Based upon Misunderstood and Misapplied Scriptures
Delusive Hope of Peace Based upon Misunderstood and Misapplied Scriptures By E. K. SLADE
IF the hopes of a large class of our best citizens could be realized, we would soon have world-wide peace. Next to the war, the advocacy of peace is no doubt attracting the largest amount of public attention. It is from our best and most enlightened citizens that we hear most concerning peace, and many have freely quoted texts of Scripture which served to them as a foundation for their hopes. One noted speaker has made use of these words found in the forty-sixth psalm, ninth verse: "He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire." Another eloquent advocate and herald of soon-coming peace quoted the words found in the second chapter of Isaiah: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
These texts, and others that have been used in a like manner, are in perfect harmony with the great fundamental truths of the Bible, and apply in their proper time and place. When carefully studied, it is found that the Bible does not in one place teach that this age is to become an age of general peace, and in another place, that all nations will be engaged in a bloody conflict in the last days. The sacred record contains no contradictions, such as may appear to the superficial student.
Based on the Theory of Evolution
THE difficulty lies mainly in the false ideas that have obtained concerning man's origin and nature. The Bible account of creation has been set aside, and human reasoning and conclusions have been accepted instead.
The world believes that in the indefinite ages of the past, that which has evolved into the man of to-day had its beginning in the lowest possible form of monocellular animal existence. According to this view, we are to continue to develop to perfection. Believed and taught by the majority of preachers and teachers, the idea has found its way into many of the textbooks used in institutions of learning.
In spite of the manifestations of selfishness and depravity in all classes of society, the idea is tenaciously held that we are steadily advancing toward an age of peace and perfection. This thought is read into texts of Scripture to their perversion. The progress made in scientific knowledge and in inventions is declared to harmonize with this theory. The great reform movements are attempted and interpreted with this thought in mind. The apparent religious awakening, and increase in church membership, serve to substantiate the claim that the world is growing better.
We would not for a moment retard or resist the efforts of any for peace; nor would we fail to recognize the propriety of such efforts, and the desirability of the object sought. However, it does seem to us proper to point out some facts relating to this time that are cogent and vital to every man.
If the scriptures cited above hold out such a hope, and if the evolutionary theory concerning man and the world is true, the faith of all Christian people should lead to a mighty and well directed effort, with the joy of knowing that wars are soon to cease. If this theory is not true, and if these texts do not apply in this way, it is equally important that we know what is the truth, and how we may intelligently relate ourselves to these things. "The way of the righteous is made plain." Prov. 15: 19. Christians have a right to walk in the light. We are not left to guess and speculate concerning such important matters.
Is it true that man had such a beginning? Does the Bible teach us that he had such an inferior and imperfect start, and that through successive generations, his nature and condition have continually improved? Let us note a few texts on this point. "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Eccl. 7: 29. The word "upright" is used by the psalmist as follows: "Good and upright is the Lord" (Ps. 25: 8) — which indicates that the term is designed to convey the thought of perfection. In harmony with this is the record of the creation of man: "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." Gen. 1: 26. Man did not have the beginning claimed by the believers in the Darwinian theory. He was made in the image of God, and had dominion over the world and the lower animals.
The Bible is just as clear on the point of man's decline as it is regarding his beginning. Coming "short" of the original glory in which he was created is the condition and tendency of every man naturally.
There is nothing to indicate that men are naturally growing better. The Biblical truth concerning the beginning and the fall of man is out of harmony with such a belief. As early in the history of the world as the time of the Flood, God repented that He had made man, because of his downward course. The condition of the human heart has not improved. It still tends to war and strife.
Will End in Scenes of Awful Carnage
PAUL gives no promise that conditions favoring peace will exist in the last days; but on the contrary, he says: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. . . . But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." 2 Tim. 3: 1-5, 13.
It is love of self and disregard for God that makes wars possible. If men were growing less selfish and more godlike, we would be warranted in believing that wars would proportionately lessen. Are we not bound to believe, on the other hand, that the increase of selfishness pointed out by Paul to exist in the last days would make possible and probable an increase in war and strife?
This old world is to end in scenes of awful carnage. The seeds of sin will yield a bountiful harvest. The results of rebellion and the fruits of selfishness will be fully revealed. Those who look for prolonged peace here will be disappointed. Such a hope is out of harmony with specific and fundamental truths taught in the Bible, and has no other foundation than the delusive doctrine concerning the origin and nature of man.
That there is to be a time of agitation, preparation, and participation in war just before the end, is indicated by the following words: "They are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." Rev. 16: 14, 15. "The nations were angry" is the language used in Rev. 11: 18 in speaking of this same time approximate to the second coming of Christ.
We are in that time, as all lines of prophecy clearly indicate. We are now witnessing a fulfillment of prophecy recorded in Joel 3: 9, 10: "Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears." The statement, "The day of the Lord is near," in the fourteenth verse of this chapter, makes clear the time indicated in the prophecy.
The prophetic program will be fulfilled in every detail, notwithstanding human hopes and conceptions. The masses will hope for peace, a multitude will preach and predict it, millions will be spent in the peace propaganda, swelling the cry, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace. But such hopes are vain, and such efforts will be fruitless; for world peace cannot be until sin and selfishness, the cause of war, have come to an end.
Christ’s Ministry to the Poor
By Ellen G. White
CHRIST might have occupied the highest place among the teachers of the Jewish nation; but He preferred rather to take the gospel to the poor. He went from place to place, that those in the highways and byways might hear the words of truth. By the sea, on the mountain side, in the streets of the city, in the synagogue, His voice was heard explaining the Scriptures. Often He taught in the outer court of the temple, that the gentiles might hear His words. E. G. W.
The Path of Transgression
"No real joy can be found in the path forbidden by Him who knows what is best, and who plans for the good of His creatures. The path of transgression is the path of misery and destruction."
God’s Active Communication
By Ellen G. White
THE Bible shows us God in His high and holy place, not in a state of inactivity, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy beings, all waiting to do His will. Through these messengers He is in active communication with every part of His dominion.
E. G. W.
INTOXICATED WITH FRIVOLITY
By Editor
The Exit of the Solid and Serious
The Entrance of Folly and Fiction
AN editorial in the New York World has some rather significant paragraphs, under the heading of "The Passing of Harper's Weekly," or in other words, the reversal of its policy. One of these paragraphs is as follows:
"In the passing of Harper's Weekly is further evidence of the American public's present reluctance to support a serious political weekly. In other quarters, the same conditions are to be seen. The Nation, stanchly true to its old standards of taste and independence, during the last ten years has declined in circulation. In the struggle to maintain its hold on public favor, Collier's is compelled to give first attention to fiction. The New Republic, well written and eminently judicial in its treatment of topics, appeals to a limited class, and is still in the experimental stage. The Outlook and Independent, once religious publications, have been compelled to widen their scope, use illustrations, and seek to make themselves entertaining to casual readers."
According to this paragraph, the American public is reluctant "to support a serious political weekly." Therefore Harper's must change. The Nation, another stanch old paper, is declining in circulation. "To maintain its hold on public favor, Collier's is compelled to give first attention to fiction." Note it particularly, "to give first attention." Furthermore, the Outlook and the Independent, "once religious publications, have been compelled to widen their scope" in order to keep themselves alive.
The manifest tendency of this time is to run toward fiction, folly, and mere fun. The serious things of life, that build into the solid foundation of a substantial social and national structure, are taken only as an extreme necessity, except by a comparatively few people. The world is intoxicated with the entertainment craze. People do not care to be developed strongly in a mental, moral, and spiritual way; they care, rather, to be frivolously entertained.
Under the Spell of Folly
MORE and more do we find that the people are giving their first attention to pleasure; and too often, this pleasure degenerates into gluttonous, drunken vices, and the gratification of animal lusts. The fact that some people cannot see this, is merely an evidence of their blindness. It is no evidence that these depraved and demoralizing conditions do not exist. The world is delirious under the spellbinding influences of folly, pleasure seeking, and light entertainment; and in its delirium, it is chanting the refrain that everything is growing better and better. But while singing this fascinating song, it is dancing to the devil's bewitching music, along the edge of the precipice, ready to plunge into irretrievable ruin.
Paul, the apostle and prophet, in viewing these times, gives a list of nineteen striking characteristics that would mark the age and make it a time of peril. (See 2 Tim. 3: 1-5.) One of these nineteen speaks of the people as "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God."
God Himself offers pleasure. As declared in the beautiful, poetic language of the psalmist, "In Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Ps. 16: 11.
True pleasure is one of the eternal gifts of God; but the counterfeit pleasures of the world, according to the apostle, will so intoxicate humanity as to constitute one of the great perils of the time. How clear and how forceful is the prediction, and how striking and how universal are the events that fulfill what the prophet has foretold!
AWAKENING FROM HER SLUMBER
By J. E. F.
China the Stoical All Astir — What Part Will She Play in the Approaching World's Climax?
WHAT is to become of China? She is in the throes of continuous upheavals and changes. China — conservative, stoical, unchanging China — is changing more rapidly than any other country on earth. For centuries ruled — or misruled — by despotic monarchs, the people lived on in their simple way, proud of the inheritance left them by their ancestry, in civilization, in literature, and in art. But suddenly the nation that had its face so long set to the past, and its back to Western thought and civilization, is turned about, awakened, and becomes at once dressed in the garb of modernism of the most pronounced type. A republic is proclaimed.
It may be true that the new suit is unbecoming, and cannot be retained; but that old China is passing, and a new order is evolving, is sure. It is difficult to tell what China will do tomorrow; but the great giant is awaking, and the world looks on with bated breath to see what will be the next step. A despotic government then, a republic a few days ago, and a monarchy yesterday! Yuan Shih Kai, the head of the government, telegraphed throughout his vast domain to-day that the monarchy is at an end, and the republic is to be restored. And now come rumors of a change in leadership.
But the rank and file of China's millions plod on, and are either ignorant or heedless of it all. China is the only country, as says another, "where a government changes from a monarchy to a republic" — and he might have added, "and back again" — without the people's knowing anything about it. When will China find her level? Will this great, cumbrous ship of state withstand these terrible shocks?
Will She Be Absorbed by Others?
ONE of the American consuls long resident in China told the writer, a few days ago, that China may accept, willingly or unwillingly, the tutorship of Japan. China is awakening, no doubt; but she is in the dark still, and is groping toward the door, and it may be that some more experienced hand must guide for a time. It is altogether unlikely, however, that China will be absorbed by any nation. China will always be China. Where are the Mongol hordes that swept over China and subjected it to foreign rule? — They were absorbed in China. Where is the great Manchu power that gained such mastery over China, ruling it from its northern to its southern boundary? China at last conquered by her wonderful power of assimilation. China's history has proved that, however many foreign elements come to her, she eventually rises above them all.
China is one of the most virile of races. "No other nation with which the world is acquainted," says a recent writer on China, "has been so constantly true to itself; no other nation has preserved its type so unaltered; no other nation has developed394a civilization so completely independent of any extraneous influences; no other nation has elaborated its own ideals in such absolute segregation from alien thought; no other nation has preserved the long stream of its literature so entirely free from foreign affluents; no other nation has ever reached a moral and national elevation comparatively so high above the heads of contemporary states."
During the centuries, slumbering, the great giant has dreamed fondly of peace. Taken as a race, the Chinese love peace, and have never manifested ambitions for conquest. Even now, the great agricultural millions desire to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors, earning their meager share of daily bread by unequaled toil and industry. But the leaders of Chinese thought can discern the insecurity of their nation without national defense and preparation for war.
Preparing for Armageddon
CHINA feels she cannot trust her neighbors. Nor does she feel that the great civilized nations, which have been so greatly blessed by Christianity, can be trusted. The Chinese thinkers are watching the war in Europe. China must, they think, defend herself. She has begun. Military students trained in Europe are now in charge of China's model army, two thousand in each of the eighteen provinces, modernly drilled and equipped. Conscription has been talked, and an army of forty million has been suggested. She is watching the great nations, and is preparing for the conflict of the future. One of her leaders recently said that the Chinese invented gunpowder simply to frighten away the devils, but that now they must go to the Christian nations to learn how to use it in the most scientific manner, so as to kill the largest number of their fellow men. What a taunt that is! and what a taunt this is, made by China's near neighbor:
“MODERNISM OF THE MOST PRONOUNCED TYPE” The newspaper room in Peking's free public library.
"For two thousand years, we have kept peace with the rest of the world, and were known to it but by the marvels of our delicate ethereal art, and the finely wrought productions of our ingenious handicrafts; and we were accounted barbarous. But from the day on which we made war on other nations, and killed thousands of our adversaries, you at once admit our claim to rank among civilized nations." — Nineteenth Century Magazine.
Armageddon is before us, and for this the multitudes are preparing. Read Joel 3: 9-12.
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SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS
Our authority for the doctrines we teach is the Bible. Quotations are usually from the King James Version, or the American Standard Revised.
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COMPULSORY BIBLE READING
By LeRoy Edwin Froom
A Great Principle Menaced by the Present Program
THERE is nothing the true Christian parent desires more than to have his child daily read the Bible — and there is nothing more sadly neglected in this godless age. This is too apparent to be denied. Bible study seems to be dying out in the home, in the church, in the world. Boys and girls are reaching manhood and womanhood entirely ignorant of the sacred Scriptures. Where will the matter end? What will be the results?
It is a grave problem; and an ever increasing number of sincere lovers of the Bible are urging that the public school teachers be directed by the state to read to their pupils a specific number of verses, without comment, each school day. One by one, the states are adopting this plan. A note in the Christian Herald of April 12, 1916, says, "The state of New Jersey has recently passed a law, approved by the governor March 5, requiring the reading of five verses from the Bible in each schoolroom of the state on every day of the school year." It is thought to stem thus the rising tide of godlessness.
Amending the Three R's
THE agitation has assumed such proportions that it has swelled into a loud cry. Many well worded arguments are presented in its favor. The charge is seriously made that spirituality appears to be decreasing in proportion as public school education advances. And so the present system is denominated "godless." There is a proposition to amend the three R's, "Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic," by adding a fourth,—Religion.
Let it be distinctly understood that we are not of those who deliver bitter tirades upon persons who differ from us. We are in entire sympathy with every legitimate movement toward the study and reverence of the grand old Book. Let the word of God be revered and exalted; let it be read daily by all the people everywhere; but let it be by the power of love, and not by the power of human law. The promoters of the compulsory Bible reading movement are doubtless sincere, but therein lies the subtle danger of the measure.
We must look at the problem from the viewpoint of principles involved, and not merely from that of the reading of the verses. Whenever Bible reading in a state public school is made compulsory, it thereby crosses the danger line. Public school attendance is compulsory; and logically, therefore, such Bible reading is compulsory.
Conviction or Truant Officers — Which?
BUT compulsory Bible reading will never inspire love nor reverence for the Scriptures. The very purpose for which it is introduced will be frustrated. Force can make hypocrites, but can never make Christians. A perfunctory reading of the Word is not what is needed. Such men as Thomas Paine and Robert G. Ingersoll were frequent readers of the Scriptures, but neither of these men was bettered thereby. Let there be daily reading of the Scriptures; but let it be prompted by force of conviction, and not by the force of truant officers.
Further, if the state has the right to compel the reading of the Bible, it has the right to decide which portion — the Old or the New Testament — shall be read. It would also have a right to decide which version shall be read, whether Catholic or Protestant.
If the state is to decide which Testament and which version shall be read, would not the state thus be deciding which is the true religion and the true church? And if it may decide thus, would it not manifestly have the right not only to compel Bible reading, but to interpret the scripture read, and to teach religion?
This is a serious question; and the seriousness of compulsory Bible reading lies in the precedent that will be eagerly seized by those who are not content with the reading of Scripture, but demand also the teaching of religion in the public schools. Were it to end with the Bible reading, God would take care of His word; but it will not end there.
Let there be religious teaching, but let it be given by the church and the home, and in sectarian schools, by teachers who are not paid with money from the state treasury. Let the attendance at such institutions be optional, that the inalienable rights of each individual conscience be respected and guarded. This can be done, and is done, both in large and in small denominations. The one great purpose of the state educational system is the making of good citizens, and the prevention of illiteracy.
Let us keep the state and the church forever separate.
L. E. F.
AT THE JUDGMENT BAR OF GOD
By John O. Corliss
Every Individual Has a Case Pending — The Verdict Will Determine Where Each Shall Spend Eternity
IN the Judgment, not only will every outward act of the life be considered, but we are told that "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12: 14. Even the secret motives of every heart will be uncovered, "that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. 5: 10. This at once precludes the idea of a sort of general, wholesale work, in which some may possibly get through without rigid scrutiny of their lives.
To do such a work as the Bible represents, demands an exact record of one's life in every particular. Who makes this? And why is it necessary? Does not God know each of us altogether? And will He not be able to pronounce a righteous judgment on all, without such a minute record? — Most certainly He could; but God will not condemn any without giving them an opportunity to know why He does thus. Things do not always appear to us in their proper light; and a record of this kind will open our eyes to see that the decision rendered in our own cases is just and right.
Recorded by Angelic Secretaries
THE angels of God are sent to earth for man's benefit. "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" Heb. 1: 14. But what is the nature of their ministration? We know that they camp round about those who fear God, to help them in trouble. Ps. 34: 7. But we may gather something more of the work they do, from the following: "Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?" Eccl. 5: 6. From this, it is quite evident that whatever is said or done before the attendant angel, is recorded, and is used by God in dealing with the case. It is in this way that in the final award, every one is judged out of the things “written in the books, according to their works,” as shown in Rev. 20: 12. In such a work, it is not necessary for each one to appear personally and answer as to why his case stands as it does, since with his deeds is recorded the motive for their performance.
The Book of Life
BUT there is mention of another book besides those from which the people will be judged, and that is "the book of life." Mysterious volume! Why is it required in the Judgment work? — Because spread upon its pages are the names of those who are candidates for eternal life. When they started in the race, their names found a place on the roll of aspirants for that honor. When the Saviour imparted power to His disciples over all their enemies, He warned them not to feel elated about having that power, so much as that their names were "written in heaven." Luke 10: 20. Not every one, then, has this privilege. Yet some do. Among those whom the apostle Paul recommended to the church were Clement and other fellow laborers, "whose names are in the book of life." Phil. 4: 3.
But the Judgment not only determines who among the dead shall have part in the first resurrection; it also concerns those who will be alive at the coming of Christ. The righteous among these will not sleep, but will be caught up alive — translated, as were Enoch and Elijah — to meet the Lord in the air. 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. These, however, must stand the test of the Judgment, as well as the others, before being taken to heaven. The test which these must endure will be more solemn than that which any others have met. Those in the grave — many of them, at least — passed their last moments of probation away from the busy scenes of the world's activities, and could review their lives, and look up to God for forgiveness. Not so, however, with those who are alive during the time of that Judgment. When the cases of the dead have all been passed, the living must then meet that ordeal while moving about among men, and subject to strife and temptation.
For any to pass that solemn test under such circumstances, will mean for them such a work as has never been put upon the human family.
The Judgment in Progress Now
BUT will God bring men to such a test without warning them of its approach? — Certainly not; for that is not the way He deals with men. The final Judgment is, without question, the greatest event, and carries with it the most far-reaching results, of anything which has ever happened to the world since the death of Christ. The day of Judgment was already appointed in the time of Paul, as we learn from Acts 17: 30, 31. This being so, will God withhold from men a knowledge of that time, and thus let them come up to it without opportunity for a preparation? — This could not be, when He is so anxious for men to be saved that He is constantly calling them to come to Him.
Among the closing scenes of the world's history, the last message of warning from heaven is given. In Rev. 14: 6, 7, we find it announced: "I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
While space will not permit us to deal with this prophecy in detail, we may say that it sets forth plainly a time when a message will be proclaimed that "the hour of His Judgment is come." Coupled with that must be the warning with which we find it connected; namely, that against receiving "the mark of the beast" in the forehead or in the hand, as so forcibly set forth in Rev. 14: 9-13. The next verse, depicting the coming of the Son of man, with a golden crown upon His head, and a sharp sickle in His hand, with which to reap the harvest of the earth, shows the order in which the work is to be carried out. The Judgment must precede His coming.
When the decisions of the Judgment have been rendered, deciding who are to be taken up at the advent of the Lord, then He comes to execute those decisions, as is brought to view in Jude 14, 15. Remember, then, that the real test in meeting the Lord, is not at the moment of His appearing, but in the Judgment, which takes place before He comes. We are already in the time of that Judgment. When the moment comes to meet our life account, we cannot put off the time. Our unbelief will not be able to delay the event.
The message regarding this matter is just as true, and will be as surely realized, as was the message of Noah to the antediluvian world. Are we ready for it? Let us answer these questions before God; and if any feels undone and lost in view of the Judgment that is fast hastening, we beseech you, "in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." J. O. C.
Help From God
By George B. Thompson
HEAR that old hero of the cross, the veteran of many campaigns, tell us the secret of his success: “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day.”
We trust in many things for help. Money is sought, and every possible sacrifice is made to obtain it; but its help does not last. The help and coöperation of our fellow men often render us needed temporary aid; but there are times when this is of no avail.
In the hours of darkness, sometimes of desperation, when the heavens seem to be brass; in the hour when we stand by the open, yawning grave about to receive into its embrace the one we love; when sorrow like sea billows sweeps over the soul,—it is then that the only help which is of any avail comes from Jehovah, who alone can create, and bring light out of darkness, and sweeten the bitter experience of life. G. B. T.
Christianity’s Power in the World
“It is because men take upon themselves the name of Christ, while in life they deny His character, that Christianity has so little power in the world.”
