The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 75

July 19, 1898

“Editorial” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 30, p. 460.

THE Book of Acts is the record of the work of the Holy Ghost in the time of “the early rain.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.1

The first thing in the book is that Jesus “was taken up,” but that it was “after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.2

Next, the day on which he was taken up, he “commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father; for.... ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.3

And next, the same day, he said, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.4

Now we are in “the time of the latter rain,” just as truly as they were in the time of “the early rain.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.5

Through the Holy Ghost, he has now given commandment unto us to receive “the promise of the Father” and “be baptized with the Holy Ghost,” not many days hence, but just now, to-day, while it is called to-day. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.6

It is true now and forever that “ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.7

Have you power? If now, you know why: it is because the Holy Ghost has not come upon you. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.8

And if the Holy Ghost has not come upon you, it is because you will not receive him. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.9

And without him, you can not be “witnesses unto” Christ. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.10

“Ask, and it shall be given you.” “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.11

“Editorial Note” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 30, p. 460.

IN bestowing the talents, the Lord gives “to every man according to his several ability.” He gives to each one according to the individual ability of that particular one to use what is entrusted to him. To the one he gives ten talents, because the “several ability” of that one is sufficient successfully to use ten talents. The one to whom are given five has ability to use five, but not ten. And the one to whom is given one has the “several ability” to use one. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.1

And the one to whom is given one is under just as much obligation to use with all his might that one as is the one to whom are given ten, to use the ten. As Success well remarks: “It is not a question of how many talents you have, but have you doubled what you have? A man who has doubled his one talent does infinitely better than he who merely preserves his ten. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.2

“How near do you come to doubling your talents, and makinmg the most out of the stuff that is in you? Are you improving your opportunities to the utmost? How near do you come to equaling your possibilities? How does what you are compare to what you might be? ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.3

“You are a failure if what you might be is ... a failure if you are not doubling your talent or talents, whether at a cobbler’s bench or in Congress. A good farmer is more useful than a bad governor, a good private than a bad general.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.4

“The Bible First in Language” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 30, pp. 460, 461.

IN learning a new language, the only proper way is, first of all, to learn from the Bible in that language. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.1

As to a strange language, the mind is absolutely a blank; and the first impressions made upon it, the first thoughts that enter it, will irresistibly color all associate thoughts or impressions that ever come afterward. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.2

It is therefore infinitely better that the thoughts of God in the new language shall be the first that enter the mind, and so throw their pure light upon all other thoughts that enter the mind, than to begin with fairy tales, trifling stories, pagan notions, or records of war, and so have these to cast their dark shadow upon the thoughts of God when his word is read. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.3

To illustrate: suppose you would learn the German language, and that the first words you ever learn are these: “Im anfang war das Wort.” Then the first thought which ever enters your mind in the German language is, “In the beginning was the Word.” Then, having learned this, whatever after that, as long as you live, you meet the word anfang, that word will unfailingly recall the expression, “Im anfang war das Wort,” and the thought, “In the beginning was the Word.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.4

Or suppose the Greek, and the first words that you ever learn in it are, “En arch en ho Logos;” and therefore the first thought in a Greek that ever enters your mind is, “In the beginning was the Word.” Then, having learned this, wherever you meet either the word arche or Logos, instantly occurs the thought first lodged in your mind with the passage, “In the beginning was the Word.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.5

But suppose you unfortunately fall into the hands of a teacher with whom the Bible is not supreme, and therefore is not the first and most important book in every line of study; suppose the first words and language that he gives you are from some fairy story, some fable, some novel, some play, or from any other source than the Bible. When you learn those words, you receive the thought expressed by the words. It having learned that, then afterward, when you meet those same words in the Bible, instantly and irresistibly your mind will refer to the first thought in those words, and the clear rays of light and truth and the words of the Bible will be clouded and confused by being mixed up with that fairy scene, or whatever it was that was first associated in your mind with those words. Then your very study of the Bible will be hindered, and you will be crippled, by such a bad beginning in the new language. On the other hand, when you begin right, with the words of the Bible and the thoughts of God first, then if, for any purpose, you should find it necessary to read those other books, you will find the precious light and wisdom and strength of the thoughts of God constantly recurring and abiding with you, guiding you in the way of truth, and guarding you against that which is false. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.6

It is so, also, in the study of Greek or Latin or any language whatever. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.7

What a lasting injury, then, it is to students, and especially the young,—what an imposition upon them, and what an abomination altogether,—when they are kept a year, two years, or even more, in the wild, foolish, false, and wicked mouthings of pagan poets, philosophers or actors, or even the writings of historians before they are qualified to read New Testament Greek or Bible Latin. Is a mind whose whole warp and woof in Greek is pagan the better qualified to understand and appreciate Christian Greek? Is a mind that has grown from one to three years all over Gaul, amid the barbarities of Cesar and the Gauls, or that has dwelt all its Latin life in the pagan miasma of Virgil,—is such a mind the better prepared to read in Latin, to Christian profit, the Gospel of John or the epistles of Paul? Are paganism and barbarism an essential basis for Christianity? Are pagan thoughts and heathen conceptions an essential antecedent to Christian thoughts and divine conceptions? ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.8

If not, why do teachers who consider themselves, and expect others to consider them, Christians, cause their students of Greek, or Latin, or any other language, to build up their minds in that language wholly of pagan material, and that from one to three years, before they are expected, or given any chance, to form their minds of the Lord’s thoughts—the perfectly good, the perfectly pure, the perfectly true? ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.9

For all practical purposes, the mind is composed of thoughts. The object of study is to obtain thoughts—knowledge. The object of study is to build up the mind; the mind is built of thoughts, and thoughts are obtained by study. What, then, is the object of professed Christian teachers in having students study pagan Greek and pagan Latin first of all? What can be their object, other than to build up the minds of the students in paganism and of paganism? In plain words, What can be their object other than to make pagans of the youth who are under their instruction? For what the mind is, the man is. And if the mind is pagan, the man is pagan; and if the mind is mostly, or even partly, pagan, the man is mostly or partly pagan. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.10

But is it the God-given task, or responsibility, of Seventh-day Adventist teachers to cause students to become even partly, nay, even in any degree whatever, pagan? The only possible answer is, No. Then what Christian—Seventh-day Adventist—teacher can ever put any pagan book into the hands of any student as a text-book, or as a book for study at all? What Christian teacher can put any book but the Bible first of all, into the hands of any student; and other books only when the thoughts of God from the Bible have formed and fashioned the mind, and made it capable of testing the value of what may be found in the human book? ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.11

And if, by any mishap, there should be found in any Seventh-day Adventist school, or anywhere else among Seventh-day Adventists, a teacher who cannot teach from the Bible the language which he proposes to teach, but must teach it from pagan authors,—Cesar, Virgil, Homer, or who not,—then the students who are so unfortunate as to fall to that teacher for instruction should refuse to take a single lesson from him in that language; that is, in short, they should refuse to submit themselves to that teacher, to be made pagans of to any extent whatever. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 460.12

This is not to say that no other book but the Bible can ever be read or studied in a foreign language; but it is to say that no other book should ever be read or studied in a foreign language until that language has been learned from the Bible, and until the Bible can readily be read at sight in that language. With this has been, and can be, done by a person, then that person can read with perfect safety, and to profit, any other book in that language which he may find it necessary to consult. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.1

The Bible must be first, and the original text-book, in every line of language study. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.2

“They Are Dead” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 30, p. 461.

THAT Prof. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., of Union Theological Seminary, whose extravagance in “higher criticism” and “salvation after death” have caused much discussion in the last three or four years, is now advocating prayers and sacrifices for the dead. Not only this; but he declares that he finds “a considerable amount of such prayer for the dead unconsciously, yet logically and no less truly, offered in funeral addresses and prayers by the most radical Protestants.” He says:— ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.1

A Christian who thinks that the initial stage of salvation must begin in this world before death, will limit his prayers for the dead to their growth in grace and holiness; but a Christian who thinks that salvation may begin after death, will naturally extend his prayers so as to include the conversion and regeneration of the dead. In his prayers for the dead, each Christian will make his practise of prayer conform, in a measure at least, to his theory of salvation. Thus, prayer for the dead is a privilege and duty for all who practise prayer for the living; and sacrifice for the dead is the duty for all who practise sacrifice for the living. The dead saints and the living saints are so united in one holy communion that in all religious activities all saints share alike. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.2

But where is the sense of talking about these “dead saints” who are said to be so much alive that they can be converted, and can pray in return to those who pray for them? If all that is true, they are not dead at all; but are more alive than they ever were before. To such nonsense and inconsistency are those led who respect the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.3

No; “the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything.” Ecclesiastes 9:5. The living know something; but the dead know nothing. The living are alive; the dead are not alive—they are dead. “Thou shalt die, and not live,” says the word of God; but behold, these moderns will have it that people die and live both at once. It is sheer paganism; and paganism is sheer deviltry. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.4

“Editorial Notes” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 30, p. 461.

FREDERICK W. FARRAR is Dean of Canterbury, and the author of a “Life of Christ,” a “Life of St. Paul,” and of several other most scholarly works; he is a master of Greek and Latin and a philologist; he was a master of Harrow, and for thirteen years a successful teacher; and of classical education he says:— ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.1

I must avow my distinct conviction that our present system of exclusively classical education, as a whole, and, carried on as we do carry it on, is a deplorable failure. I say it, knowing that the words are strong, but not without having considered them well. I say it because that system has been weighed in the balance, and found wanting. It is no epigram, but a simple fact, to say that classical education neglects the powers of some minds and some of the powers of all minds. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.2

A good many admirers of the classics are prompt to say that the man who speaks disparagingly of classical education “does not know what he is talking about.” But the person who would say that, on this subject, Dead Farrar “does not know what he is talking about,” would give the best of evidence that he himself did not know what he was talking about. In this thing, Dr. Farrar does know what he is talking about. And what he has said on this subject is the truth. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.3

“Editorials” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 30, p. 461.

ONE of the most eminent men that America has produced, wrote to his son this perfect piece of Christian advice:— ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.1

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. demand more of yourself than anybody expects of you. keep your own standard high. Never excuse yourself to yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself, but lenient to everybody else. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.2

Only by so doing can any one answer the Christian call, “Let us go on unto perfection.” He who so does, he who thus puts himself under discipline to God, will attain to perfection in Christ Jesus in whatsoever he puts his hand unto. Do it. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.3

“Passing Events. ‘Imperial America’” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 30, pp. 461, 462.

“IMPERIAL AMERICA” is a term now seriously proposed and actually used to suggest the “manifest destiny” of the United States in the “enlarged sphere” opened to her by the guns directed by Dewey on the morning of May-day at Manila. This sentiment is fast growing. In a speech at a dinner tendered to him before leaving San Francisco to govern the Philippine Islands, Major-General Merritt said:— ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.1

I believe in the new national policy of the United States, which looks to the acquisition of additional territory represented in outlying islands that are requisite for the development of national strength and growth. The war was begun for the enforcement of the idea of human liberty, and with no thought of national aggrandizement; but the logic of events has brought about an unexpected result, and the government has taken the Philippines by right of conquest. What the navy has won the army will hold. The strong hand of the government on those islands ought never to be loosened. This great people is in need of room in which to spread. The people feel this; and the government will never be able to let go of the islands that have been won by American prowess. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.2

The Chicago Times-Herald is almost strictly an administration paper. With General Merritt’s words—“What the navy has won the army will hold”—for a text, the Washington correspondent of the Times-Herald tells what he finds at the national capital, as follows:— ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.3

“What the navy conquers the army must hold.” So said Major-general Wesley Merritt, prospective military governor of the first colony of the United States; and his sentiment has awakened a responsible echo from the nation. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.4

Admiral Dewey’s victory at Manila has filled the American blood with the fever of conquest. Conservatives may “preach on the policy of the fathers,” but they can not hold the ears of the masses while the fever is on. The cooler judgment of the sober second thought may quiet the public pulse, but there is abundant evidence that for the time being the sentiment of the nation is against the surrender of any territory wrenched from the grasp of .... ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.5

The writer then spoke of the prospective annexation of Hawaii as a part of this new national program, and assured the public that that would certainly come to pass. Hawaii has not been annexed; the Ladrone Islands have been taken from Spain, and the American flag floats there. So that so much of the program has already been performed. The writer proceeds:— ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.6

But it is the jewels of Alfonso’s crown at which the new-bogus lust of conquest aims. It is the Spanish isles of the Orient and Occident that have challenged American prowess. It is the idea of empire that has filled the American soul with world-wide ambitions. These aspirations are a new force in American life; and, sooner or later, the guiding statement must face that force. Washington is the nerve-center of the country, and the new sentiment is surging to this center with such intensity as to command earnest attention. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.7

SPAIN’S ISLAND POSSESSIONS

Already the cry is that Spain must be stripped of all her island possessions in America and Asiatic seas. Let the figures tell the price of that stubborn quality termed “Spanish honor.” This is the list of the principal islands, with their area and population, according to the latest statistics:— ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.8

AMERICAN

Square Miles.		Population.
Cuba	41,255	1,631,687
Porto Rica	3,670	806,768

ASIASTIC

Philippines	111,436	7,000,000
Sulus	550	75,000
Carolines and Pelows	550	36,000
Ladrones, or Marianos	420	16,172
Total	161,581	9,550,567

MERRITT HITS POPULAR CHORD

Unused to the possession of insular colonies, taught by a hundred years of precept and example to avoid it, the first thought of Americans, on learning of the triumph of Admiral Dewey, was that Spain should not be punished by the loss of the Philippines. American sentiment has changed. It has become familiar with the thought of “colonial empire,” and there is something in the sonorous term that appeals to the imagination. Advocates of colonial expansion have sprung up on every hand. The disease is contagious, and the masses have caught the fever. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.9

General Merritt not only touched a popular chord, or at least awakened a dormant chord to responsive rhythm, but his phrase has furnished the country with a telling shibboleth. Statesmen may make the laws, but greater than they is he who turns the sentiment or passion of a nation into a pat epigram. General Merritt has made the epigram; and if he were a younger man, it might make him president of the United States and its dependencies. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.10

NEW NATIONAL DESTINY

By one of the accidents with which all history is strewn, the American people have a new destiny opened before them. One need not be for or against a policy of colonial expansion to recognize the fact that the nation is at the parting of the way, nor should one be blind to the wonderful possibilities and the grave responsibilities presented to the United States for its choosing; but a calm survey of the field from Washington is calculated to convince one that there has been a remarkable transformation in the American habit of thought. It has been revolutionized, apparently, within a few weeks. The change is reflected in Congress; for the representatives of the people are quick to catch the public pulse. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.11

The American government entered on this war to free Cuba, and hand it over to the Cubans, but the American people may change their mind. Influences are at work that may ultimately force the retention of the Pearl of the Antilles, though this government would be quick to discover such a possibility. It is concluded that a protectorate will probably be established over Cuba for a time, only the Cubans shall have organized a competent government of their own, and from a protectorate it .... possession. There new sentiment for the retention of Cuba, and the government may have to face a tidal wave when the war is over, and the cost is counted. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 461.12

In a sermon only a few days ago, President Patton, of Princeton, said:— ARSH July 19, 1898, page 462.1

History knows not what it is to retreat. Every step we take shuts a door behind us. The boom of Admiral Dewey’s cannon across the Pacific made us forget Washington’s farewell address and throw the Monroe doctrine for a time into the background. It is impossible, some one says, for a nation to secede from the family of nations, and if it stays in the family, it is going to have family complications. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 462.2

All these things are worthy of thoughtful consideration; for no one knows what “manifest destiny” may produce. And if we mark events as they pass, we shall be able better to understand each new phase that may open to the world. These are times in which the world moves rapidly, and much may occur in a day. And all these events are laden with solemn meaning to every one who is waiting and watching for the coming of the Lord. “Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 462.3

“Just What Could Be Expected” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 30, pp. 462, 463.

PRESIDENT WASHBURN of Robert College, the American college at Constantinople, writing of the jealousy with which Europe regards both England and the Untied States, says:— ARSH July 19, 1898, page 462.1

We can never get back to the position which we occupied before this war, whether we desire to do so or not. Henceforth, in self-defense we must share the burdens of Europe, and have a navy and an army strong enough, at least, to defend our liberty and our rights. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 462.2

These words, which have been widely quoted, were spoken a number of weeks ago, and they are of peculiar interest at this time. It will be remembered that when the war with Spain was declared, it was not for conquest, but wholly to the interest of humanity. But now, when that nations is conquered, or nearly so, Germany sends some war-ships to the Philippines Islands, ostensibly to protect German interests. Immediately the order is given for another fleet of American war vessels to proceed there at once,—and for what purpose?—“To defend our rights”? The statement is made that “... many will be forced to prove her case;” still further, that “if she (Germany) sends battle- ships for the arbitrament of the question, the United States will be prepared.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 462.3

And the way is specially preparing for what can easily develop into the great Armageddon; indeed, one European writer has prophesied that the Spanish-American war is the beginning of this “time of trouble.” O that people everywhere might see, in these events, tokens of the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom, and that those who do understand these things would awake to a realization of their real importance. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 463.1

“‘They Can Be Trusted Anywhere’” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 30, p. 463.

A BROTHER recently related to us an incident which came under his notice, and which, for the moral it contains, is worth repeating. In a certain town a little company of Seventh-day Adventists had established so good a reputation for truthfulness, honesty, and faithfulness in meeting financial obligations, that they could secure credit anywhere as soon as it was known who they were. One day there drove into one of the lumber-yards of the town a man who told the proprietor that he was a stranger, a Seventh-day Adventist; that he had lately bought a farm out in the country, and desired a load of lumber for which he did not just then have the money. The reply was, “IF you are an Adventist, that is all I want to know. They can be trusted anywhere.” The lumber was measured up, and the man loaded it on his wagon, but as he was about to drive away, he took a chew of tobacco. The proprietor just then coming out of his office, saw this, when, without a moment’s hesitation, he said; “Stop! You can’t have that lumber. You have deceived me. You said you were an Adventist. You have lied to me—I know you have; for no Seventh-day Adventist chews tobacco, as I see you do. Unload that lumber from your wagon at once, unless you have the money to pay for it on the spot.” The deceiver’s fraud was discovered: he could only do as commanded; and he went away probably a wiser man than when he came. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 463.1

That lumber merchant was right: no Seventh-day Adventist chews tobacco. Some frauds, who try to pass themselves off as Seventh-day Adventists, chew tobacco; but their deception will soon be discovered, and just what they are will be know by all. And all who are indeed Seventh-day Adventists—may the Lord preserve them forever in such honesty and faithfulness that “they can be trusted anywhere.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 463.2

“Back Page” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 30, p. 468.

ON the prospect before this nation in connection with the Philippines, Harper’s Weekly says: “If we keep the Philippines, our frontiers will touch the frontiers of Europe at the point where there is at present most likelihood of the breaking out of war.” Thus “the kings of the East” are preparing. The next thing in order will be the preparing of “the way of the kings of the East” by the drying up of “the waters of the river Euphrates.” And when this way is prepared, and “the kings of the East” come up to the battle of Armageddon, they will be composed of all the nations,—this farthest west with all the others; for the kings of the West now are the only kings of the East. “Get ready, get ready, get ready.” ARSH July 19, 1898, page 468.1

Are you keeping in close touch with the message, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost”? read the report in this issue of what was done for those who accepted it at the St. Helena (Cal.) camp-meeting; then turn and read the first-page article carefully, and see how the Spirit is calling upon his people to know practically what they have long professed theoretically. Never has what this article contains been so emphatically given to this people, for the reason that they were not ready for it. Christ’s promises are indeed just as fresh and strong for his people right now as they were in the days of the apostles. The seed has been planted, it has germinated—will you nourish it till it becomes a healthy plant? Brethren, let is grow. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 468.2

We read in the Word that the Virgin Mary’s Son should be called JESUS because “he shall save his people from their sins.” Then, again, of Jesus it is said that “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Yet in the face of this positive testimony, Romanism has turned this squarely about. Doctor Pierson, of the Missionary Review, relates that while in Dublin, Ireland, he read on one Roman Catholic church this inscription: Maria Peccatorum refugio (“To Mary, the refuge of sinners”). Thus Romanism puts the Virgin between Christ and the soul, and makes Mary, instead of Christ, the mediator. ARSH July 19, 1898, page 468.3

The work of the third angel’s message is onward. It began in obscurity; and form the day it was first proclaimed, giants have appeared in the way to hinder its progress. Obstacles have been encountered that would naturally discourage the stoutest heart. Yet in spite of all these,—in spite of the weakness, the mistakes, and the failures of those to whom it has been committed,—the message has never taken one backward step, but has continued to grow in power. Men are everywhere accepting... translation. Not every one who accepts it is thus transformed, made a new creature, but that is not the fault of the message. There is power in the Word to cleanse men from every taint of sin, if they will only let it. the message is designed to prepare a people who will stand before the judgment bar “without fault.” The serious question with each one should be, Is the message doing that work for me? If not, why not? ARSH July 19, 1898, page 468.4