The Signs of the Times, vol. 13

February 3, 1887

“‘A Weighty and Timely Utterance’” The Signs of the Times, 13, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

Our good friend, the editor of the Herald of Truth (Baptist), has shown zeal in his efforts to uphold the Sunday-Sabbath, which would be commendable if it were in a better cause. He has ransacked the coast from Washington Territory to Southern California to find men who had skill in making assertions appear to be argument, and has had several different men try their hands at building under the Sunday institution a cobweb support which would look strong and beautiful if not examined too closely. It has been of slight importance that these men have differed materially in many of their statements, since they all agreed in one thing, namely, that Sunday is the Sabbath, and this conclusion would serve to satisfy people who are already convinced. It would seem, however, that their efforts have not fully satisfied the editor of the Herald, for of late he has been very earnest in his endeavor to have the State Legislature enact a law compelling all people to keep Sunday. From this it appears that he has not the utmost confidence in the power of the arguments of his correspondents to substantiate the claims of Sunday. The strongest argument for Sunday, namely, the law of the land, has been reserved for the last. SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.1

We do not wonder that the editor of the Herald thinks it necessary to appeal to something besides theological arguments, when we read the last one that was offered before he began to work for the civil argument. It was written by one Gilbert S. Bailey, D. D., and although the editor said in regard to it, “It is not often that the Herald of Truth carries such a weighty and timely utterance of an honored Baptist, as in this number,” we think that on second reading he must have revised his opinion. The article, however, was thought worthy of being put in tract form for extensive circulation, and we notice it, not because it contains anything which the SIGNS has not answered again and again, but chiefly that our readers may understand just what, among California Baptists at least, is considered “a weighty and timely utterance” in behalf of Sunday. SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.2

After a paragraph of assertions, the Doctor states the following proposition, which he says he will prove:- SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.3

“The disciples of Christ commenced the religious observance of the first day of the week immediately after the resurrection of Christ, and Christ himself was present with them and gave them his sanction and blessing.” SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.4

This proposition he considers under three heads: 1. The Scripture proof. 2. Proofs from church history. 3. Testimony of the Fathers. The first text which he quotes in proof of his proposition is John 20:19: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” On this text the Doctor says: “Four times on this day of his resurrection he appeared to his disciples, and this last time is particularly described.” “Jesus imparted to his disciples the Holy Spirit, and gave the highest possible approval of their meeting, and appointed them as embassadors. They were thus endowed with the Holy Spirit to guide their own conduct, and to guide them in teaching others.” SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.5

In harmony with his statement that the disciples began the observance of the first day of the week immediately after the resurrection of Christ, the Doctor evidently means to convey the idea that the disciples were gathered together in a religious meeting in honor of Christ’s resurrection. That this assumption has no foundation whatever in fact, may be seen by anyone who will take the trouble to read a few texts of Scripture. We will notice those texts which refer to the day of his resurrection. SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.6

“Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.” Mark 16:9-11. No comment is needed on this, and we will let the sacred historian proceed with his narrative: “After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue; neither believed they them.” Verses 12, 13. This appearance to the two disciples who were going into the country is described in detail in Luke 24:13-25. There we learn that as they were walking along the road, Jesus joined them, but they did not recognize him. They had heard the story of the women to whom Jesus had appeared earlier in the day, but did not believe that Jesus was risen. And it was not until they sat down to supper that Jesus made himself know to them. Verse 30, 31. This was at the close of the day. Verse 29. They immediately arose and returned to Jerusalem, a distance of eight miles, and found the eleven gathered together, to whom they told the experience of the day. But as we have already learned from Mark 16:12, 13, the eleven, did not believe them. This is made still more evident from Luke’s account of the appearing of Christ to the eleven, for he says that when Jesus came into their midst and said, “Peace be unto you,” they were terrified. Jesus, noticing their terror, showed them his hands and his feet to convince them that he was a real being and the one whom they had seen crucified. And even then, although the truth was beginning to force itself upon them, “they yet believed not for joy.” Here, then, we have some of the particulars concerning the meeting spoken of in John 20:19, and we find that instead of having a meeting to commemorate Christ’s resurrection, the disciples did not believe that he had risen. Thus the first text which the Doctor quotes in support of his proposition contradicts it. SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.7

But this is not all. Mark tells what they were doing there together that evening. After having told how Jesus appeared to the two as they went into the country, and how they had told the eleven but had not been believed, he continues: “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” Mark 10:14. Thus we find that instead of holding a religious meeting on the evening of that first day, they were simply eating supper, and so Christ appeared to them and asked them for something to eat, in order that he might convince them that he was not a phantom but a real being. They had food ready at hand, “and they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honey-comb. And he took it, and did eat before them.” Luke 24:42, 43. Now if the reader wishes to know how the disciples happened to be together that evening, he may read Acts 1:12, 13, where he will find that they all lived at the same place. From the time of the last Passover until the day of Pentecost the disciples had one dwelling-place. So, then, the idea that when Jesus met with the disciples on the evening of the resurrection they were holding a religious service in honor of his resurrection, is not merely an unwarranted assumption, but is a positive contradiction of the Scriptures. This is a fair specimen of these “weighty and timely utterances” in behalf of the Sunday. The editor of the Herald of Truth says that his paper is not often honored with such a “weighty and timely utterance” on the Sunday question as this of Mr. Bailey’s. If that is so, he has cause to congratulate himself. SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.8

But there is still another point. The Doctor quotes with great confidence the fact that Jesus said to the disciples, “Peace be unto you.” He says: “Jesus imparted to his disciples his Holy Spirit and gave the highest possible approval of their meeting, and appointed them as embassadors. They were thus endowed with the Holy Spirit to guide their own conduct and to guide them in teaching others.” But what has this to do with the sanctifying of Sunday? He said, “Peace be unto you,” and not, “Blessed is this day.” He endowed the disciples with the Holy Ghost, but imparted no sacredness to the day. First-day writers are wont to lay great stress on the fact that Jesus blessed his disciples one Sunday evening, as though that imparted any sacredness to the day. If they could show an instance where the day itself was blessed, it would be more to their purpose. SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.9

Some may, however, think with Dr. Bailey, that by thus breathing on the disciples and imparting to them the Holy Spirit, he “gave the highest possible approval to their meeting;” but when they remember what we have already proved, that their meeting was simply a family gathering around the supper-table, they will hardly think that an every-day affair like that needed a special act of divine approval. If the reader will bear in mind that what Jesus said was to his disciples, and not about a day, they will be saved from jumping at a false conclusion. When Jesus said to his disciples, “Peace be unto you,” it was without the slightest thought of specially sanctioning what they were doing, but because they were terrified at his appearance when they supposed that he was dead. John 20:19 would never be quoted as an argument for the sacredness of Sunday if that institution were not in desperate straits. An unprejudiced person who did not know that the Sunday must be maintained at all hazards, would read that text a thousand times and never get the idea that it could be used as an argument for Sunday. W. SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.10

(To be continued.)

“The Curse of the Law” The Signs of the Times, 13, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

A brother in the State of Minnesota asks the question, “What is the curse of the law?” and wishes an answer through the SIGNS. We could give a categorical answer in one word, and say, “Death,” but this would not relieve the brother’s difficulty, as he wants better authority than our unsupported word. We will therefore take a little more space and let the Bible answer. We cannot refrain, however, from expressing our astonishment that such a question should be asked, because a knowledge of what the curse of the law is almost necessarily precedes the acceptance of the gospel. SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.11

The only place where the term “curse of the law” occurs in the Bible is Galatians 3:13, which reads as follows: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” The text itself contains the answer to the question asked. For since Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us, if we know what Christ suffered for us, we shall of course know what is the curse of the law. It is hardly necessary to quote Scripture to prove that Christ suffered death for us, yet in order to make the argument complete we will quote a few texts. Paul says (Romans 4:25) that he “was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” Isaiah says (chap. 53:8), “He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.” SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.12

Again Paul says (Romans 5:6-8): “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Death, then, is what Christ endured in order to redeem us, and that this is the curse which he suffered and from which he redeemed us, is plain from the last clause of Galatians 3:13: “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” This refers to Christ’s death by crucifixion, as Peter says in Acts 5:30: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.” The argument then stands thus: Men were under the curse of the law; Christ came to redeem them from this curse; in order to redeem them from this curse, he had to endure the same curse; what he endured was death; death, therefore, is the curse of the law. SITI February 3, 1887, page 70.13

This is a sufficient answer, but we will give further Scripture evidence to prove the same thing. Paul says in Romans 8:7 that “the carnal mind is enmity against God,” for the reason that “it is not subject to the law of God.” But “to be carnally minded is death” (verse 6), therefore we must conclude that death follows the violation of the law; and this is only what Paul expressly declares in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Now in Deuteronomy 30:15-20, death is expressly shown to be the curse which God pronounced against sinners. We quote verse 19: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may life.” We read also (Romans 5:12) that “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Thus we know that death is the curse that follows sin. But “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4); therefore death is the curse for transgression of the law; or, in other words, it is the curse of the law. SITI February 3, 1887, page 71.1

Once more; Paul says that the doers of the law shall be justified; that is, if men never violated the law they would have the favor of God. But the favor of God is life (Psalm 30:5); therefore obedience to the law would secure life. Compare Matthew 19:17. But “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23), and “therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified.” Romans 3:20. This means that the law condemns everybody, since all have violated it; and since justification by the law means the favor of God and life, it follows that condemnation by the law means the wrath of God and death. And this argument is summed up in one sentence, thus: “The commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.” Romans 7:10. SITI February 3, 1887, page 71.2

Scripture proofs on this point might be multiplied indefinitely, but we think these are sufficient to establish the almost self-evident fact that the curse of the law is death. W. SITI February 3, 1887, page 71.3

“Is It Peace?” The Signs of the Times, 13, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

Elsewhere in this paper the reader will find articles bearing on the present war preparations in Europe. Scarcely a day passes but that some new feature is not reported. For instance, “The German army possesses a new explosive called roburite. It is reported to be stronger than melinite. The method of its manufacture is a secret. It is exploded by intense heat.” Again we learn that “the Austrian war budget is to be increased twenty-five million dollars.” We are also told that the Austrian Landsturm will supply one million additional men, and that the rules which have just been published show that nothing except men from the service. All agree that no such war preparations have ever before been made in Europe, even when war had been declared, whereas now there is general peace. SITI February 3, 1887, page 71.4

Some of the comments made by the daily papers concerning these things strike us as being decidedly strange. The S. F. Evening Bulletin says:- SITI February 3, 1887, page 71.5

“Never in the history of Europe have war preparations been made on so large a scale. Yet who can say that these preparations may not tell in the interests of peace?” SITI February 3, 1887, page 71.6

The Oakland Evening Tribune says:- SITI February 3, 1887, page 71.7

“Everything portends war. A spark may ignite the combustible material at any moment.Such preparations for war have not been known in Europe for many years; but each nation being prepared may be the very cause of preventing war.” SITI February 3, 1887, page 71.8

We fail to see any promise of peace in preparations for war. The peaceable men of a community are not the ones who always go armed. Men do not carry weapons unless they expect to use them at some time. True, they may not have any definite hostile determination, but they go armed so that they may be “prepared” when any provocation is given. Men who never intend to fight, never carry arms. SITI February 3, 1887, page 71.9

So with nations. Where there are warlike preparations, there is expectation of war. The nations of Europe are not members of any peace society. They have been known to fight when they had less strength and less confidence in their strength than they have now. They are extremely jealous of one another. The increased preparation of any one nation will not frighten the others into greater desires for peace, since they all are keeping equal pace in the work of arming. These preparations mean nothing else but war. It may not come for some time; the longer it is delayed the greater will be the preparation; and when at last the spark is dropped into the magazine, there will be such a commotion on the continent of Europe as the world has never seen. It will then be demonstrated whether or not the people of the United States can, as the Tribune says, look complacently on and profit by the struggle. It is now almost too soon to be so positive in regard to that matter. W. SITI February 3, 1887, page 71.10

“The Nations Are Angry” The Signs of the Times, 13, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

The following from the Interior of January 20, 1887, gives an excellent view of the condition of Europe. The word of God says that under the sounding of the seventh trumpet “the nations were angry.” Assuredly this is the case now. And when the elements do break loose, with such immense armaments, and such multitudes of soldiers, what can the result be but destruction upon destruction? Whether it comes sooner or later the certainty is that it must come, and it can only be as described in Jeremiah 25:32, “A great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.” And yet in the presence of those things men will preach peace and safety, and the speedy coming of a glorious millennium of peace on earth! SITI February 3, 1887, page 72.1

“Back Page” The Signs of the Times, 13, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

A few weeks ago we received an envelope containing two post-office money orders, and some postage-stamps, but not a line to indicate from whom the money came, nor where it should be applied. Whoever has sent money from which he has received no return, would do well to communicate with us at once. We would like to know what to do with the money. SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.1

Through the courtesy of J. H. Kellogg, M. D., member of the Michigan State Board of Health, we have received the thirteenth annual report of that body. It contains many interesting statistics, and directions for avoiding disease. The book also contains the report of Professor Vaughan’s experiments with poisonous cheese, some extracts from which we shall give in our Health and Temperance Department. SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.2

We clip the following item of news from a secular paper:- SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.3

“The Saturday half-holiday movement promises to be stronger than ever in the East the coming summer. A bill has been introduced in the New York Legislature making the entire day Saturday a legal holiday, and there is a strong popular sentiment behind it.” SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.4

This means the enforced observance of Sunday; for the advancement of the counterfeit sabbath is just in proportion as the Sabbath of the Lord is depreciated. SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.5

We learn from the report of a sermon by Rev. Dr. Stebbins, of San Francisco, that although Solomon “has been called a very wise man,” he possessed wisdom only to a limited degree,” but was not a wise man nor a profound man.” The learned speaker said that Solomon “was always asking questions about everything, never seeing into anything.” The declaration is in the face of the following words addressed to Solomon by the Lord: “Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.” 1 Kings 3:12. But Solomon didn’t live in the nineteenth century, and was consequently ignorant of many things that are known by modern “divines.” However, we would rather know only a few things that are true, than to know so many things that are not so. SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.6

The following we clip from a secular paper published in an interior town:- SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.7

“The basket social given at the Christian church last evening was very well attended, and was a very pleasant and enjoyable affair. The mating brought about by the sale of the baskets was voted a most happy thought, and created no end of fun and laughter. After the supper, a season of social entertainment was had, and at a late hour the meeting broke up, all present having had a jolly good time.” SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.8

This was in a “Christian” church. If it were indeed a Christian church we would not greatly blame those who see no need of their becoming Christians. People can do such things as that without the trouble of making a profession of Christianity. In the days of Noah, people were doing the very same things; but they were not the ones who went into the ark. In the days that were before the flood, “they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,” no doubt having “a jolly good time,” and “no end of fun and laughter,” until the day that Noah entered into the ark. So absorbed were they in their fun that they “knew not until the flood came, and took them all away.” And “so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.9

The Christian Union makes merry over the regulations of the West Boston Bridge Corporation, a section of which stands thus: “And the said proprietors shall meet annually on the first Tuesday of June, providing the same does not fall on Sunday.” Well, that does sound funny, but the lawyers who drew it up doubtless know what they were about. They had evidently read the “arguments” for Sunday-keeping, in which we are gravely informed that the first day of the week is “the eighth day,” and they very naturally concluded that it must be easier for the first and the third days to be identical than for the first and the eighth, especially since there are but seven. Since the Sunday advocates have shown us how variable the days of the week are,-the first day being both the seventh and the “eighth,”-people can’t be too careful in specifying, if they want them kept separate. SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.10

On another page mention is made of the new explosive, roburite, which the Germans have discovered, and which is considered to be far more powerful than melinite, which has recently been invented by two French officers. Of course the composition of both explosives is a secret, but they are known to have terrible power. Melinite is said to have ten times the destructive power of nitro-glycerine. A shell charged with a quantity of this explosive would be capable of doing deadly work. It is also reported that while the manufacture of this material is going on, its inventors are experimenting with a new rifle powder which explodes without making any smoke, and which will enable a body of infantry to fire on the enemy from cover, without betraying their position by clouds of smoke. Science has been developed to its present state of advancement principally for the purpose of enabling armies to exterminate one another as speedily as possible. As has been remarked, “chemists are developing into wholesale slaughterers of men.” SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.11

A religious exchange says:- SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.12

“Omaha has 100 saloons paying $1,000 per year license, and that money goes into the school fund. The result is that the public schools of Omaha are as fine as any in the country.” SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.13

What a blessing saloons are, to be sure! It is evident that if Omaha only had a few more saloons, it might have the very best public schools in the country; and since nothing is more desirable than good schools, it follows that a few more self-denying philanthropists ought to start saloons in that city. How good the honest drunkard-makers must feel to have the assurance of the religious press that they are the principal supporters of civilization and education. The journal, however, forget to note two points: (1) That in order to get that one hundred and sixty thousand dollars for the public schools, the people of Omaha and vicinity must pay the saloon-keepers not less than one million dollars, at a low estimate; and (2) that Omaha is about the hardest town in the interior of the United States. Six hundred per cent. per annum, besides hundreds of criminals and paupers, is a pretty high rate of interest to pay for money, even for educational purposes. SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.14

In recording an interview which she recently had with a lady of some note, Miss Francis Willard says: “I was glad to note her fair, unpunctured ear-a proof of wholesome instincts.” Miss Willard is a woman of excellent sense. While it is true that many ladies of refinement and taste do disfigure their ears with rings and pendants, it remains a fact that the custom is borrowed from the savage races. The more barbaric a people are, the more so-called ornaments they put on. When we see a lady with unpunctured ears, we involuntarily, like Miss Willard, give her credit for good sense or else for good training. SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.15

In our notice of the “Gospel Manual,” two weeks ago, we stated that “where two or more of the evangelists have recorded the same thing, only the fullest account is given.” This was an error on our part. The author says: “I am not aware of a single chapter or page where this is done. My aim was to produce a book which should embody the entire contents of the four Gospels, except where two or more of the evangelists have recorded the same thing in the same words. Verbal differences of statement, embodying faintest shades of meaning, are all interwoven into the general narrative.” This feature is certainly an important one, and greatly enhances the value of the book. We very gladly do the author the justice of correcting the error which arose from a too hasty examination on our part. SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.16

“The ‘True Educator’” The Signs of the Times, 13, 5.

E. J. Waggoner

We have seen a good many college and school journals “edited and conducted wholly by the students,” and there are a few that come to us occasionally. The most that can be said for the majority of such journals is that they serve to keep the students out of worse employment. Too often they are filled with local notes and jokes which can interest no one but the students themselves, and which have anything but an elevating effect on them. The True Educator, published at South Lancaster, Mass., is emphatically not one of this class. While it is published by the “Academy press,” and the mechanical work is done by the students, it is edited by the principal of the Academy, Prof. C. C. Ramsey, who is making it just what it claims to be, a journal “for teachers, students, parents, and school officers.” We can conscientiously say of it that it improves with every number. Professor Ramsey is one who believes that “it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing,” and is untiring in his efforts to make both the Academy and the journal worthy of the patronage of all. The True Educator is warmly recommended by some of the best teachers in the country, because it is just what its name implies. Subscription price per year, seventy-five cents; combined with the American Sentinel, on dollar, the price of the latter paper alone being fifty cents. Address, The True Educator, South Lancaster, Mass.; or Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal. SITI February 3, 1887, page 80.17