p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 3. (1/17/1906)

The Inter-church Federation

By Editor

Article next week on the "Temporal Power of the Papacy" by our new Rome correspondent. You will want to read it. It is written from one on the ground.

The Inter-church Federation

We present the last of our reports in this issue on the Inter-Church Conference, and the first two articles on the "Federation of the Churches," "Federation Accomplished." Read, we entreat you, these lessons. They are of intense and primary importance. See pages 6, 9, and 10.

New Year Remembrances

It is good to be remembered. To be remembered even by an enemy indicates that one is of some importance. But to be remembered by friends is especially sweet in these days of bustle and hurry. We note three little tokens which have come to the Signs of the Times: (1) A very pretty aluminum calendar from the Sanitarium, Boulder, Colo., bearing a fine picture of the building and its surroundings. It bears these words of good cheer: "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health." "Health," "wholeness," what better wish could there be; and that sanitarium is set for that purpose of making people whole. (2) A "Ramona" calendar, from Lemos Brothers (artists, designers, etc.), San Francisco. It is strikingly "a thing of beauty," with the Indian maiden standing out against a background of red. It is one of the Lemos designs. Thanks. (3) A season greeting from "Leopold Cohn and Family." Brother Cohn has charge of a Brooklyn mission and is editor of the Chosen People, a paper devoted to the conversion of the Jews to the Greatest of all Jews, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. In this little folder is a sweet little bouquet of pressed flowers from Jerusalem; Ps. 122:6 is quoted, and a poem, "A Message from the Flowers," the first stanza of which reads: > "We grew upon the very hills > Where Jesus used to stand, > We blossomed on the lonely paths > Of God's own holy land." May God abundantly bless this brother and his family, as well as all others who are laboring for the restoration of Israel.

Russia and Europe

At the time of our last writing the revolution in Moscow had succumbed, and the government seems to be using harsh, repressive measures against the Socialists. Altho defeated for the time, it is not believed that peace is by any means restored. One plot to assassinate the czar has been discovered by accident, and a prominent police officer and wife have been killed by the explosion of a bomb thrown by one of the "Terrorist" group. In the confusion the assassin escaped. Thousands of Jews are leaving Russia for America. A danger threatening to embroil all Europe is the differences between France and Germany over the Morocco frontier. In case of outbreak of hostilities it is said Great Britain would join hands with France. While it is hoped there may be a peaceable solution, the strain is recognized as very critical.

An alien must first acknowledge allegiance to the law before he can become a citizen of any earthly government. All unconverted persons, being without Christ, are "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Eph. 2:12. All men are born aliens from God; that is, they are born in sin, and "sin is the transgression of the law." Then they are aliens because they are not subject to the law of God. They live in constant enmity against God. Then what stands between them and citizenship in the kingdom of God—the commonwealth of Israel? Is it not simply the violated law? But every alien must have witnesses as to his fitness for citizenship. So by accepting the mediation of Christ, he finds a propitiation for his alien condition in the past and vows allegiance for the future—obedience to the law. In this way only can the sinful alien become a citizen of the kingdom of God. He simply seeks reconciliation through the merits of Christ, and in His strength declares obedience for the future. See Rom. 8:3, 4. "In Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ." Eph. 2:13, A. R. V.

Edward Atkinson

The recent death of Edward Atkinson, the noted economic writer, removes a thorn which has sharply pricked the sides of the "imperialists" in this nation. He was a thorough student of whatever he gave to the public. Cotton, fire insurance, railways, banking, and food economy were all treated by his pen. He attempted to devise on scientific principles a daily bill of fare for the working classes, composed of foods which would give the greatest amount of nourishment for the least expense. But among the greatest principles he advocated were those against imperialism, because they were for liberty.

Recent advices from the Orient indicate that Roman Catholicism is gaining a firm foothold in Japan. Bishop O'Connell, papal envoy, it is said, is being royally entertained, and has been visited by prominent native priests. An address of welcome was presented by six religious bodies. Among the presents given him was a deed of dedication for a large tract of land as a site for Catholic headquarters in the empire. The location is at Oshide, not far from Karuizawa, a popular tourist resort. There is a significance attached to this bit of news that does not appear on the surface. Some three hundred years ago "Christianity" was introduced in Japan, and met with considerable favor for a time, until a reaction set in and it was banished effectually. That "Christianity" was Roman Catholicism, and the tendency now to favor the popular Western religion will naturally revert to that nominal phase of Christianity represented by Rome. This, because in its superficial glamor it more nearly approaches the native religions. This always and everywhere gives Rome an advantage over Protestantism in appealing to heathen fancy.

Canadian National Reformers are a little ahead of their brethren in the United States. In this country they have not yet succeeded in getting the Catholics to formally unite with them in their organized efforts to secure Sunday legislation, altho it will probably come to the point where such union will be consummated—with Rome in the lead rather than as an auxiliary. Then the legislation will be such as will suit Rome. In the Dominion, however, they have a "Lord's Day Alliance of Canada" which purports to include "all the churches in Canada, Protestant and Catholic alike." Of course it does not include such churches as observe the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day of the week. The organization has sent out a blank petition to be signed and returned to headquarters. This petition reads: "We respectfully pray that such legislation be enacted at the ensuing session of Parliament as shall adequately protect every one in the enjoyment of the Lord's day." The prohibitions of the proposed legislation are such as to allow no church competition on Sunday. Not only are the people to undergo enforced idleness, but they are to be permitted no gatherings except those under the auspices of the churches. Yet in the face of all this, it is specified that the preamble and title of the law show the purpose to be a civil rest-day. So the appeal is clearly on the basis of legalized deception. A "Lord's day" law could not be otherwise than religious.

Multiplying Iniquity

This is what the Rev. Thomas B. Gregory says of America:

Nowhere else is human life so cheap as it is in the United States of America. Nowhere else is there such cold-blooded selfishness and brutality in the struggle for life. Nowhere else is civilization such a heartless, unfeeling juggernaut. With our alleged plethora of preachers and churches, we can show in our New Yorks, Chicagos, and Bostons a great deal more misery and wretchedness, brought on by greed and cruelty, than can be found in the great cities of heathendom. The inhumanity that "makes its thousands mourn" exists here to a much greater extent than it does in the lands where the light of the Gospel has never shone. It is safe to say that there is a hundredfold more drunkenness in America than there is in India and Turkey or Japan; and as for murder, statistics show that there are more homicides in the single city of Chicago every year than there are in all India, with its three hundred millions of population.

The reason is not far to seek. America has had the light of God as no other country has had, and when great light is rejected, correspondingly greater darkness follows. So it was at the first advent of our Lord; so it is now just preceding His second coming. Jesus said of this time: "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of the many shall wax cold."

Seeing One's Self in the Light of the Law

That is what the world needs to do to-day. They know about the law, but the law has never truly brought to them conviction. Dr. MacLaren, in an article in the Sunday-School Times, well expresses this thought. He says: "Tho we have known the law by the hearing of the ear for a lifetime, it comes sometimes to a man with a new, crushing force, and flames out before him as if for the first time; and when it does, the flame burns up into ashes all his imagined virtue. He who has once seen himself in the light of God's will concerning him, will surely lay his hand on his mouth, and his mouth in the dust, and cry the leper's warning call, 'Unclean! unclean!'"

Neither Japan's nor Russia's troubles ended with their peace compact. Russia had to face an extensive revolution at home, and now Japan is having a terrible battle with dread famine in her northern provinces. Investigators report that in three provinces, of nearly three million population, one-third will probably suffer death before it is over. People are eating shrubs, roots, and bark of trees. From present indications, the suffering and loss of life will be much greater than by the recent war.