Review and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 45. (11/9/1911)

Review and Herald

Nov 9, 1911

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 9, 1911

The Place of Safety

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.— Psalm 91:1-10.

Christian Education

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Teachers, Parents, and Young People

The November-December Issue

The second number of Vol. III of CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, November-December issue, sparkles with good things for teachers, parents, and young people. Some of its interesting contents is presented under the following general topics:—

Economy of Time in Education.—Practical education has its foundation in quality rather than in quantity; faithfulness and thoroughness in small things; the full mastery of essentials.

Our Denominational School System.—Suggestions on the naming of schools in keeping with the grades taught; information that will give our readers a clearer conception of our school system in all departments.

Christian Education.—Its need in our institutions of learning, as felt by prominent educators.

Guard the Health of Your Students.—Revealing conditions found in public schools, and suggesting methods by which physical defects may be detected and, in a measure, remedied.

Relative Values in Education.—Shall emphasis be laid upon acquiring as many abstract facts as possible, or upon the mastery of living principles that will continue to bear fruit of knowledge throughout the life of the student? Excellent thoughts for teachers, and of great value to parents and students.

American Schools to Be Rated.—To make the terms used to classify grades of school mean in fact what they mean in name, exposing some of the weak tendencies our denominational schools should avoid.

Brains vs. Brick and Mortar.—The present day needs, not more and larger school buildings, but more and enlarged teachers—great, clear-headed, and large-hearted teachers.

Notes on the Teaching of Rhetoric.—The true purpose of this study, and suggestions on teaching it.

Grading School Work.—How shall it be done? What shall be the standard?

Oral Bible in Grades One to Three.—Ten simple yet impressive Bible lessons for children outlined, covering as many special topics; of great value to all parents in home Bible teaching.

Primary Language.—Its importance, and a brief outline of the work to be covered, in a general way, by the first grade; especially good for parents in home teaching.

Primary Reading.—The foundation work; analysis of sentences; practical suggestions on the “word and sentence method.”

The Care of Children’s Voices in the Home.—Voice training, not voice straining.

Talks to Children, With Questions.—Given to illustrate how other topics may be arranged, and taught children in a simple, effective way. All parents may be greatly benefited through the suggestions given in these talks.

Progressive Occupation and Sense Training in Kindergarten Work.—Construction Work for kindergarten and advanced classes; Wood-Work; the Teachers’ Reading Course; strong Editorials, and other good things that will be helpful to teachers, parents, students, and all who are interested in our educational work.

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One to 4 copies, November-December issue, 10 cents each; 5 to 40 copies, 5 cents each; 50 or more copies, 4 cents each.

This single issue, No. 2, Vol. III, 1911, is worth more than 50 cents to any parent or teacher.

Christian Education

Takoma Park, D. C.

ORDER THE JOURNAL THROUGH YOUR CONFERENCE TRACT SOCIETY If you do not know the Tract Society address, ask the publishers of this paper.

An Entering Wedge

By J. M. Hopkins

J. M. HOPKINS

IN one respect the writer, in the early years of his manhood, was like Abraham Lincoln,—a rail splitter,—and he well remembers that sometimes he would get a very tough, knotty, cross-grained log that refused to open. At such a time, he would, with the ax and maul, carefully check the log all across the end, and then endeavor to drive in the iron wedge. But after getting it nicely started, as he supposed, and giving it a heavy blow with the maul, behold, out it would jump several feet into the snow. This might be repeated many times before he could make the wedge stick and drive it into the log.

Moral

For several years Sunday-law advocates have been endeavoring to get Congress to commit itself by passing a Sunday-rest law. Bill after bill has been prepared and introduced, but so far only to meet with defeat. Were it not for the terribly serious nature of such legislation, the whole thing would be highly amusing. Such persistency and determination as are shown by these misguided men and women are certainly worthy of a nobler cause.

It has been very noticeable in former years how willing these Sunday-enforcement people have been to grant exemption clauses favoring those who observe the seventh day; and in the effort to secure the passage of the Johnston Sunday bill for the District of Columbia, it seems apparent that those who have the bill in charge are willing to have it shorn of this or that objectionable feature if only it will, like the iron wedge in the tough log referred to above, enter and stick. Just get Congress to commit itself by passing any sort of Sunday law, thus establishing a precedent, and the hardest part of the battle is over. Just get one Sunday wedge to stick, however unimportant and powerless it may be, and others will speedily follow and be driven home with all the vigor and strength that characterized such measures in the days of the Spanish Inquisition.

If Sunday really were the Lord’s day, how much better, how much more Scriptural, would be the course of those clergymen if they would preach the gospel of salvation from sin, preach “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” as the apostle Paul did (Acts 20), than to go around besieging the State and national legislatures for a law of force. Christ commissioned his followers to preach the gospel, not to appeal for government aid. Beware of the wedge.

Hewitt, Minn.

Paul Appeals to Cæsar

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

“When Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Cæsarea to Jerusalem. Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him, and desired favor against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem.” In making this request they purposed to waylay Paul along the road to Jerusalem, and murder him. But Festus had a high sense of the responsibility of his position, and courteously declined to send for Paul. “It is not the manner of the Romans,” he declared, “to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.” He stated that “he himself would depart shortly” for Cæsarea. “Let them therefore . . . which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him.”

This was not what the Jews wanted. They had not forgotten their former defeat at Cæsarea. In contrast with the calm bearing and forcible arguments of the apostle, their own malignant spirit and baseless accusations would appear in the worst possible light. Again they urged that Paul be brought to Jerusalem for trial, but Festus held firmly to his purpose of giving Paul a fair trial at Cæsarea. God in his providence controlled the decision of Festus, that the life of the apostle might be lengthened.

Their purposes defeated, the Jewish leaders at once prepared to witness against Paul at the court of the procurator. Upon returning to Cæsarea, after a few days’ sojourn at Jerusalem, Festus “the next day sitting on the judgment-seat commanded Paul to be brought.” “The Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.” Being on this occasion without a lawyer, the Jews preferred their charges themselves. As the trial proceeded, the accused with calmness and candor clearly showed the falsity of their statements.

Festus discerned that the question in dispute related wholly to Jewish doctrines, and that, rightly understood, there was nothing in the charges against Paul, could they be proved, that would render him subject to sentence of death, or even to imprisonment. Yet he saw clearly the storm of rage that would be created if Paul was not condemned nor delivered into their hands. And so, “willing to do the Jews a pleasure,” Festus turned to Paul, and asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem under his protection, to be tried by the Sanhedrin.

The apostle knew that he could not look for justice from the people who by their crimes were bringing down upon themselves the wrath of God. He knew that, like the prophet Elijah, he would be safer among the heathen than with those who had rejected light from heaven and hardened their hearts against the gospel. Weary of strife, his active spirit could ill endure the repeated delays and wearing suspense of his trial and imprisonment. He therefore decided to exercise his privilege, as a Roman citizen, of appealing to Cæsar.

In answer to the governor’s question, Paul said: “I stand at Cæsar’s judgment-seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Cæsar.”

Festus knew nothing of the conspiracies of the Jews to murder Paul, and he was surprised at this appeal to Cæsar. However, the words of the apostle put a stop to the proceedings of the court. “Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Cæsar? unto Cæsar shalt thou go.”

Thus it was that once more, because of hatred born of bigotry and self-righteousness, a servant of God was driven to turn for protection to the heathen. It was this same hatred that forced the prophet Elijah to flee for succor to the widow of Sarepta, and that forced the heralds of the gospel to turn from the Jews to proclaim their message to the Gentiles.

And this hatred the people of God living in this age have yet to meet. Among many of the professing followers of Christ, there is the same pride, formalism, and selfishness, the same spirit of oppression, that held so large a place in the Jewish heart. In the future, men claiming to be Christ’s representatives will take a course similar to that followed by the priests and rulers in their treatment of Christ and the apostles. In the great crisis through which they are soon to pass, the faithful servants of God will encounter the same hardness of heart, the same cruel determination, the same unyielding hatred.

All who in that evil day would fearlessly serve God according to the dictates of conscience, will need courage, firmness, and a knowledge of God and his Word; for those who are true to God will be persecuted, their motives will be impugned, their best efforts misinterpreted, and their names cast out as evil. Satan will work with all his deceptive power to influence the heart and becloud the understanding, to make evil appear good, and good evil. The stronger and purer the faith of God’s people, and the firmer their determination to obey him, the more fiercely will Satan strive to stir up against them the rage of those who, while claiming to be righteous, trample upon the law of God. It will require the firmest trust, the most heroic purpose, to hold fast the faith once delivered to the saints.

God desires his people to prepare for the soon-coming crisis. Prepared or unprepared, they must all meet it, and those only who have brought their lives into conformity to the divine standard, will stand firm at that time of test and trial. When secular rulers unite with ministers of religion to dictate in matters of conscience, then it will be seen who really fear and serve God. When the darkness is deepest, the light of a godlike character will shine the brightest. When every other trust fails, then it will be seen who have an abiding trust in Jehovah. And while the enemies of truth are on every side, watching the Lord’s servants for evil, God will watch over them for good. He will be to them as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

And the Resurrection Came

By William Covert

WILLIAM COVERT

“This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.” Rev. 20:5, 6.

O the blessed first resurrection day,—that day so sweet and wonderful, when the righteous dead shall come to life again! And the Lord’s set time for it is near at hand. Job 14:13. Desired indeed is the joy it will bring with it. “Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands.” Job 14:15.

Yes, back into life and light in physical form the blessed dead are soon coming.

Some have slept in Jesus, O so long! Some for centuries, some even for millenniums, have reposed in the cold, still dust, but they shall live again. He who brings them back from death has said, “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” Isa. 26:19.

What glorious meetings and visits there will be, when the mossy old graves yield up the beloved ones who now dwell in them! Will it not be surpassingly sweet actually to know that the resurrection of the righteous dead is accomplished? Just think what it will mean to know that those we loved, but who died and were buried long ago, have in very deed returned from the grave, and are living with us again. It was Jesus who said, They shall rise again.

To them then we can and doubtless will say, That blessed hope of the Lord’s glorious appearing and the resurrection which cheered our hearts in days gone by has met its fruition, and you have truly come back into life again (Titus 2:13). I dreamed of you after you had gone, often dreamed of meeting you again, dreamed that your death was not forever, and surely it was not! O, it is you! Your voice I know, your eyes I see, your hands I clasp. I know, O I know it is your own blessed self (1 Cor. 13:12)! We shall never know sorrow nor shall we taste death any more; for the Lord has now made us to live forever. And here we are in this dear young day, which has no setting sun, nor dark night, to follow (Gen. 21:23–25). And we do now joyfully sing, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Cor. 15:55–57. So we will henceforth forever give all praise to the Source of our redemption, for our God and Saviour through their matchless love hath done all this for us!

Chicago, Ill.

Why We Oppose Religious Legislation

By CHAS. P. WHITFORD

CHAS. P. WHITFORD

Civil government was ordained of God to protect men in the enjoyment of their rights. Freedom of conscience in religious matters is one of these rights. Religious legislation deprives individuals of this God-given right. All true religious service must spring from the heart and be performed in love; but when religion becomes an affair of law, it ceases to be a service of love. Religion is a matter of faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please him.” “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” No amount of religious legislation can make men believe God.

“God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” No amount of religious legislation can make men worship God in spirit and in truth. Where enactments concerning matters pertaining to our duty to God begin, there moral suasion ends. The darkest pages of history record the results of the invasion of the

civil power into the realm of conscience.

“Religious legislation may make men act religious; but if they can not say, as did the apostle Paul, ‘And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us,’ their religion is vain. To compel a man to pray is to make him act the part of a hypocrite, and a hypocrite in God’s sight is worse than an open sinner. We enter our most emphatic protest against civil government engaging in a work that will make hypocrites. To compel a man to observe a day for the Sabbath which he does not believe is the Sabbath, is to compel him to commit sin; for the Bible says, ‘Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.’”

“Civil government has the same right to compel men to be baptized or to partake of the Lord’s supper that it has to compel them to keep the Sabbath. To compel men to conform to any religious rite or ceremony in which they have no faith is to outrage the conscience. ‘If all mankind, minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing the world.’”—John Stuart Mill.

N. W. VINCENT

By N. W. Vincent

Eternity

N. W. VINCENT

O VAST eternity! How little understood! Duration’s deep, unbounded sea,— The lifetime of our God! Year after year will bring Their seasons one by one, A thousand thousand fleeting years,— The scene is just begun!

The centuries will roll Their stately numbers on, A million million centuries,— Eternity’s fresh dawn! Millenniums will come With solemn jubilee, Their vigintillion cycles run,— Morn of eternity!

Fixed periods like these All steadily will pass, As many as earth’s forest leaves And tiny blades of grass! This number, past our thoughts, Might now be multiplied By what would tell the countless drops If all the sea were dried;

Then by such number high Whose figures would o’erspread As well the orbs beyond the sky As this on which we tread! This number, so immense, Now multiply once more By what the seconds represent In cycles named before.

Eternity sublime,— Like space not understood,— Yet save this present evil time, All gladsome, bright, and good! Six thousand years of grief, Nay, seventy years of woe; The world’s probation is but brief! How short man’s life below!

Suspended on this time, Improve its minutes well! Is immortality sublime, Or “second death” in hell. O mortals, see by this The work on Calvary wrought; Eternity of love and bliss By Jesus’ blood was bought!

He calls, “Come unto me!” God longs to save and bless; Obey, and to eternity Shine in Christ’s righteousness! Eternity’s at stake,— Shall all be lost by sin? O come to Christ, come now, awake! Eternal glory win!

Caney, Kan.

GEO. B. THOMPSON

By George B. Thompson

“Hard Nuts for Seventh Dayists”—No. 3

GEO. B. THOMPSON

“14. If Christians are to keep the Sabbath day, how do you account for the fact that the apostles preached the gospel in Jerusalem, Samaria, to Cornelius the Gentile, and to many others, without commanding a single individual to keep it? Did they, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, fail properly to instruct their converts? Acts 2:1-47; 8:1-40; 10:1-48; 16:1-40.”

How will any one prove that “not a single individual” was commanded to keep the Sabbath by the apostles? Where do the Scriptures of truth so state? We find Paul speaking to both Jews and Gentiles in the synagogue on the Sabbath at Antioch, in Pisidia (Acts 13:42-44), by the riverside at Philippi (Chap. 16:12, 13), in the synagogue at Thessalonica (Chap. 17:1-3), and at Corinth (Chap. 18:1-11). Paul kept the Sabbath, and not in a single instance do we find him observing the first day of the week as the Sabbath. We ask for proof that their converts were not taught to keep the Sabbath. Then we would like to have chapter and verse where the converts of the apostles were taught to observe the first day of the week. Where is the proof of this? Give us one instance recorded in the Bible where it is commanded to keep Sunday, or one example where the first day was ever observed, as a day of rest. When this is done, we will gladly observe the day.

“15. Is it not a fact, according to the book of Acts, that the thing done was of more importance than the day? Acts 20:7.”

The writer does not know. This would depend on the day, upon who did the act, and what the act itself was. We are utterly incapable of determining the value of any act, or the worth of God’s holy time. Only God, who knows all things, and who can weigh things in the light of eternity, can determine this.

Are we to conclude from this question that the writer of “Hard Nuts” does not attach much importance to the Sabbath? We so understand it, else there is no sense in the question. Such a conclusion would be a logical one for those who keep a day as the Sabbath without any divine command to do so. A sabbath unauthorized by the Lord, one which he has never blessed nor made holy, is not of much value; but the Sabbath which the Son of God himself made (compare Mark 2:27, 28; John 1:1-3) and gave to man is of infinite value, and in keeping it there is great reward. Patriarchs, priests, and prophets of God have kept it, Jesus and his disciples kept it, and it will be observed in the new earth through all eternity. Isa. 66:22, 23.

“16. Can you demonstrate that the day you keep is really the seventh day, or Sabbath, coming down in regular succession from the day on which God rested? If not, your day is no better than any other day. Admitting, for argument’s sake, that the law of Moses is still in force, and that the fourth commandment is binding on the whole human race, will you affirm that it is possible for all men to keep the same day? If so, how do you explain the fact that the traveler who starts out to go around the earth, gains, say, if going east, one hour for every thousand miles traveled, or if going west loses an hour for every thousand miles traveled? How far would he go before he lost the count? Do you not see that he would inevitably be behind or in advance? Further, how do you explain the fact that far away toward the extremes of the earth, traveling from the equator, there are periods of six months night and six months day from age to age? Do you not see that it is a geographical impossibility for all men to keep the same day, and that the law was intended only for one people, one country, and one age?”

But what about Sunday? Can it be demonstrated that Sunday is the first day of the week? If not, to use the language just quoted, that day is no better than any other day. If First-day observers can find Sunday, observers of the seventh day can find the seventh day. This “nut” is the old argument that because the world is round, you can not keep the Sabbath.

Did not the Lord know about the rotundity of the earth when he made the Sabbath? “The Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27, 28),—not the Jew man, but man, all men,—and man was made to dwell on all the face of the earth. Acts 17:26. Then, did God make a Sabbath that could not be found, or kept when found? Let us not charge the all-wise God with such folly. There is no more trouble in keeping or in finding the seventh day when traveling east or west than in keeping or finding the first day. Observers of both days are continually circumnavigating the globe, and not one, so far as we have heard, has ever had the least difficulty either in finding the day or in keeping it in any part of the world. Not long ago I went to Australia. When we crossed the day line in the Pacific Ocean, we dropped a day. This day happened to be Sunday. I kept the Sabbath, while my fellow travelers lost Sunday according to the reckoning of the ship. When we reached Australia, we found that we had the right day. Returning, we had two Tuesdays; but when we reached the United States, we all had the same day. How about gaining a day or losing a day? Take twins, and send one around the world east, and the other west. According to the author of “Hard Nuts,” one would lose a day, the other gain a day, and on meeting each other again there would be two days difference in their ages! How about this? Will the questioner solve this problem in harmony with the position taken in the article under consideration?

The gaining or losing of a day, as every traveler knows, is not actual. You have all the time there is, no more, no less. You add to or drop a certain amount of time, to keep time with God’s great clock, the sun. And when you have traveled around the world, if you have already had your day, it is dropped; if you have not, it is added; so when the journey is finished around the world, you have neither gained nor lost a minute. It is not therefore a “geographical impossibility” to keep the same day on a round world. The author of “Hard Nuts” believes we should keep Sunday, a definite day. But the globe is not flat on Sunday. Wherever we are, we keep the day when it comes to us. The same is true in the polar regions. In those regions there is no trouble in determining the beginning and ending of the day. Peary knew the exact day when he reached the north pole. But how could he if one can not find a definite day in the polar regions?

We are told that the “law was intended for only one people, one country, and one age.” Then was the law forbidding stealing for only one people? Did this not apply to the Gentile nations? What about the second, the third, the fifth, the seventh, and the other commandments? Were these intended for only one people, and one age? We are admonished by the author of “Hard Nuts” not to dodge. Very well, without quibbling tell us about this. Are we to conclude that he believes that in this age these precepts against these terrible sins are not binding? Nothing could dishonor God more than so to teach. This is a terrible position to be forced to take in order to avoid obedience to one of the precepts of Jehovah.

“17. Do you keep the Sabbath day? No dodging; do you? Do you rest, or put in the day promulgating your doctrines?

Do you not eat food on that day prepared by work on a fire kindled in violation of the law? Ex. 20:8-11; 35:1-3. Do you offer the burnt-offerings required by the law? Num. 27:3-10. Do you remain in your house during the day? Ex. 16:29. If you do not keep the day according to the law, you do not keep it at all. If you admit that any part of the law concerning the Sabbath is done away, you are driven to the inevitable and irresistible conclusion that it is all done away. If you deny that any part of it is done away, you condemn yourself, for you do not keep it. Which way will you take?”

The questions propounded in the above have been answered in replying to other questions. The law requiring burnt-offerings was ceremonial; it was no part of the moral code, and was nailed to the cross. In Isa. 58:13, 14, we are told how to keep the Sabbath, and the reward which comes for so doing: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

This the natural man can not do; but the Christian in whose heart a risen Saviour dwells can keep the Sabbath as God commands, and in doing so there is promised a great reward.

It is on such negative reasoning as the foregoing that the advocates of Sunday sacredness endeavor to set aside the Sabbath of the Lord, and to establish in its stead the claims of the first day of the week as a day of rest. To all such the Lord declares, “Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.” Eze. 13:11.

Having Scripturally disposed of these seventeen so-called “hard nuts,” I wish to hand to the author of these questions and to the journals which by publishing them without comment thereby endorse them, an equal number, upon which I confidently affirm they can hammer indefinitely:—

1. One text that says the first day of the week is the Sabbath.

2. One text that commands Christians to keep this day as a day of rest and worship.

3. One text that says it is a sin to labor on this day.

4. One text that says Jesus ever kept this day as the Sabbath, or enjoined any one else to do so.

5. One text that shows he ever mentioned the day when on earth.

6. One text that says any of his followers while he was in the world kept the first day as a day of rest.

7. One text that affirms that any of the apostles ever kept the day.

8. One text from any of their writings which authorizes its observance.

9. One text that gives any instruction as to how the first day of the week should be observed as a day of rest.

10. One text that applies to Sunday any sacred title whatever, or pronounces any penalty for its desecration.

11. One text that commands us to refrain from labor on Sunday, or promises any reward for its observance.

12. One text that says the seventh day is not now God’s holy rest day.

13. One text that states when, where, and by whom the seventh-day Sabbath was abolished.

14. One text that says the seventh day was the Sabbath for the Jews only.

15. One text that calls the seventh-day Sabbath the “Jewish Sabbath.”

16. One text that says the seventh day is not as holy and honorable to-day as when made at creation, or when the precept for its observance was written by the finger of God on stone at Sinai.

17. One text that tells us that the fourth commandment or any part of the moral law written by Jehovah on stone, has been abrogated, and hence is not binding.

Washington, D. C.

ROALAND LOASBY

By Roaland Loasby

Purgatory

ROALAND LOASBY

“EVERYBODY knows that Catholics believe in purgatory, yet few outside of the church seem to have a clear notion of what we mean by it. Many apparently think that we believe that all Catholics are saved, but that they all, except perhaps the priests, have to go to purgatory, out of which the priest will get them by his prayers, or by ceremonies of some sort, if he is only paid enough money for doing so. . . .

“The principal practical difference between us and you is that we are more strict as to what constitutes mortal or grievous sin. . . . For there are sins which are not grievous nor mortal. Such sins we call venial. . . . Now it is on account of these venial sins that we believe most of those who are saved do not enter heaven immediately. . . .

“Purgatory means a state of purification or purging from sin by suffering; it is, then, entirely reasonable that the soul not as yet thoroughly purified in this world should be in purgatory for a time, till this purification is accomplished.”—“Plain Facts for Fair Minds,” pages 111-115; by George M. Searle, Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle, Professor of Catholic University of America.

This view of purgatory is contrary to Scriptural teaching. The Scriptures tell us: “The grave can not praise Thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit can not hope for thy truth.” Isa. 38:18. The patriarch Job declares: “So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.” Job 14:12. The psalmist says: “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Ps. 146: 3, 4. “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Eccl. 9: 5, 6.

The foregoing scriptures plainly teach us what is the condition of the dead; and certainly any reasonable man will prefer Inspiration’s testimony, which is so conclusive, rather than Catholic teaching, which is so erroneous.

Naturally, we should expect the exponents of purgatory, since they are so emphatic concerning its existence, to tell us something as to its whereabouts. But ask them for evidence that there is a purgatory, and the following is the answer: “To this I would answer that we make it a matter of faith.”—“Plain Facts for Fair Minds,” page 127.

But lest I be thought in any way unfair in stating their position, I shall quote what they designate as their “explicit teaching” concerning the explanation of the doctrine of purgatory, as found in “Plain Facts for Fair Minds,” page 129:—

“But we have quite an explicit teaching or explanation of the doctrines of purgatory in the writings of St. Paul in the New Testament. It is very hard to conceive any other meaning for the passage. It is found in the first epistle of the apostle to the Corinthians (3: 11-15), and is as follows: ‘For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now, if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be manifest; for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss; yet he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.’”

The foregoing is the “explicit teaching” regarding this doctrine. When is the day of the Lord, which is to try men’s works by fire? The prophet answers: “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. . . . I will make a man more precious

than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore will I shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” Isa. 13: 6-13.

There can be no mistaking this language. It is “the day of the Lord” that is referred to. It comes not as salvation, but as “destruction.” The world will be punished for evil, and the wicked for iniquity.

Let us hear Peter’s testimony: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10.

This leaves no room for a purgatory with the world still on its usual routine. No, it is at the end of the world that men receive reward for their works. Verily it is a day when foundations will be tried. The sure foundation is Christ; no other shall any man lay, not even that of Peter, and be secure.

“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” Rev. 1:7. “As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24: 27. He “shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him.” Matt. 25: 31.

Nowhere in history has such a glorious event been recorded; but it is in the near future. “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly.”

Bermuda.

The Gospel of Love

By H. E. Sawyer-Hopkins

H. E. SAWYER-HOPKINS

“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.” “Walk in love.” “Ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.” “See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.” “All are to be treated with refinement and delicacy, as the sons and daughters of God.”

Shall we have our favorites, manifesting our sympathy and love toward some particular persons whom we fancy, and not toward others? What matter if we do see things that do not meet our ideas? We all have some defect. Sometimes we are brought in contact with disagreeable people to try us, to see if we regard God’s words. We must remember that there is nothing placed between the lids of the Bible that is not to be heeded; there is nothing to be passed by indifferently. We read that Jesus was no respecter of persons. “If ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin.” Are not the apostle John’s exhortations to love needed to-day more than ever, when the trials of life are harder to bear?

How much happiness might be brought into the lives of our fellow beings if all cold formality were rooted out, and the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. Let us give way to one another, and put away our determination to have our way. Let love reign in the home. Paul says that in the last days many will be “without natural affection.” Not that we are to make an ado over our fellow creatures, but we should show an interest where it belongs. By a kindly greeting manifest sociability; perform deeds of love in the home and out of it,—these attentions cost nothing. Let us show a true, Christian spirit. “And the Lord make you increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.” 1 Thess. 3:12.

I believe the time is not far distant when this gospel of love will be revived in the hearts of God’s people. But shall we be compelled to wait until persecution comes?

Long Beach, Cal.

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