Earlier text: PrayerThe tacit understanding among respectable people that certain forms of vice are to be kept from the knowledge of young women and to be ignored in public discussion is the last surviving trace of the ancient heresy of the inherent vileness of the body and of its appetites. Children who are to feel the tempestuous force of passion are left in dense ignorance of its nature, and allowed to receive their first knowledge of the great and sacred functions of the body surreptitiously, and in forms which are vulgar, if not corrupting. Girls are sent to great cities to earn their living, in dense ignorance of the moral dangers that will surround them, left to walk alone along paths so perilous that a single false step may commit them to a life of shame. It is a terrible fact that the ranks of the unhappy women who sell, not their time nor labor, but themselves, are augmented by the silence of unwise mothers, whose false modesty sends their daughters to the awful fate of the prostitute. The stupidity of giving boys and girls the most careful training of brain and taste and muscle, and ignoring instruction in the matter most vital to their health of body and of soul, would be inexplicable if one did not remember the false ideas of modesty in which so many persons have been bred. To leave young people in ignorance of the forces and laws of the physical life is a crime on the part of parents. This knowledge ought always to be given by fathers and mothers; it is almost impossible to give it wisely through books, though a few books convey it without dangerous suggestion. A great step is being taken in the schools which teach sex hygiene, although even this step is being fought by the ignorance of good people. But this does not relieve fathers and mothers of one of their greatest responsibilities. A physician was once asked why a beautiful young woman had died. He answered promptly, "Because her mother was too refined to be intelligent." Behind much of this betrayal of ignorant girls lies the blindness of mothers in not giving their daughters some knowledge of the perils of city life, and the neglect of such girls when they arrive in the cities where vile men and women wait to betray them. Much has been done of late to protect these girls, but the quarantine which keeps out disease ought to be paralleled by the systematic protection which keeps health from contamination. The approaches to every city ought to be guarded by good women. Excessive fatigue in shops and factories; underfeeding; loneliness; the desire for companionship and pleasure, which is strong in all normal young people; the unguarded dancing places; the miscellaneous excursions; the unwatched amusement parks, are among the open gates through which an army of girls pass without knowing whither they are going, and in blind ignorance take that first step which lands them in the underworld, whence escape is almost as difficult as from prisons of stone. The thought of the girls whose unguarded innocence makes it possible in a brief hour to blacken their natures and condemn them to a life of infamy ought to shame good men and women out of their sham delicacy of feeling in dealing with this evil.—The Outlook, May 18, 1912. "The Church and Education"
By S. B. Horton
ADMITTING that the universities are not in sufficiently close touch with the churches, and, therefore, do not devote sufficient time to the religious education of students, the dean of Brown University said, in an address at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Albany, N. Y., recently:— "It is not the business of the college to teach boys to believe in any particular creed. It is the business of the college to teach boys to think, to point the eyes of boys to what are the problems of human experience, to let them see that this social life of ours is surrounded with difficulties and perplexities. "In the world of politics you would not send your boy to a college that promised to bring him out a believer in tariff legislation. If you were the most stalwart Republican, would you send your boy to a college that obligated itself to bring him out a Republican?—No, you would not. In the department of economics, boys must be taught, not that this or that particular doctrine is true, but that there are considerations on one side, and other considerations on the other side, and that every intelligent man must weigh these considerations and decide for himself." After stating that "if the church is to hold men together, it must teach them what they shall believe," the dean made the following statement, which is in keeping with the evident trend of university teaching to-day:— "But the college can not give up its demands for thinking, questioning, and doubting. That is the science of education. Neither one can give up its mission, and there is no reason why it should. Men have no right to believe unless the beliefs have been questioned. On the one side is the church with its faith, and on the other, the college with its doubt; on the one side the church with its assurance, and on the other, the college with its investigation." It would seem from this position that the basis and essence of education demand the ability to doubt; that is to say, education can not be acquired unless the facts connected with the imparting of knowledge are to be doubted until they are demonstrated to be true. If that rule were to be applied to Christian education, the student would never come to a knowledge of the truth as it is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. That which must precede a knowledge of God and the gospel of his Son, is well stated by the apostle Paul in Heb. 11:6: "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." How very important it is for the seeker after truth to plant his feet upon the platform of Christian education, and reject the apostate condition referred to in Jer. 2:12, 13: "Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." How the Sabbath Came to Me
By Mrs. Chas. O. Hall
If any one had told me a year ago that within the year I would become a Seventh-day Adventist, I would have said he was surely mistaken. I was away from home for a time, when glowing reports were sent me of a tent-meeting conducted near my home, and within a stone's throw of the church of which I had been a member for ten years. One wrote, "The community never had such teaching." I promised myself that when I returned home, I would investigate. One thing I have always been thankful for, I have never been afraid of a new truth. I would rather face it now than at the judgment-day. After hearing the truth preached, I dared not let its consideration rest; so I began to study, and had Bible readings at my home. My friends became solicitous; many letters were written me, and opposition literature was sent me, to warn me of the danger they felt I was in. While I carefully considered the question, I knew that it was a matter I must settle between God and myself. He knew I was honest, and so he led me on step by step, until I felt in my heart that the seventh day is the "Sabbath of the Lord." When God found me obedient, he began to clear away the fogs and mists of my brain. I was amazed, and wondered that I had lived so long and never had investigated these truths before. That question was settled forever; but we never take any advance step with God without being tested. In my years of Christian experience I had settled many questions, but here was new teaching on many subjects. I studied them until one night I went home from church utterly discouraged. It seemed to me that all the teachings of a lifetime were slipping away. I almost came to the conclusion that it would be best to stop thinking and go back to the first principles of the gospel. I wept and prayed until after midnight, when God showed me that I was being tempted by the devil. When I saw that, I ceased to be discouraged. I began to ask, "Why is it, Lord, I am so disturbed?" and he answered, "I am taking you8 this way, child, that you may be a help to others." I could see that many, coming to the point where I was, would drift into infidelity if they were without a sure foundation. I praised God that he had given me another victory. As I look at myself and the radical change in my life, I wonder if I can be myself. I can more and more see God's guiding hand. A new significance of baptism came to me as I was buried with Christ, and allied myself with a people who keep God's commandments. Gladly do I welcome any reproach or persecution that comes. We are told that they who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But if we endure to the end, we shall be saved. When that time comes, may we be able to say with Paul, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." The Crown Through the Cross
By L. D. SANTEE
THERE are cases unnumbered on trial to-day,—
Some written in heaven, and some turned away.
The judgment is solemn; there is no appeal,
As God passes sentence for woe or for weal.
Each record of evil, each love-service given,
Is kept in the “book of remembrance” in heaven;
Each life has its record of glory or loss.
Will you reach for the crown, through the blood of the cross? The millions unnumbered whose cases are read,
Stand in awe of the Judge of the “quick and the dead.”
The crimes unrepented, abhorrent to God,
For these will the “wine-press” in anger be trod,
For these will sad faces with tear-drops be wet,
For these will life hold unavailing regret;
Each life has its record of glory or loss.
Will you reach for the crown, through the blood of the cross? The wounds and the hurts that our anger has made,
Let us heal, while as yet the keen sickle is stayed:
There’s time for forgiveness; then turn we to-day,
Ere the angel of mercy turn sadly away.
The Judge passes sentence for woe or for weal;
Then ere our dread trial, life’s wounds let us heal;
Each life has its record of glory or loss.
Will you reach for the crown, through the blood of the cross? There’s a lifetime of glory awaiting in heaven
All the pure and the holy, whose sins are forgiven,
Who have “fought the good fight” till the warfare is done,
Whose robes are made white in the blood of the Son.
The fragrance of pity, the kindness of love,
All, all are transcribed to the records above;
Each life is enjoying the favor of God.
The crown will be theirs; they are washed in the blood. "How Readest Thou?"
By J. N. Quinn
THE interpretation given by the Roman Catholic Church to the statements made by Jesus Christ when he instituted the communion service, "This is my body," "This is my blood," is that the bread and the wine used in the sacrament are the body and blood, the soul and divinity of the Son of God, the transformation of the elements occurring when the words of consecration are uttered by the priest. Let us apply the same principle of interpretation to other New Testament scriptures, and note the conclusion which must be reached: "For we are members of his [Christ's] body, of his flesh, and of his bones." Eph. 5:30. "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." 1 Cor. 12:27. "For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread." 1 Cor. 10:17. "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Rom. 12:5. Bone of Christ's bone, flesh of his flesh, the body of Christ and members in particular, one bread and one body, all partakers of that one bread,—these are expressions applied to believers in Christ. Applying Rome's method of interpretation to them, how can the conclusion be avoided that the believer in Christ is possessed of as much divinity as was his Master; that he is to receive the same honor; that the believer in Christ should eat his fellow believer, as we are all one bread. Again, Christ said, "This cup is the new testament in my blood." Taking Rome's literal interpretation of "This is my body," then "This cup is the new testament," makes the cup the new covenant. A child understands what Christ meant by the expression "This cup;" so also does he know what is meant by "This is my body." Both expressions are of the same character with the truth that Jesus is the true vine. Paul makes it clear: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" 1 Cor. 10:16. Truly our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, a communion infinitely more real and more precious than the communion Rome has to offer. This communion can exist only when God through the Holy Spirit abides in the life, God "manifest in the flesh." "The flesh profiteth nothing," says the Master, "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63. To feed upon the word of Christ is to receive his spirit and his life. Rome emphasizes the flesh, and relegates the word to obscurity. Salvation Provided for All
By H. E. Simkin
To be saved from sin and death is the greatest blessing that humanity can receive. Men naturally fear death. All desire to be saved from it. But its cause, sin, is not so much feared. The inseparable relations between sin and death are not considered. Some teach the doctrine of Universalism, and try to satisfy themselves with its comforts. Others teach that only a select few can ever hope to receive the inestimable gift of eternal life. That all men are provided with the means of salvation, and either receive it or lose it by their own choice, is very plainly taught in God's Word. Some very positive statements are made by the great apostle to the Gentiles in his epistle to Titus. Beginning with the eleventh verse of the second chapter, we read that "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." Grace is unmerited favor. This favor, a gift of God, brings salvation. No restrictions are made, simply a positive statement that salvation accompanies it, and further that it hath appeared to all men. This one verse tells the whole story in a way that can not be misunderstood; but to make the instruction sure, the following verses tell us that we must deny, or overcome, worldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. This phrase, "in this present world," indicates to us unmistakably that another world follows this one. Not a single intimation is given to indicate that the blessing of salvation is restricted to certain individuals. Conditions entirely in our own hands are presented, and we are urged to enter the open door. One more verse completes the thought. It says that we should be "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." The whole duty of man seems to be summed up in these verses. That we should deny ungodliness and worldly lusts is not more plainly impressed upon us than that we should be looking for those great, striking spectacles, the resurrection of the dead and the second coming of the Saviour. No fact in the Bible is more plainly stated than that all men have salvation provided for them freely, willingly, and in the mercy of God, that is, by his grace. This grace brings with it salvation, and that to all men. What a wonderful gift! And knowing the weakness of men, the Saviour not only provides the salvation, but says to all, "My grace is sufficient for thee." In view of these sure statements, what a terrible thing it is to reject the offers of mercy, to do despite to the Spirit of grace, and fail finally to receive eternal life. "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." "He is not far from each one of us." The Sabbath and the Jewish Economy
PRIMARILY the Sabbath institution stood entirely independent of local conditions or national relationships. It was given to the whole family of man. Instituted in the days of innocency, before sin entered, it stood primarily independent of the types and ceremonies and sacrifices and offerings for sin which were instituted in consequence of man's transgression. Objection is sometimes urged against the universality of the Sabbath institution on account of the Jewish civil requirements that prohibited the building of fires on the Sabbath, etc. This is because proper distinctions are not made between these national codes and the law of God. In the Jewish economy there was observed first the ceremonial law relating to sacrifices and offerings. This system was in operation until type met antitype at the first advent of Christ. A second code embraced the civil statutes the same as possessed by every nation. Then there was a third code recognized really as the constitutional basis of jurisprudence, compared with which the first two were but local and temporal, namely, the decalogue. This constituted the universal, perpetual, common religious law of the church of God in every age. Of the distinction between these codes, and of the preeminent position occupied by the law of the ten commandments, the following excellent comment by Wilbur F. Crafts in his book "The Sabbath for Man," pages 357-359, is to the point:— Whatever there was about the Sabbath in the Jewish ceremonial law, such as its special sacrifices, was for the Jews only, and is not obligatory upon us, although it is recorded in the world's Bible because "profitable for instruction in righteousness." Whatever there was about the Sabbath in the Jewish civil code—such as the prohibition of fire on the Sabbath in a warm country, where a Sabbath fire would only be used for needless cooking; and the death penalty for Sabbath-breaking—is not binding upon us, but is recorded in our Bible to teach us that God would have us exceedingly careful to avoid unnecessary Sabbath work, and that he regards disobedience to his Sabbath law as a very grave offense. But what is said of the Sabbath in the fourth commandment of the decalogue is neither a part of the Jewish ceremonial law nor of the Jewish civil law. It is a paragraph in a code of universal and perpetual obligation. It is inexcusable for any intelligent person, much more a clergyman, to declare the fourth commandment "no more binding on us than the law of circumcision." One might as well say that the law against theft is no more binding upon Americans than some outgrown by-law of the Church of England, since that church condemned theft at the period when this abolished rule was in force. When a church repeals or outgrows an ecclesiastical by-law, it does not repeal the universal code of moral law which that church holds in common with all the world. . . . By their very nature, the ten commandments are as universal and perpetual in their application as the golden rule, which Christ drew, like a precious gem, out of the same Old Testament mine, as the central truth of "the law and the prophets." We wonder that Mr. Crafts, while recognizing the plain distinction he expresses between the law of God, with its holy character and perpetual obligation, and the Jewish codes of national existence, should fail to recognize that the principle he states forever precludes any change in the law of Jehovah. Had he done this, he would not to-day be engaged in the inconsistent, but no doubt honest advocacy of a rival institution to that of God's ordaining. Later in the history of the Israelites God appeals to their gratitude in the obedience they should render his law from the fact that he had wrought their great deliverance from Egyptian bondage:— "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day." Deut. 5: 15. It is to be regretted that a sense of gratitude for this great deliverance did not lead the Israelites to keep in mind throughout their history the Sabbath of Jehovah. Their experience was one long succession of victories and failures, of apostasies and reformations. Under Moses, Joshua, and Samuel, during the reign of some of the godly kings, the descendants of Abraham maintained their integrity and were obedient to the commandments of the Lord. God promised that if they would maintain this character, their capital city would stand forever, and they would become the praise of the whole earth. "And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently harken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain forever. And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat-offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the Lord. But if ye will not harken unto me to hallow the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." Jer. 17: 24-27. Their failure to heed this instruction resulted in the overthrow of their beautiful city, and plunged them once more into abject bondage:— "Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place; but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. And they burned the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years." 2 Chron. 36: 15-21. Well would it have been for Israel if she had remembered the Sabbath of the Lord. Forgetting God's great memorial, the Israelites forgot its divine Author. They worshiped the creature, the hosts of heaven, the creations of their own hands, instead of the great Creator of the heavens and the earth. These things are recorded for our admonition. May we learn the lesson which Israel failed to recognize.
F. M. W. Deliverance of John Foxe at the Hour of Extremity
By W. A. S.
We recognize the fact that it is the bountiful hand of God that "daily loadeth us with benefits." Every good gift cometh down from heaven. But this does not preclude recognition of the special providences that in times of special need may bring relief in the extraordinary way that makes manifest the fact that there is a Father in heaven watching over his children on earth. In Townsend's "Life of John Foxe," author of the "Book of Martyrs," we are told of a providential deliverance that came to Foxe when in dire need, preserving his life and setting his feet into the road that enabled him to give to the world that wonderful "Acts and Monuments" of the martyrs of papal persecution. As a young man suspected of Protestant heresy, Foxe was expelled from Oxford University. He knew not which way to turn with his young wife. His native home was Boston, in Lincolnshire; but his stepfather, while allowing him to come for a short visit, advised that he would better move on quickly, lest he should "bring him and his mother into hazard of their lives and fortunes." Foxe thought of London, then as now, the world's greatest city. "Great cities," as his biographer Townsend, said, "are great solitudes. He would be less observed, and obtain a livelihood more easily. His life would be safer from spies. Prudence demanded instant concealment." So to London he went. But the way of making the livelihood did not appear. Day after day Foxe sought employment in vain, having to keep secret his identity lest he be apprehended as a heretic. He had reached the last extremity. Townsend's "Life," evidently quoting from Foxe's son, says:— "As Master Foxe one day sat in St. Paul's church, spent with long fasting, his countenance thin and eyes hollow, after the ghastly manner of dying men, every one shunning a spectacle of so much horror, there came to him one whom he never remembered to have seen before, who, sitting down by him, and saluting him with much familiarity, thrust an untold sum of money into his hand, bidding him be of good cheer, adding withal that he knew not how great the misfortunes were which oppressed him, but supposed it was no light calamity; that he should, therefore, accept in good part that small gift from his countryman which common courtesy had forced him to offer; that he should go and take care of himself, and take all occasions to prolong his life; adding that within a few days new hopes were at hand, and a more certain condition of livelihood." Foxe could never learn to whom he was indebted for this seasonable bounty, though he used every endeavor to find out the person. . . . "Certain it is, however, that within three days after the transaction, the presage was made good. Some one waited upon him from the duchess of Richmond, who invited him, upon fair terms," says the writer, "into her service."—"Acts and Monuments," Vol. I, page 19. In the dark days of Queen Mary's persecution, when the fires were frequently burning at the martyr's stake, Foxe was compelled to flee to the Continent, there to begin his compilation of the story of the great cloud of witnesses who overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, loving not their lives unto the death. The lesson that all may read in the record of those times when the light of the Reformation was breaking, is that there is a living God in heaven who walks through the waters and through the fires with his own, giving sustaining grace, and who is able to deliver out of troubles when such deliverance is to his glory and for his children's good. The Task Committed to Us
By C. M. S.
As truly as ever Israel of old was called and set for a light to the Gentiles, so truly has this people been called and commissioned to carry to the world a message of truth and of light. To this people as well as to that applies this scripture: "I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Isa. 49:6. The people to whom the third angel's message is committed are carrying the last message of salvation "unto the end of the earth." In a double sense is this true; for while this movement is designed to make God's last message known to every "nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," thus reaching the end of the earth in that sense, the completion of that work means the completion of earth's history. In other words, this great message in going to the ends of the earth, brings the end of the world. The finishing of God's work for man is a work of tremendous importance. No more important trust was ever committed to man. The importance of the task and the honor of the trust ought to appeal to every Seventh-day Adventist, and cause him to lay aside every selfish ambition and consecrate every faculty, every energy, and every gift to the completion of the work God has given us to perform. God has greatly honored this people. Let us not dishonor him by selfishness, by laxity, by dishonesty, or by disloyalty. We have a mighty work before us. To do it aright, we need divine grace and wisdom and power above any other people in the world. The treasury and the arsenal of heaven are filled with all we need. God has even placed in our hands the key that will place their contents at our disposal; it is prayer. With that key in our hands, and heaven thus opened to our demands, the work which God has given to us can be done. As Christ blessed the few loaves and fishes, enabling his disciples to feed the entire five thousand, so may this people, with God's blessing upon what they have and what they do, carry this bread of life to all the world. C. M. S. Note and Comment
By Editor
Dangers Threatening Christianity
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS are sometimes charged with being alarmists by calling attention to the great spiritual decadence coming upon the great professed church of Christ. We are glad to note, however, from time to time, that these conditions are recognized by earnest men in other denominations. In the Episcopal address given at the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in session in Minneapolis, Bishop Earl Cranston expressed grave concern over the dangers now threatening the spiritual life of the church. He is reported by the Northwestern Christian Advocate of May 8, 1912, as saying:— "A mad contagion of greed, worldliness, pride, and lust has invaded the churches and many thousands of all denominations have turned from their vows without compunction. 'Wherever rationalism has so despoiled the Bible that to many, both in pulpit and pew, it is left without inspiration and authority, so that expediency takes precedence of God's law in the home and even in church administration; wherever the offices of the Holy Spirit have been psychologically negatived and the manger of Bethlehem robbed of its divine child; wherever the cross of Calvary bleeds without atoning virtue, and there is no longer a fountain filled with blood in which sinners may find cleansing; wherever, indeed, there is no issue of damnable sin between God and the transgressor, it can be no marvel if there church discontent prevails. Nothing else would be possible.'" Bishop Cranston calls attention to the many millions invested in church property, schools, hospitals, and asylums in home and foreign lands, etc., but deplores the fact that notwithstanding these great agencies the increase in membership for one year was less than two per cent:— "It is then that we tremble for the church. The thing is incredible. The statistical paradox stares us out of countenance. It shames and humiliates us. Only tears of repentance become us. Our hearts should be bleeding in contrition. Among the causes found are these: The distinctive doctrines are not emphasized; Wesley preached the necessity of a new birth. Too much attention to definitions without preaching salvation. Too much attention to the scientific without preaching repentance. The system peculiar to the church is not being worked as formerly."11 The same note of warning is raised by Dr. John F. Carson of Brooklyn, the retiring moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly, in a sermon delivered in Louisville, Ky., May 16, 1912. According to the Washington Evening Star of May 16, Dr. Carson, like Bishop Cranston, deplores the very small gain made in the Presbyterian membership for the last year:— "The comparatively small number of accessions to the church on confession of faith sounds a note of warning and appeal. The stated clerk of the General Assembly is authority for the statement that, 'of our 10,051 churches 3,739, or 37 per cent, reported no additions on confession of faith to their membership during the year 1911." As a remedy for these conditions the following suggestions are offered:— The prophetic call to the church is for deeper and more genuine Christian living; for more of the religious home life, with its family altar, its Bible and its psalm; for more religious training of the child in the knowledge of the Scriptures and in the love of God, for more emphasis upon the church as the center of religious worship, a more faithful attendance upon the public services of the sanctuary and upon the meetings for social prayer. The evangelistic fire must be kindled in every church. After much talking about "the enthusiasm of humanity," "the service of man," "social ministry," and other freezing abstractions, we must come back to the Master's love of men. The church has become so overlaid, if not stifled, by a congeries of societies and gilds and movements that it is lost sight of, except when criticized for failure to support innumerable movements. Let churchmen, who in zeal and devotion are promoting so many movements, concentrate their thought and energy upon the churches with which they are connected and work through these churches, and the results will justify and reward the concentration of their interest and energy. The spiritual function of the church must receive a new emphasis. Our danger to-day is not that we will neglect the social and practical side of Christianity, but that we will treat too lightly the spiritual and mystical. The living, beating heart of the church takes into its purpose and sympathy and ministry every need of man. But it must not be forgotten that in her service to man the church has a function peculiarly her own, and, unless she fills that function, it will not be fulfilled. That function is ministry to man's spiritual being. Back of all the unrest that disturbs our day, whether that unrest is revealed in the discontent of the poor or in the feverish quests of pleasure or of wealth on the part of the rich, is the soul's cry for God, whether men know it or not. The church must answer that cry by bringing Christ and his love to the knowledge of men. But the real remedy is to find out God's message for our time, and give it. OTHERS than Seventh-day Adventists realize that these are stirring and important times. The two political conventions, one held and the other holding, are giving striking emphasis to the ominous conditions. The people are asking themselves what it all means, and whence will come the party and the leader that will be able to bring in again settled and peaceable conditions. And the world knows that what we experience here other nations are also experiencing. The Catholic journal America, edited by Jesuits, touches the situation and suggests what will be the organization and who will be the leader that will rescue the nation and the world from threatened perdition. We quote:— "Even the careless observer realizes that we have reached a crisis in our history. A tremendous change is taking place among us. A new spirit is sweeping over us, and there is pestilence and death in its breathing. The very foundations of government, of law, of order, of social and family life, are undermined. The sense of authority is dying away. While the storm is raging, the pilots of the ship of state are wrangling in the wheelhouse, officers and crew answer by insubordination and mutiny, and the ship is driving on to a truly 'Titanic' doom. Old maps and charts, pointing out the safe and secure way, are being torn to shreds. Speed-maniacs are trying to control the levers of life in the frenzied race for power and pelf." "The best antidotes for all these evils are the principles deeply embedded in the minds of the educated Catholic. He has in the vast armory at his command the weapons wherewith to fight. In science, in literature, in law, in the press, in the halls of Congress, in the professor's chair, on the judge's bench, he has the principles most needed to thwart the progress of false ideas, the checks necessary to block the advance of the destructive forces now sapping the protecting dikes and bulwarks of our national life." "Fisher Ames said of Washington that he changed men's ideas of political greatness. An original and comprehensive eulogy! The educated Catholic can do much to change the false standards of progress, justice, politics, liberty, morality, professional and commercial ethics, now so shamelessly hawked about and advertised. It will not be enough for him to accept the prevailing conditions, and drift helplessly with the tide. He must mold men's minds and opinions, actively shape events. He must not be satisfied to bow to the unreasonable passion-inspired dictates of a tyrannous majority." "But in the hour of need, when others will fail, when neither their systems nor their character will be able to save a dying state, anxious eyes will be turned to the ranks of our trained and educated men. If their training has not been an idle pastime, if their opportunities have not been wasted, they should be able to furnish the leader for the need and the hour." We have "reached a crisis in our history." The world itself has reached a crisis in its history. The human race has reached a crisis in its history. In fact, we are now in the crisis of the ages, a time when mankind must decide just one question, and that is, whether to be loyal to God, his law, and his truth, or loyal to one who "opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." There is no question but that the Roman Church will be able to put forward one whom she considers the "leader" that is demanded by the times and conditions. And there is no question but that "all the world" will "wonder after" and follow that "leader," save those who have accepted God's last message, and have thus been forewarned against following such a "leader." The fact that Rome herself senses the nature and importance of these times, and is laying her plans accordingly, ought to arouse every advocate of truth to do his utmost from this day on to spread abroad the principles of this saving truth. The seriousness of these times ought to fire the heart of every true Christian. If the good counsel of Father Fagan, a Catholic priest of Chicago, were followed by the members of the Roman Catholic Church, there would be little need or fear of the injection of that church into politics. According to the Christian Advocate of May 30, 1912, he gave this advice to a company of young men:— I would not have you all vote one way. We do not want a Catholic political party in this great country. Vote for a Republican, if you believe him to be a good man. Vote for a Democrat, if you believe him to be a good man. Above all, be good men yourselves. Certainly this is sensible advice, and it is to be regretted that Father Fagan, while expressing his own convictions, did not truly express the sentiments of the church he represents.