Earlier text: THE DELIVERERWhat Is New Testament Greek?
By Henry F. Brown
Its Origin and Its Relation to the Classical Greek
Within two decades the New Testament Greek was regarded by scholars as related to the classical Greek much as we regard the speech of an uneducated backwoodsman of our day. It was called “bad” Greek, or vulgar or Hellenistic Greek. Biblical, Judaic, Hebraic, the language of the Holy Ghost, and various other epithets were used to distinguish it from the classical. But a complete revolution has been wrought by investigators in Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. Moulton says: “Biblical Greek was long supposed to lie in backwater. It has now been brought out into the full stream of progress.” This same authority has taken issue with his father, an authority of the past generation, because of fresh evidence brought forward since 1895. Many documents have been discovered relating to every department of life as it was in the Roman Empire at the time of Christ. Among these are legal papers, such as law reports, marriage settlements, contracts, and receipts; there are private documents, among which are letters between parents and children, and between friends. Then there are great quantities of commercial correspondence. Most of this is written on the papyrus tissue, and has been preserved in the dry climates of the East. But in addition to this, quantities of the potsherd, or earthenware, used by the poorer classes as writing material have also been found. Here is represented the language of the lower classes. A single archeologist has translated over fifteen hundred pieces of this material. New Testament philology is at present undergoing a thorough reconstruction, and, says one authority, “Probably all concerned on both sides of the Atlantic are agreed that the starting point for the philological investigations regarding the New Testament must be the nonliterary papyri, ostraca, and inscriptions.” In 1895 Professor Diesmann began to publish a series of dissertations on the comparison of this correspondence with the Greek in which the New Testament is written. He contended that the language of the New Testament was not an isolated dialect, peculiar to one class of writers, or even to one locality or race; but was simply the common vernacular of the Greco-Roman portion of the empire at the time of the apostles. This has since been called the koine, the Greek word for common or vulgar. This koine, or common speech of Christ’s time, is the Greek that Alexander scattered throughout Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, and which was fostered by his successors throughout the Alexandrine and Roman periods. There was a world speech, one common Greek language, as there was one common Greek culture. Men who aspired to literature wrote in an artificial dialect, described by Moulton as “a would-be rival of the language of Athens in her prime. But the writers of the New Testament, he adds, had little idea they were writing literature. The Holy Ghost wrote absolutely in ‘the language of the people.’” This common language of the people, or the koine, as it is called, was without serious dialectic differences, except perhaps those due to pronunciation, being practically the same whether found in Egypt or Herculaneum, in Pergamum or Magnesia. It is found in inscriptions over the whole empire, having been in such common use that the Roman Senate translated decrees in it and scattered them to all parts of the country. It was spoken in Rome itself, so much so that one authority says that to live in Rome there was no necessity of knowing any other language. Paul wrote the epistle to the Romans in the koine, and the emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote his “Meditations” in this common speech of the time. Moulton says that in the first centuries of our era it was spoken by a far greater proportion of the civilized world than is the English today. The fact that it was used as the language of commerce means much. The Greeks were the school-teachers of the Roman Empire, and they taught in the koine, or the common language of the time. One writer thus forcefully expresses it: “It was an epoch in the history of the world when the Babylon of tongues was hushed in this wonderful language of Greece.” The classic Greek was related to the koine, or common speech, about as Chaucer is related to our English of today. The classic was the ancient language, containing the poetry and the philosophy of the past, but was not used practically. It has been described as “an artistic language that everybody understood, but nobody spoke.” There were various dialects in the classic, Homer, Xenophon, Pindar, Sappho, Herodotus, and others each representing some peculiar dialect. These dialects were all blended in the koine. Under Alexander the mixture of nationalities in the newly rising communities demanded a common speech as a medium of intercourse, and the koine of the victorious Greeks was ready for the purpose. It became the speech of the empire; the weltsprache or lingua franca, says Moulton. Robertson says, “The march of the Greek language has been steadily onward to the present day.” The koine was not the speech of Homer, nor is modern Greek the language of the koine, or the New Testament. He adds, “The New Testament stands in the center of development, the extremes of which are the classical Greek and the modern.” An example of the practice of the universality of the koine is found in Acts 14. Paul here talks to the Lycaonians in the common language, the koine; and in the excitement that follows, the people lapse back into their native language, which is not understood by the apostles. The authorities differ on the point as to whether Christ’s public teaching was in the koine, but there is agreement that he was able to speak the Greek of his period, because he spoke to Pilate in some language common to both. There was also a literary koine in that period, the same as we have today. We do not use the colloquial of everyday speech in our literature. Polybius and Josephus wrote in this literary koine. Moulton sums it up thus: “The conclusion is that Biblical Greek, except where it is translated Greek, was the simple vernacular of daily life. Words hitherto assumed to be Biblical, or technical words, are in reality normal first-century Greek; we have at last before us the language in which the apostles wrote. This is so clearly expressed by Glover (‘Conflict of Religions in the Early Empire’) that I quote him verbatim:— “Towards the end of the first century of our era there began to appear a number of little books written in the ordinary Greek of everyday life, the language which the common people used in conversation and correspondence. It was not a literary dialect, which men of letters affected—a mannered and elaborated style modeled on the literature of ancient Greece and no longer a living speech. The books were not intended for a lettered public, but for the plain people who wanted a plain story, which they already knew, set down in a handy, readable form. . . . At an early date these books began to be called the Gospels.” Classical Greek grammars of a generation ago, if they deemed the New Testament Greek at all worthy of notice, placed a few facts in the form of an appendix at the conclusion. Moulton says the Greek of the New Testament, or the koine, is coming into its own now, and having accorded to it the rightful independent dignity it deserves. Whole grammars devoted to it entirely are now obtainable. Of what benefit, then, is the study of classical Greek to the understanding of the New Testament? The same value as the study of Chaucer or Wyclif would be to one wishing to learn English today. It will aid greatly in the etymology of many words; but the New Testament gives, many times, a different meaning to a word than is used in the classical, as well as uses many words that do not occur at all in the ancient Greek. There is no necessity of studying the classical Greek to understand the New Testament, as the two epochs in the development of the language are too remotely connected. Washington (D. C.) Missionary College. Building a Strong Character
THE symmetrical structure of a strong, beautiful character is built up by individual acts of duty.—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. IV, page 572. The Reward of the Overcomer
By C. M. S.
God is unchangeable, and his purpose unalterable. That purpose has been working out through the ages, and through all time has run the unbreakable thread of his living promises to his own. He pronounced a penalty upon Adam for his transgression, but in announcing the penalty he gave the promise of the Redeemer. The promise to Abraham and his seed was a promise that involved the restoration of this earth to its sinless condition, as a fit place for the habitation of God's righteous remnant. Moab and Ammon, the enemies of God's people of old, are the types of the enemies of God's faithful people through all the ages. So God's promise that the residue or remnant of his people should possess their land (Zeph. 2:9) was also a prophecy of the time when the wicked shall be utterly removed from the earth, and the habitations of sin give place to the habitations of righteousness. “Ye shall tread down the wicked,” says Inspiration through Malachi; “for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.” Mal. 4:3. God's people are they that triumph over sin; and he says of them, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” Rev. 21:7. Again he says, “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Ps. 84:11. It is his own, his remnant, his peculiar people, that walk thus. So precious is God's remnant in his sight that he declares: “They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day that I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” Mal. 3:17. Inspiration could, seemingly, use no stronger comparison to show how precious in the sight of the Father are the lives and happiness of those who will stand unswervingly for him in spite of the most bitter persecutions. The Lord also likens them to perpetual pillars in his eternal temple. He tells us through Isaiah that those who are his willing servants and are obedient (who keep his commandments) shall “eat the good of the land.” Isa. 1:19. That does not have reference to the good things of this sin-cursed earth, but to those truly “good things” of that goodly land where sin and sorrow no more can come. Again: it is said of those that are his, “The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Ps. 37:11. Christ gave the most positive assurance to his faithful ones of the reward that awaited them. He said, “I go to prepare a place for you;” and just as surely as he was to go and prepare a place for them, he was to come again and take them to himself to be with him forever. The thought is further emphasized in these words of the revelator: “I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Rev. 21:3, 4. His faithful ones, his remnant, he himself declares will be watching for his return; and one of the blessed experiences of that class is foretold in these words of Christ: “Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” Luke 12:37. These are the overcomers. “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.” Rev. 14:4. This is the class to whom the Saviour refers in these words: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” Rev. 3:5. The white raiment is the robe of Christ's righteousness, which he promises to place upon those who are his. The prophet Daniel, in speaking of this class, says that they shall shine “as the stars forever and ever.” Dan. 12:3. Out of great tribulation they come; out of the sorceries and philosophies and superstitions and false religions of modern Babylon they are called. “I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” See Rev. 18:1-4. They that heed that call sit down at the grandest feast the universe will ever afford. When “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready,” then shall the overcomers experience the fullness of the joy of the accepted invitation that has come to them in the gospel. “Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” Rev. 19:7-9. All these promises and these blessed experiences are for the remnant that prove faithful to God through the most trying experiences that can come to the people of this world. What matter persecutions and oppositions when faithfulness to God brings such rich rewards? A Light on the Kafirland Border
By W. A. S.
NIGHT had fallen before we reached the last hilltop looking down upon the Maranatha Mission, twenty-five miles by wagon road from Grahamstown. The first view I had of the station was of a bright light shining out in the darkness of the valley below, which Brethren Jeffrey and Tarr recognized as coming from one of the windows of the mission house. That first view seemed a bright omen of good. For an hour before the darkness fell, we had been looking from the top of the range toward the hills and mountains of Kafirland, stretching away northward from the Fish River, which is the border of the Kafir country proper, with its two millions or more of people. Maranatha, with its main school, is ten or a dozen miles from the river. Our mission is thus only on the coast of that sea of needy Kafir humanity. But the light from Maranatha is shining over into Kafirland with bright gleams of hope and promise. Transformations are being wrought in the region round about. About one hundred and twenty Kafirs have been baptized, most of them from among the raw or Red Kafirs, so called because the non-Christianized natives wear red blankets, dyed with red earth,8 and also smear their bodies with the red ochre. The transforming power of this truth is recognized by farmers who had at first, perhaps, little sympathy with our mission. They say that years ago any bullock or cow that strayed over the range into the bush of the river valley was a lost animal. It disappeared completely; and it was of no use to look for it. Now it is different. Not only have scores of raw Kafirs been redeemed, but the uplifting influence has reached beyond our own Christian communities. The headmen of two villages, where outschools have been established,—on the northern side of Fish River, and so in Kafirland proper,—have accepted the truth. Less than three years ago they were Red Kafirs. Today they are praying, devout Seventh-day Adventists, talking of this “blessed hope” of ours like old-time believers. I thought, “Would that the brethren and sisters in far lands, who have prayed and given for Maranatha, might see this light station on the border of Kafirland.” But here it is, a light shining in a dark place. And the gifts for missions and the prayers for the missionaries and the peoples for whom they are laboring, are helping to keep the light shining. The influence of the mission is extending now far over into Kafirland. It was good to look down into that dark night of the valley and to see the bright light shining from the mission window. I was glad that all that was visible of the mission and of Kafirland was that bright signal of hope. Away across the hills to the eastward the Kowie lighthouse was flashing its signals over the Indian Ocean. Every twelve seconds, the flash appeared, searching the darkness far out at sea to guide the passing ships and to warn them of danger. Thank God, the light from the Maranatha station is shining over into dark Kafirland, and into souls that were drifting to destruction in the region of the shadow of death, light hath sprung up. To hear these redeemed souls praising God, and singing the songs of Zion, and praying and working for others, is a heart-melting experience. God is using the missions, brethren and sisters, and the work is onward. W. A. S. A Sobering Situation
By F. M. W.
NINE months of world-wide war, growing more bitter and barbarous with every passing day! While every nation is not actively engaged in the strife, there is not a government on earth that is not paying tribute in some form to the conflict. Last winter it was hoped that before summer peace would be brought about, but apparently the passing of the winter has marked the beginning of hostilities on a larger and more unprecedented scale. It seems inevitable that Italy, the last great power of the Old World, will be drawn into the conflict. The end in time or results no man can foretell. It is perhaps well that the veil is drawn over the horrors of the future; the present picture is all the heart of man can bear. And what a picture is presented! Kings dethroned, countries subjugated, cities and villages turned to ashes, fertile fields desolated, thousands upon thousands of human beings—the flower of the nations—buried, like the beasts of the fields, in unmarked graves, thousands of others maimed and crippled for life, thousands of wives widowed, thousands of parents bereft of sons. Millions have been called to mourn the loss of loved ones. Grieving, sad-eyed Sorrow sobs beside the altars of a million stricken homes. Gaunt, hollow-eyed Famine stalks through the land. Pestilential disease numbers its victims by thousands. The sinking of the “Lusitania,” sending without warning to a watery grave more than a thousand souls, is but one incident in the terrible havoc being wrought. This latest horror will be succeeded doubtless by others and still others until the human sensibilities become calloused and benumbed. Surely if there ever occurred in the history of mankind a situation to cause sober thought and serious reflection, it is the one presented before us today. And thousands, deeply impressed, are anxiously inquiring the meaning and portent of this great conflict. Others, it is to be regretted, are passing on indifferently and recklessly. They are eating and drinking with the drunken. In the mad strife for wealth or fame, in the wild whirl of social life and pleasure, they are endeavoring to stifle a half-aroused conscience, and forget God. Heaven is permitting these great evils to arise in order to awaken the impenitent to the danger of impending judgment. We do not say that these disasters following in the wake of war are the judgments of God. This is a question we may not determine. But we do know this, that fire and storm, earthquake and warfare, famine and pestilence, are permitted by an overruling providence, and in these calamities God is speaking to sinful men to turn from the evil of their ways, and find refuge and salvation in Christ Jesus from the final, overwhelming destruction. Surely this situation should appeal to the believers in this message. It should appeal to our young people, leading them to see the vanity of earthly glory and possessions. We know not what a day may bring forth. We know not what new and strange trials wait on the morrow in our experience. Now is the time for us to be certain that everything is clear between us and Heaven, that our sins are forgiven, that our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Are there any among us who do not have this assurance? Are there wandering sheep of the house of Israel? Are the brethren and sisters of our acquaintance safely anchored in Christ Jesus? Are the members of our own families at peace with God? Are our children within the ark of safety? Some there are who company with Israel who are not of Israel. Some there are who belong to the Seventh-day Adventist Church who do not really know God. We find in connection with many of our churches men and women whose hearts are still in Egypt. They are looking backward instead of forward, to earthly possessions instead of to the heavenly treasure. Some are going on adding farm to farm and building to building, forgetting that their possessions must pass away with the using. And some of our young people are reckoning without God. They have high hopes and lofty ambitions, but have failed to make Jesus a partner in their calculations. Will these careless, indifferent ones be aroused before it is too late? Will they see whither they are drifting, and make an effort to stem the onrushing tide that is sweeping them toward the precipice? Upon us who sense the times and the seasons there rests the solemn responsibility to sound abroad the warning cry. We must be watchmen upon Zion’s walls. Seeing the evil coming, we must sound the alarm. We would not be alarmists. We would not be sensationalists. What the immediate outcome of the present conflict will be we cannot say. Whether this present war will drag on, merging into the last great strife, or whether there will be a little time of peace, we cannot safely predict. The future is known only to God. But we do say this: The times are ominous, the multiplying signs are portentous, the muttering thunder and gathering clouds betoken the speedy breaking of the coming storm. And we have no time to lose. Whether the Lord comes next year or five or ten years hence, we cannot afford to trifle with his invitations to repentance, we cannot afford to stifle our consciences. The present is the only opportunity of which we are assured. The ordeal before us will be a fearful one, one that will try men’s souls, the time of Jacob’s trouble, when wrestling with God for victory will be our only hope. We need now to gather strength to stand. The weaklings will go down in the strife. Those only whose hearts have been purged from sin, who have made a full and complete surrender to God, who have placed all upon the altar of his service, who can stand not in the9 strength of argument or reasoning but in the power which God will impart to his devoted children, will be enabled to resist the pressure of sin and temptation, and go through to the end triumphant. Now, today, in the life of every one is the time to begin the gathering of this power, the building of this experience. What will be your answer? The Great Prophetic Outline of the World’s History
By W. A. S.
Synopsis of Present Truth—No. 6
The Great Prophetic Outline of the World’s History
“THERE is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.” Dan. 2:28. In a dream by night the Lord gave to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a clear historical outline of the course of world empire to the end of time and the coming of the eternal kingdom. The king was a thoughtful monarch; and having reached the height of his power, he was one night meditating upon “what should come to pass hereafter.” Not for his sake alone, but for the enlightenment and instruction of men in all time, the Lord answered the wondering question of the king’s meditation by giving him the dream. “He that revealeth secrets,” said Daniel the prophet, “maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.” And that we may know at the beginning that there is nothing fanciful and uncertain about this great historic outline reaching to the end of the world, we note first the assurance with which the prophet closed his interpretation: “And the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” The details of the dream had been taken from the king’s mind, while conviction as to the wondrous import of it remained. This was in God’s providence to show the folly of the worldly-wise men of Babylon, and to bring before the king the prophet of the Lord with a divine message. The prophet Daniel, under the inspiration of God, brought the dream again to the king’s mind:— “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. “This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Dan. 2:31-35. The prophet next declared the interpretation. And now follows the history of the world in miniature:— “Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.” Verses 37, 38. The parts of the image, then, of various metals, from head to feet, represented successive empires, beginning with Babylon; and the kingdom of Babylon, represented by Nebuchadnezzar, was the head of gold. History shows how fitly the golden head symbolized the Babylonian Kingdom. Long before, the prophet Isaiah had described it as “the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency.” Isa. 13:19. And now, in Nebuchadnezzar’s day, it was the golden age of the Babylonian Kingdom. No such gorgeous city as its capital ever before stood on earth. And Nebuchadnezzar was the great leader of its conquests, and the beautifier and builder of its walls and palaces. “For the astonishment of men I have built this house,” one tablet reads; and hundreds repeat the story. Those portals
for the astonishment of multitudes of people
with beauty I adorned. Thus Nebuchadnezzar’s records of stone today repeat the proud boast of the scripture, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?” Dan. 4:30. To the king it seemed such a city could never fall. One inscription reads:— Thus I completely made strong the defenses of Babylon. May it last forever.—Rawlinson’s “Fourth Monarchy,” appendix A. But the prophet Daniel, proceeding with the divine interpretation, interrupted all such proud thoughts with the declaration:— “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.” Dan. 2:39. Now the look was forward into the future. And the word came to pass. Babylon’s decline was swift after Nebuchadnezzar’s death. Daniel the prophet himself lived to interpret the handwriting on the wall at Belshazzar’s feast:— “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. . . . Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. . . . Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Dan. 5:26-28. The breast and arms of silver, in the great image, represented the Medo-Persian Kingdom, which followed the Babylonian, “inferior” to it in brilliancy and grandeur, as the silver is inferior to gold. Medo-Persia, however, enlarged the borders of world empire; and the names of Cyrus and Darius were written among the mightiest conquerors of history. But the prophet does not stop to dwell upon the grandeur of fleeting earthly kingdoms. The interpretation hastens on to reach the setting up of a kingdom that shall not pass away. Following Medo-Persia, a third power was to rise:— “And another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” Dan. 2:39. The “third kingdom” after Babylon was Grecia, which overthrew the empire of the Medes and Persians. And Grecia’s dominion fulfilled the specifications of the prophecy, which indicated a yet wider expansion of empire. Its sway was to be over “all the earth,” said Daniel the prophet, foretelling its history. Arrian, the Roman, writing its history afterwards, said that Alexander of Greece seemed truly “lord of all the earth;” and he adds:— I am persuaded there was no nation, city, nor people then in being whither his name did not reach; for which reason whatever origin he might boast of, or claim to himself, there seems to me to have been some divine hand presiding both over his birth and actions.—“Alexander’s Expedition,” book 7, chap. 30. The sides of brass in the great image represented Grecia, the brazen metal itself a fitting symbol of those “brazen-mailed” warriors, the “brass-clothed Greeks,” celebrated in ancient poetry and prose. While Grecia’s supremacy under Alexander was disputed by none, there was a power rising in the west that was soon to enter the lists for the prize of world dominion. Drawing Together
By C. M. S.
WE have long held that in the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the last days, there would be a drawing together on the part of Romanists and Protestants to a certain degree or upon certain things, which would make possible the issuance of a decree of persecution against those who keep the commandments of God. A movement is on foot at the present time designed to bring about a union of those forces. More than one influential journal has opened its columns to the advocacy of such a drawing together. It is proposed that a conference be called of influential ecclesiastics and laymen of both Catholic and Protestant persuasion, to consider the differences between the two systems, to get acquainted with each other's point of view, and thus bring about a more kindly and harmonious feeling between the two great divisions of Christianity.10 Among the more influential journals can be seen devoting considerable space to the discussion of the proposed conference are the Watchman-Examiner and the Christian Work. From contributions in the department of the last-named journal devoted to that topic we take the following:— I wish the conference might be called if for no other reason than to show open-mindedness. It is sometimes worth while to make an experiment for the sake of showing that it is not worth making. [From a Protestant.] Your recent editorial on the subject of a conference of twenty leading Protestant ministers and laymen and twenty leaders of those of Catholic belief is certainly timely and should receive due consideration from both Catholic and Protestant. Such a gathering, if conducted in a spirit worthy of those who believe in the teachings of the Christ who suffered for all mankind, cannot but bring forth results far greater than we at the present time can comprehend. For myself, as a Roman Catholic, the idea is certainly worth the effort. But such a gathering should assemble without rancor or bitterness, but aim to investigate and learn the true state of affairs as they exist in both Catholic and Protestant minds. Thus an honest statement without inherited prejudices and suspicions would be forthcoming, which would have a tendency to remove from the minds of many the spirit of antagonism which exists today. Hoping you may be able to bring to a successful conclusion such a conference, . . . [From a Catholic.] You deserve the thanks of the general public for your very plain and sensible statement of the delicate situation, and for calling attention to the importance of a better understanding between the Catholics and the Protestants in this country. Your suggestion of a conference of ecclesiastics and laymen representing both parties is a most sensible one, and one which it will be difficult for either party to reject without thereby admitting that it really does not care to possess a knowledge of the aims and purposes of the other. [From a Protestant.] When Catholics and Protestants unite vigorously upon any program of action, we may be assured that they will have little regard for either the civil or the religious rights of less influential bodies that decline, for conscientious reasons, to unite with them. We know that they will unite upon the question of the Sunday sabbath and upon its enforcement on all the people. In that combination lies the key to the making of the image to the beast and the enforcement of its mark. We have known that some such move would have to develop in order to meet the specifications of the prophecy—and here it is. It is not a beautiful theory we have believed in all these years, not a finespun fancy, not a creature of a disordered imagination, but the very truth of God itself. It is indeed a privilege to be living in a time when God has set his hand to his closing work to finish it; and we can see his hand in the midst of the wheels of this earth's confusion, directing and controlling and shaping toward the climax of the controversy. But it is not a day for carelessness, for resting contentedly upon our oars, for folding our hands in quietness and idleness. These times demand the greatest sacrifices and the greatest activity. “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due time we shall reap, if we faint not.” While the forces of the adversary are drawing together, let us also draw together and press forward with united front.