It is easy for religious services to degenerate into a mere form, that must be hurried through somehow, because they are a duty that we do not dare neglect: instead, they should be seasons of joyful refreshing, as God meant them to be. This is especially true of family worship, probably because we neglect to think, plan, and pray for the occasion as we ought. It is easier just to read a chapter in an aimless way, and to offer a formal prayer, than to make the mental effort necessary to keep up the interest.
In Matt. 18: 20 we have the promise, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Hence we have a right to expect the blessing of God, just as surely as in any larger gathering.
All of the family should be present at worship. Neither reading nor prayers should be long enough to be wearisome, and the worship should be adapted to the particular needs of the family. What would be of interest to a company of adults, might not be at all suitable to the needs of young children. If we could only realize that God calls every one of us to be missionaries and workers in the highest sense, what a change it would work in the simplest details of our lives!
While conducting our worship, or performing any other duty that may come to us, let us consider the needs of the flock committed to our care. While working to help them, our own souls will be blessed also.
At this time when standing on the borders of eternity, the missionary spirit should pervade everything we do. By leading the members of our own household into the kingdom, we obtain an experience that will enable us to carry the truth to our neighbors.
It is not how many scripture verses we may read, but how much we remember and understand, and how much we take into our daily lives, that does us good.
The child should be taught how to tell his own needs to the Lord in his own language. Some who in childhood learned to repeat a written prayer, in later years find it difficult to get out of the habit. It is hard for them to come to the Lord in an unembarrassed way, and tell Him just how they feel. While we are to serve God “with reverence and godly fear,” we are to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
In our private devotions we do not expect any one but God to hear, and we may speak in as low a tone as we please, or even inaudibly. But family worship is for the family. And we should speak loud enough to be heard by all, that all may enter into the prayer with us.
Let us make the occasion so interesting that the members of the household will look forward to it with joy; and while we “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” let us make the worship hour of that day the best of all.
In “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, pages 356 and 357, we read the following: “Before the setting of the sun, let the members of the family assemble to read God’s word, to sing and pray. There is need of reform here, for many have been remiss. We need to confess to God and to one another. We should begin anew to make special arrangements that every member of the family may be prepared to honor the day which God has blessed and sanctified. . . .”
“At family worship, let the children take part. Let all bring their Bibles, and each read a verse or two. Then let some familiar hymn be sung, followed by prayer. For this, Christ has given a model. The Lord’s prayer was not intended to be repeated merely as a form, but it is an illustration of what our prayers should be, simple, earnest, and comprehensive. In a simple petition tell the Lord your needs, and express gratitude for His mercies. Thus you invite Jesus as a welcome guest into your home and heart. In the family, long prayers, concerning remote objects, are not in place. They make the hour of prayer a weariness, when it should be regarded as a privilege and blessing. Make the season one of interest and joy.”
And on page 359, we read: “As the sun goes down, let the voice of prayer and the hymn of praise mark the close of the sacred hours and invite God’s presence through the cares of the week of labor.”
THE WAY TO WASH.
By Cora Olson
MRS. CORA OLSON.
(Morrison, O. T.)
Some time ago there appeared in the columns of the REVIEW a request from a sister for helpful suggestions on lightening the work of the family washing. Having had a long experience in doing much work with little strength, perhaps my way of managing may add some to what has already been said.
As soon as baby’s soiled napkins are taken off, I immediately wash them in clear water. This enables me to use many of them the second time without going through all the handling of the regular wash; and when wash-day comes, they are ready to go in with the other washing. I have a “preparation day” for wash-day, in which I prepare by cooking, house cleaning, and doing whatever else can be done on the day before.
On wash-day forenoon I tidy up the house, get dinner, and wash the dinner dishes before beginning to wash. Everything is then in order; and three fourths of the “dread” is removed; and when my strength gives out, or baby needs care, I can sit or lie down in comparative ease, even if the wash tub is in the kitchen.
To make the dirt remove easily I pour hot suds over the white clothes, and allow them to stand for a few minutes or an hour. Hot suds will not set the dirt, but clear hot water will.
I have used seven kinds of washing machines, but have found none that is of any help to me except when some one uses it for me. All of them require a swift motion to do good work, and most women who are weak in body cannot stand the motion of the body required to run a washing machine satisfactorily.
My wash bench is high enough to allow me to stand nearly straight when my fingers touch the bottom of the tub. I use a wringer, and thus my washing is done almost wholly with arm movements. It is not the amount of weight borne on the board that cleans, but the quick, steady forcing of the water through the garment. This is easily understood when you consider how clothing is cleaned by simply rushing the water through the clothes in most washing machines.
Any one following the plan of afternoon washing will, unless her experience is different from mine, meet with much ridicule and sneering. But no one need feel bad or give up for that. It is our solemn duty to do our own work the best with the least expenditure of strength.
To use for clothing only such material as is easily washed, will greatly lighten the work. I use outing or tennis flannel mostly for both under garments and dresses. It is very easily washed, and if care is used in hanging to dry, does nicely without ironing. For those who can afford it, dress linen makes both durable and easily washed under garments, and will bleach white in a short time.
AT EVENTIDE.
By Mrs. E. H. Hafford
When the golden sun is setting,
And a glow is in the west,
When the evening shades are falling,
And all nature sinks to rest,
Then my soul, itself reviewing,
Turns to look at that within,
Asking what the deeds and motives
Of the vanished day have been.
Did I feel the love of Jesus
When I gave that passing smile?
Or did love of self, uprising,
Half its purity defile?
Did the Saviour’s benediction
Rest upon that trifling word?
When I spoke in hasty accents,
Did I think that angels heard?
O my Saviour! stoop to hear me,
For the day has run its race;
Pardon grant for past transgression,
For the future give me grace.
Help me fix my heart on heaven,
May my love be wholly thine;
May my thoughts and acts be molded
By an influence divine.
—Mrs. E. H. Hafford.
“SHORT CUTS.”
By Minerva T. Bascom
MINERVA T. BASCOM.
(North Branch, Iowa.)
Having noticed a mention of “short cuts” in housework in the REVIEW, I thought the following suggestions might be helpful to some of the younger housekeepers:—
Have your salt and sugar near your flour and kneading table. Keep some salt near the cook stove.
Keep dish towels, kitchen aprons, and all cloths used about the kitchen, in the kitchen. Likewise keep tablecloths and napkins near the dining table.
Keep the children’s clothes in the room in which you usually dress them.
Keep brooms, mops, etc., near the place where the most cleaning has to be done.
All utensils used about the cook stove should be put as near the stove as possible.
Everything used in sewing should be kept together.
In fact, everything about the house should be kept as near as possible to the place where it is most used. This saves both time and strength.
It is a saving of time and fuel to have the water for washing the dishes heating while the meal is cooking.
In the summer prepare your vegetables out of doors, and thus gain some fresh air for your lungs.
When you bake bread, use the heat of the top of the stove for cooking grains and vegetables, or for ironing.
When your wash boiler is on top of the stove, bake something in the oven.
A stove is easiest cleaned when the fire is started, before it is very hot, and yet when it is not cold.
When you make every-day clothing for yourself or the children, use something that will wear well.
The Snare of Conformity to the World
“No snare is so subtle, constant, and perilous to the follower of Christ as conformity to the world. Nothing sooner saps his spirituality.”
A TREMENDOUS CONCLUSION FROM INVISIBLE PREMISES.
The conclusion claimed is that Paul taught in the third chapter of Second Corinthians that the moral law is done away, and that the seventh-day Sabbath is no longer binding. The invisible premises from which this conclusion is drawn are that the apostle, in 2 Cor. 3:7, speaks of the Sabbath, and that what he refers to as being written and engraven on stones is the moral law, and that this has given place to something better, and is no longer binding.
Second Corinthians 3 is the stronghold of certain expositors, for a certain purpose. When a man is in the condition described in Rom. 8:7, and feels that he must in some way show that the seventh-day Sabbath is no longer in force, but has been abolished and is done away, he flies to 2 Cor. 3:7 as his first defense and stronghold for that position. Let us, then, look at the statements of that chapter which are claimed to support these conclusions. Paul writes: “But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away.”
There! says the antinomian, you see the law was a “ministration of death,” and that has been “done away,” or, according to verse 13, “is abolished,” or, as stated in verse 14, “is done away in Christ.”
But hold a moment! What was done away?
Why, the old Jewish Sabbath.
But we do not find the Sabbath mentioned in the text nor in the context. The word “Sabbath” does not occur in the whole chapter from beginning to end. Think again. What was “done away”?
The old law, which has given way to something more glorious.
But hold! We do not find that it says “law” once in the whole passage, nor that anything that is said, is said of the law.
But it was what was “written and engraven in stones,” and that was the law, was it not?
The passage does not say that the law was written and engraven in stones; and besides, it does not say that that which was written and engraven in stones was done away. These anti-Sabbath conclusions find no premises to stand on yet.
Well, if the Sabbath was not written and engraven on stones, and is not done away, pray what was it?
Read Paul’s words again: “But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious,” etc.
Now what is a “ministration”?—A service of a minister; the acts performed in carrying out a service, or the application of a law.
But there was no “ministration” engraven in stones. Therefore that expression “ministration of death, written and engraven in stones,” taken by itself, does not mean the Ten Commandments. It only means the service of Moses in bringing them down to the people and establishing that dispensation of which the Ten Commandment law was the germ and the center.
As there was no ministration engraven in stones, the sentence is evidently elliptical; and doubtless Bloomfield has the meaning of the expression when he interprets it as the ministration of that which was written and engraven in stones. He says: “If the ministry or office of promulgating a covenant, which, in the letter (when written on tables of stone), brought nothing but death with it, was glorious,” etc.
All that is said of that ministration is that it “was glorious.” It was so glorious that Moses, through the part he acted in it, was so imbued with the divine presence that the skin of his face shone as he went down to minister before the people; and they were not able to look upon him (Ex. 34:29–35); and Paul says that that “glory was to be done away;” and that is all that was done away, so far as Paul’s record goes. As time passed, the light that shone from Moses’s face gradually waned away, indicating that the system which he established would finally give away to something better. To this end the children of Israel could not look; that is, to the giving place of this system to the more glorious ministration of the Spirit. So the veil which Moses put over his face temporarily, they threw over their hearts permanently, and blinded their eyes to Christ and His higher work. But if they would once accept Christ, as He is revealed to them and the world, they would see the relative glory of the two ministrations which Paul is here contrasting—the ministration of death, and the ministration of the Spirit. Then the vail would be done away in Christ; for there would be no room for any doubt and obscurity that might have hovered over the situation, while they lived under types and shadows and ceremonies. They would see that the ministration of the Spirit, that which remains, excels in glory, and the other has no glory by reason of this; as the glory of the moon and stars disappears before the rising sun.
That which is called, in verse 7, “the ministration of death,” is called, in verse 9, “ministration of condemnation.” That tells the whole story between the old and the new. “He that despised Moses’s law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.” Heb. 10:28. The priests acted as judges, and the witnesses and the people inflicted the penalty. Deut. 17:2–7. One accidentally killing another, had to flee to a city of refuge to save his life. Deut. 19:5. This was the letter that killeth, “the ministration of condemnation,” “the ministration of death.” The death penalty as it existed under the theocracy, now, under the ministration of the Spirit, is taken from the hands of human judges, and held in abeyance till the judgment. What does Christ say?—“If a man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not.” John 12:47. And to the woman taken in the very act of adultery, he said, “Neither do I condemn thee;” that is, to death by stoning, which was still the theocratic law of the land. And the Lord disposes of all cases in this dispensation by saying, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Rom. 12:19. But men take advantage of this mercy, and abuse it; as Solomon says, “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Eccl. 8:11.
The ministration of death, as we have seen, is also called “the ministration of condemnation,” so the ministration of the Spirit has an additional, explanatory name; that is, “The ministration of righteousness.” 2 Cor. 3:9. “The Spirit giveth life;” and Paul says, in verse 17, that “the Lord is that Spirit.” The ministration of the Spirit is therefore the ministration of the Lord; and the Lord gives righteousness, which is life. The ministration of the Spirit is the offering of life through Christ to all who will accept of Him. This the apostle says was His business. Mark how he speaks: “Who hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” Verse 6. Then the New Testament has a letter that kills, as well as the Old. What is this letter?—That which kills the sinner. When will it be executed?—In the judgment at the last day. Men tell us that the penalty of the law has been done away; and therefore that shows that the law is no longer binding.
But that is a wrong statement, and a wrong conclusion. The penalty has not been done away. Its execution is not now left with men, but is delayed to the Lord’s own time. It is there, and is to come.
It is that “vengeance” which the Lord says is His, and declares that He will repay. Rom. 12:19. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Eze. 18:20), is a sentence that has not been relaxed in the least; and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), is still in force; and when the settlement is made, the demands of the law and the Sabbath will be met. No; the penalty is not abolished; and it is the death penalty, as at first. The ministration of the Spirit, which we are now under, makes the difference. Under this ministration, provision is made whereby righteousness can be imputed to a man, and sentence against an evil work be not executed speedily. Life is offered under the new covenant.
These covenants occupy distinct divisions of time. The new covenant was promised in the days of Jeremiah. Jer. 31:31–34. Paul quotes that prophecy, and says: “In that he saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” Heb. 8:13. So the first has passed away; and the new is molded and governed by the ministration of the Spirit.
The things which govern our relation to God are ministered differently now, from what they were before. The warp and woof of our experience are not now condemnation and death, but assurances from the new covenant which offer us righteousness and life. Were we living under the old covenant, “every transgression and disobedience” would receive, here and now, “a just recompense of reward.” Heb. 2:2. But now “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor. 3:18. So much more glorious is the ministration of the Spirit than the ministration of death. But this is digressing.
What was done away? In considering what Paul has taught in 2 Corinthians 3, one should keep in mind what he has taught elsewhere on the same subject. If it is said that in the passage mentioned, he teaches the abolition of the Sabbath or the doing away of the law, it is well to keep in mind what he has said in other places on these points; for we must not involve him in self-contradiction. This is a question of vital importance; for it involves the question of obedience to, or violation of, the moral law, and so affects our eternal destiny. Of the law Paul says: “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Rom. 7:12. He says, “Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom. 7:7. This agrees with his words in Rom. 5:13: “Sin is not imputed when there is no law,” and in chapter 4:15: “For where no law is, there is no transgression;” and he rivets the whole subject by saying, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3:31. So long as sin and transgression exist in the world, so long the law exists to detect and condemn them.
Now after the apostle had taught the Romans in this way, dare any one charge him with turning around and teaching the Corinthians, the same year, the very opposite doctrine; namely, that the law has been abolished, set aside, and done away in Christ?
Peter speaks of some who wrest the words of Paul to their own destruction. 2 Peter 3:16. Those who accuse him of teaching that the law has been abolished and taken out of the way, certainly wrest his words. And note the result. Suppose, on the strength of that, they turn against the law, and transgress it, and then find at last that the law has always been binding, and will judge us in the last day (James 2:12), and that they themselves are sinners, condemned beyond rescue; what will be the result? Peter says they wrest the words of Paul to their own destruction. They must receive the wages of sin; and that is death.
Beware, then, lest you trifle with the words of the sacred writers, and make them contradict themselves. Remember that Paul does not speak of the law in 2 Cor. 3:7, only incidentally, and that the489only thing he says is done away is the glory of the former dispensation. The law is not entrenched upon, nor its sacredness questioned; and the glory that is done away is done away only because the glory of the dispensation of the Spirit is so much greater. Its more ample provisions exceed in glory, and before its brightness all lesser lights of consequence disappear.
The Iowa Camp-Meeting.
By A. G. Daniells
The Iowa camp-meeting and annual Conference for 1901, was held in Des Moines, May 30 to June 8. The camp-ground was located on Governor’s Square, a grassy, shady park but a few blocks from Iowa’s fine capitol building. One of the electric street-car lines passes the park, making it easy of access to the public. Des Moines is centrally located for all our brethren throughout the State. And yet, with all these points in its favor, I cannot believe that the Iowa camp-meetings should continue to be held in Des Moines. One great purpose of the camp-meeting is to enlighten the men and women who do not know the beauty and value of the truths we hold. In order for this important point to be gained, the people must attend the meetings. But the Iowa camp-meetings have been held in Des Moines so many years that they have lost all attractions to the public. Our Lord’s instruction is that if the people will not hear us in one city, we should go to another. The time has certainly come for the Iowa camp-meetings to be held in cities that have not had such privileges. Personal convenience and Conference expense are of small account compared with the privilege of placing the truths God has given us before hundreds of people for a period of ten days. This is the point that should weigh most in the location of our camp-meetings.
The attendance of our people was not as large as on some former occasions in this State; but, all things considered, it was fairly good. Nearly all the Conference laborers were present. The general laborers from abroad were Professor Prescott, Elder Hoopes, Dr. Paulson, Professor Magan, Elder Lewis Johnson, and the writer.
From the beginning of the meeting there appeared to be an earnest desire on the part of all, especially the brethren bearing Conference responsibilities, to be right with God, and to arrange every detail of the work in Iowa so that the Lord’s special blessing could rest upon the cause in that State. The light, love, and harmony that came into the meeting from day to day were evidences that the Lord set His seal of approval upon the course pursued.
The business of the Conference was considerable, and it received as prayerful, manly consideration as I have ever seen given to such matters. The arrangements that were made were for the development of the work, regardless of personal considerations. The Sabbath-school Association was dropped, and its interests were made a department of the Conference, thus completing the work, begun several years ago in the State, of simplifying the organization. As it now stands, the tract society and Sabbath-school branches are simply departments of the Iowa Conference.
The theme that received the greatest attention during the meeting was the question of giving the Advent message to the world in this generation. This subject touched a responsive chord in the hearts of our brethren. The speakers enjoyed much freedom in presenting the evidences of the soon coming of Jesus, and the need of earnest efforts on our part to arouse the whole world to a realization of the time in which we live. As we dwelt upon these soul-stirring truths, hearts that had been cold were made to glow with new warmth; the spirit of consecrating life and means to the work of God came upon the congregation. This was manifested in a number of very practical ways. It was unanimously voted to support the ten-cent-a-week plan in behalf of the mission work in the regions beyond. It was also unanimously voted to pay a second tithe of the Conference to the General Conference for mission work. Besides this, the Conference heartily voted to support laborers in needy fields outside of its own boundaries.
One of the most remarkable meetings I ever attended grew out of a resolution to support laborers in foreign fields. This resolution opened the valve for the escape of the missionary spirit that was pent up in the hearts of the brethren. The entire camp was so anxious to express approval of this measure that the session was turned into a stirring testimony meeting, which lasted more than two hours. Scores of brethren and sisters earnestly testified that they were so anxious to have the message given to the people in darkness that they were willing to have the ministers devote the most of their time to places in the State where the truth had not been fully presented. They were also more than willing to part with any of the laborers whom the Lord might call to foreign lands, and to have the means now used for their support in the State go with them. Many testified that they had proved that there is power in this message to sustain its followers. They said that they had learned from the Bible how to find the Lord, and how to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth from day to day. Others testified that they had learned from the same word how to settle difficulties without calling ministers from the field for this purpose. While the people expressed themselves on this wise, the ministers testified of their longing to go to people in darkness, and give them the light. Young men offered themselves for service in any part of the great harvest-field where they are most needed, and for any kind of work in which they can render the best service. It was truly good and refreshing to be there.
That meeting resulted in raising several thousand dollars for the cause, and changing the field and work of several ministers. Elder C. A. Hansen and wife have since gone to Newfoundland; Elder Willis M. Adams and wife have gone to Manitoba; Elder T. H. Jeys has cheerfully taken the State agency for the canvassing work; Elder F. L. Moody has removed to Michigan to take charge of the canvassing work in the Lake Union Conference. Other laborers have volunteered to go abroad, and are holding themselves in readiness for a call at any time.
This is the true spirit of this message. When the latter rain falls upon this people, as it surely will, no man will count his life, nor the things that he possesses, his own. All will be laid at the feet of King Jesus, with the earnest prayer that He will use all now for His glory.
On the afternoon of the last Sabbath, eight young men were set apart by ordination to the work of the gospel ministry. At the close of the ordination service, there followed one of the most soul-stirring praise meetings it has ever been my privilege to attend. Hundreds of short, crisp testimonies were borne, expressing undoubted confidence in the final triumph of this message, and the determination to triumph with it. The blessing of God that rested upon the entire congregation was to the young men a token of the Lord’s approval of their ordination.
Altogether, about ten thousand dollars was raised in pledges and cash for the work outside of Iowa. This was distributed to all parts of the world, for nearly every phase of the work. Two brethren gave one hundred dollars each for India; two others gave the same amount for France. Several hundred dollars was given for Australia. About one thousand dollars was pledged in the way of missionary farming for the medical work. Some was given to the work in the South; some to Tahiti; and several thousand dollars was raised for the Relief of the Schools Fund; and, praise the Lord, all this came from cheerful givers, whom the Lord declares He loves.
It was especially refreshing and encouraging to me to attend this meeting. Iowa is my native State. The last camp-meeting I had attended in that State was held on the same ground in 1886. At that meeting Elder Haskell related his stirring experiences in Australia and New Zealand, whence he had just returned. While telling us how God had wrought for him and his brethren in those far-away lands, my heart was greatly stirred. It was then that I received the first intimation, both from the Lord and the brethren, that I might be called to that country. While Elder Haskell was telling of his experiences, Elder Butler, by whose side I was sitting, turned to me and asked if I did not want to go to New Zealand. It was not long after this meeting until the suggestion took serious, practical form, and I was off.
To meet my dear brethren of Iowa after fifteen years of blessed experience at the front, was a great pleasure. I was glad to find so many still rejoicing in the truth, and I was glad to be able to tell them that my confidence in this message and in the certainty of its speedy triumph had grown with the years of toil and blessed experience abroad.
Brethren, this is God’s work, and He is waiting to bring our hopes regarding its future to a glorious consummation. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” And of the proclamation of this gospel to all the world, the Lord declares that “there shall be delay no longer.” Blessed assurance! A. G. DANIELLS.
In the Question Chair.
[Designed for the consideration of such questions as will be of interest and profit to the general reader. All correspondents should give their names and correct post-office address, that queries not replied to here may be answered by mail.]
823.— IN A HURRY. DISAPPOINTED.
A CORRESPONDENT writes that as soon as the Question Chair was opened, he sent a query to be answered in the REVIEW; but though several weeks have elapsed, and he has watched every paper, nothing has yet appeared in response to his question, and he is quite disappointed that it has not yet been noticed. This gives occasion for a remark or two.
When one has a question pressing upon his mind, to which he desires an answer, and has sent in a request for the same, it is very natural to desire to receive returns by the first mail. All this is taken into account; but there are some counter-considerations:—
1. It is not always convenient to answer a question on the spur of the moment. More thought and study upon it may be needed.
2. The immediate time may be demanded for other matters.
3. The Question Chair does not guarantee an answer to every question that may be sent in. Some, according to the old adage, would “puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer;” and some cannot be answered at all, as they lie beyond the range of human wisdom.
4. Some are so comprehensive that they would require an exposition of half the Bible to dispose of them.
5. So many questions are often asked at one time that it would take too much time to look up testimony, and too much space in the department to answer them all at one time.
6. A question is sometimes asked, on the answer to which the questioner is at the same time well satisfied, and thinks there is good evidence to sustain his position. Then it is our turn to ask a question. In such a case, why propound a question to the REVIEW? If a person is well satisfied on any question, that is sufficient so far as we are concerned. We would not disturb one on any such question, unless it involved moral principle and the development of character.
7. When the question department was resumed, it was expressly stated that it was not designed to raise puzzles nor to gratify curiosity, but to consider questions on which a desire really existed for further light, for the purpose of instruction and profit. It is the design of the department to answer all consistent or possible queries, and in as short a time as possible.
With these remarks we venture a further word of exhortation:—
1. Ask questions with a legitimate purpose and design.
2. Be brief and to the point.
3. Do not multiply queries in the same communication.
4. If you have, on any stirring, important subject, what you deem new and instructive evidence, which will be for the good of the people, give it to us, not in the form of a query to draw others out, but as a short, spicy article for the benefit of all the readers of the paper.
EMMANUEL MISSIONARY COLLEGE.
By P. T. Magan
THE General Conference Educational Institute at Berrien Springs, Mich., is now a thing of the past. That it marks an era in our educational work, and that future years will show it to be one of the great landmarks of the message, none of those who have been present can for a moment doubt. God has been present, and has ruled in all its sessions. And chief among the things which through His grace have been accomplished, has been the laying of the foundation stones for the new missionary college which is to take the place of the old Battle Creek College.
Many meetings were held by the college board of trustees, by the General Conference laborers, and by the presidents and committeemen of the Lake Union Conferences, in regard to the planting of this new school. After much discussion and earnest prayer, it was finally decided to purchase a beautiful site on the banks of the St. Joseph River. The college estate will include, all told, about two hundred and sixty acres. One hundred and six acres of this land is already in a high state of cultivation, and this tract has sixty-five acres of the most beautiful pear and peach orchard, together with a ten-acre vineyard, which is famous the country over. There are also one hundred and twelve acres of unimproved land, which is capable of being made valuable. The remainder of the farm is made up of woods, which will serve admirably for timber and for fuel. Here also a beautiful park for assembly and camp-meeting purposes can be developed. A creek runs through the property, which will furnish abundant water for the use of the school, and even for irrigating a part of the land. There are several beautiful springs upon the estate which give forth an abundance of pure water for drinking purposes.
The meeting at which the decision was finally made was a most solemn one, and one long to be remembered by those present. Counsel had been sought from the Spirit of God, but no word had been received. After the meeting was all over, a letter came from Sister White, urging us by all means to buy the very place which we had decided to purchase. This helped to give heart and hope to the whole enterprise.
It is the design of the board of trustees to secure title to the land immediately, and to lay the plans for the buildings just as rapidly as possible. Brother Howard Parsons, representing the firm of architects of W. H. Parsons & Son, of Des Moines, Iowa, has kindly offered their services to the board of trustees to make all the drawings for the buildings, and in some degree to superintend the work of construction. Brother Parsons has already been here and looked the ground over, and will return in a few weeks to study the situation further. In a future article I will give full details concerning the plans for the building, and also the plans for the conducting of the school farm.
The board of trustees has decided to christen the new institution “Emmanuel Missionary College” by which name it will henceforth be known. This is the first school among us having a distinctive Biblical name, and it is the earnest prayer and wish of all concerned that the thought and the spirit of this blessed title may be the life experience of the school.
The people of Berrien Springs have been exceedingly kind, and have taken great interest and pride in the location of the school in their midst. In fact, nothing could exceed the kindness and interest which they have shown. The prayers of all the people of God are asked, that God may bless in the founding of this new institution, concerning which He has said so much.