Earlier text: JOSHUA'S FAREWELL ADDRESS"WHERE IS THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING?" 2 PET. 3:4.
By H. D. C.
In addressing the Fraternal Union by appointment of its committee, we have chosen this theme, not because we think ourself master of the subject, but because the second coming of our Redeemer is a promise we love to think of, and is a subject that once was, and should be now, of great importance to the church, and especially to us who stand before the world as advocates of a broken law, and the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. How often do we read such passages as these: "When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." 1 Pet. 5:4. "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints," etc. Jude 14. "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:12, 13. And especially Acts 1:11, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." These, and like words spoken by holy men as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, have made the doctrine precious to every watchful and prayerful believer in the Son of God. There is power in them to alarm and arouse the sinner and the lukewarm Christian, and to comfort the faithful. But the more this truth is proclaimed the more we hear the question, "Where is the promise of his coming?" not from unbelievers only, but from millions of professed Christians, who ought to remember that the Lord hath said, "Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour the Son of man cometh." Having become "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof," they say, "for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." That is what the vast majority of mankind are saying to-day, and that is what the apostle declared should be said "in the last days." Do they believe that Jesus once came as prophesied by Isaiah and others? Yes. And that he will come the second time to judge the world? Yes, away off in the future, after unnumbered ages have rolled by; when the world is all converted to him; but not now, while there is such rapid advance made in the arts, in science, in everything that makes the world wiser and better (?). His coming now would bring to an end all our cherished plans. While a worldly church may not openly reject, or scoff at, the Bible doctrine of the soon return of the Lord, yet those who love their divine master and receive the word relative to his coming with all gladness, are, with a reproach not becoming Christians, termed "Adventists," as though to be an Adventist was sufficient cause for such treatment. We do not have special reference to those who are called thus denominationally. But we will here say that we thank that people for their zeal in proclaiming this precious doctrine, and though we may believe they embrace some errors which tend to bring reproach upon the name of Adventist, we love them for their adherence to the broken law of God and their proclamation of the faith of Jesus. If we read our Bible aright, we learn that such as "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" are those who "may enter in through the gates into the city," (Rev. 22:14) and one prominent part of that "faith" is the prophecy concerning Christ's literal coming to reign with those ready for him, and to "destroy with the brightness of his coming" all who reject him. While his chosen ones wait in joyous expectation of speedy deliverance, their Lord saith, "Surely I come quickly;" "Watch and pray," to which they respond, "Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22:20. We have no faith in the doctrine which tends to lull the church to sleep, namely: the conversion of the whole world, and union of sects before the second advent. The prospect looks darker at the present time than ever. We do not doubt but that there will be more of the "form of godliness" as years roll by, but that will not be real godliness or genuine conversion. In the words of another let us inquire: "And what are the present prospects of a church that has set out in all confidence to convert the world? How may those now putting on the harness boast of greater expected success than is warranted by the experience of those who have put it off after having fought the good fight? The prophets could not convert the world; are we stronger than they? The martyrs could not convert the world; are we mightier than they? The apostles could not convert the world; can we do more than they? The church for eighteen hundred years could not convert the world; can we do it? They have preached the gospel of Christ; so can we. They have gone to earth's remotest bounds; so can we. They have saved 'some;' so can we. They have wept as so few believed their report; so can we. Has God a mightier Saviour—a more powerful Spirit? Has he another gospel which will convert the world? Where is it? Is there any way to the kingdom other than that which leads through much tribulation? Is there another way to the crown besides the way of crosses? Can we reign with him unless we first suffer in his cause?" If all are converted long before his coming, how can these scoffers spoken of by Peter, arise and deny it, and persecutions and perils exist in the last days? Were they converted at the time Noah entered the ark? But words of inspiration tell us that "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man." "When the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17:26-30. At the very moment when many popular churches cherish the delusive hope of "the good time coming," destruction, instead of conversion, awaits the world. While they see no danger, those they brand as fanatics, alarmists, will obey the prophetic injunction, "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand." Joel 2:1. When they say "peace and safety," sudden destruction cometh. 1 Thess. 5:3. We are no "timist," but we learn a lesson from the fig-tree, and God promises us "signs" though we ask not for them. See how dark were the features in Noah's time. That "preacher of righteousness" warned them of the swiftly coming destruction, and the works he wrought were calculated to send home to the hearts of unbelievers the truth of what he preached, and was condemnation to the careless, scoffing world. But the time drew nigh and the favored family was alone entering the ark. As the people say now, "Do a few Seventh-day Baptists, or Adventists know more about God's law than the world's popular and esteemed clergy?" so then they no doubt said, "Does Noah and family know more than all the world?" while the wise ones explained away the fears of those almost inclined to believe the "preacher." The shepherd is tending his flock, the mechanic is building, some young and gay, are being joined in holy matrimony, there is feasting and sporting by many, and all are planning for the future years, looking for prosperity, when lo! the heavens blacken, and soon descends the rain in torrents. "The fountains of the great deep are broken up." Every heart then is filled with fear, and as the panic-stricken multitudes flee with their treasures to the highest hills, the floods mount up after them, until no foot-hold is found for man or beast, and soon the teeming millions are still in death. Mercy slighted! The evidences which Noah gave of the impending destruction were considered insufficient for them to base their faith upon. But they were sufficient, and those, too, given by God through the testimony and acts of one man. But how many hundredfold greater, and more convincing are the evidences that are to, and no doubt have already, come to us, telling us of the approach of the Son of man. Prophecy is fulfilling while the church grows lukewarm and the spirit of holiness is departing. Will there be such signs given that the world will be compelled to believe? In the days of Noah no one was compelled to believe. God never thus reveals his truth. Blinded by pleasures, smooth preaching, cares and wealth, men will continually grow careless, and an unbelieving, infidel generation in and out of the church, will say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" until the Lord shall descend with multitudes of his saints and then "shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt." Isa. 13:6, 7. O blessed thought for God's people! Jesus will come, and soon come. Be ready, be anxious, pray for it. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."—H. D. C., in Sabbath Recorder. To REJOICE in another's prosperity is to give content to your own lot; to mitigate another's grief is to alleviate or dispel your own.—T. Edwards. It is right to be contented with what we have, but never with what we are.—Sir James McIntosh. In 1715 the known national debts of the world amounted to $1,460,000,000; in 1793, to $2,461,000,000; in 1848, to $8,423,000,000; and in 1880, to $26,493,200,000. Of the increase in the debt since 1848, nearly $16,000,000,000 have been spent for carrying on wars, and for military purposes. At the close of the Rebellion, the U. S. national debt was $2,755,995,000, and the annual interest was $151,000,000; this has been steadily reduced until, at the present time, the national debt is $1,879,956,000, and the annual interest, $76,845,000. This is being constantly reduced. "ALL THINGS ARE YOURS."
By W. L. Coffee
DEAR brother or sister, are you passing through temptation, and trial, and is the enemy of souls trying all his arts to ensnare you? Remember this is one of the all things, that are yours. Do you sometimes feel almost discouraged, and fear that at the last you will fail to gain the celestial city? Discouragements, trials, and temptations, "all are yours." Do you realize your own weakness and proneness to sin? then cling more closely to the source of all strength, and hide in the "Cleft Rock," for this also is yours. Do those who are near and dear to you fail you in the hour of need, and pass you by unnoticed? "There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother," and this friend also is yours. And then when all the conflict is ended, and the trials are all in the past, if you have overcome in them all, the victory also shall be yours. Although you may have to pass through the dark portals of the tomb, yet if you have a part in the first resurrection, eternal life shall be yours. Then shall you realize, as you cannot while here, the fullness of this promise, "All things are yours." WHAT IS THE SABBATH?
By Charles P. Whitford
A PRIVATE letter from a friend contains the following: "I for one never thought it mattered so much which one of the days we keep for the Sabbath, as how we keep them." Query.—If we keep a day for the Sabbath, which is not the Sabbath, will the keeping of the day make it the Sabbath? Sabbath means rest, and the only Sabbath of the Lord; the only Sabbath having any claims on mankind, is the rest-day of the Lord; and that is the day of the week on which he rested, and no other. But according to the view set forth in the above, it matters not whether we keep the day of God's rest, or some other day, providing we only keep it right, whichever that day may be. Were we to be governed by the same principle in relation to the other nine commandments, what would be the condition of society and of the world? We should find all classes claiming that it did not matter whether they obeyed those precepts or not. In short, it would be a virtual claim that they could obey God and be saved, or they could disobey him and the result would be the same, provided they were only sincere. To us this seems like a very doubtful piece of sincerity. While we believe that it is a good thing to be truly sincere, we also believe that God will accept of nothing but strict obedience to his commandments. He will accept of none but godly sincerity. To be sincere in actions which are violations of the law of God, is dangerous sincerity. Says Christ, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Matt. 19:17. Again he says: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14. God has given commandments, and promises salvation to those who will keep them. Now if men can continue to do things which are violations of these commandments, and yet can be saved, then there are two ways to salvation. We can obey God and be saved, or, if this is not so convenient, we can disobey him and be saved, provided we are only sincere! We believe that such reasoning is a deception of the great enemy of all righteousness, and we wonder how any person can be led to accept such foolish and absurd positions. Let us strive to know the whole will of God and do it; for none but those who keep the truth will enter into the city. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. 'Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.'" LESSON FOR PACIFIC COAST.—MAY, 21.
Fasting had become one of the prominent religious usages of our Saviour's day. Though only one fast had been appointed by Moses—that of the Day of Atonement—the Pharisees had added numerous others, especially on the two days of the week, Monday and Thursday, on which synagogue worship was held. When fasting, they strewed their heads with ashes, and neither washed nor anointed themselves nor trimmed their beards, but put on wretched clothing and showed themselves in the outward signs of mourning and sadness used for the dead. Insincerity made capital of feigned humiliation and contrition, till even the Roman theater noticed it. In one of the plays of the time, a camel, covered with a mourning cloth, was led on the stage. "Why is the camel in mourning?" asked one of the players. "Because the Jews are keeping the Sabbath year, and grow nothing, but are living on thistles. The camel is mourning because its food is thus taken from it." Rabbis were forbidden to anoint themselves before going out, and it was recorded of a specially famous doctor that his face was black with fasting. All pretense was abhorrent to the soul of Jesus, especially in religion. "When ye fast," said he, "be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily, I say unto you they have their reward. But do thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face; that thou mayest not appear unto men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret, will reward thee." To seek effect, applause, credit, or gain, by a show of godliness, must be shunned by members of the New Kingdom. It would be better to let men think evil of them, than to be tempted to use religion for ulterior ends. True pain and true sorrow hide from the eye of strangers; they withdraw to the secrecy of the breast.—Geikie. "Openly." These words are omitted by nine MSS. in uncial letters; and by more than one hundred others, by most of the versions, and by several of the primitive fathers.—Clarke. "Treasures in Heaven." The only way to render perishing goods eternal, to secure stately furniture from moths, the richest metals from canker, and precious stones from thieves, is to transmit them to Heaven by acts of charity. This is a kind of bill of exchange which cannot fail of acceptance, but through our own fault.—Quesnel. "Judge not." Matt. 7: 1, 2. These verses do not forbid the magistrate to judge and pass sentence on criminals; or the rulers of the church to censure and exclude such members as disgrace their profession; or Christians to "withdraw from every brother that walks disorderly," for these are duties expressly enjoined in scripture. . . . But we ought not to be officious, rash, or severe, in forming our judgment; nor hasty in declaring it. We are not bound to believe an infidel or a profligate to be a true Christian: but we should judge as favorably as we can, where the fundamentals of Christianity are professed, and not disgraced by an inconsistent conduct.—Scott. "Into thy bosom." Almost all ancient nations wore long, wide, and loose garments; and when about to carry anything which their hands could not contain, they used a fold of their robe in nearly the same way as women here use their aprons. The phrase is continually occurring in the best and purest Greek writers.—Clarke. "The mote and beam." It is probable that our Lord alluded to some proverbial expressions familiar to his hearers, the knowledge of which would throw more light on the subject than any criticism on the original words can do. There was a proverbial speech among the Jews in and before Christ's time (set down afterward with some variation in the Talmud, thus) They which say to others, Take out the small piece of wood out of thy teeth, are answered, Take out the beam out of thine eyes: to check the importunity of those who are always censuring and condemning others for small matters when they themselves are guilty of those things which are much more to be reprehended.—Hammond. "Pearls before swine." Many truths, and many instances of the Lord's goodness to us, which are precious to the humble and teachable, are not proper to be communicated to scoffers, or those who pervert sacred things: they will only be emboldened or exasperated by them to greater ungodliness, and to shew more impious rage and contempt. They will trample under foot, with disdain, all that can be said of experimental religion or communion with God, as swine would tread pearls in the mire, regardless of their value; and they will be so enraged at holy warnings, reproofs, and counsels, that, like fierce dogs, they will be ready to turn again and tear their friendly reprover.—Scott. "The separated"—there is a whole story in the name. It was given at first, probably, to that extreme party of the Jews who opposed most bitterly the adoption of Grecian customs. Cursed alike by them was the Jew who kept pigs or taught his child Greek. But the name gathered a deeper meaning, until in the time of Christ the Pharisee felt himself "separated" as well from the rest of his own race as from the Gentiles, and could utter complacently that prayer, "I thank thee that I am not as other men." The Pharisees were the Jews of the Jews when all the Jews were filled with hatred towards all other men, would refuse even to point out the way to any but a Jew, would receive a proselyte only on condition that he abjure his country and abandon his children, parents and family, and held ignorance of everything not Jewish a sacred part of their religion. It was the Pharisee's pride to be considered the orthodox of his race, the perfect exponent and representative of Moses, the flower of God's "chosen people." It was as the orthodox party, hedging around the law with oral traditions held equally sacred and binding with the law, that the Pharisees grew into power and became the recognized religious leaders of the nation. They soon strove to be its political leaders also, and to mould the State into an independent theocracy. They recognized no law but that of Moses with all their additions. They looked upon Herod as an usurper of civil and divine rights, and hated the Roman dominion with unspeakable hatred. To them may be traced the restless turbulence of the nation, which "made Judea, to Herod and the Roman emperors, what Ireland at one time was to England, and Poland to Russia—the seat of chronic revolt, which knew no considerations of odds against success, and seemed to take counsel of despair." In Christ's day the Pharisees numbered above 6,000 men in Judea, and were at the height of their power in the national councils. Josephus, himself one of them, says they prided themselves greatly on their knowledge of the law, and made men believe they were holier than their neighbors, and especially in favor with God. They plotted Herod's death with the women of his family. They claimed the gift of prophecy, were closely bound together, and had as their one great thought and inspiration the founding of a grand hierarchy in which the Jews should reign over the whole world. The Messiah they expected was to set up such a kingdom for them. By the traditions with which the Pharisees sought to bind the whole Jewish race together, they treated men like children, formalizing and defining the minutest particulars of daily action. They were the extreme Ritualists of their day, and made the usual mistake, if not the inevitable one, of losing the spirit of religion in its form. There had been at first and there always were some good and holy men among them, and their reputation had largely been gained because of their plain and rigorous life, with fastings oft. Indeed, those who strictly followed their rules would have little time for anything else but observances. But they had largely divorced religion from morality, so that it was possible for the worst among them morally, to be considered the most religious. Their character had become such as to fully justify the denunciations of Jesus, the most bitter that ever fell from his lips. To show the Pharisaic feeling brought out in the lesson at the failure of Christ to wash his hands before dinner, it was related by the Jews of later times with intense admiration how the Rabbi Akiba, when imprisoned and given only water enough to maintain life, preferred to die of starvation rather than eat without the proper washings. That illustrates well, too, the spirit with which the Pharisees looked upon all their formalities. They went into elaborate argument, in their supplement or commentary on the Mishna of the Talmud, to show how the candles of the Sabbath were to be lighted, and with what materials. There was a grave discussion between opposing parties as to whether an egg laid on a festival might be eaten, the school of Shammai saying yes, the school of Hillel saying no.—Examiner and Chronicle. Take Your Bible to Christ
By McCheyne
WHEN you read a book in a dark room, and come to a difficult part, you take it to a window to get more light. So take your Bible to Christ.
—McCheyne. THE CHEERY TEACHER.
By M. E. Sangster
YEARS ago I knew a class in which a disintegrating process was going on. It could not be kept together. Persistently the superintendent filled it up, bringing new recruits to make up the gaps which were always occurring in its ranks, but it was in vain. The boys could not stand the chill of its atmosphere, nor be natural under the influence of the good but dismal elder who taught it, and away they went to find brighter and more congenial places. It was in vain that the excellent man haunted his pastor's study, laboriously read this great book and the other, in desire to make the lesson interesting, and devoted, yes, spent himself, in efforts to keep the young men's Bible class, where he felt it should be, in the front of the school, a sort of shining light and example. In his hands it was a little more than a name, a tradition of a good thing that had been, and he at last resigned his task in absolute despair. There followed him very quickly a gentleman not nearly so well educated, not nearly so thorough, not, at a casual glance, half so well fitted for the position. But before many Sundays had passed, everybody was talking about the change. The class rallied around the new leader. One young man brought another. Their blithe, eager faces, their cheery voices, their interested manner, showed that they enjoyed coming, and the good people who had been lamenting over the fact that the boys of this period so soon grew too large to go to Sunday-school, had reason to felicitate themselves on having been greatly mistaken. Where was the secret? Both were good men. Both were anxious to teach well. The first was a failure, and the second a success. It was no secret to any one who could read human nature. One had the magnetism of a happy, joyous, enthusiastic, temperament. He bore his light aloft on a candlestick, to be seen of all; the other, by reason of a naturally moody and melancholy disposition, which had grown morose through much brooding over trouble and loss, hid his light under a bushel. Young people were repelled from the one as certainly as they were attracted by the other characteristic. You will have no difficulty in holding your growing-up boys, and your young ladies, if you bear in mind two facts; they must have good teaching, and they must have cheery teachers. The air around us is full of stimulus. Information abounds. Wide awake girls and boys of this day have been, in the secular schools, under the influence of the most advanced minds, and the best text-books, and the most thorough preceptors. They will not rest contented with inefficient, half-digested, and second-hand instruction in the Sunday-school. They are willing to be students, and they want some one able to guide them. Then they will not—and who can blame them?—submit to sitting down among the tombs when all the world is full of sunshine and gladness. Let us have cheery teachers, for their sakes.—M. E. Sangster, in Sunday-school World. Visiting Sabbath-School Scholars
A question that ought to be asked in every Sabbath-school is, "To what extent do the teachers visit the scholars?" No teacher can keep his hold on his Sabbath-school scholars who does not visit them. And yet, in many schools nothing of the kind is done, while in others it is but partially done. How often should the visiting be? That depends. In the city, with the concentration of population, and the convenience of horse cars, it can be done oftener than in the country. But even in the country it should never be lost sight of. Every teacher ought to visit his scholars at least once every three months—four times a year. How often do you visit your scholars? A DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER.
By Editor
"AND Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast." Matt. 9:15. Fasting is an expression of sorrow. It would not have been fitting while the Lord of life and glory was with his own. It is specially fitting in times of moral declension, backsliding, and when the cause of God is in deep affliction. All through the Bible we have such instances. When Israel fled before their enemies, they fasted. Josh. 7:7; Judges 20:26; 1 Sam. 7:6. Moses, Elijah, and Christ, fasted even forty days. Ex. 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8; Matt. 4:2. When God's people fell into sin, and he could not consistently bless them because of this, fasting was one special means of grace to bring them into God's favor. Ezra 8:23; Neh. 1:4; 9:1. The most devoted servants of God, in times of anguish and spiritual darkness, have fasted and prayed for the outpouring of the Spirit. Dan. 9:3; 10:2; Acts 27:33; 2 Chron. 6:5; 11:27. We have reached an age of great spiritual darkness. The possession of the form of godliness, with little of the power, is that which marks the age in which we live as the "last days" of the earth's history in its present state. In spite of all the light we have as a people, we are deeply afflicted with this spiritual apathy. We are very near the day of God, and do not sense it. We greatly need to humble our hearts before him with fasting, weeping, and earnest prayer. While others are rushing on with carelessness, surfeiting, and love of pleasure, we ought to feel our need of God, and seek him with all the heart. Our camp-meeting season is just before us. How exceedingly important it is that these meetings should be spiritual seasons of great encouragement. Satan's power to harden the heart and make people unfeeling, seems to be stronger and stronger, so that our sermons do not have the success of former years. We must have, at least, a proportionate increase of God's blessing, to do the work committed to our hands. Our faithful missionaries are struggling hard to break through the barriers of long entrenched error, and let in the precious light of truth, to gladden honest souls. They have a hard battle to fight. They need the prayers and sympathy of all who love God, especially our beloved Bro. Andrews, one of the faithful pioneers in this work, who is struggling with disease which human power can never cure. Consumption seems to have marked him for the grave. But our God is a mighty God. He greatly blessed and strengthened him at the time of fasting last appointed; and we will continue to hope that he will hear the united prayers of our people in his behalf, and spare him to help us in this great work before us. Just at this juncture, when he has learned the language and become familiar with the situation, and has had encouraging success, his loss would be very great. God is blessing him spiritually with great peace and courage. His articles were never more clear or weighty. Shall not our united prayers, as a people, ascend to God in his behalf, for restoration to health as long as he lives? Shall we not fast before God, and humble our hearts before him, that we may not lose the valuable labors of this faithful man? In accordance with these suggestions, we hereby appoint Sabbath, May 21, as a day of fasting and prayer. We recommend our people, when they can, to assemble in their places of worship, and read such portions of Scripture as relate to fasting and special answers to prayer, and that all our people humble their hearts before God, and seek him with all the heart. Pray that he may forgive our sins as a people, and bless our camp-meetings, encourage our ministers to labor faithfully in the work, and give us an outpouring of his Spirit; that he may bless our missionaries, and especially our beloved Bro. Andrews, if living, and raise him to health again. May God greatly bless this appointed fast to the good of our people everywhere, GENERAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. In the Sabbath Memorial of April, 1881, published by Bro. Wm. M. Jones, London, a Seventh-day Baptist, we find the following editorial note :— “Is Judas Iskariot extinct? Because, in our daily lesson in Arabic this morning, First day, 27, II, ’81, we have just read, perhaps for the twentieth time, Matt. 27 : 5.—thumma madda wa khanaka nafka hu—that is, he [Judas] went away and strangled his soul! So read the Malta and Beyrout translations. A translation of 1671, reads,—wa madda wa khanaka nafka hu bi-rasan,—and went away and strangled his soul with a halter [possibly stolen from a donkey!]. All three are orthodox translations. What will Doctors of Divinity and Physic say to this?” If the Doctors have carefully examined the doctrine of the soul, the Scripture usage of the word neh-phesh,—and this usage is decisive as authority,—they will say that these Arabic translators are quite correct, and fully justified by usage. The primary idea of neh-phesh is that of person or self. The best critics, such as Dr. Clarke, plainly say so. It is used in the Old Testament about 750 times, and it refers to the person about 700 times, either directly or indirectly. In a large number of instances no other rendering can possibly be given to it, and any meaning other than this is tropical. We feel prepared to verify our statements, for we have examined every instance of the occurrence of this word in the Hebrew Scriptures, and these give the primary meaning as it was used thousands of years before the writing of the Greek Scriptures. It is unfortunate that writers on the New Testament, to maintain their theories, have decided on the meaning of the word psuchee, and then, by a few texts, decided on its use, without carefully examining the usage of its Hebrew equivalent, neh-phesh. Such a course, instead of establishing the truth, can only settle the reader more deeply in error. We wish that many would do as Bro. Jones did, read it twenty times and meditate on the truth it contains. But we care very little what “Doctors of Divinity and Physic” say of it, unless they have examined it thoroughly and without prejudice. THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY, K. G., ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION.
By Editor
WE have received the following from the “Victoria Institute, or Philosophical Society of Great Britain,” with a request to publish it in the SIGNS. We cheerfully do so, as we think it will be of interest to all our readers. “A few years ago the attacks made upon religion by some men of science, led to the foundation of a Society to investigate all philosophical or scientific questions, more especially those said to militate against the truths of revelation, and to publish the results to its members in a quarterly journal; this Society, which was called the Victoria Institute, or Philosophical Society of Great Britain, has now a house at 7, Adelphi Terrace, London, and boasts of 900 members, each paying a small annual subscription, amongst whom are many leading men of science. The Archbishop of Canterbury, and several English, Colonial, and American prelates have also joined it. Having been founded under Lord Shaftesbury's auspices, his lordship takes much interest in its progress, which he recently described as follows:— “I was present at the very birth of this Society, when an address was delivered in a small, dark room. I had no conception at that time of the work which the Society would do, and of the position which it would hold, not only at home, but also, as it is now beginning to do, in America, and our Colonies. I had no expectation whatever, of seeing the Society assume such magnificent proportions, and from the bottom of my heart I thank Almighty God that he has so prospered our efforts (cheers). The object with which this Society was formed, was not merely to beat down the views223of others, not to be antagonistic to the progress of science, but to do all that we could for the development of truth, and, if I may use the phrase, to give religion “fair play.” This Society was not founded to establish either one opinion or another. It was not started for the purpose of setting up the Bible against science. The object of the Society was, that science should have fair play, that the truth should be told on all sides, and that we might get rid of the despotism of certain scientific men (hear, hear). Because it is perfectly well-known that men of science, with all their sublime and mighty notions, are as despotic as the weakest of the human race, and they are exercising their despotic sway to a remarkable extent over a very large number of rising young men, who are either fascinated by what they have read and discovered or are crushed by the authority of a few great names. It was in order, as I have said, that science should have fair play that this Institute was established, and the blessing of God has so rested upon it that it has at last taken a hold in public estimation.” IN a recent number of the SIGNS we noticed the answer of a D. D. to this question showing, as we think, that his answer was not satisfactory according to the Scriptures. The Christian at Work, which is generally alive to every question going, has solicited and received an answer to it from representatives of the several denominations all over the country. They nearly all affirm their belief that they have ceased. The exceptions are so few that we can easily notice them. Dr. Whedon, Methodist (New York), says:— “I am unable to deny that miracles have taken place since the apostolic days, but am equally unable to specify any which I positively believe to be real. I should concur with the old New England divines in holding that miracles could only be the result of a special ‘faith of miracles,’ divinely conferred. With such a ‘faith consciously possessed, the Christian may look for the miraculous answer. Whether any at the present day are endowed with that faith, I am unable to say.” Dr. Geo. E. Pentecost, Congregationalist (Brooklyn), believes that every answer to prayer is miraculous. He says:— “I believe that Christians pray to God, not to ‘nature’ or to ‘law,’ and that God answers prayer. I believe that God often answers prayer in so wonderful a manner as to put the answer, almost, in the category of the ‘miraculous,’ in the popular sense of that term. We are to expect that God hears and answers prayer.” Beyond this he does not believe in miracles, such as are recorded in the New Testament. Dr. Leon Walker, Congregationalist, (Hartford), says:— “I think Christian people should be slow to deny the fact of post-apostolic miracles, or the probability of such answers to prayer as properly may be classed as supernatural interposition for human help. A great body of facts, all along the tract of history, seems to indicate that such interposals have actually occurred. There is nothing more irrational in the belief of their occurrence now than in the apostolic times. I do not dare to say they do not.” Dr. Edward Judson, Baptist (Orange, N. J.), gives a brief word as follows:— “I am not yet prepared to formulate my views on the question whether or no miracles are discontinued. Dr. Gordon, Baptist, (Boston), is the most decided. He says:— “I believe that the promise of the signs following those that believe (Mark 16:17) was given to believers in all time. Unless the testimony of nearly all the Christian fathers is set aside, these miraculous signs continued in the church for more than two hundred years after Christ. The statements of the fathers are most explicit on that point, and so eminent an authority as Uhlhorn declares that their testimony is such as to put the matter beyond reasonable doubt. I believe that the promise of miraculous healing of the sick is especially explicit, that the declaration of Scripture, ‘The prayer of faith will save the sick,’ is applicable to all time, and that it has been honored in many instances in our own times. Dr. Gordon is a literalist in reference to the prophecies concerning the coming of the Lord. He repudiates the prevailing mystical views of this subject. But Dr. Pentecost does not believe in the continuance of miracles such as Christ and the apostles wrought. So he is scarcely a believer after all. And Dr. Walker thinks that “prayer for physical blessings rests on a very much smaller basis of promise and probability than for spiritual.” Hence, he is but a partial believer. If blessings are received in measure by the Saviour's rule: “according to your faith,” the tangible blessings in answer to prayer in this age must necessarily be small and rare.