BuT the query here arises, In which one of the ten commandments is the seal of God contained? Let us examine them and see. Suppose a missionary were sent to some heathen land, the inhabitants of which were idolaters—worshipers of the sun, to preach to them the gospel of salvation. In order to convince them of their need of salvation, they must be convicted that they are sinners. This can only be done by presenting the law they are violating. James informs us that those who "commit sin are convinced of the law as transgressors." James ii, 8. In order to convince them of the sin of worshiping the sun, he must point out the true God to them, and show them what he requires. He proceeds to read the first commandment to them. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." But who is this God? "It is the missionary" says one. "No" says another "'tis the sun, and we don't have other gods before the sun." The missionary finding that he has failed to convince them of the sin of idolatry by that commandment proceeds to quote another. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."
"We do not make graven images, nor bow to them," respond half a dozen voices. "We worship the sun—the brightest object known, and why not bow to the king of day, since he has promised to show mercy unto thousands of them that love him and keep his commandments?" The missionary knowing that the law must point out the true God decides not to give it up so.
So he turns to his Bible and reads "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." "We don't," is the immediate response. "We never speak the name of the sun but with the most profound reverence."
Here our missionary is stranded again. What can he do? He would try the fourth commandment but the thought occurs to him that it has been abolished. That it did indeed point out to the Jew the true God, but it never was anything but a Jewish commandment. It was rather an oversight on the part of God, to put it into the heart of the decalogue; but through the sufferings, and death, of one who was to magnify the law, and make it honorable," Isa. xlii, 21, the law has been honored by expunging that part of it.
He proceeds with the next commandment, "Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." "There don't you see, the sun is going to give us land" is the reply. Here our missionary must report another failure. What can he do now? The name God does not occur in either of the other commandments, hence there can be nothing in them to point out the true God. His last and only chance is to go back and hunt up that down-trodden commandment. He decides that God will not break his covenant, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips. Ps. lxxxix, 34; that the fourth commandment is indeed a part of God's covenant; that it, as well as the others went out of his lips. He therefore resolves to test them by it.
Accordingly he once more approaches them and reads "Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it."
Ah, this has the desired effect. It settles the question. "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is." The one who made the universe is the author of this law. His signature is found in the last of those commandments that express the duty of his creatures toward him. Here is the seal of the living God, the sign by which he is distinguished from "all the gods that made not the heavens and the earth." Jer. x, 10-12. In the language of another, "This shows the extent of his dominion, and his right to rule. He made the universe, and he has a right to govern it. This teaches the heathen that, not the sun, but the Maker of it, is the true and living God. This gives authority to the law—it is the mark of God's name."
It may not be amiss to here give some of the reflections that pass through the minds of those who observe this "sign of the living God." The holy Sabbath of the Lord is drawing near, I must prepare for it. Its hallowed moments are almost here. I must keep it. Why do I keep the Sabbath? Because God commanded it. Why did God command it? Because he kept it. When did God keep it? Immediately after having made the heaven and the earth in six days. What God kept it? The one who made heaven and earth." Thus every Sabbath keeper finds the Sabbath a weekly memorial of the great Jehovah—the Maker of all things.
Would that the world had ever kept the Sabbath. It never could have run into idolatry or atheism.
Before Jehovah's awful throne,
Ye nations bow with sacred joy,
Know that the Lord is God alone
He can create and he destroy.
That the above reasoning is correct cannot be disputed by the one who has carefully examined Ex. xxxi, 15. "Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Again, verses 16, 17. "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed." Here this "sign" by which God's people might know that he is the Lord that doth sanctify them, is given for a perpetual covenant. When does PERPETUAL come to an end? Never. Again it is a sign between God and the children of Israel forever. And again, it is binding on them throughout their generations.
But says the objector, it was only binding upon the children of Israel throughout their generations. The text says not one word about the Gentiles keeping it.
To this we reply, that, if our limits would permit, we could show, not only that the phrase "children of Israel" applies to all the people of God, of every nation, tribe, and tongue, but that the Sabbath is binding upon the Gentiles. See Isa. lvi. But our present purpose will be answered if our opponents will130admit that the Sabbath is binding upon the children of Israel throughout their generations. Have their generations run out? No. Go to any of our principal cities, and you will find Jews engaged in various mercantile pursuits. Then it follows, to say the least, that the Sabbath is binding upon the Jews to-day.
Now we are prepared to ask what we think is an important question. That is, What is the mystery of God? Is it not that the Gentiles should be made FELLOW HEIRS and OF THE SAME BODY? See Eph. iii, 6. Are they not partakers with Israel? Are not those who were once "Gentiles in the flesh," who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, now made nigh by the blood of Christ? Are they not now "fellow citizens"? Eph. ii, 11-22. Has not the middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles been broken down? If so, who dare build it up in order to get rid of the Sabbath, which is binding upon the children of Israel to-day?
To illustrate: Suppose that Mr. A. has two fields, with simply a partition fence between them. In one of these fields is good pasture for his stock, also an abundance of good running water. In the other field also, he has stock, but there is nothing for it to eat or drink. It becomes evident that the stock in the barren field must die unless something is done. He therefore removes the fence or "middle wall of partition." What is the result? Will not the stock in the barren field get a portion of that food which hitherto belonged exclusively to the stock in the other? Then what can be the result of removing the "partition" between the Jews and Gentiles? We think we hear you say, that the Gentiles will share in the blessings which before belonged to the Jews alone. That indeed the privilege of calling the Sabbath a delight is now granted to them.
But to return to the subject of the sign of the living God. God says by the mouth of Ezekiel, "Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. xx, 12.
Again verse 20. "And hallow my Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God."
Query. Could they know that they were worshipers of the true God without the Sabbath? If they could, then, to say the least, God did a work of supererogation in giving them the Sabbath by which to know him. But if the Sabbath was necessary to point out the true God to the Jew, it is just as necessary to point him out to the Gentile. He is not the God of the Jews only, but he is the God of the Gentiles also.
With the following questions, from the pen of another we submit this part of the argument. "1. When we speak of the seal of any one in authority, do we not always understand by it, that which gives authenticity to his enactments? 2. Can we speak of the seal of God in any other sense? 3. Is there anything which points out the true God, except the fourth commandment, and expressions derived therefrom? 4. Is it not, then, in this sense his signature and seal?
Having now learned what the seal, or mark of God is, we propose to consider
God the Christian's Strength.
My flesh and my heart faileth, but "God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.—Psalms, lxxiii, 26.
Yes, though disease may waste the frame
And bear our strength away,
And sorrows crowding on the heart
Make dark the weary day,
Yet Thou, our God, art ever nigh,—
Thou art our portion still,—
Thy breath revives the fainting soul
That trusts Thy holy will.
Though friends may all forsake us when
Misfortunes round us press,
We look to Thee in confidence
To shield us from distress;
To Thee in constant trust we turn,
Though all else prove untrue,
The precious promises thou'st given
Thy loving kindness show.
Though flesh is weak, though heart should fail,
Yet Thou art ever near,
Our strength, our portion, and our aid,
In darkest hour to cheer.
O, soothing thought through all the ills
That here on us may crowd,
The Christian soul, in trusting love,
May stay itself in God.
THE MARK OF THE BEAST.
The beast, whose mark men are compelled to receive, is the one brought to view in Rev. xiii, 1-10. It is universally conceded among Protestants that this beast is the Papal Roman power. The "little horn" of Dan. vii, 8, represents the same power. Their specifications prove the powers to be identical.
1. To the beast of Rev. xiii, is given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; while in the little horn of Dan. vii, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
2. Power was given to the beast to continue forty and two months. The little horn has times and laws given into his hands until "a time and times and the dividing of time."
3. The beast opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. The little horn speaks great words against the Most High.
4. Power was given to the beast to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. The little horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them. These facts we think prove the identity of the above symbols.
The "man of sin" brought to view in 2 Thess. ii, "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God," (see verse 4) is universally considered to be the same power.
The beast of Rev. xiii, was to claim worship of those who dwell upon the earth. The little horn of Dan. vii, was to claim the power, and privilege of changing times and laws; while the Man of Sin was to oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. If he exalts himself above God, he of course claims that his laws must be obeyed in preference to those of God. There is no other way that it can be done.
Suppose that Mr. A., in consequence of being absent from home much of the time, finds it necessary to write out a few simple rules by which to have his children governed. But Mr. B. comes into A.'s family during his absence, and says, "Children, let me see the law of your father." They hand him the law, and he reads until he comes to a precept which he thinks is not just right, and he takes his pencil and crosses it; after which he proceeds to read further until he finds another commandment that does not exactly suit him, and he changes that. Thus he goes through the whole law, crossing and changing, and dividing the commandments. Has he not in this exalted himself above the one those children call father? He has legislated for that family, and in that act he has virtually said that the father of that family either has not the ability or the right to govern his own household. Now if the children keep that law as altered, whose law are they keeping? Every one must say, that of B.
The way is now opened for the proof of the position that the Papal power has changed the ten commandments, and that if the ten commandments are kept as changed by that power, and not as given by the great Jehovah, the law-changing power is worshipped, instead of the law-making power. Paul has said, "Know ye not that, to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are?" Rom. vi, 15.
(To be Continued.)
Detached Thoughts.
It is not every broken heart which constitutes the sacrifice of God. It depends on what has broken it—whether the experience of misfortune, or the sense of sin—the sorrow of the world, or the sorrow of God. Both break the heart, but it is a different fracture in one case from what it is in the other. God values the latter; and hearts so broken he mends and makes whole.
Some sinners repent with an unbroken heart. They are sorry, and yet go on, as did Pilate and Herod.
A sinner must come to himself, as did the prodigal, before ever he will come to Christ.
The consummation of madness is to do what, at the time of doing it, we intend to be afterward sorry for; the deliberate and intentional making of work for repentance.
When a Christian backslides, it is as if the prodigal son had re-acted his folly, and left his father's house a second time.
There is a mighty difference betwixt feeling "I have done wrong," and feeling "I have sinned against the Lord."
Some sinners lay down their burden elsewhere than at the feet of Jesus.
Ministers should aim in preaching to puncture the heart, rather than tickle the ear.
He who waits for repentance, waits for what cannot be had, so long as it is waited for. It is absurd for a man to wait for that which he has himself to do.
Human friends can weep with us when we weep, but Jesus is a friend, who, when he has wept with us, can wipe away all our tears. And when the vale131of tears terminates in the valley of the shadow of death, and other friends are compelled to retire and leave us to go alone, Jesus is the friend who can and will enter and go all the way through with us.
It is better for us that Christ should be in heaven than on earth. We need him more there than here. We want an advocate at court.
When a family party are going home, it is common for one to go before to make all ready for the rest, and to welcome them. "I go to prepare a place for you," says Christ to his disciples.
Procrastination has been called a thief—the thief of time. I wish it were no worse than a thief. It is a murderer; and that which it kills is not time merely, but the soul.
Surely the subject of religion must be the most important of all subjects, since it is presently to become, and ever after to continue to be, the only and all-absorbing subject.
The obstacle in the way of the sinner's conversion possesses all the force and invincibleness of an inability, with all the freeness and criminality of an indisposition.
In vain will sinners call upon the rocks and mountains to hide them. Nature will not interpose to screen the enemies of her God.
What strange servants some Christians are!—always at work for themselves, and never doing any thing for Him whom they call their Master! And what subjects!—ever desiring to take the reins of government into their own hands!
It is one of the worst of errors, that there is another path of safety besides that of duty.
The man who lives in vain, lives worse than in vain. He who lives to no purpose, lives to a bad purpose.
The danger of the impenitent is regularly and rapidly increasing, as his who is in the midst of a burning building, or under the power of a fatal disease.
How many indulge a hope which they dare not examine!
If the mere delay of hope—hope deferred, makes the heart sick, what will the death of hope—its final and total disappointment—despair, do to it?
The brightest blaze of intelligence is of incalculably less value than the smallest spark of charity.
The sublimest thoughts are conceived by the intellect when it is excited by pious emotion.
There are many shining lights, which are not also burning lights.
Those may hope to be saved at the eleventh hour, who, when called at that hour can plead that it is their first call: who can say, when asked why they stand idle, "Because no man hath hired us."
Some never begin to pray till God has ceased to hear.
The Christian's feeling himself weak, makes him strong.
Genuine benevolence is not stationary, but peripatetic. It goeth about doing good.
Preparation for meeting God ought to be made first, not only because it is most important, but because it may be needed first. We may want nothing so much as religion. It is the only thing that is necessary, certainly, exceedingly, indispensably and immediately.
Some things, which could not otherwise be read in the book of nature, are legible enough in it, when the lamp of revelation is held up to it.
It is easier to do a great deal of mischief, than to accomplish a little good.
No man will ever fully find out what he is by a mere survey of himself. He must explore, if he would know himself.
When a man wants nothing, he asks for everything.—Nevins.
A Word from an Aged Sister.
By Sister S. Osgood
Sister S. Osgood writes from Haverhill, Mass.: I was seventy-two years of age last March. I have been traveling the good old way for many years. It is about forty-one years since, I trust, that God for Christ's sake forgave my sins, and although I have made many crooked paths, the Lord has been merciful to me, and has led me in a way that I knew not. He has carried me through many trials and troubles, and I have ever found him a present help in time of need. I feel to praise his holy name to-day for what he has done for me.
It is twenty years since I believed in the near coming of Jesus. I believed he would come on the tenth day of the seventh month, 1844, and tried to show my faith by my works. With many others, I was disappointed, but not discouraged. I am still looking for him, and feel that evidences brighten every day, that he will soon appear. I am striving to be ready, and hold fast whereunto I have attained, that no one take my crown. Let us praise God that Jesus is soon coming to put an end to sin and wickedness.
Dear sisters, I want to say a word about the Sabbath; for it is very near my heart. I know some have trials in their families about cooking on that day. Well, I also had. But it is now eleven years since I became decided on that point, and the Lord has blessed me in trying to keep the Sabbath holy. I have done no cooking, not even to boiling a potato on the Lord's holy Sabbath. My dear sisters, I feel that God's holy Sabbath is very precious to me. Now if any of the dear sisters are tried on these things, only be decided for God, and put your trust in him, and he will clear the way before you.
O how good the Lord is to his poor, erring creatures. Let us praise him for what he has done for us, and for what he is still doing for us. I want to praise him the few days I have to stay here on earth, and when Jesus comes I want to be able to meet you all on Canaan's happy shore, where we shall meet to part no more.
Our Hope.
By Esther P. Warren
WHAT a blessed hope is ours. 'Tis not a hope of ease, or comfort, or long life in this unfriendly world; but of a boundless eternal life in the bright world to come. And although the billows of life may roll darkly at times, yet this hope bears us up above the waves. We shall have trials but we need them to purify us. We shall have temptations but with every temptation, God will make a way for our escape. We shall have to suffer persecutions, but while Jesus is our friend we will rest secure; for he has promised never to leave nor forsake us. His ear is not heavy that he cannot hear, neither is his arm shortened that it cannot save. He will hear and answer those who pray in faith and will send the help they need. We must struggle hard if we would obtain the victory. "The road may be rough, but it cannot be long." I do not ask for an easy path, neither would I shrink from the suffering part of religion, for we shall all have it, if we go through. I cannot, nor would I, ask to sail to heaven on flowery beds of ease. It will be through great suffering and tribulation that we shall enter our Father's home. But O when we are safely there, we shall rejoice that we were made partakers of Christ's sufferings here, that we may share the glory with him in his Father's kingdom. In the strength of Him who died to save such unworthy creatures as we are, I am determined to go through and dwell forever where there is,
"No hidden grief,
No wild and cheerless visions of despair,
No vain petitions for relief,
No tearful eyes, no broken hearts are there."
ESTHER P. WARREN.
Medford, Minn.
Testimony from Colton, New York
Bro. & Sr. A. & H. Smith write from Colton, N. Y.: When we read the cheering testimonies of the brethren and sisters scattered abroad, we almost forget that we are among the lonely ones. We seldom see any one who loves to converse upon the subject so dear to us, the coming of the Saviour; but we do not feel like giving up, but rather feel to rejoice that we are accounted worthy to be of the number who suffer reproach for the cause of Christ. We feel like girding on the whole armor, and above all, like taking the shield of faith, that we may the more steadfastly rely upon the promises of God. We feel that we are truly living in solemn times, and it becomes us to examine well the foundation of our faith, that we may be able at all times to give a reason of our hope. We beg an interest in your prayers, that we may stand firm unto the end, and then receive the reward of the faithful.
Bible Light Refused.
By Bishop Villers
I once happened to be on a visit to a great castle, situated on the top of a hill. There was a steep cliff, at the bottom of which was a rapid river. Late one night there was a woman anxious to get home from that castle, in the midst of a thunder-storm. The night was blackness itself; the woman was asked to stop till the storm was over, but she declined; next they begged her to take a lantern, that she might be able to keep upon the road from the castle to her home. She said she did not require a lantern, but she could do very well without one. She went. Perhaps she was frightened by the storm—I know not the cause—but in the midst of the darkness, she wandered from the path, and fell over the cliff. The next day that swollen river washed to the shore the poor lifeless body of this foolish woman! How many foolish ones are there who, when the light is offered them, only say, "I am not afraid: I fear not my end!" and how many have refused the light of God's truth, which would have guided them on the road to heaven!—Bishop Villers.
The Two Farmers.
In a small country town, in Massachusetts, there lived two wealthy farmers, whose lands adjoined each other. On some account or other, they became involved in a law-suit, which both lessened their money, and promoted a spirit of rancor toward each other. After a time, one of those men was convinced of the sinfulness of his past conduct, when, yielding to the influences of the gospel, he became desirous of reconciliation and friendship with his neighbor. With a trembling heart, he rapped at the door of the man he had offended, which he had not entered before for six years. Not suspecting who it was, his neighbor invited him in. He went in, took his seat, acknowledged that he had in the affair been much to blame, and entreated forgiveness. The other was much astonished, but maintained his high ground. "I always knew you were to blame, and I never shall forgive you," with much more to the same purpose, was the reply given to him. He again confessed his wrong, asked the pardon of the neighbor, expressed a hope that the Divine Being, would forgive him, and added, "We have been actuated by a wrong spirit, and we shall be afraid to meet each other at the bar of God, where we must soon appear." The other became a little softened, and they parted.
The family when left to themselves, were filled with astonishment. But the mystery was solved, when they learned that their neighbor had become a follower of Christ. "What!" said the farmer, "has S—become a Christian? Why should he come and ask my forgiveness? If religion will humble such a man, it is surely a great thing. He said, 'We shall be afraid to meet each other at the bar of God.'" Such reflections as these, with a consciousness of his own ill-conduct, occasioned him great distress for several days. At length, he could smother his feelings no longer—he took his hat, and went to see his once hated neighbor. As he entered the door, he received a cordial welcome; they took each other by the hand, and burst into tears. He said, "You came to ask my forgiveness, the other day, but I find I have been a thousand times worse than you." They retired and prayed together. They became members of the same church, and lived many years in uninterrupted harmony. Such are the triumphs of Christianity, compared with which,
“The laurels that a Caesar reaps are weeds.”
The Moral Condition of Richmond.
By Editor
If we are to believe the Copperheads, the root of all evil is abolitionism, and were that fatal heresy banished from the earth, the reign of the millennium would begin at once. We fancy that at Richmond there is quite as little of that taint as anywhere in the world; and yet we find in the columns of The Daily News a description of that city which differs from common notions of the millennium. A correspondent, writing from the spot, says:
"It is noted fact that of late more crime and prostitution have existed in Richmond than in any other city or town on the continent, New York not excepted. Garroting and being waylaid on the streets and roads is of common occurrence, and it is all but safe to be in the streets unarmed or alone after dark. The Police Courts and Hustings are well patronized daily by these cowardly highwaymen; and although several examples of severe punishment have been made by the magistrates, the evil has not abated, and will not cease until either the honest citizens form themselves into a vigilance committee, or have the city placed under martial law."
In this short statement of the condition of the chief city of the confederacy, we behold the genuine fruits of slavery and rebellion.
Testimony of Macknight.
By F. H. Burbank
MARK xiii, 32.—"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man."
"It may seem strange that the Son, . . . who in prophecy had been pointing out the various signs by which the disciples might foresee his approach, should not have known the day and the hour, or the particular time of his coming. This difficulty some endeavor to obviate by supposing that our Lord spake of himself here only as a man. But the Father following that of the Son, shews that he spake of himself as the Son of God, and not as the son of man. Besides, the gradation in the sentence seems to forbid this solution. For the Son being mentioned after the angels, and immediately before the Father, is thereby declared to be more excellent than they, which he is not in respect of his human nature; and therefore he cannot be supposed to speak of himself in that nature.
"The proper translation of the passage, I think, affords a better solution. The word eiden here seems to have the force of the Hebrew conjugation hiphil, which, in verbs denoting action, makes that action, whatever it is, pass to another. Wherefore eiden, which properly signifies I know, used in the sense of the conjugation hiphil, signifies, I make another to know; I declare. The word has this meaning without dispute, in 1 Cor. ii, 2: 'I determined to know (eidenai) nothing among you but Jesus Christ, and him crucified;' i. e., I determined to make known, to preach nothing among you but Jesus Christ. So likewise in the text, 'But of that day and that hour,' none maketh you to know, none hath power to make you to know it; just as the phrase, Matt. xx, 23, 'is not mine to give,' signifies 'it is not in my power to give;'—'no, not the angels, neither the Son, but the Father.' Neither man nor angel, nor even the Son himself, can reveal the day and hour, . . . because the Father hath determined that it should not be revealed."
Note.—Dr. James Macknight was one of the first in Scotland that obtained the "degree" of "Doctor of Divinity." The first edition of his "Harmony of the Gospels" was published 1756. The comment on Mark xiii. 32 is taken from the fourth edition, published 1809, in the second volume, sec. 123, page 659.—F. H. Burbank, in World's Crisis.
Man in Death.
THE following is from the Herald of Gospel Liberty, a paper published in Newburyport, Mass., by the Christian denomination:—
"Paul once stood upon an island, allegorically representing truth, and shook a viper from his hand. While standing upon such a foundation, no error could hurt him. Our modern Pauls stand upon a continent of error. How shall they free themselves from the viper, Spiritualism, that has fastened upon them? Yea, they stand upon the very corner-stone and foundation upon which it is built, viz., that the soul is immortal, and has conscious existence separate from the body. Hence the danger; if Spiritualism fails, their own structure will come tumbling about their heads. Once get the Bible idea of no future life out of Christ, and without the resurrection, fully established, and where is Spiritualism? At a spiritual circle in the city of Washington, in 1853, the following question was asked: 'What good can result from these manifestations?' 'It is to draw mankind together in harmony; and convince skeptics of the immortality of the soul.' So said John C. Calhoun. The same question being put to what purported to be the spirit of W. E. Channing, the same answer was returned as before.
"Now tell me, candid reader, is not this the foundation on which they are built and by which they have succeeded? And yet these sticklers for man's natural immortality, deny the divine authenticity of most of the Bible. And why? Because, forsooth, it does not teach the doctrine they wish, but instead bases all hopes of a future life upon Christ and the resurrection."