April 8, 1889

“Front Page” The Signs of the Times, 15, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

The California Prohibitionist is authority for the statement that Berryvale, in this State, has a population of 75, and 15 saloons.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.12

More than 30,000 children of school age in the city of Chicago are said to be addicted to the use of strong drink. “What will the harvest be?”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.13

A bill recently before the Wisconsin Legislature to prohibit the teaching of German in the public schools of that State was called up and defeated two days before the time set for its consideration.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.14

“Tobacco,” says the Prohibitionist, “is the next enemy the reformers of our country must engage. It has now come to be so that a person cannot walk along the streets without having offensive smoke puffed into the face it nearly every step.”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.15

Not long since a Western church in need of a pastor, telegraphed to a Boston commercial agency to look up the record and capacities of a pastor in that vicinity. The result of the inquiry and of the information given to the pastorless church has not been announced.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.16

The Pope, according to the desire of the Canadian Episcopacy has issued a brief in which he has decided the amount of the restitution to the Jesuits by the Canadian Government as follows; $160,000 to Jesuits, $100,000 to Catholic Bishops, and $140,000 to a Montreal university. Like obedient vassals, the Canadians have voted the sums claimed.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.17

The nation of Switzerland looking to the fortifications of St. Gothard, is significant, inasmuch as it shows a settled believe on the part of that Government that war between France and Germany is only a question of a short time. Of course the object of the proposed fortification is to prevent the Germans from marching through Swiss territory in the event of a war with France.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.18

A year or so ago the labor unions of New York succeeded in getting a law enacted in that State forbidding the employment of convict labor. The reason is that the prisons have become a heavy burden to the taxpayers, and not only so, but they are beginning to turn out insane paupers. In one of the prisons two young men have gone insane and been sent to the hospital, and others are sure to follow.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.19

The Congregationalist tells of a recent revival in Boston for which tickets were issued bearing the words: “Not good for any church-member unless accompanied by one who is not.” Our contemporary suggests that if such a barrier were interposed at the doors of every church, the assembly rooms of the saints would present a rather vacant appearance.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.20

It is announced at the University of Southern California has concluded a contract with Alvan G. Clark, who made the Lick 36-inch telescope lens, for a 40-inch lens for the telescope, with which it is proposed to equip the observatory endowed by F. F. Spence, the Los Angeles banker. The observatory will probably be located on Wilson’s Peak, a lofty height in Los Angeles County, near Pasadena.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.21

It is stated that Rev. Henry M. Scudder, missionary to Japan, is disturbed because of the opposition which has recently sprung up in this country to the union of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches in the Mikado’s empire. In a long letter to the Evangelist he explains the situation, remarking that the union movement is purely Japanese, and that almost all the missionaries sympathize with it.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.22

It is thought that the influence of the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania will for the most part be against the adoption of the proposed prohibitory amendment. Archbishop Ryan is said to favor high license rather than prohibition. Those Catholics who have taken the pledge may support the amendment, but as the liquor business of the State is largely in the hands of Catholics the majority of that communion will probably oppose prohibition.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.23

A correspondent of the Congregationalist says that he has directly learned from the very best authority that a distillery firm within three miles of the Massachusetts State House, has a contract to furnish 3,000 gallons of rum daily to the African trade, for the next seven years. This would be equivalent to almost one million gallons annually. If Massachusetts were to adopt a constitutional prohibition, that distillery might find it rather difficult to fulfill its contract.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.24

A United Presbyterian writes to the Christian at Work from Colorado protesting against the statement that the action of the Presbytery of Detroit, of the United Presbyterian Church, uniting with the Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church, was made probable, indeed, almost inevitable, from the repealing by the United Presbyterian General Assembly of the prohibition against the use of the organ. He says, “While the General Assembly has repealed the rule against the use of organs, yet that by no means takes away all the differences between this church and the Presbyterian. This was the least of the differences. The principal issues now separating the two churches are the use of a scriptural psalmody, the opposition to sacred oath-bound societies, and restricted communion, in opposition to what is known as open communion.”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.25

“Holding the Truth in Unrighteousness” The Signs of the Times, 15, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

Romans 1:18.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.26

God is love; yet “he reserveth wrath for his enemies.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of peace and love; but all who reject it will be “punished with everlasting destruction.” 2 Thessalonians 1:8. Not only so, but the gospel itself reveals not only the righteousness of God, but also the wrath of God against those who spurn that righteousness. Said Christ: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark 16:15, 16. The wrath of God, which is revealed against unrighteousness, is not a light thing. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:36.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.27

God is “of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.” Sin is foreign to his nature, and cannot be tolerated. But the punishment meted out to the wicked will not be solely because of their personal sins, that is, not simply because they themselves are wicked, but because by their wickedness they have hindered others from being good. Sin is contagious. It is not only a blood disease, making corrupt every part of the individual in whom it has a place, but it affects all who come in contact with the one so diseased. Says the wise man: “One sinner destroyeth much good.” Ecclesiastes 9:18.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.28

An erroneous opinion generally prevails in regard to the expression, “who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” It is usually regarded as applying to wicked men who have the true doctrines of the Bible, but do not practice them; but this is not the idea. The word here rendered “hold” means, primarily, to hold back, withhold, check, restrain, hold down. It implies more than simple possession; it conveys the idea of shutting up in prison, restraining the liberty, or crushing out. The Vulgate has detineo, to hold off, keep back, detain. The idea is that the unrighteousness of men prevents the spread of the truth. Wickedness hedges up the way of truth.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.29

A good illustration of this is seen in the case of Jesus at Nazareth. When he first spoke to the people, their hearts responded, and they were forced to acknowledge the truth. But soon envy, jealousy, and evil passions assumed control, and drove out the good impressions that had been made. Then they began to say, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his sisters, are they not all with us?” Their thought was, “What can this man tell us? we knew him when he was a boy.” And then the record says: “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Matthew 13:58. They might have received wonderful blessings, but they would not. They most effectually held, or shut up, the truth by their unrighteousness.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.30

It is utterly impossible that a man should long possess the truth while pursuing an unrighteous course. Indeed, we may say that it is impossible that he should have the truth at all, while living in the commission of deliberate sin. For Christ is the truth, and the whole truth; whosoever has not Christ, has not the truth; and the man who lives an ungodly life has not Christ. It may be said that an ungodly man may possess a correct theory of truth. That is so, but a theory will not save him, neither will a mere theory advance the cause of truth. The truth which makes free is the truth as it is in Jesus.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.31

The word of God unhampered will grow and multiply. It will enlarge the one who has it. It must manifest itself. Said the prophet Jeremiah: “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” Jeremiah 20:9. But if the prophet had persisted in his first intention, and had refused to speak, that word which was as a burning fire shut up in him, would soon have gone out. The word of God is like a fire; but if a fire is confined, and not given vent, it will soon go out.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.32

“Therefore we ought to pay the more earnest heed to the words which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” Hebrews 2:1. The margin has it, “run out as leaking vessels.” This shows that it is a wrong view of Romans 1:18 which makes it teach that a man may possess the truth of God, and still be an ungodly man. He may have the truth, and may have been set free by it; but if he fails to give earnest heed to it, he will soon lose it all. The man who doesn’t give heed to the truth which he knows, will soon lose it. He may retain a mental conception of the theory of the truth, but he can no more be said to be holding the truth than a man who has an articulated skeleton can be said to be holding a man.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.33

That the idea that we have presented is the one that was in the mind of the apostle, is still further evident from what follows, namely, that the heathen once knew God, but lost that knowledge because they did not act in harmony with it. And when the truth has once leaked out of the heart, that person is an agent, it may be unconsciously, in the hands of Satan, to prevent some other one from receiving it. For “no man liveth to himself.” W.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.34

“The Divinity of Christ. (Continued.)” The Signs of the Times, 15, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

(Continued.)

The fact that Jesus is spoken of as the only begotten Son of God should be sufficient to establish a belief in his divinity. As Son of God, he must partake of the nature of God. “As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” John 5:26. Life and immortality are imparted to the faithful followers of God, but Christ alone shares with the Father the power to impart life. He has “life in himself,” that is, he is able to perpetuate his own existence. This is shown by his own words when, showing the voluntary nature of his sacrifice for man, he said: “I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” John 10:17, 18.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.35

That Christ is divine is shown by the fact that he receives worship. Angels have always refused to receive worship and adoration. But we read of the Father, that “when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.” Hebrews 1:6. If he is to receive worship from angels, it follows as a matter of course that he should receive worship from men; and we find that even while here on earth, in the likeness of man, he received worship as God. The prophet John thus records the adoration which Christ will finally receive equally with the Father:-SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.36

“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” Revelation 5:13.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.37

If Christ were not God, this would be idolatry. The great indictment against the heathen is that they “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator.” Romans 1:25. It matters not what the position of a creature may be, whether a beast, a man, or an angel, worship of it is strictly forbidden. Only God may be worshiped, and since Christ may be worshiped, Christ is God. So say the Scriptures of truth.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.38

It is hardly necessary, with all this army of testimony, to speak of the pre-existence of Christ. One of the strangest things in the world is that men professing to believe and reverence the Bible, will claim that Christ had no existence prior to his birth of the Virgin Mary. Three texts only will be quoted here to disprove this theory, but texts which will be quoted later, on another point, will just as fully prove the pre-existence of Christ. The first text is in the prayer of Jesus, on the night of his betrayal. He said: “And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” John 17:5. We don’t know what could be plainer, unless it is the statement that he made the world. John says that “all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:3.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.39

But stronger still are the words of the prophet, who foretold the place of the birth of the Messiah, in these words: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2, margin. He who would dispute the pre-existence of Christ, in the face of these texts, would deny that the sun shines at midday, if it suited his notion to do so.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.40

In arguing the perfect equality of the Father and the Son, and the fact that Christ is in very nature God, we do not design to be understood as teaching that the Father was not before the Son. It should not be necessary to guard this point, lest some should think that the Son existed as soon as the Father, yet some go to that extreme, which adds nothing to the dignity of Christ, but rather detracts from the honor due him, since many throw the whole thing away rather than accept a theory so obviously out of harmony with the language of Scripture, that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. He was begotten, not created. He is of the substance of the Father, so that in his very nature he is God; and since that is so “it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.” Colossians 1:19.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.41

Some have difficulty in reconciling Christ’s statement in John 14:28, “My Father is greater than I,” with the idea that he is God, and is entitled to worship. Some, indeed, dwell upon that text alone as sufficient to overthrow the idea of Christ’s divinity; but if that were allowed, it would only prove a contradiction in the Bible, and even in Christ’s own speech, for it is most positively declared, as we have seen, that he is divine. There are two facts which are amply sufficient to account for Christ’s statement recorded in John 14:28. One is that Christ is the Son of God. While both are of the same nature, the Father is first in point of time. He is also greater in that he had no beginning, while Christ’s personality had a beginning. Then, too, the statement is emphatically true in view of the position which Christ had assumed. He “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:7, Revised Version. He was “made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death.” Hebrews 2:9. In order to redeem men, he had to come where they were. He did not lay aside his divinity, but he laid aside his glory, and veiled his divinity with humanity. So his statement, “My Father is greater than I,” is perfectly consistent with the claim, made by himself as well as by all who wrote of him, that he was and is God. W.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.42

(To be continued.)

“That Wonderful First Day” The Signs of the Times, 15, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

The following is a part of a heading editorial that appeared in the Occident just before last Christmas. We have never seen anything that more fully exhibits the weakness of the claims for the first day of the week as a day above other working-days, than it does:-SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.43

“As we do not know the exact date of our Lord’s birth it would have been well if, instead of the twenty-fifth of December having been chosen as the time for commemorating the advent, there had been selected, say, the first Sunday after the twentieth of December. It seems especially appropriate that Christmas should come on the day of Him whose birth we celebrate. What added impressions to the sacredness of the day would be given, what increased delight to think of the birth, the resurrection, the ascension, and the coming again in glory as each on the first day of the week. The resurrection and the ascension we know were on this day; the coming again in like manner we may reasonably infer will be on the Lord’s day; and so, too, may we not rightly infer that this day was divinely selected for the [first] advent?”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.44

There is a specimen of large conclusions from small premises. The writer starts with the acknowledgment that nobody knows the date of Christ’s birth, and the wish that, since any celebration of it is all guess-work anyway, the first day of the week had been chosen, and winds up with the conclusion that Jesus was born on Sunday. In that case, the wish is father to the thought, just as it is in all Sunday argument. We can readily understand how a little girl can attribute to her doll all the wants and actions of a living child, and can care for it with as much solicitude as a mother could for her babe; and we can understand how a boy can ride his father’s cane with as much enthusiasm and real enjoyment as though it was a real horse; but it is passing strange how grown men, with their reasoning faculties fully developed, could regard Sunday with increased reverence and delight, simply because they might suppose that Jesus had been born on that day, knowing all the while that it was not so.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.45

But what a wonderfully classic day that first day is. We have long been familiar with the theological sleight-of-hand performance by which two evenings more than eight days apart (John 20:26) were both made to be the first day of the week. That is, we have been familiar by sight only, for we have never been able to comprehend how it was done. We have also known for a long time that the credulous followers of the egotistical ignoramus who some centuries ago wrote under the pseudonym of Barnabas, regard Sunday as both the first and the eighth day of the week, which has only seven days; but we never before heard that both the resurrection and the ascension of Christ were on the first day of the week. How long will it be before the pleaders for Sunday will claim that every notable event in history took place on that day?SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.46

Just notice how accommodating that first day is. The resurrection of Christ is generally admitted to have been on Sunday. The writer of the book of Acts says that in a former treatise (the book of Luke) he had set forth all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up after he had given commandments unto the apostles, “to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days.” Acts 1:3. Luke records the resurrection and the ascension of Christ, and he says that he was seen alive after his passion forty days. Now let any child that knows the days of the week, and can count on its fingers, reckon up and tell on what day the ascension must have been. He arose from the tomb very early in the morning of the first day of the week, so that five full weeks, thirty-five days, would bring us to the beginning of another first day of the week. The fifth day from that, completing the forty days, would fall upon the fifth day of the week, or Thursday. So that, stretching the forty days to their utmost limit, the ascension of Christ cannot be made to have come later than very early on Friday morning; yet the Occident has no difficulty in making it come on Sunday. The church festival of Lent is forty days long, yet the Catholics with all their regard for Sunday, do not try the impossible feat of making it begin and end on that day. It always beings on Ash Wednesday, and ends on Easter Sunday. We should like to see the Occident solve its problem of making a period of forty days begin and end on Sunday.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.47

So, then, we have Sunday not only the first day of the week, but also the eighth (?) and the fifth; and certain ones also tell us that it is the seventh as well. There is only half the week yet to be accounted for, and surely it will not be a difficult task, for those who have done this, to show that there is no day in the week but Sunday. Of course it is claimed that Christ always appeared to his disciples after his resurrection on Sunday, including the fishing occasion recorded in John 21, although the people who claim that his appearings to them were only on Sunday, do not seem willing to carry their adherence to apostolic example so far as to set apart the first day of the week as a fishing day.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.48

The reader may have thought it extravagant when we said that but little remained for the Sunday folks to do to show that there is no day in the week but Sunday; and so it is extravagant; but it is no more than they have virtually done already. Thus: They claim Jesus showed his regard for Sunday, and put special honor upon it, by appearing to his disciples on that day after his resurrection. Now to make any point on this, they must necessarily claim that he did not appear to them on any other day; for if he met with them on other days beside Sunday, it would have lost its prominence. This claim they endeavor to make good by stretching a week out over eight or ten days, so as to make two events more than eight days apart, fall on Sunday. But Luke says that Jesus showed himself alive to his disciples after his passion, “being seen of them forty days.” Therefore he appeared to them every day between his resurrection and his ascension, just as would naturally be expected; and so our friends who think that they can prove that Jesus showed himself to them only on Sunday, have the Scriptures to help them out in their claim that every day in the week is Sunday. There are some unfortunate persons, known as tramps, who might, on that basis, hail with delight a law forbidding work on Sunday.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.49

While the Occident was about it, we cannot see why it does not claim that the crucifixion also took place on Sunday. Then it would have had much more cause to regard the day as sacred. But why pursue the matter further? The fact that men of intelligence are forced to invent such childish excuses for the observance of Sunday, is as good an argument as can be asked for to prove that Sunday has no claim whatever to be regarded as a sacred day. For our part, we deem it far more satisfactory to observe the Sabbath which God has sanctified, and which does not slip around so much, but can always be found on the same day of the week-the seventh. W.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.50

“Pew Endowment” The Signs of the Times, 15, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

It is stated that Mrs. Cleveland is making an effort to raise money in New York toward building a new American Church in Berlin. Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes has raised $25,000 to endow an Ohio pew. Thirty-six thousand dollars has been raised so far, and nearly as much again is still wanted.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.51

“The Golden Rule Applied” The Signs of the Times, 15, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

How a man can put the golden rule, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them,” into the same political platform with a demand for Sunday legislation, is more than we can understand; and yet this is what a writer in the California Prohibitionist of March 14 advocates. If Sunday observance is enforced by law, it will result in the oppression of Jews, Sabbatarian Christians, and others who deem it necessary to labor on that day. But the golden rule teaches that the Christian should do to the Jew or infidel as he would have the Jew or infidel do to him, were their positions as regards power and opportunity reversed. Those who keep the golden rule cannot compel any one to keep any Sabbath. Therefore if any party holds to the Sunday-law theory, to be consistent they must relinquish and renounce the gold rule; or if they hold to the golden rule, they must, to be consistent, cease all efforts for Sunday legislation. The two cannot agree. The observance of the Sabbath is a duty coming between man and his Maker alone; the golden rule is a duty lying between men. A man can keep the gold rule and observe at the same time the Sabbath, but he cannot observe the golden rule and force his Sabbath on someone else. Cannot Sunday-law men and Prohibitionists see this?SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.52

“American Catholic Statistics” The Signs of the Times, 15, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

The number of Catholics in this country is usually stated at something over seven millions, but a late number of America, a Chicago journal, publishes figures showing that their numbers have been greatly under-estimated. It says:-SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.53

“The Catholic hierarchy in the United States has existed just one hundred years. The chancellors of the various dioceses furnish figures in consequence of this centennial, which show that there are in round numbers 12,000,000 Catholics in this country. The New England and Middle States have 5,822,811, the Western States 5,117, 565, and the Southern States 1,215,576. Three are 8,118 priests, 7,363 churches, 1,180 chapels, 32 theological seminaries, 125 colleges, 549 academies, and 2,790 parochial schools, having 507,196 scholars. There are also 73 bishops, 13 archbishops, and 1 cardinal.”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.54

The significance of these figures lies in the fact that if they are correct one-fifth of the people of this country follow the leadership of the Pope. If they are “good” Catholics they owe their highest allegiance to the Roman pontiff. “If,” says America, “they are not Catholics first and American citizens second, then they are not loyal followers of the Pope, according to the belief of that astute politician and seeker after temporal power.”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.55

“Back Page” The Signs of the Times, 15, 14.

E. J. Waggoner

A Chicago lawyer who recently secured a fraudulent divorce for a client was a few days since found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to the county jail for one year and to pay a fine of $500. If all the divorce sharks were served in the same way it would do something towards solving the divorce problem.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.56

Owing to the preponderance of the hoodlum-element at Sunday picnics in the neighborhood of San Francisco, the South Pacific and other railroad companies have decided to run no Sunday excursion trains from that city this summer. The company has also issued an order prohibiting the selling of liquor at its stations, except at the principle eating stations. It is also considering the advisability of closing all the bars on the ferry-boats on San Francisco Bay.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.57

March 16 a hurricane swept over the Samoan islands, doing untold damage and wrecking the American and German men-of-war in Apia harbor. Four vessels, two American and two German, are total wrecks, while one American and one German vessel it was thought might be saved. The total loss of life in the two fleets was 142; of these 96 were Germans and 46 Americans. The one British man-of-war at Apia, the Calliope, having a supply of fuel, which it seems the other vessels did not have, escaped by putting to sea.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.58

In the office chapel the other morning the pastor said in substance: I suppose that most of us have not forgotten that to-morrow, April 1, is a day which heathen custom has set apart as a time in which we may tell lies; but falsehood on one day is just as bad as falsehood on another. The apostle says, “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.” Neither does sport justify the foolish lying and jesting; for “as a madman who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man that deceiveth his neighbor, and saith, Am I not in sport?” “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor,” on all days, under all circumstances. And the SIGNS responds, as will all its truth-loving readers, Amen.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.59

Some time since, in commenting upon the statement that religion and the drama were becoming intertwined, we said: “Religion and the drama may be becoming intertwined, but Christianity and the drama are not and never can. The drama is part and parcel of the world, and the Christian is commanded to ‘love not the world, neither the things that are in the world; if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.’” This the Freethought, a liberal paper published in San Francisco, criticizes as follows:-SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.60

“We read in holy writ that God himself so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son for it, and the Son so loved the world that he gave his life to redeem it. We are, furthermore, enjoined to be perfect as the Father in Heaven is perfect. If man is to be as God, and if God loves the world, how can man leave the world outside his affections? Is it possible that there can be inconsistencies in religion?”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.61

This criticism is merely a play upon words. God loves the world in one sense, while the unregenerate man loves it in quite another sense. God’s love for the world is that of a parent for a child, a love that would elevate and save, and this is witnessed by the fact that he made an infinite sacrifice to make salvation possible. But the love of the natural man for the world is altogether selfish; he loves it that he may use it to gratify his unholy desires. Man’s love of the world is really self-love; God’s love for the world is a love for others. There are glaring inconsistencies in religion, so called, but none in genuine Christianity. Religion and Christianity are not synonymous, nor is everything Christian which bears that name.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.62

“America” well says that “the new Roman Catholic University in Washington, which is soon to begin educating American young men, will probably prove itself as un-American in all the ideas and methods found within its walls, as anything could well be. Bishop Keane, the rector of the university, is now in Rome, whither he lately took the statutes of the new institution as framed by the American bishops, to be corrected and approved by the Pope. They have been examined by a commission of Italian cardinals, on whose recommendations the Pope has acted. While in the shadow of the Vatican, Bishop Keane is picking up the Italian professors to bring back with him under contract to teach American pupils. Therefore, the new university will be, to all intents and purposes, a foreign institution of learning planted on American soil, and reeking with the dogmas of Rome.”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.63

“A Millennium Maker” is what the San Francisco Examiner calls the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage. That gentleman has submitted the conversion of the world to a mathematician, and finds that 2,754,375 Christians out of the nominal 500,000,000 can accomplish the conversion of the world, or bring about the millennium, by the beginning of the next century, if each converted person will convert another, and that person another, and so on. He thinks an army of 50,000,000 earnest Christians would do it, while an army of 47,000,000 could be held in reserve. But there have been just such millennium makers in the past. The same idea was advocated a few years ago by the Christian Commonwealth, of London. The question is not, Can they do it, but will they do it? All might become Christians, but the divine word asserts that all will not. The millennium will not come till ushered in by the presence of the Lord to reward his own and destroy the wicked. And the millennium of saints will not be on the earth, but in Heaven.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.64

Quite a number of ladies of Healdsburg, Cal., recently presented to a certain defender of Sunday sacredness, a memorial, in which they say, “We, the undersigned, ladies of Healdsburg, who observe Sunday as the Lord’s day, desire to extend to you,” etc. Evidently they wrote more truly than they designed. They do not observe the Lord’s day, nor do they call Sunday such, but they “observe Sunday as the Lord’s day.” We may in the same way observe Monday, Tuesday, or any other day of the week, as the Lord’s day.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.65

But Sunday is always only observed as the Lord’s day. It has no right to the title any more than Monday. “The seventh day,” God declares, “is the Sabbath of Jehovah” (Exodus 20:8-11); the Lord calls it, “My holy day” (Isaiah 58:13); and Jesus declares that he is Lord of that day. Mark 2:28.The seventh day is the Lord’s day, and he who observed it according to the commandment, observes the Lord’s day. The Lord’s day of the Bible then is, not the first day, but the seventh day, commonly called Saturday.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.66

The London Christian World has entered a vigorous protest against a London Sunday edition of James Gordon Bennett’s paper, the Herald. The World says that Mr. Bennett “will do well to recognize the general feeling against the publication of the new London edition of that paper on Sundays as well as week-days. It is an intensely unpleasant and dangerous, as well as an unnecessary, innovation.”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.67

Prominent ministers of almost all denominations, including Archdeacon Farrar, Rev. Hugh Price Hughes, the Bishop of Ripon, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, and Drs., Allen, and Drs. Dale, Allan, and Parker, have also spoken against the innovation, but still the Sunday edition of the Herald is published. Referring to this matter the Christian at Work says: “We would wish Mr. Bennett would discontinue a publication which so greatly offends a pronounced public sentiment. But we fear there is as little probability of that as there is that the tide of the Indian Ocean will climb to the peaks of the Himalayas.”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.68

The soldier of Christ must make up his mind that he cannot please all. In fact, it is not to be his object to please any man. The ship that will sail with every wind will never enter port. The Christian who endeavors to agree with each one he meets will as often go backward as forward. His chief object should be to love God, seek God, please God. Men will find fault with him, it is true. They will find fault with him if he tries to please them. John the Baptist was temperate and abstemious, and men said that he had a devil; Jesus met with men at the social board, and the Jews said that he was gluttonous and a wine-bibber. Matthew 11:18, 19. Their lot would have indeed been hard if their only object had been to please men. But they had a higher objective,-to please God alone,-and their joy was proportionately great. “Not as pleasing men, but God that trieth the hearts.”SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.69

The extent and severity of the famine in northern China can scarcely be realized in America. In this country of vast resources, numerous railways, and sparse population (only fourteen to the square mile), a failure of crops may cause “hard times” in the district immediately affected, but a famine is scarcely possible, at least such a thing has never been experienced in our country. In China, however, the case is very different. The country is destitute of railroads, and is densely peopled. The provinces now suffering from famine are said to have a population of from 150 to nearly 500 per square miles. A vast majority of these are poor. At least they lead a precarious existence, living from hand to mouth, and with them a failure of crops means not simply financial embarrassment, as it does to the American farmers, but hunger, cold, and nakedness, and in many cases actual starvation.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.70

Northern China has cold winters, and in the present case the horrors of famine have been increased by the rigors of a hard winter. The Chinese Government has done something for the relief of its suffering subjects, and the people in the more favored districts have also contributed, but the resources of the Government and of the people are alike limited, and an appeal has been made to the world. Relief committees have been formed not only in China but in London, Berlin, New York, San Francisco, and other cities, and funds are being collected and aid forward as rapidly as possible. It is stated that the sum of ninety cents will provide food for a single person for three months, and if such be the case certainly none should be permitted to starve unless lack of transportation prevents aid from reaching them in season.SITI April 8, 1889, page 201.71