The Present Truth, vol. 13

April 29, 1897

“‘Himself He Cannot Save’” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

When Jesus hung upon the cross, the priests and scribes and elders said in mocking contempt, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.” Matthew 27:42. And in these words there was a truth far beyond what the Jews had any thought of,-a truth that even the followers of Jesus do not appreciate. Whoever grasps the full meaning of the statement, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save,“ and who allows it to apply to himself, has salvation, for it contains the whole of the Gospel. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 257.1

“He saved others.” The Jews acknowledged this, yet they crucified Him. He whose only offence was that “He went about doing good,“ was hanged as a malefactor, and He lifted no hand in self-defence, nor uttered a word of reproach against His persecutors. “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.” Isaiah 53:7. He saved others, and even while hanging on the cross, “a reproach of men, and despised of the people,“ He showed His power to save, in the case of the penitent thief; but Himself He could not save. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 257.2

And this was the secret of His power to save others. It was not simply that He would not save Himself,-not alone that He unselfishly forgot Himself,-but He could not save Himself. To have saved Himself would have been the destruction of all others; for if He had planned to save Himself, He would have stayed in heaven, and never exposed Himself to reproach and cruelty. But such a thing was impossible; He could not thus save Himself, for such a saving of self would have been selfishness, and there was no selfishness in Him. He absolutely could not remain in heaven and leave man to perish. But He could not save men, while keeping Himself in safety apart from them and their troubles. So “He gave Himself for us.” Titus 2:14. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 257.3

Thus we see that the Gospel has the origin and perfection in giving. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” John 3:16. “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,“-not to be served, but to serve,-and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28. “For ye know that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9. He had everything, and we had nothing; so He gave up everything, and He kept nothing, in order that we might have everything. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 257.4

Most clearly is this set forth in Philippians 2:7, but in the rendering of the Revised Version, where we are told that when Jesus had everything, He did not count it a thing to be desired to hold it, “but emptied Himself.” The Greek word from which this is translated has the sense of “to drain out.” In a sense He annihilated Himself, threw Himself away, in order that He might save those who were lost, and in danger of annihilation. He took no thought for Himself; He did not defend Himself against attacks that were made upon Him; utterly regardless, reckless of self, He was lost in solicitude for others. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 257.5

This neglect of self was not a momentary enthusiasm, as when one under a strong impulse saves another from the impending death at the expense of his own life. On the contrary, it was a deliberate, settled purpose. Calmly and deliberately, looking over the whole situation, and counting the cost, He laid down His life, that is, He placed it from Him, gave it up to the service of others, and when that was done, the moment of death was but an incident in a long career of the same giving. His life was just as truly laid down for the sheep before He came to earth, and while He walked and talked and suffered in Judea and Galilee, as when with His expiring breath He cried, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 257.6

In all this history of self-sacrifice there is a lesson for us. We are not simply to admire the example of devotion, but to follow it. In it alone is there salvation. Jesus seemingly threw Himself away, yes, that is what He actually did, for He “poured out His soul unto death” (Isaiah 53:12), “emptied Himself,“ drained the last drop; “wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name that is above every name.” Philippians 2:9. His humiliation was His exaltation; His casting away of self was His salvation. And that was the only possible way of salvation; for, as before stated, to have sought to have saved Himself would have been to deny Himself, that is, to prove false to His nature. Since God is love, unselfishness, the only way that He can preserve His own existence is to give Himself away. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 257.7

“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3:16. The brethren for whom we are to give ourselves are the sons of Adam, for all who are children of Adam must be brethren. Of course those who give themselves for their brethren in Adam, will without question give themselves for their brethren in Christ, who Himself counts even those who do not know the name of God as His brethren, saying, “I will declare Thy name unto My brethren.” Hebrews 2:12. “We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” Let no one say or think, “My life is so commonplace and uneventful that I have no occasion to lay down my life for anybody; no great opportunities come to me.” It is not in dying on some great occasion, that laying down one's life consists; the laying down of life consists in not counting it our own, reckoning ourselves as dead, deliberately putting our life from us, and forgetting all about it in thoughts of others. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.1

The lesson, in short, is that nobody can be saved by trying to be saved. Salvation is too great a thing to be accomplished by human efforts. Strange as it may seem, we can be saved only as we cease all efforts to save ourselves, and lose all thought of self in efforts to save others. Only so do we enter into full sympathy with Christ, and become labourers together with God. But that casting away of self is our salvation, for while we are concerning ourselves for others, Christ, who is also concerning Himself for others, is as a matter of course caring for us. “God turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends.” Job 42:10. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.2

Freedom from anxiety is thus assured to us. How easy to cast all our care upon Him, when we know He cares for us. And when we know that He cares for us, what need have we to care for ourselves? Thus we experience the truth that the Lord's yoke is easy, and His burden light. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.3

One thing more. Paul said, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians, both to the wise, and to the unwise.” Romans 1:14. That which was true of Paul, is equally true of us. Why was he debtor?—The answer is plain, when we once stop to think; it is simply this, that Paul had received the whole of that which was given for the world. Christ gave His life for the world. He “tasted death for every man.” But Christ is not divided; every soul gets the whole of Him. “Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7. His life is light; and a light that shines for me, shines equally bright for all. He is the “Sun of righteousness;” but the sun shines for all; each one gets all the benefit of the sun, and no one could get any more, even if he were the only person on earth. So each person gets the whole of the life of Christ, which is given to the world. Now it is very evident that if I get the whole of something that is given to all the world, that I am debtor to the world; and the same is true of every soul. The only difference between the most of us and the Apostle Paul is that he realised that to him was the fulness of Christ given, and he accepted and appropriated the gift, while we are too often content with but a little of the Divine life. We selfishly think to take just enough for our own use, and put a part away from us, not realising that we must have the whole; and so we fail to realise that we are debtors. May God grant that we all may have the eyes of our understanding enlightened by the Holy Spirit, so that we may know the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and may not reject that portion of the life of Christ which to the natural man seems disagreeable, but may allow His perfectly unselfish life to abide in us, so that we, not alone with our lips, but by the glad offering of ourselves for others, may truly render thanks unto God for His unspeakable gift. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.4

“Job's Examination” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

In the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters of the Book of Job the Creator Himself recounts the wonders of created nature, which He has made, and demands of Job a definite answer as to his knowledge of them. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.5

It is a long and searching examination-a half a hundred questions at least-and Job fails utterly, he cannot answer one. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.6

But Job understood his failure, and said, “What shall I answer Thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer; yes, twice; but I will proceed no further.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.7

But, again, from out the whirlwind, the Lord speaks to Job, and questions him further, until at length, overcome with the grandeur of the view of Almighty power and omnipotent wisdom presented to him, Job breaks forth:— PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.8

“I know that Thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from Thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of Thee, and declare Thou unto me. I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now Mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repentant in dust and ashes.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.9

Job acknowledges that his previous knowledge of God had been by hearsay, but now he saw and knew Him and the wonder of His works. In his previous ignorance, knowing God only by hearsay,-by criticism and commentary, as it were,-he had uttered many things that he understood not, and had attempted things too wonderful for him, which he knew not. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.10

Now, however, he had determined to accept the word of hearsay no longer, but to go to God direct for knowledge and wisdom: “Hear I beseech Thee, and I will speak: I will demand of Thee, and declare Thou unto me.” Then the Lord heard Job, accepted him fully, and blessed him. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.11

“A God of Love” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The difference between the ideas of God expressed in the Bible and those of many theologians is very wide indeed. It is very strange indeed that anyone who had ever read the Bible-and believed it in the least-could have a conception of God as distant and far withdrawn from His creatures, when He tells us explicitly that He is “not far from every one of us,“ that He is always within hearing distance, yes, even always within reach. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.12

How many there have been,-and indeed how many there are, who think of God as a stern and unrelenting Judge, as much a god of bloodshed and war as Mars, or the idol Juggernaut! Very different was the conception of King David when he wrote the one hundred and thirty-sixth Psalm, beginning, “O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever.” Throughout the whole twenty-six verses that is the refrain of each-“for His mercy endureth for ever.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 258.13

“Mingling Darkness with Light. The Bishop's Miter” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

FIRST SINCE THE REFORMATION

The new Bishop of London has worn his mitre in St. Paul's and thus established a record as the first to wear such a head-piece in St. Paul's since the Reformation. Now, apparently, nothing is lacking in the great cathedral, as its services have long been so “high” that only the fact that they are not in Latin indicated to the casual observer that he was not in a Roman Catholic place of worship. A writer in the Edinburg Review some time ago gave some examples to show how “paganism revenged its defeat by adulterating the Christian creed,“ when the “falling away” from the purity of the faith came. He said of the miter:— PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.1

The miter which Clement of Alexandria mentions as a pagan dress took its name apparently from Mithra. The initiate refused the wreath offered to him in those curious mysteries, and exclaimed, “My crown is Mithra.” It is the head-dress of the Persian priests, and of the Mithra-worshippers of Commagene on statues of the early Roman period. This is by no means the only instance in which pagan vestments came to be used by Christian priests. The robes of the flamens were adopted by cardinals; the alb is an Egyptian sacred dress; the dalmatic, a short-sleeved shirt, was worn by Commodus and Elagabalus, the emperor who was priest of the sun god symbolised by the black stone brought from Emesa, in Syria, to Rome. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.2

Except that the paganism which these things symbolise is a living leavening curse in religious life, the milinery worn by the clergy would be of little interest to anyone. But as it is, they are the marks and trappings of apostasy which is leading the religious world away from God and back into the corruptions of old pagan times. And, strange to say, there are multitudes of professed Protestants who object to these extreme points of ritual who nevertheless defend clerical dress of a special style in order to distinguish between “clergy” and “laity,“ a distinction which is absolutely unscriptural and at the root of all this extreme sacerdotalism and ritualism. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.3

The Bishop of London has also made another record, as the first in his office to adopt the Eastward Position in St. Paul's since the Reformation. The Eastward Position has long been adopted in the cathedral, but now the choir and chapter have a bishop to join them. This is another contribution from the sun-worshiping East. In the eighth of Ezekiel the Lord plainly tells what he thinks of it. Is there not need for the message, “Come out of her, My people”? PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.4

“And the Reformation Is Not Ended Yet” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The late Mr. C. H. Spurgeon once graphically described the process by which the early church was paganised. He said:— PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.5

“The greatest curse, perhaps, that ever visited the world came upon it in this way. Certain vain-glorious preachers desired to convert the world at a stroke, and to make converts without the work of the Spirit. This saw the people worshipping their gods, and they thought that if they could call these by the names of saints and martyrs the people would not mind the change, and so they would be converted. The idea was to Christianise heathenism. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.6

“They virtually said to idolaters, ‘Now, good people, you may keep on with your worship, and yet you can be Christians at the same time. This image of the Queen of Heaven at your door need not be moved. Light the lamp still; only call the image “our Lady” and “the Blessed Virgin.” Here is another image; don't pull it down, but change its name from Jupiter to Peter.’ Thus with a mere change of names they perpetuated idolatry; they set up their altars in the groves, and upon every high hill, and the people were converted without knowing it-converted to a baser heathenism than their own. The wanted priests, and lo! there they were, robed like those who served at the altars of Jove. The people saw the same altars and sniffed at the same incense, kept the same holy days and observed the same carnivals as aforetime, and called everything by Christian names. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.7

“Hence came what is now called the Roman Catholic religion, which is simply fearing God and certain other gods. Every village has its own peculiar saint, and often its own particular black or white image of the Virgin, with miracles and wonders to sanctify the shrine. This evil wrought so universally that Christianity seemed in danger of extinction from the prevalence of idolatry, and it would have utterly expired had it not been of God, and had He not therefore once more put forth His hand and raised up reformers, who cried out: ‘There is but one God, and one Mediator between God and man.’ Brave voices called the church back to her allegiance and to the purity of her faith. As for any of you who are trying to link good and evil, truth and falsehood together, beware of the monstrous birth which will, of such an alliance: it will bring on a curse from the Most High.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.8

“Benighted Christendom” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

In the current Century Magazine there is a description (by the editor) of the scenes of Easter time in Jerusalem, when the rivalries of the various sects wax bitterest. There is so great a confounding of the religion of Greek, Latin, and Armenian Catholics with Christianity in the minds of most people that it is needful to point out that it is not Christianity at all. The confusion arises from the fact that popular notions of Christianity leave out the religion of Christ almost altogether and substitute man-made religion for Divine life. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.9

Describing the state of mind of the partisans of “Christianity” in Jerusalem the writer says that “doubt, suspicion, and murder in religion's name, are in the air now as they were of old.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.10

Any of the sacred places themselves may be scenes of violence at any moment. Not long ago the Dalmatian Cavass in charge of some Russian tourists who were visiting in the Grotto at Bethlehem resented the interference of the sacristan monk who was clearing the way before the Latin procession, drew his revolver, and shot him dead on the spot; after that, firing four shots wildly at the procession, he wounded a priest in the arm and rib. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.11

It is like the story of many an unprovoked murder, but the point is that had this man been treated as a murderer by the Muslim authorities, doubtless Russia, who is a protector of the Greek religion in the Ottoman Empire, would have come to the rescue. It is this kind of religion that the great churches of Christendom have exhibited to Mohammedans; and now Christendom rings with denunciations of the Turk, and multitudes of pulpits demand his extinction in the name of Christianity. The only conclusion possible is that the pulpits so doing know no more of the Gospel than their “fellow religionist” of the East. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 259.12

THE “HOLY FIRE”

“Now,“ says the writer, “the time of miracle approaches.” For hours the crowd in the church has been fighting and yelling. “As a preliminary to the sacred manifestation there is a new, wild outburst of cries and screams.” Jerusalem worshippers beat with their fists the men from Jaffa to get their places. “The noise is frightful.” “Men standing on the shoulders of the crowd screech words of religious greeting,— PTUK April 29, 1897, page 260.1

This is the tomb of Christ, darting a finger at the tomb itself with every repetition. “Then when the patriarch within the tomb strikes a fire-which the ignorant believe comes down from heaven-and passes it out, the crowds armed with candles catch it and run.” On and on sounds the clangour and the shouting; men, women and children are mad.” A kindly patriarch said the intelligent Greeks understood that the fire is produced by the patriarch, but that anyone who should tell the frenzied rabble so “would be torn to pieces.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 260.2

At the height of the frenzy, as the flame leaped through the rotunda and lighted the encircling chapels, making more rich and glittering the altars, the gorgeous vestments, the whole ecclesiastical paraphernalia, the arms and uniforms of the troops, and the many-coloured costumes of the mad and motley crowd, the thought flashed upon me: Was ever anything in all Christendom so beautiful and so blasphemous? PTUK April 29, 1897, page 260.3

And when such blasphemy is made religion, and when religion itself instead of inspiring kindness and love is the inspirer of every hateful feeling and the cloak of violence and lawlessness, what must the end be? And now the same spirit is spreading in the West and multitudes whose profession of advanced Christianity should lead them to a desire to carry the Gospel to these benighted peoples, and show to Mohammedans as well what the Christ-life actually is, are blindly encouraging war against Mohammedans in the sacred name of Jesus, and are persuaded that they have embarked in a righteous cause. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 260.4

“Easter Celebrations” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

A daily paper had a column-“Playing at War; Scenes at the Easter Man?uvers.” In rain and cold, hailstorms and wintry winds, the “invaders” and “defenders” scurried from hill to hill, or crouched wet and shivering behind stone walls and hedges in the man?uvers of mimic war. All this celebration of Easter time was going on at home, in the Macedonian mountains gruesome war was, in reality, being enacted. Of this a correspondent telegraphs his paper:— PTUK April 29, 1897, page 260.5

This afternoon I paid a flying visit to the field hospital in the rear. The sight was very distressing, as the wounded tossed on their beds, screaming with agony or babbling in their delirium. Others with feverish hands were tearing the coverlets of their beds into pieces, and in some instances as I pass along the poor fellows would invite me to look at their wounds. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 260.6

These are the practical realities, while the sensuous scenes of beauty and melody which fill the churches are the theory. Why is it that the theory and practice differ so widely? It is because religion has been made a theory and not a practical life. The very Easter day and time, as indeed the name itself shows, is pagan and not Christian. If, then, the theory is pagan, it is natural that the practice should be pagan also, and so it is. There is not the contradiction that there seems to be. But the contradiction is between allied pagan sensuous theory and sensual practical violence on the one hand, and the religion of the Prince of Peace on the other. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 260.7

“Pitcairn Island” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

We give a picture of this rocky island, famed as the retreat of the mutineers of the ship “Bounty.” Their descendants on this island down number somewhat less than two hundred souls. A Sabbath-keeping brother visited them eleven years ago, and since then the islanders have been actively in sympathy with our work. It was their earnest call for teachers and a school that led to the building of the missionary ship “Pitcairn” which is employed in our work among the islands of the Pacific Ocean. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 260.8

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

-Bread riots are reported from Spain. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.1

-There are three habitual criminals in London to every two policemen. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.2

-The annual taxes of the world aggregate the enormous sum of ?1,087,500,000. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.3

-In Italy there are more theatres in proportion to the population than in any other country. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.4

-Sixty-one British vessels were totally wrecked during the month of March, with a Ioss of 172 lives. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.5

-The war preparations in South Africa on the part of both the Transvaal and the Colonial authorities give rise to much anxiety. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.6

-More than 45 per cent. of English people could not write their names when the Queen ascended the throne. The proportion of illiterates has now been reduced to 6 per cent. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.7

-French papers express the hope that in case Germany and Great Britain fall out over the Transvaal question France may gain advantages. The “Concert of the Powers” is not a peace concert. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.8

-The spirit of gambling dominates all classes in Russia. Recent official statistics show that more than 2,000,000 roubles (about ?330,000) are each year spent on playing cards in Russia in Europe. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.9

-Bishop Tucker says that the decree abolishing slavery in Zanzibar will not release the great mass of female slaves, who are retained as the wives of their owners, who are permitted to hold as many as they please in bondage. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.10

-The credit of having the smallest circulation of any newspaper is the world belongs to the Imperial Gazette of Berlin, of which two copies are printed daily. This exclusive publication is intended for the perusal of the Emperor alone. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.11

-The Forth Bridge is constantly being repainted; in fact, no sooner have the painters reached one end than they have to commence again at the other. It takes fifty tons of paint to give it one coat, and the area dealt with is something like 120 acres. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.12

-According to the Army and Navy Gazette, experiments in the utilisation of kites for observation purposes, in time of war, are being so persistently and successfully carried on that there can he no doubt that eventually they will be found more practical than balloons. Before long, says the Gazette, “Kites will take their place as part of the equipment of war.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.13

-The National Union of Teachers met in Swansea last week, over a thousand delegates being present. It was stated that 5,826,000 children are on the rolls of the Board and Voluntary schools, of whom a million are daily absent. Of the whole, four millions end their school education at the age of eleven, just at the time when, as the President said, they are at an age to begin to appreciate educational advantages. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 270.14

“Back Page” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The official visit of the Archbishop of York to Russia has been the occasion of much talk of closer relations between the Church of England and the Russian church. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.1

Agents of the London Missionary Society in Madagascar report that members of the chapels have been forcibly taken possession of by the Jesuits, who feel secure in the favour of the Government. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.2

The Te Torsa, a Rarotongan newspaper just received, contains an account of the closing of the winter term of the Arorangi public school which some of our missionaries have been conducting. The school and its work are highly spoken of. The same paper shows that Romanism is making rapid progress in the South Pacific islands. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.3

A correspondent with the Turkish troops says:— PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.4

The longer the soldiers fight the keener their lust of battle seems to become. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.5

One with the Greeks describes the same spirit, which he says amounts really to a mania. It is the fury of devil-possessed men. They delight in killing because controlled by Satan, who “was a murderer from the beginning.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.6

“The Quality of Mercy” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The Quality of Mercy .—The Daily Chronicle has made an appeal to its readers, “in the name of humanity, to contribute to a fund on behalf of the Greeks wounded in the war.” It also adds “a most earnest appeal to Christian ministers throughout the country on behalf of the sufferers.” It is a worthy object, and it is not supposeable that anybody can be found so hard-hearted as to refuse aid and sympathy to poor, wounded men. But when we are told that this fund is “one of pure mercy,“ we cannot help wondering if the prompters have forgotten that PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.7

The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth like the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.8

or the instruction of Him from whom Shakespeare learned that sentiment, namely, PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.9

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.10

The God of mercy lets the sun shine in Turkey as brightly as in Greece, and with His rain waters the vineyards of the Turks as well as those of the Greeks. Let it even be granted that the Turks are very bad and the Greeks are very good, yet “pure mercy” will as quickly and as tenderly bind up the wounds of the one as of the other. We have no opinion to express as to the relative merits of the two parties to the war, only of war itself, that it is wicked, and no matter by whom conducted nor by whom it is encouraged; but we are sure that when “pure mercy,“ and not political partisanship, starts a fund for the relief wounded and suffering men, it will be applied impartially wherever such men are found, without questioning whether they are Greeks or Turks. Certainly the Christian ministers who respond to the appeal will take this view of the matter. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.11

“Lawless Violence” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

Lawless Violence .—On Thursday, April 22, an attempt was made to assassinate King Humbert of Italy, in precisely the same manner as that by which President Carnot, of France, lost his life. The attempt happily failed, and the would-be assassin was taken into custody. It is stated that “he is without accomplices, and made the attempt merely as a hostile demonstration against the head of the State, because of the bad condition of the country.” It may be that only the one person is directly concerned in this crime, yet the fact is that the man has thousands of backers, and that not only among lawless men who boldly advocate such methods of improving the condition of things. When law-abiding citizens, forgetting PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.12

How small, of all that human hearts endure,
That part which laws and kings can cause or cure, PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.13

proclaim that the business depression, the poverty, and the misery that abounds at any time are due to this or that political party, and that the retirement of this man and the promotion of that man would clear away the troubles, they are unconsciously stimulating those who know no law but force and violence, to just such rash measures to better the condition of things. Only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is there any prospect of real help to the poor and oppressed, and that gives sure promise not only of improvement, but of the absolute and eternal extinction of all oppression, poverty, and suffering. Get acquainted with it, and proclaim it. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.14

“A Strong Delusion” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

A Strong Delusion .—Spiritualists are preparing to celebrate the Jubilee of Modern Spiritualism next year. One of their journals declares that since its rise in 1846 it has exercised “widespread and revolutionary influence upon the thoughts of the age,“ and has been “the leader of the past half-century, effectually leavening the whole lump.” As an evidence of this it points not only to the millions of avowed Spiritualists, but to the recognition of the principles of Spiritualism in the religious world at large. “Its phenomena are familiar,“ it is said, “in every royal household in Europe.” It is Satan working “with all power and signs and lying wonders.” PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.15

“To the Pit” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

To the Pit .—A striking story told by Josiah W. Leeds of how one young man was broken of theatre-going. Having made an appointment to meet one of his friends at a theatre entrance, he was so struck by the usher's repetition of the words, “This way to the pit! This way to the pit!” that he hastily left the place, and never afterward visited a theatre. The Judgment will reveal the fact that many thousands have found their way to the bottomless pit through the theatre entrance. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.16

“What the World Praises” The Present Truth, 13, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

What the World Praises .—One of the war correspondents says,— PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.17

When among Greeks one might really image it would be a disappointment and almost a disgrace, for those who fight not to get killed. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.18

This disregard of life is what makes “good soldiers,“ that is those who will fight desperately, and not be dismayed when the odds are against them. It is the true “war spirit,“ and is shown not only by those who fight, but by the wives and mothers who are dependent on them, and whose support is cut off by their death. We do not remember having ever seen any expression of horror at such recklessness; yet those who think it nothing strange and who even admire it, are shocked whenever a man merely gives us a situation that he cannot hold and at the same time serve the Lord fully. He is accounted foolish, even mad, say, almost inhuman in his disregard for the welfare of his family, although he has the sure promise of life; while the man who lightly leaves his family to go to certain death, is praised. What a strange distortion of vision the devil has afflicted people with. PTUK April 29, 1897, page 272.19