Modern thought and belief are shaped to no inconsiderable degree by the faiths and customs of the past. The influence of old pagan philosophies and superstitions is still felt in many observances called Christian, observances which are generally supposed to trace their origin to Bible teaching or apostolic authority. Particularly is this true of the Easter festival, which, with much show and ostentation, will soon be celebrated in many churches throughout the world in honor of Christ’s resurrection. During the last few years, much has been made of this service, and its claims are being urged anew upon the attention of Christendom.
The Scriptures nowhere enjoin the celebration of Easter, or any other day, in commemoration of the Lord’s resurrection. The Bible gives one memorial, and one only, of the burial, and resurrection of the Lord, and that is found in the one true mode of baptism; namely, by immersion. Rom. 6:1-6. The effort of the enemy has been to set aside this true memorial, substituting therefor sprinkling or pouring, and then to substitute as a memorial of the resurrection his own invention, the Easter observance. The reason why he has done this will appear in considering the origin of the festival.
The word Easter is from the Anglo-Saxon Estre or Eoster and the German Ostern. Ostāra was an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. She was called “goddess of the morning light,” or “goddess of the return of the sun.” The fourth month of the year, corresponding to our April, was dedicated to her worship, and was called Eostur-monath.
The worship of Ostāra was derived from that of Baal, Ashtaroth, Ishtar, Astarte, Tammuz, etc. These were sun deities, the worship of which extends back through all pagan history. The early Britons were sun-worshipers, so that the veneration of Ostāra in their experience had a very direct relationship to the worship of the heavenly bodies.
For long ages, antedating the Christian era, the pagans celebrated a great annual spring festival in honor of the sun, under the name of Tammuz. When the sun returned in the spring of the year, bringing new life and causing vegetation to revive, a great feast of rejoicing was held. The worshipers decked themselves with evergreen and flowers, and engaged in parade and gorgeous display. The worship of Tammuz, as was all sun-worship, was the worship of nature, the worship of life or reproduction. Hence this worship was attended with lascivious rites. In consequence the egg came to be used as the most fitting symbol of this nature worship. The pagans also believed that Astarte, one of the sun deities, was hatched from a large egg which fell down from heaven. Preceding the Tammuz festival, the pagans celebrated a fast of forty days. This was a time of lamenting and weeping.
Surrounded by these conditions, and receiving into its communion half-pagan converts, the church of the third and fourth centuries became leavened with heathen superstitions. There was developed a marked spirit to cater to the prejudices and customs of their heathen associates, hoping thereby to win the favor of the unconverted, and bring them7within the fold of the church. Expediency rather than principle became the controlling motive.
A tendency was manifested in the church to perpetuate the old passover celebration with special reference to its Christian signification in the sacrifice of Christ. This was called the Pasch service or festival, and occurred at the same season of year as the heathen festival. Seizing upon this spirit of celebration as a pretext to bring about closer concord between professed Christians and the heathen, the work of transformation was insidiously entered upon. Pagan temples were reconsecrated as Christian churches, and little by little the church sought to make its services conform to the spirit of heathen celebrations. In this way the heathen festival of Tammuz was taken, and on the pretext of commemorating the resurrection of the Lord, it was transplanted to the Christian church. This was a transformation in name only; the character of the festival was but little changed. It was still celebrated with display and ostentation. The flower and evergreen adornment was retained, as was also in various ways the employment of the pagan symbolic egg. This prayer was used by Pope Paul V, and taught by him to his adherents:
“Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance unto thy servants, eating it in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Nor was the forty-day fast period used by the heathen omitted in this work of amalgamating Christianity and paganism. This was made the lenten period preceding the Easter festival, the same as it was the period of fasting preceding the festival in honor of the sun goddess Tammuz. Of this work of molding the church after pagan models, Hislop, in “Two Babylons,” speaks as follows:—
To conciliate the pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and pagan festivals amalgamated, and by a complicated, but skilful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter in general, to get paganism and Christianity, now far sunk in idolatry, in this as in many other things, to shake hands.
This, in brief, is the history of Easter. It was a combination of the old so-called Pasch with the heathen festival in honor of the sun. The period of lent was copied wholly from pagan practise. The whole was given a Christian setting, but with a retention of old pagan forms and symbols. The reason for this, as already suggested, was to win over to the church the favor of the heathen. Possibly a worthy motive prompted the effort; but a most questionable and costly method, for in thus lowering her standard to heathen ideals, the church corrupted her own morals.
As to the relationship which Bible Christians should sustain to this festival, there can be no question. They must reject it the same as they reject other ordinances and observances founded only upon the tradition of the church and the carnal commandments of men. The revival of the Easter celebration only shows a decline in vital godliness. As the church backslides from God, and turns a deaf ear to his truth, it naturally reaches out for something to take the place of its lost power. It again seeks by ritualism and imposing services to attract the multitude as the church of the past has done. These may satisfy the thoughtless and indifferent, but they can never give to the hearts of true worshipers the portion of spiritual food for which they seek. God’s children should conform their beliefs and church observances to the purity and simplicity of the Bible standard. Tradition and heathen philosophy should make no appeal to Christian duty. The Scriptures only can be taken as the basis of faith, the rule of conduct, and the standard of morals.
F. M. W.
Note and Comment
Preparation for War
The American nation has in the past sought to avoid militarism. For that reason the government has never sanctioned a large standing army; and its navy, until within recent years, has stood low in the list of the world’s navies in the number of vessels. At the conclusion of the war with Spain there came a change. The standing army was increased more than one hundred per cent, and at the present time the navy stands second in the list of the world’s navies, being exceeded by England only. Near the close of President Roosevelt’s administration, that is, on January 27 of this year, a commission was appointed by the President to consider the needs of the navy, and to report. The growth of the military spirit and the abandonment of the national modus operandi upon this matter are shown in the following excerpt from the report of that commission:—
In conclusion, it should be distinctly laid down as a cardinal principle that no scheme of naval organization can possibly be effective which does not recognize that the requirement of war is the true standard of efficiency in an administrative military system; that success in war, and victory, can be assured only by that constant preparedness and that superior fighting efficiency which logically result from placing the control and responsibility in time of peace upon the same individuals and the same agencies that must control in time of war.
There should be no shock or change of method in expanding from a state of peace to a state of war. This is not militarism; it is a simple business principle, based upon the fact that success in war is the only return the people and the nation can get from the investment of many millions in the building and maintenance of a great navy.
If the nation is to be always ready for war, it is impossible to escape the spirit of militarism. One might reason that with a navy second only to that of Great Britain, there was much less reason for anxiety over the matter of preparation for war than when our navy stood fifth in the list. But the spirit of militarism does not work along these lines. The more it is fed, the greater are its demands. That fact accounts for the present race between Great Britain and Germany in the building of “Dreadnaughts.” Canada also has begun to imbibe the spirit, the result, no doubt, of the agitation in England and the purpose of the United States to forge ahead in these matters in spite of the fact that the world, outwardly, is at peace. Spain, whose navy was practically destroyed, has declared her intention of building again, and has let contracts for three battle-ships. Russia is rebuilding her navy. Argentina, Chile, and Brazil have begun the work of creating strong navies. The spirit of war preparation on land and on sea was never so great as now, and no one is able to see the end.
An Achievement of Man
In a recent address before the students of the Chicago University, Dr. Geo. B. Foster is reported to have said:—
Religion is not of divine or miraculous origin. It is not a donation from God, but an achievement of man. . . . The fact that religion is an achievement of man and not a donation is the best proof that it is good for man.
It would be difficult to put into fewer words a more sweeping denial of the entire purpose and providence of God toward men. The expounder of such views sets man above God, by making him a better judge than God as to what is best for man. It needs hardly be said that in such a system there is no place for prophecy; no need of the reconciliation Christ gave his life to effect; no place for the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, or of the return of the risen Lord for the resurrection and glorification of his saints. If man's judgment and desires are the highest standard for man, the whole foundation laid in the Word of God is laid on sand. This is the ultimate of the ruinous teachings concerning religion and the Bible so prevalent in the great institutions of learning where pastors of the present generation are “fitted” for their work. With young pastors sitting at the feet of infidels to learn theology, is it to be wondered at that the flock is being scattered and that the wolves are finding easy prey?
The Priceless Lesson
I've learned as days have passed me,
Fretting never lifts the load,
And that worry, much or little,
Never smooths an irksome road;
For you know that, somehow, always,
Doors are opened, ways are made,
When we work and live in patience
Under all the crosses laid.
He who waters meadow-lilies
With the dew from out the sky,
He who feeds the fluttering sparrows
When in need of food they cry,
Never fails to aid his children
In their stress, though great or small,
For his ears are always open
To their faintest far-off call.
— Evening Star.
**_The Need of the Holy Spirit in Our Lives_**
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
(Concluded)
The gift of the Holy Spirit is promised to all who believe. But we shall find that it makes every difference whether or not we bear a living testimony in character, in mind, in intellect, and serve the Lord with full purpose of heart as we work to bring the light of truth to souls in every place.
There are places that have never yet been entered with the message of truth. Our camp-meetings in many instances have been held in the same place again and again. The Lord wants us to make a change in this respect. He wants us to work so that the truth will come to all ears and to all hearts, that the world may know what we believe. There are many, many places where such meetings should be held. Perhaps in these places fewer will come out to hear the word, but it is our duty to take the truth to these new places, letting the light of truth shine to every soul possible. When we follow the directions of the Lord, the workings of his Spirit will be seen among us. God will bless the speakers, giving them the words that are essential to the needs of the people, and that will lead them to take hold of the living promises of God, and to enjoy an experience similar to that which those enjoyed who were led to accept Christ by the teachings of the disciples on the day of pentecost.
The Prince of heaven, he who was one with the Father in the creation of the world, came to our world to labor for the salvation of men. He laid off his royal robes and glorious crown, and clothed his divinity with humanity, that humanity might touch humanity, and that divinity might lay hold of the strength of Omnipotence. In this strength he could successfully wrestle with the powers of darkness. Often in his labors, when opposition grew strong, and his enemies would have taken him, he said to his disciples, “Let us go to another place; my time has not yet come.” By this he meant that the time of his final suffering and the closing of his earthly work had not yet come. So he would leave the city, and start out for the fields. There company after company would join him until thousands were listening to his words.
We read of one occasion when five thousand men besides women and children were gathered to hear him. When the day was far spent, the disciples came to the Saviour, and urged him to send the people away. Some were fainting by the way, and they had nothing to eat. To the question of Christ, “What food have you?” the reply was given, “Five barley loaves, and two small fishes.” “Bring them hither to me,” said Christ, and then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he handed to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. The hungry multitude ate of the food provided, until all were satisfied. While the food was being passed from hand to hand, the wonderful miracle was wrought that converted that small supply into sufficient to feed so great a multitude. Then said Christ, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” “And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.”
Just such experiences as this in spiritual lines will come to us as we work in faith and obedience to God. As we seek to proclaim the truth for this time, angels of God will be present to minister to the hearts of the people. These heavenly angels are all around us, waiting for opportunities to impress the minds of the people, that they in turn may become instruments in carrying the truth to other souls.
My brethren and sisters, we need to be converted. We need the power of the living God to come upon us, for many of us are without spiritual strength. Let us begin to put forth earnest efforts to carry the truth to places where it is needed. Let us seek for the souls that are perishing around us. Christ is a living Christ to-day. He is waiting to impart his great grace, his salvation and truth, to all who will seek for it with the simplicity of a child. We can not do anything to help ourselves, for we are poor mortals beset with temptations on the right hand and on the left. But with the help that Christ will give us, we may become established in the doctrines of the Word, and give its teachings to others. As we explain the Word of God, heavenly angels will be present to minister grace to the speaker and to the hearers.
Our hearts need to be softened by the Holy Spirit of God. Our own will and ways, our own inclinations and education, will mold and fashion us so that our message to the people will have but little effect. The Lord desires that our hearts shall be subdued by the grace of Christ. He would have us susceptible to the influences of his Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is an educating power wherever it is found. To have the higher education is to have the religion of Christ, the sanctification of the Spirit of God. It is to have close friendship with God, to be in that place where we can have communion with him, and work under the ministration of his Spirit. The reason why I have been so anxious that we should open our proposed new training-school in California is that many youth may be encouraged to seek for this higher education. We want this school to be altogether different from many of the schools that have been established among us. It is to pattern after the schools of the prophets. We want that here the higher education shall be understood and sought for,—the education that comes from Christ and is imparted by God to his people.
We are to teach the youth how to learn of God, how to overcome their unhappy temperaments, how to cling to the Mighty One, that when the gates of the city of God are thrown back on their glittering hinges, and the nation that has kept the truth shall enter in, they will find an entrance there, and join in the song of triumph in the kingdom of glory. My brethren, we need the converting power of God upon us if we would pass safely through the perils of the last days. I want to see the King in his beauty, and I want, by the message I shall give, to help in preparing a people to lay hold of the might and power of God. To obtain a fitness for the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven should be considered of more importance than anything else. We need to have heaven brought into our souls, and Christ manifested in our lives. We need to be willing to deny self, and to sacrifice our own wills and ways to the will and way of God. It is our privilege to be overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. We may follow on to know the Lord, and know that his goings forth are prepared as the morning.
It is our privilege to have a living experience, and to sustain that relation to heaven that the truth will go forth from us as a lamp that burneth. Those who have a living experience in the things of God, will long to see the truth go to places where it has not been. Christ says to his followers, “Ye are the light of the world.” Let us take the lamp from under the bushel, that it may give light to all that are in the house. Many of us are asleep, and the end of all things is at hand. Everything testifies to the fact that we are living in the closing days of the earth’s history. We should be able at this time to bear a living testimony of a living experience. When we ourselves are converted, we shall be able to strengthen others.
I would say to you, husband your means, that when any call comes to help in extending the knowledge of the truth, you may be able to respond. Let the truth go forth from place to place, that9hearts may be converted. We need to make known to the world a new religion. We need to reveal in words and actions what higher education is. At times I have felt so deeply about this matter that I have lain upon my bed and cried to God. “Lord,” I have said, “the case seems hopeless. What can we do to arouse the people? What can we say to make them see that the common experience that many are having will never give them an entrance into the kingdom of God?” God’s people are to learn what it means to be taught of God, what it means to deny self, to sacrifice self. Heaven is full of power, and this power would come to us did we but feel the need of it. But many of us are satisfied with a common, cheap experience, and do not arise to the emergency. God help us to arise to the emergency.
I will not hold you any longer, but I would say that I greatly desire that the glory of God shall be revealed in his people. Shall we not, right here, make a covenant with God by sacrifice? Shall we not come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty powers of darkness? Who will pledge themselves today to seek the Lord while he may be found? You can not convert others until you find God for yourselves. Only when you have found him yourselves can you make him known to others. Will you not open your hearts and minds to the influence of the Spirit of God, so that the testimony borne will be lasting in its results? The servants of God may wear out their lives in service for you without result unless you co-operate with them. Unless you make determined efforts for yourselves, the Holy Spirit will not come upon you, and the results seen after the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of pentecost will not be seen among you. Who now, I ask, will make a determined effort to obtain the higher education? Those who will, make it manifest by rising to your feet. [The congregation rose.] Here is the whole congregation. May God help you to keep your pledge. Let us pray.
[Praying]. Heavenly Father, I come to thee at this time, just as I am, poor, weak, unworthy, and I ask thee to impress the hearts of this people gathered here to-day. I have spoken to them thy words, but, O Lord, thou alone canst make the word effective. I ask thee to forgive those who have failed in serving thee. Reveal thyself to them. Impress their minds. Let the converting power of God come upon them. Present before them in clear gospel light their privilege to reflect the character of Christ in words, in actions. Teach them that in order to be partakers in the strife, in order to obtain victories, spiritual victories, they must be partakers of the divine nature.
We beseech thee, for Christ’s sake, to sweep away this awful darkness that would hide from view the religion of Christ. We can not do this, for we are mortal; but we can ask thee, thou God of heaven. Impress the minds of this people as thou hast never done before. Reveal it to them that there is a heaven to win and a hell to shun. Grant them the presence of thine angels in every home. These who have pledged themselves to seek the Lord,—help them to be in earnest, help them to understand that they are to be living lights bringing to others the convicting power of the Spirit of God.
We want our school to be established. Lord, thou knowest all about this. We know that we have looked to thee in this matter, that we have cried to thee in the night seasons, asking thee to take charge here. O, I pray thee that thou wilt make it such a school as has never yet been established among us! Let angels of God take charge of the work, and carry it through to thine own name’s glory. Let the Spirit of God be present to enlighten the minds and touch the hearts of the students as the teachers give instruction that ought to be given. Let the glory of God come in, and let hearts and minds grasp the truths of the Word of God as they have never before grasped them.
Lord, prepare thy people to meet thee in peace. We need the Holy Spirit of God in every heart. Let thy converting power come upon us as it came upon thy people on the day of pentecost. O God, reveal thyself to us!
Let thy blessing rest upon us, dear Saviour. Let light shine into the chambers of the mind and into the soul temple, that we may see light in thy light, and joy in thy joy, as we see sinners turning to God with the whole heart. We have no power but in thee. We ask thee to mold and fashion us, and give us an experience after the divine similitude.
O God, I beseech of thee to work! Thou didst send one equal with thyself to live in the world a life of poverty and toil. Traveling on foot from place to place, he endured hardness and hunger. My Father, we are ashamed of the presentation we have made. Wilt thou not baptize us, Lord? Let thy converting power come upon this people. Help them to make a determined effort to resist the enemy, that he may flee from them; and thy blessed name shall have all the glory.
The Third Angel's Message
By GEORGE I. BUTLER
GEORGE I. BUTLER
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 6-12.
In close connection with these events follow the coming of Christ and the end of this dispensation.
I have quoted the scripture containing the series of the three angels' messages, in order that the reader may see their close connection with each other, and especially that they all together form one connected platform of truth upon which God's people must stand as a necessary preparation for the coming of Christ.
The second coming of Christ will be the grandest event that has ever occurred since the creation of this globe. Yea, it will be an event in which all the universe of worlds will be interested; for then God will put down all rebellion, and destroy sin and sinners, and Satan and his rebel angels, and will establish the reign of truth and righteousness forevermore. These three angels' messages united form one grand warning proclamation to the world. It is composed of three great divisions; namely, (1) a grand announcement to the world of the soon-coming Messiah and the beginning of the great assize of the preliminary judgment period for mankind; (2) the statement of the rejection of this light, and the consequent spiritual darkness and apostasy which comes in and becomes more and more apparent as the years go by, till God's people are finally called out of Babylon, and her sad end comes; (3) the last and most solemn and awful message ever given to poor fallen humanity,—a warning against the rejection of light, showing the necessity of an entire separation from all the apostates of the past and present and of a coming back to all the holy truths of God's Word, summed up in the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. These truths contained in the third angel's message, if accepted and practised, will result in a full and complete reformation from the errors and false doctrines taught by the papacy in past and present ages. The grand Protestant movement was a reformation in part; but before Christ comes, there must be complete reformation,—a radical turning away from all that system of mixed truth and error fully comprehended in the great apostasy. Who will have the assurance to say that these three great divisions do not contain matters of sufficient importance to constitute a platform of truth sufficient for God's people to stand upon, and thence to proclaim to the whole world a warning of their great danger, and rescue all who will obey? The believers in these messages10feel confident that they are authorized to do this very work.
The book of Revelation is peculiar in that it presents important facts of prophetic history in the form of series: we have in it the series of seven churches; of seven seals; of seven trumpets; and the three angels' messages, the latter embracing three leading features in preparing the minds of the people for the coming of Christ. Previous to the deluge and the destruction of the wicked antediluvians, Noah, a preacher of righteousness, warned the world for one hundred twenty years. A work of preparation for the leading of God's captive people, a race of slaves, out of Egypt, was given to Moses and Aaron. Jeremiah and Ezekiel specially warned the Jews of their going into captivity. Even wicked idolaters were warned by Jonah of their impending danger. Previous to Christ's coming the first time, John the Baptist was specially raised up to perform the work of preparing the people for the Messiah's advent. Shall we suppose the last generation of men will be an exception to God's uniform course of action through all the ages of the past, and that no message of merciful warning will be given? that Christ's coming in the greatest possible glory will instantaneously burst upon the world like a grand electric illumination at midnight? Such a terrible thought is a reflection upon the character of God. All then might truly say, “We had no warning, Lord, of thy coming. Had we been warned, we would have prepared for it.” Ah! God is not a being of such a character as that would imply. These messages furnish just such a specific, complete, and illuminating warning as the times demand, and such as a merciful God would give to every intelligent creature. The thoroughness of its proclamation will surpass that of all previous warnings in the same proportions as the greatness of its issues surpass all other events ever seen in this world. It will go to every nation, tongue, and people. And “the earth will be lightened with its glory.” None of those living when Christ comes can truly say they had no knowledge of it. They may reject and despise, scoff and deride it as the antediluvians did Noah's preaching, but God will see that it shall be proclaimed to the ends of the earth with a “loud voice.”
As conclusive evidence that these messages form a series, we quote one expression: “And the third angel followed them,” that is, the two preceding ones. It is impossible to have a “third” without having two preceding ones. The context clearly shows that no other follows which could be called a fourth; for Christ's personal appearing is the next event. There are just three, and no more, of these warning messages of Christ's second coming.
One more interesting fact will close this article. In all the history of the past, previous to the present movement, nothing has ever occurred that could be called a fulfilment of Rev. 14: 6-12. No history records such an event. And had there been such a movement, events have proved it could not have been true. It is remarkable how the leading, prominent commentators have passed by these most important passages. They have not attempted their explanation. Take the third message as an example. Here is the most solemn message found in all the Bible, yet the great lights of Protestantism have not attempted an explanation of it. It is impossible for them to do it without stultifying themselves. The great Protestant bodies are not pretending to fulfil it; and they seem to know it. But behold the change. When the great signs are fulfilled which Christ and the prophets foretold would occur previous to his coming, lo and behold, all over the world the first message is proclaimed. The leading men of that movement announced to the world that they were fulfilling the time message, “the hour [period] of his judgment is come.” It was a mighty movement, and was heard all over the world. But these teachers did not proclaim the truths of the third angel's message. The time had not yet come to proclaim that; but after the great disappointment which occurred at the passing of the time, a people did arise proclaiming the fulfilment of the third angel's message of the series. It is now being proclaimed to the ends of the earth. In succeeding articles many points of interest in its fulfilment will be brought out.