The Signs of the Times, vol. 13

December 8, 1887

“The Spirit of Antichrist. No. 3” The Signs of the Times, 13, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

We shall now proceed to show that the teaching of the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul, has from the very beginning been accompanied by sin, and that it is the cause of all the sin that has ever cursed this earth. SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.1

When God placed our first parents in Eden, everything was perfect and pure. Adam and Eve were sinless. They had full liberty to enjoy the fruit of every tree that was pleasant to the sight and good for food, with the exception of one tree in the midst of the garden, which was a test of their loyalty to God. Into this garden of delight the tempter came. “Now the serpent [“which is the devil, and Satan,” Revelation 20:2] was more subtil than any beast of the field, the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Genesis 3:1. In this question we find a covert insinuation against the justice of God. The idea is this: “Is it so, that God has said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Has God been so arbitrary as to thus curtail your happiness?” There was an attempt to make Eve feel that she was being wronged, in being deprived of the fruit of that tree, and that she was not treated with the consideration due to so noble a creature. She replied that God had said that they should not eat of the tree, nor touch it, lest they die. Satan then replied:- SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.2

“Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4, 5. SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.3

It is unfortunate for the advocates of the natural immortality of the soul, that the very first announcement of it that was ever made was made by the father of lies. We have already demonstrated from the Scriptures that the teaching that man can have immortality without Christ is the spirit of antichrist, and here we find that the doctrine was introduced into the world by the very antichrist himself. If we study Satan’s words a little more closely we shall find that they were identical with the teachings of modern Spiritualism, and that the first Spiritualist lecture ever delivered was given by the devil in the garden of Eden, with only Eve for an audience. SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.4

When Satan affirmed that Adam and Eve were by nature immortal, by saying, “Ye shall not surely die,” he added, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” This was as much of a lie as the other, and was a companion to it, and a necessary consequence of it. Our common version does not give the full force of the original. We know not why the translators rendered it, “Ye shall be as gods,” for the Hebrew plainly reads, “Ye shall be like God, knowing good and evil.” This lets in new light on the subject. It shows that Satan recognized the fact that immortality is an attribute of Deity, and that the possessor of it must necessarily be his own judge of right and wrong. It was by this lie that Satan deceived Eve, and caused her to sin. Notice that the assertion of immortality and of the power of judging for themselves of right and wrong, constitutes the one deception; and bear in mind that it was this claim of natural immortality for man which “brought death into the world, and all our woe, with loss of Eden.” Therefore we have proved the proposition that the doctrine of the natural immortality of man is the cause of all the wickedness that has ever cursed our earth. SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.5

We may go back even further than this, to the time when sin first entered the universe, and we shall find that the cause of it was pride, and the claiming of attributes that belong to God alone. In Isaiah 14:12-14 we read the following description of the fall of Satan:- SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.6

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.7

This gives in plain language the sin of Satan. He aspired to be equal with God; he coveted the position that belonged only to the divine Word the Son of God; and there the spirit of antichrist first sprung into existence. Turn now to Ezekiel 28:11-19, and read a description of Satan’s former position in Heaven, and the cause of his fall. Satan here appears with the title, “King of Tyrus.” He is so called because he is “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), and the one who actually holds the reins of power in all wicked governments, such as that of Tyre. The man who held the position of the king of Tyre is in the prophecy called “the prince of Tyrus” (Ezekiel 28:1-10), because he was secondary to Satam, who controlled him. Moreover it is certain that verses 13-15 could refer to no one but one who had been in Heaven. Now read the description:- SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.8

“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold; the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.” SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.9

Thus we learn that pride, and undue regard for self, forgetfulness of the fact that no one can have anything except from God, and is a desire to be equal, in some respects at least, to God, led to Satan’s fall. And this cause of his fall was exactly the same in nature as that by which he fell; and it is the identical principle by which Satan has perpetuated sin in the world until the present time. SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.10

From the fall of our first parents, every great system of error has been based upon that first great falsehood uttered by Satan. How natural that it should be so! Error is simply a departure from God, a failure or refusal to acknowledge him as of supreme authority. But just in proportion as men fail to recognize the claims of God, they usurp the place which he should occupy. That is, to the extent that they neglect God, they follow their own ways, and thus to that extent they make themselves gods, and worship themselves. But, as we have already seen, the claim that man is immortal is also a claim that he is a god. Thus the two things go together. The doctrine of natural immortality, being a gross error, leads to the commission of the sins which are natural to man. It was the first cause of sin. But if there should be a people who had no belief of any kind concerning man’s nature and his future condition, but who were following their own inclinations, they would soon develop the idea that they were immortal. And this would be because pride, which is always present in the natural heart, would lead man to feel that there could be no being in the universe greater than himself. As Gibbon aptly expresses it (“Decline and Fall,” chap. 1.), “it must be confessed that in the sublime inquiry [concerning the nature of man], their reason had often been guided by their imagination, and their imagination had been prompted by their vanity. When they viewed with complacency the extent of their own mental powers, when they exercised the various faculties of memory, of fancy, and of judgment, in the most profound speculations, or the most important labors, and when they reflected on the desire of fame, which transported them into future ages, far beyond the bounds of death and of the grave, they were unwilling to confound themselves with the beasts of the field, or to suppose that a being for whose dignity they entertained the most sincere admiration, could be limited to a spot of earth, and to a few years of duration.” And so dead man would be deified. W. SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.11

“The Link Is Still Missing” The Signs of the Times, 13, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

A very zealous defender of the first-day sabbath has unearthed the following. It is not new, but it is just as good as new, for its extreme thinness has hindered its being used very much:- SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.12

“Consider a few facts as to why the Jewish Christians did not immediately give up the observance of the seventh day. How carefully and gradually Jesus unfolded his new doctrines, even to the chosen apostles. To the multitudes he spoke only in parables, ‘as they were able to hear it.’ Mark 4:33. Had Jesus at once and plainly told the people the radical change which he had come to make in the Jewish system of worship, they would have killed him immediately. Even the apostles would have been horrified, and doubtless would all have left him. During all the ministry of our Lord, nothing stands out more prominently than the fact that he was gradually but cautiously preparing the minds of his disciples for the great change which his gospel was destined to make in the worship of God.... Just before Jesus died, he said: ‘I have yet many things to say and to you, but he cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.’ John 16:12, 13.” SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.13

Well, now, what a pity that, after spending the three years and a half of his ministry in “cautiously preparing the minds of his disciples for the great change which his gospel was destined to make in the worship of God,” he did not once even so much as intimate to them what that change was to be! Surely this was an excess of caution. True, indeed, he spoke to the multitude in parables, but to his own disciples he spoke plainly. Many things he said to them that would not have been listened to by the mass of the Jews. But he gave his disciples the following commands and exhortation, which would insure that everything that he said should have the widest publicity:- SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.14

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19, 20. SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.15

“If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore; for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.” Matthew 10:25-27. SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.16

It is certain that the disciples followed this counsel, for but a few weeks after the resurrection, Peter stood before the entire Jewish Sanhedrim, and boldly charged those men with the murder of Jesus. When threatened with imprisonment and stripes, the apostles plainly told the Jews that they should pay no attention to their commands not to preach, but should obey God rather than men. And that they did proclaim all that they had learned of Jesus, is shown by the words of Paul, who, like the rest, had seen the Lord and learned of him. To the Ephesian elders he said: “I kept back nothing that was profitable until you;” “wherefore I take you to record this day, that I impure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” Acts 20:20, 26, 27. This he did in the face of death, showing that he was not deterred by fear, yet never a word did he say about the change of the Sabbath. Why this silence on so important a subject? SITI December 8, 1887, page 742.17

If anything more were needed to show that a disregard for the law of God is always accompanied by a low estimate of Christ’s character and work, it is shown in the statement that Christ refrained from telling the Jews about the change of the Sabbath, for fear that they would kill him. Such a base charge could not be made except by one whose disregard for the law has blunted at all his finer sensibilities. The idea that Jesus, who came to earth for the express purpose of giving his life for man, should, through fear of man, keep back part of his message, is too absurd for sober comment. Read the eighth chapter of John, and learn how he called the Jews liars and murderers, and charged them with being children of the devil; read the denunciations in the twenty-third chapter of Matthew, and then try to imagine him cowering before their hard looks, to the extent that he would not tell them necessary truth. Such an imputation indicates that the one making it regards Christ as less than man. SITI December 8, 1887, page 743.1

It is indeed true that Christ said that he had many things to say which the disciples could not then bear; but if the change of the Sabbath was one of those things, how does it happen that the Holy Spirit did not reveal it, so that it could appear in some of the writings of the apostles? Is it claimed that the Holy Spirit did gradually lead the church into Sunday-keeping? Where’s the proof? If the church was gradually led to that practice, it must be that at first only a very few were led to that practice. Where are their credentials? What have they to show that they were led by the Spirit more than others? Nothing but their own assertion, even as “the church” can give nothing but its own assertion to show that it is led by the Spirit in its practice of Sunday-keeping. But if we are to believe every man who claims to be led by the Spirit, we shall have to accept all the errors that flood the earth. No, we will “try the spirits, whether they are of God,” and we can try them by nothing except the law and the testimony. SITI December 8, 1887, page 743.2

It would seem as though the frantic efforts of the Sunday advocates to find something to support their cause, ought in itself to be sufficient to show thinking persons its inherent weakness. Never did evolutionists search more eagerly for the “missing link” than do the advocates for Sunday for some direct evidence to show that the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh to the first day of the week. They leave no doubt but that the change was made, only both Jesus and his apostles neglected to say anything about it. We appeal to candid people, who desire to know and obey the truth, if the fact that the Bible nowhere mentions the change of the Sabbath, nor intimates that any change was made, nor commands anybody to keep the first day of the week, is not sufficient evidence that the Sabbath never was changed by divine authority, and that the Lord did not design that anybody should ever keep the first day of the week. Shall we be Bible Christians? If not, can we be Christians at all? W. SITI December 8, 1887, page 743.3

“General Review” The Signs of the Times, 13, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

There being no set lesson for this date, we present a few fragmentary notes on certain portions of the lessons that have been studied during the quarter. Some of the first lessons were records of notable miracles performed by Jesus. These were performed in response to faith exercised by the individual, and should serve to direct our minds to the power of faith. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews gives a list of things that have been done through faith, and the inquiry might naturally arise, Whence does faith derive this extraordinary power? The answer will be found in an examination of what faith is, which we can give only in the briefest manner. SITI December 8, 1887, page 746.1

Faith is confidence in another. It is a giving up of one’s own ideas and will, to some other who is thereby acknowledged to be superior. It is trust, such as the innocent child reposes in its parents’ word. Now anybody knows that whenever such confidence is reposed in any person, it always produces a certain degree of consideration for, or tenderness toward, the trusting one. The traveler who is appealed to for guidance by a fellow-traveler, feels an interest in that other; the fact that a stranger has confided in him makes him feel kindly toward the unknown one. Even the hardened ruffian could scarcely find it in his heart to do harm to one who, trusting to his honor, would unhesitatingly cast himself upon him for protection. SITI December 8, 1887, page 746.2

Now whatever good things there are in man, are from above, and exist in the heart of God as much more strongly than in the heart of man, as God is greater than man. So when Abraham, with child-like trust, believed God when he made a promise which to all human appearances could never be accomplished, his simple belief “was counted unto him for righteousness.” It is not irreverent for us to say that such trust touched the heart of God, and made him feel especially tender toward Abraham. Faith accomplished what nothing else could. And let it be remembered that there is good reason for this. Perfect faith implies perfect worship. Faith and humility are inseparable. The greater one’s faith in another, the lower his opinion of himself. So that perfect faith in God, such as Abraham exhibited, implied perfect willingness to do whatever God required of him. Such faith is as powerful to-day as it ever was. It suffices to secure pardon for sin, even as it did for Abraham, and nothing but such faith will secure pardon. The cleansing of a sinner from the defilement of sin is the greatest of all miracles, and it is one that is daily being performed in response to faith. Whenever God sees such trust and submission in the heart of anyone, nothing that that one can ask for can be denied. Then who would not pray, “Lord, increase our faith”? SITI December 8, 1887, page 746.3

Jesus said to his disciples, on one occasion, “Truly the harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few.” This suggests the query, Who are the laborers? and how do they stand related to the work of Christ? Their relation to Christ is most intimate. Christ is the great source of light. “In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” and “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” His disciples derive the light from him, and are, in turn, to be the light of the world. See Matthew 5:14. Thus they are sharers in Christ’s work. He himself said to the Father: “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” John 17:18. Thus the disciples become “workers together with God,” and prepared, by the only means possible, to receive the cheering words, “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Only those who are sharers in Christ’s work can be partakers of his joy. SITI December 8, 1887, page 746.4

The lesson for November 20 is a most important one. In it occurs these words: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30. There is no freedom outside of Christ. The Christian is the only man on earth who really has his liberty. Sin and lawlessness are a grievous yoke of bondage, and Christ alone can break this yoke from off our necks. Anarchists fight against all law; they feel that something is galling their necks, and they imagine that it is the law, and so they would fain abolish law. But that which galls them is the yoke of sin which they bear. The law of God in Christ Jesus is not a grievous yoke. There is no man so much at liberty as the one who keeps the law of God, and this can be kept only when one is in Christ. The one who perfectly obeys the law never feels it. Said the psalmist: “I will walk at liberty; for I seek thy precepts.” Psalm 119:45. And our Saviour set forth the whole matter in the following words: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever; but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:34-36. Before this he had said: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Verse 32. This agrees with the other, for Christ is the truth. John 14:6. SITI December 8, 1887, page 746.5

The parables in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew seem to be the most expressive of any in the Bible. The parable of the tares utterly refutes the comparatively modern idea of a temporal millennium. In the parable, the man who owned the field is represented as saying to his servants who asked if they should not pull up the tares: “Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.” SITI December 8, 1887, page 746.6

In the interpretation of the parable, the field is declared to be the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom, the tares the children of the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. The Saviour then says: “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 13:40-43. This declaration is so plain that no comment can make it plainer. It shows conclusively that there is never on this earth a time of righteousness and peace until the wicked have been destroyed, and that the punishment of the wicked and the reward of the righteous do not take place until the coming of Christ and the end of the world. SITI December 8, 1887, page 747.1

The parable of the net that was cast into the sea (Matthew 13:47-49) seems to be of a little different nature from that of the wheat and tares. There would be no object in giving two parables in close connection, to teach exactly the same thing. In this chapter many parables are given illustrative of the kingdom of Heaven, because all its features could not possibly be represented in one parable. The parable of the net is, we think, more limited in its application than the parable of the tares and the wheat. The latter represents the good and bad as living together in the world until the final Judgment; the former represents both good and bad persons as being taken into the church, and remaining there until they shall be separated by the decisions of the Judgment. SITI December 8, 1887, page 747.2

Notice that in this parable there is first a gathering out from the sea, which doubtless represents the world. Into the net are gathered a quantity of fishes out from the great mass of fishes. The net contains both bad and good. When it is drawn ashore, the catch is sorted, the good being preserved, and the bad thrown away. Even “so shall it be at the end of the world; the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; then shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” The company here brought to view by the fishes in the net is a company of supposed good people, of those whom it is proper to expect that they will be good. The church is just such a company. According to their profession, all the members of the church ought to be good; but they are not. Many that say, “Lord, Lord,” will be cast out at the last day. SITI December 8, 1887, page 747.3

No one has any reason to feel safe, simply because his name is on the church roll. The gospel net gathers in both bad and good. This does not mean that any of those whom it gathers in are good in the sense that they are fit for translation, but that they are composed of good material out of which to make saints. The work of the gospel, after it has gathered them out, is to transform them fully into the divine image. But some are bad; they will not be transformed; they resist the good influences that are cast around them, and so grow worse instead of better. SITI December 8, 1887, page 747.4

This parable takes all the point out of the infidel cavils concerning church members who act dishonestly or who fall into gross immorality. Christ has told us beforehand that there will be false professors. Therefore there is no point to the cavil that infidels love to make against religion, when some professors show that they are unsanctified in life. We learn that both bad and good are drawn into the gospel net. The church is Christ’s school, and Christians are learners of Christ, striving to follow the divine pattern, until at last they may come “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Who has any right to say that the church is a failure, because it contains some dull scholars, and some who refuse to perform their allotted tasks? We judge a school and a teacher, not by the dull, the lazy, or the obstinate pupils, but by those who follow the instruction given them. If those who obey orders show improvement, we say that the school is a good one, and the teacher competent; and we do not pass sentence of condemnation because those who refuse to obey are not benefited. So we must judge of the church of Christ and of Christianity, not by the lives of false professors, but by the lives of those who heed the example and teachings of Christ, and who yield themselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit. W. SITI December 8, 1887, page 747.5

“Back Page” The Signs of the Times, 13, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

December 31 is the day of the Pope’s jubilee. Great preparations are being made for the celebrations on that day and forward, as long as there is anything to be made out of it. On that day he is to receive “the members of the international committees,” who will make him a present of 1,000,000 lire-$51,813.47. On January 4 and 5 he will receive the deputations from foreign countries, who will offer three presents. The United States and Canada send $200,000. January 6 the jubilee presents will be exhibited, and January 15 the Pope will make ten new Catholic saints. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.1

In the New Thought of November 26, Prof. J. S. Loveland says:- SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.2

“Nothing more clearly proves the mighty power of modern Spiritualism than the numerous methods in which it is and has been assailed. Open, direct assault has always resulted in victory for it, and defeat to its enemies. But when the assailants have been within the ranks, the result has been far different. The crusade, started some years since, on the plea of morality, against alleged free-love, has done more than all other things combined to cripple the Spiritualistic movement.” SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.3

This, coming from a Spiritualist, is a damaging admission. If it is true that the crusade against free-love gave Spiritualism a check, it must be that Spiritualism thrives best in a free-love soil. What conclusion, then, must we draw from the fact that Spiritualism is at the present time making very rapid progress? SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.4

Although there are no public meetings of the Conference the last week, it was a busy week for the delegates. There was a vast amount of committee work to be done, and this occupied the time of many of the delegates almost constantly night and day. Quite a large number made a trip to the College, at Healdsburg, and the Rural Health Retreat, at St. Helena, having a most enjoyable trip, while they were becoming better acquainted with our work on the coast. We very much desired to have our Eastern friends take this trip, that they might appreciate the situation here, and be able to aid us by their counsel. On the evening of the 3rd there was a meeting of the Conference, to attend to some unfinished business. Our relation to Sunday laws was the principal question of the evening, and a good-sized audience listened attentively to the discussion, which continued to a late hour. Immediately following this there was a final meeting of the Missionary Society. The body adjourned sine die about midnight. Some further details will be given later. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.5

And now the delegates have all, with few exceptions, returned to their respective fields of labor. Sunday morning about a car load left, and Monday morning two cars were filled. Others had found it necessary to leave immediately after the practical adjournment one week previous. Thus has closed a most interesting and profitable session of the General Conference. If the work planned at this gathering shall be prosecuted with earnestness and faithfulness, we believe that a long step in advance will be seen all along the line. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.6

Not by any means the least important thing gained by this Conference is the strengthening of the ties that bind the different fields of labor together. We believe that all the delegates feel more than ever before that the work is one, that natural divisions, as oceans and mountain chains, cannot make divisions among those who are laboring in the cause of God, and that since we are all laboring in one common cause, our various interests are all one. As for the Oakland church, it has enjoyed a rare privilege in entertaining our brethren and sisters from the East, and in thus becoming intimately acquainted with them. We part from them with sincere regret; our prayers follow them as they journey to their homes. And as we resume our accustomed labors, feeling added responsibilities as a consequence of this meeting, we are strengthened with the belief that our brethren are praying for our success, as we are for theirs. Prayers for the success of the general work will be more intelligently offered now than ever before. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.7

A short time ago, among other instances of a like nature, we mentioned the case of Jacob Sharp, the New York briber, how it had been carried up from court to court on appeal after appeal, until it had reached the Court of Appeals, and how preparations were being made to carry it to the United States Supreme Court if the Court of Appeals has rendered its decision, and it reverses all the decisions and actions of the courts below, in the case. The old criminal now walks out of jail on $40,000 bail, to appear, perhaps, sometime for a new trial, when the whole process must be gone through with again. And all this because he has money enough to warp his wicked way through the courts of the State, and exhaust the course of legal procedure. All that a man has to do now is only to be sure that he steals enough to enable him to follow this process and he is safe. Law now is only applicable to the poor; it is but the plaything of the rich. These things cannot long continue so; at this rate the whole fabric of civil society must soon fall. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.8

The Interior says:- SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.9

“When George Washington was presented with his little hatchet, his fingers ached to cut something with it. It is admitted that George was a good little boy, and meant no harm by chopping down the cherry tree. It has been so ever since. When power is put into an American parvenu’s hands-and we are all parvenus in this country, more or less-his fingers burn to exercise it, and if there is no useful work in sight he is sure to do mischief-and is very liable to anyway. If he has the self-confidence of the combined egotism and inexperience, he is irrepressible in his ugliness of purpose.” SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.10

This is just the position we take with reference to the National Reformers. There are very many good people among them. There are many well-meaning persons who are anxious to see laws enacted for the better observance of Sunday. They say that they do not wish to infringe in the least upon the rights of those who keep the seventh day, and we give them credit for honesty of purpose. But they don’t know what they would do if they had the power. As the boy who has a brand new, sharp knife, cannot rest content until he has tried its edge, so the man who comes into the possession of power to which he is unaccustomed, must needs test his new toy to see how it works. He may not mean any harm, but power is a very dangerous tool in the hands of an inexperienced person. Keep every semblance of power to persecute for conscience’s sake out of the hands of even the best of men, if you would have religious liberty. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.11

“A New Book” The Signs of the Times, 13, 47.

E. J. Waggoner

The Pacific Press Publishing House has just issued a new book that is of special interest to all Bible students. It is entitled “Sacred Chronology,” and “The Peopling of the Earth.” The “Sacred Chronology” is a revised reprint of “Bliss’s Analysis of Sacred Chronology,” first printed in 1850. It is the best treatise on the subject of the Bible chronology that there is. It has the advantage of being later than all the others, and the additional advantage that it establishes the dates of the events of the Bible, by the words of the Bible itself. It consists of three parts:- SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.12

First, in explanation of what chronology is, with full explanation of the different cycles, epochs, periods, and eras, such as the Julian Period, the Era of the Olympiads, the Roman Era, the Christian Era, etc. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.13

Second, the chronology of the Bible, given in the words of the Bible itself, from creation till the writing of the book of Revelation, A.D. 98. With this also there are given the following tables: (1) A table of dates from Adam to Aaron; (2) a table of the times of the judges; (3) a comparative table of the kings of Israel and Judah from the division of the kingdom at the death of Solomon to the accession of Jehu; (4) a like table from the accession of Jehu to the fall of Samaria. By these tables in addition to the text, the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah are made so plain that anyone can easily understand their relation. To many it is one of the most perplexing parts of the Scriptures to get a clear understanding of the times and the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah, as given in the books of Kings. This little treatise with its tables relieves the subject of all difficulty. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.14

Third, is an essay on the chronology of the patriarchal age, vindicating the faithfulness of the Hebrew text as against the claims of the Samaritan and Septuagint versions. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.15

“The Peopling of the Earth” is a little treatise of fifty-two pages, containing a series of historical notes on the tenth chapter of Genesis. Beginning with the text (Genesis 9:19), “These are the three sons of Noah; and of them was the whole earth overspread,” the sons of Noah and their sons and grandsons, as given in the tenth chapter of Genesis, are sketched in their history as they overspread the whole earth. The matter is given in an easy, running narrative of the nature of which some idea may be gathered from the statement of a gentleman who said that he had read it, and was really interested in it, when he was seasick. And everybody knows who has ever had any experience in that direction, that a thing of any kind must be intensely interesting to find any favor with a person who is seasick. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.16

The book altogether-“Sacred Chronology” and “The Peopling of the Earth”-contains 300 pages and is almost invaluable to any diligent student of the Bible. The price, too, places it within the reach of all. Bound in cloth, $1.00; sheep, $1.50; full morocco, $1.75. Every minister, mission worker, Sabbath-school teacher, and college student ought to have a copy. Send for one and study it. SITI December 8, 1887, page 752.17