CHRIST, in speaking of His church, said: “Ye are My witnesses.” “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Matt. 5:13.
The purpose of salt is to purify and to preserve in purity things that otherwise would spoil. But when the salt itself becomes contaminated, it only hastens corruption, and adds tenfold to its putrefying elements. Just so a righteous church that witnesses to the eternal truth of righteousness in a wicked and corrupt generation, purifies and preserves it. For did not the Lord promise Abraham that if he found even ten righteous persons in Sodom He would not destroy it “for the ten’s sake”? But when the church apostatizes and becomes contaminated with the wickedness in the world, and refuses to be healed herself, then she, too, becomes good for nothing, and needs to be cast out. Yea, she becomes worse than good for nothing. She becomes “the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth,” “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” Rev. 17:5; 18:2.
The Light of the World
While Christ was here on earth in person—Himself being the effulgence of the Truth, the Way, the Life—He said, “I am the Light of the world;” but when He left His disciples as His only representative, visible witnesses of the truth, He said to them, “Ye are the light of the world.” He admonishes His people, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless, and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life.” Phil. 2:14-16.
Again the divine commission to the church is: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” Isa. 60:1-3.
This preeminently sets before us the true mission of the church, and of each individual in the church. To turn aside from this is to pervert the mission of the church. Each individual member in the church is to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27.
The church as the light of the world sustains the same relation to Christ, the Light of the world, as the mammoth reflector in a light-house does to its light. The light emanates from Christ, and is reflected by the church in millions of rays in every direction into the dark world of sin. If there is a spot on the reflector it will cast great shadows on yonder rocks and shoals and imperil many lives which perchance may sail into the dark shadow. Hence the necessity to keep ourselves “unspotted from the world.” To us is given the keeping of the lower lights along the shore of the rough sea of time. Ours is a solemn responsibility.
The Foundation of Truth
The church is to be “the pillar and ground of the truth.” 1 Tim. 3:15. The great teacher said: “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and we shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31, 32. “And why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them . . . is like a man which built an house and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock,” and the gates of hell could not prevail against it, “for it was founded upon a rock”—“the Lord our Rock.” “But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth,” and when assailed by the prince of hell “it fell,” and “the ruin of that house was great.” Luke 6:46-49. Christ never decreed that a certain individual, because he was an individual once favored by divine grace, should always be favored, irrespective of conditions. Since the church is composed of individuals, He could never rule arbitrarily concerning any particular church, without regard to her spiritual condition. If a church as a body apostatizes from the truth, God casts her off just as readily as He does a single individual .
If a church abide not in the teachings of Christ, she has no rock for her foundation but shifting sand, and she can not withstand the assaults of the enemy. Building upon the teachings of Christ and not upon man, is the eternal foundation of the church. “Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men; for laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men.” Mark 7:7, 8.
The church is to be the witness and receptacle of the truth, in place of “the tabernacle of witness,” which was the receptacle of the eternal and unchangeable law of God. “Thy law is the truth . . . and all Thy commandments are truth.” Ps. 119: 142, 151. “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” John 17:17. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa. 8:20. “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.” Prov. 28:9.
Falsehood or Truth
An individual or church that forsakes the law of God is a false witness “to the truth.” “A false witness” and “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.” Truth is assailed by error. Error perverts the truth, and propagates lies. Satan is the author and propagator of error. Christ declared, “He is a liar and the father of it” and “he is a murderer from the beginning.” Error persecutes and appeals to force. It flings insult and abuse. Truth does neither. It produces the gentle graces of the Spirit of truth who guides into all truth.
He who slays the truth in man because he has the power, aims his murderous blow at the Supreme Being. He assails the throne of the Infinite because “righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne.” Satan murdered the Son of God because He was the truth manifest in the flesh. Falsehood, then, is a murderer from its very inception, in whomsoever it bears sway, and if it ever should gain dominion over the whole race,—which, thank God, it never will,—it would have a tomb for a throne, anarchy for government, hell for a kingdom, and corpses for subjects.
But let each of us say with our divine Master: “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” John 18:37.
The Manliness of Christ
By Harold E. Young
To PREACH Christ in a way that will attract men we must emphasize more than we do at present the manliness of Christ. Men love strength, courage, bravery, and heroism. Why do we not more often call the attention of men to the fact that Christ surpassed all others in these qualities? We are continually showing His feminine qualities, gentleness, meekness, etc., which is all well enough as far as it goes, but which alone is what Mr. Goller calls a feminizing of Christ that does not appeal very strongly to men. Too often we present Christ from the pulpit as7a gentle sort of an effeminate being, when, in reality, He showed so much vigorous manliness that a temple full of traders fled like cowards before Him; the soldiers that arrested Him were afraid of Him, and the devil himself was completely whipped.
Our church-members in the testimony meeting tell how they are trying in their weak, quiet way to follow Jesus. Men do not want this weak Christianity. They want a Christianity that wins; a Christianity that is victorious. Many artists picture Christ as a pale, meek man, mutely asking for our sympathy. He should be presented as Conqueror over every foe He ever met. Let us draw the admiration of men to the Christ whose very manliness makes Him the most noble leader of men the human race ever had.—Harold E. Young.
“My Father’s Business”
By H.
“The boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and His parents knew it not; but supposing Him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey; and they sought for Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.” Luke 2: 43, 44.
WHY so careless? we ask. What mother would forget her twelve-year-old boy in a great, unknown city, and travel a whole day before seeking for him? But think again, What mother ever had such a son? Already, even as a child, He “grew and waxed strong: and the grace of God was upon Him.” Doubtless for several years she had been trusting Him almost implicitly; obedient and true to her command, He was trustworthy and honest beyond His years.
In the temple the Boy saw the services which suddenly became clear to Him. He was the lamb, His was the blood, to Him the service pointed. Filled with the glory of it all, and longing to know more of the wonderful plan of atonement, He lingered, “tarried behind in Jerusalem.” So taken up with all that He saw was He that when the feast was over and the caravans left the city, He did not notice. Had He thought, He would have known that His parents would start at such a time, and that they were depending upon Him to be there, but His “Father’s business” called to Him stronger than any earthly call, and He heeded the heavenly bidding.
Mary trusted her Boy. She knew that He obeyed her always. Never had He refused to obey. When the caravan started on its homeward journey, she was confident that Jesus was in the company, and therefore did not look for Him. This is evident from the fact that when He was missed, they “sought for Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.” Failing to find Him where they supposed He would be, they hastened back to the city.
Between mother and Son there was the utmost confidence; He was an obedient Son, and she was a trusting mother. With her it was but natural that the sturdy Boy should care for Himself — was He not one among the men now, a son of the law? She could not fully realize that this change in His life meant more to Him than to other boys of twelve. He Himself did not appreciate all that it meant — He could not; but His Father’s business took from Him all sense of earthly obligation. Not conscious of the unusual conditions, Mary expected Jesus to follow His usual course. Overawed and filled with His newly revealed life-mission, Jesus was unconscious of human ties. She was not careless or unmindful of her responsibility; He was not lacking in respect and judgment.
O, that every mother to-day were thus training her children to trustworthiness and implicit obedience! Then might the mothers go upon the journey of life unhampered by the burden of the care of children who should be independent and strong and true. Then would the sons and daughters be ready to hear and obey the call to be about the Father’s business.
H.
The Restoration of the Sabbath
1. What, according to prophecy, was Christ to do?
“Behold My servant, . . . . He will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Isa. 42:1, 21.
2. What did Christ say in fulfilment of this prophecy?
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matt. 5:17, 18.
3. Were the scribes and Pharisees magnifying the law and making it honorable, as thus indicated by Christ?
“Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of God.” Matt. 5:20.
NOTE.— Christ magnified the law by showing that it reaches the thought and intent of the heart; outward conformity is not enough; hate is murder and transgression of the sixth commandment; to think dishonorably of woman is adultery and infraction of the seventh command of the Decalogue. The law is honored only when we obey from the heart fully. Matt. 5:21-28.
4. What question did the Pharisees ask Christ?
“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” Matt. 12:9.
5. What was the answer?
“What man . . . that shall have one sheep . . . fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful [in harmony with the law] to do well on the Sabbath days.” Verses 11, 12.
NOTE.— Notwithstanding the fact that they would save a sheep on the Sabbath day rather than lose the value represented, the Pharisees were angered with Christ for healing on the Sabbath the man with a withered hand.
6. What did they do after this?
“Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against Him, how they might destroy Him.” Matt. 12:14. Thus by teaching true Sabbath-keeping Christ was judged worthy of death.
7. What is the follower of God admonished to do?
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Isa. 58:1.
8. In what is their sin or transgression as indicated in this chapter of Isaiah?
“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, . . . and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable.” Verse 13. To “turn away the foot,” is to cease to trample it under foot; to call it a delight, the holy of the Lord, is not to call it “Jewish.”
9. What will God call all those who do this?
“Thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” Verse 12.
10. What great warning is due in the last days?
“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, . . . the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. . . . Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:9-12. The next event to follow this is the coming of Christ and the end of the world. Verses 14-16.
11. What threatens these commandment-keepers?
“And the dragon [devil or Satan. Rev. 12:9] was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God.” Rev. 12:17.
12. What is the final outcome of this struggle?
“And I saw as it were a sea of glass, . . . and them that had gotten the victory over the beast . . . stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” Rev. 15:2.
13. Will the Sabbath then be restored and obeyed?
“And it shall come to pass, that . . . from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66:23.
NOTE.— The restoration of Eden will be the restoration of the Sabbath; for only commandment-keepers shall partake of the Tree of Life in Eden. Rev. 22:14.
Christ’s Yoke for Spiritual Work
By R.
CHRIST says, “Take My yoke upon you.” Just as the yoke is the means by which the strength of the ox is applied to the drawing of a mighty load, so Christ offers the means of doing the work of the spiritual life. The child tugs at the heavy stone with its fingers without disturbing it or accomplishing anything but the irritation of flesh and nerves. Then comes the man of knowledge with his lever and fulcrum and moves the stone as he may desire. Now, we are children without strength or knowledge to deal with spiritual things. Christ comes with the lever and the fulcrum. He will move for us the heavy loads. Heed His words: “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me.”
R.
Keep Thy Heart
“KEEP thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
The Contagion of Sin
By H.
THE presence of sin in the life stains and taints all the surroundings. Whatever the pretensions of the life, whatever the ceremonies observed, whatever the efforts to hide the faults, the sin is manifest in barrenness of good results or in positive evil. For sin spreads. Like disease, it is transmitted to others by association and contact. Like disease, it is contagious.
With sin in the life, there is no hope of bringing good to another. The prophet Haggai expresses the thought in a characteristic way: “If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy?” Will the presence of the law, the truth, the Gospel, avail while sin remains? “The priests answered and said, No.”
Instead of bringing holiness, sin brings uncleanness always, even tho it bears a holy burden. Said Haggai, “If one that is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean,” Hag. 2: 12, 13. The “holy flesh” in the skirt can not make bread holy; contact even with righteousness is not assurance of holiness. But contact with sin brings uncleanness. Like the touch of the loathsome leper is the finger of sin to man.
But there is a healing touch. There is One who can and will heal, One who is ready to put forth His hand and touch the kneeling sinner with a cleansing power that removes every taint of sin. He it was who promised repentant Israel in Haggai’s day, “From this day I will bless you.” Still that promise holds good. Even yet when the sinner pleads for cleansing, the Master says, “I will: be thou made clean.” H.
Speculative Philosophy
By R.
THERE are a great many problems in this world altogether too big for the unaided mind of man. Like a boy who tries with his small strength to move a mighty rock, man consumes a great deal of energy wrestling with the ponderous problem, only to leave the thing pretty much as it was before.
Through the ages there have been a good many teachers who have tried to explain everything in the wide universe, seen and unseen, by their systems of philosophy. A wider knowledge has shown us how weak and foolish are these intended explanations, and that they muddle, more than they clear, the great mysteries confronting us.
The universe is a big affair, and man’s philosophies are insignificantly small. You can not put a barrel of rain-water into a thimble. The toad that lived in the bottom of a well could not comprehend the immensity of the ocean. And Byron tells of a man that— “Was also certain that the earth was square Because he had journeyed fifty miles, and found No sign that it was circular anywhere.”
No man of himself is able to take a comprehensive view of the vast ocean of truth, and some things he overlooks may throw all his seeming wisdom into foolishness. Shakespeare refers to this frailty of man when he causes one of his characters to say: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
A landsman can not manage a full-rigged ship. There are a thousand things about the craft of whose use and control he is utterly ignorant. And when it comes to the matter of this unmeasured universe, no man of himself has ever yet mastered the foundation principles, or even discovered the starting-point.
Nevertheless many men have made attempts. As a result we have many different forms of speculative philosophy.
About seven of these deal with the sensible, or material world, rather than with the supersensible, or idealistic. These seven accept only what appeals to the senses. Anything outside of this they call incredible and consider as purely imaginary, unknown, or unknowable. These seven forms have been called, according to their teachings, by the names of materialism, sensualism, externalism, utilitarianism, positivism, secularism, and agnosticism.
But there are thinkers and teachers who are not at all satisfied with these. They believe in going to the opposite extreme. They magnify the importance of the supersensible or seek more or less to discredit the material, or sensible. And under this form of thought come mysticism, asceticism, Spiritualism, and superstition.
Thus you see that there are those who, according to the first division, think that only the material, sensible things of the world are to be depended upon, and that by these alone can the mysteries of the world be explained.
At the same time there are others who, as indicated under the second division, believe that only the really true and dependable things are, after all, the things we can not see or touch or hear.
Between these two extremes men have been vibrating in their opinions for ages. Human thinking has been seeking to occupy “both sides of the road at once with a scared look on its face, like a tyro on a bicycle,” wondering if it will ever be able to find the middle of the road and stay there, or instead be wrecked by a mad leap into the ditch.
For example, there have been times when it seemed that the whole world of human thought would be swung into the abyss of materialism.
And again there have come times when human thought, as at the present day, has swung away from materialistic lines to those which were spiritualistic or mystical or superstitious.
As human thought through the years has thus staggered on like a drunken man, swinging from one side of the road to the other, there have been those who have longed for some teacher to come from somewhere who could plow a straight furrow through the field of the universe.
Many a one has tried his hand at the plow; but, looked back upon, the furrow is surely crooked enough to show how weak and purely human was the driving.9
Is there any hope then for the world? Is there one who can plow a straight furrow? Is there one who can truly illuminate the dark problems of the world? Is there one who can show us what really is right where there is so much that is wrong and confusing?
Yes.
The teachings of Jesus Christ have marked a plain, straight furrow for human thought. In His teachings are to be found the explanations that truly explain. In His messages to us and in His life for us we see, as in a clear light, how to distinguish the right from the wrong.
No one is better than another if he does not re-echo the teachings of Christ. All human speculation is at the last unprofitable. Speculative philosophy leads away from great and essential truths while it teaches some truth intermingled with error. Poisoned truth like poisoned food is always more deceptive than poison alone. The human race has had more than enough of that knowledge that the Scriptures call “the knowledge of good and evil.”
Let us follow rather the teachings of this Christ who cuts a straight line between the natural and the spiritual, following neither materialism nor spiritualism, but giving us the true philosophy of matter and spirit.
Let us learn from Him the interrelations of the sensible and the supersensible, of the material and the spiritual, and we shall not be led to put too much confidence in this present world or this present time; neither will we be led into the wild vagaries of speculating on things unseen and even unknown.
It matters little with the evil one how a man becomes confused. It matters not with him to which side of the road human thought may stagger; he desires, however, that it shall stagger and stagger badly, until it falls in a heap on the one side or the other of the King’s highway.
If human thought, in its drunken wandering, shall stagger out of the way to be dashed to its death into the abyss of materialism, it is well with his satanic desires, for it is the death of human thought that he desires, and the means is non-essential.
If, on the other hand, human thought shall stagger in the opposite direction to be drowned in the black waters of mysticism and spiritualism, it is just the same, for drowning is as sure death as a broken neck.
There were times when the world of thought was staggering toward the abyss of materialism. But to-day it is headed for the black pool of spiritualistic mysticism.
Even many professed Christians are headed in this same direction. They are allowing the old landmarks to be taken away. They are cherishing ideas of God which tend to rob Him of personality and character, and remove from their hearts a grateful love for His care and guidance.
They are accepting ideas of man and his condition that remove any necessity for a redeemer or saviour and that therefore make the life Christ lived to be as a vain and idle mockery.
They are adopting views of the world and its operations that tend to degrade the Creator and to break down all distinctions between the works of nature and the operations of the Spirit. And all this, followed to its logical end, will make sin to appear as merely one phase or stage of righteousness, and the work of character-building will seem merely a process of development or evolution from a lower to an increasingly higher.
R.
The Charge Against Jesus
THE true charge which the enemies of Jesus brought against Him revealed the selfishness of their own hearts, and was to His highest honor. That charge was, “This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.”
He did receive them.
As charged again, “He was a friend of publicans and sinners.”
He is to-day. As of old time, He will come to be a “guest with a man that is a sinner” if the heart is opened to receive Him and the invitation is given. Nay, more, He comes and knocks at the door of the sinner’s heart, and asks for admission.
Let Him in, sinner. He comes to bless. “What a friend we have in Jesus!” Tho all others forsake us, He will seek us out, and save us.
The charge which His enemies made against Him is to His everlasting honor—“This Man receiveth sinners.”
Sincerity
The apostle Paul earnestly desired that God’s children should be “sincere and void of offense unto the day of Christ.” Phil. 1:10.
“Sincere” comes from the Latin sine, without, and cera, wax, and means literally “without wax.” The Greek word means to judge by the sun’s rays, that which the sun shining through shows to be pure.
God would have a people with no foreign element in them, no selfishness or sin to corrupt, pervert, or disintegrate character. That is evident from the next clause of our text, “being filled with the fruits of righteousness.” “All unrighteousness is sin.” If one is filled with the fruits of righteousness, there is no room for sin in him; it is not a component part of his building of character. His heart is not divided. The evil is sifted out.
There is a thought in the Latin word, sine cera, “without wax.” Wax is easily molded. It takes the impression of the last thing with which it comes in contact. God would not have a wax people, one molded by environment, shaped by worldly method, opinion, expediency, or policy. His description of Christians is “living stones, builded upon Christ Jesus, and joined to Him in life connection. It is worth while to know whether we are wax to be molded by every change of environment, or to be influenced alone by the growing, expanding Christ-life within.
A Better Rendering
WE heard recently a responsive reading of Ex. 15:1-19 in a Sabbath-school. The version used was the common one, as most of the people taking part possessed only the King James, but we could not help feeling that that congregation lost out. The American Standard Revised is so much fuller in expression. Moses’ song is not in praise of some lord. Egypt had lords many, and gods many; Moses was exalting the true God whose name is “Jehovah.” Take for instance verse 3: “The LORD” is not His name, even tho we write it in small capitals, but “Jehovah” is His name, the great ever-present God, in contradistinction to all earthly powers.
“Who is like unto Thee, [not “O Lord,” but]
O Jehovah, among the gods?
Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever.”
How much better is another reading in verse 9, “my desire” in the American Version rather than “my lust” as in the Authorized Version. And this is a sample of many other instances.
Finding Fault
By H.
It is easy to find fault. The man with no ear whatever for music feels himself capable of criticizing the finished musician. The one with the least education or most faltering speech often takes upon himself the responsibility of displaying the faults of the eloquent, soul-burdened minister of the Gospel. The silly son or daughter of hard-working parents who have given their lives to labor for their children, thinks it a duty to correct the mistakes of father or mother.
O the shame of it! What is the profit? Until he can do better or give helpful counsel in the proper way, surely no one has the right to find fault with another. And when he comes to the place where he can do better, he will know better than to roughly criticize. What is a false note, a slip of the tongue, a little breach of etiquette, when compared with a useful life of service? The wonder is that failing, faulty man should dare find fault with another. H.
Items Concerning Tuberculosis
THE Press Service of the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis declares that consumption among Japanese laborers is increasing to such a degree that figures are becoming a source of anxiety to Japanese merchants and officials. A large percentage of laborers who are sent back to Japan by the Japanese Charity Association are consumptives. The claim is that there is a lack of hospital accommodations in the Japanese labor camps.
In the United States there are 298 sanatoria, 222 dispensaries, 290 associations for the treatment or prevention of tuberculosis, while there are 600,000 cases of this disease in the country.
The United States Conservation Commission estimates that this country loses annually one billion dollars from preventable tuberculosis.
The special attention given to tuberculosis the last few years demonstrates clearly that consumption can be permanently cured. In some cases as high as seventy-five per cent have continued, four years after treatment, to improve and have returned to their regular occupations.
An awful condition exists in Edinburgh, Scotland, among the children. One physician recently stated that out of one thousand city children three years of age examined by him, 647 had tuberculosis in some form.
It is stated that owing to the studious habits and lack of proper physical exercise, Chinese students in this country and in the home land are especially liable to tuberculosis.
One little item declares that “consumption is caused by the poisonous germs in the consumptive’s spit. The poisonous spit dries and goes as dust into other people’s lungs. A little poisonous spit when scattered in dust is enough to infect dozens of people. That is why careless spitting is not only dirty, but dangerous.”
President Taft on Religious Liberty
By Editor
PRESIDENT TAFT was the chief guest at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Norwich, Conn., July 5. Among other things he touched upon was religious liberty. The Associated Press report says that he pleaded that “every man should be allowed to worship God in his own way.” He truly declared that “the American forefathers came to this country ostensibly to escape religious intolerance, but as a matter of fact in order that they might follow out their own religious ideas in their own way and with a marked degree of intolerance toward any other belief.” He continued: “We have passed beyond that now and are coming more and more to realize the right of the individual to worship God as he may choose.” We wish that the President were right. As a matter of fact we are coming more and more in religious circles, as manifest through the American Federation of Churches and other forms of union and confederation, to ignore the right of the individual and to subject individual conscience to the combination. The attempt to carry this out is also manifest in the increasing demand for religious legislation. The great eternal fact ought to be kept before the American people that there is not a single sect or combination of sects or churches or denominations or religious bodies of any sort whatsoever on the face of the earth that is good enough to legislate for a single soul. Conscience toward God is above all human tribunals. Of course the sensible reader will understand that this does not have to do with matters where fanaticism may lead to the infraction of the equal rights of others. We refer to the field of conscience which pertains to a man's duty to his God.
A Court of Equal Justice
According to a cablegram from London to the Chicago Tribune, it is said that a wealthy member of American society has made himself very unpopular in London because of his sins which have resulted in the suicide of a woman. But an Englishman indicates that this is not because of greater horror of sinfulness on the part of the English people. He remarks: “English ideas are peculiar. It is possible to do indescribable things and yet find toleration. For instance, everybody knows of a certain member of society who keeps a regular Turkish harem not a hundred yards from Oxford Street and that he imported it from the East after traveling there, yet nobody cuts him. From the point of view of morality he is perhaps more blamable than the millionaire we were speaking of, yet nevertheless the latter is considered beyond the pale.” All these things would discourage the man who loves justice and equity did he not know that there lies before us a court at which all things will be equally balanced and every one shall receive his just reward with no partiality.
Aeroplanes to Order.—
Sunday, May 27, the New York papers contain for the first time advertisements of aeroplanes along with other commodities of life. We are told that they can be furnished to order in forty days. Just previous to this, plans were made for the first air-ship garage in New York City.
