Review and Herald, Vol. 91, No. 52.
The Work in Kingston, JamaicaPage 1
Earlier text: The Work in Kingston, JamaicaThe Doctrine of Purgatory
By C. M. S.
“Rome Never Changes”—No. 5
The Doctrine of Purgatory
“There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.”
The sentiment of the hymn is true. It is in harmony with this scripture:— “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.
There is no limitation placed upon the power of that blood to cleanse. The death of Christ—the just for the unjust—makes possible the salvation of every soul that has ever entered this world. If all are not saved, that does not argue the insufficiency of that fountain of cleansing. The acceptance of that cleansing is not compulsory, and they who do not choose to accept are lost. The precious blood shed on Calvary is able to wash out all sin; but the sinner must choose its cleansing if it is to be efficacious in his behalf. No other sacrifice is necessary, and no other sacrifice can be either acceptable to God or effective in removing the stain of sin. All through the old dispensation the blood of bulls, of goats, and of lambs prefigured the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ, the sacrificial Lamb of God. Those victims pointed forward to him. While their blood could not take away sin, it could speak of that all-sufficient Sacrifice, and of the blood of that Sacrifice, which was to be shed for the remission of the sins of the race. The text declares that the blood of Jesus “cleanseth us from all sin.” The writer of Hebrews declares: “Now once7 at the end of the ages hath he [Jesus] been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Heb. 9:26. The Bible does not divide sin into “venial” (insignificant) and “mortal” (aggravated), as does the Roman Church. With the great Judge, sin is sin. Christ was sacrificed “to put away sin,” all sin; and his blood was shed in order that those who desire to accept its washing may be cleansed from “all sin.” The Word of God recognizes no other Saviour than Jesus, no other sin-cleansing blood than his, no other sacrifice for the removal of sin than his sacrifice. “In that day,” says the prophet, “there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.” Zech. 13:1. That means a place of cleansing, and that fountain is the blood of the Lamb of God, slain, in symbol, from the days of Adam. That is the true purgatory; for purgatory means a place of cleansing. In such a purgatory, in such a fountain, the apostolic church believed and trusted for cleansing, and the Inspired Record tells us of no other. It was several hundred years this side of the cross that the purgatory in which all the heathen world believed began to be brought into the Christian church. Today the doctrine of purgatory as a place of fearful torment is one of the fundamental tenets of the Roman Catholic Church. On the subject of purgatory the Council of Trent (1545-63) decreed as follows:— If any one saith that, after the grace of justification has been received, to every penitent sinner the guilt is remitted, and the debt of eternal punishment is blotted out in such wise that there remains not any debt of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world or in the next in purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be opened (to him); let him be anathema.—Council of Trent, sess. vi, can. 30.
That is to say: if after you have confessed your sin to God, as he invites you to do, you claim to be fully and completely forgiven, as God declares you are, the Roman Catholic Church declares that you are cursed (anathema); and she pronounces her curse upon you. Cardinal O’Connell, of Boston, in his book “The Catholic Church the True Church of the Bible,” makes this declaration concerning purgatory:— It is of faith that there is a place, which we call purgatory, where petty faults, or the temporal punishment due to sin, are expiated.—Page 178.
If “it is of faith,” as the cardinal says, then it is necessary for every soul to believe it, or be classed as a heretic and suffer whatever penalty the Church of Rome may feel itself able to inflict. Cardinal Bellarmine considers a belief in the purgatory of the Roman Church so important that its denial can be expiated only amid the flames of hell. See “The Papacy” (Wylie), page 349. If it be true that Rome never changes, then we should expect to find that the belief in purgatory, as now held by the Roman Church, had been held by that church from its earliest days. But what are the facts in reference to this tenet of the Roman creed? There is no text of Scripture which can be even tortured into teaching the doctrine of purgatory as held by the Roman Church. The apostolic writers have nothing to say of it. The early Fathers of the Catholic Church are silent in reference to such a doctrine. Somewhere between the days of the last apostle and our day the Church of Rome brought in that doctrine, and when she did that, she made a most radical change. It will be interesting at this point to note a rather frank and somewhat startling admission by Roman authorities in reference to this matter. The Benedictine editors of the works of Bishop Ambrose (who lived A. D. 340-397) make the following acknowledgment:— It is not surprising that Ambrose should have written as he has about the state of departed souls; but it seems to be almost incredible how uncertain and how various the holy Fathers have been upon the same question from the very time of the apostles to the pontificate of Gregory XI [A. D. 1370], and the Council of Florence [A. D. 1439]—that is, the period of almost fourteen hundred years. For not only does one Father differ from another, as in questions not yet defined by the church was likely to happen, but they are not even found to be consistent with themselves.—“Works of St. Ambrose,” Vol. I, page 385, Admonitio ad Lectorem. Edit. Bened. Parisiis, 1686.
Then, according to this admission, there was a period of nearly fourteen hundred years during which there was no definite ground taken, no generally accepted teaching of the Roman Church, in the matter of purgatory or the state of the dead. Origen put forth the theory that all, including the apostles and even the devil, would go through a fire and be ultimately saved; but the Fifth General Council (A. D. 553) condemned his theory. The purgatory idea was then beginning to work itself into the church. St. Augustine denounced that innovation in the following words:— The Catholic faith, resting on divine authority, believes the first place the kingdom of heaven, and the second hell. A third place we are wholly ignorant of; yea, we shall find in Scripture that it is not.—Aug. Hypog. 1. 5. Tom. VII. Basil, 1529.
No teacher of the Catholic Church kept nearer to the Scripture, in his teaching, than did Augustine. He could not find the third place—purgatory—in the Bible, and therefore rejected the idea, and opposed the efforts of others to fasten that doctrine upon the church. That brings the church well into the fifth century, on Augustine’s testimony, without any semblance of a purgatory such as Rome, under threat of a curse, forces her members to believe in today; and the testimony of the Benedictine editors of St. Ambrose’s Works proves that there was no certainty concerning it up to the time of Pope Gregory XI (A. D. 1370), and no acceptance of it as a doctrine of the church until the Council of Florence acted upon it in the year 1439. Thus for fourteen hundred years the Roman Catholic Church, according to Roman Catholic testimony, did not have the doctrine of purgatory as one of the tenets of its faith. Now any who do not believe in it are cursed with a curse. What about the millions of Roman Catholics who died during those first fourteen hundred years, refusing to believe in purgatory? Logically we must conclude that they are all in that place to which Cardinal Bellarmine consigns such unbelievers, and resting under the curse which the Council of Trent pronounces upon them. The testimony of the Benedictine editors, previously quoted, is of great importance in this question of the unchangeableness of Rome. Note again their declaration: “It seems to be almost incredible how uncertain and how various the holy Fathers have been. . . . For not only does one Father [pope] differ from another, . . . but they are not even found to be consistent with themselves.” Certainly there is no “unanimous consent of the ‘Fathers’” there, which is held to be so essential to the establishment of doctrine; and that admission proves at the same time that Rome was continually changing, upon this question at least, from the days of her first Fathers until 1439. The acceptance of the heathen belief in purgatory as a tenet of Catholic faith came as one of those disastrous climaxes of the policy of the Roman Church in the Dark Ages. Shut away from the Bible as a dangerous book, and surrounded by the multifarious beliefs and cults of heathenism, it is not strange that heathenism should sweep into the church as an overwhelming flood. That is what did take place, until the doctrines of the heathen world became crystallized into ecclesiastical dogmas, and practically every striking belief of heathendom was sprinkled with holy water and given a Christian name—a pseudonym. Thus in the matter of purgatory Rome did change. It was a most radical change, so radical that she cursed with a curse the belief of her own founders. What they believed she anathematizes; what they did not believe she exalts into a dogma of the church and forces belief in it under threat of damnation. If the Roman Church is founded upon Peter8 and every Pope is a successor of Peter, then Peter has been of very uncertain opinion and of very changeable faith since he was “given the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” But the apostle Peter is in no way responsible for this. While he sleeps, awaiting the call to life of his blessed Master, the enemy has been sowing tares in his name, and charging the crop to him. C. M. S. A Retrospect
By Irving H. Evans
EVERY successful business firm takes an inventory at the close of each fiscal year, to determine whether the business has been successful or otherwise. This comparison and balancing of accounts forms the basis for future operations. It is the only way to determine whether there has been gain or loss, and in what proportions. In the same way we learn of the growth of organizations, either secular or religious. Brother Edson Rogers, statistical secretary of the General Conference, has completed his report for 1913, and it will be most instructive to those who will give time to its consideration. There are those who have gone from among us who seemingly persist in misrepresenting our work, and in declaring that the denomination is not making progress. They seem to glory in loudly boasting that the “message” has come to a standstill, and that our losses exceed our gains. Let us look at the report for the year 1913, the statistics of which have recently been compiled, and are published in this number of the REVIEW for the benefit of our people. At the close of 1912 our membership was reported to be 114,206. At the close of 1913 it had increased to 122,386, making a net gain, above all losses by death and otherwise, of 8,180, or 7.16 per cent in one year. The baptisms reported for 1913 were 12,794, or a gain of 11.20 per cent over our 1912 membership. The difference between the baptisms and the net gain is accounted for quite largely by the death rate. The rule used by nations, that man's average life throughout the world is twenty-eight years, if applied to these statistics, accounts for 4,078 deaths, leaving only 536, or less than one half of one per cent loss, for all other causes. Our tithe for 1912 aggregated $1,653,624.54. In 1913 our people paid tithe to the amount of $1,771,989.60, an increase of $118,365.06. The total contributions for home and foreign work in 1912 were $2,702,199.02, while in 1913 they totaled $2,866,727.40, making a gain of $164,528.38. Our total expenditure for the year in all lines of denominational work was $4,002,141.52, an average of $32.70 for each communicant. During the year 1913 the property holdings of the denomination increased $671,720.47, making a total investment of $12,812,783.61 in real and personal property, represented in institutions and church buildings. No less encouraging is the growth of our publishing work. From our 37 publishing houses and branches, with an investment of $1,488,388.46, and employing 734 persons, we sold and distributed $1,869,714.48 worth of literature, employing 2,060 colporteurs. Our literature sales for 1912 amounted to $1,836,527.86. Thus, in 1913 we increased the sale of our literature $33,186.62, after deducting nearly $150,000, which would have increased the literature sales for 1913 that amount had we followed the same form of reporting as was used in 1912. This literature is printed in eighty different languages, and consists of 360 bound books, 325 pamphlets, 1,200 tracts, and 128 periodicals. Our educational work is also making rapid growth, and many well-trained workers are being sent into the mission fields. We are conducting 786 schools, with a teaching force of 1,511, and a total enrollment of 27,379. During the year 1913, 828 students from our schools entered some department of our denominational work. In 1912 we had 4,450 Sabbath schools, while at the close of 1913 we had 4,732, a gain of 282 in the number of schools. The membership increased from 114,897 in 1912 to 123,068 in 1913, making a gain of 8,171. These Sabbath schools donated $232,682.40 to foreign missions in 1912. In 1913 they contributed $291,711.76, or $2.37 per member. Thus 1913 not only shows increased membership in our Sabbath schools, but increased contributions to the amount of $59,029.36. This department of the work is rapidly growing. Its membership increased 5,400 during 1913. There are 964 Missionary Volunteer Societies, with a membership of 19,428. In 1913 these societies contributed $24,380.20 to the work in other lands. Laborers Sent to Foreign Fields
The year 1913 was the banner year in our history in adding recruits to mission fields. The General Conference sent out 157 missionaries during the year, holding every foot of ground we have gained, and making it possible to open not a few new stations, especially in heathen lands. Surely the Lord has prospered his work, and its growth exceeds anything in the history of this people. Every believer can look heavenward with thanksgiving, for the good hand of the Lord has been upon us, and to his name be all the praise. I. H. EVANS. Why Men Are Called Into Service
By R. C. PORTER
UNTO the wicked the Lord says, “What hast thou to do to declare my statutes?” To men preparing for gospel work, Peter says, “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” 1 Peter 3:15. When Isaiah had experienced a change of heart, the Lord called him into service that he might teach others how to gain the same experience. Isa. 6: 5-8. When Saul of Tarsus, in humiliation, after being stricken down by the great light which enshrouded him, shutting him in with the presence of Christ, asked, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” he was called to become an apostle to the Gentiles. When Nehemiah had fasted, prayed, and sought God with weeping on account of apostasy and calamities that had befallen Israel, he was called to lead them in a work of reformation. It was not by any scheme of his own or by any confederacy of his friends that Nehemiah was called to his work. It was all accomplished very simply through one of God’s remarkable providences. The call of Nehemiah to his work, as recorded in the second chapter of his book, is a most interesting story. After his period of fasting, prayer, and weeping, he resumed his duties as usual. As he served wine before the king, the king observed that a change had taken place in Nehemiah’s appearance. His countenance, usually bright and cheerful, appeared sad and serious. Out of this experience God was preparing the way for the recovery and restoration of Israel. “Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, and said unto the king, Let the king live forever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchers, that I may build it.” Neh. 2: 2-5. The heart of the king had been fully prepared for the occasion, and he at once made full provision for the restoration9 of the city and government of Israel in Jerusalem, and commissioned Nehemiah with full authority for the work. God’s providences are remarkable in that when he calls a man to a work, he at the same time works upon the hearts of others who must cooperate in his plans, so that there is no failure in his program. In the days of Daniel, Michael was sent to work with the “prince of the kingdom of Persia.” Dan. 10: 13. When, after Nebuchadnezzar’s reason had been dethroned and for seven years he had eaten grass as the beasts of the field, the time drew near for his restoration to the kingship, it would seem natural that his lords and the people would resent having a madman return to the throne. But through the influence of divine agencies that were working to prepare hearts for cooperation with the Lord’s plans, he had prepared the people for the occasion, and at the appointed time Nebuchadnezzar said: “At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” Dan. 4: 36, 37. This is further illustrated in the case of Joseph, who was sent into Egypt to preserve the lives of his father’s house during the terrible famine that devastated their land. Gen. 45: 5-8. In all these instances God chose humble men of prayer, who had a soul burden to be right with God themselves, and a deep concern for the prosperity of his people. They spurned the honor which position offers self-centered hypocrites, and were pressed beneath the burden of the great cause of their Master, as the cart is pressed beneath the sheaves. They labored for no other reward than to rescue the perishing. God is calling for such men today to “make up the hedge, and stand in the gap,” that his people may stand in the great last-day conflict with the powers of darkness. This is our day of opportunity. How shall we meet it? Shall we weep, fast, and pray in preparation for the great work to which we are called? Nehemiah realized that in making up the breaches in the wall around Jerusalem, and in rescuing Israel from apostasy and captivity, he was engaged in a great work. In the work of recovering modern Israel from an apostasy in which a breach has been made in the law of God, we are confronted by the most stupendous task ever committed to any people. It is the climax of the conflict of the ages. Every one who properly senses the gravity of the call and the greatness of the work, will seek wisdom of the Great Counselor, and a preparation by fasting, weeping, and prayer, for the finishing of the great work which divine Providence has given us to do, to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. The exhortation to preparation for our work is most striking: “Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord, Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” Joel 1: 13-15. The second chapter of Joel continues this urgent call to preparation for service, and records the results. The third chapter closes the scene with Armageddon and the second coming of Christ. We face responsibilities overwhelmingly great; but God is greater than our responsibilities. Connected with him, we cannot fail.
R. C. PORTER. A WRITER in the United Presbyterian declares that the responsibility for the great increase in crime, which is apparent on every side, lies primarily with the home:— In many homes presided over by well-meaning but foolish parents, children are allowed to grow up willful, disobedient, and lawless. The parents refuse to chastise them for their evil conduct, calling corporal punishment degrading; but what is more degrading than crime and lawlessness? . . . The only sure cure for crime is the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a safe, certain, and abiding cure for all kinds of lawlessness and the youthful criminality of our day. One Year's Cost of the Present War
A few days ago David Lloyd-George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said in a speech in the House of Commons that he estimated the war for one year would cost Great Britain $2,750,000,000, the largest amount England has ever spent on any war, and more than twice as much as was spent in the four years’ conflict in South Africa. Parliament has voted to raise a loan of more than one billion dollars, the largest single loan ever made by any government in the world. When we realize that this expenditure pertains to Great Britain alone, and does not include the expenditure of France, Russia, Germany, and the other nations involved, we can obtain a faint idea of the large amount of money required to carry on the present conflict. A RECENT number of the United Presbyterian gives the following statistics with reference to the population of the world's territory embraced in the operations of the terrible conflict which is now going forward:— An impressive statement comes from London as to the area and number of people involved in the great war. In round numbers, out of a total land surface of 51,500,000 square miles (excluding the uninhabitable regions) 30,000,000 square miles is occupied by the eleven belligerent powers, and about 1,000,000,000 of the 1,800,000,000 human beings on this planet are directly involved in the great war. Apportioning the area and population between the two opposing groups, there is a vast preponderance of both on the side of the allies, which own 27,500,000 square miles, and have about 840,000,000 people under their rule, against the 2,000,000 square miles and 160,000,000 people to the credit of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey. In Asia the belligerent area amounts to 9,300,000 square miles, the total area of the continent being about 16,500,000 square miles. Hence over 56 per cent is at war. Of the population of Asia 475,000,000 out of 980,000,000 — say 48½ per cent — must be classed as belligerent. Africa is, proportionately, even more affected than Europe. About 10,500,000 square miles out of 11,700,000 — nearly 90 per cent — and 125,000,000 of the 137,000,000 inhabitants — over 90 per cent — are at war. The only neutral regions are the Italian and Spanish colonies, and the native states of Abyssinia and Liberia. If there is inclusion of Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and the islands of the Pacific not adjacent to the American or the Asiatic continents, over 95 per cent of the area and more than 94 per cent of the population belong to the combatant powers. Dutch New Guinea, the American islands of the Samoan group, Guam, and the Sandwich Islands are the only neutral territories. Both continents of the New World are much less affected than any of the Old World divisions, though Canada accounts for a large proportion of the area of North America. Including Central America and the West Indies in the northern continent, it will be found that about 3,915,000 square miles out of 8,757,000 — say 45½ per cent — and 10,500,000 of the 136,500,000 people — not quite 8 per cent — must be classed as belligerent. South America occupies the happiest position of all. Out of an area of over 7,500,000 square miles and a population of about 52,500,000, only 128,500 square miles of territory and 350,000 human beings are subject to any of the combatants. Tsungwesi Mission, Eastern Rhodesia
SISTER JEWELL, in reporting the work at the Tsungwesi Mission, tells of their experiences since returning from the Cape, where both she and her husband were forced to go soon after reaching Africa. “We have just received a little news of the war, which is already causing all groceries to cost enormous prices. Flour is £1 12s. per 100 pounds, and the grocers will sell but a few pounds at a time. We were fortunate enough to buy one hundred pounds a short time ago.” “Mr. Jewell is real well now, and is getting stronger all the time. He teaches during the forenoon, also in the evening. I do not begin teaching till ten in the morning. In the evening I have a class of twelve young men who work on the farm and do not attend day school, but who study English here at the house. Baby Everett sits on my lap and smiles at the black faces for a while, and soon falls asleep. Eugene, and Chasayi, the native girl who stays with me, care for him mornings while I am at school.” “The school is growing, the present enrollment being ninety-six, and many of them are fine young men. Outside of school hours, besides the other work, they are very busy making brick for the new buildings. We need so much a new schoolhouse, girls’ dormitory, a church, and an addition to the dining room.” The Pemba Mission in Barotseland
Sister W. H. Anderson, in personal letters to the Cape, mentions how the mission at Pemba, in Northwestern Rhodesia, is progressing. Brother and Sister Anderson are voted a furlough, which they expect to take down at the Cape, spending some time at the sanitarium first to recuperate from recent attacks of malaria. She writes of their closing work at the mission:— “Mr. Anderson and I have been doing a great deal of village work since Elder White was here. We first went to an outstation forty miles south, where we found a fine school, and the teacher doing good work. The schools we visited which lie north of us were all prospering, with the exception of one which is situated in the midst of a wild tribe, and is somewhat affected by the spirit of unrest caused by the war. “We were away four weeks, but were obliged to leave one school unvisited, as Mr. Anderson was having fever all the time, and we felt he should not go farther. The fever season being past, I feel very anxious for him.” “As soon as he was a little better, he started on a long trip in another direction. I have seen him go away a good many times, but never before did it seem so hard to let him go. I wish it had been possible for me to accompany him, but it did not seem wise, as the two hundred miles which had to be made largely on foot would have been too hard for me. He felt it was necessary for him to go, as no one else knew the way or the boys. “Brother and Sister Wilson are well, and are doing well in the work.” We have learned since the above was written that Brother Anderson returned safely, and that one hundred boys are now enrolled in the school. The Work in Kingston, Jamaica
By N. J. AALBORG
WORK was started in this city in 1893, the first church being organized in that year. Since then many faithful workers have labored here, some even being called to lay down their lives on the altar of service. Many changes have taken place, but God's care has been over the work, giving light in place of spiritual darkness in many hearts. The work begun in the city of Kingston has grown until we now have a conference in Jamaica of nearly two thousand members, and a strong band of workers in the field. In Kingston we have a church of about five hundred members, and many others are studying the truth with us. The writer, with his family, was called to this field from far-off western Canada, in the spring of 1913, to connect with the Kingston church in labor. We have now been here a few months, and have enjoyed being among these people very much. We are rejoiced to see some fruit from our efforts, in new believers added to the church. Since we came, over fifty persons have been baptized. The present baptismal class has an enrollment of forty, of all ages. The regular services of the church are well attended and unusually orderly. The Sabbath school is in many respects a model. The young people's society is well organized, and is active in the distribution of literature and in doing other missionary work. Their meetings are a source of encouragement to our church, and a blessing to the young people themselves. The meetings held each Sunday night are well attended by those not of our faith, the church members being encouraged to bring their friends. Doctrinal subjects, such as are of special interest at this time, are presented, and the people are interested to hear the truth concerning the signs of the times. The war in Europe has caused a spirit of anxious inquiry in this island, which is, as all know, under the rule of England. We have taken advantage of this unrest to tell of the prophecies concerning the last day, the soon coming of Christ, the end of the world, and the need of heart preparation on the part of each one to meet the terrible events so soon to come upon the earth. We are anxious to have those for whom we labor learn more and more of this saving message. To this end we are using the printed page and doing personal work as far as possible, in addition to our public services. IN a recent communication from Brother James E. Shultz, who is connected with the publishing work in Shanghai, he tells so many interesting experiences that we are glad to pass them on to the readers of the REVIEW. He says:— “Despite the fact that some of us have had little experience in connection with the work here, the Lord is blessing our efforts, and people are being brought into the truth through reading our literature. Our monthly edition of the magazine now totals 88,000. During the month of July this press did more work than in any two months in its previous existence. And this was done in spite of the fact that our colporteurs are working under difficulties. Floods, brigands, and alien armies are contributing their share of difficulties, so that the faithful canvasser is hindered on every side. We have recently heard of the arrest of four of our canvassers, two of them in Shantung, where the Japanese are operating against the Germans. Our young men were charged with being spies; and when you consider the swiftness with which such crimes are punished, especially in China, you can appreciate that it was only through divine interposition that they escaped. “You see it is the custom of spies for the revolutionary leaders in China to disguise themselves as agents of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Chinese government, having discovered this, takes every precaution to apprehend them; hence the arrest of our young men. They tell us that they readily appreciated the danger that confronted them when taken before the magistrate, but, like Paul and Silas of old, they committed themselves to the care of Him whose servants they are. After carefully examining their literature, the officers released them. “It seems that Satan was directly interested in destroying them and their work, but the Lord overruled; and the very next city they entered, the chief men sought them out and demanded a reason for their hope. After several days of careful study, about eight of the leading men of the place took their stand for the truth. Thus we see that God has honest hearts in China, awaiting the proclamation of this message. MRS. C. C. L
By MRS. C. C. L.
Practical Problems of Home Makers—No. 2
I RECEIVED your good letter some time ago. I am sorry to have been so long in answering it. I hope you received the REVIEW which I sent you, and I am wondering how you get along without having the REVIEW regularly. I hope that you will be able to take it soon. I feel that we cannot afford to be without this weekly visitor in these days when events are hastening on so rapidly that it is difficult for us to keep in touch even by having the papers. I was interested in what you wrote concerning discipline. I think there are times when the rod is the best medicine. Still, if children are properly trained from infancy, it is not necessary to use it very often, as they soon reach the years of understanding when one can talk with them and reason with them. Personally, I never knew how to govern without a little help from the rod, but the way it is usually applied seems cruel to me. I believe that discipline should begin at birth by teaching the child regularity of habit. If we pursue this course with firmness and gentleness, much of the trouble with disobedience will be avoided. The children will fall into the habit of doing things at stated times, and will thus come to act in harmony with law. As they learn to recognize law in the household, they will be the more readily recognize the divine law when they become older.