The American Sentinel 15
February 1, 1900
“Front Page” American Sentinel 15, 5, p. 65.
THE Sunday law contains the germ of a “Sabbath trust”—a monopoly on Sabbath observance. The meaning of the Sunday law, is, “Our Sabbath or none.” AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.1
THE heart is the fountain head of the good or evil that blesses or curses society; and only that which can reach the heart can help to cleanse society of its wickedness. AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.2
THE true Sabbath keeper is not willing to break the Sabbath in order to find out whether some one else is keeping it, or to force some one else to keep it, or to hire others to do these things. AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.3
THE perfect man is simply justified by the moral law, and the transgressor is simply condemned by it. In no case has the law—even the divine law—any power to lift men to a higher moral plane. AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.4
IF it had been possible to make men good by law, there would have been no gospel pointing to Jesus Christ as the one and only way of salvation; and every scheme to make men good by law denies the necessity of the gospel. AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.5
THE person who tries to drive another person to the Lord, must necessarily be further from the Lord than is the one whom he would drive, since the object driven must always move away from the driver. The individual who comes nearer to God must always be drawn, not driven. This is why individuals and society cannot be made better by law. AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.6
THE Sabbath cannot be kept on two days in the same week; for to observe two days by rest from work is not Sabbath observance, since the very essence of Sabbath keeping is the setting apart of one day of the week, by rest, from all the others. Exodus 20:8-11. AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.7
GOD made the day for work, and the night for rest. He made the first six days of the week for the pursuance of secular affairs, and the seventh day for rest from secular labors, and the consideration of things spiritual. This is God’s order and God’s law. Men have been trying to improve upon it ever since it was instituted, but they have never succeeded, and never will. AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.8
“A ‘Christian Political Union’ Called For” American Sentinel 15, 5, pp. 65, 66.
A “NATIONAL assembly” of “Christian politicians” is to be held May 1, of this year, in the city of Rock Island, Ill., for the purpose of organizing a “Christian Political Union,” which will apply “the principles of Christ to the Government of the United States of America.” This call, which is in the form of an address adopted by a “conference of Christian men and women” held in Willard Hall, Chicago, December 31 last, is as follows:— AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.1
“To all Christian Voters and Friends of Jesus of Nazareth throughout the United States of America, Greeting: AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.2
“We believe the fullness of time to have arrived when the eternal principles of justice, mercy and love, as exemplified in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, should be embodied in the political economy of our nation, and applied in concrete form to every function of our Government,—national, state, municipal and local. AMS February 1, 1900, page 65.3
“We believe that the most direct means of accomplishing this end is the formation of a political body of united Christian men and women, who shall use their elective franchise for the selection of able, worthy, and conscientious public officials who will seek in their respective positions to perform the functions of government in the spirit of the Man of Galilee. AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.1
“We believe that a sufficient number of our fellow-citizens have been so spiritually and intellectually enlightened by the example and teachings of Christ and his disciples as to equip them for wise and efficient leadership of such a political force; and to these we appeal for immediate and vigorous co-operation. AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.2
“We believe that the pressing need, yea, the necessity of the times among the great masses of our fellow-citizens is a practical application commercially and socially of the spirit and principles of Jesus of Nazareth.... AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.3
“We therefore call for a national assembly of Christians men and women of legal age, representing every State, territory and possession of the United States of America, to meet in the city of Rock Island, Ill., on the first Tuesday of the month of May (May 1), in the year of our Lord 1900, at the hour of 10 A. M., for the purpose of formulating a plan for national political action. AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.4
“For the purpose of securing the fullest possible expression of the will of the people, we recommend that, for this initial national assembly, the number of delegates named by each State, territory, or possession, shall be fixed at the discretion of the constituents. ‘Whosoever will, let him’ come. The only test of eligibility shall be:— AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.5
“Actual personal attendance at the conference and satisfactory answer of the following question: ‘Have you been elected as such delegate by a parliamentary body of your fellow citizens, and do you believe in the application of the principles of Christ to the government of the United States of America?’” AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.6
These are remarkable statements, and all the more significant because they express a sentiment, or conception, that is everywhere pervading the religious world. And how does this prevailing conception accord with the divine standard of religious truth? Let us note some of its features:— AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.7
The “eternal principles of justice, mercy, and love, as exemplified in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ,” are now to be “applied in concrete form to every function of our Government.” But have these principles, as thus exemplified, been applied in concrete form to the lives of the individual citizens?—Oh no; only to a very small extent. This is a truth plainly seen on every hand. How then can they possibly be applied in the Government, which is of the pople [sic.] and by the people? AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.8
“Worthy and conscientious public officials,” to be chosen by the people, are to “perform the functions of government in the spirit of the Man of Galilee.” And the leaders of this new political force are to be “a sufficient number of our fellow-citizens” who have been equipped for such leadership by being “spiritually and intellectually enlightened by the example and teachings of Christ and his disciples.” But where in all the record of the example and teachings of Christ and his disciples, is there to be found any instruction or any precedent, conducting political affairs? The Saviour kept entirely aloof from politics, though the government of Judea was more corrupt in his day than is the government of the United States at the close of the nineteenth century. If it had been important for Christians to apply the principles to the governments of the world, would he not have instructed them upon this point? AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.9
The “pressing need” and “necessity of the times” is “a practical application commercially and socially of the spirit and principles of Jesus of Nazareth.” Does this mean that there is any greater necessity for society to-day than that of these principles to the individual heart, by God’s plan of faith in Jesus Christ? And if it does mean this, can it possibly be true? AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.10
The masses of the people are unchristianized; this is plain. Iniquity and corruption abound on every hand. The great cities are like Sodom and ancient Babylon. Men and women are given to every form of worldly pleasure and every form of vice. The church congregations are small. The great majority of the voting population are not even nominally Christian. And yet (it is thought) somehow, through these very people, and without changing them individually at all, the Government is to become Christian! Somehow, through these unchristian masses who do not apply the “principles of Christ” to their own practises at all, these principles are to be applied and carried out in the practises of the Government! This is strange blindness, truly. AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.11
In every manifestation of Christianity, the starting point from which it is developed is always the individual heart. This is the starting point, always; and any thing which does not start there—anything which ignores that starting point—cannot be Christianity. And Christianity starts in the individual heart only by the grace of God, through faith. AMS February 1, 1900, page 66.12
“The Secret of the National Apostasy” American Sentinel 15, 5, pp. 67, 68.
THE abandonment by the Government of the United States of the fundamental principle of the nation, that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, is not at all a new thing except in the mere acts in which the thing is manifested in practise. This practise is only the fruit of evil seed diligently sown all over the land for more than thirty-five years. AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.1
All these years there has been an organization working and aiming definitely to turn the United States Government into a government of another form. Accordingly it has denied the fundamental principles of this nation as the nation was founded. AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.2
All these years this organization has had its agents traveling throughout the length and breadth of the land, diligently teaching these principles which are antagonistic to the principles of the nation. These agents have had unquestioned entry into the academies and colleges of the whole country; they have been prominent on the programs of Chautauqua assemblies; they have had the sympathy and support of the churches and of the W. C. T. U. everywhere. And all these opportunities they have employed to the uttermost. AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.3
The organization to which we refer is the National Reform Association: which attained a permanent organization in January, 1864. Their theory of government has from the beginning been only the theocratical one; and accordingly they have ever insisted that this nation should incorporate this theory into its Constitution and thus make of the Government a theocracy instead of a republic; its powers seated in a hierarchy instead of being derived from the consent of the governed. AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.4
The representatives of this organization have openly proclaimed, as for instance at a convention at Sedalia, Mo., May 23, 24, 1889, that— AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.5
“To appeal to divine authority in our legislation would be to fundamentally change the law of our land, or the principle adopted by our fathers when they said that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. I for one do not believe that as a political maxim. I do not believe that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. And so the object of this movement is an effort to change that feature of our fundamental law.... And I see in this reform a providence teaching us the necessity of recognizing something else besides the will of the people as the basis of government. AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.6
And as in another instance at Chautauqua (N. Y.) Assembly in August of the same year, a representative of the National Reform combination of organizations, proclaimed:— AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.7
“Governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.” AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.8
Now in the discussion of this question in national circles to-day it is recognized that it is the younger generation of public men who are leading in the path of world-glory at the expense of the fundamental principles of the nation; while the old men are the convervatives [sic.], and call for allegiance still to these principles wherever the jurisdiction of the nation may be extended. AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.9
This is the truth. And this younger generation of public men of to-day were the boys in the academies and colleges of the country twenty to thirty years ago. And these were the boys who in those academies and colleges were inoculated in those years with this virus of the National Reformers that governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. And now when those boys as the men of the younger generation in public affairs to-day meet a crisis in which it must be decided whether the fundamental principles of the nation shall be adhered to or repudiated they are prepared, and have long been prepared, to repudiate these principles in the interests of a will-o-the-wisp of “the empire of the Son of God,” and in order to the execution of “his will”! AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.10
This is the secret and the true philosophy of this repudiation of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the nation to-day. AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.11
The first definite and decisive national steps in this ruinous course were taken in 1892 when the United States Supreme Court declared that an establishment of religion was within the intent of the Constitution, and that therefore “this is a Christian nation;” and when Congress by definite act set aside the Sabbath of the Lord from his own law, and substituted Sunday in its stead; and when the Executive approved the legislation. In that procedure the national Government in all three of its essential branches, did espouse the principles of a theocracy—the National Reform principle. AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.12
After that it was in the nature of things that it would be only a question of occasion and opportunity as to when the fundamental principles of the Republic would be openly repudiated by the nation. In 1898 and onward the opportunity came, and was greedily seized, and the occasion has been to date most diligently employed. And it is all only the logical result of the inculcation of the National Reform principles in the formative years of those who are now the younger generation of present day “statesmen.” AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.13
Nor has that evil scheme yet reached its culmination; nor will it have reached its culmination until the Government shall have been brought under the sway of a hierarchy, the civil power dominated by the ecclesiastical, after the perfect likeness of the system of the Dark Ages. AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.14
Ten years ago in discussing the principles and character of that organization we said: “Such is the National Reform combination and its principles as it stands, in itself considered. And from all this it is evident that the whole scheme and organization forms only a colossal religious combination to effect political purposes, the chief purpose being to change the form of the United States Government and turn it into a new ‘kingdom of God,’ a new theocracy, in which the civil power shall be but the tool of the religious, in which the Government shall no longer drive its just powers from the consent of the governed; but shall be absorbed in the unjust and oppressive power of a despotic hierarchy, acting as the representative of God,’ asserting and executing its arbitrary and irresponsible will as the expression of the law and will of God.” AMS February 1, 1900, page 67.15
And so it is swiftly coming to pass. AMS February 1, 1900, page 68.1
A. T. J.
“The Pope, the Archbishop, and the United States” American Sentinel 15, 5, p. 68.
LATE dispatches from Manila indicate that there was truth in the report recently circulated that the Catholic friars would be maintained in office in the Philippines under American authority. At a reception given by Filipino priests to Archbishop Chapelle, which was attended by the most prominent citizens of Manila, these dispatches state, the “woman principal of the municipal school,” who was “one of the guests,” “started to read a petition praying for the withdrawal of the friars from the islands,” when “Archbishop Chapelle stopped her, saying that question would be regulated by the pope, Gen. Otis, and himself.” AMS February 1, 1900, page 68.1
Previously, according to report, both the archbishop and Gen. Otis assured the Filipinos that the friars would not be forced upon them against their wish; but now the archbishop’s declaration is that the question will be settled according to the wishes of the pope, Gen. Otis, and himself. AMS February 1, 1900, page 68.2
The statement was received with an angry demonstration by the Filipino audience, and cries of “no friars in any capacity.” AMS February 1, 1900, page 68.3
It is clear enough that if the question of subjecting the people to the friars is to be settled by the pope, the archbishop and the American general, it will be settled by the pope and the archbishop; for against these two it is wholly improbable that the American commander, whose business is with military rather than with religious affairs, would offer any serious opposition. All that is wanted of Gen. Otis in this matter is to furnish the military authority and force necessary to carry the decree of the pope and the archbishop into effect. AMS February 1, 1900, page 68.4
And what business, it may well be asked, has the American commander in Manila—the representative of the United States—to act in conjunction with the pope and the archbishop in a question to government in the Philippines? Has the United States gone into a government partnership with the papacy in this new territory? and what business have religious officials with civil or military affairs? Whether then the question which is to be regulated by the pope, the general, and the archbishop be a civil or a religious question, what business have these three officers—the religious and one military—to act together in deciding it? How can the American Government do this without playing into the hands of the papacy? AMS February 1, 1900, page 68.5
The Filipino people do not want the friars; that is plain. But if they are to have civil and religious freedom, as has been so loudly promised from this side of the Pacific, what have they to fear in the matter? How can the friars be imposed on them against their will, if they are to be religiously and civilly free, as are the people in America? And if they are to be thus free, who but themselves will decide whether they are to have the friars over them or not? And if the people are to be free in the matter—if they are to decide the question themselves for themselves, as would be done in America—how happens it that the question is to be decided by the pope, the archbishop, and Gen. Otis alone? Evidently, if these reports are true, there is neither civil nor religious freedom for the Filipinos under American rule. AMS February 1, 1900, page 68.6
“Back Page” American Sentinel 15, 5, p. 80.
THE Jewish nation reject Christ because they were seeking a political saviour,—a saviour of the nation, from the Romans. Christ came as a personal Saviour and therefore they did not want him. And do we not see the same thing to-day, in the United States? Are not the religious bodies of the land calling for political salvation,—for salvation of the nation, through politics—more loudly than they are calling for personal salvation? And in this are they not rejecting Christ, as did the Jews? Verily they are. Jesus is not a political Saviour, but a Saviour of individuals “from their sins.” AMS February 1, 1900, page 80.1