The Watchtower, July 15, 1919

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»b«* earth dlrtress of nations with perplexity: the s'.i and the waves (the restless, discontented) roaring; men ■ .-‘'arts falling them for fear and for looking

**'*'*■ "■ < onutjc upon t hr earth (society): for the powers of the heavens (ecclesiasticlsrn) shall be shaken. . . . V <>yn ye see these things t^gin to come to pass,

'**3 kt. w that the Kingdom of God is at hand, Look up, lift up your Leads, rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh.—Matthew 24:33; Mark 13.2J, Luke 21.Jo 31

THIS JOURNAL AND ITS SAGRED MISSION

THIS Journal is one of the prime factors or Instruments in the system of Bible Instruction, or “Seminary Extension,** now being presented in all parts of the civilized world by the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, chartered A. D. 1881, “For the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.” It not only serves as a class room where Bible Students may meet in the study of the Divine Word, but also as a channel of communication through which they may be reached with announcements of the Society’s Conventions and of the coming of its traveling representatives styled ‘Pilgrims,” and refreshed with reports of its Conventions.

Gur “Bvrean Lessons” are topical rehearsals or reviews of our Society's published Studies, most entertainingly arranged, and very helpful to all who would merit the only honorary degree which the Society accords, viz., Verbi Dei Minister (V.D.M.), which, translated into English, is Minister of the Divine Word. Our treatment of the International S. S. Lessons Is specially for the older Bible Students and Teachers. By some this feature is considered indispensable. ‘

This Journal stands firmly for the defense of the only true foundation of the Christian’s hope now being so generally repudiated— Redemption through the precious blood of “the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a Random [a corresponding price, a substitute] for all.” (1 Pet. 1:19: 1 Tim. 2:6.) Building ud on this sure foundation the gold, silver and precious stones (1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Pet. 1:5-111 of the Word of God, its further mission is to—“Make all see what is the fellowship of the Mystery which . . . has been hid in God, ... to the intent that now might be made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God”—“which In other Agee was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed."—Eph. 3 :5-9, 10.

It stands free from all parties, sects and creeds of men, while it seeks more and more to bring its every utterance Into fullest subjection to the will of God in Christ, as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. It is thus free to declare boldly whatsoever the Lord hath spoken—according to the Divine wisdom granted unto us, to understand. Its attitude is not dogmatical, but confident; for we know whereof we affirm, treading with implicit faith upon the sure promises of God. It is held as a trust, to be used only in His service : hence our decisions relative to what may and what may not appear in its columns must be according to our judgment of His good pleasure, the teaching of His Word, for the upbuilding of His people in grace and knowledge. And we not only Invite but urge our readers to prove all its utterances by the infallible Word to which reference is constantly made, to facilitate such testing

TO US THE SCRIPTURES CLEARLY TEACH

That the Church is “the Temple of the Living God’’—peculiarly “His workmanship that its construction has been in progress throughout the Gospel Age—ever since Christ became the world’s Redeemer and the Chief Corner Stone of His Temple, through which, when finished, God’s blessing shall come “to all people,” and they find access to Him.—1 Cor. 3:16, 17; Eph. 2:20-22: Gen. 28 :14 ; Gal. 3 :29.

That meantime the chiseling, shaping and polishing of consecrated believers in Christ’s Atonement for sin, progresses; and when the last of these “living stones,” “Elect and precious,” shall have been made ready, the great Master Workman will bring all together in the First Resurrection ; and the Temple shall be filled with His glory, and be the meeting place between God and men throughout the Millennium.—Rev. 15 :5-8.

That the Basis of Hope, for the Church and the World, lies in the fact that “Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man,” “a Ransom for all,” and will be “the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” “in due time-**—» Heb. 2 :9; John 1 :9 ; 1 Tim. 2 :5, 6.

That the Hope of the Church is that she may be like her Lord, “see Him as He is,” be “partaker of the Divine nature,” and share His

glory as His joint-heir.—1 John 3 :2 ; John 17 :24 ; Rom. 8 :17; 2 Pet. 1 :4.

That the present mission of the Church is the perfecting of the saints for the future work of service; to develop in herself every grace;

to be God’s witness to the world: and to prepare to be kings and priests in the next Age.—Eph. 4 :12; Matt. 24 :14 ; Rev. 1:6; 20 :ft.

That the hope for the World lies in the blessings of knowledge and opportunity to be brought to all by Christ’s Millennial Kingdom— the Restitution of all that was lost in Adam, to all the willing and obedient, at the hands of their Redeemer and His glorified Church—when all the wilfully wicked will be destroyed.—Acts 3 :19-23 ; Isa. 35.

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“GO YE ALSO INTO THE VINEYARD"

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Our Society does all in its power to facilitate various methods of circulating the truth—particularly in the Colporteur branch of the service; assisting in the matter very materially by supplying the books at remarkably low prices. If the Colporteur work appeals to you—travelling from town to town introducing the Bible Keys, soliciting orders and delivering the books—write for “Hints to Colporteurs”. We shall be glad to hear from you, and we assure you that every sacrifice yctu may make on behalf of the truth will mean rich blessing for yourself.

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AND HERALD OF CHRISTS PRESENCE

Vol. xl July 15, 1919 No. 14

VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER

"Their rock is no! as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter."—Deuteronomy 32:31,32.

HE WORLD moves on apace; and the pace is a very rapid one. Those people whose faith has been in the established customs or conventions of men, rather than in God, are in a truly pitiable plight, for they see the foundation of their faith slipping swiftly from under them. There could be no good in reviewing the situation in the world were it not for the fact that the whole set of affairs is intimately connected with the glorious promises of God’s word. Then, too, the spirit of distrust which is abroad in all the earth tends to percolate into the church, and a contemplation of the dire effects of distrust in the world should be a warning to the Lord’s people, supplementing the warnings of his Word, in this time of testing and stress upon both church and world.

The present political, social, and economic difficulties of mankind are touched upon in a recent editorial from the New York Globe:

“There has been no more disturbing news for many months than this of the morning of Friday, June 13. Mutterings of rising peoples and the creakings of rocking governments, reports of hunger and oppression, and rumors of the whirlwinds that follow them. Charles Selden in the Times hints darkly at an industrial crisis in France that may develop into a revolution, and at lack of power on the part of the government to resist the forces that may be generated by the general strike; French, English, Italian, and Belgian labor leaders are discussing plans for a strike that would tie up the continent of Europe and render inevitable the overturn of established authority; the Austrian communists seem about to get possession of the power in Vienna; the radicals are near a victory in Berlin; Asia is awakening from her long, sullen acquiesence —Corea has declared her independence in defiance of Japan, China has suddenly wrenched at her economic bonds, and, in an effort to strike back at the dominant European, declared a boycott of European goods.

****♦♦**»

“Only a very thoughtless observer could take pleasure in the spectacle of a world in process of revolution. For the real advancement of liberty among men seems to progress no faster in these times than at others, and the price for the steps taken is paid in bitter suffering. It was England that invented the bloodless revolution. It would be well for the world to take a leaf from her memoranda.”

BLOODLESS ENGLISH REVOLUTION

The bloodless English revolution referred to is treated at some length in the Boston Traveller, under the date of June 13:

“Great Britain’s 'bloodless revolution’ is gaining fast, and the Lords and Commons in daily session are progressing with proposals designed to equalize opportunities in every phase of life. . _

“The coal nationalization plan is gaining adherents in high places, despite the vigorous and virile attacks by the plutocratic holders and agents of coal tracts. It is- contended by the government's witnesses and experts that the titles to these areas are invalid and have been unjustly and illegally held for centuries.

“The government is having its hands full with the unemployment question, and cool heads alone will avert a clash. Americans may have a better idea of conditions when they learn that whereas in the United States, according to Mr. Gompers, less than fifteen percent of wage earners are organized, in the British Isles less than fifteen percent are not. In other words, labor is making tremendous efforts to gain entire control of the government.”

Another, though quite concurrent view is set forth in the Nashville Tennessean of some weeks back:

“The world in solemn truth is groping for peace with the anguish of one whose eyes have been blinded by the horror of the spectacle upon which it has gazed. This state of mind has never been equalled before.

“Are we entering into some new life? Prophets say aye; it does not require more than the ordinary vision of the ordinary man to affirm it. The past will never loom up again except as history, repeating itself vaguely. The future is in a different order. Whether the world, or a large part of the world, would have it so cannot affect the fact of its existence. In the order of change, the old gives place to the new, and there is no getting away from it The events fundamental to this transformation have alreadv occurred; they consist in the new conceptions forged on the hot anvil of war, in the new visions which people have had, in the issuance of selfdiscovered peoples from the conflict: there is no denying of their existence, and the problem is not to refute but to make way.

“Instead of a state of war the world is experiencing a series of bloody revolutions. Central Europe, the erstwhile ground of vicious imperialism and heartless autocracy, is the scene of bitter civil wars, starvation, want among women and children. In Russia, four governments exist instead of one; not one can feed the population, nor bring about the inevitable unity that should prevail in the government In the Balkans all are in confusion except the small group of nationalists who seek to forge out of the national kinship of the Slavs a lasting democratic government, and are handicapped by the incomprehension of the populace, the need for food, the quarrel with Italy. In Poland Paderewski issues statements that others prepare, and tries to annex a part of the territory of a newly freed nationality. Belgium wants a bit of Holland; Denmark would have a piece of Germany; Japan wants Kiachau; Italy wants Dalmatia. Ireland has proclaimed her independence; Egypt is in partial revolt; India is troubled; Finland is in the dark; Korea is rebellious and would be in arms if there were any available. Bolshevism usurps authority in Russia, extends to Hungary, to Germany, to Vienna, and other nations are fearful of its clutch. Italy is seething with unrest. The French Socialists form a strong party ready to oppose the government. Lloyd George has been driven to radical extremes to conciliate labor. In our own United States four strikes since the armistice have taken place on a large scale; the Seattle strike, the textile workers’ strike in New Jersey and New England, the telephone strike, and the harbor strike in New York City.”

A WORLD EPIDEMIC OF HATE

Sober, dispassionate words are given by the San Francisco Call and Post of June 19:

“Often of late the atrocities with which the world still echoes seem less like the crimes of individual men than an obscene disease which has seized upon humanity. The course of this disease may even be mapped out. It began, so far as this generation is concerned, in Armenia, where the Turks killed the Christians without provoking the so-called Christian nations to anything more than mild protests. It spread to the Balkans, where the second Balkan war was preceded and accompanied by the most appalling massacres. The official report upon these massacres, in which no one s hands were clean, was a sensation early in 191_

“With the outbreak of the war between Servia and Austria the disease blazed up with renewed fury and when the little war became a great one the germs were carried into France and Belgium on the one side and into Russia on the other. The Germans committed atrocities in the west, both the Russians and the Germans committed atrocities upon each other in the east, and in Poland both sides persecuted the Jews.

“The Bolshevist revolution introduced a new element of hatred—envy and desire for revenge on the > u? hand, fear on the other. The number of the killing.^ by the Bolsheviki has bc>.n exaggerated, but though it is claimed Lenine has not killed wantonly, it is admitted he spared no life that stood in the way of his success. On the outskirts of the revolution wavered a barbaiic fringe, the offspring of poverty and oppression, who killed like beasts and were in turn killed, even by the revolutionists.

“The enemies of the revolution were from the first as bloodthirsty as the worst of the teriorists. In Finland, Mannerheim is reported to have killed about nine thousand, Kolchak is known to hold down fas ‘liberated’ districts with a bloody hand and has executed hundreds, including several members of the Constituent Assembly who took refuge with him from the Bolsheviki ; the Japanese hold large parts of Siberia under a reign of terror, and Petlura’s forces are charged with the almost incredible crime of killing or instigating the killing of 84,000 Jews in the Ukraine.

“Spontaneous as well as organized cruelty has been rampant everywhere. The forces of order and of disorder are almost equally savage. What is going on seems to be a general breakdown of civilized restraints throughout a large part of central and eastern Europe. It is just such a breakdown, apparently, as preceded the destruction of the old Roman civilization fifteen hundred years ago. The devil is let loose in the world, the hearts of men are full of cruelty. Such a degeneration can drag great masses of men down toward the beast just as it can individuals. Conceivably the whole world may be attacked by it. Neither western Europe nor Ameiii.i is safe. We do not know what tempests may sweep over us.

"There is no antidote except a clinging to a few old standards which have been proven good. We can not tell what of our institutions will survive, or if any will survive unimpaired, but we can be sure that the more tolerant we are, the more kindly, the more willing to study the other man's point of view, the more chance we shall have of holding on to what we most value in civilization. This is no time for violent language, even when it is not literally meant, nor for the cultivation of hate. It is no time to denounce or vilify even the worst and weakest of mankind. It is a time for understanding. Only that and its fruits can save us—only Christianity.”

TWENTY-THREE WARS GOING ON

To this the New York American of June 17 adds a rather ironical squib from London, headed “23 Wars Going On”:

“The peace terms to be presented to Germany today are the final reply of the Allies, Andrew Bonar Law, Government spokesman in the House of Commons, declared in opening the Victory Loan campaign at the Guildhall today. He added:

“ ‘It is for them to choose within five days.’

“The speaker said that the chief of the British staff had declared twenty-three different rears were now going on, and added;

“‘It is not all over. It is quite possible, by want of wisdom, by absence of restraint, by disunion among the Allies and by want of unity at home, to lose, not the victory, but the full force of the victory which has been bought so dearly.’ ”

These partly social and partly political phases of earth’s difficulties are supplemented by the financial and economic estimate of the conditions as made by Frank A. Vanderlip, president of the National City Bank of New York, in an address recently delivered and as reported in the New York Times of May 27. Mr. Vanderlip is one of the foremost financiers of the world and his speech has attracted more attention than anything that has happened this side the Atlantic for many weeks, 'i he full text was printed, but preceded by a careful summary, which latter we quote: ’ “Frank A. Vanderlip, who spoke last night at the Hotel Astor, at a dinner of the Economic Club, which was held for the purpose of hearing his story of conditions in Europe, whence he has recently returned, said that England was on the verge of a revolution, which was narrowly averted in February, when he was there, and the conditions on the continent of Europe are appalling beyond anything dreamed of in this country.

“He said that the food conditions in Europe would be worse instead of better for a year ahead, than they have been in the preceding year, because of the dislocation of labor and the destruction of farm animals, and that the industrial and economic outlook, generally, points to a period after the war, which will equal, if not exceed the war period in suffering ami misery.

“He said that Italy was afraid to disband her army, because she could not employ the men and was afraid of idleness. He said that the differential, which had kept England preeminent in international trade, was the underpayment of labor, and that this differential was now being wiped out, forcing England to face tremendously serious problems for the luturc. He quoted a British minister as saying that means would have to be found to send six or seven millions ol Englishmen out of the British Isles and closer to the sources of food production, if continental conditions continued long as at present.

“He said that the best printing presses in the world today, except those in Washington, were at Petrograd, and that they were turning out masses of counterfeited pounds, francs, marks, lire, and pesetas, so skillfully made that detection was almost impossible. He said that these counterfeits were being spent largely by Germans to foment Bolshevist propaganda.

“Spain would, he said, be the most promising country in Europe except for the labor situation there, which had brought it to the verge of Bolshevism. He said that the most perfect laboratory ol Bolshevism in Europe outside of Russia was in Barcelona, Spain, which he said was ruled absolutely by a mysterious secret council, which had censored and fined the newspapers until they quit publication and had enforced their will in all matters by assassinations, which no one dared to punish.

He said that America alone could save Europe and that it-- aid must be extended to all countries equally. He said that this was necessary, not only to save Europe, but to pre-iciil an invasion ot America by the forces threatening the social overthrow of Europe.”

MR. VANDERLIP ON BRITISH FINANCES

After expressing his appreciation of the welcome accorded him Mr. Vanderlip is reported to have said: “ ‘You are here because you believe that I may have something to tell ton about the most remarkable situation that the world ever saw.....1 would like to examine for you a little

the English situation. England has held the premier position in the international industrial markets. America grew, but England grew too. America grew faster. So did Germany grow faster. But England had, up to the outbreak of the war, held the premier position. Now, how did she hold it? She had little raw material, some iron, and some coal; that was all. I will tell von how she held it. She held it by underpaying labor. That was her differential. That is how she competed. She underpaid labor, until today labor has not a house over its head in England, and the Government is undertaking to build a million houses for working men—a million houses!' ”

It may be that there is a bit of tactful advice and perhaps also of covert warning in these remarks on the cause of British commercial perplexities at the present time. He continues:

“‘English industry made a red ink overdraft on the future by underpaying labor so that it did not receive enough to live efficiently, and you know that in the mill towns of England there grew up a secondary race of small, underfed, uneducated, undev. loped people.....Let me tell you just a word

of English finam.e. The English fiscal year begins on April 1. Now from April 1 to the armistice England’s war cost was £7,500,000 a day, roundly. It was just a little under that.

In the months since the armistice her war cost has been £6,500,000 a day. Why, the cost of this war, after the armistice, is going to amaze the world.’ ”

Now all these views of human conditions are secular and if they are somewhat sinister and murky of outlook we can excuse them on the ground of dearth of spiritual vision. When we turn to the religious elements in earth’s society, surely we have the right to expect to find the beacon light of hope set confidently in the window to cheer earth’s mariners on the sea of life. But no: there is even greater confusion there than in the secular field. We cannot but recall the statement of the wise man: “Where there is no vision, the people perish,” spiritually. (Proverbs 29:18) Mr. William T. Ellis, widely known as the “Religious Rambler”, in a syndicate article quoted from the Richmond News-Leader, fairly well describes the general desuetude into which the spiritual forces of the world have fallen. It will be remembered that Mr. Ellis, some years back, went to considerable trouble to show the readers of the (Presbyterian) Continent that there was no beauty, that they should desire ti 5. (Compare Isaiah 53:2, 3) “Truly, our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3) But note Mr. Ellis’ resume:

NO CLEAR. ARRESTING VOICE IN PULPITS

“Where are the prophets whom this time so bitterly needs? Germany’s prophets proved mere politicians; Russia’s and Austria's only ecclesiastics; Turkey had none at all. What about our prophets in the English-speaking world? Who are wearing the mantle of Jonah today? _ _

“Let us face the facts fearlessly. We dare not indulge in self-deception or unwarranted optimism when the issues are so grave. Without captious criticism, or yet concern for conventional complacency, what do v> e find when we look into the realm of our professional prophets, the ministers of the Gospel? Countless godly and faithful men, certainly.

“Yet it is notorious that during the past five years of spiritual agony throughout the whole earth, there has been no one clear, strong, arresting voice heard in the Christian pulpits of the world. We hav< had to look to the laity for our prophetic messages. One reason why society is in a . state approaching chaos has been the collapse of great spiritual leadership. The men whom we thought might sound the world note have become mere administrators and ecclesiastical functionaries.”

That the watch dogs in nominal Zion have been dumb, some of them themselves suggest. In the Canadian Presbyterian General Assembly, recently held at Hamilton, Ontario, Rev. Dr. Banks Nelson is reported in the Toronto Daily Star to have said:

“We have suffered from being dumb dogs in the church and only when red, bloody revolution was hammering at the gates do we take action. The only way to avoid revolution is to preach repentance among Christian people.”

Prominent among religious topics in this country and Great Britain is that of Church Union. But all people do not look upon it with equal approbation. A contributor to the Denver Post of June 1 has this to say on the subject:

“There is a movement towards a so-called ‘reunion’ of ‘the churches' which requires to be watched by those who believe in the ultimate supremacy of spiritual values.

“If a church has lost the spiritual vitality which gave it birth it will not regain it by union with another church equally dead. A row of empty cisterns is useless in a drought, however great their unity and possible cubic content. What the world needs is not large religious caravanseries, but spiritual people.”

“Can Christianity save its soul while sponsored by the institutions which assume to mediate it among the people?” asks Joseph E. McAfee in the New Republic.

“The churches are not democratic; are they Christian? Can genuine Christianity survive their manipulation? Is the Christian tradition sate in their keeping? Will the people ever know and feel what Christianity really is under the churches' tutelage?”

MANY INTERESTED IN THE APOCALYPSE

Sometimes the comments take on a pathetic tinge, and thus reveal the deep, underlying desire of all nations for the promised dominion of righteousness, peace, and love. An editorial from the New York Herald follows in this strain:

"In these troublous times all over the world scholars are divided in their opinions as to whether the war is a demonstration that the Christian Church has not performed its mission on earth, or war is a fulfillment of prophecy and the turning point in the final victory of the Church. The Apocalypse, the Greek word for Revelation, always a fruitful topic of discussion among speculative theologians, has arrested the thought and attention of the world more than ever. It has become an interesting theme for discussion in circles both religious and secular.

“Believers in the infallibility of prophecy say that these visions hold the mystery of great events and explain the meaning of the last four years of tragedy—war, pestilence, famine, and death being the horsemen of Revelation seen by St. John.....If this interpretation is correct the tremendous

events of the last four years would seem to be a literal fulfillment of the Scripture and the visions of St. John. The Christian Church, then, has not failed in its mission, but is now on the eve of an era of greater power and usefulness than ever.

“The great events of these recent years, the horrors that have visited the world, the coming of war and death and the presence of famine, all tell the story of the four horsemen, as St. John saw them, representing the power of darkness finally to be overcome by the power of light.

“The Christian world is more hopeful than ever and looks to the final triumph of faith. Truly the bones of the martyrs are the foundation of the Church, and the Church will stand and endure. But that triumph, it is believed, must be led by some great spiritual, not temporal, power, beyond the genius of man.”

To this last sentence we can add a reverend and hearty amen! But others are very sanguine of their ability to accomplish great things in the Lord’s name, whether they are things sanctioned by him or not. A communication from the Interchurch World Movement of North America carries one paragraph as follows :

“The seventy-six denominations included in the scope of the Interchurch Movement, with 200,000 separate churches and congregations totaling more than 50,000,000 people, are combining their resources for systematic effort to improve conditions of life in all parts of the world. By the introduction of Christianity, the modern interpretation as furthered by the Interchurch project means also introducing the benefits of Christian methods of living, in sanitation, child culture, working conditions, housing, clothing, scientific methods of production and manufacture and any other element conducive to prosperity, health, and general usefulness in the world.”

Nothing is said about teaching the truth concerning God’s character, and it is only by that truth that we shall be made free. (John 8:32) We are told that “man shall not live by bread alone [however scientifically made], but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”. The idea of magnitude as syn-onomous with success seems to be a prominent one with those who are responsible for the publicity of the Methodist Centenary work—widely advertised “In His Name”. (See Matthew 7:22) In one of their leaflets, the illustrated side of which bears a picture of our Lord directing the “Rebuilding [of] the World”, we read:

“The church has caught the new spirit of the day. It is undertaking gigantic things. It has followed the nation into the realm of world affairs and proposes to be a greater world force.”

REBUILDING THE WORLD

Drunk, drunk, drunk with the thought of exaltation before the time. Rather overconfident of their worthiness some will say to the Lord: Have we not done many wonderful works in thy name? Perhaps all of us are too slow to learn the lesson that it is ‘‘not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord”.

Granted that the rebuilding of the world is the theme of all the holy prophets since the world began (Acts 3:19-21), would it not be more becoming in those supposedly aspiring to be the bride of Christ to follow their Lord in his bearing testimony to the truth and in faithfulness to his covenant of sacrifice rather than following any “nation into the realm of world affairs”’ We very much fear they gave utterance to a great truth—“the church has caught the new spirit of the day,” but not the spirit of the Master, on this subject.

This discrepancy is recognized, more or less, by worldly observers. A somewhat facetious article in the June 19th issue of Life gives vent to the world’.-hearty dislike of ecclesiastical interference in its affairs :

“The Methodist Episcopal Church has undertaken to raise a centenary fund of $140,000,000 to be used ‘to take advantage of the present remarkable opportunity to raise civilization to a higher level.’... .They will raise the money—no doubt of that; they have got it and they will give it.

“But how about the rest of their undertaking? Can they raise civilization to a higher level? Have they the facilities? Have they the liberal spirit? Do they know abottt civilization? Do they themselves circulate in its higher levels, and do they hope to haul the world up to their perch, or do they aspire to boost it up from where they are, and then, maybe, climb up after it?

“Money, even a lot of money, will not do much to raise civilization to a higher level,...but a lot of strong, enthusiastic support can be had for the suggestion that these centenary millions could not be better spent for civilization than to finance a great movement to civilize the Methodists.

“That they are excellent raw material of civilization there is no doubt; they are shock troops of religion, and religion is a basis of civilization; but the material needs a lot of patient labor before the rest of the world will contemplate it without anxiety. For the world fears that the Methodists’ true aim is to make it Methodist, and it does not want to be that. It will take to the woods first. It may easily like Methodists, for many of them are good, and lots of them are useful. But it will never like a Methodist civilization, and it never ought to.

"Methodism is too puritan, too much given to salvation by legislation, too narrow in its notion of what is wrong, too inventive of new sins and too brash about providing legal penalties to punish them. So long as Methodists provide, and submit to, a discipline for themselves, there is no quarrel with them, but when, grown strong, they seek to impose their discipline on other and unwilling people, they loom up at once as a formidable and tyrannous force, of which account must be taken ”

Is it not worthy of passing thought that if the “Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth” had wished or expected his people to establish his kingdom by political wire-pulling or chicanery he would have said something about it in his Word;.and if he had wished us to convert the world while yet constituting “the body of his humiliation” (Philippians 3:21), would he not have endowed us with the capacity and the facilities for that stupendous work?

SMOKING IN LAST SIX PEWS?

Other religious bodies are not so sure of their hold on the situation. From the Cincinnati Times-Star of May 22 we quote a cable dispatch from London:

"A movement to allow smoking in British churches has been started here and is being discussed at length in the press by clergy and laity. The proposal seems to be making headway. Dr. Fort Newton, pastor of the Temple of London, and one of the best known clergymen in London, favors the movement, saying: ‘The church is too much bound by custom and the respectability of it cramps good fellowship. People want the chinch to be less conventional.’

“Dr. Newton argues that the church of the future will not be so much a place of worship as a place for companionable gatherings.”

But some of the American churches purpose to be not one whit behind their British confreres in this matter of accomodating the natural man. A recent New York paper has this item:

“Sunday sports have been ‘okayed’ by one of New York’s oldest and best known churches—St. George’s Episcopal of Stuyvesant Square. This is the church of J. P. Morgan and other multi-millionaires, and also has the largest congregation of any Episcopal church in America.

“The church not only has decided to approve of Sunday baseball motoring, yachting, golfing, tennis, swimming, croquet, ai.<i other outdoor recreations, but by a vote of the vestrymen has detci mined that during the summer months Sunday morning service shall be advanced one h.our to 10 A. M., so that after a short service the members can get an early start for the links, tennis courts, ball grounds, beaches or automobile routes.

“St. George’s Church, which celebrated its one hundredth anniversary eight years ago, is said to have the largest membership of any protestant parish in the world. Among its members and their favorite recreations are: I. P. Morgan, financier—Yachting and tennis; Newcomb Carlton, president of the Western Union Telegraph Company—Yachting; Robert Fulton Cutting, financier—Golfing; Dr. George E. Brewer, surgeon—Golfing; George W. Wickersham, lawyer, former attorney general—Horseback riding; Henry W. Monroe, banker—Tennis. Dr. Reiland's [the pastor’s] favorite recreation is sailing a boat. It was through sailing a boat that he first became convinced that outdoor recreation on Sunday was not a sin.”

Certainly no well-informed Christian would claim that any of the things named are sinful on Sunday or any other day. It is certainly much better to be chasing a clean and innocent golf ball around some nice, respectable pasture than it is to be delivering or listening to pratings about ‘Ipsegeneric Humanity; Autopro-genic Divinity; and Hypostatic Unity’, as one Chicago cleric is reported to have discoursed on the “Incarnation”. The objection is not to the formation by men of athletic or social clubs, but the objection is to calling it a church of Christ—“Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”—Luke 6:46.

One cannot forget the prophetic description of churchianity in our day: “In that day [the beginning of the great Millennial day] seven women [all the prominent religious bodies] shall take hold of one man [Christ], saying, We will eat our own bread [provide and prepare our own theological and moralistic pabulum] , and wear our own apparel [quite content with our own righteousness] ; only let us be called by thy name [be nominal Christians], to take away our reproach”—it might interfere with our social standing if we dropped the name “Christian”.

CHURCH DROPS “MESSIAH” FOR “COMMUNITY”

At least relatively more honorable and more honest is the course pursued by one New York church recently, as reported in the New York American of May 26:

“The Church of the Messiah, at Park Avenue and Thirtyfourth Street, yesterday became’ ‘The Community Church of New York’....The minister, Mr. Holmes, explaining this change, said:

“ ‘The old name had long since lost its meaning, at least for our people.....By this action this church has now com-pitted a great work of reorganization. I have left Uni-tarianism, cut myself off from all denominational connection of every kind, that I may preach a universal, humanistic religion which knows no bounds of any kind, not even Christianity. We have done away with assessments, pew rents, etc., and thus placed the support of the church on the absolutely democratic basis of free, voluntary subscriptions.

"‘We have rewritten our covenant, eliminating every last vestige of theology, thus relegating all matters of belief to private individual opinion, and putting membership in the institution on an out-and-out citizenship basis.....We now

belong to the community, to take rank with the school, the library, the community center as a public institution for public service.’ ”

Commenting on the action of the New York congregation in this matter the Boston Traveller of June io, in an editorial, says:

"Other churches should not be too hasty in their criticism of this one. Many of them have been doing the same thing for some years past—getting rid of Jesus Christ—not openly or all at one stroke, but little by little, perhaps unconsciously. Many a church has been guilty of appropriating only that portion of his message which it desired, and discarding or denying the remainder. Many a religious body has been satisfied with the mere shell of formalism, without the kernel of spiritual truth.”

Spiritism and spiritistic activities are running rife in some parts of the world, particularly in Great Britain and France, where the losses of loved ones has been great during the last five years. There can be no feeling but that of sincere sympathy for these bereaved ones. Would that they were not blinded by the great adversary and that the light of the glorious goodness of God as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ could shine unto them. And it will, full soon, when Satan and all his blinding influences are restrained.--Revelation 20:1-3.

Besides the common forms of spiritism there is- the “scientific” kind, of Sir Oliver Lodge and Conan Doyle varieties. Then there is the illy veiled “divine healing” species for the devout and fearsome, such as that practised by one James Moore Hickson, layman of the Church of England, who is reported to be performing cures in no less noted a place than Trinity Chapel, in New York, with the approval of such eminent ecclesiastics as Dean Roberts, rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and Dr. Manning, of Trinity Church—as reported by the Albany Times-Union of June 6.

Mr. Hickson, according to the public press, described one of his difficult cures as follows:

"I am simply used as a channel through which Christ works A woman came to me suffering from an organic trouble. She was a Jewess. She asked me if her religion would prevent her from being cured. I asked her if she had faith in Divine Help. She said ‘yes'. I then laid my hands upon her back and I felt a vibration from above pass through me and through her. She was cured upon the spot. A few weeks later I met her doctor, who had given her up for lost. He was thoroughly converted.”

THE UNHAPPY, YET ASPIRING VATICAN

The Vatican seems to be not entirely happy. The New York World of June 15 publishes correspondence from Rome dated May 16, a part of which follows:

"Never since the wars of the middle ages has the Holy See been so nervous about to-morrow as now, on the eve of peat'. The war and its results have shaken its very foundations. Austria, the greatest Catholic power for many centuries, has crumbled into dust. The house of Hapsburg, ever the Holy See’s stanchest friend and protector, is dethroned and in exile; and the countries which have risen in its place are in rebellion against the authority and teaching of the Holv See.

“Belgium, once the most generous contributor of Peter's Pence, is so poor and devasted that it now ranks last among the givers of tribute. The Greek Catholics are demanding autonomy; Mgr. Valfrc di Bonzo, Papal Nuncio at Vienna, has just sent an alarming report about the attitude of Catholics in Bohemia, Hungary and Jugo-Slavia to Holy See discipline. The Bohemian Government demands the right to nominate Bishops and Archbishops, thus threatening one of the Pope’s most ancient authorities. The Catholics of Hungary demand not only expropriation of church lands, but marriage of priests, and such divorce facilities for the laity as to make the Vatican shudder.

"The Pope has sent a severe letter to the ‘rebels’ through his Nuncio, but the Bohemian press declares it cares nothing for such admonition.

“In Turkey and Palestine the attitude of the British Government toward Arab and Jewish claims has filled the Pope with such alarm that he has appealed to a French prelate, Mgr. Baudriilart, for help and protection of Holy See interests in these countries.

“In fact, events all around threaten the Papal authority and teachings as they have not been threatened for many centuries.

“Not the least alarming is the progress made by the American movement for the union of Christian churches. In the past few weeks the Holy Sec's attitude toward it has undergone a great change. Since Mgr. Cerrctti arrived from New York with a report of the committee’s plans to send emissaries all over Christendom, news of rebellion in the Catholic communities just mentioned causes the Pope to fear that these ‘rebels' will join with the Americans and break away from Rome’s authority altogether. _

“The American committee’s delegation to the Vatican will soon arrive, and one of its tasks is to invite the Pope to send representatives to the Pan-Christian Congress. This again puts the Holy Sec in a dilemma, for if it refuses it will be isolated from what looks like one of the biggest church movements of history: if it accepts, the Pope compromises his prestige by consenting to merely scud representatives where, as head of the Catholic Church, he should initiate and preside, giving orders and not following them. This is the Vatican's viewpoint of the American movement. [Since this was written the Pope has declined to cooperate with the committee. Ed's.I _

“Some daring spirits there—and the Pope is said to be of them—have put forward a scheme whereby leadership would revert to Rome, as in the middle ages. Its most salient feature is the convocation by the Pope of a Vatican Council, inviting representatives from all Christian churches. And as this would not be successful unless the Holy See saw fit to renounce a certain part of its dogmas, these would first come under revision, so as to make it possible for Protestant Churches to join the union.”

SENATOR SHERMAN FEARS VATICAN MAY BULE

But Senator Sherman, as reported in the Washington Evening Star of June 20, fears that the difficult position into which the Pope is brought may speil something sinister for American freedom, through the natural workings of the League of Nations. All careful Bible students will be interested in comparing tins situation with the statement of Revelation 13:15.

“A warning that the league of nations may end the separation of church and state and bring the civilized world under the domination of the Vatican was given in the Senate today by Senator Sherman, republican of Illinois, who declared the Roman Catholic Church would be represented in the league assembly by twenty-four votes out of forty-five.

“ ‘From an early age,’ said the Illinois senator, ‘the occupants of the Vatican believed in the inherent right of papal authority to administer civil government. It is with the utmost regret I fail to find recorded in the course of papal claims of later days any renunciation or disavowal of the doctrine. So far as a layman can discover the Vatican still believes it ought, and would if the power permitted, assume to administer ecclesiastical and civil government as its joint, exclusive and paramount power.

“‘Of the original thirty-two member nations, signatories to the proposed league, twenty-eight are Christian nations and four are of other faiths. Of these twenty-eight Christian nations seventeen are Catholic nations, either a majority or an overwhelming preponderance of the population being of that religious faith, and eleven arc Protestant. The Catholic members are Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuadoi, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Uruguay, and Czechoslovakia. The seventeen nations will be represented in the league in all human probability by Catholic delegates.

"‘The peril lies in the claim ci papal power, never abjured; never disavowed. The temptation to enforce that belief might break down every barrier built up by centuries of struggle and sacrifice.

“‘Shall the United States commit itscl: to the mercy of a power from which our ancestors delivered us? Shall we risk entangling ourselves and our posterity in the toils we have escaped through their wisdom and the warnings they left to guide us in the duties and perils of our generation?

“‘The covenant of the league of nations bears within its folds a reactionary power more fatal and insidious than a Prussian helmet, more dangerous than future war.’ ”

DREAD “RUSSELLISM”

One of the plagues upon Babylon, viewed from her own standpoint, is the continued presence in the earth of loyal, sincere, and zealous Bible students. The Philadelphia Record, of May 30, reporting on one of the sessions of the World Conference of Christian Fundamentals, held in that city during the latter part of May, says:

“The conference is only one of about fifteen which will be held throughout the country this summer with the avowed purpose of weeding out heterodox teachings and will culminate next spring in an international convention in England.

“Rev. James W. Gray vigorously scored the great number of men occupying important pulpits who teach anything else than the truths of the gospel. ‘The reason,’ he said, ‘that Christians of today cannot distinguish between true Christianity and the false teachings of the day is because of the inroads of Christian Science, theosophy, new thought and spiritualism and the fact that the church members are not sufficiently instructed in the dogmas of their faith.'

“The speaker said the truths of the Scriptures are as clear and as reasonable as ever before, but that through the malicious efforts of hyprocritical and Satanic teachers they were being scattered broadcast and made to appear as antiquated and not consistent with scientific truth. The speaker showed that it was only through the return of the people to the early principles from which they had been diverted that they would ever solve the great questions of the day; that humanitarianism and theosophy and spiritualism, while aesthetic and novel, were nothing bul chaff and unworthy the serious attention of thinking men and women,

“Russellism, which was now attracting so many, was nothing more than a hellish blasphemy. It was a mixture of smut and error, denying all those things which did not seem convenient to believe, such as eternal punishment. Like all the new issues, he said, it had a great mind behind it, that of Satan himself.”

Some called the Master of the House Beelzebub (lord of filth) and it should be no occasion for surprise if similar epithets are applied to the servants. Indeed, it should not be looked upon as a cause for personal offense at all; if we are on Michael’s side we can merely say, “The Lord rebuke thee”. There is much in this conference worthy of interest. Some items of their advance announcement seemed to give evidence of an initial awakening of the great company. We cite three paragraphs:

“All over the world are groups of devout, faithful believers, still true and loyal to the whole word of God. These at present are widely scattered and nominally separated. The supreme objective of this Conference is to unite all such in a world-wide fellowship, to the end that we may all speak with one voice of unhesitating affirmation of the things which are verily believed among us.

“We seek to rally for a new allied campaign every man and woman who believes that the Bible is the infallible Word of God, that Jesus Christ is the very Son of God, and that the Cross is the only way of salvation.

“Believing the Bible to be the Word of God, these leaders have gone forth to preach the whole counsel of God, and create an atmosphere and awaken a desire for fellowship among all who have found common faith in these ‘unsearchable riches' of grace and glory.”

There is certainly much to be commended in the motives here expressed. If their condemnation of out-own small efforts seems not altogether agreeable; perhaps our own criticisms of other religious bodies or teachings seem not less uncomplimentary to those upon whom they fall. The difference is not so much one of phraseology as of fact: if our teachings can be shown from the Bible to be of Satanic origin then we well deserve the condemnation we so richly receive. We stand ready at all times to give to every man that asketh a Scriptural reason for the hope that is in us; and that hope includes a blessing for those who cannot now see God’s purposes as we see them.

METHODIST LEADERS LEAN TOWARD TRUTH

Some of our Methodist friends aie perturbed about what seems to them a dread tocsin spreading through the land, fairly turning the world upsidedown, it would seem. A contributed article in the New Orleans Christian Advocate, under the heading of “Russellism: A Menacing Calamity”, contains the following paragraphs :

“There is no doubt that the modern fabrication of error commonly known as Russellism, is as great a peril to the Church spiritually as Bolshevism is to the State politically. The very stealthy, yet rapid spread of this pernicious delusion of the evil one should be the cause for great alarm, anil much solicitude among the members of the orthodox churches of our land. Our children and young people must be saved from this menacing calamity.

"On account of non-church-going on the part of so many people, the preacher finds himself at a disadvantage trying to combat this subtle foe of mankind from the pulpit. The only way to fight this error success I idly is through the dis tribution of books and tracts bearing on the subject. I think it would be a great and commendable work for some, men of means to furnish the funds for the purpose of supplying preachers with literature, in the way of tracts and leaflets, free, such as they may need to check the onslaught of this bold and sagacious enemy of the souls of men.

“It is indeed surprising to learn of the great number of our church members, and among them frequently our leaders, that are tainted with this noxious teaching; many of them leaning to it very strongly.”

Truly, this is a terrible state of affairs.

But we are not altogether bad, as the end of the article shows:

“In the Russcllistic creed there are some beautiful teachings that are indeed quite Scriptural, and by these the unwary are caught, and drawn in.”

In connection with our recent distribution of a special issue of the National Labor Tribune papers from Maine to Oregon range till the way from acrid to vitriolic in their comments on our activities and frequent attempts are made to identify us with ultraradical disturbers of the social and political peace. Our Sunday Visitor, (Romanist) of Huntington, Indiana, wonders who is footing the bill, “.which must run up into many thousands”. Furthermore:

“We can sec only Rationalism behind this propaganda—in an effort to bring all the Christian churches into disrepute. It seems that there was simultaneous distribution of this sheet in every city and town, requiring 100,000 carriers.”

Much more pointed are the editorial remarks of the Mills County Tribune, of Glenwood, Iowa. This editor thinks it not an illogical conclusion that persons who were supposed to have conscientious scruples during the war and, by association, those who would circulate a pamphlet complaining of the imprisonment of seven Bible Students “might very properly be left by the rest of the public as a proper prey for any one who desired to prey upon him and had the courage to do it’’.

REMAINDER OF WRATH RESTRAINED

But our adversary, the devil, tramples on his own toes now and then. A few days back six brethren from one of the classes in Pennsylvania went over to a neighboring city, where there is no class of Bible Students, to distribute the papers aforementioned. They had put out only about fifty when they were arrested and tentatively charged with circulating Bolshevist propaganda. A great-to-do was made about it in the papers and the report was widely copied. The brethren were held from Sunday morning till Monday afternoon and during that time almost everybody of prominence in the city, including city officials, ministers, priests, etc., came down to the jail to see what a “Bolshevik” looked like. They found the brethren reading their Bibles or singing hymns and spiritual songs, or holding a prayer meeting. The result was that everybody that came took some of the literature and there was very little left when the brethren were released with a fine of ten dollars each— just on general principles apparently, very much as we read of the faithful Peter and others that ‘they beat them and let them go’—Acts 5:40.

Poor Christendom is truly to be pitied: they probably feel just a little piqued that we can be happy when they are so perplexed and bewildered. One group says tweedledee: Vote for prohibition and moral reform, give more money for missions and humanitarian works and we will soon have Christ’s kingdom. Another says tweedledum: Give me something more tangible, something that will make me well and proud of myself, that is the kind of Christ’s kingdom I want.

How true the words of the Psalmist-prophet concerning Jehovah: “He maketh the thoughts of the peoples to be of none effect”—their reelings to and fro like a drunken man have no effect whatever in turning Jehovah aside from his great purpose of establishing Messiah’s kingdom for the blessing of all the families of the earth.

What is the Babylon which the Scriptures say has fallen from divine favor and shall also fall from lack of human support? Babylon means confusion; but we incline to think that it refers to a particular confusion, a confused idea as to the nature of Christ’s kingdom and as to the means to be employed for the establishment of that kingdom. Nearly all people long for that benign rulership; we may safely assume that the millions of consecrated spirit-begotten on earth today long for it as they never longed for it before; but they are still confused by the idea that the only way Christ’s kingdom can be established is by a gradual conversion of the world to Christ and by the employment of their time and influence in political fields, and thus seeking to bring about a sort of legislative Eden. Since they hold this view it is not surprising that they consider us as pestiferous and obnoxious spreaders of spiritual discontent. As a matter of fact, those who accept the Bible plan for Christ’s kingdom are the only ones who can be happy now in the presence of trouble, such as was not since there was a nation.

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