Earlier text: JAIRUS’ DAUGHTERSPIRITUALISM A SATANIC DELUSION.
“And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” 1 John 4:3. “But there were false prophets also among the people; even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.” 2 Pet. 2:1. “Denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 4. “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.” 1 John 2:22. The following is from the Spiritual Telegraph, No. 37:— “What is the meaning of the word Christ? ’Tis not, as generally supposed, the Son of the Creator of all things. Any just and perfect being is Christ. The crucifixion of Christ is nothing more than the crucifixion of the spirit, which all have to contend with before becoming perfect and righteous. The miraculous conception of Christ is merely a fabulous tale.” The R. P. Journal of Feb. 20, 1869, says:— “Q. Are there any beings superior to Jesus Christ? A. Oh! yes; very many. Q. Have they been men? A. Yes; so I believe. He was ‘never resurrected from the dead as your record affirms.’ Q. Then the Jews were right in saying the disciples had stolen him away? A. They were right, certainly.” Dr. Weisse, before the investigating class of Spiritualists in New York city, said:— “Friend Orton seems to make rather light of the communications from spirits concerning Christ. It seems, nevertheless, that all the testimony received from advanced spirits only shows that Christ was a medium and reformer in Judea; that he now is an advanced spirit in the sixth sphere; but that he never claimed to be God, and does not at present. I have had two communications to that effect. I have also read some that Dr. Hare had. If I am wrong in my views of the Bible, I should like to know it; for the spirits and mediums do not contradict me.” While Christ is represented as being in the sixth sphere, Thomas Paine is by the spirits put into the seventh sphere! Considering their views of progression, and that Christ has been in the “spheres” more than eighteen hundred years, and Paine less than one hundred, it is easy to see that they place the latter very far in advance of the former. Spiritualists openly war against the marriage institution, and advocate the doctrine of “affinities” and “free love.” A leading Spiritualist writer, in a letter to the N. Y. Herald, says:— “All advancing Spiritualists—though few may have the courage to confess it—repudiate marriage in its legal sense, and believe in the doctrine of affinities.” Dr. Child, on marriage and religion, says:— “The present laws of marriage, that now give birth to regrets and sorrows unnumbered, to prostitution, with its long train of curses and agonies, will be abandoned for a holier, purer, diviner revelation that will ere long be given to the people.” “A religion more spiritual will be discovered and acknowledged—a religion without written laws, without commandments, without creeds—a religion too sacred to be spoken, too pure to be defiled, too generous to be judged, resting upon no uncertain outside standard of rectitude, upon no dogma of another, no purity of earthly life, no glory of earthly perfection—a religion that every soul possesses by natural endowment, not one more than another. “This religion is simply desire. “With every one, desire is spontaneous and sincere, pure and holy; no matter what the desire is, whether it be called good or bad, it is the natural, God-given religion of the soul.”—Christ and the People, pp. 27–29. At a Spiritualist convention held in Ravenna, Ohio, July 4 and 5, 1858, a Mrs. Lewis said:— “To confine her to love one man was an abridgment of her rights. Although she had one husband in Cleveland, she considered herself married to the whole human race. All men were her husbands, and she had an undying love for them. What business is it to the world whether one man is the father of my children, or ten men are?” Mrs. V. C. Woodhull, who has been re-elected President of the National Association of Spiritualists in America, is reported by the N. Y. Herald as follows:— “Yes! I am a free-lover! I believe I have an inalienable right to change my husband every day if I like. I trust I am understood, for I mean what I say, and nothing else. I claim that freedom means to be free.” Judge Tilden, of Cleveland, Ohio, and the reporter, inquired of Mrs. Woodhull, if the Herald reported her correctly, and she replied, “Yes; I said these words, and meant what I said.” “Parting husbands and wives is one of the notorious tendencies of Spiritualism. When one of the most eloquent trance speakers left her husband, he came out and stated that he knew sixty cases of mediums leaving companions. We heard one of the most popular impressional speakers say to a large audience that she was compelled by spirits to secede from a husband with whom she was living very happily. We lately heard a very intellectual, eloquent, and popular normal speaker say, in an eloquent address to a large convention of Spiritualists, that ‘he would to God it had parted twenty where it had parted one.’ In short, wherever we go, we find this tendency in Spiritualism.” “After years of careful investigation, we are compelled, much against our inclination, to admit that more than one-half of our traveling mediums, speakers, and prominent Spiritualists, are guilty of immoral and licentious practices that have justly provoked the abhorrence of all right-thinking people.”—Spiritualism as It Is, pp. 10, 11, 20. BEAUTIES OF SPIRITUALISM.
Spiritualists have much to say about the “beauties” of their “sublime philosophy,” and loudly rant against the Bible, as containing absurd and ridiculous things. We should suppose, from their talk, that the visions and doctrines of Spiritualism were a perfect model of dignity and sublimity. By their fruits ye shall know them. Dr. Gridley describes the sufferings inflicted by the spirits upon an aged medium in Massachusetts:— “These spirits would pinch and pound him, twitch him up and throw him down, yell and blaspheme, and use the most obscene language that mortal can conceive; they would declare that they were Christ in one breath and devils in the next; they would tie him head to foot a long time together, in a most excruciating posture; declare they would wring his d——d neck off because he doubted them or refused obedience.”—Astounding Facts from the Spirit World, pp. 253–254. Judge Edmonds is taken away in vision and shown some of the beauties (?) of their heaven. Among other things he sees an “old-fashioned” house, stairway, rag carpet, and a new-fashioned saw-mill! The judge describes his departure from the happy place:— “We turned to take our leave, for it was time for me to go. The matron invited me to call on her again, and she would, she said, give me a drink of buttermilk”!!!—Spiritualism, vol. ii., pp. 135–144. The judge describes a “dark, gloomy country” that “looked as if the air was full of that black sand, and a smoke, as if from bituminous coal, was all over it.” After describing a “dirty-looking hovel,” and “two men fighting,” he gives the following:— “I observed what seemed to be a full-grown boy, had caught a dog, had split open his tail and put a stick in it, merely to enjoy the sport of seeing his suffering. He then turned the dog loose, and stood enjoying the scene. The attention of the owner of the dog was drawn to the cries, and, discovering the cause, he beat the boy, who being as cowardly as he was cruel, fled, but was pursued, and beaten and kicked far up the road.”—Ibid., pp. 181, 182. Amherst, in Spiritual Telegraph, No. 182, declares that “he has seen mediums rolling on the floor, uttering grunts like swine; giving vent to the most hideous yells; and at times beating their bodies and tearing their hair like lunatics.” They have communications, and unmistakable identifications from “woodchucks,” the “dog Pip,” and “Balaam’s ass.” A. J. Davis says the evil spirits are the “diakka,” and W. F. Jamieson, in Woodhull and Claflin’s Weekly, calls the diakka “a troop of devils,” and then quotes Judge Carter: “There is one thing clear, that these diakka, or fantastic, or mixed spirits, are very numerous and abundant, and take any and every opportunity to obtrude themselves.” Now let us see how Judge Carter regards this troop of devils:— “We must not judge or condemn these diakka; they occupy an important place in the economy of the spirit world, and the earth, and their relations. They are great and useful iconoclasts, if not instructors and constructors; they are revolutionists, if not reformers in religion, society, government, and politics; and the old must be brushed away to give room for the new. They have their uses in the best sense that Emanuel Swedenborg, in his works, gives to that term.” Hudson Tuttle, one of their leading writers, refers to a “communication through a noted medium from his ‘dog Pip,’ to Gerald Massey, the said Pip licking the slate, and writing with a good degree of intelligence,” and adds, “Mr. Davis would say, that ‘Pip’ was a ‘diakka,’ and to-morrow he will communicate as George Washington, Theodore Parker, or Balaam’s ass. This diakka is flesh, fish, or fowl, as you may desire.” It is well enough that in the conflicts of life we get a sharp and stinging knock occasionally. There is no cure for imaginary griefs so good as a smart box on the ear. There is no exorcism so good as real difficulties, for banishing gloomy ghosts. The warrior is proud of his scars, because they show that he did not weakly lie down or run away—that he met trials and dangers in a manful way. If there are troubles ahead, real or imaginary, then “up and at them.” For the most part, they are like goblins in the twilight, and vanish as we approach. Home Again.
By James White
We reached our Battle Creek, Mich., home May 17, after a prosperous and pleasant journey from Oakland, Cal., of six days. We were deeply impressed all the way that we were in the path of duty. And as we find ourselves at the great heart of the work, where much is being done, and yet to be done, our impressions of duty are confirmed. Sabbath morning the house of worship was literally crowded, gallery as well as every seat in the body of the house. Not less than five hundred grown persons were present. We spoke with that freedom of thought and feeling usual at this old battle ground. We were told that there were two hundred and sixty-one in attendance at the Sabbath-school. This church is now worshiping in their third house. The growth of the church and the work here, which at first were very small, is represented very well in some respects by the sizes of their houses of worship. The first was 20x28 feet; the second was 28x44; the third is 40x66 feet; and there is more pressing need of a fourth house, that will seat at least one thousand persons, than there was of a second or third house at the time of their building. There are one hundred and fifty students at our school, which is a large number compared with older and larger schools. There is not a shade of discouragement hanging over our beloved Battle Creek College. It will enter upon its third year at the autumn term with all the rooms full, including the large hall on the third floor. We look for not less than three hundred students. The young men and women crowd our place of worship and give importance to the Sabbath service. Our three publishing buildings are alive with business. Denominational and health tracts, pamphlets and books are being issued by this Association of the greatest value and importance. The call for our publications, the reports of the work they are doing, and the activity of the work of printing, folding and binding are soul inspiring. Our Health Institute is prospering gloriously in the hands of the new faculty. Now we are ready to put up a main building at a cost of not less than twenty-five thousand dollars. When urged to do this in time past, we have urged that our buildings were fully equal to our physicians. By the gentlemanly deportment and unparalleled skill of the physician-in-chief, J. H. Kellogg, M. D., and his associates, there has been twice the number of paying patients at the Institute the past winter usual at that season in past years. With the change of physicians comes a change in the moral value of the patients. A great change has come over this institution in many respects. The religious interests are greatly improved. And men and women of mind, position and moral worth who seek a better hold of this life, crowd our place of worship on the Sabbath. God give them a good hold on both worlds. Here we found our beloved brother, Elder J. G. Matteson, waiting to counsel with us, before going on his mission to Denmark. He leaves May 21. At an early period in the cause, Elder Matteson, a Danish Baptist minister in the State of Wisconsin, embraced the doctrines peculiar to the Seventh-day Adventists. He entered the field as a preacher and writer, and has for several years edited our Danish monthly. He has translated many of our tracts, and has prepared some larger works, which have been scattered in Europe as well as in America. And our faithful Danish people have sent a large amount of reading matter to their friends in the Old World. We have seen for several years that the way was prepared for a Mission to Denmark and Norway, and for the past year have felt anxious that Elder Matteson should return to his native land, and there preach and publish the great truths connected with the last message. And it is with great pleasure that we give the following excellent letter from his pen concerning his Mission to Denmark. Under date of March 23, 1877, Elder Matteson addresses us in the following words expressive of faith and confiding love:— “ELDER JAMES WHITE—Dear and much esteemed Brother: I think the time has come when I must get ready to go to Denmark, to labor in the interest of the last message. You have already plainly expressed your mind on this subject, yet I desire very much to hear from you before I go, and to get your advice. It is a great sacrifice on my part to go, and there is no undertaking that I have been so slow to decide on as this. But everything seems to point in that direction now, and I am afraid the Lord will not bless my labor if I refuse to go. The leading brethren among our countrymen are very anxious to have me go this spring. There are two hundred and sixty Advent Tidendes that go to Denmark monthly, and about sixty to Norway. We frequently receive favorable letters from Denmark, and some are keeping the Sabbath there. I fear the cause will suffer if I do not go now, and trust that God will direct and bless the work. But before I go, I want to take a position in full harmony and sympathy with the General Conference Committee. I feel the necessity of this, and feel that it is a privilege for me to do so. I therefore pledge myself to lead out in nothing independently, but to seek your counsel in every important matter, and in short, to act, not as a private individual, but as a representative of the Seventh-day Adventists of America, laboring in the fear of God, and in the love of my brethren. Our Danish-Norwegian people have already donated and sent to the Office in Battle Creek about $200 for this mission, although we have made no call for money. I think the best time to go would be about May. May the Lord bless you much in your labor of love.” The foregoing statements from Elder Matteson will touch the feelings of all his brethren, whether Scandinavian or American. And they will give him their hearty sympathy, and follow him to his new field of labor by their prayers and with their means. His statements respecting the relation he wishes to sustain to his American brethren are frank, full, and satisfactory. In behalf of the General Conference we as freely state that Elder Matteson will be sustained in his important contemplated mission by the counsel and prayers and means of those who have the missionary spirit. This movement of sending our ablest ministers to Europe will give all our people greater interest in our world-wide message. Elder Matteson takes publications in his native tongue with him. He will also begin to publish in Denmark, or from our press in Switzerland. In either case he will need considerable means to carry forward his mission successfully. Those wishing to help this mission can remit to the Signs of the Times, Oakland, Cal., or Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich. We are receiving telegrams and letters from the several States urging us to attend the camp-meetings. We might attend some of them, could our work, and means of rest be such as to save us from extreme exhaustion. But as our people cannot realize the wearing toils of camp-meeting life three or four months in the year, and save us from unnecessary wear, Mrs. W. and the writer decide to rest from the camp-meetings this year, give more attention to the general interests of the cause in its several departments, represented by our institutions at Battle Creek, and finish some works nearly ready for the press. We never expected to see a day like this, when the cause of unpopular Bible truth, with rapid growth would be taking hold of the minds and hearts of the people wherever the seed is sown. Our tract and missionary workers east of the Rocky Mountains design to circulate 25,000 copies of a pioneer paper, adapted to new fields in 1878. This sheet will be issued from the Michigan press, or from an Office to be established immediately near the Atlantic. The verses referred to read: “Therefore as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” The one through whom condemnation came upon all, it need not be said, was Adam. His disobedience was his transgression by which death came into the world. The “many” who were made sinners by his disobedience, were all his posterity, the entire human race. The one whose obedience is brought to view was the second Adam, Christ. His obedience was the acts by which he provided a sinless, and therefore an efficacious, offering for all the world. The “many” who are made righteous by his obedience, are—how many? This is the question. Is this second “many” as comprehensive as the first? Does it, like the first, include the whole race? If so, are not all men to be made righteous, and so all to be saved through Christ? And is not then universal salvation the result? Or, on the other hand, since it appears from other texts that only a few, comparatively, will reach that degree of righteousness through Christ that will entitle them to salvation, can the second “many,” that are to be made righteous, be limited to that number while the first is unlimited? The statement of verse 18 seems to cut off positively the idea of limiting one of the terms and not the other. It says that judgment came upon all men to condemnation, and also that the free gift came upon all men to the justification of life. Here the same expression “all men,” is used in both terms of the proposition. So the many that are made sinners, and the many that are made righteous, must include the same number. All the race are made righteous by the obedience of one, Jesus Christ. Then is not Universalism the result? It would be altogether too hasty to so conclude, before we inquire in what respect, and to what extent, all men are made sinners, and in what respect, and to what extent, all are made righteous by Christ; for here is a point upon which, after all, everything may turn. When God commanded Adam not to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the penalty he attached to disobedience was suspended upon no conditions. Adam transgressed and the penalty was inflicted. He became possessed of a mortal dying nature. He could bequeath to his posterity no higher nature than he possessed; hence the unborn millions of the race were involved with him in the effects of that penalty, and all became subject to death. Who are subject to death? Those who are in some sense sinners; for death is the direct result of sin. But from whose sin does the death we experience in this life result? From our own personal sins, or from those of some other person? Not from our own; for no person now suffers the first or temporal death as the penalty for his own personal sins. He may, to be sure, so violate the laws of his physical nature as to hasten the stroke of death, or he may so offend against high Heaven that God is compelled to cut short in wrath his guilty career. But this only brings on his death a little sooner than it would otherwise occur. This does not affect the fact that death stands forth as the lot to which we all are doomed, and that, too, irrespective of character. The righteous die as well as the wicked; those who try to live in strict obedience to moral and physical law, as well as those who wildly and recklessly transgress them. From whose sin, then, does death come upon us? Answer: From the sin of Adam. We die because Adam sinned. Just in this respect, and just to this degree, therefore, are we made sinners by Adam, that we are involved in the result of his transgression. Just to this degree “judgment has come upon all men to condemnation,” for this one man’s sin. But it goes no farther; for we are not held on our own personal account, as transgressors on account of the sin of Adam. But now the curtain rises, and a new scene is disclosed to our view. Christ steps upon the stage and offers his intervention in behalf of the human race. Had he not come to our assistance, death would have been the extinction of Adam and all his posterity. Our lot would have been one of hopeless despair, and as death closed the scene, that would have been our final end. Then the consequences of Adam’s sin to us, instead of being temporary would have been eternal. But the love of God has arranged in our behalf that our eternal destiny shall not be determined by the action of another but by our own personal course of life. Hence it has been provided through Christ that the race should be placed upon a new probation, and every man determine by his own obedience or disobedience, what his final doom should be; and it is further provided, to make salvation possible, that when we sin, since we labor under the disadvantage of having inherited from Adam a fallen nature, the sentence shall not stand absolute, and inexorable against us, but may be averted, if we will seek pardon for our offense through Jesus Christ. With this provision, and on these conditions, the history of our race has progressed for six thousand years from the expulsion of our first parents from the garden of Eden. And every individual is answerable for his course of life, and the use he makes of the privileges within his reach. And so the apostle has written: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Cor. 5:10. And again, in Rom. 14:12, he says, “So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God.” The good and bad, according to these scriptures, are alike to give account of themselves, and receive their just deserts for the things done in the body. But this account we do not render up in this life. Before the judgment seat of Christ we do not stand in this state of existence. How, then, is this to be brought about? It can be done only by a restoration of all from the grave. A resurrection from the dead of the whole human family, irrespective of character, is the absolutely unavoidable sequence of the work which Christ has undertaken for fallen man. As in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive. And when we are made alive by the resurrection, we are released from all the effect of Adam’s sin upon us. Every one can then say, I was made subject to death by Adam’s sin; and I died. But all that is past; the power of that death is broken, and I am placed back again upon the plane of life. I now stand just as I should have stood, if Adam never had sinned, my future now depending wholly upon my individual character. And those who are then found righteous either because they have never violated the law, or because they have secured through Christ forgiveness for all their transgressions, will live forever, while those who have failed, will for their sins come under the same penalty that was pronounced upon Adam for his sin, namely, death; and no release being provided from this death, it will be eternal. With these facts before us, the application of Rom. 5:18, 19, can be made in few words. We have seen that all are made sinners by Adam only so far as to be involved in death in consequence of his sin. And we have also seen that all are to be released by Christ from those consequences. So far then all are made righteous by Christ. We are made righteous just as far as we are made sinners, and no farther. All the world are included in both declarations. But none are made sinners in Adam so far as to insure their eternal ruin; and none are made righteous in Christ, irrespective of character, so far as to secure their eternal salvation. The Necessity of a Sabbath.
By L. D. Santee
MANY who profess to be teachers of the word, when driven by the truth to abandon the sanctity of Sunday, boldly adopt the theory that there is no holy time in the gospel dispensation. “True, it is, and pity ’tis ’tis true,” that there is a carnal mind in man that prefers to seek out new inventions instead of accepting as truth the perfect law of righteousness; but so it is, and so it has been ever since death found an entrance into Eden through the transgression of Adam. When Naaman the Syrian was told to wash in the river Jordan that he might be healed, he asked, “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean?” And he would have retained his leprosy rather than obey the prophet’s command, had it not been for the wise words of his servants. In these days when we see men diseased and unclean through the contamination of sin, and we say to them, “Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it, that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil,” they will say to us, “Is not the Christian Sabbath better than the Sabbath given by the Most High from the summit of the flaming mount?” and Naaman-like they are unwilling to be cleansed in the Lord’s appointed way. When shown from history that the observance of Sunday, first as a festival, and afterward as a Sabbath, was compelled by papal edicts, and after searching the Bible in vain for divine authority, they will then change front, and declare that the gospel dispensation is without a Sabbath; and yet, they claim that this is a better dispensation than was the Jewish. The word Sabbath signifies rest. Have we as a race improved so wonderfully since creation, that for the last 2000 years we have been impervious to fatigue, and have not needed rest? Such is by no means the case. It is173 conceded by all men of learning that about one day in seven is necessary to recuperate the exhausted powers of nature. On this point we will adduce only two or three testimonies out of a great mass that lies before us. Dr. Willard Parker of New York city, says: “The Sabbath must be observed as a day of rest. This I do not state as an opinion, but knowing that it has its foundation upon a law in man’s nature, as fixed as that he must take food or die.” John R. Farre, M. D., of London, says: “As a day of rest I view the Sabbath as a day of compensation for the inadequate restorative power of the body under continued labor and excitement.” John C. Warren, M. D., Professor in the medical college of Harvard University, says: “I have a firm belief that such persons [Sabbath-keepers] are able to do more work, and do it in a better manner, in six days than if they worked the whole seven.” Thus we see that if the Sabbath has been abolished, we are physically the losers by it; for it was adapted to our wants. How is it morally? The opposer says that the Christian is required to live holy every day. So was the Jew. In the New Testament we have many exhortations to lay up treasures in Heaven; not to have our hearts overcharged with the cares of this life; and many similar passages. It is truly a great aid to us religiously to have one day’s freedom from the toils and cares of earth; a day to draw near to God and increase our knowledge of his word. If there were no Sabbath in the gospel age, then we should say that in that respect it was not as good as the Jewish dispensation. L. D. SANTEE. Is Ignorance a Sin?
By Reuben B. Will
To be ignorant of duty toward God, is thought by many at the present day to be almost a virtue; for, say they, If we do wrong and do not know any better we will never be condemned for it. Evidently this is a very loose view, and leads its possessor to indifference and carelessness in the service of God. Surely such are to be pitied. To be ignorant in worldly matters is considered so blamable, as to render its possessor unworthy of mingling with the higher class of minds, and such an one is soon banished into the outer darkness of society; but to be ignorant of God and his holy commandments, of Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit, and a Christian experience is considered to be nothing worthy of blame. According to the judgment of the world, he that hears not Chesterfield shall be damned, but it is neither shame nor sin to him that hears not Christ, Paul or the prophets; but God's thoughts are not as man's thoughts nor his ways as man's ways. “To the law and to the testimony,” whoever does not speak and act according to these, is not in the way of truth. In the old dispensation, ignorance was regarded as an offense, and God gave express directions what to do for sins of ignorance. Lev. 5: 4-6. When a person did wrong ignorantly and it afterward became known to him, he must confess it, and then bring an offering with which to make an atonement. Without an atonement, the person would bear his own iniquity. Chap. 5: 17. The New Testament recognizes the same law. Peter, when charging the Jews with killing the Prince of Life, says: “I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers” (Acts 3: 17), but did he excuse them and say, because you were ignorant it was no sin? No indeed. He says: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” Paul regarded ignorance inexcusable. Concerning the heathen he says: “For the invisible things of him [God] from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they [the heathen] are without excuse.” Rom. 1: 20. Jesus says: “He that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.” Luke 12: 48. His ignorance does not clear him. In most cases where men sin ignorantly they might have known better, but many now prefer a newspaper to a religious paper, and would rather read the last report of fashion than search the Scriptures, or fix an ornament on their head, rather than a religious doctrine in it. Some men will read more in a day about politics, stocks, accidents, and nonsense than they will about Christ and his commandments in a month. They will read more about a candidate for President and study his policy more in one campaign, than they will about the King of kings and his future reign in a whole life time. Would it not be considered a foolish thing for a man to shut his eyes at midday and then blame the sun if he strikes his foot against a stone and falls? When we consider man in his creation as endowed with intelligence, there is, and can be no excuse for ignorance. To know duty, one must use the means provided of God. He has given his word and called men to teach it, so that with the religious press to aid, no one need be ignorant of their duty toward God and man. Some do not desire knowledge, for say they, where much is given much will be required. This is willful ignorance, hence a double sin. We are responsible not only for what we know, but for what we might know, and will not take the trouble to find out. Heb. 2: 3. There is a heavy responsibility resting in this matter. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. . . . They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. And there shall be, like people, like priest.” Hosea 4: 6-9. The ministers of the present day are to a great extent responsible for the condition of the people. If the word of God is not just as they wish it to be they will not practice, much less teach it, for fear of becoming unpopular, and consequently lose their position and salary. See Isa. 26: 10, 11. The work of Christ is the wonder of angels, and shall we, who ought to be more interested in it, remain ignorant of the great plan of redemption, and the wonderful love of God in ordaining it? Let us not forget the tender mercies of God toward those who are willing to renounce their wrongs, and walk in his truth. And let us also remember that the excuse of ignorance will not be a cloak for our sins if we turn away from the light God gives us. REUBEN B. WILL.
New Market, Va. (Condensed from Review and Herald.) PARMA.— Last week we noticed the close of Bro. Whitney’s second course of lectures in this place. He remained another Sabbath and baptized several, organized a Sabbath-school with three Bible classes of adults, besides the children. We insert a portion of a testimonial signed by many prominent citizens, and published in the (Rochester) Sunday Morning Herald:— “Rev. S. B. Whitney: Your protracted labors amongst us having drawn to a close, we, the undersigned, desire to convey to you this evidence of our regard and esteem. This action on our part, the simple result of spontaneous feeling, is entirely unaffected by the varied influences of sectarianism; and you will please accept our sentiments as the expressions of a purely personal tribute.” “Your grand deliverances on the law of God, your highly instructive lectures on the prophecies, your earnest sermons on the faith of Christ and the teachings of the apostles, have been regularly attended by many of us for nearly three months. Novelty undoubtedly attracted some persons at the commencement, but as the Bible was opened, leaf by leaf, and passages usually regarded obscure, because woven into intellectual chains, were explained, those who came at first as passive listeners soon remained eager to investigate. We believe that your positions as advanced here are in harmony with scriptural truth and gospel spirit. To say that your ministration has evoked unwonted interest, is feebly to express its result; and in view of the pleasurable experience you have occasioned us, we most cordially commend your exercises in biblical thought and research to the careful consideration of those of our fellow creatures who can believe that the intelligence with which their Creator has endowed them is a factor in the solution of Truth, as applicable to their own cases, and who are sufficiently free from the trammels of bigotry to care little at the confusion of its elements. We admire the temperate demeanor which has characterized you, and attended you, triumphant, through a period pregnant with trial and annoyance. We believe you to be a sincere expounder of your profession,” “You will at all times receive a hearty welcome to come amongst us.” NEW ANTIOCH.— Bro. H. A. St. John reports that there are about thirty Sabbath-keepers in this vicinity. He commenced meetings, assisted by Bro. T. J. Butler, May 11. A good degree of interest was manifested to hear. He states that on the next Sunday night it was estimated that not one-half the people that came could get into the large school-room where the meetings were held. The friends felt assured that an audience of twelve or fifteen hundred people could easily have been gathered had there been a place to convene them. A good work evidently remains to be done in Antioch. Elder Butler was to continue meetings another week. BEAVER CREEK.— Brn. Fulton and Hill have closed their labors, for the present, in this place. They report a company of eighteen united in keeping the commandments of God. Sabbath meetings, weekly prayer and social meetings and a Sabbath-school are established among them. OSWEGO.— Bro. L. D. Santee was with the church in this place, May 12 and 13. He reports five more added to the church, and that perfect harmony prevails and all seem to be trying to draw near to God. NEW SWEDEN.— Bro. James Sawyer in speaking of the organization of the church in this place, says: “The Spirit of the Lord was present on the occasion. Thirty-two signed the covenant, and about ten more are ready to join at the earliest opportunity. The ordinances of the Lord’s house were celebrated for the first time. As baptism was administered, an unusual manifestation of God’s Spirit was present. The Baptist friends manifested much respect toward us on this occasion. Our friends in New Sweden express a desire to send the truth to their kinsmen in old Sweden. The Swedish Colony in Maine has representatives from every province in Sweden. We hope this will be the beginning of a good work in that land. We thank God for his blessing upon the Swedish mission in Maine, and for the interest which the American brethren manifest for the Scandinavians in this State.” CURTIS’ CORNERS.— The monthly meeting at this place is reported as one of much interest. Bro. M. Wood gave an interesting discourse on missionary labor, by which all were encouraged. After his discourse, nearly all gave a verbal report of labor. Some expressed a wish that they had more of the SIGNS to send out, stating that as they venture out, the field seems to be open before them. SYCAMORE MILLS AND SYCAMORE CHAPEL.— Bro. O. S. writes that he has held four meetings at the Mills the present month. At the last the house was crowded with attentive listeners. About six dollars’ worth of books were sold. He also spoke four times at the Chapel. There is still an encouraging state of things here. When Bro. Owen left, ten had signed a covenant to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Since then, six more have signed it, among whom are the local elder and the acting deacon of the Disciple church. The elder is county surveyor. The deacon is a justice of the peace, and has considerable influence in the neighborhood. There are also six or seven keeping the Sabbath, who have not signed the covenant, making in all over twenty Sabbath-keepers here. They have Sabbath meetings and a Bible class.