NOTICE.—The change of figures on the address labels will be in all cases a sufficient receipt for money sent for the paper. If these changes do not appear in due time, and if books ordered by mail are not received, please notify us. All other business is acknowledged below.
CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE FUND.—B R Sheckler $13, D E McKee $2, Healdsburg church, per J Ireland, $153.40, J F Trees $5.
FOREIGN MISSION.—John Ohring $25.
CASH RECEIVED ON ACCOUNT.—Healdsburg Sabbath-school, per J Ireland, $27.90.
CALIFORNIA T. AND M. SOCIETY.—Sarah Noble $2, R E Sheckler $1.40, Mrs A C Walden $7.00, F M Price $2, S M McElhaney $7.50, May Buckius 25c, Mrs F J Skelton $1.75, E J Howard $3.50.
ORDERS FORWARDED.
By Editor
BOOKS SENT BY FREIGHT.—H W Reed, C Maynard, B E Noble.
BOOKS SENT BY EXPRESS.—H H Rieck, Wm Wesley Smith, Joseph Dennison.
BOOKS SENT BY MAIL.—Mrs L T Brosser, Mrs F J Skelton, Mrs A Robinson, Mrs E J Howard, Mrs Simons, J G Smith, Eld John Wilson, George R Drew, Eld W C White, Gustav Olson, Chas Kuns, C C Waterman, Mrs O Dart, Jas W Dorcas, Miss Dollie Tucker, E S Griggs.
News and Notes.
By Editor
RELIGIOUS.
—The colored Baptists of Kentucky report 45,000 communicants out of a population of 172,000.
—It is stated that there are negotiations pending for a union of the Waldenses and the Free Church of Italy.
—The Seventh-day Baptists begin this month the publication of a four-page monthly in the Scandinavian language.
—The California Christian Advocate, in its last issue, contained a telegram announcing the death of Bishop Wiley, at Foochoo, China. No particulars were given.
—An English clergyman, Rev. Dr. Jessup, writing in the North American Review, calls religious papers "necessary evils;" the Independent retorts by calling him an "unnecessary evil."
—Before the year 1845 no denomination, either Christian or Jewish, was tolerated in Norway, except the established Lutheran Church. All denominations are now tolerated, but the law forbids any persons who have been confirmed in the State church to leave it before they have attained the age of nineteen years.
—It is said that the Massachusetts State Congregational Sunday-school Convention has resolved to abandon the Old Testament in the Sunday-schools and retain the New Testament. We hope that this is not true; but we do not wonder that they want to change from the International Series. It would be a difficult matter for anybody to devise a poorer series, and the demand for a change is increasing. It is, indeed, the very opposite of a series.
—The pastor of the Baptist Church in Alameda, Cal., has been giving a series of Sunday evening lectures on Spiritualism. The subject of one was, "The False and the True in Spiritualism," which is said to have attracted a full house. The pastor, it is said, "advocates Spiritualism as a science, but condemns it as a religion." We recall the fable of the camel who wished only to put his nose into his master's tent. Our Baptist friend will find that Spiritualism is a dangerous plaything. Better shun it as you would its author—the devil.
—The following from the Church Standard is worth committing to memory: "Let parents beware what they say about the sermon or the preacher before their children, in whose hearts the word of God may be seeking a lodgment. Why pray in the morning for the conversion of sinners, and then, by cold criticism of the sermon, neutralize the very means by which it pleases God to save? Thoughtless comments at the dinner table will do this far more effectually than all the profanity the children hear as they pass the drinking saloons on their way to school."
—Professor Andrew P. Peabody says in the Unitarian Review: "If professed Parsees, Buddhists, or Mohammedans, should ask a place on our list of preachers, room would be made for them at once and pulpits thrown open to them." The good doctor adds: "If men have outgrown all need of Christ and of the sacraments, they ought to quit preaching; they have no rightful place in a Christian church." Still better he says: "No man was ever made better by arguments against the trinity, or the divinity of Christ, or the personality of the Holy Spirit, or the vicarious atonement. The entire motive power of religion lies in its positive beliefs in those few vast truths into which one may grow for a life-time."
Alcohol No Longer Needed
THE editor of the Boston Journal of Chemistry, J. R. Nichols, M. D., an eminent scientific authority, in a recent able article takes the advanced position that alcoholic liquors are no longer needed in medicine or the arts. He takes the ground "that if the natural vinous fermentative process should cease, and the art of distillation become a 'lost art,' not a life would be sacrificed in consequence, not a case of disease would be retarded in the process of cure, not a pain would be aggravated, and not one of the art processes suffer detriment."
Appointments.
OAKLAND.—House of worship, northeast corner of Clay and Thirteenth Streets. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:30 A. M. Preaching at 11 A. M. Prayer and missionary meeting every Tuesday evening at 7:45. Seats free. Preaching every Sunday evening at 7:30.
SAN FRANCISCO.—House of worship, 912 Laguna Street, between McAllister and Tyler Streets. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:45 A. M. Preaching at 11 A. M. Prayer and missionary meeting every Wednesday evening at 7:45. Preaching every Sunday evening at 7:30. Mission Reading-rooms at the church.
Obituary.
By John O. Corliss
Ross.—Died, Nov. 22, 1884, of old age, Sister Sarah Ross, of Forestville, Cal., aged 82 years and 9 months.
Earlier in life a Baptist, Sister Ross, with a portion of her family, embraced present truth in 1870, in Green Valley, under the labors of Elders Loughborough and Bourdeau. She ever gave evidence of sincerity and devotion toward the truth, and in her last hours conversed much about her hope, expressing strong confidence in the triumph of the Third Angel's Message. The writer delivered a funeral discourse from 2 Tim. 4:6, to a very large audience of sympathizing friends. J. O. CORLISS.
International Tract and Missionary Society.
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
The International Tract and Missionary Society was organized Aug. 13, 1874. It has furnished health and religious publications to co-operative missions and individuals in every State and Territory in the United States, and to every civilized nation on the globe. During 1883-84 it placed in free public libraries in this country over 10,000 volumes of standard religious books, at a cost of over $10,000, two-thirds of which was donated by other funds and the publishers. It has also placed valuable books in many libraries in England, Australia, the United States, and supplied reading-rooms with health and religious periodicals.
Free reading and lecture-room, 914 Laguna Street, San Francisco, Cal., from which place all ships are visited which enter that harbor. Andrew Brorsen and H. C. Palmer, city missionaries. C. R. Robbins, ship missionary.
Free reading-room on L Street, near corner of Fifth, East Portland, Oregon.
It has a free reading and lecture-room, 744 Broadway, New York City, where it will keep constantly on hand Health and Temperance publications to furnish co-operating missions and branch offices on the Atlantic Coast and in Europe. Ships visiting this harbor are supplied with reading matter. William J. Boynton, manager and city missionary.
Free reading and lecture-room, 21 Boylston Place, Boston, Mass. J. R. Israel and A. T. Robinson, city missionaries. Ship missionary, C. W. Priest, 191 Atlantic Avenue.
Parlor reading and lecture-rooms at 13 West Huron Street, Buffalo, N. Y., open from 2:30 to 9 P. M. Alex. Gleason, Superintendent.
Parlor reading and lecture-rooms, 52 Crouse Building, Warren Street, Syracuse, N. Y. N. J. Walsworth, resident manager.
Free reading-room at 219 West Madison Street, Chicago; Room 2, second floor. Eld. Geo. B. Starr and James Sawyer, managers.
Mission and free reading-room at 2339 Chestnut Street, St. Louis, Mo., N. W. Allen, Superintendent.
Free reading-room and book depository, 14 Indiana Avenue, Indianapolis, Ind. W. A. Young, Superintendent.
The ship work at Liverpool, England, is under the charge of Geo. R. Drew, 32 Grange Road, Birkenhead, Cheshire; J. H. Durland, Southampton. Tract and book depository, 72 Heneage Street, Great Grimsby, Eng., in charge of Miss Jennie Thayer.
Branch societies are being organized in all parts of the United States and Europe. The New York State branch has its offices and depository at Rome, N. Y. E. W. Whitney, President; Miss May Taylor, Secretary.
At the above-mentioned places the public are cordially invited. The society is sustained by the liberalities of friends of missions. Donations by draft or otherwise will be thankfully received and gratefully acknowledged by any of the above-mentioned agents, or Miss M. L. Huntley, Secretary, South Lancaster, Mass., U. S. A.
S. N. HASKELL, President.
A MINE OF INFORMATION.
By John Nevins Andrews
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH AND FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK.
By Eld. J. N. Andrews.
The Bible record of the Sabbath; the secular history concerning it; the successive steps by which the change to the first day was made, and the work of restoration, are given in detail.
EVERY TEXT OF SCRIPTURE concerning the Sabbath is commented on at length; and the COMPLETE TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS in regard to the Sabbath and first day is given. The comparative merits of the seventh and the first-day Sabbaths are fully shown. A copious index enables the reader to find any text, or the statement of any historian.
Should be read by everybody. 528 pp. Price, $1.25.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE SPIRIT OF GOD: ITS OFFICES AND MANIFESTATIONS TO THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN AGE.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.
This is a brief but comprehensive argument on the solemn and important subject of the Spirit of God. Its chapters embrace the following heads: The Holy Spirit of Promise; The Power from on High; Circumcision of the Heart; The Unity of the Faith; The Law and the Testimony; Try the Spirits; The Great Commission; Gifts in the Reformation; In the Present Century; Spirit of Prophecy Restored. These are subjects of vital importance to all and especially to those who are looking for the return of their Lord.
144 pp. Price, 15 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE SEVENTH PART OF TIME.
By W. H. Littlejohn
By W. H. Littlejohn.
This is a refutation of the theory that God sanctified simply a seventh part of time as the Sabbath, without fixing that time to any definite day. The necessity of a
UNIFORM DAY OF REST,
Is admitted by nearly all, and is advocated in this book. The author also shows that the Creator understood and anticipated this necessity, and proves by five different processes of reasoning that the seventh or last day of the week, and no other, was in the beginning, and is now, the Sabbath of the Lord.
32 pp. Price, 4 cents; liberal discount by the hundred.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE NATURE AND TENDENCY OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.
THIS is a thorough expose of the system of Spiritualism. The author has carefully studied the subject, and has given such copious extracts from a large library of Spiritualist publications, as to fully condemn them in their teachings and in their practices, by their own testimony.
It is also shown from the prophetic scriptures that Spiritualism is one of the most impressive signs of the times.
134 pp. Price, 20 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS VOLUME ONE.
By Editor
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THE readers of the Signs need no introduction to the writings of Mrs. White. The article on the first page of each paper, from her pen, is always eagerly read; and those who read it need no guarantee that her writings are elevating in their nature and marked by a high moral tone. This book has long been out of print, and is now republished, as much that it contains has never appeared in any other work. It is a brief but vivid sketch of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, from the rebellion in Heaven to the establishment of Christ's Kingdom. The book is well adapted for extensive circulation, as it contains a great amount of important matter in a small space. Much of the matter is of special interest to the church at the present time. In paper covers. 154 pp. Price, 25 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THIS volume contains the earliest writings of Mrs. White, first printed in 1851. It contains an account of her early religious experience, and a brief account of the wonderful dealings of God with her. Apart from its intrinsic value, it will be of interest as showing the harmony between the earliest writings of the Seventh-day Adventists and those published at a later date. Its publication is very timely. In paper covers, with Supplement, 25 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
Holding Saloon-Keepers Accountable
The verdict against the Cincinnati saloon-keeper, who sold liquor to a confirmed inebriate, is in the interest of justice and good morals. The Adair law, under which the widow of a drunkard may sue the saloon-keeper who sold liquor to her husband after she had warned him to desist, would work a needed reform if it were adopted in other States. In this case the widow secured $5.000 damages. Nearly every one, in his personal experience, has known such cases—men who had lost all power of self-control, and who were only kept sober by a compact among liquor-dealers not to sell them drink. If such an arrangement can be enforced by law, so much the better for the family of the inebriate.
The Danger of Even Little Drink
Remember that those who are drunkards did not intend to become so; they only thought of drinking just a little; but the little kept increasing, and the love of drink kept growing stronger, until the eyes grew red, the face bloated, and the step unsteady; until the one who might have been a blessing to the world, and a help to those around him, became a loathsome object, and a terror to his friends. It is not safe to take even a little strong drink, because the love of it soon becomes a strong and cruel master.
Alcohol as a Cause of Accidents
H. M. Lewis, M. D., in New York Medical Times, says: "The principal predisposing cause of accidents, such as are treated in hospitals, is alcoholic intoxication, and if this predisposing cause could be banished, the wants of the sick poor could be as well supplied as now, with one-half the present hospital force."
A Physician's Verdict on Tobacco.
FEW, even of inveterate adult smokers, will commend the weed to young men. However much they may justify the use of tobacco in their own case, they are yet clear-headed enough and reasonable enough not to encourage boys to form a habit which they know to be expensive, useless, and disagreeable to many, while it may prove positively injurious to brain and health. Dr. Pope, a professor of hygiene, and lecturer on the special staff of the Health Society, London, lifts an energetic warning voice against allowing boys to use tobacco at all. He describes the oil which is distilled from the tobacco leaf in smoking as of "an acrid and most poisonous nature, producing a sensation of burning in the mouth, and paralyzing particularly the spinal cord and motor nerves, while the nicotine—another oil, but volatile—affects more directly the heart through the brain itself." And after telling how the use of tobacco is likely to derange in the most serious way the digestive organs, he adds:—
"There is this undoubted fact also—nothing can be more pernicious for boys and growing youths than the use of tobacco in any of its forms. There can be no hesitation about this matter; it points directly to physical degeneration, and is probably the greatest source of physical evil that the next generation will have to lament. Boys, it is indeed a deadly poison to you! It stunts your growth; it destroys your stomach, which should be organizing your food into flesh and blood; it blunts your brains, which should be brilliant and active, and it threatens your very manhood."
Such testimony as this from one of the highest medical authorities ought to be heeded by every parent and guardian of the young. The cigarette, especially, is both a nuisance and a curse—a nuisance to many delicate people, into whose unwilling nostrils the reckless urchin puffs its poisonous fumes, and a curse to the urchin himself in many ways. It is time we all should join in creating a public sentiment strong enough to stamp this infantile vice out of existence. It could not survive a week if grown-up people would only frown on it as it deserves.—Christian at Work.
A Valuable Book.
SUCH indeed is the book before us, "Synopsis of Present Truth." It is the outgrowth of a series of lectures given at Biblical Institutes in various parts of the country, by the author, Elder Uriah Smith. It is just what its name indicates, as the following list of chapters will show:—
"Great Image of Daniel 2—Vision of Daniel 7—Vision of Daniel 8—The 70 Weeks and 2300 Days—The Sanctuary—Three Messages of Revelation 14—Revelation 12 and 13—The Sabbath—Theory of Akers, etc.—Sabbath and Sunday—Nature and Destiny of Man—State of the Dead—Seven Last Plagues—Millennium—Matthew 24—The Seven Churches—The Seven Seals—The Seven Trumpets—The Signs of the Times—Spiritualism—Second Advent—The Two Laws—The First-day Sabbath—Baptism—Gifts of the Spirit—Predestination—The 144,000—Ministration of Angels—The Saints' Inheritance."
Those who wish a clear and concise statement of the principal doctrines held by Seventh-day Adventists, will find it here. The book is of no less value to Seventh-day Adventists themselves, as they can turn at once to any point of faith on which they may wish to refresh their minds. The questions which are printed at the bottom of each page will aid the student to fix the facts more clearly in his mind, as he goes along. No one should be without a copy of this book.
For sale at the office of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal., also at Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich. Price, post-paid, $1.00.
The Moral Law of Eternal Obligation.
By Editor
FROM Elder Smith's "Synopsis of the Present Truth," a notice of which appears on this page, we copy the following paragraphs, showing the eternity and immutability of God's moral law—the ten commandments:—
"The laws against murder, adultery, theft, blasphemy, and idolatry, have been referred to, as necessary in, and common to, both dispensations. Let us inquire into the origin of these principles. God, as our creator, has a right to rule us. We, as his creatures, are under obligation to obey. There must be some law regulating this relation, and defining our duties. But man was not to be alone in the world. The earth was to be filled with inhabitants. All men would be under obligation to their fellow-men; and there must be some law regulating this relation also, and the duties growing out of it. Thus in two directions man was placed under obligation in the beginning; and these duties to God and to his fellow-men existed in the very nature of things; they began with man's being,—a necessary concomitant of creation itself. [NOTE.—When the author says that these laws began with man's being, the reader must understand that he is speaking only of them as related to man; they were in existence before the creation, and therefore of necessity began to be in force upon man as soon as he had a being, and not some time afterward.—Ed. SIGNS.] And these laws must endure as long as these relations continue; and until the relations change, the laws governing them can never change.
"All this, remember, before ever man had sinned. And if he had never sinned, these laws would have existed just the same. They would have gone with him, not only till he was confirmed in holiness and happiness, but through all eternity. And they would have been the only laws to which he was subject. Now, when man fell into sin, how did it affect his amenability to these laws? It did not affect it in the least, as it did not release him from any obligation to God or to his fellow-men.
"Here, then, we have well-defined laws, occupying a specific field of their own, and regulating a distinct class of duties; laws which existed prior to the fall, independently of the fall, and which were not affected by the fall. These may be justly termed original or primary laws, which were, in the very nature of the case, immutable and eternal."
It may not be out of place to state that Seventh-day Adventists are not alone in regarding the principles here laid down as essential points of faith—the foundation not only of the gospel, but of God's moral government. Those who have read the works of the founders of the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist denominations, will not need to be told this. We have given extracts from these writings in the past, and shall favor our readers with still others.
A Good Stand.
By Editor
WE have had occasion several times to make severe strictures on the California Christian Advocate, and we are therefore the more pleased to note the good stand it has taken concerning the frivolous sociables which are disgracing the church. In its last issue it says:—
“WE have noticed a painful tendency to make long programmes for church sociables, which sometimes utterly prevent any sociability, and often include performances of very doubtful propriety for anybody, much more for Christians. We have unalterably resolved not to publish, recommend, nor praise any such performance. We consider voting gifts to the prettiest young lady and the handsomest gentleman as frivolous and ungenteel, and all lotteries as immoral, and mere silliness as demoralizing, and in the name of Christ, we protest against them. We have long contemplated making such a statement as this.
“No modest or cultured lady could find herself the victim of a foolish contest, and be auctioned off as the prettiest woman in the crowd, without a sense of the deepest humiliation and disgust, and no gentleman can wish to be a party to a pitiful device of the kind. We shall not advertise such things. If this resolution brings on the Advocate adverse criticism, well! We cannot be a party to frivolity and immorality to please anybody.”
THE GREAT CONTROVERSY. IN FOUR VOLUMES.
By MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THESE volumes describe the great conflict between Christ and Satan, as illustrated in the history of man, his temptations, conflicts, victories and defeats, and the final triumph of right and truth with a crowning immortality.
Volume one treats of the rebellion of Satan, the fall of man, and the lives of the patriarchs to the time of Solomon.
Volumes two and three are devoted to the Life of Christ and the Ministry of his Apostles.
Volume four contains sketches of the history of the Church from the destruction of Jerusalem to the close of time.
These books are not argumentative, yet they throw much light on the sacred page. They afford especial encouragement to the Christian, and are excellent to place in the hands of skeptics to convince them of Bible truth.
The four volumes contain over 1,500 pages, and are furnished to the subscriber for $4.00 per set.
Either volume may be furnished separately for $1.00, post-paid.
PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.
REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich.
This work shows the nature of the mistake made in expecting the Lord to come in 1844, which was not an error of time computation, but in the nature of the event to take place, namely, the cleansing of the Sanctuary. The work sheds a flood of light on the Scriptures, especially on the subject of the Atonement.
352 pp. Price, cloth, $1.00. Address,
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE ATONEMENT:
By Eld. J. H. Waggoner
AN EXAMINATION OF A REMEDIAL SYSTEM, IN THE LIGHT OF NATURE AND OF REVELATION.
By Eld. J. H. Waggoner.
THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED.
This work is a critical and exhaustive treatise on the plan of salvation as revealed in the Scriptures, showing its harmony with the principles of justice and mercy, its consistency with reason, and its final results as affecting the destiny of the human race.
368 pp.; cloth, $1.00. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. Or, REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich.
BIBLE SANCTIFICATION:
A CONTRAST OF
TRUE AND FALSE THEORIES.
By MRS. E. G. WHITE.
This is a pamphlet of only 84 pages, but its value is not to be judged by its size. It is just what its title indicates: a faithful presentation of Bible truth on this important subject, and an exposure of the false theories prevailing in regard to it. Every believer in Bible truth should read it. Buy it, read it, and lend it to your neighbor. Price, 10 cents.
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
By Editor
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, AT OAKLAND, CAL., FOR THE
International Tract and Missionary Society.
A sixteen-page Religious Family Paper, devoted to a discussion of the Prophecies, Signs of the Times, Second Coming of Christ, Harmony of the Law and Gospel: with Departments devoted to Temperance, The Home Circle, the Missionary Work, and the Sabbath-school.
Price Per Year, . . . . . . $2.00
In Clubs of five or more copies to one address, to be used in Missionary Work, . . . . . . 1.50
Address SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
The Signs of the Times.
By Editor
OAKLAND, CAL., FIFTH-DAY, DECEMBER 4, 1884.
WE give this week the remainder of the acts of the General Conference. Those present report it as being the most interesting and important session ever held. As we contemplate the advance steps taken, and the vast field that will be receiving the Third Angel's Message within the next six months, we feel that it cannot be very long before "this gospel of the kingdom" shall have been preached, "in all the world for a witness unto all nations." When that is accomplished, we have our Saviour's assurance that "then shall the end come." This is a solemn thought, and yet it should cause all lovers of the Lord to rejoice, knowing that the time of their redemption is near.
Anti-Advent Literature
By Editor
The Baptist Flag says:—
"Brother ———, of ———, has a large quantity of anti-advent literature. Let those who are annoyed with advents, write to him. 4-page pamphlets, closely printed, 1 cent each. You will be greatly helped by them; they will quietly do the work for you."
An "advent" means a "coming;" those who are "annoyed with advents," are probably those who are troubled by too frequent callers; and the good brother's "anti-advent literature" is simply, in plain language, a specific against bores. He doubtless gives one of his tracts to a caller, who, after reading it, never dares come again. Good idea. We have, however, certain books in our library which we think would answer the same purpose, so we will not invest.
Great Controversy, Volume IV
By Editor
THE first edition—7,000 copies—of that most interesting and instructive book, "Great Controversy," Vol. IV., is exhausted, and a second edition of 3,000 copies is now being printed. The prospects are, from the unfilled orders now on hand, that this edition will be exhausted almost as soon as issued. We are not at all surprised at the demand for this book. Aside from the fact that many had been long and anxiously waiting for its appearance, there are sufficient reasons why it should have met with a rapid sale. The subjects upon which it treats, and the direct and forcible manner in which they are handled, are calculated to hold the attention of believer and unbeliever alike. He who can read this book and not be incited to greater diligence and higher attainments in the Christian life, is in a pitiable condition indeed. We hope it may pass through many more editions.