Your ShelfYour Projects

Review and Herald, Vol. 79, No. 42.

Publishers' Page

Review and Herald

Oct 21, 1902

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 21, 1902

Publishers' Page

Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company.

The American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible

THE sale of the American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible still continues, and is increasing each week. A number of those who have received the book have written to us, expressing their high appreciation of it. One of our conference presidents says that he considers it the best revised translation of the Bible that has ever been published. Others speak in equally high terms concerning it. It is believed that this volume will bring the reader more closely into contact with the exact thought of the sacred writers than other translations. We give below a few of the changes noticed in the study of the Sabbath-school lessons recently, which seem to aid in a clearer understanding of the texts:—

Authorized Version

Dan. 1:8: “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.”
Dan. 1:15: “And at the end of the ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.”
Dan. 2:30: “But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king.”
Dan. 7:9: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down,” etc.

American Revision

Dan. 1:8: “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s dainties, nor with the wine which he drank.”
Dan. 1:15: “And at the end of the ten days their countenances appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths that did eat of the king’s dainties.”
Dan. 2:30: “As for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king.”
Dan. 7:9: “I beheld till thrones were placed,” etc.
Many other texts might be cited in which the change of a word or two leads to a clearer understanding of the Scripture.
Bourgeois, 8vo; size, 8 x 5¼; with 12 maps and index.
No. 160. Cloth Boards, red edges, $1.
No. 167. Egyptian Seal, limp, round corners, red under gold edges, $1.75.
No. 173. Egyptian Seal, divinity circuit, leather lined to edge, round corners, red under gold edges, $2.75.
Order of the Review and Herald Publishing Co., Battle Creek, Mich.

The Republics of Rome and the United States

THE history of these great republics and the principal facts pertaining to their future are contained in the three important works entitled “Two Republics,” “The Peril of the Republic,” and “The Supremacy of Peter.”

Two Republics

Many of the leading men of the country are familiar with the value and importance of these books. Hon. W. T. Tolley, ex-senator, of Tennessee, says of the “Two Republics:” “If I had $10,000 to donate to the cause of popular intelligence and sound, wholesome reading, I would freely give it in aid of the circulation of this masterly work.”

The Supremacy of Peter

Of “The Supremacy of Peter,” the Midland Presbyterian says: “This valuable addition to the field of Biblical and historical study merits a wide circulation. It is a volume of great interest to every believer in the apostolic writings, and many questions are answered in a concise and forceful manner which will make them plain to the hitherto skeptical reader. . . . The author has gleaned his information from a field which but few have the opportunity to enter, and the reader is enabled to survey the results and conclusions without deep study.”

The Peril of the Republic

Many of the leading men of the country have spoken of “The Peril of the Republic” in the highest praise. They do not hesitate to say that this excellent work should be in the homes of all the people to warn them of the dangers that destroyed the Eastern nations, and to bind them to the principles upon which the safety of our government depends.
Each missionary society should have these books to loan and to keep in circulation in its neighborhood, and every reader of the REVIEW should be familiar with all the important facts composing these volumes.

Prices

The “Two Republics” is rated at from $1.80 to $4.75. The cloth, marble-edge style is a substantial binding. It sells for $2.50, postpaid.
“The Supremacy of Peter,”—the regular price of this book is $1, but we will send it, postpaid, to our readers for a time for 60 cents.
“The Peril of the Republic,”—the original price of this book was also $1, but we have reduced the price to 50 cents, postpaid.
Order of the Review and Herald Publishing Co., Battle Creek, Mich.

The Empire Series

IN 1896 Elder Alonzo T. Jones published “The Empires of the Bible,” the first volume of the Empire series; the second volume, “The Great Empires of Prophecy,” was published in 1898; and the third volume, “Ecclesiastical Empire,” was issued last year. These are three very important books, and should be not only read, but carefully studied by every member of every church.
“The Empires of the Bible” traces the history from the origin of nations to the captivity of Judah, and carefully reveals the causes of the rise and the fall of these early peoples. The Biblical records, together with secular history and modern research, establish the manner of the development of the great empires of Egypt and Assyria, and the founding of the races from which the great nations of later times developed.
The reader is greatly assisted in the study of this work by the twenty-one colored maps made especially for this book. There are 410 large pages. Size of book, 6 x 9½ x 1¼ inches. Bound substantially in cloth. Price, $1.50, postpaid.
“The Great Empires of Prophecy” is a history of the great nations of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. Gleanings of the most important and interesting histories are herein compiled, to set forth the real influences that caused the prosperity and the decay of each of these great nations. On account of the great number of noted historians quoted in this work, it might be appropriately termed a cyclopedia of history, and a ready book of reference.
It contains 712 pages and 22 full-page colored maps. Nicely bound in cloth. Size, 6½ x 9½ x 1½ inches. Price, $2, postpaid.
“Ecclesiastical Empire” contains the account of all the principal events that have affected the civil governments and tended to the establishment of ecclesiastical authority, from the time of the fall of Rome to the publishing of this book, in 1901. It contains a good history of the Reformation; a Compendium of the Principles of True Christianity; the Reason for Our National Apostasy, and a full treatise upon the Union of Church and State.
This book contains 874 pages. Substantially bound in cloth. Size, 6¼ x 9 x 2¼ inches. Price, $2.50, postpaid.
This series contains 1,996 pages of the most important historical matter, especially prepared and condensed for the use of those who do not have access to the original histories, and who have not the time to search out these facts had they the books. The combined price of these volumes is only $6, postpaid.
Order of your State Tract Society, or of the Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich.

Here and Hereafter

THE leading theological question of to-day is the immortality of the soul. Many of the prominent ministers in all the churches are writing upon this question, and are giving expression to their convictions. Their sermons and their writings are constantly calling the attention of the public to these important questions, and the people are becoming interested in the study of the nature of man.
“Here and Hereafter” is the title of a book by Uriah Smith, on “Man in Life and Death; The Reward of the Righteous and the Destiny of the Wicked.” Wherever this book has gone in the past, it has defeated Spiritualism, which appeals to the popular view of the condition of man in death as a foundation of its claims. It reveals the teachings of the Scripture so clearly that purgatory, saint worship, Universalism, and a host of other errors which are based on the immortality of the soul, are shown to have no divine origin and no Scriptural right to exist. The entire doctrine of the immortality of the soul is traced from its origin to its ultimate end—Spiritualism.
Every church should have a number of these books to loan to those who cannot buy them, and every member of every church should sell this book to his neighbors at this favorable time. The size of the book is 5 x 7¾ x ¾ inches. It contains 357 pages, is neatly bound in cloth, and sells for $1, postpaid.
Order of your State Tract Society, or of the Review and Herald Publishing Co., Battle Creek, Mich.

I Come

By Editor

Editorial

I Come

So said Jesus to his disciples in his talk with them that night before his crucifixion. He had already told them that he was going away, and had stated the purpose of his going. “I go to prepare a place for you.” He had urged them not to be distressed about his departure. “Let not your heart be troubled.” And now he definitely promises, “I will not leave you desolate: I come unto you.” This promise covers the whole experience of the coming of Jesus from his resurrection to his coming “with power and great glory.” It meant the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, Christ’s other self, on the day of Pentecost. It meant the coming of Jesus to abide in the heart of every believer who has been strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in his heart by faith. It meant his coming with clouds when “every eye shall see him.” It is a word of promise to every one now whose longing heart cries out, “Come, Lord Jesus, and come quickly.” When Jesus comes, the end comes. This is the end of sin and sorrow, the end of woe and pain, the end of all opposition to the blessed will of God. When we are weighed down with a sense of the power of sin, remember the promise, “I come.” When sorrow presses heavily upon us, remember the promise, “I come.” When we hear in our ears the cry of the woe of the world, remember the promise, “I come.” When pain wears out the physical frame, and in the morning we wish for the night, and at night wish for the morning, remember the promise, “I come.” When the enemies of the kingdom of God in the earth enjoy an apparent triumph, and truth seems to be trodden under foot, remember the promise, “I come.” By laying
hold of this promise in every time of need we shall find that—
“God is our refuge and strength, A help in trouble very accessible.”
The presence of Jesus in accordance with this promise will be our stay amid all the experiences of this mortal life, and the coming of Jesus at the last day will be the consummation of all our hope. “In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”

Three Noes

An untried experience may sometimes be best described in a negative way. Pure gold may be defined by saying that it has no alloy. This is one method used in the Scripture in setting forth the glories of the new earth and the joys of the saved. In the heavenly city it is declared that there will be “no night.” The glory of the Sun of righteousness shines with such fullness that it makes no appreciable difference there whether rays of light from the sun in the heavens shine upon it or not. It is also promised that in that land of life there will be “no more death.” The purpose of the gospel will then be fully realized, and we shall have life, and have it more abundantly. It is further stated that in the New Jerusalem the prophet saw “no temple.” He who spake of “the temple of his body” will himself be the only temple in that blessed place. “No night,” “no more death,” “no temple;” Jesus, “the light of the world,” will dispel all the darkness, swallow up death, and himself be the sanctuary of his people.
“When shall I reach that happy place, And be forever blest? When shall I see my Father’s face, And in his kingdom rest?”

Perilous Times

They are a part of the experience of the last days. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” The reason for this state of affairs is plainly stated. The key to the explanation of this situation is found in the inner life of the men of the times, and there are eighteen counts in the indictment against them. The first and the last explain all the rest. “For men shall be lovers of self, . . . lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” The law of self-renouncing love is the law of the kingdom of peace and righteousness. When the lawyer was asked by the Master, “What is written in the law? how
readest thou?” he replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Obedience to this law would be the experience of peace and prosperity, and the days of heaven would be known on the earth. “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river.” Forgetfulness of God and the gratification of the desires of the flesh are the prevailing sins of the last days. The charge made against the rich men of the last generation, who have got their riches by fraud and oppression, is this: “Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure.” This purpose to exalt self and to seek pleasure apart from God is the real cause of the times of peril upon which we have entered. It is this which steels the hearts of the rich against the poor, and leads them to waste large sums of money in following the caprices of fashionable society, until minds are taxed to invent some new form of display. It is this same evil principle which checks the activities of the church, dries up the liberalities of its members, and delays the coming of the Lord. God will not deny himself. He will not approve in his church that which he condemns in the world. There is the greatest danger lest the professed people of God shall bring these “perilous times” right into the bosom of the church. The only thing which will prevent it is that the cause of the peril shall be cast out of the heart and life. This means that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” This is our present need.

The Universal Gospel

In the epistle to the Galatians the apostle Paul first declares that there is no other gospel than the one he had preached to the churches of Galatia, and then later he defines that one gospel which is for the whole world. Note this definition: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all the nations be blessed.” When God made the promise to Abraham, “In thee shall all the nations be blessed,” he was declaring the fact that there was but one gospel for all the world, and that this gospel was the experience of justification by faith. This is the way of salvation, and it is the only way. Godhas made provision “that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” We may be made righteous by believing, and in no other way. “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed.” This experience of becoming righteous by faith was in the world before the time of Abraham. “Abel . . . obtained witness that he was righteous.” “Noah . . . prepared an ark . . . and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” And when God chose a special people to be the preachers of his gospel of salvation in the earth, he made no change in his plan of dealing with the world. It was still salvation by faith. The simplicity of the gospel was hidden from the people in “the falling away,” and “the man of sin” substituted the work of man for the work of God, righteousness by works for righteousness by faith. This was accomplished by shutting the Bible away from the people. When Luther found a Bible, he found God’s way of salvation, and the Reformation was based upon the restoration of the Bible to the people. By the printing of the Bible in the languages and dialects of the world, the way is prepared that the gospel which was preached to Abraham may be declared among the nations; but unless it is the gospel of justification by faith, it is not the gospel which was preached to Abraham. The final message to the world can be no other than this one universal gospel. This will bring the coming of the Lord and the everlasting kingdom. This is the everlasting gospel which is to be preached in this generation “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” May the Lord save his people from accepting or attempting to teach any other than the one and only universal gospel of justification by faith. It is the only hope of a lost world.

Bearing Our Own and One Another’s Burdens

By Uriah Smith

“BEAR ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” “For every man shall bear his own burden.” Gal. 6: 2, 5. Previous to the unfolding of Christianity, there were two leading ideas of morality, upon which human conduct was based. These were (1) the idea of self-preservation, or development; and (2) the idea of self-forgetfulness. Out of the first grows responsibility; and out of the second springs the idea of all our efforts for other people.
The two passages quoted above from Paul combine the two ideas into complete harmony. “Bear ye one another’s burdens” is the rule of self-forgetfulness. “For every man shall bear his own burden” is the simple rule of self-preservation. And because the harmony between these two statements is so hard to preserve, because we are so apt to be carried away by the one idea to the exclusion of the other, it may be well to consider, for a moment, this seeming paradox.
The conviction of humanity, “Bear ye one another’s burdens,” and the apparent duty, “Every man shall bear his own burden,” present a diversity, the solution of which was the problem and despair of the old world before Christianity came. Greek philosophy was rampant individualism. The very antithesis to this was the Buddhist system. Buddhism appeared on the face of it to be the most refined form of what is called “humanism.” But the theoretical self-abandonment of Buddhism contains the fatal defect that just as soon as it is reduced to practical application, its ultimate aim is found to be such an annihilation of self as to amount to nothing less than suicide. The Christian religion escapes this Buddhist universalism.
What Paul teaches is for all to go out from themselves and to help others bear their burdens, restore them by the magic touch of fellowship, in the spirit of meekness. Pour out your soul into the struggles and sorrows of others, and so carry out, that is, fulfil, the law of him, who, in the highest sense, and for our example, bore our sorrows. In this way we heed the admonitory instruction found in Luke 9: 23–25, that “whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my [the Lord’s] sake, the same shall save it;” which means that to him who shall be willing and ready to cleave unto the Lord, and be true to him, even though it should cost him his life, the Lord will give eternal life, in the last day: but whosoever shall compromise and dodge the truth, to avoid persecution, and to gain the esteem and good will of men that he may avoid financial and bodily loss, or even to save his life, shall lose his life, or be found wanting in the great day. For, right in this connection, the Lord says, “What is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” Luke 9: 25. The more sympathetic we become, the more will self-reflection grow, and the more we shall discern the truth of the great paradox, that all those who lose their life for Christ’s sake will find it.
“For every man shall bear his own burden.” What is his own burden?—It is the burden of his own individuality, which only the man himself can bear. Each individual is exposed to manifold influences by which he may be impressed, drawn aside, turned around, frozen or inflamed, according to the powers that play upon him; but he is himself through them all. No part of his being is drawn away from him, however sensibly he may be affected by the influences around him. His own personality remains. No essential part of the being of others is received into his own. In the eye of God he abides a separate, complete, and individual soul forever. Thus “every man shall bear his own burden.” The burden of responsibility is always borne by the individual man. The individuality holds within itself the elements of moral life. We live in the mass; but we are to be judged one by one. We act and interact, give and take, our whole life through; but each, at every moment, stands responsible before God; and to each the Lord says, as he did to Daniel, “Go thou thy way: . . . for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.”
Every man shall “bear his own burden” of guilt. If he does not avail himself of the means of deliverance, righteously and graciously provided, by which his guilt may be taken away, it will be his forever, or till he goes down in the second death.
Between the wicket gate and the gate of glory, Bunyan placed the hill “Difficulty.” But between these two gates and each of us God puts a great many difficulties. But they have a good end to serve. Difficulties strengthen and compact the soul, give the Christian force, and confirm his faith. And the loads which God lays upon us teach us lessons which can be learned in no other school. Probably the hardest lesson for any of us to learn is to “let God have his own way,” and to “trust him in the dark.”
We see how the carrying of our own burdens gives us strength; but there are other loads that we are to help our fellow creatures to carry; and that service is to teach us the beautiful grace of sympathy. The apostle gives the reason for this. It is to “fulfil the law of Christ.” Christ is love; and his law is the law of love. By putting that law into practice every day we who profess to be Christians prove ourselves worthy of the title. There is many a load that grows light by our giving a lift to another. And it will be found that in lightening our own burdens and those of others, there is nothing so effectual as recourse to the sympathy of the Saviour.
Many look with both eyes on the defects and failings of others, scarcely giving half an eye to their good qualities; while in themselves they study to the full their own estimate of their own good qualities, and pass by their own weaknesses and defects. Thus one is apt to come under the rebuke of Gal. 6: 3, and to “think himself something” when he is “nothing,” thus “deceiving himself.” There is particular emphasis in the words, “Let every man prove his own work.” We are often too ready to examine and pass sentence upon the works of others. We, like some travelers, become familiar with foreign countries, while woefully ignorant of our own.
Those who have heavy cares and responsibilities to bear are entitled to respect. It is said of the great Napoleon, that he, with his officers, once met in a country road a peasant bearing a heavy load of fagots. The peasant was about to be jostled out of the way, when Napoleon, laying his hand on the arm of the foremost of his escort, halted the whole party with the remark, “Messieurs, respect the burden.” Let him who thinks he can go on light-loaded and with buoyant heart, while others sink down under their heavy burdens, try this experiment. Let him try to smile with one side of his face, while the other is distorted with agony. There is a gateway opening into a narrow passage in London, over which is written, “No burdens allowed to pass through.” But some one has said, “We do constantly pass through with our burdens.” He referred to heart-burdens which no mortal eyes behold. Mrs. Ella Wheeler Wilcox, the popular poet, closes a poem on “Life’s Journey,” with the following elegant words:—
“You shall store all your baggage of worries, You shall feel perfect peace in that realm, You shall sail with old friends on fair waters, With joy and delight at the helm; You shall wander in cool, fragrant gardens, With those who have loved you the best, And the hopes that were lost in life’s journey, You shall find in the city of rest.”
U. S.

Studies in the Gospel Message

The subject of the Sabbath-school lesson for November 1 is, The Perversion of Christianity in Modern Babylon.
Christianity is unique. Among all the so-called religions of the world it dwells alone. It is not a development of some other less perfect systems. It is a revelation from God. It is the blessed gift of heaven. It introduces into the world divine principles which are entirely foreign to the thought and experience of a sinful humanity. And the method by which these principles were revealed to the world and brought within the range of human experience could be devised only by infinite love. Christianity is the divine character in the concrete. It is a person rather than a mere system. It is God manifest in the flesh.
And herein lies the essential difference between Christianity and the pagan imitation of a degenerate ceremonialism. The one is the gift of the divine mind, the other is but the echo of the phrases and forms in which the divine mind was expressed. The one is a living body, the other is a body without life. The one is the revelation of the divine presence wrought into human conduct, the other is the unavailing effort of humanity to be its own god. As a consequence of this difference, genuine Christians have been born “from above,” and have become citizens of the kingdom of God, and live a heavenly life on earth; professed pagans or paganized Christians seek to patch up the old life without making such radical changes in the inner character as would separate them from the world, and try to satisfy the inward unrest by an abundance of dead forms. In the one case there is an actual defense against sin, in the other case sin is baptized and apparently sanctified by being cloaked in the stolen garments of Christianity. In these “perilous times” when men are described as “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,” it is essential that we should recognize these facts that we may be saved from deception and eternal loss.
Let us look at the foundation of the gospel. “God is love.” God loved. God so loved. God so loved the world. God so loved the world that he gave. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The whole story is found in these simple words. The love, the sacrifice, the faith, and the resulting salvation are all here. God’s gift of love and man’s appropriating faith are the divine and human essentials in Christianity.
We may well study further concerning the gift. It is the “unspeakable gift.” In giving his Son God gave himself; for “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” The Son was so completely the gift and revelation of the Father to the world that Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” And God’s gift of himself to humanity in the person of his only begotten Son is a very real thing. It was the eternal gift of divinity to humanity. It actually brought a change in the family of God. It was the eternal sacrifice of Jesus, “who, being originally in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men.” The divine Word did not come among men in the original form of the Word, but “the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us.” “When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them which were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” He took our humanity as all other members of the same family have taken it. He was born into the family. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” And the heavenly messenger declared to the shepherds, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” “Christ brought human nature into a personal relation with his own divinity.” Thus Christ was God manifest in the flesh. Thus the mystery of God’s purpose which had been hid from ages and generations was revealed. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh.” This was God’s gift to humanity.
“O Love how deep, how broad, how high, That God, the Son of God, should take Our mortal form for mortal’s sake!”
In order that this gift of God may meet the personal need of the individual, there must be a definite act of receiving it. What God has given man must receive. This is done by believing. And this act of faith is more than the assent of the mind to the statement of truth. It is more than the acceptance of a creed. The carnal mind can do all this, and still remain unchanged. It is not belief in a mere statement, but belief in a person that is required. Christianity is not a dogma, but a personality. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” “Except ye believe that I AM, ye shall die in your sins.” “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him.” “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” The indwelling Christ, received into the heart by believing, is the experience of Christianity.
The union of God in Christ with the believer is of the closest kind. The Son not only took the flesh, but he took our sinful flesh. “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” The connection between heaven and a fallen world is completely established in the person of Jesus, Son of God and Son of man. The ladder which Jacob saw in his dream was “set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.” It requires no splicing at either end. “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
Before the mystery of godliness was revealed in God manifest in the flesh, men were deceived into regarding every separate manifestation of God in his works as a god. Thus they “worshipped created things rather than the Creator.” This was open and manifest idolatry. After the revelation of the mystery of godliness in the person of Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, so that God in the flesh became an object of worship, then arose “the mystery of iniquity,” that masterpiece of Satan’s ingenuity, by the working of which flesh in which God was not manifested was substituted as an object of worship for God manifest in the flesh. In this way was fulfilled the prophecy of the apostle Paul, through whomit was revealed that the day of the Lord would not come “except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.” This is the papacy, with the pope claiming to be the vicegerent of the Son of God, and poor humanity exalting itself to the place to which humanity was lifted by its wondrous union with divinity in the person of Jesus. This is idolatry in a more refined form. This is paganism adapted. This is that perversion of Christianity which retains the forms and names of Christianity, but leaves out the one thing which distinguishes Christianity.
Through the prophecies of the Scripture it is made clear to us that those principles which made ancient Babylon what it was would be revived in a professed church of God, which by inspiration is designated as “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” It is therefore important to understand the essential points in the creed of Babylon, so that we may recognize them when they appear under the cloak of Christianity. They are these: the exaltation of self and the denying to God of the place which he has purchased for himself in humanity. Daniel’s charge against the king of Babylon was, “Thou . . . hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven;” and the wise men of Babylon, when pressed to make good their claim that they could practice the occult art, declared that no one could meet the requirement of the king “except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh,” or “except that God, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” This is the creed of paganism, humanity lifting up itself against God, and shutting out God from his rightful place in the flesh. This was done openly in ancient Babylon, but covertly in modern Babylon. By apparently adopting the vital feature of Christianity in assenting to the doctrine that God was manifested in the flesh, but by denying that God was manifested in sinful flesh, the same as we have, the papacy has perverted Christianity into paganism pure and simple. It has removed the corner stone of Christianity, Jesus Christ, the union of divinity with our own humanity, and has built upon the sand. In order to reach heaven from this foundation it has introduced human priests, saints of its own making, angels which are the creation of its own imaginings, and a mother of God who occupies a place utterly unknown in the gospel plan. The heaven which is reached by such a way as this is not the heaven of Christianity.
Is it not time that there should be a message with a loud cry which should warn the world against this hideous perversion of Christianity? But it must be remembered that such a message cannot be the reply of creed to creed, but the reply of truth as a personality testifying in “the power of an endless life.” It is time that every one who knows the reality of Christianity should confess “that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” This is the work of the hour.

A Step Toward Rome

By L. A. S.

The church-and-state system of England, represented by the established church, has brought that country at the present time into a position of great trouble and serious danger. For many years the two great religious divisions in England—the established church and the nonconformists—have lived outwardly at peace with each other, and seemingly the connection of the Church of England with the government was not a thing from which any real danger to the interests of the country need be expected; but it is plain now that this appearance of security was an appearance merely, and not a reality. A favorable opportunity only was lacking for a revival of the religious conflict which has characterized the state-church system in the past, and has darkened many a page of English history. Such an opportunity has at length come, and the evil principle of church-and-state union is bearing its fruit of bitterness and strife. A religious war is in prospect, which, if we may judge from the utterances upon each side of the controversy, will be fought out to the bitter end, with its accompaniments of imprisonment, confiscation of goods, and possible martyrdom.
The Church of England wants more power, and this is what the new educational bill is designed to give her. Through it she will to a large extent have control of the public schools, and through these schools she will strengthen her hold upon the nation. The nonconformists, in resisting the measure, set forth the unfairness of teaching the religious tenets of one party of the people, in schools which all the people are obliged to maintain. They proclaim as their motto, “If we pay, we manage.”
The nonconformists declare that if this bill is passed by Parliament, they will refuse to pay taxes; and they declare further that they will suffer confiscation of goods and imprisonment rather than submit. And these declarations come not from those dominated more by impulse than by reason, but from the conservative element in the nonconformist ranks. The British Weekly, which represents this element, speaks thus: “We may have to submit to the sale of our goods. Many of us are poor; many even very poor, and it will not be pleasant to have some sold out. Nevertheless the unpleasantness can be borne as long as it is necessary. Some of us, and we hope many, will have to go to jail, and we will make no appeal for compassion.”
The government, on the other hand, is determined that the bill shall be passed. Secretary Chamberlain is quoted as saying, “If we are defeated on this bill, the government will resign. Mark that, and remember the consequences.” This he said at an important meeting in Birmingham. The “consequences” will be, Mr. Chamberlain says, that the present administration will give place to one “whose policy will be one of separatists as regards Ireland, pro-Boers as regards South Africa, and Little Englanders throughout the world.” This is an alternative which the English people would be exceedingly loath to accept.
The full significance of the contemplated bill, and the real nature of the situation, cannot be understood without taking into account the connecting link between the Church of England and the Church of Rome, represented by the ritualistic element in the former, by which it is dominated to-day. The strengthening of the Church of England’s hold upon the nation, means that the nation is to be moved Romeward. The outspoken assertion of this by the nonconformists constitutes a prominent feature of the campaign against the bill. An immense impetus was given to the ritualistic movement in the church by the “Oxford movement” instituted half a century ago by Manning and Newman, who afterward went over to the papacy. From that date the Church of England and the Church of Rome have been coming closer together. “Some of the most devoted and zealous clergymen in the Church of England,” says one who writes of the existing situation, “have embraced doctrines differing little from those of Rome. Their churches resemble Catholic churches in almost every particular. They teach the doctrines of confession and mass, and many have gone over to Rome. Eminent Catholics have declared that if ever England becomes Catholic again, it will be through the agency of the ritualistic party in the English church.”
And it is to this Romish party that the English government now proposes to commit the primary schools in that country. In the place of school boards, representing all classes and beliefs of the people, there are to be committees nominated and controlled by the established church, and in their charge the primary, or public, schools are to be placed. Such is the fruit of the state-church system in England to-day. It affords a warning lesson to Protestants throughout the world against any sanction of the principle of church-and-state union. Such a union is always papal in character, and sooner or later is found to be working directly for the interests of the papal church. L. A. S.
Continue reading: Note and Comment