Earlier text: The Importance of PrayerALL the way along, since the advent movement began to proclaim the Sabbath reform, we have had to meet the growing disregard of the law of God. In repudiating the Sabbath, men must repudiate the standard of eternal righteousness, and the result is increasing lawlessness. AND strangely indeed some have wrested scriptures in defense of lawlessness toward God. A scripture declares that no sinner can be justified by the deeds of the law, but by faith only; and thereupon it is argued that the believer is set free to transgress the law, to continue in sin! Whereas justification itself means being saved from transgression and made a doer of the law, by the faith of Jesus. MEETING this line of attack upon the very heart of the gospel, the first copy of the Present Truth, our first paper, said (July, 1849):— “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” Gal. 5:4. This text is frequently quoted by the no-Sabbath teachers to show that those who are keeping the seventh-day Sabbath have fallen from grace. Now if we fall from grace for keeping the fourth commandment in the decalogue, do they not fall from grace for keeping the first, third, fifth, seventh, or eighth commandment in the same law? If we fall from grace by keeping the Sabbath commandment, we can not be restored to grace until we break it. And by the same rule those who are keeping the third, fifth, and eighth commandments, must dishonor their parents, swear, and steal, before they can be restored by divine grace. I leave the reader to decide as to the justness of this startling conclusion. My desire is to hold up to view the no-Sabbath, no-commandment system in its true, hideous, and crooked form, that the reader may not be devoured by it. If we fall from grace by teaching the Sabbath, then Paul and all the apostles fell from grace by teaching the commandments. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise.” Eph. 6:1, 2. This is the first commandment of the decalogue which has a promise annexed to it, and the first on the second table of stone. There is not a man or a woman in the world who believes that the apostles fell from grace for urging upon the Ephesians the claims of the fifth commandment in the moral law. Neither is there a man or a woman who really believes that we have fallen from grace (for the sin of Sabbath-keeping, as some would have it) for keeping and teaching the fourth commandment. Those who give this impression do not really believe any such thing; but they seem willing to give this wrong impression in order to hide the Sabbath truth. Seventh-day Adventists do not believe that any man can win salvation by keeping the fourth commandment. The man must be saved from his sins by the faith of Jesus before ever he can keep the Sabbath holy. But salvation itself, justification from sin, means the obedience of faith. The gospel of the way of forgiveness of sin and of obedience to God's holy law, through Jesus Christ, is the only gospel there is. Christ's one purpose in coming to die for men was to save them from the transgression of the law of God and its terrible consequences. “Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” The Real Crisis
By F. M. W.
In Personal Christian Experience
THE hours of trial in Christian experience are not necessarily hours of crisis. Obstacles and difficulties oftentimes are the means permitted of God whereby we are driven to him for strength and power with which to meet them. Many a disciple has remained true to God and steadfast for right in the face of opposition, who later has succumbed to the spirit of indifference. The real crises in Christian life are those times in which there is a letting go of God, and in consequence a paralysis of spiritual power. This paralysis may not be indicated by outward experience. There still may be maintained an apparent interest in church activities. The round of church service may be kept up, gifts to beneficent enterprises may be unlessened; but in the inmost heart there is a loss of that consciousness of God's abiding presence which the true disciple has come to know and appreciate. When we find ourselves drifting with the current, the prey of indifference and spiritual slothfulness, then is the time we need to take warning of our condition, and cry mightily to God for a new awakening. Others may not recognize the drifting, the indolence, the letting down of the high and holy standard in the sanctuary of the soul; but we may recognize it through the gentle monitor of the Holy Spirit, which will speak to us in the silent hours of communion with our Lord and Master. When we find ourselves in this condition, let us hasten to return. By sincere, earnest prayer, by quiet meditation, by study of the Word of truth, by renewed consecration of heart and life and service, let us seek again to enter into that close and holy communion with the blessed Master which it is our privilege to enjoy. Similarly, the real crisis in the history of the church of Christ is not necessarily the time of trial and persecution. Going back through the history of the past, we find that the fires of persecution have oftentimes burned out the dross and purified the church of God. The fierce onslaught of the adversary has led the church to humble itself under the mighty hand of God, seeking him for help and deliverance. The time of real crisis in the church of God, as in individual Christian experience, is the time of apparent lack of spiritual power. The church may be engaged in great enterprises. It may operate, and operate successfully, large institutions; it may donate annually thousands of dollars to missionary and philanthropic work. All this is good. The church would be recreant to its trust if it did not do this; and yet it may even do this, and after all not possess that measure of quickening spiritual power which will enable it to fill its place in God's great purpose. The power of the church in the first century was in its power of evangelism. It stood as a living witness to the world of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It accomplished this for God in turning thousands of men and women from darkness to light. No less will this spirit of evangelism constitute the power of the church to-day. It will constitute the power of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We sometimes point with pride to the achievements of the past; we tell of the many mission stations we have opened, of the thousands of dollars given to missionary enterprises, of the thousands of copies of books and periodicals distributed. These are all well and good. While we can thank the Lord for what he has enabled us to do, there comes to us the reflection that we should have done much more. But the doing of these things, in and of themselves, is not necessarily an evidence of the possession of great spiritual power by the church. Is there going forth from our churches to-day the old-time spirit of missionary evangelism, which marked the churches of apostolic days? Is there in our13 preaching a living, quickening power that reveals to men the sinfulness of sin, and leads them to throw themselves upon God's mercy for deliverance? Do we rest, see the spirit of love in church fellowship? Do we see in our pulpit ministrations, in our missionary operations, in our general church activities, that demonstration of the spirit of power which should characterize this last-day movement? Here and there we may witness its manifestation, but generally it is too sadly lacking. This movement to-day has reached a crisis in its history. It can no longer depend upon organization as such to carry forward its work. It can not build upon its past record of achievement. It can not fall back upon its institutions. It needs something more than these material means and agencies. It needs the quickening, vivifying power of the Spirit of God to transform human effort, to work in and through organization,—a power which shall go with convincing force, revealing the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and demonstrating to the world that the resources of heaven are back of this movement. The great need of the church of God to-day is the Holy Spirit, which, in its train, will bring every other needed blessing. But the church of God as a whole can possess this spirit of power only as it is possessed by its individual members. It will take possession of the human heart only as that heart is fully dedicated to the service of God. Hence, the call of God to-day to this church, is the call to renewed consecration, a consecration of the personal life. God to-day desires to fill every heart, to control every life, to rule and reign in every individual experience. He must do this if this work shall triumph in the glory and power of his Holy Spirit. May every heart cry out to God for deliverance from sin and for the power of the Holy Spirit in the life. Only by the possession of this Spirit on the part of every believer and by the church as a whole, can this movement meet the mind of God and triumph at last. Sowing the Seed
By W. A. S.
“BLESSED are ye that sow beside all waters.” Isa. 32:20. We do not know just where the fruitage may appear. Our part is to sow everywhere. “The seed is the word.” And truly, as we hear reports from all quarters of the earth, our hearts are inspired to cast in the seed on the right and on the left. The results everywhere and always come from the convicting, converting power of the living word. In a report from South Africa, we are told of a teacher who heard the phrase, “The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Somehow the words kept ringing in the ear, and appealing to the heart with a power that gave no rest, until she surrendered to keep the fourth commandment. Often a word dropped almost unthinkingly, is the word that proves the means used by God for the saving of a soul. Little efforts often bring great results. We continually meet with evidence that Providence often uses apparently roundabout means to win a way into the heart for the living word. The following experience was told by Elder J. F. Huenergardt, of Hungary:— Not long ago I received a letter from a railroad man who had heard of the Sabbath through an unbeliever. He began to read his Bible and became convinced. When I visited him, he told me that he was ready to abandon his position in order to keep the Sabbath. This he soon did, and was happy that he and his wife could be received into the church. He labored with his relatives and sent them reading-matter. His father-in-law, who was also a railroad man, readily made a study of the truth and also became convinced. He declared that he would obey, but must wait a while yet. On hearing that his son-in-law was preparing to leave his position, he wrote him to postpone the matter. Somehow or other, the old gentleman, while getting the letter ready for the mail, unknowingly placed a blank paper in the envelope instead of the written sheet. When the young man received this, he could not understand what it should mean. In a flash the first few lines of that beautiful hymn came into his mind:— “Nothing but leaves! the spirit grieves O’er years of wasted life,” etc. These he at once wrote down upon the blank paper, put it into an envelope, and sent it back to his father-in-law. When the old gentleman received the letter and read the lines, they made a deep impression upon him. Soon afterward he also was baptized. So the Lord is working through great things and small things to gather his people from all nations, tongues, and peoples. We are thankful that we have a part in this great work and in this dark field. May our brethren and sisters pray for all those out in these needy countries where there is yet many an honest soul waiting for the truth. There is a God in heaven watching over his work on earth; and as in faith we scatter the publications bearing his words, and talk of the truth as the opportunities come, we may know that the Lord and the angels will work to make the word effective. “It shall not return unto me void,” he says, but “it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” We are seeing this demonstrated in all the world. The angels of God are flying to and fro over land and sea, and the Holy Spirit is being poured out upon all flesh. Seed-sowing done in one part may bring forth harvest in lands far away. Thus Elder Huenergardt reported further:— A short time ago a Rumanian and a Servian, both able and intelligent men, accepted the truth in Canada, and returned to their native country to work among their people. We are glad they came, and hope they will not be the last to come over and help us. The Lord has made bare his arm for the finishing of his work. We can read it in the workings of his providence as well as in the sure word of prophecy. Now, let us go on sowing broadcast the seed of the kingdom. “Blessed are ye,” says the Lord, “that sow beside all waters.” The Promise of His Coming
By C. M. S.
HOPE for weary hearts burdened with this world's woe, joy for the sad ones who have lost the dearest treasures of the heart, consolation and comfort and peace for all who will have it, lie in the promise of our Redeemer's return. Trust in that hope makes hard ways easy, makes heavy loads light, and kindles fresh every day the fires of courage on the altars of loyal service. That hope puts into the lives of men an unquenchable purpose, and lifts despondent hearts out of the quicksands of doubt. In the light of that promise every detail of life's activities, every circumstance and environment, takes on new features, and wears a different hue. In that promise is the earnest of a new life, the guaranty of eternal consciousness in a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and satisfaction. That promise is a passport for the children of God out of the kingdoms of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son,—the kingdom of light and liberty and life. What a different aspect would this old world wear for the toilers, the sad ones, the afflicted, and the weary, if that blessed promise were stricken from the Book of God, and the human must lie down with the beasts in a common oblivion! The Christian can not contemplate such a contingency without a feeling of horror. The utter blackness of such a prospect must crush the soul of any individual who permits his doubts to make it real to him. But He is coming again. Said Jesus: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Said the angels: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Said the prophet Enoch: “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints.” Said our Lord himself: “Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”14 Said the apostle: “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” These are some of the many promises of his return, spoken by our Lord himself to his hearers, or to us through his prophets. Yet we are living in a day of which Inspiration speaks when it declares that men would be saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” The great deceiver has taught many to doubt the promises; he has taught others that this, that, or the other thing was the fulfilment of that promise, and in this last generation, through a system of educated clerical infidelity, he has caused many so to doubt the Word itself that its most emphatic promises have no meaning to them, no assurance of fact. These, then, doubting the Bible, ask themselves and their neighbors, “Where is the promise of his coming?” This is a scoffing inquiry; for it is based upon their belief that they have so undermined the Bible that these precious promises have no foundation in fact. The Spiritist professes to believe that Christ has come in the darkened séance room; but ingenious investigators have caught some spirit mediums in fraud and trickery, and this confirms the infidel in his doubting of the promise. The Mormon believes he has founded the kingdom of Christ on the Western desert. The Christian and the infidel moralist both revolt against the idea that that system, built upon polygamy, has any claim to consideration as a kingdom of righteousness. Slovenly fanatics have sought to impersonate Jesus Christ, and to make their advent upon the scene fulfil the promise of our Lord. The New Theology has presented its claims, and Theosophy has set itself forth as the culmination of the divine promise. While all these have had their adherents, their chief business has been to bewilder minds, gender doubt, and make the promises of the Redeemer's return appear to many as a visionary fabric, a delusive hope. These have had their day and deceived their thousands. But now comes the greatest stumbling-block of them all; for it has set itself up within the professed household of the Redeemer himself, and from that place of vantage, will do a more deadly work for this generation than they all. That is the Higher Criticism. It has shattered the Rock of truth (as many think) on thousands of pulpits, and left for the thirsty flock only the dry dust of its disintegration. Its deductions have, for many individuals, crumbled the very foundations of the Word itself; and when that goes, all that is built upon it goes with it. If the Rock of truth is submerged in the sea of doubt, the promises chiseled into it go down into the same flood. Therefore they can say, they who have helped to accomplish the undertaking, “Where now is the promise of his coming?” For them that promise has gone out; and in a seeming frenzied hilarity over what they have done, they appear insensible to the fact that they have cut loose the only rope that held them to the shore, and are drifting straight into the great maelstrom of everlasting ruin and oblivion. The lunatic laughs on the brink of a precipice, and springs out and down to his death. So do these when they make themselves believe they have destroyed the only hope the world has, and then exultantly spring out into the black abyss of eternity without hope and utterly without God. The large success of such an undertaking must be an astonishment to angels. It is Satan's master-stroke in his war against God; and it was no doubt the development of this work which our Saviour saw when, nearly nineteen hundred years ago, he asked: “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” There will be faith at that time in spite of all that infidelity without the church and within can do. Said the Revelator of this very time: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” The last message of mercy to this stricken world brings out two classes,—the faithful and the faithless; the believers and the scoffers; the commandment-keepers and the image-worshipers. The one looks for him, and believes the promise of his return; the other turns its eyes to, and places its trust in, a human being sitting in the temple of God, and showing that he himself is God. “Where is the promise of his coming?”—In the infallible Book of our Father, as true as God is true; and in that promise lies the only hope of a world now shrouded in the gloom of Satan's machinations. That promise is worth more than worlds to us. It opens all the storehouses of eternity. It makes us heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ in all the wealth of God's universe, and brings us into his household to sit down with him, and go no more out forever. To Mission Fields in 1910
As all our readers know, there has been necessarily a slackening up during the last year in the sending of missionaries to the lands abroad. The list for 1910 bears witness to the fact that the unusual number of recruits sent out in the two former years has made it necessary to hold back, and wait for still further increase of mission funds. Doubtless the full report of the treasurer for 1910 will show an increase of mission receipts over any former year; but each year the demands in the great mission fields of Asia and Africa and other parts increase by the expansion of the work within those fields, regardless of new workers sent out. This expansion in the fields, and the additional help sent out during the first three quarters of 1910, more than used up the increased gifts, and compelled a halt. We hear from every side, however, that our brethren in the churches do not wish a halt called in the sending of laborers to the needy fields where the greater part of the world lies absolutely untouched as yet. Believers in the third angel’s message call for a continuous and a strong advance until the leaven of this truth is planted all through this great mass of humanity. Without a doubt this will mean a larger number sent out in 1911 than in 1910. Yet if this is to be the case, the believers must continually bear the needs of the mission fields as a burden upon their hearts during the coming year. But even in 1910 the list of outgoing missionaries was a large one. It is as follows:— C. E. Weaks and wife, to India. W. H. Lewis and family, to Sierra Leone, West Africa. Howard Peebles, to Mexico. K. Kaltenhauser, from Germany, to Abyssinia. Miss Ethel Bonney, from Australia, to Fiji. C. F. Innis and wife, to Panama. P. C. Poley, from England, to India. Howard Lee and wife, to Korea. Miss Mabelle McMoran, to India. Miss Nellie Wagner, to India. Stephen Halusic and family, to Austria-Hungary. Claude Tarr and wife, from Cape Colony, to the Maranatha Mission, South Africa. Albert Cochran, to Porto Rico. G. D. Raff, to Porto Rico. N. V. Willis and family, to Guatemala, Central America. Dr. M. M. Kay and wife, to China. Miss Ethel Linge, to China. Mrs. W. H. Anderson, accompanying W. H. Anderson (returning), to Northwest Rhodesia, South America. Miss Laura Barr, to Bolivia, South America. Richard C. Sisley, from Australia, to Java. L. E. Borle and family, to Switzerland. John Osborne and family, to Ecuador, South America. F. H. DeVinney and wife, to Japan. I. H. Evans, to the Orient. E. C. Silsbee and wife, to Northwest Rhodesia, South Africa. J. W. Phillips, to Mexico. Charles Martin, to Mexico. Miss Eva Edwards, from Australia, to Tonga, South Pacific Islands. Miss Mary Gibbs, to India. Miss Elnora Reid, to India. Mrs. G. B. Replogle and children, to join Dr. Replogle in Argentina. Miss Libbie Allen (paying own expense), to Argentina. I. P. Dillon and family, to Cuba. S. A. Oberg and wife, to Danish West Indies. W. R. French and wife, to India. Miss Adelaide Khouri, to Beirut, Syria. Miss Rachel Wendell, to Jamaica, West Indies. William B. Downs and wife, to Cuba. Esta Miller and wife, to China. Miss Gertrude Thompson, to China. W. E. Gillis and family, to China. J. G. Pettey and wife, to Guatemala, Central America. Mrs. Olive B. Hatton, to South Africa. F. F. Oster, from Germany, formerly of America, to Baku, on the Caspian border, later to enter Persia. O. Wallath, from Germany, to East Africa. F. Winter, from Germany, to East Africa. Miss J. Mertke, from Germany, to East Africa. Miss Anna Liedtke, from Germany, to East Africa. Miss Hermine Walz, from Germany, to East Africa. Miss Augusta Ambrosius, from Germany, to East Africa. G. A. Ellingworth, from Cape Colony, South Africa, to Nyasaland. Roland Loashy, to the Bermuda Islands. Robert Nelson, to Argentina, South America. Dr. H. J. Williams and family, from Great Britain, to South America. This makes seventy-seven workers, not counting children, who have entered the fields in 1910, considerably over an average of one departure a week. Several on this list have gone on their own personal responsibility. They have, however, entered the fields in order to work with interests already established. In this list we include those who have gone from Europe and the British colonies to the mission fields of the regions beyond. It will be noticed that the October departures, with three exceptions, were from Europe and South Africa. It is cheering to see portions of the field which a few years ago were calling for help from America, now joining in the training of workers, and in the sending of recruits to other lands. We shall see this development more and more each year that passes. By united effort on the part of the believers in all parts of the world, the messengers will be sent into every dark corner of the earth; and all the history of God's work shows that the greater the interest any field takes in needy fields beyond, the greater the power and blessing given from heaven for the work in its own home territory. Yet again this list for 1910 brings to us a new inspiration to pray and give for the finishing of this work. W. A. S. Whom Shall We Believe?
By F. M. W.
In Ford's Hall, Boston, Dr. Lyman Abbott, editor of the Outlook, recently preached on the subject, “Why I Believe in Immortality.” According to the Boston Journal of December 12, he made the following statement:— The question which has been asked for so many centuries is this, “If a man die, shall he live again?” I find it difficult to believe this body shall be buried in the earth and decay, and at some future date the spirit come to re-establish it, and that it will rise into new life. When that question is put to me, my answer is, “No. It does not live again.” What I believe is, Man never dies. I believe the spirit immediately passes into its possession of the treasures of the other world. This is the view held by Dr. Lyman Abbott, and not only by Dr. Abbott, but also by scores of other professed Christians at the present time. It is the view held with some modification by Spiritualists and theosophists. Now comes another equally great man, Thomas A. Edison, of electrical fame, and he declares his belief that death is the end-all of man's existence. According to current newspaper report, he is quoted as saying, “In regard to believing in a hereafter, I am from Missouri. Some one must show me.” With Mr. Edison stand many other materialists of the present time, together with such men as Thomas Paine, R. G. Ingersoll, Voltaire, and others, of past fame. Which doctrine shall we believe? The belief of Mr. Edison surely affords no comfort in this life, and no hope for the future. It makes of life, as expressed by Mr. Ingersoll, “a barren peak between the vales of two eternities. We look beyond the heights, and cry aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our despairing cry.” From this cold, chilling doctrine, man instinctively turns to something affording greater comfort and hope. The view expressed by Dr. Abbott is the more pleasing; but unfortunately this, equally with the view held by Mr. Edison, is in direct opposition to the statement of Holy Writ. If we attempt to trace Dr. Abbott's doctrine to its source, we must travel back through the mystic, winding labyrinths of Roman, Egyptian, and Babylonian mythology, back to the originator of all evil systems of belief, the serpent, when he declared to our first mother in the garden of Eden, “Ye shall not surely die.” The source of this doctrine is even older than the infidel sentiments of the other view; but in sharp contradistinction to both these errors stands the plain, simple teaching of the Word of God. The apostle Paul tells us that “death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” This death, according to the psalmist, robs man of complete consciousness. There is not merely a death of the body while the conscious entity wings its way to the spirit world; but all that composed man ceases to exist. That which thought before in life, at death ceases to think. “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” According to Solomon, man after death ceases to love, to hate, to envy. “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” And according to Job the dead man is utterly oblivious to all that occurs on this earth after his decease. “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” But the grave is not forever to be his house. Job asks, “If a man die, shall he live again?” He does not leave the question unanswered, but declares: “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.” This set time when God will remember the dead is at the resurrection at the last day. A multitude of scriptures prove this. One statement from our Lord will suffice: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” Again we ask, Whom shall we believe? Shall we accept the spiritualistic view expressed by Dr. Abbott, the infidel belief expressed by Mr. Edison, or the statements of the Word of God? To him who takes the Scriptures of truth as the man of his counsel, there can be no question as to the finality of its authority, and the erroneousness of all counter-claims. We must take the Word of God or the word of man. “What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.” American Bible Society Annual Report
The Ninety-Fourth Annual Report of the American Bible Society shows that “last year the total issues were 73,803 volumes more than in the year preceding, and almost 600,000 in excess of any previous year in its history. One notable event was the completion of the revision of the Gospels in Spanish. The variety of the work in this is shown by the circulation of the Bible in sixty-five languages. Who helps the American Bible Society helps one of the best agencies for the evangelization of the world.” THE World's Christian Citizenship Conference recently held in Philadelphia comes in for no little criticism in journals outside of those directly committed to the principles held by Seventh-day Adventists. The Lutheran Witness of December 8, quoting the declaration of principles made by the conference regarding Christ as a moral governor, and his law as a part of the fundamental law of the land, thus establishing in fact a national religion, says:— Obedience to the law of Christ is not determined by outward works, but by the state of heart in him who does the works. The proper state of heart, however, can not be produced by any means at the command of a government. It is a matter between the individual and his God, and lies outside the province of a government. A nation can not “accept the grace of Christ” by act of Congress. Or does the conference, perhaps, think only of the will of God as revealed in the ten commandments? Should we not be able to declare the ten commandments the law of the land? If we proclaim ourselves a Christian nation, and make the ten commandments the law of the land, what shall we do to those who break the first commandment of the law of the land by worshiping false gods? Shall we fine them? Shall we imprison them? Shall we roast them a little over a slow fire? ACCORDING to the Scriptures, many in the last days would be without natural affection. This spirit is alarmingly on the increase, as seen in the broken family ties on every side. For years some of our large cities have had a court to deal particularly with juvenile offenders. Added to this there has been constituted in some of the large centers a court of domestic relations. The Northwestern Christian Advocate of December 7, speaking of this court in Chicago, says:— This court will concern itself entirely with matters that relate to the family. The need for it has developed in the fact that an increasing number of domestic disturbances find their way into court, and judges whose minds are occupied in other matters find themselves unable to give proper attention to these cases. Consequently, following the precedent of the juvenile court, the municipal judges have decided to select one of their number to devote his entire time to cases concerning domestic relations. He will thus become an expert on family disturbances. The court will have jurisdiction over such matters as wife abandonment, child abandonment, neglect of children, truancy, unimportant breach-of-promise suits, and illegitimacy. The great cause of the divorce evil, which is now assuming such alarming proportions, is the hasty and ill-timed marriages constantly being entered into. Marriages are formed on the impulse of the moment, oftentimes by boys and girls, and even by men and women, who are utterly incompetent to enter into such a responsible relationship. Caprice and fancy rather than true love form the inspiration to the majority of these unions. The result is that after a few weeks or months of married life, they are as anxious to effect a separation as they were to form the union in the beginning. No one of life's relationships should be entered into more thoughtfully and solemnly than that of marriage. It is one thing to spend an hour or a day occasionally with one who may be counted a pleasant companion, with the full knowledge that the association can be broken at will, and quite another thing to enter into a union for life, involving association in all life's experiences. The motives prompting marriages, and the little regard placed upon the marriage relation, show the moral degeneracy of the age in which we live. United States Population Growth
The population of the continental United States is 91,972,266, an increase of 15,977,691, or 21 per cent, in the decade, as against a gain of 13,046,861, or 20.7 per cent, in the preceding ten years. At the first census, in 1790, the population was 3,929,214, slightly larger than the number in the single State of Texas at the present time. In the decade just closed the Pacific States have gained 73.5 per cent; the mountain States, 57.3; the West South Central, 34.5; the East South Central, 11.4; the South Atlantic, 16.8; the West North Central, 12.5; the East North Central, 14.2; the Middle Atlantic, 25; and the New England, 17.2. A Catholic Supreme Justice
IN speaking of the appointment of Justice White as chief justice of the Supreme Court, the United Presbyterian of December 22 says:— There is little or no criticism in the newspapers, religious or secular, of the appointment of a justice who is a Roman Catholic by training and profession to the chief place in the Supreme Court. On all hands he is represented to be a man of fine character, and a judge of great ability, learned in the law and just. It is not difficult to see that the making of a choice for such a place, with the great numbers of able available men from whom to select, must be extremely perplexing. It is probable that the religious affiliations of the distinguished chief justice will in no way influence his conduct in his high office; but it must be confessed that, with a full knowledge of the teaching of his church as to its paramountcy over civil allegiance, there can not be that unreserved approval of the appointment which is to be desired.