The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 76
November 21, 1899
“The Sermon. The Bible as a Text-book” 1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 47, pp. 751, 752.
A. T. JONES
(Concluded).
WHOEVER understands the Bible best, knows most fully that it is the greatest and best book in the world. Its being the word of God, having the eternal thoughts of the eternal purpose of God,—the wisdom of God himself set down for our study and our education,—it could not be anything but the best book that there can possibly be—the greatest in every sense. And, then, whenever anybody gets the idea that to make the Bible first in all education would be a very small thing, that only says that to him the Bible has not yet become a very large thing. Only let all Seventh-day Adventists freely accept the fact that the Bible is the greatest thing in the world, and give it the place that it deserves in all education, then Christian education will soon show itself to be the greatest and best education in the world. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.1
Regard the Bible as the text-book, the basis of all study, in English literature. English literature as a study is regarded as essential in education to-day. I will not deny it. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.2
As to the language in which English literature is written, the English of the Bible is the purest and best English that there is in the world. There are in the Bible more pure English words, and better English words, than in any other book in the English language. Then, whoever would become acquainted with the purest and the best English must study the English of the Bible. The Bible, being the purest English, should be the beginning and the basis of all study in English literature. In the Bible there is every phase of literature that is involved in expressing or describing human experience. This being true, it furnishes an immense advantage over all other matter in the study of English literature. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.3
Lord Macaulay speaks of the Bible as “that stupendous work, the English Bible—a book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.”—Essay on “Dryden.” No one who is acquainted with the English Bible and the spirit of it and with other literature in English will question for a moment this estimate of the wealth that there is in the Bible as the best English literature. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.4
But the transcendent value of the Bible as literature is that it is all true. Whereas, how much of that which is studied to-day as English literature, in the schools, colleges, and universities, is true? Is not nine tenths of it fiction? And is it not the fictional that stands the highest in these schools, as literature? What can give a man prominence to-day in the world of English literature more quickly than the writing of a popular novel? Even a minister of the gospel, an earnest, godly, powerful minister of the gospel, never can gain the prominence, even among people who profess the gospel, by simply preaching the gospel of the word of God, that can be gained by writing a novel: and especially if he writes two or three; and so demonstrates that he has special ability as a novelist. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.5
There is a notable instance of this just now before the American public. One of the most prominent of the novelists of the present day, before he became a novelist was a minister of the gospel. Secondarily he is yet a minister of the gospel. He had preached the gospel for years, and was just as able a preacher then as now; but, instead of his being then called from Europe to America, because he was an able preach of the gospel, it was never until he became a capital novelist that he had any special standing as a preacher of the gospel; that is, his standing as a minister of the gospel is made dependent on his popularity as a novelist. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.6
Now which is better, which is the more Christian for Christians, or for a Christian school—to study English literature that is inferior in quality, and is fictional besides, or to study it in that “Book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power,” and which, in addition, is all the very perfection of truth—the truth of God? To ask the question is certainly only to answer it, in the mind of every Christian, and in the mind of every one who would receive a Christian education. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.7
Natural philosophy will be studied in Christian schools. Take, for instance, gravitation. The word “gravitation” is derived from the word gravitas,* signifying “weight.” The law of gravitation is the equilibrium—the system of balances—of the universe. It is the law by which each particle of matter in the universe draws with its full weight upon, attracts, or is balanced with, every other particle. Now a Bible text that is the basis of study on this whole subject is Isaiah 40:12, in which it is said that God has “comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance.” The hills are balanced with the mountains, the mountains with the earth, the earth with the tiny flower that grows from its bosom, and all with the grand universe throughout. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.8
Another text on this subject is Hebrews 1:1-3: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.” His power is but another word for gravitation; for in science, gravitation is what holds all things up. Yet in the field of accepted science alone, that is as far as a student is generally allowed to go. He may ask, What holds all things up? The answer is, Gravitation. He then may ask, What is gravitation? And the answer usually is, That which holds all things up. But that is not a valid answer: it is only asking him to move in a circle, and find no goal. Now, in a Christian school, when it is taught that the law, or system of balances, according to which all things are held up and in their relative places, is gravitation, and then the question is asked, What is gravitation itself? the answer is, The power of God in his word. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.9
Then with these and other scriptures as the texts on gravitation, let the teacher lead the student as far afield in the vast realm of that subject as opportunity and facilities will allow. At every step of the way he is walking with God, and so is advancing in the way of true science and genuine philosophy. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.10
History, both national and church, is an essential study in Christian schools. And for universal history, national and church, from the flood until now and to the end of the world, the Bible is the one grand text-book. The Bible, as it stands from Genesis to the captivity to Babylon, the true text-book of the history, both national and church, of that period. From the captivity to Babylon to the end of the world, that portion of the Bible from the captivity to Babylon unto the end of the Book is the text-book of the whole history, both national and church. And in this portion of the Bible the books of Daniel and Revelation are the keys: Daniel in national history, and Revelation in church history. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.11
You begin with the text in the Bible on the history of Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, or Rime, then all the history of that nation, whether in the Bible or out of it, is open to you for the study-book. And when once you really find this secret, you will be surprised to see how much history there is in the Bible alone. You will be surprised to find how much of the history of Babylon, of Medo-Persia, Grecia, or Rome, then all the history of that nation, whether in the Bible or out of it, is open to you for the study-book. And when once you really find this secret, you will be surprised to see how much history there is in the Bible alone. You will be surprised to find how much of the history of Babylon, of Medo-Persia, of Grecia, and of Rome is made plain in the Bible alone. Indeed, you will find that with the exception of the dates and the names of individuals, the whole history of the nation is told in a verse or two in the Bible. Take, for instance, Daniel 7:14: “The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.” That tells the whole history of Babylon. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.12
Law is a subject that must be studied in Christian schools; and the Bible must be the only text-book. I do not mean law as the terms is used and generally understood by lawyers and judges in earthly courts, but as the term is used and understood by the Judge in the court of heaven—law as it is in the divine principles of justice and righteousness. It is painful to see the indifference of professed Christians to the principles of daily justice and righteousness between man and man as they are made so plain in the Scriptures, especially in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.13
The truth is that every Seventh-day Adventist should read, over and over, simply for the principles of justice and fair and honest dealing, Exodus 20-24; Leviticus 19, 25; and the book of Deuteronomy, until these principles become his very life; then read and re-read the sermon on the mount, and the first eight, and from the twelfth to the fourteenth, chapters of Romans. Every Seventh-day Adventist should read, over and over, these portions of Scripture. And especially should these portions be read over and over by every minister; every president of a Conference; every manager, superintendent, and foreman in every institution; every teacher in all the schools—especially by every one in responsible position in our ranks in all the world. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.14
This is essential. It is our life. It is only Christian education. Why should we slight it? ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.15
Logic is a subject that must be studied in Christian schools. And the Bible must be the only text-book. I do not mean the logic of Aristotle, nor of any other man. I do not mean the logic that is in the books in the schools. I mean the logic that is manifested in the divine reasoning that is in the Bible. I mean that the word of God must be studied until the very thoughts in that word shall become the thoughts of the one who studies, until the reasoning, the logic, of the word of God shall be his reasoning, yea, till the very mind that gave the word of God shall become his mind. This only is Christian logic. And only such study as this, is the study of Christian logic. In this the Bible is not only the text-book but also the study-book. For is it possible to find truer logic, sounder reasoning, than in the divine reasoning? And has he not extended the invitation to all people, “Come now, and let us reason together”? What then shall be thought of professed Christian teachers and professed Christian schools that turn from the fountain of divine logic to drink from the turbid streams and stagnant pools of human reasoning? ARSH November 21, 1899, page 751.16
In these studies I have endeavored to set before you as fully as possible what is Christian education, and what is meant by the Bible as a text-book. I hope you begin to see that the thought of the Bible as a text-book in all Christian education has some consistency to it; and that the Bible as the basis of all education has the true philosophy in it. Not long ago a university graduate, who is now an editor of a prominent magazine in this country, was talking with me about this view of education. In a little while he caught the principle of it, and exclaimed, “Why, with such a system as that in full operation, every one of your schools will be a university, and every teacher will be a genius—he will have to be.” ARSH November 21, 1899, page 752.1
It is true. When we get God’s view of education, and carry it out in the Spirit and power of God, it is true that every Seventh-day Adventist school will be a university. It will not be called that, but it will be that; because the universal Book will be the text-book, and the universe itself will be the study-book. And with teachers who are guided and taught by the Spirit of the King and Author of the universe, what but universities can such schools be? ARSH November 21, 1899, page 752.2
Then, please do not allow any false alarm from those who do not understand the subject, to draw you away from your interest in Christian education in our schools. Instead, we need to put our whole souls into this, instead of holding it off at arm’s length, and eyeing it suspiciously. Take the Bible as the word of God; put your whole soul’s confidence in it, and trust God to lead you in his own way, into the education that he has chosen to give us in our own schools. It is high time that this were so. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 752.3
“He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee;” and “who teacheth like him?” ARSH November 21, 1899, page 752.4
“Editorial” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 47, p. 756.
THE National W. C. T. U. has now definitely put itself on record on the question of Sunday laws and Sabbath-keepers, in the following words:— ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.1
Resolved, That we favor the amendment of all State Sunday laws which do not contain the usual exemption for those who keep the Sabbath day. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.2
This resolution was offered “as involving all necessary points, and omitting the objectionable ones” in the following resolution, which was before the convention:— ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.3
Resolved, That as a National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union we protest against any such interpretation or use of any lines of our work as shall give aid or comfort to those who, through ignorance, prejudice, or malice, would enact or enforce such laws as can be made to serve the purpose of persecution, or to in any manner interfere with the most perfect liberty of conscience concerning days, or the manner of their observance. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.4
Now, we wish that somebody would take this original resolution and point out the “objectionable points.” ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.5
We really desire to know what points there are in that resolution that are “objectionable;” and then to know, also, why they are “objectionable.” ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.6
As the National Union has taken this action, and so has committed itself to the consideration of this subject, it is entirely proper for them to signify the “objectionable points” in that resolution. And we now say to all the women of the N.W.C.T.U. that the columns of this paper, the ADVENT REVIEW AND SABBATH HERALD, are freely open to them, in which to show these “objectionable points.” ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.7
It is proper that they should do this, because we are concerned in it. They have adopted a resolution definitely directed to “those who keep the Sabbath day.” There are about fifty thousand of us—the Seventh-day Adventists—in the United States, who are concerned in the action of the National Union in passing this resolution, and who shall be concerned in their putting the resolution into effect. And, as in their estimation, the resolution that they passed, was passed expressly in order to avoid the “objectionable points” in the resolution that was before the convention, they ought to be willing, for the sake of the many who are concerned, to state what are the “objectionable points” in the original resolution, and why we should be expected to accept the substitute, and their action in carrying it out, instead of insisting upon the principles embodied in the resolution for which the one that was adopted is the substitute. For, surely, they ought to have our co-operation in what they have adopted; and we can assure the N.W.C.T.U. that we do sincerely wish to co-operate with them in every way that is possible; and we will do so. But when a vital principle is involved, then adherence to principle is of more worth than is co-operation at the expense of principle. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.8
In the National W.C.T.U. convention the following notice was given:— ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.9
Madam President and Delegates: I give notice that at the next annual convention I, or some one in my place, will offer the following amendment to the constitution:— ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.10
ARTICLE VI.—PLANS OF WORK
Nothing shall ever be incorporated into any plan of N.W.C.T.U. work, by department or otherwise, which must of necessity become the occasion of sectarian controversy, or which can in any sense be made to interfere with perfect liberty of conscience. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.11
This is the regularly established procedure in the N.W.C.T.U. in all matters pertaining to amendments to the constitution. This notice, therefore, stands as perfectly regular and strictly in order; and, as such, is before the union for consideration, through the whole year, until the next annual convention, and will then be before the convention for consideration in convention, and for the decision of the convention. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.12
Thus, by two distinct acts—their own action as a convention, and this notice of an amendment to the constitution—the N.W.C.T.U. is committed definitely to the consideration of Sunday laws as affecting Sabbath observers, and to the consideration of their plans of work with respect to whatever may be, or may become, “the occasion of sectarian controversy, or which can in any sense be made to interfere with perfect liberty of conscience.” In others words, the N.W.C.T.U., by these two acts, is brought face to face, officially and as a body with the question of religious liberty—the right of conscience as involved in Sunday laws and Sabbath observance. We are glad of it. This is a good thing. It is one of the best things that has happened to the N.W.C.T.U. since about 1886, at least, if not one of the best things that ever happened to it. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.13
The National Union, in convention assembled, has declared itself in “favor” of “the amendment of all State Sunday laws which do not contain the usual exemption for those who keep the Sabbath day.” this action of theirs commits them to an examination of all the State Sunday laws, to discover which of them does “not contain the usual exemption for those who keep the Sabbath day;” and then, having found these, to “favor the amendment” of them. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.14
In the nature of the case, this commits the whole National Union to the study of the question of Sunday laws and Sabbath observers. And, as there is a regularly introduced notice of an amendment, which they will be asked to adopt at the next annual convention, by which “nothing shall ever be incorporated into any plan of the N.W.C.T.U. work, by department or otherwise, which must of necessity become the occasion of sectarian controversy, or which can in any sense be made to interfere with perfect liberty of conscience,“—this, backing up their own work to which they are committed by their own resolution, in the nature of things, requires them, in the examination of “all State Sunday laws,” to consider whether there be anything connected with these that may “become the occasion of sectarian controversy, or which can in any sense be made to interfere with perfect liberty of conscience.” ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.15
Thus, by their own action in resolution, and by regular notice of an amendment to their constitution, the N.W.C.T.U. is pledged to the consideration of “perfect liberty of conscience” as connected with Sunday laws and Sabbath observers. And, in the consideration of this mighty question,—one of the most important ever known,—the most important that has ever been before the N.W.C.T.U., the ADVENT REVIEW AND SABBATH HERALD can freely give, and hereby does pledge itself to give, the most hearty co-operation. And we call upon all Seventh-day Adventists in the nation to give the same co-operation in the consideration of this great question as the REVIEW AND HERALD proposes to give. Let all “those who keep the Sabbath day” assist by all possible means—by literature, lectures, sermons, Bible instruction, social converse—in every way help, and co-operate with, the women of the N.W.C.T.U. in the consideration of this great question, which is inevitably now before them for at least a whole year. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.16
“Editorial Note” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 47, p. 756.
EDWARD FAIRFAX BERKELEY, a young man of nineteen, in attendance at Cornell University, was drowned during the preliminaries of his initiation into the Kappa Alpha society. Before being initiated each candidate is “put through severe physical tests of a kind that will make him pliable at the formal ceremony behind closed doors.” Young Berkeley had been ordered to pin a penciled note to a distant bridge. He started across country to do so, and upon attempting to wade through a canal, was drowned. Speaking of this custom, one of the members of the society said: “We tire the candidates out so they won’t be bigoty at the initiation.” Another candidate was forced to run and walk eighteen miles across country before being initiated. The report states that “extraordinary efforts were made by the faculty, alumni, and undergraduates to show that the tragedy was not due to the Kappa Alpha’s ritual or requirements, and that the fatal feat that Berkeley was order to perform could not in any sense be termed dangerous.” Accordingly the verdict of the coroner was “that said drowning was accidental, and the same was occasioned by the fact of no other person, and that no individual or society was in any way liable or responsible for the death.” He was an only son. What are all these leading educational institutions leading to? ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.1
“Editorial Notes” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 47, pp. 756, 757.
THE following statement of the London correspondent of Harper’s Weekly, Nov. 11, 1899, opens to view a startling condition of things in more points than one. Perhaps the most impressive phase of the subject is the forceful illustrations which it gives of how fragile are the mightiest constructions of men, and how easily all can go to pieces at a touch:— ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.1
Britain is not fighting for franchise, nor for goldmines: she fights for her imperial life. If Buller fails to beat the Boers, India, Australia, and Canada will take note that the queen’s government has been driven from South Africa by the adult population of two petty states, actually inferior in numbers to the highly trained army despatched by fifty million Anglo-Saxons to accept the challenge of the Boers, Australia, if the British are beaten, would become a republic or a series of republics, since there would be neither honor nor profit in belonging to the British Empire. Canada would probably gravitate toward the United States for the same reason, with a possible civil war on racial lines, in which France might attempt to recover some of her lost influence among the French Canadians. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.2
In India, the Maharaja (Gaekwar) of Baroda, the Nizam of Hyderabad; the ruler (Sindhia) of Gwalior; the chief (Holkar) of Indore, and the Maharaja of Jammu* and Kashmir, are feudatory princes more or less under the control of the Indian government. With the smaller dependent states, they govern a population of 65,950,398. These feudatory and dependent states in India have armies that are admitted to be dangerously large. A return was published in 1884 which showed that over 300,000 men and 4,237 guns owned allegiance to the native princes. A large proportion of these forces is little better than a badly equipped, undisciplined rabble; but the Indian government has elaborated a scheme for the training and equipment of picked contingents of troops in certain states, with a view to enable the chiefs to bear a direct share in the defense of the empire. The keenest interest is felt in the native states in any war affecting their suzerain; and if the British flag is not hoisted at Pretoria within a reasonable time, we shall infallibly have to reckon with military problems in India, which may easily become fraught with peril to the British raj, in which the feudatory princes are not on our side. If our army in South Africa is defeated by the Boers, we should receive our notice to quit in India, and the Asiatic inheritance, toward which far-seeing Englishmen have looked forward since Clive defeated Dupleix, would pass into others hands. Of the action of Russia on the Afghan frontier, Korea, and the Yang-tse Valley; of France in China, Newfoundland, and Madagascar; and of Germany in china and elsewhere, it is needless to speak. Our decadence would not be arrested for lack of kicks bestowed with the hearty good-will of every first-class power, with the probable exception of the United States. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.3
So much for the immediate consequences of British failure in South Africa. To the indirect political and economic results I am unable to give space further than to say that a hungry and indignant electorate would give short shrift to a constitution and a government that revealed their impotence to withstand the forces of a brace of petty peasant states. Monarchy, the House of Lords, the church, the landed system, and the bureaucracy would be swept away like autumn leaves before the storm, and a series of political and economic experiments would be tried by inexperienced hands, which would plunge the [then] English republic into a morass of bankruptcy and despair. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 756.4
The British Empire must either beat the Boers or burst. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.1
“Studies in Galatians. Galatians 3:6-9” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 47, p. 757.
“EVEN as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.1
The great contention of those who had confused the Galatians was that the Gentiles who believed in Christ must be circumcised in order to be saved. In the nation of the case, they carried back to Abraham the obligation of circumcision; because in his family circumcision was instituted. They disconcerted the Galatians Christians by presenting to them this fallacious argument:— ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.2
The promise of inheriting the world, and, indeed, all the promises, was made to Abraham. Abraham and all his family were circumcised. Now it is perfectly proper to believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins; but in addition to this you must be circumcised, and so become children of Abraham, in order that, as children of Abraham, you can be heirs to the inheritance, the world to come, that was promised to Abraham. None but true children can inherit from the father. Therefore do you not see that if you would inherit from Abraham, you must be children of Abraham? That is plain enough. But Abraham, to whom the property belongs, was circumcised. You can be children of his only by circumcision; because all his children must be circumcised. Therefore do you not see that while it is proper and even necessary to believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, it is essential that in addition to that you shall be circumcised in order to be saved, and so to inherit the land and all the promises given to Abraham, the father? Do you not now see how Paul is robbing you of your inheritance, and shutting you out from all the blessings of Abraham our father, by telling you that you need not be circumcised? ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.3
Now, that argument is wholly fallacious, and is shown to be fallacious in the double fact that Abraham received the promise of the inheritance, and, indeed, all the promises, and also that which makes sure the inheritance, before he was circumcised. In other words, it was while Abraham was a Gentile that he received the promises; and he received them altogether by faith. then, whosoever are of faith, these are the children of Abraham. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.4
Righteousness is that which makes sure the inheritance; and it is written: “Abraham believed God, and it [his believing God] was accounted to him for righteousness.” Thus Abraham obtained the righteousness of God by believing God. He obtained the inheritance, the world to come, also by believing God. Thus both the inheritance and the righteousness that makes it sure were received by Abraham by faith alone. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.5
So, then, all that are of faith are the children of Abraham; and, being children of Abraham, are heirs of the inheritance, which is the world to come. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.6
It was also while Abraham was yet uncircumcised, while in that respect he was yet “a heathen,” that God gave to him the promise that he would “justify the heathen,” in the words: “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Therefore, again, as it was while he was yet a heathen that Abraham was justified, and justified wholly by faith; and, as it was then too that God promised to Abraham that he would justify all the heathen exactly as he had justified Abraham, if follows inevitably that all the heathen must be justified by faith, in order to be children of Abraham. And, so, being thus by faith children of Abraham, they are “heirs according to the promise” given to Abraham. “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.7
And this justifying, saving faith is not faith and circumcision; but faith without circumcision. For “cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised.” ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.8
And this was so in order “that he might be the father of all them that BELIEVE, though they be NOT circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also; and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.” ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.9
That is to say that even though they were children of Abraham by natural birth confirmed by circumcision, yet he was their father, and they were really his children only when they were justified by that faith which he had, and when they walked in the steps of that faith which he had while he was yet, as regards circumcision, a Gentile. And now when He had come in whom Abraham while a Gentile had believed and had been justified and had obtained the promises, and these Gentiles had believed in him, just as had Abraham when he was a Gentile, for those who were circumcised to insist that those believing Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be the children of Abraham and to be saved, was simply to show themselves altogether behind the times, and sadly lacking in understanding of the very truths which they themselves professed, and of which they bore the mark. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.10
Therefore it is faith in Christ, and faith alone, that avails: it is faith in Christ that avails to obtain forgiveness of sins; it is faith in Christ that obtains the inheritance; it is faith in Christ that obtains the righteousness which, alone, can make the inheritance sure. And it is faith in Christ, and that alone, that can enable the one whose sins are forgiven, so to walk in the path of righteousness that he shall enter, in full and assured heirship, upon the inheritance that was given to Abraham and his seed, through the righteousness of faith. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.11
“Editorial Bit” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 47, p. 757.
THE following outward look of Harper’s Weekly is a sign of the times, as well as a good sketch of how the course of empire has passed from sea to sea, and has at last completed the compass of the earth:— ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.1
During the lifetime of all men now living, our attention has been fixed, not on American nationality in its larges sense, but on American nationality only as distinguished from division at home.... Our consciousness of a nationality, of a great mission, in the development of civilization, had become narrowed to the thought only of keeping our own territory intact. To unify it forever, to solidify our national sentiment, to come to a realization of ourselves, it was necessary to look outward; and the outside responsibilities that have now come to us almost by accident have happily brought an occasion for us to look outside ourselves. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.2
And all this comes just when commerce is entering its romantic era, and when adventures of trade are more thrilling than adventures of knighthood once were, ... when the game of honest diplomatists and enterprising merchants must be played on the map of the whole world, and no longer along the coastline of a single ocean. For many centuries the Mediterranean limited the enterprises and bounded the thought of men; then the Mediterranean broadened into the Atlantic, and for four centuries, almost to our own time, our enterprises and our thought were limited by this one ocean. Now the opening of the Pacific measures the next step that we must take and forever hold as a means of extending our vision and our influence. ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.3
It is true that— ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.4
“Westward the course of empire takes its way;
The four first acts already past,
The fifth shall end the drama with the day—
Time’s noblest offspring is the last.”
ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.5
And when, in the march of imperial ambition, the nations, having passed the extreme limits of the West, clash upon the shores of the East, how could the result be better suggested than in not only the letting loose of “the four winds” at once, but the causing of them to blow, hurtfully and ruinously, upon the earth? Then it can be said,— ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.6
“Untie the winds, and let them fight
Against the churches;” let “the yesty waves
Confound and swallow navigation up;”
Let “castles topple on their warders’ heads;”
Let “palaces and pyramids slope
Their heads to their foundations;” let “the Treasure
Of nature’s germins tumble all together,
Even till destruction sicken.”
ARSH November 21, 1899, page 757.7