The ministerial institute, which closed here yesterday, was the ninth institute of this character held for Seventh-day Adventist workers during the last few months. Beginning with the meeting at Knoxville, Tenn., institutes have been conducted at Philadelphia, Pa.; Battle Creek, Mich.; Walla Walla, Wash.; London, England; College View, Nebr.; Keene, Tex.; Didsbury, Alberta, Canada; and Los Angeles, Cal.
At these gatherings nearly all the conference workers in the United States and Great Britain have come together. The general testimony of these workers at every institute has been that God has greatly blessed the gathering to their good. Many have obtained a new experience in divine things, a new power has entered into their work; and we are confident that the ministry of the word in this denomination will be attended in coming days with much more of the power of God and demonstration of his Holy Spirit.
The meeting at Los Angeles proved a fitting finale to these gatherings. The instruction was of the same character as at the other institutes. While the same lines of thought were presented, and by the same speakers, the truth was given with that freshness and power which made it a new revelation to both speaker and hearer.
Attending this meeting were a larger number than usual of aged and leading workers. Elders G. A. Irwin, J. N. Loughborough, J. O. Corliss, W. C. White, M. C. Wilcox, W. M. Healey, E. E. Andross, E. W. Farnsworth, and H. W. Cottrell, in addition to several members of the General Conference Committee, were in attendance. We requested several of these brethren to state to the readers of the REVIEW their estimate of the value of this institute to our ministry and work on the Pacific Coast.
We present herewith their statements:—
A New Order of Things
This feast of good things is now past, and its record is in the books of heaven; but its results in the earth are yet to be seen. One thing, however, is certain: from all appearances it was a most timely appointment. Two hundred or more workers of all classes—the entire force of the Pacific Union Conference laborers—were in attendance, and a more attentive class of students would be hard to find.
The instruction was on preparation for efficient service, and the instructors treated their subjects thoroughly and with great earnestness. From the first, it was evident that the Lord would do a good and permanent work for those who would yield all to him. In the social meetings, the unanimous testimony was that through one fault and another, individual results from labor had been disappointing, and that a “new order of things” must come into future efforts for souls.
In some cases, confessions, accompanied with many tears, were made. These were solemn occasions, not soon to be forgotten, and there is good reason to believe that the work went deep in such cases. Those attending these eight days of study and prayer are justified in looking for better days and for greater results in ministerial labor than ever before within the bounds of the Pacific Union Conference, because all were led to believe that the Holy Spirit only awaits our “demand and reception.” Personally, the writer esteems it a great privilege to have been present, and shall pray for the permanency of the work done at this good institute.
J. O. Corliss.
A Revival of Missionary Zeal
The ministerial institute for the Pacific Union Conference is now in the past, but its influence will live on in the experience of all who had the privilege of attending it. Among the many signs of the approaching end that are to be seen on every hand, the spiritual awakening now taking place among our laborers is surely not the least.
From the beginning of the institute, it was manifest that God was present by his Spirit to impress the important truths presented in the daily studies on the hearts of all in attendance. This reached a climax on the last day of the institute, when the entire time from 8:30 A. M. to 1 P. M. was spent in thorough, heart-searching work, which must mean much for the advancement of the cause of truth in this field till the work is finished.
With the coming of this mighty awakening, this “new order of things” among the workers, there must come a revival of the old-time missionary spirit that will wipe away the reproach of slothfulness and indolence from the church and prepare the way for the gracious manifestation of the Spirit of the Lord and the revelation of divine power. The time has surely come for us to see the providential working of the Lord of hosts, for the shining forth of truth in clear, strong rays. Surely the Lord is with us, and is preparing the way for the mighty working of heavenly agencies through human instrumentalities that are wholly surrendered to him. The cloud is truly rising, and Israel’s host is preparing to move forward into the promised land.
E. E. Andross.
An Uplift to the Church
For many months the testimony stating the need of “a reconversion of the ministers and laborers” in the cause of the third angel’s message, has been before us. When it was decided to hold this institute, much anxiety was felt that all should be accomplished by it which the Lord designed. Having read of the excellent institutes held in other places, fervent petitions were offered that this institute might be indeed a spiritual uplift in our work in the Pacific Union Conference.
As the institute is now closed, I am happy to say the Lord has greatly blessed the daily instruction on the ministry and the need of the Spirit of God to do real service in his cause. The instruction given by Sister E. G. White and by Brethren A. G. Daniells and G. B. Thompson and by our home laborers has been earnest because accompanied by the Spirit of the Lord. It has resulted in confession of hindrances to efficient work, and in such consecration to God as will, when carried out in the future labors of the ministry, be an uplift to the church, and lead to an ingathering of souls for the kingdom. As the workers return to their fields of labor, relying upon the power of the Lord to make their labors more efficient, we hope to see new life in the work of the third angel’s message in the Pacific Union Conference. That this may be so let us earnestly pray.
J. N. Loughborough.
A Forward Movement
It was my privilege to attend only a part of the institute that just closed in Los Angeles. I have been much pleased with the broad and liberal spirit manifested in the teaching of the instructors and workers in this institute. I believe it will result, under the blessing of God, in a forward movement toward the kingdom.
W. M. Healey.
A Call to Consecration
I believe the ministerial institute just closed will prove invaluable to the ministry on this coast. There was given to the ministry, especially the younger ministers, a new view of the sacred calling of those who labor in word and doctrine. Their work is wholly constructive. They should not become entangled with the cares of the world, in investments in realty, property, mines, or other things. It was clearly developed from the Word of God that he who would serve in such a holy calling should be fully surrendered to God, and the new life received from him wholly consecrated to him for undivided service.
The silken thread woven throughout the entire institute web was a greater personal acquaintance with the Lord as a personal Saviour, and a more thorough knowledge of his Word, in view of the soon coming of Christ and the great message due the world.
H. W. Cottrell.
A Vision of Heavenly Things
The ministerial institute just closed in Los Angeles was an occasion full of blessings to those in attendance.
At times we, like Jonah, heard the arousement, “What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God;” and8we awoke, as did Jacob. “And behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.”
And there were times when we all seemed to be standing at the Jordan, close to Jesus, when “he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: and there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
In the light of the daily studies, faithful heart-searching revealed many things to be cut out of our daily life-work, that more time might be given to study, to prayer, and to individual ministry.
The daily lessons on the ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, the bestowal and reception of the Holy Spirit, with the practical instruction regarding evangelistic and pastoral work, have revived in many hearts a degree of hope, faith, and courage, and a determination for deeper study and deeper consecration, that promise much in personal experience and in fruitful ministry.
W. C. White.
Of More Value Than Gold
The Saviour recognized the benefits to be received by his workers through their meeting together, and commanded them to “come ye yourselves apart . . . and rest awhile.” Such occasions were not to be seasons of idleness, but a time when motives could be scrutinized, when methods of labor might be compared, when the nature of their mission should be carefully considered, when they would come close to the heart of the Master and could ask his counsel, and when, by prayer, study, and humbling of soul, they would be prepared for future labors.
Such an opportunity has been afforded by the ministerial institute recently held in Los Angeles, Cal. The studies on the gospel ministry, setting forth the sacredness of this holy calling, and the instruction given as to how to make the ministry more effective, were of great value. The lessons on the Holy Spirit were very practical, and led to deep searching of heart and humbling of soul, that this mighty Helper might be received and remain with us till the end.
We feel that this institute has been of more value than all the gold of California. We are expecting a new life and power to attend the giving of the message in the Pacific Union Conference. It is with deep gratitude that we remember the blessings received at this ministerial institute.
Elders Daniells and Thompson bore the burden of institute instruction. Although worn with their continuous round of labor, their message, as already stated, was given with power and clearness. Without excitement or sensation, the word was spoken with power, and the Spirit used it in sending conviction of sin, in witnessing to divine righteousness, in awakening new desires, and in implanting in every heart stronger purposes to live for God and to labor more earnestly for his cause.
Sister White spoke twice during the institute. Her earnest words called for new and deep consecration to God. The value of a practical Christianity, and especially the necessity of strengthening the family bonds of love and unity, was emphasized. These messages from the servant of the Lord were greatly appreciated, and contributed in no small degree to the forward movement witnessed at this institute.
Elders J. O. Corliss, E. E. Andross, Charles Thompson, K. C. Russell, E. W. Farnsworth, and others contributed to the evening preaching services.
Following the institute, the Pacific Union Conference begins its session. Of this we shall speak at another time.
F. M. W.
Increasing Violence
By W. W. P.
ONE who has read the history of the French Revolution can hardly repress a shudder as he recalls the fateful year 1793, with its reign of terror. It was a fearful outbreak of the worst passions of human nature against the established organizations, both in religion and in government.
To see upon the cover page of a leading American journal (the Outlook, Feb. 17, 1912) the title “Terrorism in America,” in large letters, as one of the features of that issue, awakens serious reflections, and suggests that the history of the cataclysm in France may repeat itself in this country. The article in question deals with the extensive use of violence in the effort of organized labor to secure its demands. The first paragraphs run thus:—
Why do trade-unions resort to violence, bloodshed, and destruction of property to win strikes?
What hardens the heart of the union man when he sees non-union workers assaulted, maimed, and even done to death?
Tailors are commonly supposed to be mild-mannered, inoffensive people of peaceable dispositions. Yet during the strike of the Chicago garment-workers the “entertainment committees” of the union habitually forced the non-union tailors to quit work by snapping the bones of their needle fingers with a short, sharp twist. In San Francisco non-union teamsters had their wrists broken by blows delivered with steel bars. In Coalinga, Cal., two men were beaten to death in a crowd of striking metal-workers. On State Street, in Chicago, a non-union teamster was dragged from his seat and trampled to death. Three striking machinists in Los Angeles, seated in an automobile, followed a strike breaker when he boarded a car, attacked him with gas-pipes, and pounded him into a pulp. The victim did not leave the hospital for six months.
The writer next deals with specific instances of violence and the record of different organizations:—
Rioting, systematic violence, the maiming and killing of men, the cutting of the harness, the smashing of vehicles,—these things have been part of nearly every teamsters’ strike. One of the very worst of these battles occurred in Chicago when the union teamsters were called out to assist fifteen discharged garment-workers to regain their positions. The strike wrecked the union of the teamsters after it had run its bloody course. . . .
The International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron-Workers was organized in 1896. Its career was turbulent. Strikes, riots, and assaults marked its course. . . .
Six years ago there was a change in the management of the Iron-Workers’ Association. J. J. McNamara, considered a “resourceful man” by the members, was placed in nearly autocratic charge of the association’s destiny. Soon after his accession to power the long series of dynamite explosions began. Dynamite seemed to answer the purpose better than assaults upon non-union men. . . .
Though the National Erectors’ Association was formed to hold the weaker members in line and oppose the union’s explosive spread, though firms employing non-union labor were promised compensation for losses that might be inflicted by dynamite, the Iron-Workers’ Association under McNamara forged ahead. During the last four years, while systematic dynamiting was extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the organization grew as it had never grown before. In this period its influence increased until nearly seventy-five per cent of the craftsmen employed in the erection of steel structures became members of the union.
In discussing the responsibility of the heads of these organizations for educating the rank and file to condone the crimes perpetrated in their behalf, this conclusion is reached:—
In this condition, in forcing large bodies of men, by appealing to their self-interest, to become silent, passive partners in crimes that seem to benefit them, lies the greatest guilt, the heaviest responsibility, of those union leaders who believed that illegal means were justified by the end to be attained. By appealing to the self-interest of untutored men the lawless leaders hardened the moral fiber of their adherents, calloused their consciences, surrounded criminal acts with the halo of pseudo-justification.
Reference is also made to the contest between employers and employees in the effort to have an open or a closed shop:—
Black hatred is engendered by the relentless, unceasing struggle to unionize the industries. The atmosphere of shops, factories, labor headquarters, and employers’ offices is charged with it. Terrorism and murder are growing out of it. It forebodes evil unless the third party to the dispute, the hitherto indifferent public, which always pays the cost of every feud, steps in and asserts its rights.
In the closing paragraphs of the article some hope is held out that a better condition of things may be secured by proper and prompt action on the part of the commonwealth:—
Labor is in a mood to clean house, according to the observation of the writer.9Disgust, suspicion of the fanatical leaders’ and organs’ motives, a longing for methods better than criminal violence, have grown up in the minds of the perplexed union workers since the McNamara confession. It depends upon the employers and the public whether this mood shall be translated into action or pass away unheeded.
The paragraphs that we have quoted from this article, which occupies eight pages of the Outlook, are only an index of the subjects discussed, and fail to convey the same deep impression which is created by reading the entire article. Taken as a whole, it constitutes a most convincing testimony as to the spirit of the times, and contains much food for serious thought. Surely he can not be considered an extremist who declares that the spirit of violence is abroad in the land, and who regards this as one of the signs of the times.
W. W. P.
The Fruit of the Message in South America
By William Ambrose Spicer
WHEN we see souls being won by the hundreds from Catholic superstition, we may know that the power of God is attending the ministration of the message. By this token it is plain that the Lord is with our brethren in the South American Union.
The union conference has just closed in Santiago, Chile. The representatives from all the fields have brought reports showing that the fruitage of commandment-keepers is following the preaching of the message in these Catholic lands. The union report shows a net gain of 380 during the two years, and this number, on account of revision of records, is less than the actual gain. These figures mean much when we remember that the majority coming into the truth have come directly out of the Roman Catholic Church. Speaking for Peru, Elder A. N. Allen said:—
The labors of all the workers have been blessed. The number of baptized members has increased from 33 to 113. Three new churches have been organized, two of which are largely composed of Indians.
This is good news from a little-worked field, where public Protestant propaganda is forbidden. In the Argentine and Chile Conferences the cause is showing settled and substantial growth that will make these older fields a blessing to all parts of the union.
The shortage of funds in the General Conference treasury, because of the rapid extension of our mission fields, made it necessary a year ago to cut down the appropriation called for by South America. The estimate was cut four thousand dollars for 1911. Elder J. W. Westphal, president of the union, told the delegates that, disappointing as the cut was at the time, he believed that the experience had not hurt the union. He said in his report:—
For a moment the reduction sent a chill through the field; but the reaction was quick and decided. Our laborers rallied quickly to meet the situation, and with excellent results. There was a determination to see that the work was not diminished, and to make every dollar go farther; to raise more means in the field, and to place branches of the work on a self-supporting basis wherever it was possible. As a result, Chile in particular has had a most interesting experience, which it will be well for us to study. In the end, it has resulted in greater courage and greater faith in the South American financial possibilities.
These resolute words are echoed by all the workers. At the same time it is evident that this field must receive liberal help to open up its vast territories that have been lying all these centuries under the pall of the papal system. But we may well thank God for the growth of the work and the determination of the workers to develop local resources as rapidly as possible.
The brethren came to the union meeting with courage in their hearts, fresh from victories in the field; and as they have prayed and counseled and studied together during these two weeks, they return to the conflict with yet greater confidence and increased determination to see far greater things in the work. The South American Union brethren are laboring and praying and believing for a quickly finished work, and it is good to see the evidence that the Lord is with them.
W. A. S.
Santiago, Chile.
Masses at Reduced Rates
By W. W. P.
We believe in advertising, and we commend the shrewdness of those dealers in material things who attract customers by announcing special sales and attractive bargains. But we are not quite prepared to approve of the same methods when applied to spiritual things. There are those, however, who urge that the church should compete with the commercial world, both in the extent and in the character of its advertising; and the sensational nature of some church announcements has evoked much unfavorable criticism. It remains, however, for a representative of the Roman Catholic Church to surpass all of this in an advertisement offering masses at bargain rates. This is done in an advertisement in a Roman Catholic publication entitled St. Vincent’s Visitor, issued once a year in Brooklyn, N. Y. In the number for 1911, appeared a full-page advertisement, with the following heading in large type: “St. Vincent’s Purgatorial Society for the Living and the Dead, 5,508 Masses Offered Each Year for Its Members.”
From the body of the announcement we take the following paragraphs:—
With the kind permission of the Rt. Rev. Charles E. McDonnell, D. D., bishop of the diocese of Brooklyn, the perpetual membership fee in St. Vincent’s Purgatorial Society has been reduced to ten dollars.
This means that all who become members of our Purgatorial Society, whether living or dead, and having paid the sum of ten dollars, will have read for them each year five thousand five hundred and eight masses; in other words, they will share in all the masses and other spiritual benefits as long as this society shall last.
Those not in a position to pay the amount of ten dollars in cash may make weekly or monthly payments to suit their own convenience.
We can not say that because our friends or relatives have been dead a long time they do not need our assistance. Nothing definite is known as to the longer or shorter duration of purgatorial pains. We do know this, that they are proportioned to the purity of heart wherewith the deceased appears before the judgment-seat of God; proportioned to the amount of penance done while on earth; proportioned to the help given after death by those still left behind. But when we reflect that on the other side of the grave justice, not mercy, holds the balance; when we recall St. Peter’s thrilling question, “If the just shall hardly be saved, how shall it be with sinners?” and when we consider that even the saints, after long and severe penances for slight faults, trembled before and feared the severity of God’s judgments, we may justly conclude that the pains of purgatory are of longer duration than is sometimes imagined. Therefore, we should hasten generously to the help of the poor souls, and continue our prayers for them until death bids us depart hence.
We do not recall any instance that is quite parallel to this effort to make merchandise of the gospel. While we fully believe that the reduced price is all that these masses are worth, yet when we seriously consider that this appeal is made to persons who have been taught to have confidence in the efficacy of this so-called religious service, and that their fears in behalf of deceased friends are played upon in order to induce them to purchase these masses, we are filled with a sense of abhorrence of such priestly quackery, and with a feeling of pity for those who are held in bondage by this system of deception.
This advertisement of Roman Catholic masses follows closely the lines of many modern announcements which offer special attractions to the public. The price has been reduced by “kind permission” of the obliging bishop of the diocese, and “weekly or monthly payments” are accepted as a further inducement to the purchaser. Only one thing more is needed to make the parallel complete. If it were possible to announce “a great bankrupt sale of masses,” it might attract even a greater number of buyers.10
It is astonishing that in this enlightened country, and in this year 1912, there should be found those who could seriously make such an announcement as we have quoted, and it is pitiful that there are others who will pay their money in the vain hope that these representatives of the Pope, who claims to be “king of heaven, and of earth, and of the lower regions,” can do anything to change the condition of the dead. This whole idea of purgatory and prayers for the dead grows out of that false teaching concerning the condition of the departed which represents them as being in a conscious state, and as undergoing punishment or enjoying their reward. The plain teaching of the Scriptures upon this subject sweeps away the whole foundation of this traffic in prayers for the dead.
W. W. P.
The Menace of a False Religion
By C. M. S.
The rapid formation of organizations in this country that have set themselves to accomplish by force a recognition of religious practises is a certain indication that the day is not far distant when that counterfeit of the gospel, religion by force, will be inaugurated in America.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is founded in freedom, the freedom of the individual. “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” is not a command, but an invitation. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,” recognizes the right of human choice in the matter of worship. If to any one belonged the right to compel worship, it would be to our Heavenly Father, but those words last quoted are his words, spoken by his Son for him.
The gospel of Christ and religion by force are the antipodes of each other. Paganism had long driven men as mental and spiritual slaves under the lash of a compulsory religion; but the gospel of Jesus Christ is built on this principle: “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” But religion by force judges, condemns, and executes; and the spirit that would revive that practise is alive in our day. It is this generation’s heritage from the ages of paganism. The principles of it came with our ancestors in the “Mayflower,” found deep rootage in the colonial establishments, and have found some to keep them alive through all the years from then till now. The attempt to unite all denominations for the enforcement of a sabbath upon all the people without regard to their rights, either temporal or spiritual, is as surely a heritage of paganism and medievalism as any that has come down to us. Force in religion is as old as Babylon, yea as old as the murder of Abel by his brother; and wherever we see combinations of men setting themselves the task of bringing about conformity in religion by compulsion of law, we see a repetition in spirit, and ofttimes in letter, of the intolerance of the first murderer, for cause of religion, and of the oppression and persecution of men for religious belief in all the ages since.
In the imperial nations which call themselves Christian, religion by force is one of the chief tenets in the creed of national progress. He who does not bow to that creed is disloyal to his country. In Russia he who forsakes the Orthodox faith is looked upon as disloyal to both his emperor and his native land. It is a punishable offense. What the new order of things may bring about in Russia we can not foretell. That it will result in the separation of church and state and the granting of real religious liberty is almost too much to believe possible; and yet no people are free who are not free to worship God according to the dictates of conscience. In view of that fact, the people of America should look with alarm upon the very first experiment in the matter of religious legislation. They should look with alarm upon any court decision declaring either the States or the nation Christian. They should look with alarm upon the growing sentiment among religious bodies toward the enactment of Sunday laws, or even laws for the closing of saloons on Sunday. These are the thin edge of the wedge of religious legislation. What the result would be when such movements are carried to their logical conclusion has already been written in the history of the dark ages, in the persecution to the death of the best people the world possessed.
Religion by force has never been confined to one empire or hemisphere. Its principles are the same, its results the same, in all lands and among all peoples. In the pagan mind religion and the sword were closely related, and it was not an uncommon thing for one heathen nation to conquer another, and force the conquered nation to worship the gods of the conquerors. Religion by force, the “gospel of powder and ball,” the “gospel of the sword in one hand and the Bible in the other,” is based upon the same idea. The principle of the Christian religion is, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” It is a matter of free choice. The principle of that false religion is, Choose the religion we bring, keep the sabbath we keep, or feel the fury of the sword and the penalty of the law.
Between the latter principle and the principle underlying the gospel of Christ there is a great gulf fixed which no man can bridge. On the one side of that gulf is the throne of everlasting love; on the other is the throne of the arbitrary despot, on which sits Lucifer, the fallen light-bearer. His church is the church of force; his ministers the armed warriors who carry “the Bible in one hand” and the implements of death and destruction in the other. But God, who has warned men against an unequal yoking with unbelief, has never yoked himself, his government, or his people with the proponents of any such cruel and ghastly policy. The ministers of “religion by force” smite with the mailed fist of the law; the ministers of the gospel of Christ turn the fist into an open hand for the bestowal of blessings. The one bruises; the other binds up whatever bruising the other had done. The one wields the sword; the other binds up its wounds. The one compels enmity; the other wins hearts and souls.
Force and Christianity, imperialism and the kingdom of Christ, are as far apart as the east and the west, as death and life. Religion by force has been tried in every nation, and its course through every portion of the world has been marked by blood and oppression; but the menace of that same condition hangs over the people of America to-day in the massing of the strength of great religious organizations to force religious practises upon the people.
There is a better way; there is a purer, kinder gospel; there is a King who never does and never will oppress; and they who espouse the cause of enforced religion are working against his kingdom instead of for it, and must be classed as his enemies. The gospel of Christ is the gospel of love and brotherhood; the Author of that gospel is the Maker of the heavens and the earth, the Prince of Peace, the everlasting Father, whose house is the habitation of love, whose throne is set in the hearts of those who are his. Into his service oppression never comes, and out of his hands go none of the cruel arrows that wound the hearts of men. The final triumph of the kingdom of God in this earth is a triumph which uproots all things that bruise and oppress, and that misrepresent the mission of our Father in the earth. It is not a menace, but an everlasting boon. As God is not a God of oppression, he will not countenance in his service that which oppresses or those who oppress. Is it too much to say that he will not accept into his kingdom finally those who have misrepresented his character in the earth? It will be a fearful thing to hear the words from the Saviour’s lips: “I never knew you: depart from me.” So the religion of force is not only a menace to those who are oppressed by it, but it is a menace to the eternal prospects of those who use it in this world, even though they profess to use it in the service of God.