Golden Age, April 18, 1928
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A NEW CALENDAR
BAKING POWDERS
AND. COOKING
UTENSILS
THE BIBLE NOT
WRITTEN FOR ALL
NEWy WORLD!
THE EARTH TO BE MADE GLORIOUS
V©L IX Bi-Weekly
April 18,1928
OLD WORLD DYING
liope and courage
5$ a copy $ LOO a Year Canada and Foreign.Countries $-150
iKT.ll
Contents of the Golden Age
V&—-w.7..".— ..„ ._— :. .- - ■ir~=.7——■~"~-~7.--7-.KS
Social and Educational
j IL'ttlio in Hotels, Schools, and Trains ...........
I Itadio and the Fishing Business .............
| Twenty Prisons for Sale .............. .
j
j Finance—Commerce—Transpobtation
i Automatic Industry Inevitable ............. 451
> By Water or by Air .....
> Cape to Cairo Trips .................
। On the Wings of the Wind ...............
i Political— Domestic and Foreign
i Uncle Sain Helps Pay League Expenses ..........
<j; Palestine a Peaceful Place ........... ...
1 Expenditures for Armament ..............
i Some Hauk British Humor
i A I’esult or Major Holmes’ Visit (?) ........... 45!)
. Science and Invention
New Device for Sky Writing .............. 451
The Study of Lenin's Brain .............. 452
Carbon -Dioxide Ice ................... 452
Cro-Magnons Still With Us .............. 454
Home and 'Uwi.tu
Baking Powders and Cooking Utensils ........... 455
■ Travel and Miscellany
, Proposals foe a New Calendar .............. 457
Religion and Philosophy
No Converts in 11,394 Churches ............. 453
Encouraging to Bible Students ........... . 453
Doctor Cadman’s View ................ 454
. Bible Questions and Answers .............. 460
The Earth to Be Made Glorious ............. 461
What about the Heathen? (Part. 7) ........... 467
The Bible Not Written foe the World in Generat. ...... 4-71 .
Religion and the Bankers in Evansville .......... 477
Messengers of Jehovah (Part 1) ............. 478
The Children's Own Radio Stout ............. 479
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Entered as second-class matter at Brooklyn, N, Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879
<Jh<! Golden Age
Volume iX Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, April 18, 1928 Number 224
The World and its News
Automatic Industry Inevitable
By Water or by Air
Dr. Henry D. Hubbard, scientist and secre
tary of the United States Bureau of Standards, is authority for the statement that such progress has been made in standardization of all the things made and used by men that it is certain that industry a hundred years from now will be automatic. Wonder how the owner of the machines will feel then; and wonder also how the other fellow will feel, the man who has absolutely nothing to do.
The Brown Brothers Seligman War
ONLY Congress has the right to declare war;
and hence it must be assumed that the Nicaraguan war is that of Brown Brothers and Seligman, who financed Diaz. It is claimed that the original intervention of the United States in Nicaraguan affairs was all based on the seizure of a locomotive and two flat cars. Three official explanations have been given as to why American -Marines are there, opposing a red menace, protecting property and stamping out banditry. Believe whichever explanation suits vou best.
Uncle Sam Helps Pay League Expenses
DVOCATES of the League of Nations proudly point to the fact that although Uncle Sam is not a member of the League of Nations, yet, next to Great Britain, he pays more toward keeping up its expenses than any other nation. He pays the same sum into the League of Nations treasury as does Britain.
Useless and Repulsive War Relics
THE Manchester, England, parks committee has decided to get rid of all the tanks and guns which clutter up their parks, on the ground that they are useless and repulsive.
VXT'IIETHER the business man of the future ’ ’ will travel across the oceans by water or by air will probably be determined during 1928. It is expected that about September, possibly earlier, the British dirigible R-100 will make test flights between London, New York and Montreal. If these flights are as successful as hoped for and expected it may be set down as certain that an immense world travel by dirigibles will be inaugurated. The R-100 is made five times as strong as the Shenandoah.
Radio in Hotels, Schools and Trains
HE Statler hotels are equipped with radio in every room, at a cost of about one million dollars. Many schools are being fitted with receiving sets, with a view to receiving the Dam-rosch musical lectures and lectures on other topics. Railroads have found radio connection between the engines and cabooses of long freight trains is entirely practical. The latter is bound to result in saving the lives of many brakemen.
Radio and the Fishing Business
RADIO has transformed the fishing business.
Every fishing-smack imw carries a receiving set, not only insuring night entertainment for the men but providing them with weather reports ’which, are of incalculable value as protection from storms and in the fishing operations themselves.
New Device for Sky Writing
Y A new device for sky writing it is possible to write messages or draw pictures on the
clouds at night. The machine, which is of German design, consists of a high-powered carbon light, strengthened by projectors and lenses, launched out into the sky by means of a stencil.
How to Get Cold
NE of the best ways to get cold and stay cold is to keep the windows closed, avoid the use of vapor pans in connection with the heating apparatus and then drive the aforesaid heating apparatus for all it is worth. The resultant dryness of the skin makes i.t sensitive to the least draught, and a good, deep, heavy cold can thus be brought about in a short time, with an eventual visit from the doctor and the undertaker.
Value of White Flour
ERSONS who have suffered life-long miseries from eating white bread and have subsequently gained health from changing to entire wheat bread will be interested in the opinion of the California Department of Public Health, that white flour is best and that the whole wheat is unsafe. And they will wonder, too, if the doctors that have drugs for sale and the millers that have white flour for sale were back of the opinion. _
The Study of Lenin’s Brain
NT ARTICLE in the New York Times reports that a scientific examination of Lenin’s brain, in which the brain was cut into 31,000 sections and then examined under the microscope, reveals that it was of the highest type, far above normal. One wonders whether it would suffer by comparison with the brains of the Teapot Dome and Muscle Shoals variety of statesmen of the western world.
Carbon Dioxide lee
ARBON dioxide ice, made of solid carbon dioxide, frozen to a temperature of 109 degrees below zero, has the advantage of water ice in that it evaporates more slowly and leaves no liquid behind it as it evaporates. It is already in use for the refrigeration of fruit cars and will no doubt come into wide and general favor,
World-Wide Movies
IT IS predicted that a new British invention will make it possible to show moving pictures in all parts of the world with but little delay. The invention makes it necessary that the rate be held'down to two exposures a second, but it is estimated that after an hour’s delay the pie-■tures can be shown at the usual rate of speed.
Twenty Prisons for Sale .
WENTY British prisons are for sale, at prices ranging from $25 to $135,Q00. The British people are finding less and less reasons for locking up their fellow men, which seems all the more remarkable to us because there is much unemployment and no attempt at prohibition of liquor. Most of the prisons carry with them a gallows that has seen use and a private graveyard.
Palestine a Peaceful Place
ishop Godbig Kean, of Jerusalem, declares that a few years ago one who went outside of the walls of the city took his life in his hands, but that now robbery and violence are unknown, that Palestine is now one of the most peaceful places within the .British Empire and that the outlook for the country is very hopeful indeed.
Nile Level Abnormally Low
THE dams across the upper reaches of the
Nile have so lowered the waters at the season when Egypt is accustomed to look for a flood that it became necessary for the Egyptian and Sudan governments to bring one about artificially. It is claimed that these dams are destroying Egypt.
Stefansson and the Far North
ii.hjalmur Stkfansson', noted explorer and author, claims that the Eskimos do not live in igloos and can not and do not drink oil, that the annual snowfall at the North Pole is negligible, that the summer temperatures there are up to 100 in the shade and the winter temperatures not colder than in Montana, and that in tire most northerly part of the world there are 850 varieties of flowering plants, and spruce trees 100 feet in height.
Cape to Cairo Trips
HROUGH travel from Cape Town to Cairo has been inaugurated on a regular schedule, by rail, motor and boat. People who have the money can now go anywhere, and with unbounded comfort. One of the trains from New York to Southern California is now equipped with dancing floors, gymnasium, moving pictures, stationary beds, barber shops, bath, tailor, maid, press reports, radio, library, etc., etc. The longer and more expensive the trip, the greater the age of the travelers.
Zeal for Movies
IT USED to be that mothers loved their children, and some of the good old-fashioned kind ■still wst, but an investigation in Hagerstown, Md., shows that many mothers there dope their children with laudanum, so that they can get away and get to the movies. The judge who investigated the matter says that the next-mother who comes before him on such charges win get two years behind bars io think it over.
On ike Wings of the Wind
FAVORED by a wind from the west, and by good visibility, pilots Garrison and Westcott, of the National Air Transport Company,
Chicago Io Hadley Field. N. J,, 7.19 miles, in four hours and fifteen minutes, actual flying time. Stops were made al Cleveland and Be-lle-
ahead of schedule.
B&ttow Magnets Strongest
rpilE odd discovery has been, made that hollow magnets are stronger thatj sol id ones, in the
Fighting Low Finally Caught
FIGHTING Lou, an • morni'His whale which _________________________Iliidilitillilietlitthe-Hoss sea, off thehihgt of the Shetland islands, and which has been ten years, has finally been caught. Its tongue alone weighed one and one-half tons, its liver three tons, and the whole carcass lens. This whale is known to have taken the lives of three men in previous fights. It took forty men an entire day to kill it, and completely exhausted them.
The Six Points of Agreement
rp.HE six points of agreement between Aiigli-cans and Homan Catholics are set down by
Lord Halifax as, baptism is the door into the church, communion is the sacramental offering of the body and blood of Christ, communion of both kinds is proper, the church must approve any interpretation of the Bible before it can be accepted, the Pope should be Ilie visible head of the church, and the bishops derive their succession from the apostles. To which we add that every one of these six points is nonsensical and unscriptural.
No Converts in 11^94 Churches
npiURTY-TWO percent of all the Prcsbyte-rian, Baptist and Methodist churches in the United States .last year failed to add a single convert. A committee is trying to ascertain the cause. We offer help. The people became disgusted with the churches’ attitude toward war; they do not like the collection and dunning feature, and they know the eternal torture theory is false. All institutions that are based on murder, bogging and torture must give way to the truth. The churches have waited too long. They are done. Coming events cast their shad-
Encouraging to Bible Students
in a Catholic Bible that an indulgence of three hundred days is granted to all who read the Holy Gospels at least a quarter of an hour, wants to know what a good Bible student gets who reads the gospels 36.5 times a year.
Then, not content with. that, he goes still further and wants to know what he gets for reading all the Bible Student literature, past, present
Looks to us as though he is trying to get us in
•tripblesiOhatithhikyoud--st if •• fl ■
V oliva and the Flat Tire
VOLIVA has a flat tire; that is to say, he thinks the earth is flat, something like a-pie dish, and that it will blow up in seven years. Poor Voliva! If he is still alive eight years from now lie will find the good old earth whirling around once every twenty-four hours, the-same as now. The Bible Students are the only ones in the world that know and believe the Bible—that the earth will abide for ever.
Onward Christian Soldiers
THE German Government is trying to find out . why St. .Michael’s Boman Catholic Chureii in Munich contained two hundred machine guns, one hundred sabers, several thousand pistols and a large quantity of ammunition and spare parts for the guns. Somehow we do not seem to be able to remember any place in. the Bible where it tells about Christ and the apostles being loaded down with instruments for the destruction of their fellow men.
Expenditures for Armament
IN 1913 the United States expended for armament $240,270,352; in 1927,' $580,118,400; in
1913 Great Britain expended for armament $355,807,032; in 1927, $509,569,600; in 1913 Italy expended for armament $125,507,252; in 1927, $182,809, 440; in 1913 Japan expended for armament $58,626,664; in 1927, $215,624,274. These four countries expended for armament in the year 1913 $780,211,300 and in 1927, $1,-488,121,714.
Cro-Magnons Still With Us
LITTLE while ago we heard much about those ancient men, the Cro-Magnons. Now conies Doctor Hrdlicka and makes the suggestion that the North American Indian is his lineal descendant. They have similar skulls and faces and each buried red ochre with their dead, resulting in staining of the bones.
Three Wealthy Men Control British Opinion
REE wealthy men, Lord Beaverbrook, Lord Rothermere, and Sir William Berry, and their associates, control ninety percent of the morning, evening, weekly, fortnightly and monthly journals, circulating libraries and book publishing enterprises of Great Britain, and through these they absolutely control British public opinion. The liberal and labor press of England lives a hand-to-mouth existence.
The Uses of an Admiral
TT TRANSPIRES from evidence submitted -k by’ him before the naval court of inquirv that the admiral in charge of all the "submarines on the Atlantic coast knew nothing of submarines, nothing about rescuing imprisoned sailors and did not know the imprisoned men of the S-4 needed air, nor whether any steps were taken to see that they got it. He looks fine in his gilt braid and buttons.
Doctor Cadman’s View
TN AN article in The Forum Doctor Cadman, head of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, makes the surprising statement: “I affirm the sacred duty of the Christian. Church, Catholic or Protestant, to intervene in any political controversies which deeply involve public morality and welfare/'’ But in an article in the American Review of Reviews the same Doctor Cadman, in an effort to explain the prevalence of crime says that the widespread demoralization and anarchy which ensued after the war followed as a natural sequence the ‘’‘fatuous promises of a new world fit for heroes and heroines to live in”. It is a wonder that Doctor Cadman and his friends do not remember the great part they played in giving life to those same fatuous promises and interference in political affairs.
Some Rare British Humor
F)R biting irony it would lie hard, to find anything that would surpass the following which appeared in the London Baily News (founded in 1846 by Charles Dickens). Ridiculing the king’s speech to the House of Commons the News in its issue of December 23 editorially gave the following as “The Real King’s Speech”:
My Lords and Members of the House of Commons:
I have followed with constant interest the repeated failures of my Government to perform any" of the tasks which they have from time to time undertaken.
My Government came into office deeply pledged to assist agriculture. The depressed condition of agriculture has long been a subject of anxiety to me. Ko attempt has been made to relieve it.
The question of economy has also occupied the time and attention of my Government. The circumstance that the national expenditure has actually risen lias been more or less adroitly concealed. The proposal to abolish three Ministries, which would have effected a small economy, lias now been abandoned.
Nothing is of more importance for the revival of British trade abroad than the lowering of foreign tariffs. A promising movement towards this goal is now in progress. I note with satisfaction that my Government’s repeated obstructions of this movement have so far been without any absolutely disastrous result.
The development of the road system is obviously one of the most pressing and urgent needs of British industry today. My Government’s action has delayed indefinitely adequate development in this field.
My Ministers had intended to introduce a Bill to secure better conditions in factories. This measure is long overdue. It appears now to be postponed indefinitely.
Certain proposals for the reform of the House of Lords were also at one time favorably entertained by some of my Ministers. These have been abandoned with even more than their usual precipitancy, for reasons which appear to me to be well founded.
1 am glad to record that my Government have in fact done almost nothing, because judging by what they have done the results would have been far worse if they had done more.
Relations with Russia, have been broken off for reasons neither more nor less valid this year than at any time since these relations were resumed. The result has been grievous injury to British trade without any compensating advantage whatever.
An Act has been passed which will probably prove unworkable in practice, but of which the immediate effect was greatly to embitter class feeling and make the industrial peace, which I earnestly desire, more difficult. I am glad to observe that in this direction also the efforts of my Government are proving as ineffective as usual. I earnestly trust that the public spirit and common sense of the majority of my subjects will continue to resist the unnecessary provocation offered by this mischievous measure.
An invitation was accepted by my Government to attend a conference with representatives of the United States and. Japan at Geneva with a view’ to substantial reductions in naval strengths and costs. No serious preparation was made by my Ministers for these discussions, and they allowed their policy throughout to be dictated by experts; with the result that the United States Government has now proposed a gigantic new naval programme, and my Ministers have lost the assistance of one of the ablest of their colleagues.
It is my earnest prayer that the blessing of Providence may rest upon these labors. I regret that I am unable to see any adequate reason why it should.
Baking Powders and Cooking Utensils
]VFOST homes use baking powders and cooking utensils, and it ought to be of interest to everybody to know to what extent, if any, these tilings may be the means of undermining health and shortening life.
Although their sale has long been prohibited in France, England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and most other civilized countries, the manufacture of baking powders containing alum (sodium aluminum sulphate) has rapidly increased in the United States, and much of all the cooking is done in aluminum cooking utensils. Alum baking powders are cheap.
Wisconsin and other states require the word “alum” to be used in the ingredient clause on the label when any compound of aluminum is a constituent of baking powder. There are baking powders which contain no compounds oil aluminum, but have as their active agent cream of tartar, which is obtained from grapes. Cream of tartar baking powders are expensive.
The reason alum baking powders are cheap is because the alum (sodium aluminum sulphate or sodic aluminie sulphate) is derived from bauxite, a mineral substance containing a large percentage of aluminum.
Parke, Davis & Company, one of the largest drug firms in the country, in theii' manual of therapeutics say concerning alum: “Powerful astringent (causes living animal tissue to contract). Rarely used internally, except in painter's colic.”
Col. Victor C. Vaughan, M. D., LL. D., forty-five years a teacher in the University of Michigan, a specialist in poisons and their effects, testifying before the Federal Trade Commission, said in part:
A poison is a substance of a definite chemical composition, which by virtue of its constitution is capable, when brought in contact with the tissues of the body, of modifying the cellular activity of one or more organs to such an extent as to impair health and possibly to destroy life.
Practically, alum is the only salt of aluminum from, which poisonous effects are likely to result. This is true merely because alum is the only soluble salt of aluminum that is widely used. All salts of aluminum are poisonous when injected subcutaneously or intravenously. The researches of Siam, confirmed by those of Doelken, have demonstrated that the lesions induced by the subcutaneous administration of salts of aluminum, are extensive and serious. In animals they found the lesioM' of “metallic kidney” and fatty changes in the anterior horns of the spinal cord.
Tn 1909 I made some experiments on the effect of aluminum hydrate upon gastric digestion. This was done in test tubes in laboratories, not done in the animal body, and I found that the addition of aluminum hydrate delayed the digestion of egg white by the gastric juice. I found that a given gastric juice, without any alum in it digested 93.9% of the egg white in a given time; while with the addition of aluminum hydrate, it digested within the same time, only 57.5%.
■ In 1900, even before Dr. Mallett’s work, I said that aluminum must be absorbed; and testifying before a Senate Committee I testified that it would be difficult
for all of the alum to escape absorption. My conclusion body. _ _
iliiBliiiiiWiiiikrt .
iic-n. In fact, they luiirt be absorbed before they can
lllidburse, would not be absorbed. Even metallic arsenic Prison until it is converted into the oxide; Metallic copper is not a poison unless it is very finely divided, in which case it may be digested with the gastric juice, and so on.
ol •BOd;pbisblsihy :s»bO
by the blood and the lymphs to every part of the body, .various...parts of the body. It does. not. have to go tidd®ryipari;!di®drbb3yyh®
may add something foreign; and they may take some-
of the living tissue. By either one of these means, they may harm the tissue. Then the body strives to get rid of these things by eliminating them and pouring them back into the intestines, and they may then be reabsorbed again, and may go around.
The point I want to make is that if you could prove that every particle, iota, of this substance, administered by: mouth, is eliminated by the feces, through the feces, or with the feces, it would not show that it had not poisoned the animal. A man may die from arsenical poison, and after his death no arsenic be found in his body. The poisoning is accomplished while this substance is traveling around. Then the tendency of the blood is to eliminate, in part at least, all poisons, into the alimentary canal ; that is the way of getting rid of it ; and the same thing is true of typhoid bacilli, and of various Other poisons. .
The testimony of Dr. Harry Gideon Wells, Professor of Pathology, University of Chicago, and Director of Medical Research of the Sprague Memorial Institute of that city, is even more pointed:
As far as I have been able to find, these investigators have all observed that the effect of these compounds upon, the living cells was deleterious even when the aluminum compounds were present in remarkably small quantities. The growth, of algae is either prevented or checked. Bacteria was found to be inhibited or cheeked. Animal forms, such as the egg of the sea urchin, had been reported to be affected so that the cells which have been fertilized can not continue to multiply or when aluminum is applied before fertilization is attempted, fertilization will, not take place.
Whenever the living cells of the lower animal or plants come iu contact with aluminum compounds, those t-c-lls arc injured or killed, depending upon the eonceniration.
There are eases J eported in the literature of death following the taking of 30 grams, approximately one ounce of alum in solution. The use of aluminum compounds in surgery lias boon abandoned largely because of the injurious effect upon human tissues. The administration of soluble compounds of alum by motith is followed by evidence of irritation to the. gastro intesimal tract Daily dos<>s of aluminum salts in quantities of ,-20 to 28 milligrams per day to dogs, cats, and other animals lead to inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract, especially the intestines. When injected into the. tissue so that it comes in contact with living cells, it is found to be a virulent poison. Aluminum has been ’ found, to produce injury, especially to the kidney; in the observations of physicians, MttniihWTnoBipoiiiids .t taken by men 3sot only produce injury to the digestive tract, but injury to the nervous tissue.
Aluminum compounds, if in solution, may pass into the blood stream by diffusion through the cells of the digestive tract. This diffusion may take place in any part of the digestive tract from the lips to the anus so Hurt the whole of the digestive tract may be affected. They may pass into the blood, along with fats. The moment an aluminum compound has passed through or into the wall of the intestine beyond the surface and entered the blood vessels of the intestinal wall, it will come in contact with the red corpuscles and cause those corpuscles to aggregate or clump and have opportune v to produce this injurious effect exactly the same as if the aluminum compound had been injected into the blood directly. The lencteney to aggregate is a serious matter since the aggregated corpuscles cannot pass through the capillaries of the body, and tends to clog them up. Experiments have shown that when metallic substances act upon red corpuscles to produce such changes in the corpuscles, the corpuscles become more fragile, break up more readily and lead to anemia or the reduction in the number of red corpuscles in the blood.
It is possible for all the poison that is taken by mouth to be recovered in the discharges from the bowel and yet produce evidence of poison in remote parts of the body..
Aluminum compounds, being protoplasmic poisons, will poison the endothelial cells of the digestive tract (these are, the cells which line the digestive- tract and come in immediate contact with food and. drink). They not only have the function of lining the tract, but a very important function in protecting the rest of the body. Poisons of great potency might enter the digestive tract in large quantities and be prevented from causing any harm, to remote tissues as long as these endothelial cells are uninjured, but if injured, this defense is Jost.
It is my opinion that the primary result of the introduction into the digestive tract of aluminum compounds would impair the protective lining of the intestine and thereafter the effects upon the other cell growth of the body, including the blood cells, would be cumulative. It is the general characteristic of metal, poisonings that their effect is cumulative.
Now with these cumulative poisons, the effects fail of repetition frequently because they have to some extent impaired the functions of the body, as its resistance to other unrelated injury is reduced and consequently they suffer more from these injuries than an otherwise normal person would, and the damage is attributed to this new cause which has nothing to do with chronic metallic poisoning.
These results may occur because of large doses but they may come from small doses of aluminum compounds administered over a considerable period. A small quantity acting for a long time may produce results quite as marked as a larger quantity acting for a shorter space of time.
The resistance of the intestinal wall to bacteria would
be reduced and they would get a foothold, and begin to grow there when they could not do so in a normal intestinal wall. •
There arc two effects to be observed at the introduction into the human digestive tract of aluminum compounds, the direct effect of carrying the substance into the circulation, and an indirect effect in the intestine and in the arterial tract rendering the human organism more susceptible to disease.
In my opinion, the effect of aluminum compounds, the passing into human, system by absorption would make themselves felt in the reproductive organs. The cells of these organs are particularly sensitive to the action of any poisonous substance and often show marked changes when changes in other parts of the body are undiscover-able even by careful microscopic studies.
My opinion is that aluminum compounds are poisonous to.all forms of life, including the higher animals.
Proposals for a New Calendar
A SIDE from the fifty-two .Sundays in each year there are 275 other days that are celebrated as holidays by some country or some section, which is a fair illustration of how badly mixed humanity is in its time-keeping affairs.
Calendar-making is an arbitrary business. The international day begins and ends at the meridianal line 1.80 degrees from Greenwich, running through Bering strait and irregularly through the 'Pacific ocean. East of the line is dated one day earlier than west of it.
Westbound steamers which cross the line at midnight on Saturday night have no Sunday that week, but skip to Monday. Eastbound steamers which cross the line at midnight on Sunday night have two Sundays in succession.
The Jewish calendar divided the year into lunar months, twelve in each year, intercalating a thirteenth month when necessary to maintain the correspondence of the particular months with the regular recurrence of the seasons. The intercalary month was necessary seven times in each nineteen-year period.
Every now and. then some wise ones get hold of the Biblical accounts of the lives of the patriarchs before the Flood and try to tell us that prior to that time a year was only one of our mouths. But they forget to explain how it is that Cainan was a papa when he was only seventy months old and a grandpa when he was only 135 months old. 'What a cute little grandpa Cainan must have made when he was only eleven years and three months old. The Ladies Home Journal fell for this foolishness.
The Cycle of Cathay
ATIIA.Y is China, and a cycle there is sixty years. China is now in her seventy-seventh cycle, which began in 1924 A. D., and her chronology therefore dates back to 2,637 B. C., or 150 years before the Flood. If is hardly supposable that the record has been accurately kept. By some it is believed that the Chinese really try to date their history from the year the Flood dried up and. get it as near as they can.
The calendar in general use among the nations of the world at this time may be said to have had its rise in Egypt. It is said that the Sphinx, facing east, originally wore at the crest of its forehead the earven. image of an asp. The asp’s head at sunrise cast a shadow along the Sphinx’s body. From this shadow grooves were cut, and. from these seasonal markings the Egyptians finally worked out the true length of the solar year. SGolq days, less a fraction.
The Egyptians had twelve months of thirty days each and placed their five odd. days at the end of the year, which theoretically began oW or about July 13, when the star Sirius, after, having been invisible for a long time, began to reappear in the eastern, morning sky. The Egyptian week was ten days long, the five odd days not being counted as ir= any week. The Egyptians finally became tangled on the leap year proposition. Their New Year kept getting earlier and earlier until finally it was all out of adjustment with the original intent. By this method of calculation once in every 1,461 years they fell an entire year behind.
The Greeks hit upon the method of correcting their calendar once in every nineteen years, but their combination of the Jewish and Egyptian calendars was not a success and resulted in much confusion. This confusion spread to the Roman calendar, but they added a few special inixups of their own.
The Julian Calendar
STUMBLING along in tin; track of the Greeks, the Roman calendar, thanks to the ignorance and politics of the Ponti lex Maximus, who had the matter in charge, got two months out of balance, and when Julius Caesar came to the throne he took the matter in hand.
lie invited the Greek astronomer Sosigenes to Rome and between them they put fourteen months into the year 46 B. C. and put the vernal equinox back where it belonged. Then they fixed on the months as we now have them. Julius named the month of July after himself, and because he was superstitious and regarded even numbers as unlucky7 he put in thirty-one days, instead of thirty.
His successor Augustus was just as superstitious and in the month of August, which is named after him, in order to get thirty-one days he borrowed one day from February. At the same time he shifted September 31 to October 31 and November 31 to December 31.
Until Caesar took the matter in hand the pontiffs had been administering the calendar to suit themselves and possessed the authority to inject additional days into it at their discretion. They did this when they7 happened to think of it, or when, as Caesar discovered, they wanted to lengthen the terms of magistrates, or hasten then’ exit from the scenes.
The Julian Calendar continued in general use throughout Christendom until 1582, when Pope (Gregory, noticing that the church festivals were noticeably changing in season, decreed that the fifth of October should be the fifteenth instead, and that the last year of each century, three times out of four, should not be a leap year.
The Gregorian Calendar was adopted in England, in 1752; in Japan, in 1873; in China, in 1912; 'Russia, in 1918; Rumania, in .1919; and in Greece, in 1923. ‘When the Gregorian Calendar was adopted in England mobs raged in the streets demanding that they bo given back their eleven lost days; and when the Greek Patriarch finally consented to the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar some lover of the old Julian Calendar retaliated by coming upon him suddenly- with a pair of shears and haggling off oise corner of his beautiful beard, thus complicating whiskers with feast days in almost in-ex tri cable confn»ion.
Muhammed and the French Revolution
TK/TOflAAlMEl) took a hand at calendar-mak-XVX Ing, v;as not g gllc?,>s,s. JHS months were purely lunar and, as no adjustment was made to keep them in touch with the solar year, once in every thirty-two and one-half years his calendar made a revolution, a particular month having in the meantime appeared in all seasons, Mohammed bungled this as he did everything.
In the French Revolution an elaborate attempt was made to inaugurate a scientific calendar. There were twelve months of thirty days each, and to complete the year there were five fete days (six on leap year) added at the •'•lose of the year. '
There were ten days in each week, called respectively primod, duodi, tridi, quartidi, qmn-tidi, sextidi, septidi, octidi, ninidi and decadi, which latter was the sabbath.
There wTere new names for all the months, vendemiare, brumaire, frimaire, nivose, plu-viose, ventose, germinal, floreal, prairial, messi-dor, thermidor and fructidor, meaning respectively, in English, vintage, foggy, sleet, snowy, rainy, wfindy, bud, flower, meadow, harvest, hot and fruit.
The year began with the fall equinox, about September 22. Each season, autumn, winter, spring and summer had three thirty-day months, and each month had thi’ee decades or weeks. The five or six fete days were not in any week. In 1805 the Gregorian Calendar was reestablished.
The Mayan and Liberty Calendars
QN DECEMBER 10, 580 B. C., the Mayan Indians inaugurated a perfect calendar which ran for two thousand years wjfhoiit the loss of a day. The Mayan books and the. Mayan civilization wore destroyed by the Spanish Inquisition in Yucatan, in 1561 A, D. The Mayan 'Calendar was based upon the fact that the planet Venus makes a reappearance in the same phase once in 584 days.
The Liberty Calendar, now being largely written up in the American press, because of its American origin, is one of 137 calendar proposals now up before the League of Nations. It proposes- thirteen months of twenty-eight days eaeh, with one day at the end of the year not in anj’ week or in any mouth. The extra day in leap year would be put in midsummer between June and July, but not in any week or month. This calendar has its good features.
Payday would always come on the same day of the week and the same day of the monlh. Business could be better regulated. No printed calendars would ever be necessary. Everybody would know that the first day of every month is Monday, and the last day of every month Sun-i < < <
Such a calendar would be a trial to Jews. Seventh-day Adventists and a few superstitions people who do not know that God gave His sabbath law only to the Jews, and never at all to the Gentiles, and who imagine that, in some mysterious way, Sunday has taken the place of the day which He fixed and which the Jews have observed from time immemorial and still observe. :
The true year consists of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds. The calendar figures out 26 seconds too long. This excess would amount to one day in 3,323 years. It has been proposed to make the year 4,000 and all its multiples leap years, which would reduce the disparity to less than one day in 20,000 years.
If the new calendar goes into effect we beg to suggest that it should date from the end of Gentile Timos, August 1, 19.14, the time when our Lord took to Himself His power and began His long-promised reign.
A Result of Major Holmes’ Visit (?)
AT THE end of November, 1927, two days after the funeral of the late Admiral Bullard, Major J. P. Holmes visited Washington enroute to Chicago, asking for a better wave length for certain I. B. S. A. radio stations. A few days later (December 18) the following appeared in the Springfield (Mass.) Sunday Union and HepuMican. It does not seem to have received any general circulation and only recently came to our attention: '
COMMISSIONER THREATENED MUTH THE WRATH OF
GOD
Triple Death Theory Scared. Pickard When Pneumonia Developed from Overwork
Washington—Radio Commissioner Sam Pickard lias just recovered from, a serious attack of grip, and therein lies a story.
On the day Rear-Admiral Bullard was buried, the occupants of the radio commissioner’s car in the funeral train were commenting on the suddenness of his death. Then the talk turned to the death of Commissioner Dillon. One of them said:
“Have you ever heard the theory that deaths like that do not go ih pairs? The theory is that when two members of a body die like that, there is always a third death within a short time.”
Looking around him, he asked more or less seriously and perhaps with a trace of nervousness: .
“Which of us will be next?”
The radio commissioners are sensible men, but they are developing “'nerves” because of the strain which they have been under in attempting to improve broadcasting reception.
Two days after the funeral, it was necessary for Pickard to refuse a better wave length to a station owned by a religious institution. The owner of the station preached a sound sermon to Pickard on the subject.
“'God already has taken two of the members of this commission,” said he. “Mark my words, he is going to take more of you unless you give ns a wave that is better for sending out the Word of God.”
Pointing his finger at Pickard, he added:
“God is going to avenge this wrong you have done him by refusing to let his voice go out on the air on a good wave length.”
Pickard told his associates about the incident. He also told his wife.
The next evening at an important meeting of the commission, Pickard’s head became dizzy. He stood up, reeling, and fell to the floor in a faint.
When Pickard recovered, his associates jokingly reminded him of the statement of the owner of the religious station. But it was evident that their humor was a little strained.
Pickard was taken home.
“’Pneumonia,” said the doctor. “He’s in bad condition. He’s been working too hard.”
It was several days before the cold was under control. Then for the first time, Pickard was able to laugh about it all.
Bible Questions and Answers
UESTION: What proof have we that you are giving the correct explanation of the
Bible? ~ "
Answer: The only proof that any one has that an explanation is correct is by a comparison with the scriptures on the point at issue. The true explanation should be in harmony with all the scriptures relative to the point involved; otherwise it is error. For instance, if a clergyman tells me that the soul is immortal, and cites as his reason the statement of Jesus upon the cross as is recorded in Luke 23 : 46, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost”, to this the Christian would reply that the scripture does not prove the immortality of the soul. What Jesus said and meant was that Hie committed his right to life into the hands of the heavenly Father, and this right to life with the accompanying life rights were given to him on the third day there-affer at His resurrection. Jesus really breathed out His breath, the wind, when He died; and the word translated “spirit” in the text is the Greek word pnewna, meaning wind. There was only one Being in all the universe who possessed immortality before the resurrection of Christ Jesus, and that Being was the Father, Jehovah God; for of Him we read in 1 Timothy 6:16, “[God] only hath immortality.” Christ Jesus was given immortality the third day after His crucifixion when He was raised from the dead in the resurrection. In Isaiah 53:12 we read concerning Jesus, “He hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors.”
The Scriptures are positive that the soul is not immortal. In Ezekiel 18:4 we read, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, the same shall die.” (Douay Version) In Ezekiel 18:20 also we read, “'The soul that sinneth it shall die.” (Douay) In Joshua 11:11 we read concerning the destruction of souls in battle when Joshua smote the Hazorites: “And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there was not any left to breathe.” Jesus said, as is recorded in Matthew 10:28 (Douay Version) : “Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul [meaning the right to. life]: but rather fear [reverence] him that can destroy both soul and body in gelienna [pit of destruction].” In Psalm 145: 20 we read, “All the wicked will he [God] destroy.”
We see then that souls are not immortal, but that immortality is the gift to the faithful. It is only by obtaining the harmonious conclusion of all the scriptures on a given point at issue that we know that we have the truth relative to that particular subject.
Question: Why do you not believe those who have been explaining the Bible, the priests and the ministers ?
Answer: Because we find that their explanations are not in accord with the-Bible. Every Christian has a right to test the statements of any individual by the infallible Word of God, the Bible. In Isaiah 8: 20 we read, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” The Bible clearly teaches that it is pleasing to the Lord that the Christian should, by applying the scriptures, test the doctrines that are taught. When the Apostle Paul was preaching to the Bereans, the Bereans were Bible students and searched the Scriptures daily to determine what even the Apostle Paul was teaching them. We read in Acts 17:11, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” How many church-goers search the Bible daily to see and determine whether the things which the preachers are telling them are correct? The difficulty today is that church-goers neglect the study of the Bible and have become blinded as to what is the truth. It is time to awake; determine to serve God; and search the Bible in order to know7 what is pleasing to God.
from Station WBBB,
[Broadcast
THEBE are two separate and distinct meanings to the word earth as used in the Scriptures. One, the literal meaning, is, the mundane sphere on which the human race resides; and the other, the.. symbolic meaning, is, the visible part of the organization of which man is a part and to which mankind is subjected.
There are two meanings to the word heaven: first, the abiding place of Jehovah and His pure and holy angels, which is the literal meaning thereof; and second, the invisible organization to which man is subjected, whether that be evil oi' good.
The world is composed of both heaven and earth. The invisible part of the organization to which man is subjected is called heaven, while the visible part is called earth; and the two taken together symbolically are called world. For this reason the world is properly defined as mankind organized into forms of government under.the supervision of an invisible overlord and his servants or allies.
The Scriptures speak of God riding upon the heavens of the heavens. This is a pictorial expression of the loftiness of Jehovah above all creation. He is the Most High, and besides Him there is none like unto Him.
God created the literal earth and placed a perfect man upon it. Only Eden was then glorious. All other parts of the earth were unfinished. Our English word cursed is used to apply to the earth outside of Eden, which really means an incomplete or unfinished condition. The perfect man Adam and his perfect wife Eve constituted the beginning of the symbolic earth. They were under the supervision of the overlord Lucifer. Lucifer by reason of his ambition caused sin to enter into the world. His name was then changed to that of Satan the Devil. Because of lu’s sin Adam was driven out of Eden into the unfinished earth. Associated with Lucifer ‘were pure and holy angels whom lie defiled and they became a part of his wicked organization. It is written: “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.”-—Genesis 6:1, 2,
The offspring of the materialized angels who cohabited with human women were desperately
New York, by Judge Rutherford-1
wicked, and therefore it is written: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them: and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”—Genesis 6:11-13.
Here the word earth, is used symbolically and means that the visible organization of men was corrupt and God. declared His purpose to destroy it. The great flood was sent to accomplish that purpose. God saved righteous Noah and the members of his family, carrying them over the flood. The inhabitants of the earth therefore were destroyed. After the flood God said to Noah and his sons: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” (Genesis 9:1) All people that are now on the literal earth are the descendants of Noah; and, since Noah was a descendant of Adam, all men are descendants of Adam.
Jehovah God, the great Creator, made the earth and placed man upon it and made it for man’s habitation. “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited; I am the Lord, and there is none else.”—Isaiah 45:12, 18.
The earth never did belong to man. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” (Psalm 24:1) It is the good pleasure of the Lord to give the earth to those of the human race who love and obey Him. It is therefore written: “The meek shall inherit the earth.” Meek means those that are teachable, who seek to know the Lord’s way and who are anxious to do it.
Following the great, flood, God permitted man to go on in his own way and try Ills hand at establishing a desirable government upon the earth. He did not restrain Satan the Devil but permitted him to influence all those of mankind who wanted to be influenced. G-od gave mankind the privilege of choosing good or choosing evil and the most of them yielded to the evil in-
fluence of Satan. God has always had some persons on earth who love and obey Him, but the majority of men do not love or obey God. The period of man’s history has been a time of great testing upon men. Those who love God have been His witnesses on the earth and witnesses to those composing the symbolic earth,. Satan the invisible ruler, and therefore the god of the evil world, has blinded the minds of men and thereby prevented them from seeing God’s great plan for the blessing of the human race.
Conversion
IME and again the Scriptures declare God’s purposes to redeem mankind from sin and death and then to give every man a free, full and unobstructed opportunity to serve God and be restored to perfection. If that is done, then the people living on the literal earth, and forming the symbolic earth, will be to the glory of God. If God should bring the literal earth to the beauty of Eden, then the whole literal earth will be to the praise and glory of the great Creator.
The Scriptures reveal God’s plan to be this: Redemption of mankind by the sacrifice of His beloved Son; gathering out from amongst men a people for His name, who are to be associated with Christ Jesus in His kingdom: and then the restoration of the obedient ones of humankind to perfection. It was in the year 33 A. D. that Jesus was put to death. Three days thereafter God raised Him up out of death. Forty days later Jesus Christ ascended up into heaven and into the presence of Jehovah God. Ten days thereafter, known as Pentecost, God began the selection of the members of Christ, which is the church His body. (Colossians 1:18) From then till the present time God has been causing the message of His Word of truth to be preached upon earth, and by this means He is gathering together the true church. God never gave the members of the church or Christians the authority while on earth to clean up the world. The commission of authority which He gave Christ Jesus and the members of the church His body is stated in these words: ‘‘The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek: he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening o'f the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”—Isaiah 61:1-3.
Briefly summed up, this commission authorizes the Christian to tell the teachable ones the message of truth and to comfort them and give them hope by reason of the truth, and to help each other, as brethren in Christ, to a better understanding of the divine plan.
Cleaning Up
EFERRING again to the question concerning the ‘‘last days and the second coining of Christ”, and the answer given by the distinguished Dr. Cadman, president of the Federal Council of Churches, note that he stated: “Instead of gazing into the sky and asking when He [Christ] shall come, we ought to get busy and clean up the earth in preparation for His arrival.” That statement finds no authority in the Scriptures.
But, you may ask, is it not a proper tiling to clean up? To be sure it is, but to clean up whom? ‘God commands those who start in the way of following Christ to clean themselves up and to keep themselves clean, but nowhere in the Bible is the Christian commanded or authorized to even attempt to clean up mankind in general. The great difficulty is that the so-called Christians, who have formed what is named Christendom, have become so defiled themselves with the uneleanness of the symbolic earth that they have lost sight of God’s purposes concerning mankind. To those who have declared their* purpose of following in the footsteps of Christ Jesus the command is given: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” —2 Corinthians 7:1.
Does the cleansing here mean to clean up and put away only the vile and filthy things that afflict humankind? It means much more than that. Every honest person should put away the .things that are impure and wicked. The Christian must go much further. The Christian lias agreed to do God’s will, which means he must keep himself separate and apart from the world.
Satan is the invisible ruler of this world; and the visible part of his organization, or ruling factors in the earth, is made up of profiteers and professional politicians and their allies who scheme to rob the people and keep them in subjection and control. Can a true Christian have any part in these schemes of oppression or support those who do? The Scriptures make definite answer upon this point wherein it is written: “What fellowship hath righteousness with, unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with 'Belial? or what part hath he that heli eve th with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them: and I will be their God, and they shall he my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”—2 Corinthians 6:14-17.
Here is the clear and unequivocal command for the one who is a Christian to have no part in the schemes of men which have to do with unrighteousness. Since this world is under the supervision and control of Satan the Devil, then a true Christian must be separate and distinct therefrom. This is the reason why Jesus said: “My kingdom is not of this world,” but’ it is future.
The Federal Council of Churches is a part of the present world organization and makes no effort to deny the fact. That organization is using the name of Christ and applying it to a worldly organization, of which Satan is the god or invisible ruler, and calling it Christendom. The Scriptures command that the Christians must keep themselves unspotted from the world. (James 1:27) The clergy and the principal ones of their flocks have gone further than merely getting worldly spots upon themselves. They are now a part of the world, insisting that a worldly organization is the political expression of God’s kingdom on earth. This illicit relationship between the Devil’s organization and men who name the name of Christ is denounced .in the Scriptures as adultery. Therefore it is written: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of ’the world is enmity .with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God.”—James 4: 4.
All who would have the approval of the Lord must cleanse themselves and be prepared for His use when His kingdom is in full operation, A Christian finds it a great fight to keep himself in the proper way. The great majority of those who have professed to be Christian have fallen under the evil influence of the wily adversary. God foreknew that organizations calling themselves Christian would become corrupt and so vile that they would never clean up. They started out with a pure intention and purpose but fell to the blandishments of the evil one. Through Elis prophet Jeremiah God said of and concerning them: “Thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill, and under every green tree, thou wanderest, playing the harlot. Yet I .had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed; how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much sope, yet thine inicjuity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.” (Jeremiah 2: 20-22) Those words were written concerning “organized Christianity” so-called.
That describes the present condition of ee-elesiasticism, showing that they have become so corrupt by forming a part of the Devil’s organization that they are blinded to their own condition and could never even, clean themselves up, much less somebody else.
Now compare these scriptures with the language of the distinguished president of the Federal Council of Churches, who said: “Let us robe the earth with God’s glory in man’s moral achievements, then Christ can come.” Otherwise stated, the Lord Jesus Christ could not come until the Federal Council of Churches would so clothe the earth in the moral achievements of man as to receive God’s approval. Surely God would not commit to a company of people so thoroughly polluted with the Devil’s organization the work of clothing anything with glory to Him, much less making the earth fit for Christ to come to. If the statement of the distinguished gentleman were not so serious it "would be ludicrous beyond description of words. Many a good honest person will be deceived thereby.
Gml’s Work
HRIST Jesus is the great Executor of Jehovah God. God through Christ will clean up the earth and make it a fit place for man. That He will do after His coming. No fallen or impure company of men could do this work. It is written: “For, behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” (Isaiah 65: 17) The Lord will not even think about taking over the earth after the Federation of Churches has tried to clean it. By the time the Federation of Churches and its allies get through it is possible for God only to dean up the earth. The proud, haughty, boastful and honorable ones now ruling the earth are the ones that make up the unholy alliance, the profiteers, politicians, and preachers; but their boastfulness and pride shall be brought low and shall come to nought as it is written: “The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.” (Isaiah 23: 9) Those inspired words prove that the Federation of Churches will not clean up the earth and robe it with glory.
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