenty-two thousand have been already sold to settlers. Here the parish priest was on the ground when only three houses had been built; and there is now a school-house, a church, a pastor’s house; while a population of one hundred and sixty Catholic families is expected by the coming spring.

The fourth and newest of these Minnesota colonies is that of Avoca, just north of St. Adrian, comprising fifty-two thousand acres. The rule in the founding of all these colonies has been that the resident priest and the church should go in with the first settlers, whether they be few or many. The Roman Catholic idea is not our idea, but who shall say that it is failing of its effect? Is not the Church of Rome in the United States laying deep and broad foundations for the future? After all, its policy is only that which was followed in a different form by our Pilgrim Fathers at Massachusetts Bay, and it is by no means certain but that the Pilgrims’ sons need to revive it in their time.—Christian Union.

A LETTER.

By H. C. N.

The following is a letter written by one of our ministers to a church in the West. Thinking it may benefit other churches, I copy it for the REVIEW.

“DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: I address you now on matters pertaining to the prosperity of the cause of God in your midst. What I say is said in Christian love, and with the hope of doing good. I deem it very necessary that union and Christian fellowship should exist among brethren. ‘If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand,’ says Christ. Mark 3:25.”

“Lest your church fall to pieces, those things which trouble you must be got out of the way. But it is not best to be too hasty about bringing such matters before the church, if there is hope of offenders repenting. There is a way, the best of all, to reconcile all difficulties between church members, and that is for each one to examine himself thoroughly and honestly in the light of God’s word, and if he finds even the least wrong away down in the lowest corner of his heart, let him make that wrong right. It may be that to confess such wrong would humble the man in whom it is found; but better be humbled now before men than to be humbled before the awful judgment-seat of God at last. All things will be made known there.”

“When the saints sit in judgment during the one thousand years, they will see the record of all the deeds and secret designs of those who are lost. Then, if we want, to keep our brethren and sisters from knowing what thoughts we have harbored, the only way to do it is to get right in the sight of God now. If we are lost, all our evil deeds, all the secrets of our hearts, will appear on the books for our friends to read. Think of it, brethren, and let every one see to it that he examines himself closely. Do not examine one another. Do not think and talk of the faults of one another. But take one whole week, from the day that this letter is read, to meditate and pray in secret about your own cases. And then the next Sabbath come to the meeting with a submissive spirit, and confess what wrongs you have done to others. Make a full and hearty confession. No other kind is genuine. Do not say, ‘I will do better in the future, if all the rest will’; but say, ‘By God’s grace I will do better.’ Let the rest take care of themselves. Every one should remember that others are of the same fallen race, and are not expected to be as perfect as an angel of God, while in this mortal life. Therefore, wrongs that are confessed should be freely forgiven.”

“If any have offended a brother or sister, they should make their confession to the offended one, and to God. But if any one has wounded the cause of God by an ungodly life before the public, such a one ought to confess his wrongs publicly to the church. Confessions are really necessary where wrongs exist. No church can prosper unless there is harmony among its members, and harmony cannot be found where ill feelings are cherished. Read the third chapter of James, and chapters four and five also. Follow the admonition of the apostle. Each one must make straight work for himself. The faults of others will never excuse us in the last day. Oh, how many stumble and fall just because they think somebody else has done wrong! How foolish those are who see everybody’s faults but their own!”

“How pleasant it is to meet with a church that is all alive, and full of the spirit of our message. It is a rest to the laborer. He feels like preaching with greater earnestness when he goes to his field of labor again. He can tell people that ‘our people are all in earnest and doing their duty; and they are not like the pleasure-seeking members of other bodies.’ The cause is prospered then, and the truth takes effect upon the people. I wish that every member in our ranks could realize this.”

“The harvest is great, and our laborers are few; therefore, there is the more need of our churches being in good working order, and keeping themselves in such order, instead of keeping a minister from the field to look after them. The truth would not spread very fast were each church to keep a minister from new fields to look after it; and God would dismiss all of us who were at ease in Zion, and would raise up other men to carry his message. But let all the churches be in working order; let them lighten the burden of the president of the Conference and of the ministers who have charge of the churches; let them cheer instead of discouraging the ministers; in short, let them be men and women of God,—then the cause would prosper, and the sound of the third message would be heard in all parts of our land. The servants of God would all soon be sealed, and Jesus would come.”

“The winds (wars) of these days are being held until the servants of God are sealed with the seal of the living God. We must not hinder the work. If we are out of the right way, we must get into it again as soon as possible. Pray much, dear friends, and read the Bible and the testimonies; and may the God of Israel lead and bless you.”

We should all heed these good admonitions. May God help his people to walk in the light, as they ought to walk. H. C. N.

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