Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 25. (6/26/1879)

Signs of the Times

Jun 26, 1879

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jun 26, 1879

General Articles.

By Ellen G. White

Jew and Gentile.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

THE next day after the stoning of Paul, the apostles left the city, according to the direction of Christ: “When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another.” They departed for Derbe, where their labors were blessed by leading many souls to embrace the truth. But both Paul and Barnabas returned again to visit Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the fields of labor where they had met such opposition and persecution. In all those places were many souls that believed the truth; and the apostles felt it their duty to strengthen and encourage their brethren who were exposed to reproach and bitter opposition. They were determined to securely bind off the work which they had done, that it might not ravel out.

Churches were duly organized in the places before mentioned, elders appointed in each church, and the proper order and system established there. Paul and Barnabas labored in Antioch some time; and many Gentiles there embraced the doctrine of Christ. But certain Jews from Judea raised a general consternation among the believing Gentiles by agitating the question of circumcision. They asserted, with great assurance, that none could be saved without being circumcised, and keeping the entire ceremonial law.

This was an important question, and one which affected the church in a very great degree. Paul and Barnabas met it with promptness, and opposed introducing the subject to the Gentiles. They were opposed in this by the believing Jews of Antioch, who favored the position of those from Judea. The matter resulted in much discussion and want of harmony in the church, until finally the church at Antioch, apprehending that a division among them would occur from any further discussion of the question, decided to send Paul and Barnabas, together with some responsible men of Antioch, to Jerusalem, and lay the matter before the apostles and elders. There they were to meet delegates from the different churches, and those who had come to attend the approaching annual festivals. Meanwhile all controversy was to cease, until a final decision should be made by the responsible men of the church. This decision was then to be universally accepted by the various churches throughout the country.

The apostles, in making their way to Jerusalem, called upon the brethren of the cities through which they passed, and encouraged them by relating their experience in the work of God, and the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith. Upon arriving at Jerusalem, the delegates from Antioch related before the assembly of the churches the success that had attended the ministry with them, and the confusion that had resulted from the fact that certain converted Pharisees declared that the Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses in order to be saved.

The Jews were not generally prepared to move as fast as the providence of God opened the way. It was evident to them from the result of the apostles' labors among the Gentiles that the converts among the latter people would far exceed the Jewish converts; and that if the restrictions and ceremonies of the Jewish law were not made obligatory upon their accepting the faith of Christ, the national peculiarities of the Jews, which kept them distinct from all other people, would finally disappear from among those who embraced the gospel truths.

The Jews had prided themselves upon their divinely appointed services; and they concluded that as God once specified the Hebrew manner of worship, it was impossible that he should ever authorize a change in any of its specifications. They decided that Christianity must connect itself with the Jewish laws and ceremonies. They were slow to discern the end of that which had been abolished by the death of Christ, and to perceive that all their sacrificial offerings had but prefigured the death of the Son of God, in which type had met its antitype, rendering valueless the divinely appointed ceremonies and sacrifices of the Jewish religion.

Paul had prided himself upon his Pharisaical strictness; but after the revelation of Christ to him on the road to Damascus, the mission of the Saviour, and his own work in the conversion of the Gentiles, were plain to his mind; and he fully comprehended the difference between a living faith and a dead formalism. Paul still claimed to be one of the children of Abraham, and he kept the ten commandments in letter and in spirit as faithfully as he had ever done before his conversion to Christianity. But he knew that the typical ceremonies must soon altogether cease, since that which they had shadowed forth had come to pass, and the light of the gospel was shedding its glory upon the Jewish religion, giving a new significance to its ancient rites.

The question of circumcision was warmly discussed in the assembly. The Gentile converts lived in a community of idolaters. Sacrifices and offerings were made to senseless idols by these ignorant and superstitious people. The priests of these gods carried on an extensive merchandize with the offerings brought to them; and the Jews feared that the Gentile converts would bring Christianity into disrepute by purchasing those things which had been offered to idols, and thereby sanctioning, in some measure, an idolatrous worship.

Also the Gentiles were accustomed to eat the flesh of animals that had been strangled; while the Jews had been divinely instructed with regard to the food they should use. They were particular, in killing beasts, that the blood should flow from the body, else it was not regarded as healthful meat. God had given these injunctions to the Jews for the purpose of preserving their health and strength. The Jews considered it sinful to use blood as an article of diet: They considered that the blood was the life; that the shedding of blood was in consequence of sin, and was a sacred emblem of the Son of God.

The Gentiles, on the contrary, practiced catching the blood which flowed from the victim of sacrifice, and drinking it, or using it in the preparation of their food. The Jews could not change the customs which they had so long observed, and which they had adopted under the special direction of God. Therefore, as things then stood, if Jew and Gentile came to eat at the same table, the former would be shocked and outraged by the habits and manners of the latter.

The Gentiles, and especially the Greeks, were extremely licentious; and many, in accepting Christianity, had united the truth to their unsanctified natures, and continued to practice fornication. The Jewish Christians, who could not tolerate such immorality, which was not even regarded as criminal by the Greeks, the Jews, therefore, held it highly proper that circumcision, and the observance of the ceremonial law, should be brought to the Gentile converts as a test of their sincerity and devotion. This they believed would prevent the accession to the church of those who were carried away by mere feeling, or who adopted the faith without a true conversion of heart, and who might afterward disgrace the cause by immorality and excesses.

The questions thus brought under the consideration of the council seemed to present insurmountable difficulties, viewed in whatever light. But the Holy Ghost had, in reality, already settled this problem, upon the decision of which depended the prosperity, and even the existence, of the Christian church. Grace, wisdom, and sanctified judgment were given to the apostles to decide the vexed question.

Peter reasoned that the Holy Ghost had decided the matter by descending with equal power upon the uncircumcised Gentiles and the circumcised Jews. He recounted his vision, which God had presented before him a sheet filled with all manner of four-footed beasts, and had bidden him kill and eat; that when he had refused, which he said, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”

He related the plain interpretation of these words, which was given to him almost immediately in his summons to go to the Gentile centurion, and instruct him in the faith of Christ. This message showed that God was no respecter of persons, but accepted and acknowledged those who feared him, and worked righteousness. Peter told of his astonishment, when, in speaking the words of truth to the Gentiles, he witnessed the Holy Spirit take possession of his hearers, both Jews and Gentiles. The same light and glory that shone upon the circumcised Jews, shone also upon the countenances of the uncircumcised Gentiles. This was the warning of God that he should not regard the one as inferior to the other; for the blood of Jesus Christ could cleanse from all uncleanness.

Peter had reasoned once before, in like manner, with his brethren, concerning the conversion of Cornelius and his friends, and his fellowship with them. On that occasion he had related how the Holy Ghost fell on them, and had said, “Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could resist God?” Now, with equal fervor and force, he said, “God, which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even

as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”

This yoke was not the law of the ten commandments, as those assert who oppose the binding claim of the law; but Peter referred to the law of ceremonies, which was made null and void by the crucifixion of Christ. This address of Peter brought the assembly to a point where they could listen with reason to Paul and Barnabas, who related their experience in working among the Gentiles. “Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.”

James bore his testimony with decision—that God designed to bring in the Gentiles to enjoy all the privileges of the Jews. The Holy Ghost saw good not to impose the ceremonial law on the Gentile converts; and the apostles and elders, after careful investigation of the subject, saw the matter in the same light, and their mind was as the mind of the Spirit of God. James presided at the council, and his final decision was, “Wherefore my sentence is that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God.”

This ended the discussion. In this instance we have a refutation of the doctrine held by the Roman Catholic Church—that Peter was the head of the church. Those who, as popes, have claimed to be his successors, have no foundation for their pretensions. Nothing in the life of Peter gives sanction to those pretended claims. If the professed successors of Peter had imitated his example, they would have taken no authoritative position, but one on an equality with that of their brethren.

James, in this instance, seems to have been chosen to decide the matter which was brought before the council. It was his sentence that the ceremonial law, and especially the ordinance of circumcision, be not in any wise urged upon the Gentiles, or even recommended to them. James sought to impress the fact upon his brethren that the Gentiles, in turning to God from idolatry, made a great change in their faith; and that much caution should be used not to trouble their minds with perplexing and doubtful questions, lest they be discouraged in following Christ.

The Gentiles, however, were to take no course which should materially conflict with the views of their Jewish brethren, or which would create prejudice in their minds against them. The apostles and elders therefore agreed to instruct the Gentiles by letter to abstain from meats offered to idols, from fornication, from things strangled, and from blood. They were required to keep the commandments, and to lead holy lives. The Gentiles were assured that the men who had urged circumcision upon them were not authorized to do so by the apostles.

Paul and Barnabas were recommended to them as men who had hazarded their lives for the Lord. Judas and Silas were sent with these apostles to declare to the Gentiles, by word of mouth, the decision of the council: “For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burdens than these necessary things: that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication, from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well.” The four servants of God were sent to Antioch with the epistle and message, which put an end to all controversy; for it was the voice of the highest authority upon earth.

The council which decided this case was composed of the founders of the Jewish and Gentile Christian churches. Elders from Jerusalem, and deputies from Antioch, were present; and the most influential churches were represented. The council did not claim infallibility in their deliberations, but moved from the dictates of enlightened judgment, and with the dignity of a church established by the divine will. They saw that God himself had decided this question by favoring the Gentiles with the Holy Ghost; and it was left for them to follow the guidance of the Spirit.

The entire body of Christians were not called to vote upon the question. The apostles and elders—men of influence and judgment—framed and issued the decree, which was thereupon generally accepted by the Christian churches. All were not pleased, however, with this decision; there was a faction of false brethren who assumed to engage in a work on their own responsibility. They indulged in murmuring and fault-finding, proposing new plans, and seeking to pull down the work of the experienced men whom God had ordained to teach the doctrine of Christ. The church has had such obstacles to meet from the first, and will ever have them to the close of time.

Jerusalem was the metropolis of the Jews, and there were found the greatest exclusiveness and bigotry. The Jewish Christians who lived in sight of the temple would naturally allow their minds to revert to the peculiar privileges of the Jews as a nation. As they saw Christianity departing from the ceremonies and traditions of Judaism, and perceived that the peculiar sacredness with which the Jewish customs had been invested would soon be lost sight of in the light of the new faith, many grew indignant against Paul, as one who had, in a great measure, caused this change. Even the disciples were not all prepared to willingly accept the decision of the council. Some were zealous for the ceremonial law, and regarded Paul with jealousy, because they thought his principles were lax in regard to the obligation of the Jewish law.

When Peter, at a later date, visited Antioch, he acted in accordance with the light given him from Heaven, and the decision of the council. He overcame his natural prejudice so far as to sit at table with the Gentile converts. But when certain Jews who were most zealous for the ceremonial law came from Jerusalem, he changed his deportment toward the converts from paganism in so marked a degree that it left a most painful impression upon their minds. Quite a number followed Peter's example. Even Barnabas was influenced by the injudicious course of the apostle; and a division was threatened in the church. But Paul, who saw the wrong done the church through the double part acted by Peter, openly rebuked him for thus disguising his true sentiments.

Peter saw the error into which he had fallen, and immediately set about repairing it as far as possible. God, who knoweth the end from the beginning, permitted Peter to exhibit this weakness of character, in order that he might see that there was nothing in himself whereof he might boast. God also saw that, in time to come, some would be so deluded as to claim for Peter and his pretended successors, exalted prerogatives which belonged only to God; and this history of the apostle's weakness was to remain as a proof of his human fallibility, and of the fact that he stood in no way above the level of the other apostles.

CHRIST STILLING THE TEMPEST.

By H. M. Gilman

THE storm was loud, the night was dark, The winds and waves tossed the fragile bark Where the Saviour peacefully sleeping lay, Wearied and worn with the toils of the day. Louder and fiercer the wild winds blow, Higher and higher the mad waves flow, Till the weary disciples cry out in fear, Master, carest thou not that we perish here?

Quickly aroused by that cry of distress, And then, as now, ever ready to bless, He rebuked their doubts and calmed their fears, And quickly dried their flowing tears. For he stood in the ship with outstretched hand, Like one who governs both sea and land By his mighty power and sovereign will, And he utters the mandate, "Peace, be still."

Obeying at once his high behest, The foaming billows sink to rest; And the raging winds forbear to blow, For they their Master's mandate know. The wondering disciples stood amazed, And at their Saviour mutely gazed; "What manner of man is this," they say, "That even the winds and seas obey?"

Thus when temptation's winds arise, And clouds of sin hide the light from our eyes, We toil in vain our souls to save, And are ready to sink beneath the wave; Our Saviour is near, and he sleeps not now, And if at his cross we humbly bow, A heavenly joy will our bosoms thrill, As he bids those temptations, "Peace, be still!"

Even so in our lives, when sorrows roll Like dashing waves, to sink the soul: When we lay our loved ones in the tomb, And it seems that nothing can pierce the gloom; If we call on him he will surely hear, For his blessed presence is ever near, And a trusting calm our hearts will fill, As he gently whispers, "Peace, be still."

And when life's toils and cares are o'er, Ere I sleep in death to wake no more Till Michael's trump, with piercing sound, Shall rouse the slumberers 'neath the ground; O, Thou who alone art mighty to save And redeem my soul from the power of the grave; May thy gentle voice my weary heart still, By softly whispering, "Peace, be still." —H. M. Gilman, in Herald of Gospel Liberty.

Can God Organize Matter To Think?

By Dudley Marvin Canright

(Continued.)

HERE is what one of the believers in immaterialism says: "Now we are frank to confess that we do not know precisely what a spiritual body is. Some of its characteristics may be, perhaps, pretty well defined, and that is about as far as we can go."—N. V. Hull, Editor Sabbath Recorder, Aug. 30, 1877.

Another, a doctor of divinity says, "It must not be thought amiss, nor awaken surprise, if we confess that we know not in what the essence of soul, or spirit, consists."—Man All Immortal, p. 29.

They can neither tell what matter is nor what spirit is, so they are all compelled to confess. Then how do they know that spirit is not one form of matter? And Newham writes: "We do not consider the question of the materiality of the soul as being very important, because what we call spiritual may, in fact, be an infinitely fine modification of matter, far too subtile to be apprehended by our present powers."—Body and Mind, p. 97.

Dr. Knapp says: "This doctrine respecting the immateriality of the soul, in the strict philosophical sense of the term, is of far less consequence to their religion than is commonly supposed. The reason why so much importance has been supposed to attach to this doctrine is, that it was considered as essential to the metaphysical proof of the immortality of the soul. But since the immateriality of the soul, in the strictest sense, can never be made fully and obviously certain, whatever philosophical arguments may be urged in its favor, the proof of immortality should not be built upon it."—Christian Theology, vol. ii., p. 372.

To these pertinent testimonies we add one more, that of the renowned John Locke, who says: "We have the ideas of matter and thinking, but possibly shall never be able to know whether any mere material being thinks or not; it being impossible for us, by the contemplation of our own ideas, without revelation, to discover whether Omnipotence has not given to some systems of matter, fitly disposed, a power to perceive and think, or else joined and fixed to matter so disposed, a thinking, immaterial substance; it being, in respect of our notions, not much more remote from our comprehension to conceive that God can, if he pleases, superadd to matter a faculty of thinking, than that he should superadd to it another substance, with a faculty of thinking; since we know not wherein thinking consists, nor to what sort of substance the Almighty has been pleased to give that power which cannot be in any created being but merely by the good pleasure of the Creator. For I see no contradiction in it, that the first eternal thinking Being should, if he pleased, give to certain systems of created, senseless matter, put together as he thinks fit, some degrees of sense, perception, and thought."—Essay, Book iv., chap. 3.

Then, for all that the wisest men can tell, it may be matter after all which thinks.

Who can tell what light is? You are in a dark room. You hold in your hand a match. It is nothing but a bit of wood and a little brimstone,—both gross matter, and no light in either of them. You scratch the match, and lo! the whole room is full of light. What is that light? It is not a living thing, an immaterial intelligence, is it? No: it must be matter in some form. But why does it give light? We see that it does, but none can tell why. Is not the production of light out of these dark materials in the above case as wonderful as the production of thought by the human material brain. The one is as unexplainable as the other. Light travels with the velocity of 200,000 miles a second, that is, eight times around the earth while you are winking your eye once! Yet this same light is a material; for it can be analyzed. Pass a ray of light through a prism, and it is separated into seven distinct parts; viz., red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.—Wells' Natural Philosophy, p. 326.

This shows conclusively that light is material, though of a very subtile nature. Can the body of an angel be of a purer or higher substance than this? It may be; for perhaps God has matter in his great laboratory far more refined than any with which we have to do.

"As there are forces in the universe unknown and even inconceivable to man, so there may also be celestial bodies called spirits totally unlike what he sees about him, real and substantial each in its kind, but too subtile for human understanding. Science asserts there is no such thing as pure space. The air is displaced by our walking through it, and the ether may be cut in twain by an angel's winged form, our eyes perceiving neither ether, nor angel. Man's ignorance of the essence of things is too patent. Spirits, good and bad, belong to the realm of the supernatural, are of the order of the celestial material, but not gross. I think God may have some other substances besides 'oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon' out of which to make them. Science, very probably, could neither 'weigh, analyze, nor measure' Gabriel. Nevertheless this royal being is somebody, and immateriality as referred to him and his heavenly fellows is a misnomer, a theological blunder."—D. T. Taylor, in Bible Banner.

But it is not necessary to suppose any other substances than those with which we are already acquainted. A being created out of light, electricity, and heat would be sufficiently elevated to meet our highest conceptions of even a seraph. What is heat? I enter a cold room. The stove is cold, the wood is cold, the match is cold. I light the match, ignite the wood, and shortly the room is filled with heat. What is that? From whence did it come? It is made from gross matter, and hence is material. We can feel it, we can see the effects of it; but here our knowledge stops. Neither heat nor light have any weight. Take the most powerful burning-glass, and pour ten thousand rays of light upon the most delicate balance, and it does not affect it in the slightest degree. So an iron rod as cold as ice or white hot does not vary a particle in weight. (Wells' Philosophy, pp. 207, 293.) What are they then? Not immaterial, immaterial spirits certainly. They are either a subtile kind of matter, or the action of matter in certain conditions.

Brand's Encyclopedia of Science says, "The cause of the phenomena of heat is unknown; but they are supposed to depend upon the presence of a highly attenuated, imponderable, and subtile form of matter, the particles of which repel each other, but are attracted by other bodies."—Article Heat.

That wonder of all wonders,—electricity, what is it? All nature is running-over full of it,—the earth, the clouds, the metals, our own bodies; yet who can explain it? It is easily produced by rubbing two pieces of matter together, as glass and silk, or a child's hand and a cat's back. See the electric sparks fly! Take this simple fact, now of every-day occurrence. A man stands in New York. He touches the end of a wire, and a man across the ocean in London immediately perceives the fact. He cannot explain how this is done. We say it is done by electricity. Ah! what is electricity? Is it an immaterial, intangible, conscious spirit from the other world? Three centuries ago it probably would have been explained as such, but now we know it is simply an action upon matter, wonderful as it is. It is produced from matter; hence it must be either a subtile kind of matter or the product of matter. Any way, its whole origin is material. It is not an immaterial intelligence. Says Mr. Wells, "Neither do we know whether electricity is a material substance, a property of matter, or the vibration of an ether."—Wells' Natural Philosophy, p. 369.

The nature and action of electricity is just as marvelous as that of thought itself. It is no more so unreasonable or unreasonable that the natural brain should produce thought than that a piece of glass should produce electricity. Every year scientific investigation is revealing new wonders of matter. A man only exposes his ignorance when he says that matter cannot do this and that do that. He is simply asserting that of which he knows nothing. It is our humble opinion, well founded, we think, too, both in revelation and science, that angels and the celestial beings are as material as men, only that they are more highly organized,—more refined,—matter on a higher plane. Who that has carefully observed the wonderful and infinite diversity of matter, even as seen in this earth, will deny the reasonableness of this position? It cannot be disproved, to say the least. When we have found out God to perfection, when we have explored earth, Heaven, and hell, and have fathomed all the infinite diversities and capabilities of matter, then, and not till then, will it do for us to say what God can do with matter and what it will do with matter.

Attraction of gravitation, what is it? It is that power which holds all bodies down to the earth. It pulls the apple off the tree, and causes it to fall to the ground. I hold a stone in my hand. I let it go, and it falls to the ground. Why is this? Because attraction pulls it there. Attraction operates upon all bodies in the universe, however distant. The sun attracts the earth, and holds it in its orbit. Says Wells, "Every portion of matter in the universe attracts every other portion."—Nat. Phil., p. 30.

Attraction, then, is either a very subtile kind of matter, or else the product of matter. Its source is wholly material. Imagine the tremendous power with which the sun attracts this huge earth. Hitch ten thousand monster ropes and chains to Jupiter, fasten the other ends to the earth, and then let the earth drop. How quickly all would be snapped in twain! Yet the sun, by the simple power of attraction, holds this same earth as easily as a boy holds his kite. But can you dissect attraction? Can you cut and carve it? Can you see it and handle it? Can you hear, or smell, or taste it? Can you say, It is so long, so wide, and so high? It is black or white, sweet or sour? No; it is just as indefinable and inscrutable as thought itself. Yet no one claims that it is a living being. Its root and source is in matter and of matter. Till our theologians can explain some of these wonders of matter, they need not come to us with their assumptions that matter cannot think, because they cannot tell how it thinks.

Who can explain so simple a thing as vegetable life, that force by which all vegetables grow? I have in my hand a seed. It is round, and hard, and apparently lifeless. I can weigh it, measure it, open and dissect it. I now take a handful of common earth, mere particles of dust. There is no life here that I can see. 'This dust I can weigh, measure, divide, and analyze. I put the seed into it, and add a few drops of water. The water I can handle, measure, and analyze. It is composed of oxygen and hydrogen,—common matter in its crudest form. All these elements are nothing but matter. Now can matter do anything? Can it stir itself? Can it move? Can it arrange itself in a different manner from that in which you place it? Our immaterialist friends say, No, never; but we say, Yes, when vitalized.

Now look. Shortly that seed swells out, becomes larger. A little sprout begins to put forth, and tiny roots are thrown out. Particles of that water are taken up, and atoms of matter are appropriated. Day by day a stock grows up inch by inch, until it stands six feet high and two inches through. Is not all this matter from beginning to end? Is it not all done by matter? Yes. None would be so foolish as to claim that that stock inclosed an immaterial, intelligent entity, to which this action is due. It is done by the power of vegetable life which the Creator has stored in that little seed, a particle of matter. Ah! there is the secret of it. The principle of life, vegetable life, has been placed there by God. Then inanimate matter can be so endowed by the Creator as to move, and act, and live. Open that green corn stalk, and you will see that the sap is constantly running up through all its pores. There is life and action there; yet it is nothing but matter after all—matter vitalized. But can that stone, that piece of iron grow? No; God has never bestowed that power upon these, but he has upon other matter, or rather matter in other forms. Is it, then, any harder for God so to organize and endow matter that it will think and reason, than it is to give it vegetable life so that it will grow?

But going a step higher than vegetable life, we have animal life. First, we have matter in its crudest form, a mere lifeless mineral, though even here there is evidently a very low kind of life. The next step higher, as we have seen, is matter in the vegetable form, with vegetable life. The next and third step in matter is where it is endowed with animal life. This the dumb brutes have in common with man. The highest order of vegetable life and the lowest order of animal life are so nearly alike, that it is sometimes difficult to mark the dividing line.

But what is animal life? Take that little flea, that fly, that musquito. Each has animal life, is possessed of sensation, of power to do, to move, and to propagate its species. Yet these are nothing but matter organized. No one claims that they have immortal souls. Indeed, believers in the immortality of man's spirit generally agree in denying even intelligence to the higher brutes, much more to the lower.

Now we ask them to tell us what animal life is. It is not reason, it is not intelligence, it is not an immaterial person, an intelligent, thinking being, dwelling in all these fleas, flies, and gnats. No; they say it is simply animal life. Well, then, gross matter can be endowed with life so as to move, eat, drink, propagate, etc. Can these wise spiritualizers put their finger on that animal life and tell us what it is? How long, how wide, how deep is it? How much does it weigh? Can they open and dissect it, can they analyze it chemically? No; yet they are compelled to acknowledge that it is an attribute which God has bestowed upon certain organizations of matter. Simple matter has been endowed by the Creator with this wonderful faculty.

Now we appeal to any candid man to say if this attribute of matter is not just as mysterious, just as incomprehensible, and just as difficult to concieve of, as that God should also organize matter in certain forms so as to be able to think, reason, and be intelligent. We cannot tell how matter can think, neither can they tell us how matter can live, and yet it does both.

(To be Continued.)

D. M. CANRIGHT.

The Folly of Seeking Honor

By The Christian

As a rule it may be said that those who deserve honors do not often desire them, and that they who desire them do not often deserve them. "How can ye believe which receive honor one of another?" This life is short, and all its honors fade; and if while seeking to assert yourself, and win the respect that is your due, you miss the opportunity of saving one poor sinner, how sad will be the mistake you make. But if you give your energies to the work of God in such true self-forgetfulness that you shall be careless of man's applause, and forgetful even of what is your right, God in his providence will care for you. He will exalt you to blessing and honor, and will crown you at last with peace.

—The Christian.

The Magnitude of an Inch of Rain

WE speak very slightingly of an inch of rain—in fact, even of ten or twelve inches. How many appreciate the magnitude of an inch of rain? Not many we imagine, else they would esteem it more highly. A computation shows that there are 6,572,650 square inches in an acre of land; so that an inch depth of rain on an acre yields 6,572,650 cubic inches of water, which, at 277,274 cubic inches to the gallon, makes 22,622.5 gallons, or 226,225 pounds, equal to 100,993 tons, nearly 101,000 tons per acre.

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