Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 5. (1/27/1916)

Review and Herald

Jan 27, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 27, 1916

Threatening the Freedom of the Press

THE introduction into the Sixty-fourth Congress of a bill looking toward the restricting of the freedom of the press has called forth several striking comments from religious journals. The Word and Way of Dec. 30, 1915, refers to this bill as follows:—

On the first day of the Sixty-fourth Congress there was a renewed attack upon the free press of our country. The bill presented in the House by Representative Isaac Siegel of New York was not a surprise. Ever since the close of the preceding Congress, Catholic papers and speakers have been giving notice that a bill restricting the freedom of the press would be introduced at the present Congress. The bill provides that “whenever a complaint in writing shall be filed with the Postmaster-General that any publication making use of, or being sent through, the mails contains any article therein which tends to expose any race, creed, or religion to either hatred, contempt, ridicule, or obloquy, he shall forthwith cause an investigation to be made under his direction, and shall within twenty days after receipt of such complaint, if the facts contained therein are true, make an order forbidding further use of the mails ‘to any such publication.’”

It will be observed that this measure is comprehensive, covering “any publication.” This embraces books, papers, tracts, pamphlets, printed circulars, etc.

To Roman Catholics there is only one meaning to the words “hatred, contempt, ridicule, and obloquy,” as applied to cases of this kind. Anything said or printed that is out of harmony with the teachings of the Roman Catholic hierarchy or its dogmas will be interpreted as a violation of the law. A law of such character as that proposed by Mr. Siegel would keep a large proportion of Protestant literature from the privilege of mails, and it would impose upon the Postmaster-General a tremendous burden and responsibility. We fondly hope that this plot carried on in Congress to abridge the freedom of the press will be exposed and defeated.

A similar reference is made by the editor of the Western Recorder in his paper for January 13. Quoting the bill, this editor says:—

It will be readily seen that this is one of the most drastic and far-reaching bills that have ever been introduced in Congress. Purposely, we presume, the author of this proposed legislation uses the words, “any publication,” so that it will include books, periodicals, and all printed matter going through the mails.

Were it not for the subtle, sometimes pernicious, and always persevering activities of some semireligious propagandists, we should be disposed to treat lightly this tantalizing attempt to rob us of our Constitutional rights.

Speaking of the protection already afforded by existing laws against slanderous attacks, the editor says:—

It would be well for the backers of this bill to bear in mind that there are laws against libel in every State of the Union, and these laws offer ample reparation to all who have been wronged in this regard. It is not likely that our Postmaster-General will be made judge and jury in such matters. To give to one man the right to forbid the use of the mails to any publisher or publication, is too preposterous to merit serious consideration. Should such a law be passed and a Roman Catholic appointed Postmaster-General, the result may be easily foreseen.

Free speech and a free press have gone far to make America what it is; and suppression of free speech and a free press have made some other countries what they are.

We earnestly hope that this bill will meet with the same fate as its predecessor in the Sixty-third Congress. It shows, however, the spirit which is behind some of the attempted legislation at the present time, and the extent to which the abettors of the bill would go if they had the power of suppressing everything out of harmony with their religious convictions. These, and similar outcroppings of the spirit which is now at work in the religious world, should admonish us to be vigilant in improving present opportunities of making our fellows acquainted with the principles underlying these movements.

Note and Comment

Bibles and the Contending Nations

The following interesting note we clip from the United Presbyterian of January 6:—

The British Bible Society, as well as the American Bible Society, has been exerting itself to the utmost to distribute the Scriptures among the forces in the field in the great war. What a multiplicity of tongues is engaged in the struggle! Leaving out the great nations whose names readily occur to every one, there are Flemish, Bohemian, Serbian, Polish, Esthonian (West Russia), Lithuanian, Ruthenian, Lettish, Turkish, Armenian, Arabic, Dutch (in South Africa), Japanese. Hebrew, Tunisian Arabic, Fijian, Mogrevi (Morocco), Persian, Pashto (for Pathans), Urdu, Nepauli, Punjabi, Slovenian, Slovak, Finnish, and Maori. In forty-odd languages the Bible Society had the Scriptures ready when war broke out; sometimes in portions, sometimes the whole Bible, in other cases the New Testament only. The plates were ready to print off editions of any size. The society's agents have been distributing copies of the Word of God as though no war existed. The governments of all the belligerents have allowed the society to ship their Bibles to and fro.

Chinese Newspapers Proclaiming the Gospel

In a recent issue of the Christian Endeavor World Paul Patton Faris tells of the manner in which the newspapers of China are opening their columns to the promulgation of the gospel. During six months of 1915 one hundred articles were sent to the Chinese press by the Press Department of the Reform Bureau which has been fighting against opium and other evils. A large percentage of these were gratefully received. Mr. Faris declares that “in China the editors are willing to go farther than publishers in this country. Even sermons will be printed if they are sent in with the time and place of delivery and the preacher’s name, being in newspaper style and not too long.”

He says that numerous editors have accepted distinctively Christian articles as, “Why Believe in Christ,” “God and the War,” “The Bible and Its Relationship to Heaven,” “Hints on Bible Study,” etc. He feels that a new and unparalleled opportunity is open to the Christian church in this great empire, and declares that “Christianity has in China today a power over the secular press greater than in America. The editors of Chinese papers realize that their readers long to know the truth regarding the strange religion which they have heard spoken of as ‘the Jesus doctrine.’” Mr. Faris believes that “there is a call from China for young American men and women who have aspirations for journalism, to serve Christ in China as missionaries.”

Joseph Rucker Lamar Dies

JOSEPH RUCKER LAMAR, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, died on January 2 in his home at Washington, D. C., after five years' service on the bench. He was born Oct. 14, 1857, at Ruckersville, Ga.

EDITORIALS

By G. B. T.

Come Just as We Are

How encouraging the invitation of God to a sinner lost and undone, to come to him just as he is, sinful, weak, and ruined by the fall! All can freely come.

“Just as I am, without one plea But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bid'st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”

Here is where many fail. The known depravity of the natural heart seems to hinder their claiming by faith the promise of the Lord. He bids me come, I know, but I am so unclean; I have made so many mistakes. My good resolutions have been like ropes of sand. When I would do good, evil is present with me; the things that I would I do not, and the things I would not I do. The enemy seems to whisper, God will not accept one so sinful as you are; if you were not so wicked and unfaithful, you could come to him, but he will not accept you as you are. He suggests that you must make yourself better before God will accept you. Before asking the Lord to forgive your sins and strengthen you against temptation, you feel that you must be good for a while, and when you are better than you now are, you will ask him to forgive, and he will accept you in the Beloved.

All this is the suggestion of the enemy. You can never make yourself better than you are. Of yourself you can never do good. None are good, no not one.

An artist wanted a man for a model who would represent the prodigal. One day he met a wretched beggar, and he thought: “That man would represent the prodigal.” He found the beggar ready to sit for his painting if he would pay him. The man appeared on the day appointed, but the artist did not recognize him. He said: “You made an appointment with me.” “No,” responded the artist, “I never saw you before.” “You are mistaken; you did see me, and made an appointment with me.” “No; it must have been some other artist. I have an appointment to meet a beggar here at this hour.” “Well,” said the beggar, “I am the man.” “You the man?” “Yes.” “What have you been doing?” “Well, I thought I would get a new suit of clothes before I got painted.” “Oh,” replied the artist; “I don't want you!”

The Lord does not want us to attempt to dress up. In fact, we have nothing to put on. The best we have is but filthy rags. But Jesus came to seek and to save sinners. He came to save the ungodly. None are too wicked to be saved if they will but come to him. He ever lives to make intercession, and can save to the uttermost. We are not to try to make ourselves more acceptable to God, but come in our sins, come with all our broken vows and lost opportunities. We are to come with the burdens which are crushing our hearts, and ask that they be taken away; ask that the robe of righteousness, woven in heaven's loom, be placed upon us, and our nakedness hidden away. It is the glory of the God whom we worship to forgive all our sins, and encircle us in the arms of his love. In Christ he has already accepted us. He is only waiting for us to accept him by faith, and rejoice in the forgiveness of every sin.

“Come, all ye souls by sin oppressed, Ye restless wanderers after rest; Ye poor, and maimed, and halt, and blind, In Christ a hearty welcome find.”

“See him set forth before your eyes, That precious, bleeding Sacrifice! His offered benefits embrace, And freely now be saved by grace.”

G. B. T.

The Advent Movement of Revelation 14

By William Ambrose Spicer

WHILE the work of the judgment hour—the cleansing of the sanctuary—is proceeding in the heavenly temple above, the Lord sends to the world a special message of preparation for the coming of the Lord.

It would not be the divine way to let the hour of this solemn judgment in heaven come unheralded to men. Daniel’s prophecy had fixed the time of its beginning; and the question asked in the prophet’s hearing, “How long shall be the vision . . . to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?” suggested that when the time came the truths of God that had been trodden underfoot through the ages should be lifted up and proclaimed anew to all the world.

With the coming of the judgment hour, in the year 1844, there arose just such a work, a definite gospel movement, that is carrying the message for the hour to the ends of the earth.

The Way Prepared for the Rise of the Movement

But there was a preliminary work to be done, to prepare the way for the definite advent movement and message.

In the days of Israel of old, as the time for the cleansing of the sanctuary drew near, the people were forewarned of the approach of the solemn hour. The day of atonement—“the tenth day of the seventh month”—was a typical hour of judgment. All the people were to prepare their hearts for that great day.

To this end, the Lord appointed the first day of the seventh month a day of sounding of the trumpets. Lev. 23:24. The silver trumpets, pealing forth on that day, proclaimed to all that the day of atonement was near at hand, when every case would be brought in review before the mercy seat by the ministry of the high priest in the most holy place.

True to the type, as the year 1844 drew near, when the great antitypical day of atonement was to open and the closing work of Christ to begin in the most holy of the heavenly temple, the trumpet call of the approaching judgment hour was set pealing through all Christendom.

Events of the closing years of the eighteenth century and the early decades of the nineteenth, had stirred up Bible students to give greater attention to the study of the prophetic scriptures. It was seen that signs of the latter days were appearing, and that every line of historic prophecy pointed to the near approach of Christ’s second coming.

Here and there students of the Word saw that the 2300-year period of Dan. 8:14—as explained in the ninth chapter—would soon end; and some arrived at the correct date, and looked to the year 1844 as the time when the judgment hour would come.

Witnesses were raised up in Europe—in Holland, Germany, Russia, and the Scandinavian countries. Joseph Wolff, the missionary to the Levant, preached

the coming of the judgment hour in Greece, Palestine, Turkey, Afghanistan, and other regions. William Miller and many associates preached the message throughout America.

Writing in the days just before 1844, Mourant Brock, a clergyman of the Church of England, said:—

“It is not merely in Great Britain that the expectation of the near return of the Redeemer is entertained, and the voice of warning raised, but also in America, India, and on the continent of Europe. In America, about three hundred ministers of the word are thus preaching ‘this gospel of the kingdom;’ whilst in this country, about seven hundred of the Church of England are raising the same cry.—Advent Tracts, Vol. II, p. 135 (1844).”

Not all who joined in the awakening cry at this time explained the prophecies alike, or emphasized the definite year 1844 as the hour of God’s judgment; though in America, Europe, and Asia the clear message of the ending of the prophetic time in 1844 was proclaimed with power by many voices. And as the time came, the world was ringing with the call to prepare to meet the judgment hour, even as the hosts of Israel were called by trumpet peals to prepare for the typical day of atonement.

The nature of the event to come at the end of the 2300 years was not understood by these early heralds of the advent hope. The general expectation was that the judgment hour meant the end of the world and the coming of the Lord. Though the word of prophecy indicated clearly that there was a special work to be done on earth while the judgment hour was proceeding in heaven, this was not clear to Bible students at the time. So when the prophetic period ended and the Lord did not come, believers in the prophetic truths were disappointed and unbelievers scoffed. But the call to prepare for the judgment hour was the message due to the world at that time, and the awakening cry was raised on every continent.

In the days of the Saviour’s first advent, the disciples and the populace had proclaimed the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. They were at once disappointed; instead of enthroning him as king, they witnessed his crucifixion. But in proclaiming the coming of Zion’s King to Jerusalem, they were fulfilling the prophecy that had been uttered, and were giving the message for that day, notwithstanding their mistaken view as to the events that would follow.

Just so the trumpet call of the coming judgment hour was the message for the days of 1844; and the message was given, attended by the power of God. When the hour was at hand, the providence of God raised up faithful witnesses.

When the Hour of God’s Judgment Came

All this was preparatory to the rise of the definite advent movement of the prophecy, when the hour of God’s judgment should begin.

In vision, on the Isle of Patmos, the prophet John was given a view of the closing work of the gospel on earth, while the closing ministry of Christ was proceeding in heaven above. The prophet wrote:—

“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.” Rev. 14:6, 7.

The message further warned against following the ways of the great apostasy; and in the vision the prophet was shown a people taking their stand in all lands at the call of the message. The angel described them in these words:—

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Verse 12.

Much as pictures appear to us when thrown in succession upon a screen, these scenes must have passed before the vision of the prophet. He saw the coming of the hour,—in the year 1844,—the rise of the movement, its extension into all lands; he heard the message sounding, and saw the kind of people doing the work—a people keeping “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

Centuries had passed, after this word was written in the Book, when the flight of time at last brought the hour of the prophecy—the year 1844. That very year witnessed the rise of the definite advent movement which is proclaiming the very message of the prophecy to the world today.

It was in the year 1844, in New England, that a little group of believers in the blessed hope of Christ’s soon coming, saw clearly, from their study of the Bible, that the New Testament platform of “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” emphasized in this prophecy of the judgment hour, meant the keeping of the fourth commandment as well as the other nine. Thereupon they began to keep and to teach the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day of the week, made holy and blessed and commanded by God.

One member of this first group of commandment-keeping Adventists was Elder Frederick Wheeler, from whose dictation the following statement was prepared, fixing exactly the facts as to the time:—

As a Methodist minister he was convinced of the advent truth by reading William Miller’s works in 1842, and joined in preaching the first message [that of the judgment hour]. In March, 1844, he began to keep the true Sabbath, in Washington, N. H.—Review and Herald (Washington, D. C.), Oct. 4, 1906.

They were but a little band, those believers in New Hampshire, but the time of the prophecy had come, and with the coming of the hour—in 1844—there was the nucleus of the movement forming, believers in the near coming of the Lord, preaching the message of the prophecy, “The hour of his judgment is come,” and keeping “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

From that small beginning has grown the movement that Seventh-day Adventists stand for, spreading through all the world today.

It was in the year following 1844 that Joseph Bates, of Massachusetts, a retired sea captain, and a preacher of the advent hope, began to keep the Sabbath. Captain Bates wrote and published, and soon others followed. As the scripture teaching concerning the sanctuary was studied, light came flooding in. It was seen that the great prophetic period of Daniel 8, which ended in 1844, marked the opening of Christ’s ministry in the most holy of the heavenly sanctuary, the work of the judgment hour in heaven; and there, plainly revealed in Revelation 14, was a special gospel message to be carried to all the world while the judgment hour still continued.

The little company that began to keep the commandments of God as Adventist believers in 1844, did not understand that they were beginning the definite movement foretold by the prophecy. They only determined to turn from traditions that had made void God’s law, and to obey the law of the Most High, whose servants they were.

But in the light of the Scripture prophecy and of events, we can see clearly the hand of God leading that little band into the right pathway for the advent people when the time of 1844 came; and the work there begun has grown into the world-wide movement of today.

Nearly two thousand years before, it had been written in the “sure word of prophecy” that when the hour of God’s judgment came, a people keeping God’s commandments would arise and spread forth into all the world with the last gospel message. The long prophetic period of Daniel 8 had fixed the year 1844 as the time when the judgment hour would begin and when the people of the prophecy must appear.

When the year came, that people appeared, keeping “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” When the hour struck, the work began. This advent movement was born of God in fulfilment

of prophecy. And the mission of the movement is to lift up again the standard of truths obscured by tradition and trodden underfoot, and to call all men to the New Testament platform of the “commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” where every believing soul may find safe refuge in these closing moments of the judgment hour in the courts above. W. A. S.

Science and the Bible

By George B. Thompson

It is remarkable how often those who have exalted science and many of its deductions and speculations at the expense of the Bible, have been confused by the overturning of their conclusions by some later developments along scientific lines.

About the time that some historical inaccuracy is supposed to have been discovered in the Scriptures of Truth, the spade of the explorer unearths some tablet which confirms the integrity of the sacred narrative.

One of the things which unbelievers of the Bible have ridiculed is the flood, and the building of the ark in the Euphrates valley. They have declared that the ark was an “old tub,” and the whole story a myth. On this point the Los Angeles Times of Nov. 15, 1915, in an editorial says:—

Unbelievers were not lacking to declare that the old ark was a tub and the whole story ridiculous, but when the real critics went to work to dismantle the legendary vessel rib by rib, they encountered a miracle.

There is something about this experience that appeals especially to Californians, as it has to do with our famous battleship “Oregon,” and the part it played in the destruction of Cervera’s fleet. The “Oregon” was built in the docks of the Union Iron Works at San Francisco, under the direction of George W. Dickie, noted scientist and marine engineer. Mr. Dickie is a Scotchman by birth, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, ex-president of the California Academy of Sciences, and a talented Biblical student. His story of the similarity between the ark and the “Oregon” is substantially as follows:—

“At the time when the plans for the ‘Oregon’ were under discussion, Mr. Dickie’s attention was called to an article ridiculing the idea that Noah and his sons could have built a vessel in the Euphrates valley that would be seaworthy. He took the book of Genesis, and proceeded to reduce the Biblical cubits to feet and inches, in order to determine what the general design of the ark was like. To his surprise he discovered that each of the nine dimensions given in the Bible for the construction of the ark corresponded, with but one minor difference, exactly to those proposed for the ‘Oregon.’ The only difference was that the ‘Oregon’ was just one-seventh smaller in each dimension than the ark. Struck by this remarkable coincidence, he took the question up the next day with the United States Navy Department, with the result that the plans finally adopted were a duplicate of those for the ark, except that one of the dimensions were still one seventh less. The remarkable speed maintained by the ‘Oregon’ on its trip around the Horn to join Sampson’s fleet is now a chapter of history. The proportionate dimensions of the ‘Oregon’ have been maintained by our navy in building larger vessels.”

It had never rained before the flood. Noah had never seen a boat. To claim that he built such a large ship, on such scientific proportions, under all these circumstances, without any divine guidance, as some of the infidel critics seem to claim, makes his work much more miraculous and incomprehensible than to accept the simple Bible account of the flood, and the provision made to save those who would believe. Better to believe the Word that says, “God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood,” etc. Gen. 6:13, 14.

The Old Book stands. Its critics have done their best through the ages to consign it to oblivion, but it is being multiplied more and more each year. It lives forevermore, while its critics lie down in obscure and forgotten graves. The record of Moses regarding creation, the flood, the exodus, and all the history of men and nations recorded by other men found in the Bible, are of God. To believe these things is both reasonable and scientific, and brings life and hope to the soul.

G. B. T.

Faith Healing

By L. L. C.

No Christian with an experience of prayer can fail to believe in prayers for the sick. Any one who has learned to have confidence in the power of prayer would hardly fail of employing it when his loved ones lie sick or he is himself ill. The only difference of opinion possible among believers in prayer is as to whether after prayer has been offered to God for relief from sickness, it is then consistent to have recourse to physical means of cure.

The passage which is generally used by those who argue that such a course is inconsistent with faith in God's promise to heal, is this:—

“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.” James 5:14, 15.

It is a misunderstanding of the text to read into these instructions of James the idea that after prayer by the elders, physical means of cure must be abandoned. We quote a portion of an article in the Continent, Oct. 28, 1915, where this is well illustrated:—

James might very well have thought that anybody who knew the Lord's prayer would be safe from this misunderstanding.

Even in the time of James, Christians were saying every day in their devotions, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Did they then, when they had so prayed, settle down comfortably in their homes and say to one another, ‘Now, we have told God we would trust him for our daily bread, and it would show we had no faith in his answer if we went out and sought for wages by which to earn our food’?

Well, the queer fact is that some did talk that way. Up in Thessalonica, where Paul brought the gospel, there must have been a considerable element in the church arguing that a Christian must not work for his living—he must just have faith. And how vexed Paul got over this absurdity!

In his first epistle to the Thessalonians he is gentle, though firm: ‘We beseech you, brethren, . . . that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands.’

But the folly didn’t end, and when he wrote again, he thundered: If any will not work, neither let him eat.

That settled that question. Ever since then the church has understood that when a man has prayed for his daily bread, the way he proves he believes God will give it to him is by getting busy.

Perhaps if James also had written a second epistle he would have repudiated the lazy interpretation of prayer in sickness as vehemently as Paul repudiated the lazy interpretation of prayer in health.

At all events, the logic that fits one fits the other also. If there is no inconsistency in praying for food and raiment and then going out to hunt for a job, there is no inconsistency in praying to be restored from illness and then sending for a doctor.

Indeed, the matter needs to be put stronger than this mere negative statement of ‘no inconsistency.’ Paul made it actual, active sin for a man to refuse or even neglect to work after he had asked God to provide him a livelihood.

In just the same way it is really a sin—though, of course, almost always a sin of ignorance—for a person to ask God to make him or his loved ones well, and then refuse to do what is available for cure.

One asks God to cure his illness. Then the next thing is to inquire what God has provided for the cure of that illness.

And if a man will not make use of means already prepared, by what right does he expect God to furnish him other assistance?

What are the natural means which God has provided, and which he expects us to use? In the providence of God early instruction was given to this denomination on the point:—

Those who treat the sick should move forward in their important work with strong reliance upon God for his blessing to attend the means which he has graciously provided, and to which he has in mercy called our attention as a people, such as pure air, cleanliness, healthful diet, proper periods of labor and repose, and the use of water.—“Testimonies for the Church, Vol. I, p. 561.”

Many have never learned by experience the beneficial effects of the proper use of water, and they are afraid of it.

Water treatments are not appreciated as they should be, and to apply them skilfully requires work that many are unwilling to perform. But none should feel excused for ignorance or indifference on this subject. There are many ways in which water can be applied to relieve pain and check disease. All should become intelligent in its use in simple home treatments.—“Ministry of Healing, page 237.”

It seems to us that the form of “faith healing” which refuses the use of the human means which God has provided for the cure of sickness, and then expects God to work a miracle, is really presumption.

L. L. C.

Denominational Loyalty Versus Religious Liberty

By F. M. W.

Has a denomination a right to require that in its schools and colleges for the education of its youth the Scriptures shall be taught in harmony with the generally accepted views of the denomination? and does this requirement abridge the religious liberty of the teachers employed in the school?

This is a question which the editor of the Word and Way, in that paper for September 16, discusses at some length. He quotes the statement from the editor of the Christian Work to the effect that “the Bible still remains the supreme authority of Protestants, but the moment any man or party or assembly or council or denomination within Protestantism begins to try to impose its interpretations of the Bible on believers, that moment it is going right over to the Roman Catholic teaching and practice.”

These words the editor of the Word and Way believes are inspired by some things which the Presbyterians have done in relation to one of their theological seminaries. He truly says:—

But that same fundamental principle of freedom to think and decide for one’s self and choose one’s own creed, guarantees also to Presbyterians what ought to be their unquestioned right, not only to have and maintain their own creed, but the right to denominational propaganda, and the right to found schools for the propagation of their faith, and the further right to expect and require all who voluntarily take positions in these schools to be believers in, and loyal to, Presbyterianism.

Considering the same question among Baptists, the same principle holds, and the same rights obtain. Baptists do not insist that any living man or woman shall accept their interpretation of the Scripture. They would violate one of their fundamental principles if they were to try to impose their teachings on any one. But Baptists have the absolute right to interpret the Scriptures for themselves, and to demand that everything connected with the propaganda of the Baptist faith shall conform to the Baptist interpretation. Those who come into Baptist churches do so voluntarily. Those who subscribe to the principles of Baptists do so voluntarily. The man who accepts the presidency of a Baptist college or the position of teacher in any Baptist school, does so voluntarily; and whether in the ranks of membership, or in the offices of pastor, or seminary or college president or professor, there is the moral obligation that one’s conduct and beliefs and teachings shall conform to the denominational standard.

If a lay member of a church, or a pastor of a church, or president or professor of a school, comes to feel that he is hampered by the doctrines of his denomination, or is in any way out of sympathy with any or all of these doctrines, he is always at liberty to change his church and denominational relations, and is permitted to go without any anathemas whatsoever.

To argue, therefore, as the learned editor of Christian Work does, that for Presbyterians to insist that schools founded by them shall be loyal to Presbyterianism, and that Baptists who insist that their schools shall not teach anything contrary to, or subversive of, Baptist doctrine, is to repudiate a fundamental principle of Protestantism and go over to Catholic ground, is simply a clever dodge by which the real issue is missed. It is simply an effort to stir up the dust, hide from view the real drift and purpose to carry Christianity bag and baggage over into the camp of the liberalists.

We believe the principles stated above are sound, and that they are sound not only as applied to the teachers in denominational schools, but as applied to the work of the gospel ministry as well. A church school or college does not stand for the principles of one man, but for the principles of the denomination. The one who teaches in a denominational school is there in a representative capacity. He is chosen by his brethren because they believe he will properly represent the principles of their common faith.

The preacher who goes forth bearing credentials from the church, labors in the same representative relationship. He has united with the church of his choice because he fellowships its view of Scriptural truth, its form of church government, its general plans and policies.

If there comes a time in his experience when the teacher or preacher can no longer do this, when he feels that the principles for which the church stands are wrong, and that it has a wrong conception of Bible truth and interpretation, then it becomes his duty to state this frankly to his brethren, and let them determine whether or not he shall continue to act in a representative capacity.

The church has no right to require the stultification of individual conscience. Every teacher of Bible truth, whether as preacher or teacher, has a right to believe and teach whatever he believes the Word of God teaches, but he has no right in his representative capacity to teach views which are contrary to the views of the church which has employed him to act as its representative. If he desires to sever his representative relationship and teach views contrary to those held by his former brethren, this certainly is a right vested in him by his Creator, and a privilege every reasonable being will accord him. But while he professes to represent his brethren and is sent out and supported by the church, let him be true to the trust reposed in him. License is too often confounded with liberty. F. M. W.

Words of Commendation

Our denominational work among the Indians in the Inca Union Mission is one of the most interesting lines of work conducted by our missionaries in any part of the world. A suitable account of the conditions among the Indians, and of what has been done and is being done for them, would make a book of fascinating missionary reading.

In an article by Gerhard J. Schilling (Methodist Episcopal), appearing in the Missionary Review of the World for November, 1915, the work of Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Stahl is commended in the following words:—

In Puno, Peru, an excellent Christian couple, Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Stahl, independently work for the evangelization of the Indians. They often live in abject poverty, and while they are most Christ-like, healing the sick and helping the needy, no constitution can stand the strain they put on theirs, and with their disappearance from the field the work is likely to come to an end.

We trust all our readers will unite in prayer to God that the health of these devoted workers will not break, as Dr. Schilling anticipates, but that sufficient additional workers may be sent to aid them, so that Brother and Sister Stahl may have adequate help in their work for the Indians.

Conscription for China

A SHORT news item, appearing in the Washington Post of Dec. 30, 1915, though not given much prominence, may prove one of the greatest events of even these epoch-making times. China is to have compulsory military service:—

The government has announced that conscription will be inaugurated on Jan. 1, 1916. It will first be put into effect in Chi-li Province, in which Peking is located, and Shantung Province, which adjoins Chi-li Province on the south. Details have not yet been arranged, but are now under consideration by the general staff.

When one considers the possible size of such an army in a country whose inhabitants form one fifth the population of the world, the future looks ominous. We have long expected, in accordance with the teaching of the Bible, that the water of the great river Euphrates is to be dried up, “that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared;” for the whole world will take part in the last great battle of Armageddon.

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