The Present Truth, vol. 11
January 24, 1895
“The Catholic Outlook” The Present Truth 11, 4.
E. J. Waggoner
In all the world the Church of Rome is seeking control of political affairs. It very largely measures its growth and strength from year to year according as it succeeds in this; and it is succeeding, being aided by the movement among professedly Protestant circles in the same direction. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 49.1
The Catholic Times and Catholic Opinion, of Jan. 4, has an article on “The Old Year and the New,” in which the status of Roman Catholicism in the different countries is considered. The simple facts are stated, and are well worth considering. We present the main features by countries, in the order that they are noted in the Catholic Times. First in order is PTUK January 24, 1895, page 49.2
FRANCE
“The relations of France—‘the eldest daughter of the Church’—with the Holy See have on the whole been exceedingly satisfactory, and signs have not been wanting to prove that the authorities have recognised that the old policy of ‘anti-clericalism’ was detrimental to the best interests of the country. If the ‘new spirit,’ the necessity of which was publicly acknowledged, has not been made apparent by many overt acts, there has at least been no manifest evidence of official hostility towards the clergy or the head of the Church. So far as the general condition of the Church in France is concerned, there is good reason to believe that it has been very sensibly improved by the new policy which the Catholics adopted at the direction of Leo XIII., and that as time advances and the organisation of the Catholics becomes more complete, its position will be more secure and powerful.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 49.3
SPAIN
“In Spain there has been an attempt by Lord Plunket, the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, to introduce Protestantism by the consecration of a certain Senor Cabrera as Bishop, but the procedure has been universally regarded as a harmless display of Quixotism, and it is certain that never was Spain truer to its Catholic traditions and more loyal to the Holy See than at the present time.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 49.4
GERMANY
“The Catholics of Germany have, as usual, shown during the past year that in the defence and propagation of Catholic principles they are essentially practical. Their National Congress at Cologne was undoubtedly one of the most successful gatherings of the kind ever held, and in the social programme they adopted they set an admirable example of what may be done by Catholics for the amelioration of the lot of the toiling masses.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 49.5
ITALY
“In, Italy as well as in France, there has been a change of attitude towards the Church. The growth of Anarchy and the diabolical deeds perpetrated by men who were members of this conspiracy against law, order, and human life, brought home to King Humbert and his Ministers the fact that nothing could be more disastrous to a State than the weakening of the religious sentiment, and, therefore, that to treat the Church with hostility is equivalent to acting the part of an enemy of the country. Accordingly Signor Crispi delivered at Naples an address which sounded somewhat like a renunciation of the policy of persecution and a promise to evince a more conciliatory disposition. Some Liberal journals went so far as to found upon this speech the hope of a complete restoration of harmony between Church and State, and a settlement of what is known as the Roman question.... As to the vast majority of the Italian people there is no doubt that they are firm and unswerving in their attachment to the Church.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 49.6
BELGIUM
“In Belgium the Catholics signalised themselves at the General Elections by a triumph which caused astonishment throughout Europe, and carried dismay into the camp of spurious Continental Liberalism that then received a blow from which it will probably not soon recover. The lesson was much needed, and it has also served to inspire Catholics in other countries with courage in pursuing a combative policy.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 49.7
In all the above-mentioned countries it is quite a matter of course that Catholics should occupy the leading place; the chief interests, therefore, in this outlook must centre in the two leading Protestant nations. The Times proceeds with the PTUK January 24, 1895, page 49.8
UNITED STATES
“If from the Continent of Europe we turn towards the Republic of the United States, the prospect is even more cheering. There we see the Catholic Church, abounding in life and energy, taking a noble part in moulding the destinies of a nation which appears fated to be the great Power of the future, and under the guidance of progressive prelates and by the cleverness and soundness of its principles asserting its right to be considered a true pioneer in the advancement to higher aims. We see its ministers establishing points of contact with those outside the Church, opening up a new era of brotherly love, and unfolding fresh aspects of social duty, thus gaining for the Church a degree of authority and a measure of respect which raise it far above all other religious denominations and assure it in the future a position the importance of which it would now be difficult to gauge.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 49.9
GREAT BRITAIN
“In our own islands the religious horizon during the past year has on the whole been most gratifying. It has become manifestly evident that no serious alarm need be felt at the threatened inroads of atheism and agnosticism. It is now generally admitted that the campaign against religious belief conducted by the late Mr. Charles Bradlaugh was an unmistakable failure, and that since his death the number who profess his views has become almost infinitesimal. Agnosticism, pure and simple, too, has been on the wane, and though it still claims some men of ability, who are intoxicated by the sense of their own self-sufficiency, it is certain that their influence is continually diminishing. On the other hand the leaning of Protestants, especially members of the Anglican Church, towards Catholicism is becoming more and more marked. The number of conversions has also been great. Thanks to the light and leading of the Cardinal-Archbishops and other well-equipped thinkers and guides.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.1
The conclusion which the Catholic Times arrives at from all the above is this:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.2
“Wherever, then, we examine the signs of the times, we find them plainly indicating that the effects of the so-called Reformation are gradually dying out and that the people are beginning to recognise the evils of religious divisions.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.3
It is certainly high time that those who believe that there was any reason for the Reformation should be asking themselves the question if there is not yet a good deal of reformation to be accomplished. The Bible teaches us that the Papacy is to resume its ancient power before the end comes, and that “all that dwell upon the earth,” with the exception of those whose names are in the Lamb’s book of life, shall worship the beast; but that does not mean that we should acquiesce in such worship. Rather does it incite us to warn all men of the impending evil, so that none need fall into the snare unawares. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.4
“Watching for Christ” The Present Truth 11, 4.
E. J. Waggoner
The Apostle Peter tells us that the “day of the Lord” will come as a thief in the night, “in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.5
The Saviour’s discourse to His disciples upon the Mount of Olives, gives in answer to their query, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3) contains very explicit language upon this point. It gives us a most impressive admonition. “But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Verses 43, 44. In Luke’s record we find Him saying, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.” Luke 21:34, 35. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.6
Yet no man knows, or can know, the exact time of Christ’s coming, or of the advent of the day of the Lord. The Saviour said, “of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36. Our duty is not to attempt to locate the day, or the month, or the year, which will usher in the day of God or witness the return of Christ in power and glory; but it is to “watch” and be “ready,” taking heed to the condition of our hearts. The person who attempts to fix upon the exact date of his Lord’s return is not obeying the Lord’s command to “watch.” To watch for a thing is to look for it, without seeing it or knowing just when it is to appear. There is enough for the Christian to be doing in view of the proximity of so great an event, without speculating in regard to times which God has not revealed. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.7
We are told what will be the attitude of those who are watching and waiting, in harmony with the instruction and admonitions of Christ. Their hearts will not be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life. Luke 21:34. They will “walk honestly, as in the day” (Romans 13:11-14); they will be “sober,” having on “the breastplate of faith and love,” and rejoicing in “the hope of salvation.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8. They will manifest “all holy conversation and godliness.” 2 Peter 3:11. They will be “exhorting one another,” and so much the more as they “see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25. By this manner of life they will be watching and ready for their Lord, though knowing not the hour of His return. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.8
“Ye, brethren,” says Paul, “are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thessalonians 5:4. Though ignorant of the day and the hour, they are ready for it whenever it may arrive, just as the man who watches is ready for the thief. It is the sleeper who was taken unawares, and suffers a loss. The Christian never sleeps, his spiritual life is ever wakeful and active, for it is the life of God. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.9
Many are asleep who know it not. There are multitudes of dreamers in the church as well as in the world. They hear not the voice of the faithful watchmen, crying, “Now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” Romans 13:11, 12. Or if they hear the voice, it is with consciousness so dim that they heed it not. The watchman’s cry mingles pleasantly with the voices of their dreams. The return of their Lord is not with them a theme of final, burning interest. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.10
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come.” Silently, as with the muted step of the thief, the dread day is stealing on with time’s swift tread, to come suddenly at an hour when men think not, and take the sleepers unawares. Then there will be an awakening such as never was. Then His appearing will be the theme and the burden of all tongues, and fearful voices will take up the prophet’s words, “The great day of His wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” Revelation 6:17. Then there will be weeping and mourning throughout all the earth, and a prayer-meeting such as never was, when the voices of kings and peasants, of rulers and bondmen, shall blend in invocation to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” And then also the voices of those who watched for His appearing will be heard in tones of joy, saying, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord, we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isaiah 25:9. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.11
“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 50.12
“Medo-Persia and Greece. World-wide Empires” The Present Truth 11, 4.
E. J. Waggoner
“Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for wisdom and might are His; and He changeth the times and the seasons; He removeth kings, and setteth up kings.... He revealeth the deep and secret things.” Daniel 2:20-22. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.1
“And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” Daniel 2:39. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.2
These were the words which followed the brief statement of the extent and the fall of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. We have already learned that this “inferior” kingdom which was to succeed Babylon in the dominion of the world was the kingdom of the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:28), and that Cyrus the Persian did actually conquer Babylon, placing upon the throne his uncle, Darius the Median. Daniel 5:30, 31. The conquest of Babylon by Cyrus was effected in B.C. 538, and two years afterward, when Cyrus himself took the throne, he said: PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.3
“Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” Ezra 1:2. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.4
This shows that all of the dominion over which Nebuchadnezzar had ruled, passed into the hands of Cyrus, king of Persia, and that the Persian Empire was universal. It was not inferior to Babylon in extent, but only in wealth and magnificence. Under this monarchy the prophets which foretold the restoration of the Jews to their own land were fulfilled. Most of the Persian kings, although noted for their cruelty, treated the Jews with great favour. An account of the dealings of the Persian kings with the Jews, is found in the books of Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra. The prophets Haggai and Zachariah uttered their prophecies after the return from the captivity, but before the complete restoration. Not a single prophecy foretelling the return of the Jews after the flesh to Palestine and of old Jerusalem, has any application this side of the decree issued by Artaxerxes, king of Persia, recorded in Ezra 7. Those who are looking to the future for a time when all the Jews on earth will flock to Jerusalem and the land of Palestine, will look in vain. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.5
The prophet dwelt only for a moment upon the empire of Persia. He mentioned its rise, only to foretell its fall. “And another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” History tells us very clearly what universal empire followed that of Medo-Persia, but we will not forestall the prophecy; the Bible shall be its own interpreter. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.6
In the eighth chapter of Daniel, verses 3-8, is a record of part of a vision which Daniel saw. Let the reader examine the passage carefully at his leisure; we shall here give only a summary of what the prophet saw. He saw a ram standing by a river. The ram was so very powerful and fierce that no beast could stand before him, “but he did according to his will, and became great.” While the prophet was still looking, he saw a rough goat with a notable horn between his eyes, come from the west, running with incredible swiftness, so that its feet seemed not to touch the ground. This goat came with fury to the ram, and smote him, and cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him; and there was no power that could save the ram from the wrath of the goat. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.7
In verses 20 , 21 this is explained as follows: “The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.” Then since the goat overpowered the ram, the prophecy teaches that Greece succeeded Medo-Persia as mistress of the world. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.8
This is attested by all history. There is no other fact of history so well known as that Alexander the Great conquered the world. “But,” says one, “Alexander was king of Macedon, and it was Greece, according to the prophecy, that overthrew Medo-Persia.” Very true; but it was as king of Greece, and not as king of Macedon, that Alexander started out on his career of conquest. If he had not had united Greece at his back, even he would not have become master of the world. Grote says:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.9
“After displaying his force in various portions of Peloponnesus, Alexander returned to Corinth, where he convened deputies from the Grecian cities generally.... Alexander asked from the assembled deputies the same appointment which the victorious Philip had required and obtained two years before-hegemony or headship of the Greeks collectively for the purpose of prosecuting war against Persia. To the request of the prince at the head of an irresistible army, one answer only was admissible. He was nominated imperator with full powers, by land and sea. Overawed by the presence and sentiment of Macedonian force, all acquiesced in this vote except the Lacedaemonians. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.10
“The convention sanctioned by Alexander was probably the same as that settled by and with his father Philip. Its grand and significant feature was, that it recognised Hellas [Greece] as a confederacy under the Macedonian prince as imperator, or executive head and arm. It crowned him with a legal sanction as keeper of the peace with Greece, and conqueror abroad in the name of Greece.”— History of Greece, chap. 91. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.11
Philip, Alexander’s father, had succeeded in securing the headship of the Greeks. But his death followed two years after, so that he made no use of it. Alexander, therefore, is properly styled in the Scriptures the first king of Greece. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.12
We have no space to devote to an account of Alexander’s victories at the Granicus, and at Issus, by which he gained Egypt and all of Asia west of the Euphrates, and brought Darius, the last king of Persia to sue for peace. Alexander did not wish for a peace that would leave a rival to him: and the last battle, which resulted in the complete overthrow of the Persian kingdom, was fought near Arbela. Of the results of this battle, Grote says:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 51.13
“The prodigious army of Darius was all either killed, taken, or dispersed at the battle of Arbela. No attempt to form a subsequent army ever succeeded; we read of nothing stronger than divisions or detachments. The miscellaneous contingence of this once mighty empire, such at least among them as survived, dispersed to their respective homes and could never be again mustered in mass. The defeat of Arbela was in fact the death-blow of the Persian Empire. It converted Alexander into the great king, and Darius into nothing better than a fugitive pretender.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.1
The Grecian Empire, therefore, with Alexander as its first king, was the power that succeeded Medo-Persia. The battle of Arbela, which made Grecia supreme, was fought in the year 331 B.C. The Medo-Persian Empire had therefore enjoyed universal sway for two hundred and seven years, from 538 to 331 B.C. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.2
“Which shall bear rule over all the earth.” These were the words by which Daniel described the Grecian Empire, which corresponded to the brazen portion of the image. Does history bear out the prediction of the prophet? and did the empire of Greece actually bear rule over “all the earth”? A few quotations will suffice to answer this question. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.3
Rollin says of Alexander’s eager desire to reach Babylon, a few years after the battle of Arbela:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.4
“He knew that there were arrived in that city, ambassadors from all parts of the world, who waited for his coming; the earth echoing so with the terror of his name, that the several nations came, with inexpressible ardour, to pay homage to Alexander, as to him who was to be their sovereign.... So that he set forward with all possible diligence toward that great city, there to hold the states-general, as it were, of the world.”—History of Alexander, sec. 18. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.5
Grote says:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.6
“So widely had the terror of his name and achievements been spread, that several of these envoys came from the most distant regions. There were some from the various tribes of Lybia [west to Egypt]-from Carthage [west of Lybia]-from Sicily and Sardinia-from the Illyrians and Thracians-from the Lucanians, Bruttians, and Tuscans, in Italy-nay even (some affirm) from the Romans, as yet a people of moderate power. But there were names yet more surprising-Ethiopians from the extreme South, beyond Egypt-Scythians from the North, beyond the Danube,—Iberians and Gauls, from the far West, beyond the Mediterranean Sea.... The proofs which Alexander received, even from distant tribes with names and costumes unknown to him, of fear for his enmity and anxiety for his favour, or such as had never been shown to any historical person, and such as entirely to explain his superhuman arrogance.”—Chap. 94, paragraph 79. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.7
What further proof is needed, to show that the dream and interpretation thereof, which accurately predicted these wondrous changes in the empire of the world scores and hundreds of years before they took place, were given by the “God in Heaven, that revealeth secrets,” and who will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets? PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.8
“Seeing the Life” The Present Truth 11, 4.
E. J. Waggoner
To the converted man, “old things are passed away; behold all things are become new; and all things are of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:17, 18. The man of faith is able to see God in all things; for God is in all things, and faith does not teach men fables, but simply enables them to see and know the truth. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.9
And what a source of strength and comfort is this ability which faith gives! All nature then has a voice which testifies of the power of the life of God: and this power is given unto us. The life of God develops in the planted seed, and the shoot, though tender, finds its way through clod and rocky barrier to the light. The sap flows through the trunk of the tree, and it swells and expands with a force which cannot be stayed. The moisture rises from the earth, the clouds form, the rain descends, vegetation grows, the cloud turns water into snow and ice, the sun ripens the fruit and the grain, and in a hundred ways we see nature all around us carrying on her work with a power which no man can check. Having once learned some of nature’s laws, we know that whatever they demand, must be. There is no power that can prevent it. And why?—Simply because there is no power that can prevent the Lord from doing His work. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.10
Seen with the eye of faith, all this is encouragement for us; for God, if we but let Him, works in us, and with the same irresistible power. His life is in the growing plant, and His life is also in us; and just as it worked to force the tender sprout through the hard clod up to the surface and the light, so it works in our hearts to do that which it is sent forth to do. And that it will do it is as certain as any law of nature; for the laws of nature are but the laws of God. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.11
When we receive God’s word “not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God,” it “effectually worketh” in us, and will overcome every obstacle to the accomplishment of its purpose. That is the way God’s word works, and in nature we find visible demonstration of the fact. And thus nature speaks to us with a voice of cheer and courage when our ears are but tuned to catch the harmony of God’s law. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.12
God’s word is Spirit and life. John 6:63. It is life to the plant, for by it the plant was created and caused to bud and bring forth fruit and seed after its kind. Genesis 1:11. And it is life in us, shaping us irresistibly toward the far higher destiny for which we were created. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 52.13
We should never become discouraged. Let the word into your heart by receiving it in faith, and it will work and will surely accomplish its purpose. It will surely cleanse you and create you new in Christ. The Lord has spoken it. “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10, 11. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.1
The man that “walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,” and whose “delight is in the law of the Lord,” “shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not whither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3. Whether in the visible things of nature or in the human heart, the word of God will work through every obstacle. The life will be manifested and the righteousness cannot fail. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.2
“Archbishop Laud and the Church of England” The Present Truth 11, 4.
E. J. Waggoner
On the tenth day of January, 1645, Archbishop Laud was beheaded as a traitor on Tower Hill. The 250th anniversary of that event was celebrated by the singing of the Te Deum on the site of his scaffold, by some of the Anglican clergy, and many “relics” of Laud are now on exhibition in a neighbouring church to those who wish to pay a shilling to view them. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.3
For some time the Catholic portion of the Church of England has been zealously lauding Laud and his work. It is quite generally agreed that “a great debt of gratitude and reverence is due to the man, to whom, more than any other individual, the Church of England owes her present shape.” We have no desire to condemn the man, or to say anything against him; but when he is honoured as having done more than any other man to establish the “present shape” of the Church of England, an impartial statement of his work will serve to show the present position of that Church. This will be found in few words in the following short extracts from Green’s History of the English People. The extracts are taken from sections 1003 to 1008. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.4
His resolve was to raise the Church of England to what he conceived to be its real position as a branch, though a reformed branch, of the great Catholic Church throughout the world; protesting alike against the innovations of Rome and the innovations of Calvin.... In Laud’s view, episcopal succession was of the essence of a church; and by their rejection of bishops the Lutheran and Calvinistic churches of Germany and Switzerland had ceased to be churches at all. The freedom of worship, therefore, which had been allowed to the Huguenot refugees from France, or the Walloons from Flanders, was suddenly withdrawn; and the requirement of conformity with the Anglican ritual drove them in crowds from the southern ports to seek refuge in Holland.... PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.5
As Laud drew further from the Protestants of the continent, he drew, consciously or unconsciously, nearer to Rome. His theory owned Rome as a true branch of the church, though severed from that of England by errors and innovations against which the primate vigorously protested. But with the removal of these obstacles reunion would naturally follow; and his dream was that of bridging over the gulf which ever since the Reformation had parted the two churches... Union with the great body of Catholicism, indeed, he regarded as a work which only time could bring about, but for which he could prepare the Church of England by raising it to a higher standard of Catholic feeling and Catholic practice. The great obstacle in his way was the Puritanism of nine-tenths of the English people, and on Puritanism he made war without mercy.... On the death of Abbot, Laud was raised to the Archbishopric of Canterbury, and no sooner had his elevation placed him at the head of the English Church than he turned the high commission into a standing attack on the Puritan ministers. Rectors and vicars were scolded, suspended, deprived, for “gospel preaching.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.6
The suppression of Puritanism in the ranks of the clergy was only a preliminary to the real work on which the Archbishop’s mind was set, the preparation for Catholic reunion by the elevation of the clergy to the Catholic standard in doctrine and ritual. Laud publicly avowed his preference for an unmarried to a married priesthood. Some of the bishops, and a large part of the new clergy who occupied the post from which the Puritan ministers had been driven, advocated doctrines and customs which the reformers had denounced as sheer papistry-the practice, for instance, of auricular confession, a real presence in the sacrament, or prayers for the dead.... Meanwhile Laud was indefatigable in his efforts to raise the civil and political status of the clergy to the point which it had reached ere the fatal blow of the Reformation fell on the priesthood. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.7
As Laud aimed at a more Catholic standard of doctrine, in the clergy, so he aimed at a nearer approach to the pomp of Catholicism in public worship.... Bowing to the altar was introduced into all Cathedral churches. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.8
In their last remonstrance to the king, the commons had denounced Laud as the chief assailant of the Protestant character of the Church of England; and every year of his primacy showed him bent upon justifying the accusation. His policy was no longer the purely conservative policy of Parker or Whitgift; it was aggressive and revolutionary. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.9
The above are the simple facts, very mildly stated. No further comment need be made upon them than this. From a consideration of this work, and the fact that Laud is extolled as the one to whom the Church of England owes its “present shape,” it follows that the Church of England is essentially Catholic. In saying this, we are bringing no railing accusation, but stating a simple fact; Churchmen themselves make the same claim. The main reason for the present statement is to point out the fact that if there was ever in the world any necessity for the Reformation, that necessity exists to-day nearly as much as it ever did. In his sermon on Laud, the Bishop of Peterborough said, “He endeavoured to do the Lord’s work with the world’s weapons.” Such work in establishing a church must of course result in a worldly church. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.10
As for Laud’s execution, no apology can or should be made for it. He was not a traitor in any ordinary sense of the word. He suffered at the hands of the executioner simply because the professed Protestants who succeeded him in power were, like him, endeavouring to do the Lord’s work with the world’s weapons, which means that they were doing their own work, and calling it the Lord’s. In his case was fulfilled the statement, “They that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Unfortunately history, both sacred and profane, seems to have been written in vain for most people, and so professed Christians of nearly all classes are still found attempting to do the Lord’s work by the world’s methods. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 53.11
“Seventh-day Adventists” The Present Truth 11, 4.
E. J. Waggoner
The New York Independent, the leading religious journal in the United States, which keeps itself accurately informed concerning the working of all religious bodies, has, in its first number this year, a summary of the last year’s progress of the denominations, from which we take the following statement concerning the Seventh-day Adventists:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.1
There are two distinct classes of Adventists, viz., those who observe the first day, and those who observe the seventh day of the week. Among the first class are those who occasionally set time for the second coming of Christ; the second class have never engaged in “time setting,” but earnestly oppose such interpretations of the prophecies. The observance of the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath is a marked peculiarity of Seventh-day Adventists, which distinguishes them from all other denominations, except the Seventh-day Baptists. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.2
Seventh-day Adventists hold positions on the so-called change of the Sabbath which lead them to regard Sunday as a rival of the Sabbath of the Lord. The repeated arrests and imprisonments of their members for Sunday labour the past year, in different parts of the United States and Europe, help to demonstrate that Sabbath observance with them is not a matter of convenience, or a choice of days, but a question of loyalty to God. It is often said that these people are not compelled to labour on the seventh day, but to refrain from work on the first day. They reply: “It is with us as with the early Christians; they were not prohibited from worshipping Jehovah; they were simply required to honour the gods of Rome.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.3
As to the question of growth: In this connection I am prepared to make definite statements only with reference to the Seventh-day Adventists, whom I have the honour to represent. From reports in my possession I am enabled to give the following rates of increase for the past year: ordained ministers, 13 per cent.; licensed ministers, 11 per cent.; churches, 7 per cent.; members, 15 per cent.; and missionary funds, 4 per cent. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.4
In many respects the past year has been the most prosperous in our history. This is especially true of our educational, publishing and medical work. Missions have been established in Mexico, Honduras, British Guiana, Argentine, Brazil and Jamaica. Missionaries have been sent to the Gold Coast and to Matabeleland, in Africa, with a view to establishing missionary stations there early the coming year. Preparations are also being made for opening missions, at the earliest possible date, in China and Japan. A large amount of funds has been raised for this purpose. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.5
Our missionary ship, Pitcairn, sailed from San Francisco last July, on its third voyage, with a load of missionaries and supplies, to be distributed among the islands of the Pacific Ocean. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.6
One of the most encouraging indications for the future of our work is the growing missionary zeal manifesting itself among our young people. There are at present in our colleges and sanatoriums about three hundred young men and women who have consecrated themselves “for life or death to arduous, humble service in the dark regions of this lost world.” PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.7
The prospects for our work were never better than for the coming year. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.8
“The Life” The Present Truth 11, 4.
E. J. Waggoner
The only true life is the Christian life. This is so because it is the life of Christ, who is God, and God’s life is that which animates all living things. Man can pervert that life by living to himself, but that is not true living. It is struggling against the life, which is God’s, and seeking death, which in the end will be obtained. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.9
The proper relation of man to this life is presented in the language of the Apostle Paul: “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. This is the true standpoint from which life with its various duties and problems is to be viewed: and from this standpoint the view is wonderfully simplified as compared with that obtained from the standpoint of self; because all the imaginary duties, dangers, and difficulties have vanished. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.10
Life, as the Creator ordained it, is a simple thing, as simple as accepting a gift. It is only when a man attempts to live by his own power and wisdom that it becomes complex. When men forget about the Creator, and put their trust in themselves, they find life to be beset by many and strange difficulties. At every turn problems are thrust upon them, which their human ability is neither able to foresee nor to successfully meet. At best, their world is but a world of chance. God does not withdraw His providence from the lives of men when they will not recognise Him, but they frustrate and hide that providence by attempting to provide all things for themselves. The abilities which men possess were not designed to cope with the task of maintaining a pleasurable and successful existence. As much power and wisdom is required for that as for bringing existence out of nothing; which power and wisdom pertains to God alone. And the more men attempt to perform this miracle themselves, the more perplexing and unsatisfactory does their life become, and the more sadly marred by disaster and defeat. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.11
Men are to-day, and always have been, greatly exercised over the maintenance of their “rights.” For they have conceived, either rightly or wrongly, to be such, they have sacrificed their fortunes and their lives; they have in the defence of them endured great suffering themselves and brought distress upon others. But how simple this problem which has so perplexed mankind becomes when viewed from the standpoint of the Christian. And that which so simplifies this, as it does the other problems of life, is the fact that from this standpoint, wherever we look, we behold the Lord Jesus Christ,—His power, His interests, His work. It is the standpoint of the man who is crucified with Him; and as the crucified man has no life of its own, so he has no rights of his own. There are only the rights of the Saviour with whom he is identified, and who lives in him. And those rights God Himself maintains. The Christian is His witness, but God is the One who works, and whose power vindicates the right and accomplishes grand results. The Christian thinks not of any rights of his own, but rejoices in the maintenance and exercise of God’s right to the love and homage of the beings whom He has created. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.12
People are often much troubled to guard their “dignity” and save their feelings from the injuries to which they are liable from the malice or heedlessness of those about them. But what can be said of the “dignity” and pride of the person who is crucified? How much suffering and inconvenience do dead men experience from hurt feelings? If we are crucified with Christ, and live by His life in us, we shall have no feelings but His feelings. We shall act toward those who persecute and speak evil of us, as He did toward those who persecuted Him; we shall feel toward them as He felt. And He did not feel differently toward men because they maltreated Him; He did not change because men hated Him and worked against Him. His nature cannot be affected by sin; He has never changed, but is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” There is no more ill-will or purpose of revenge in the mind of God to-day than before sin entered the universe. We may deny Him, but still “He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” His love for man has continued unchanged since the days of Adam. “His tender mercies are over all His works.” And so will there be love and tender mercy in our hearts toward all His works when we are identified with Christ, instead of the feelings of wounded pride which it costs us so much to bear. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 54.13
Jesus Christ is “meek and lowly in heart.” He tells us this in His gracious invitation to come to Him and find rest. He “humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death.” On the night of His betrayal He washed His disciples’ feet. But this was not an exhibition of newly-acquired humility. His form was the form of man; but His character was the character of God. He had not changed in character by taking on Himself the seed of Abraham. Nor did He speak and act as a man; but, as He declared, His Father, who dwelt in Him, did the works. In every word and act, God was manifesting Himself through His Son; as well when He washed His disciples’ feet as when He raised the dead or rode in triumph into Jerusalem. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 55.1
And so, from the Christian standpoint-from the standpoint of the recognition of the truth-we see that life has no difficulty and no problem but that of giving free course to the life of God that is in us. When we come to the cross, we find that we have been carrying too many burdens,—that we have been bearing a heavy and needless load; and we drop it and experience that relief which comes from laying a burden down. We cease trying to pervert the stream of God’s life into channels of our own choosing. And then we drop so many self-imposed responsibilities that we find we have time enough to attend to those things that pertain to our relation to God. We have time to do some work in His cause. Our time is equal to our opportunities. This is life in its normal state, as it was ordained for man by the Creator. It is the life that Christ has placed within every man’s grasp,—the life, indeed, that all men have, if they will but recognise their life as God’s, and yield the control of it to Him. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 55.2
“Christianising Paganism” The Present Truth 11, 4.
E. J. Waggoner
The following statement expresses the general idea concerning the adoption of heathen customs by professed Christians:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 55.3
It is possible, as is sometimes asserted, that the Christian teachers at first remonstrated against the festivities which their converts brought into their new faith, but finding their attachment to them irresistible, Christianised them. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 55.4
Now there is no question but that heathen men may become Christians, but that is a far different thing from heathen practices becoming Christian institutions. The idea that if the Christian Church adopts any heathen custom, that custom thereby becomes Christian, is a subtle fallacy that has deceived thousands, and which needs to be sharply exposed. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 55.5
Let us take a clear case as an illustration. The violation of the seventh commandment is a very common thing among the heathen. They are very much addicted to it. Suppose now that the Christian teachers had at first remonstrated against the adultery of the heathen, but finding their attachment to it irresistible, had adopted it into the church; would adultery thereby have become Christianised? Would not, on the contrary, the Christian church have become heathenised and demoralised? PTUK January 24, 1895, page 55.6
In such a case as that, the answer is clear; but the same principle applies to every heathen custom. Sin cannot become righteousness because a hitherto good man begins to practise it. On the contrary, when a good man sins, he becomes a sinner. So a heathen custom cannot become a Christian act simply by being adopted by Christians. No; on the contrary, Christians, by adopting heathen customs, become to that extent heathen. This is really admitted by a writer in the Church Times, who says:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 55.7
Many superstitious observances attributed by prejudiced minds to medi?val times are really survivals of paganism, re-clothed and often re-named, but none the less heathen in origin, and sometimes betokening even the continuance of heathen ideas. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 55.8
There are indeed “many” of these heathen customs still lingering, even in that portion of the church which is called Protestant, among which may be noted the observance of Sunday, Easter, and Christmas. It is a starting fact, but a fact nevertheless, and one which demands earnest attention, that a great deal of what is commonly supposed to be Christianity is nothing else but refined heathenism. If “the church” had not attempted to Christianise heathen customs, it would not now be necessary to work for the Christianising of the church. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 55.9
“News of the Week” The Present Truth 11, 4.
E. J. Waggoner
-Fewer miles of railroad were built in 1894 in the United States than in any year since the Civil War. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.1
-Baron Banffy, the new Hungarian Premier, has submitted to the Emperor a list of names for a reconstructed Cabinet, which was accepted. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.2
-The Prague police pretend to have discovered an Anarchist plot. Ten arrests have been made, among those arrested being Wilhelm Kurbor, leader of the Labour party at Prague. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.3
-Nearly 8,000 men, employed as drivers and conductors of the street oars or trains belonging to the various trolly lines in Brooklyn, went on strike Jan. 14. They demand an increase of pay. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.4
-About 3,000 unemployed workingmen met at Montreal, and a deputation waited upon the Mayor. One of the Labour leaders threatened to make use of guns and dynamite, stating that there were 500 Anarchists in Montreal prepared to carry out this threat. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.5
-It is stated from Rome that most of the differences existing in the American Catholic Hierarchy are now on the point of being settled by the determined intervention of the Pope himself. Monsignor Satolli, the “Apostolic” delegate, will remain at his post. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.6
-The “ice-air cure” is being resorted to in Spanish America. The application of ice-air currents to the spine is said to cure catarrhs. Loss of appetite and dyspepsia is are said to be cured by descending into a refrigerating tank, the atmosphere of which is several degrees below zero. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.7
-A polyglot petition against opium and alcohol, which has been signed by four millions of women of fifty nationalities, in forty different languages, will be presented next month to the United States Government, and in due course will be presented to every Government in the civilised world. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.8
-A meeting was held Jan. 12 at the Jewish Working Men’s Club, Great Alie-street, under the auspices of the Jewish Sabbath Observance Society, for the purpose of securing a weekly Jewish holiday from Friday, 2 P.M., until Sunday morning, for Jewish workmen employed in the different trades. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.9
-Senor Maura, the Spanish Minister of Justice, stated in the Chamber of Deputies that Archbishop Plunkett had not violated the laws of the land by “consecrating” Seiler Cabrera as Bishop of the Reformed Church in Spain. The Government considered that the set had no political importance. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.10
-A terrible disaster took place at Butte, Montana, U.S., Jan. 15. A fire occurred in a railway depot, where wore stored large quantities of gunpowder, which exploded, killing one hundred persons and wounding an equal number more. The whole town was shaken, and the destruction of property was enormous. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.11
-A pit at Audley, Staffordshire, became flooded by a sudden inrush of water from disused workings, Jan. 14. Some of the miners made their escape, and though pumping operations were carried on, ninety-two others known to be in the pit could not be reached, and it is all but certain that the whole have perished. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.12
-The Italians have recently achieved two important victories over the Abyssinians. The native troops in the Italian service lost 120 killed and 190 wounded during the two days’ fighting, while several Italian officers were killed or wounded. The report states that the defeat of the Abyssinians is final and complete. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.13
-Out of the South of France railway scandal there has suddenly developed a grave crisis for the French republic. M. Dupuy’s Cabinet was defeated on the question of the State guarantee of interest to railways, and immediately following, to the surprise and dismay of all, President M. Casimir Perier announced his intention of resigning the functions of his office, owing to the attacks made upon him as President, and the failure of his compatriots to give him adequate support. His resignation was formally announced on the 15th inst. Felix Faure has been chosen as his successor. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 62.14
“Back Page” The Present Truth 11, 4.
E. J. Waggoner
Even the head of the Mohammedan religion, the Sultan, is appealing to the Pope to intercede in his behalf in the Armenian question. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.1
Last week the German Reichstag passed the second reading of the motion repealing the Anti-Jesuit law. The law has failed, as all attempts to oppose Rome by weapons of which she is herself mistress must ever fail. The word of God alone is the thing which she cannot handle. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.2
The announcement is made of the completion of a concordance to Swedenborg’s theological works; what a mighty maze these works must be may be inferred from the statement that the concordance has nearly 4,000 pages closely printed. The appearance of this concordance is significant as showing that there are actually people who read Swedenborg’s fancies. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.3
In his speech before the National Liberal Federation, Lord Rosebery discussed the question of Church and State, and among other things said:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.4
We are also told that disestablishment unchristianises the State. Well, all I can say is this, that if it be true the State must be in a very bad way. If a State is in reality Christian it certainly does not need the outward symbol of an establishment to prove it; and if a State is not Christian, an establishment is merely a hypocrisy and a sham. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.5
A prominent Irish Methodist having decided to contest Mr. Armagh in the Nationalist interests at the next general election, the Methodist Times says:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.6
Mr.—will, if returned, be a great addition to the Methodist vote in the House of Commons. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.7
Yet the same paper is strongly in favour of the disestablishment of the Church of England. It makes no difference what church exerts a controlling influence in politics, whether it be a Roman Catholic or Methodist. The church in the days of the apostles was the church of Christ, but as soon as it gained political power it became the synagogue of Satan. When the church, or any branch of it as a church, mingles in politics, it becomes a part of the Papacy. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.8
It is significant of much when a deputation of the unemployed, such as waited on the Mayor of Montreal, Canada, last week, openly threaten him in his official residence that if something be not done for their relief dynamite will be used. The familiarity with the use of high explosives in modern times bodes ill for the future with its inevitable conflict between nations and different classes within the nations. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.9
A marble bust of Cardinal Vaughan has been presented to the Manchester Corporation in memory of the Cardinal’s twenty-years’ episcopate in Salford, and was recently unveiled in the Manchester Town Hall, where it occupies a prominent place. The Lord Mayor in his address said that the ceremony is without precedent in the annals of the City Council. It is no wonder that Catholics feel hopeful over the outlook. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.10
To a religious inquirer a Shinto priest consistently replied, “Obey the edicts of the emperor and follow your impulses.” Every false religion thus places human authority and the flesh before God. How widely this leaven of paganism has permeated the religious world may be seen by the readiness with which men, even with the Bible in their hands, follow the customs of the world and their own impulses rather than the word of God. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.11
In the United States even Roman Catholic organs-doubtless for effect-have protested against the animosity with which the professedly Protestant churches have sought to enforce the keeping of Sunday. However religious leaders may act under the inspiration of the spirit of intolerance, some officials of the jails have shown a more humane spirit. The American Sentinel, a New York journal devoted to religious liberty, says:— PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.12
Imprisoned Seventh-day Adventists, like Joseph in Egypt, have been blessed with some manly, kind-hearted jailers. When the prison board at Paris, Tenn., voted to work four Seventh-day Adventist victims of Sunday laws in the chain-gang on the Sabbath, the sheriff refused to carry out the order, and threatened to resign if the execution of the order was insisted upon. He had such confidence in his seventh-day prisoners, that he left the key of the jail in their charge, and they locked themselves in at night. Robert R. Whaley and W. G. Curiett, the recent victims of the Sunday law of Maryland, were treated, if possible, better. Mr. Bryan, the sheriff, never locked them behind the bars either day or night. They were given a room and bed in his private apartments, and ate at his table; and, besides, were allowed to go to the post-office after their mail. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.13
There is one thing that love requires, and that is love in return. God is love, and therefore He longs for love, even the love of His creature. What a wonderful thing it is, and how it strengthens the bonds between us and God, to know that we are essential to His happiness. He desires our company, for Christ, expressing the will of the Father, said, “I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.” He has gone to prepare a place for His loved ones, and His love for them will bring Him to earth again, to “receive you unto Myself; that where I am there ye may be also.” John 14:3. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.14
When a man tells me that I am in error, and points me to a portion of Scripture which says so, he does me a favour. But if the scripture which he quotes does not say so, and he must interpret it in order to make out his case, then he imposes on me. He is giving me his own opinion, and trying to clothe it with the authority of the Bible. He is guilty of fraud, in that he uses the reverence with which men have for the Bible to give currency to his own ideas. God says that He has magnified His word above all His name; now since He will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain, how must He regard those who thus take liberties with His sacred word? PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.15
The first two numbers of Tidens Tecken,-Signs of the Times,—a bright, new Swedish paper issued from Stockholm, are before us. Its name indicates its character. Its mission is the same as that of THE PRESENT TRUTH. The new paper takes the place of one which was for some years published in Christiania. May it be the means of so “holding forth the word of life” that many in the north country shall be brought to “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Sanhedens Tidende, published at Christiania, is doing the same work for Norway and Denmark. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.16
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you;” but do not chase him when he flees. PTUK January 24, 1895, page 64.17