p. 16 (368) | Signs of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 23. (6/11/1896)

THE SABBATH AND THE LAW.

By John Nevins Andrews

BY J. N. ANDREWS, late Missionary to Basel, Switzerland.

The author endeavors to give in this work an outline of the Biblical and Secular History of the Sabbath for six thousand years, as will be seen by examining the table of contents.

CHAPTER I. The Memorial of Creation.

“ II. Moral Obligation in the Patriarchal Age.

“ III. Why the Law, when it entered, came only to the Hebrews.

“ IV. The Sabbath at the Fall of the Manna.

“ V. The Giving of the Law.

“ VI. The Sabbath in the Old Testament.

“ VII. The Two Covenants.

“ VIII. The Sabbath and the Law in the New Testament.

“ IX. The First Day of the Week not the Sabbath.

“ X. The Change of the Sabbath.

This is the most valuable pamphlet published on the Sabbath Question.

192 PAGES.—PRICE, 20 CENTS.

St. Helena Sanitarium.

(Formerly RURAL HEALTH RETREAT.)

A Health Retreat under regular management, where all natural methods of treatment are used, including pure water, fresh air, beautiful scenery, healthful foods, gymnastics, Swedish movements, electricity in various forms, baths of all kinds, massage, and the rest cure, as may be deemed best suited. Besides, our surgical wards are in the hands of skilled surgeons and trained nurses where the best care can be given.

Send for a circular. Address,

St. Helena Sanitarium,

St. Helena, Napa Co., California.

Illustrated Tract.

One of the late issues of the Bible Students’ Library, entitled “The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast.” Contains 4 original illustrations. The subject is one of vital interest to all, and now is an opportune time to circulate this tract widely. Order B. S. L. No. 130. Address your State Tract Society, or PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO., Oakland, Cal.; Kansas City, Mo.; New York City, N. Y.

CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR

This work is written in clear, comprehensive, yet simple language. The narrative style is followed, thus making the story real, and the lessons practical. It is beautified by the use of

74 New and Appropriate Engravings

which help to impress the lessons of truth.

First, we enter our Saviour’s home, and learn of his child-life. We see him in his early ministry, in his acts of mercy and love. His sufferings are recounted, and the closing work of our Saviour reveals through his death his wonderful love for man. His resurrection inspires faith and courage in the heart of every believer.

LARGE, CLEAR TYPE

The book contains 160 large octavo pages. It is printed in large, clear type, on heavy calendered paper, and substantially bound in the following styles:—

Presentation edition, two colors vellum cloth, embossed in jet, green, and gold, beveled edges, gilt top. $1.25

Fine English cloth, embellished aluminum cover .75

Cloth back, board covers, in fine colors .50

Heavy tag-board covers, in colors .35

Address, PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO., OAKLAND, CAL.

18 W. 5th St., Kansas City, Mo.

43 Bond St., New York City.

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California Tourists Should Have a Copy of the Grand Book

IN THE HEART OF THE SIERRAS.

It Pictures the World-Renowned Yo Semite Valley, the Big Tree Groves of California, the Glaciers, Gold Mines, and Caverns of this Wonderful Region. It is a

COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE YO SEMITE VALLEY,

Giving routes of travel, number of miles by rail and stage; describes points of interest en route; gives map of the Valley, and contains 160 Illustrations, 28 of which are Beautiful Full-Page Artotypes, and which portray the wonderful Cataracts, Mountains, and Precipices with all the REALITY OF A PHOTOGRAPH. Bound in five styles. Copy in cloth, embossed jet and gold, gold edges, sent postpaid, where we have no agent, for $3.50.

CHEAPER EDITION.

We have just issued a special TOURISTS' EDITION of this book, containing all the matter of the other edition, printed on thinner paper, without artotypes, bound in flexible cloth covers. Copies sent postpaid anywhere for $1.50.

Address PACIFIC PRESS PUB. CO., Or 43 Bond St., New York. Oakland, Cal.

BIBLE SANCTIFICATION: A CONTRAST OF TRUE AND FALSE THEORIES.

By Mrs. E. G. White.

This is a pamphlet of only 84 pages, but its value is not to be judged by its size. It is just what its title indicates: a faithful presentation of Bible truth on this important subject, and an exposure of the false theories prevailing in regard to it. Every believer in Bible truth should read it. Buy it, read it, and lend it to your neighbor. Price, 10 cents.

Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

CHRIST, OUR ADVOCATE

His Ministry in the True Tabernacle

An up-to-date pamphlet on the work of Christ in the sanctuary in Heaven. Bible Students’ Library No. 128. Fully illustrated. Paper covers. Price, 20 cents.

Address,

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO.

OAKLAND, CAL.

39 Bond St., New York City, N. Y.

TEACHERS’ BIBLES

GENUINE OXFORD EDITIONS.

From $1.25 to $20.00 in price. Send for price list.

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO.

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

Kansas City, Mo.

New York City, N. Y.

Your Life Work

Is it of Men or of God? A new tract in the Apples of Gold Library. Order

A. G. L. No. 20. Price, 50 cents per 100 or one cent each in small quantities. Address, PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO., Oakland, Cal.; Kansas City, Mo.; or New York City, N. Y.

A Solution of the Labor Problem

A Solution of the Labor Problem.—Says the Homiletic Review: “A student who specialized on the labor problem despaired of finding a way out of the difficulties. With the study itself the immensity of the problem grew, and the solution seemed to become more impossible. . . . The labor problem, which some treat so lightly, has unfathomed depths and unprobed mysteries. No man has the solution.” And yet the solution has been given by the man Christ Jesus: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” Let each one do this, and the labor question, and the tariff question, and all other perplexing questions, will be solved. The trouble is that men will not do it; they will not apply the remedy; therefore they will not be healed of the disease. They will not follow the rule, therefore the problems remain unsolved.

Solved by Christianity.—The Golden Rule is Christianity; its carrying out is applied Christianity in the best and fullest sense. But this application can not be made by the state or the municipality, or by any other civil or human organization. The doing of the Golden Rule must be from the heart; and the heart can be operated in accordance with the Golden Rule only as the same Spirit which gave the Golden Rule operates in the heart. The Golden Rule came from the Spirit of God; the Spirit of God must therefore change the heart and implant within it the Golden Rule. But the Spirit of God is not under the control of any or all of the Legislatures of the world. It can not be controlled by man. It must control or it will not abide. Its way is the only true and right way, and the Spirit of God can only do right. There can therefore be no “Applied Christianity” in a political sense. It can only be brought about by the power of Christ through the Gospel.

A New Bible.

Much has been made by a prominent daily paper on the coast of a “New Bible Which Upsets Many Old Teachings.” The article thus begins:—

“For the first time in the history of the world the task of translating the books of the Holy Scriptures from the original Hebrew to modern English has been undertaken without fear, without prejudice, with no attempt either to strengthen the cause of religion or to serve the purposes of unbelief, and with no guiding light save the lamp of knowledge. It has been undertaken by forty of the most eminent scholars in the world, who have devoted their lives to the study of the history, the languages, and the manners of all the ancient peoples whose writings and monuments could throw light upon the Old and the New Testament.”

But the fact is (1) that these forty men each translate but one book, rarely more than one man to one book, and the whole to be supervised by one editor. At the best we have the authority for any one portion of the Scriptures of only two or at the most three men, while in the Revised Version we have the weight of authority of the united learning of the revisers.

2. What reason have we to believe that Prof. W. R. Harper, Prof. E. L. Curtis, Rabbi Montefiore, Prof. C. A. Briggs, Prof. Paul Haupt, and any of the others engaged in the work, should translate without prejudice, etc., any more than the able men who gave us the Revised Version, or many other learned men who have translated the word? Are not the translators of this “New Bible” subject to the common passions and prejudices of men?

3. As an instance of this wonderful light Professor Haupt’s rendering and notes of Eccl. 11:9 to 12:8 are given in which the first line of 12:1 is rendered, “Remember thy wife in the days of thy vigor.” By what authority the Hebrew word bara is rendered wife we are not told. It is everywhere translated, create, make, or in words kindred in meaning. By what authority is the word rendered Creator in Isa. 40:28 and 43:15, rendered wife in Eccl. 12:1. No version or commentator, Catholic, Protestant, or Jew, so far as we know, questions the Hebrew original bara.

4. In speaking of this passage our enthusiastic “New Bible” man says:—

“Had this line, however, been rightly translated [in our common versions], the utter absurdity and lack of meaning of the subsequent text would immediately have challenged the attention of the most casual reader.”

“It was in the notes of Professor Haupt’s translation that I found what it [the subsequent text] all meant.”

And what does the text mean, according to Professor Haupt?—Simply what it is said to mean by nearly all expositors who have written upon the subject. It is a series of beautiful and striking figures illustrating man’s decline and death.

5. Another piece of this wisdom is that the words translated “redeemer” and “saviour” in the Old Testament do not imply “a redemption and saving that is promised to man in the next world; to redeem means to free or to deliver, and to save means to liberate or to rescue.” And yet this is just what Christ does; he frees from sin, delivers from its power, liberates from sin’s captivity, and rescues from the hand of the enemy. What is meant by Hos. 13:14 if not ultimate redemption? Prejudice against the atonement we suppose has no place here!

The principal change we anticipate in the new translation will be a change of style to modern English, and a fanciful display of scholarship in printing and notes.

CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER.

Editorial.

The Betrayal and Its Lessons (Notes) ................................1, 2

The Unspeakable Gift (Romans 8: 29-32) E. J. W. ................................2-4

Answers to Questions.—No. 350, The Sabbath and the Gentiles—No. 351, Close Communion—No. 352, Caring for the Insane ................................4

Poetry.

Moods, ELIZA H. MORTON ................................4

The Baby ................................9

The Storm of Life, M. M. M. ................................11

General Articles.

Salvation Is Come to Thine House, MRS. E. G. WHITE ................................4-6

Sin, What Is It? D. T. J. ................................6

It Makes a Difference ................................6

Christ the Creator, S. N. H. ................................6, 7

Zion and Babylon, No. 7, I. E. KIMBALL ................................7

Bible Reasons Why We Are Protestants ................................8

Grains of Gold ................................8

Daniel’s Prophecy, W. L. ILES ................................9

The Fireside.—Why She Lingered, HELEN A. STEINHAUER—A Back Yard Examined, J. H. KELLOGG, M.D. ................................9, 10

Missions.—Gleanings from South America, JOHN M’CARTHY—From Jerusalem—Our Work and Workers ................................11, 12

International Sabbath School Lesson.—The Family Gathered Home (Lesson 13, Sabbath, June 27, 1896) ................................13

International Sunday School Lesson.—Review (Lesson 13, Sunday, June 28, 1896) ................................13

News and Notes ................................14

Publishers ................................15

God’s Unchanging Moral Requirements

God's character—the character which God demands of men—is not a matter of a dispensation or age; it is eternally and immutably perfect. His moral requirements are, therefore, the same in all ages, times, and dispensations. “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail.” Like its Author it is eternal, and changes not.

California Conference Officers Elected

THE officers of the California conference for the ensuing year, elected at Alameda, June 4, are as follows: President, Elder A. J. Breed; other members of the Executive Committee, Elders N. C. McClure, H. A. St. John, W. C. Grainger, M. C. Wilcox, W. T. Knox, G. W. Reaser; secretary, Elder G. W. Rine; Treasurer, Pacific Press Publishing Company. The health of Elder McClure has suffered under the heavy burdens of the California Conference, and he has rightfully earned the privilege of laying them off in part. We trust his health and strength may increase under the lesser burdens.

California Camp-meeting.—

The California annual conference and camp-meeting is in the past. It can be truly said that it was one of the best ever held. From the first there was a spirit of freedom and love, especially among the officers and laborers. While the increase in membership was not as large as might be desired, yet there was an increase in both membership and tithe, the increase in membership being over three hundred converts, and the increase in tithe over three thousand dollars. A goodly number sought the Lord, and many souls, especially among the young, found him precious. Other news will be found in our Missions department. Taking it all in all, the meeting was most excellent, and the results accomplished will, we hope, be demonstrated throughout the entire year to come.

Increase of Crime.—

That the last days of the world are marked in the Scriptures as days of increase in sin, wickedness, trouble, and crime, is evident to every careful reader. This condition is stated in many ways and many times. The world, apart from God’s plan, is lost, and is constantly developing the disease of sin and its manifestations in outbreaking lawlessness, wickedness, and crime. In the great cities of the United States there are schools of crime. The late Dr. Andrew D. White, of Cornell University, showed some time ago from census statistics that in 1850 the number of criminals confined in prisons was 300 for each million in population; 1860, 600; ten years later, nearly 900; and in 1880, nearly 1,200. The number of homicides, or murders, for the last seven years, according to the Homiletic Review, aggregates 47,469, while the number of legal executions was only 722, and the number of lynchings, 1,115. The tenth census reported 4,608 persons in prison charged with murder; the eleventh census, 7,351. There were 10,500 murders in this country alone in 1895. Certainly this does not show that we are nearing the time of peace and safety predicted by false prophets; rather, we are in that time when more and more are revealed the great facts that profession is not possession, that a backslidden church departing from God’s word can not save the world; that attempted civil reformation and intellectual enlightenment apart from the power of God are ineffectual to lift the race. The only hope of the world is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Age of Murder in Christendom

“The Age of Murder in All Christendom” is what the Homiletic Review calls the present. Murders have increased of late so that the tale in “Christian” Europe in 1894, according to Mr. Henry C. Lea, had reached 15,000, and in “Christian” America, 10,000, from 3,000 to 5,000 in the United States alone. But last year there were more murders in the United States alone than in all America in 1894. If the increase has been as great in Europe as in this country, we have the enormous total in both Europe and America, the so-called Christian nations of the world, of not less than 40,000 homicides a year. Truly “their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.” Isa. 59:7. “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:13. It will be seen by the contexts in which these scriptures are found that the special application is the last days, the time when the Lord shall come to Zion. This increase of homicides is a sign of the last days.

Spokane's Delinquent Tax List

The Freeman's Labor Journal of Spokane, Wash., comes to us with 18 pages of six columns each of delinquent taxes, each column averaging a hundred or more lots of land, all lying within the county of Spokane. This makes not less than 10,800 pieces of real estate on which has been asked judgment and order of sale for delinquent taxes. This is doubtless the result largely of the spirit of speculation of which Spokane suffered a few years ago. It was a local outbreak of the land-hunger fever afflicting the nations. The delinquent tax list with many disappointed hopes is the result.