When Josiah came to the throne of Judah the people were so corrupted by heathenism that they had actually lost sight of the Scriptures. While repairing the temple, however, a copy of the “book of the law” was brought out from some corner where it had lain neglected. 2 Kings 22.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.1

When this was read the king and the elders saw how far they had departed from the truth, and they began to put down the idolatrous worship; the chariots of the sun and the altars dedicated to sun-worship were destroyed, together with the emblems of deities associated with the central sun-worship.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.2

This is what the finding of the Scriptures led to in Josiah’s day. Now the Scriptures are plentiful in our land, but far too many are covered with dust, and are laid aside forgotten. And then again when they are read the dust of tradition and custom is allowed to obscure them. People now need to find the lost Bible. It is God’s voice to us now; and it warns just as of old against the corruptions of heathenism which have stolen into the Church.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.3

Let the Word be truly found, and it will be seen that there is necessity now to destroy the symbolism of the ancient sun-worship, and turn from practices which are of heathen origin, and whose influence is the same as in all past time.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.4

“A New Name for Persecution” The Present Truth 11, 47.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The newspapers have published intelligence from Pachucha, Mexico, stating that at a small town named Texacapa ten persons have been burned as heretics, by order of the auxiliary town judge.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.5

We should be slow to credit this story, if the Catholic Times itself did not intimate the possibility of its being true. The paper states that the bishop had made large preparations for the coronation of “Our Lady of Guadaloupe,” and that “these peaceful designs were threatened with failure by the imprudent zealotry of a band of ultra-Protestant missionaries;” but that the bishop “rejoiced” to hear that they had given up or deferred their crusade. His rejoicing, the Catholic Times says, was because he feared for the missionaries and their friends if they should persist in their design.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.6

So the Catholic Times thinks that the story of the burning may be a mistake, but admits the possibility of it in these words:—PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.7

But who knows what blind impulse has still in the face of prophetic and friendly admonition goaded these foolish Gospellers into suicidal activity-suicidal because so unreasonable?PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.8

Read this, you who think that the persecutions of the Middle Ages are impossible in these “enlightened” times. It is true that the burning may not have taken place, and that if it did it was in Mexico; but the fact remains that a leading Catholic paper in the metropolis of the world does not doubt but that it took place if the “missionaries” were so foolish as to be present at the ceremony and to protest, and takes it for granted that the burning of “heretics” is so much to be expected as a matter of course that he who makes himself obnoxious to Roman Catholics in power is simply committing suicide!PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.9

“The Word of Life and Light” The Present Truth 11, 47.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

After mentioning the Word which was in the beginning with God, and which was God, by whom everything was created, the apostle continues:—PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.10

“In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:4-9.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.11

The Life of the Word.-Christ is the Word, and He “is our life.” Colossians 3:4. His life is the life of God, for “the Word was God;” and God is “from everlasting to everlasting.” Psalm 90:2.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.12

So Christ’s power as Priest is “the power of an endless life.” Hebrews 7:16. On earth He was simply the manifestation of the life of God. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us).” 1 John 1:1, 2.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.13

Life in the Word.-We have previously seen by comparing Deuteronomy 30:11-20 and Romans 10:6-10, that Christ is in all the Scriptures, so that they are indeed the Word of God. Whoever reads the Scriptures without finding Christ in them, reads them in vain; he gets only the outward form, or shell. But he who takes the Scriptures for what they are in truth, the Word of God, finds that they have the very life of Christ. “The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63. To feed upon the Word, is to eat the flesh and blood of Christ.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.14

Life from the Word.-Christ, who is the Word of Life, came to give life and to give it abundantly. John 10:10. “He that hath the Son hath the life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.” 1 John 5:19, R.V. In the love of God for the world, Christ was sent, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. He that rejects Christ has eternal death for his portion. To say that a man may live for ever without Christ, even though it be in misery, is to deny the necessity of Christ’s sacrifice for man.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.15

It may be said that the claim that men who reject Christ may live for ever does not deny the necessity for His sacrifice, since that was necessary in order that men might have righteousness. But, “the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Romans 8:10. Christ gives righteousness only in giving His life. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.” Romans 6:6-8.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.16

The Life of Faith.—“The just shall live by faith.” No Christian will deny that righteousness comes to Christ alone. “By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” Romans 5:19. But this obedience of Christ, by which we are made righteous, is the obedience of Christ’s own life in us. “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. Righteousness by faith is nothing but life by faith. “Conditional immortality” is only conditional righteousness, that is, conditional on faith in the crucified and risen Saviour.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 739.17

The Life of Righteousness.-Life and righteousness come from Christ; but since Christ is in the Word which the prophets and apostles wrote, it follows that life and righteousness come through obedience to what is written. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. God’s Word is the truth (John 17:17), and the Apostle Peter says to the saints of God, “Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.” 1 Peter 1:22. Every word of God is life, and a single word is sufficient to give life, if that is all one has; but the very fact that every word is life, shows that the wilful neglect or rejection of one word of God is the rejection of His life.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 740.1

The Reality of this Life.-This is shown in the resurrection of Lazarus, and of all the others who were brought to life by the word of Christ. When the poor palsied man, whose life was almost gone, was brought to Jesus, the Lord gave him righteousness by His word, saying, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” Matthew 9:2. And then, in order to show the reality of the new life which was conveyed to the man in those words, Jesus caused him to rise and walk in perfect health. “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.” John 20:30, 31.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 740.2

Hearing and Living.-Jesus calls and says, “Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live.” Isaiah 55:3. When the dead hear the voice of the Son of God, they live. See John 5:25, 28, 29. So it was with Lazarus and the others. The moment they heard the word, life was theirs. They obeyed the voice that told them to arise. It was impossible that they should hear the word and not arise. So hearing, in the Scripture sense, is obeying. He who really hears the word of God, obeys it. Not to obey, is to refuse to hear. So whoever does not turn away his ears from hearing the law, but who listens to God’s words all the time, and who is careful not to let one of them escape his notice, will inevitably possess the life and righteousness that is in them. As he lives by them here, so will they be his life in the world to come.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 740.3

The Life that Creates.—“In Him was life.” So “in Him were all things created,” and “in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16, 17, R.V. All things are created in Him, because life is in Him. By the power of His life were they created, and do they exist. “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17:28. Not only are men His offspring, but all the rest of creation as well. In Psalm 90:2 we read of the mountains having been “brought forth:” literally, as given in some versions, “Before the mountains were born.” God’s breath is life; and “by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” Psalm 33:6. Since all things are created in Him, because in Him is life, and it follows that “if any man be in Christ he is a new creature.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Redemption is a new creation by the power of the life which is given to us on the cross.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 740.4

The Light of Life.—“The life was the light of men.” This is most literally true, for since all things were created and still exist by His life, the light of the sun, moon, and stars is simply the light of His life. In this, as in the resurrection of the dead, the Lord teaches us by those things that we can see, of those things which we cannot see. As the light of the sun is not diminished by being shared by hundreds of millions, so Christ’s life is not lessened although He gives it to many. As each one gets the full strength of the sun, so each soul gets the fulness of Christ’s life. Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 740.5

Light from the Word.-In the Word is light, and since it is the same Word that we find in the Scriptures, it must needs be that “the opening of Thy words giveth light.” Psalm 119:130, R.V. We do not get light on the Word. That would be like getting light on the sun. The light is there already; all that is needed is to open it, and the light will shine forth. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105. Then follow the Word; for “if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 740.6

Light In Darkness.—“And the Light shineth in darkness.” When Christ came, then was fulfilled the word of the prophet, “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.” Matthew 4:16. “Darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.” Genesis 1:2. Just as God commanded the light to shine out of darkness, so He shines in the darkness of our sinful hearts, “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6. The place for light to shine is in the darkness. So when darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people, Christians, into whose hearts light has come, are to hold forth the Word of Life and “shine as lights in the world.” Philippians 2:15, 16.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 740.7

The Incomprehensible Light.—“The darkness comprehended it not.” Darkness can never comprehend light. There is nothing in common between them. “What communion hath light with darkness.” 2 Corinthians 6:14. Darkness does not become light, but light shines in darkness, and drives it away.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 740.8

But the word “comprehend” means to contain, to enclose, as in Isaiah 40:12, where we read of the dust of the earth comprehended in a measure. Darkness cannot shut in the light. As nothing is hid from the heat of the sun, so “the Sun of Righteousness” shall dispel all the darkness, and bring in the perfect day. In that day when the darkness is for ever dispersed, those who have loved darkness rather than light, will be scattered with it, so that no place will be found for them; but the children of light will “shine forth as the sun.”PTUK November 21, 1895, page 740.9

Light for All.-Jesus is the Light of the world; so He is the true Light, “which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Or, as some render it, In coming into the world, He lights every man. The point is that all do have the light. To them that sit in darkness light is sprung up. That life-giving light has shone upon all, and is still shining. “By the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” Romans 5:18. God’s love embraces all the world, and every man in it. To all He has given “His unspeakable gift.” What a sad awakening it will be at last when men realise what was within their grasp, and what they let go. Let all give good heed to the words of Christ: “Yet a little while is the light with you; walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.... While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.” John 12:35, 36.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 740.10

“Terrific Force” The Present Truth 11, 47.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Terrific Force.-No modern industry commands such profitable and constant employment as the manufacture of weapons of war. It could scarcely be otherwise when the leading governments of the world spend far more on military and naval outfits than on education to fit their subjects for the arts of peace. The degree of perfection attained in rifle manufacture has been practically illustrated in the war in Cuba. The Spanish troops are armed with one of the latest rifles, and the general commanding reports that the insurgent is not safe behind a large tree. On occasions the rifle bullet has pierced the tree and killed the man behind it. What carnage when the hatreds which are growing bring large bodies of men face to face, armed with such deadly weapons!PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.1

“Books and Morals” The Present Truth 11, 47.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

It is said that an average of three novels a day come from the presses of London. This is aside altogether from the small serial novelettes and “penny dreadfuls” which pour forth in an increasing stream.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.2

About the influence of these latter abominations much has recently been said in the public press. Even journals which devote large space to unsavoury divorce court details and to betting and gambling news unite in condemning the “penny dreadful.”PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.3

But these same journals devote columns to reviews of novels which are as full of poison-to judge by the reviews-as ever a “penny dreadful” could be. The kind of books which have been coming out with an unparalleled frequency of late, dealing with “problems,” so-called, and depending for circulation mainly upon the space devoted to “moralising” about immorality, are unquestionably exerting widespread influence of the basest character.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.4

The talk about morals and ethics sometimes gains notice for these books in the religious press, but let it be remembered that purity is not taught by depicting impurity. The classical philosophers of Greece and Rome wrote of morals and beauty, and helped at the same time to drag the people down to the deepest moral corruption.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.5

The mind that feeds on the maudlin sentiment of the average novel must inevitably form a distaste for the Scriptures and for the sober, serious duties of life. This kind of literature is surely one of the influences which are at work to fulfil the prophecy which declares that the last days will be as the days before the flood and as the days of Sodom.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.6

“Speaking with Authority” The Present Truth 11, 47.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine; for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Matthew 7:28, 29.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.7

In the teaching of Jesus there was no conjecture, no speculation, no doubt. He did not give the people various theories, from which they might choose, indicating the one which He thought most plausible. Neither did He quote the opinions of others, to add weight to His own views. He did not prepare the minds of His hearers for future doubt, by telling them that this was the way the matter looked to Him, or that He believed so and so, and He spoke only that which He knew, and thus He could speak with authority. He spoke facts, not fancies; truths, not theories; and the power of simple truth spoken with the earnestness of actual, experimental knowledge produced conviction.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.8

Jesus said to His disciples before He left the earth, “As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.” John 20:21. The commission of every true follower of God is that of Christ Himself. “He whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God.” John 3:34. Therefore He whom the Lord sends must speak with the same authority as Christ Himself. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself,” and now, as though God did beseech men by us, we are to pray them in Christ’s stead, “Be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:19, 20. Verse 19, literally rendered, as is indicated in the margin, reads that God “hath put in us the word of reconciliation.” So the Lord says to those that “follow after righteousness,” “I have put My words in thy mouth.” Isaiah 51:16. If our acceptance of Christ is such as to make that true of us individually, we cannot but speak with authority.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.9

It is very common for people to refer to learned and pious men as authority for their belief. When questioned about any point of doctrine, they will tell what “our church holds,” or what Dr. So-and-so has said. Now the opinion which they quote may be correct, and the man to whom they refer may be sound in the faith, so that they may not be teaching error; but they who refer to them do not know for themselves whether it is true or not. The fact that they began by telling what somebody holds or has said on the subject, is the strongest proof that they do not know for themselves.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.10

To illustrate: suppose I am travelling through the country, and I ask a boy the way to a certain town. He begins with, “My father says,” or “Dr. B. maintains,” or, “It is commonly held by the best judges,” or something of that kind, and then proceeds to tell what they say about the way. Now it may happen that his directions are correct, but the very first words of his answer convince me that he himself knows nothing about the way. He has heard it told until he can repeat it, but he does not know it for himself. The probability is that few travellers would wait for him to repeat his story, but would pass on to inquire of some one who would speak with authority. But if he should promptly reply, “Take the first turning on the right, and the second on the left, and keep straight on,” I should conclude that he knew what he was talking about.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.11

“But suppose he should be mistaken; would it not be better for him not to speak so positively?”—No; it would be better to say, “I don’t know.” It would be a serious matter if, in order not to appear ignorant, I should direct a man west when the place which he seeks is east. Everyone will agree that the one who directs the traveller on his way must speak with authority. He who cannot speak thus, must confess his inability, and say nothing. Guesses are good for nothing, and to repeat to me the conflicting opinions of different men only puzzles me the more.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 741.12

Positiveness is as much more necessary in religious matters as eternal life is more important than trivial matters of this life. But may we speak with positiveness on spiritual matters?—Certainly, even as Christ and the apostles did. We may know God by personal acquaintance. The Apostle Paul said, “I know whom I have believed.” 2 Timothy 1:12. Knowing Him, we know Him to be faithful and true, and so we may know for a certainty all that His word declares. Only a positive testimony can produce conviction and conversion. Get acquainted with Christ; learn of Him; and all hesitancy and doubt will disappear.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 742.1

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth 11, 47.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

-Berlin has had 708 suicides this past year. London, with double Berlin’s population, had only 500.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.1

-Southampton has now a rival in the Trans-atlantic passenger trade. The German-American line now stops at Plymouth on the homeward voyage instead of Southampton as formerly.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.2

-For a long period of time the glass workers at Carmaux, France, have been on strike. They are now taking measures to start a glass factory of which the workers shall be the proprietors.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.3

-The lookout on the Clyde, it is said, has already lost the country some orders for ships, the orders going to Germany and elsewhere. The Government have a number of warships on the stocks and now at a standstill.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.4

-Johannesburg, which, ten years ago, was a place with twenty native huts, is now a town of 100,000 persons, 60,000 Europeans and 40,000 natives. The cemetery already has 4,000 occupied graves, mostly the graves of young men.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.5

-Photography has shown how little was formerly known of the number of stars. Herschell estimated the number visible up to the 14th magnitude as five million. Now, Mr. Lockyer said in a lecture, the number made visible is nearer 500 million.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.6

-It is stated that some publicans in Manchester and Salford carry on Sunday lotteries. Cups are filled with beer, into certain of which threepenny bite have been dropped. Men who fail to secure the prize in the first pint are encouraged to try their luck a second and a third time.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.7

-Amongst the princes at the reception of the King of Portugal in London last week, the papers mention Cardinal Vaughan as having been attired in resplendent colours befitting the dignity of a prince of the Catholic Church. On every possible occasion the Church of Rowe shows its oneness with other earthly powers.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.8

-The Agreement with Chief Khama is said to provide that he shall have the right of prohibiting the importation of “the white man’s drink” into his country. A British resident will live with him to watch affairs. The Chief and other chiefs are to give wide strips of land to enable a railway to be built to Matabeleland.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.9

-The press is asking that Russia means by her quiet preparations for war in the Transcaucasian provinces. Garrisons are being reinforced, stores of grain and provisions are being established, and quantities of ammunition are being sent southward. These things are regarded as indicating Russia’s purpose of advancing into Asia Minor when her moment for striking comes.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.10

-One of the promoters of African mines stated the other day that the export of diamonds from Kimberley had risen from a million and a half sterling in 1876 to five millions this year, while the production of gold had risen from 1,470,000 ounces in 1893 to 2,230,000 ounces in 1895. He predicted that within the next five years the gold-fields of the transvaal would yield an amount equal to twenty-four millions sterling.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 750.11

“Back Page” The Present Truth 11, 47.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

A few weeks ago we gathered together in a leaflet the testimony of a number of well-known writers on the unscriptural character of Sunday observance. The first edition of the leaflet, 100,000, was quickly exhausted, and a second edition has been issued.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.1

The growing modern idea of Christianity is that incidently indicated in an article in the Review of Reviews on “The Conquest of Madagascar“:—PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.2

It may be very unreasonable, but I cannot help being somewhat disappointed with the London Missionary Society. Their missionaries have been preaching the Gospel to the Hovas for the last forty years, and at the end of it all there does not seem to have been a pennyworth of fight in the whole Hova army.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.3

The Greek Church has replied to the Pope’s encyclical on reunion, rebuking the Church of Rome for its unscriptural innovations. Unfortunately for the Stundists and our Sabbath-keeping brethren in Russia and other parts where the Greek Church dominates the civil power, there is little difference between the two great bodies when it comes to following the Scriptures indeed.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.4

Who has not gone to a public meeting to hear a speaker-with whose remarks perhaps one did not himself agree-and being disappointed because of the interruptions of some who had not the courtesy to restrain their feelings of dissent? The reports of some of the great meetings in a recent great Church Congress are full of “hisses,” “interruptions,” etc., coming from both factions in the meeting.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.5

It was a struggle to see which side could overpower the other in making unseemly demonstrations. Is it not time to recognise the fact that the public meeting is not a place where a Christian can be boorish and noisy any more than any other place? The spectacle of a man trying to hiss or hoot down a speaker with whom he may not agree is one to make a man blush for his kind. Truth is not advanced nor error opposed by such methods.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.6

The Archbishop of York declares that he believes the churches lose rather than gain financially by bazaars, taking it all together. Of course they must, as it is a deliberate attempt to teach people that they cannot give unless receiving some material return, whether it be pincushions or tea and cakes. The effect is to dry up the spring of liberal giving which is the sure accompaniment of real religious life.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.7

A religious weekly says that “missionaries abroad as well as religious teachers at home are feeling the necessity for a restatement of Christian doctrine, in view of modern biblical and scientific research.” This may well be the case with those who teach for doctrines the creeds and commandments of men; but for those who obey the injunction to “preach the Word,” there is no such necessity. The work of the minister of the Gospel is not tell the people what he thinks about the Bible, but what the Bible says about them.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.8

The editor of Truth makes the following comments on some recent Sunday prosecutions for Sunday trading:—PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.9

For some inexplicable reason the chief constable of Walsall has lately taken it into his head to institute a series of prosecutions under the Lord’s Day Act of Charles II., and he has gone so far as to summon a couple of youths for aiding and abetting in the violation of that preposterous statute by making purchases at a confectioner’s shop on a Sunday.... In these days nobody fit to be at large can for a moment suppose that what the authors of the Act unctuously described as the cause of “piety and true religion” is to be prompted by the persecution of small shopkeepers for trading on Sundays any more than it would be by that other amiable practice our ancestors had, of flogging people through the perish at a cart-tail for not going to church.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.10

He further comments as follows in regard to a point that needs more consideration than has yet been given it:—PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.11

Magistrates generally make a point of the fact that so long as the Lord’s Day Act remains it must be enforced, but that, of course, is nonsense, for other foolish and oppressive laws which are still unrepealed have been allowed to become a dead letter.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.12

Very true, but that only states that such laws need not be enforced, but does not tell why they ought not to be. The fact is, that to commit an unjust or wicked act by law, is as wicked as to do it contrary to law. Sunday laws are wicked from the beginning to end, not simply because they work injustice, but because they are contrary to God’s law. That is the only reason why they work injustice. God alone is great, and magistrates and officers as well as common people, will find that they cannot keep a law of man as an excuse for violating His law.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.13

In a recent sermon in Westminster Abbey, Canon Wilberforce stoutly defended prayers for the dead. He said that such prayers are Scriptural, which he did not prove, and that they are “in accordance with the conclusions of modern psychology,” which needs no proof. He further declared that nothing prevented the general recognition of prayers for the dead, but “a stupid, stolid, unenlightened prejudice.” Thus we have another indication of the “progress” of the church towards paganism.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.14

There is a demand, says the Chronicle, “for some more decent regulation of the ugly business of the slaughter-houses.” The Abbatoir Society has sent out a circular calling attention to some evils, which states that “there is too much reason to believe that the practice of skinning animals before they are dead is still very prevalent.” We have no difficulty in believing this. The practice of taking life necessarily tends to produce indifference to suffering. No one can make a business of it, no matter what life it is that is taken, without becoming hardened and brutalised.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.15

The Catholic Times says of the election of a member of Parliament for Dublin University:—PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.16

Mr. Lecky who is contesting Dublin University, and being asked whether he is an Agnostic, declines to answer, and says he would rather lose the election than be a party to establishing religious tests for parliamentary candidates. That is quite right, but it is also right to test a candidate as to how he would vote on religious questions that might arise.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.17

One can well understand Mr. Lecky’s action. The trouble is, and the scandal is, that religious societies, Protestant as well as Catholic, should insist on having a religious question sent to Parliament for settlement. If all believe that it is no part of the work of the Church to scheme for political advantage, members elected to a civil office would not be required to spend a good proportion of their time in meeting or evading religious issues.PTUK November 21, 1895, page 752.18

November 14, 1895

November 28, 1895