p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 15. (4/11/1900)

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NOTE.—We wish those who ask questions to take particular notice: (1) Only such questions will be answered here as we believe to be of general interest and information. (2) We can not undertake to explain from four to a dozen scriptures, as in one sentence we are often requested to do. (3) Do not ask to "explain" a certain text or passage. State clearly the point in question. (4) Give full name and address, not for publication unless desired, but as evidence of good faith, and to give us the privilege of replying by letter if deemed best. (5) Unsigned communications of any kind find the quickest way to the waste-basket. (6) It is always well to inclose stamp. (7) "Foolish and unlearned questions avoid," also those that minister to mere curiosity. (8) Study the Scriptures yourselves.

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Literal Translation of the Greek New Testament

XIII, XIV. I CORINTHIANS. 459

13 Ἐὰν ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαλῶ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, γέγονα χαλκὸς ἠχῶν ἢ κύμβαλον ἀλαλάζον. 2 καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω προφητείαν, καὶ εἰδῶ τὰ μυστήρια πάντα καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γνῶσιν, καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω πᾶσαν τὴν πίστιν, ὥστε ὄρη μεθιστάνειν, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, "οὐδὲν" εἰμι. 3 καὶ ἐὰν "ψωμίσω" πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου, καὶ ἐὰν παραδῶ τὸ σῶμά μου ἵνα καυθήσωμαι, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, "οὐδὲν" ὠφελοῦμαι. 4 Ἡ ἀγάπη μακροθυμεῖ, χρηστεύεται· ἡ ἀγάπη οὐ ζηλοῖ· ἡ ἀγάπη οὐ περπερεύεται, οὐ φυσιοῦται, 5 οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ, οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς, οὐ παροξύνεται, οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν, 6 οὐ χαίρει ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ, συγχαίρει δὲ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, 7 πάντα στέγει, πάντα πιστεύει, πάντα ἐλπίζει, πάντα ὑπομένει. 8 Ἡ ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε ἐκπίπτει· εἴτε δὲ προφητεῖαι, καταργηθήσονται· εἴτε γλῶσσαι, παύσονται· εἴτε γνῶσις, καταργηθήσεται. 9 ἐκ μέρους γὰρ γινώσκομεν, καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν· 10 ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον, τότε τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται. 11 ὅτε ἤμην νήπιος, ὡς νήπιος ἐλάλουν, ὡς νήπιος ἐφρόνουν, ὡς νήπιος ἐλογιζόμην· ὅτε δὲ γέγονα ἀνήρ, κατήργηκα τὰ τοῦ νηπίου. 12 βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι δι' ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι, τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον· ἄρτι γινώσκω ἐκ μέρους, τότε δὲ ἐπιγνώσομαι καθὼς καὶ ἐπεγνώσθην. 13 νυνὶ δὲ μένει πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη, τὰ τρία ταῦτα· μείζων δὲ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη.

14 Διώκετε τὴν ἀγάπην· ζηλοῦτε δὲ τὰ πνευματικά, μᾶλλον δὲ ἵνα προφητεύητε. 2 ὁ γὰρ λαλῶν γλώσσῃ, οὐκ ἀνθρώποις λαλεῖ, ἀλλὰ τῷ θεῷ· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀκούει, πνεύματι δὲ λαλεῖ μυστήρια.

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Testimonies for the Church

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Puerto Rico’s Sorrowful Condition

James Creelman cables from San Juan, Puerto Rico, under date of March 19, to the San Francisco Examiner: “I looked to-day on the most sorrowful sight ever seen on American soil. Vast multitudes of merchants, bankers, planters, and laborers, headed by the mayor of San Juan and the president of the Chamber of Commerce, walked in death-like silence, like a great funeral procession, to the palace to ask the American Government not to make the American flag the symbol of oppression in American territory. . . . Meetings are held to-day in all the cities and towns of Puerto Rico. . . . Meanwhile special prayers are offered in all the churches. This morning, for hours, I watched American men with tears in their eyes distributing relief to hundreds of white, trembling widows and orphans. Hundreds of women in the mountains are almost naked.”

The Only Standard

By Editor

The Only Standard.—The following is printed in defense of straight prohibition voting. The principle is just as applicable in all the concerns of life. How refreshing it would be if every Christian would abide by the principle: (1) A Christian voter ought to do RIGHT. (2) Educate everybody to do RIGHT. (3) Support the Prohibition party so long

as there is no other, RIGHT. I must do right. That is the beginning of Christian citizenship. The ego is the temple of the Logos—the secret place of the Most High.’ I can not teach until I have been taught. I can not know in advance the far resultants of interacting social forces. I can only listen to the voice of the Eternal, and He deigns or dares to tell me but one thing, ‘This is RIGHT,’ and for myself, by faith, I add the postulate, ‘This will win,’ but ‘the times and the seasons are in His hands.’ So, then, the longer and complexer is the purpose, the closer I must stick to this first course of my building.’” And we add, Amen.

The Spirit of Republicanism.

By Editor

We praise God for the spirit of equality, the spirit of true republicanism, the spirit of true democracy, which yet exists in America. An evidence of this is given in the Outlook department, in an article, "That Mississippi Criminal Again." Through the unholy traditions of the past, Sunday laws exist in most of the States; but as long as true republicanism survives among the people, these medieval laws are practically inoperative. It is only the imperial spirit, the spirit of caste, of inequality, which makes Sunday laws and other oppressive measures operative. But before the imperial trend strong men are bowing to-day, and, according to the Word and the signs, it will not be long ere it will dominate the land. Many will awake to the deception too late.

An Open Door

By Editor

An Open Door.—We presume that Chinese wish an open door in the United States, which the United States refuses. On the other hand, the United States just now seems to have succeeded in forcing “an open door” in China. But however open the doors of earth may be, there is one open door for all—Chinese or American, Filipino or Puertorican, and it opens to glorious and eternal possibilities and realities. Our Captain and Brother has gone before and opened it; and He sends back word to every soul, “I have set before thee an open door , and no man can shut it.” Reader, will you enter?

A TIMELY PAMPHLET.

By Editor

A GREAT deal is said in these days of “much talk” on the subject of Christian patriotism and Christian citizenship. Very much is said far from the truth. Very much is only theory at best. Yet it ought to commend itself to every Christian that the only place to find out what Christian patriotism and citizenship are, is the Word of God, Christ’s teaching.

A pamphlet has just been issued which goes to the root and origin of the matter. It is entitled “CHRISTIAN PATRIOTISM,” and is written by Alonso T. Jones. It is No. 15 of The Bible Student’s Library. The pamphlet consists of seventeen lucid chapters, beginning with man’s duty to God, and the origin of the State, and tracing the great question of the relationship of Church and State, from the beginning of earth’s history to the present day. It not only presents the true principles, but the demonstration of the truth of the principles in the history of the people of God. The truth of the true is demonstrated both by departure from its principles and adherence to them; and this book shows the demonstration of the true in both respects. It ought to have a million circulation. Its price is fifteen cents. Address this office, or any of our branch offices.

Gehenna, the Rubbish Heap

By Editor

“Gehenna, the Rubbish Heap.”—The Sunday School Times, in a recent article under the above heading, thus speaks of the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), used in the New Testament as a symbol of the doom and place of punishment of the wicked. The above paper says:—

“That valley had been defiled, in the times of the Jewish kings, by the foul and cruel worship of Moloch. Rabbinical tradition tells us that, after the return from the captivity, it was given over to be a place where all that was useless, foul, and corrupt was consumed. It was the rubbish heap of a great city, where the fires never went out, and where the vulture came from above and the worm from beneath to their scavenging work. To be flung into that valley was to be stamped as worthless and useless, as incapable of any service to man or to beast.”

This is true. We consume what is “worthless and useless.” “Gehenna” is a symbol of utter destruction, where the destroyers, symbolized by worm and fire, will not cease till their work is accomplished. Yet men would have us believe that God preserved “the worthless and useless” to all eternity! What for? Paganism is responsible for the idea.

A STRANGE APPEAL FOR SUNDAY!

THE last issue of Mr. Sheldon's experiment of a "Christian daily," the Topeka Capital, was dated "Saturday evening, March 17, 1900." Apart from its advertisements its reading matter is composed almost wholly of quotations from the Bible, under the general head, "The Bible: the Basis of Our Christian Civilization." Mr. Sheldon has an editorial on the first page on "The Saturday Evening Edition," in which he descants at some length on the divine origin of the sabbath and its benefits, and the propriety of one paper a week being distinctly religious. He tells us that no Sunday work was done on that issue by pressmen, mailing clerks, or carriers. All this for Sunday, which Mr. Sheldon observes.

To impress the idea of Sunday-keeping upon others, he fills two columns of his first page with quotations from the Bible. These are from Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 16: 23-30; 20: 8-11; 23: 10, 11; 31: 12-17; 34: 21; 35: 1-3; Lev. 16: 29-31; 19: 30; Deut. 5: 12-15; Neh. 10: 28-33; 13: 15-22; Isa. 56: 1, 2; 58: 13, 14; Jer. 17: 21-27; Eze. 20: 12-16; Amos 8: 4-8; Matt. 12: 1-8; Mark 3: 1-6; Luke 13: 10-17; 14: 1-6; John 5: 2-18. The quotations are from the Revised Version.

Now here is the remarkable thing: these quotations, severally and collectively, one and all, concern but one day, namely, the Sabbath, the seventh day of the seven, and have no application to the first day of the week, or Sunday.

Why did Mr. Sheldon use them? Why did he not quote those scriptures which enjoin Sunday observance?—For the very simple reason that there are no such scriptures. All Sabbath commandments, all instruction as to the observation of the day, pertain to one day alone, the seventh day of the cycle, the Sabbath of the Lord. They can not by any means be applied to Sunday without a wrestling of the Scriptures. It is a strange appeal. It is as tho a man should make his whole argument for the nomination and election of Mr. Bryan as an appeal for the re-election of Mr. McKinley. It is as tho a man should appeal for the completion of the De Lesseps Panama Canal as an appeal for the Nicaragua Canal.

When Mr. Sheldon issued two papers on Saturday, March 17, he issued both on the day which Jesus Christ observed as the Sabbath, nay, more, which He made in the beginning, which He commanded forever.

If true Sabbath reform is desired, why will our friends base it upon a lie? A counterfeit bill or coin may pass current among men, and it does not matter greatly in a commercial way; but God's laws are eternal realities. "Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted," says Jesus, "shall be rooted up." Sunday is not of God's planting. The false by use can never become true. The base can never become the pure. The counterfeit can never become the genuine. The first day of God's work can never become the seventh day—His day of rest.

We know that men have been ignorant of this in the past. Tradition and custom have blinded the minds of millions of honest souls. But now God calls men back to Him. "Fear God, and give glory to Him, . . . and worship Him that made heaven, and earth."

Hope for the Greatest Sinner

By Editor

To-day a bright young man, at the end of a long debauch, stood before me and asked, "Do you think there is hope for such as I am?" We told him that we did. There is hope for every one in Jesus Christ. "But," he continued, "it seems a little unjust; my father and grandfather were both hard drinkers." "Yes," we replied, "but God 'giveth more grace.' Jesus Christ 'is able to save to the uttermost.' Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. 'Wherein they [all the gods of evil] dealt proudly, He was above them.' It matters not how great the sin, there is hope in Jesus Christ. He is a great Saviour."

CONTAINED IN THIS NUMBER.

By Editor

Poetry. He Giveth Peace, C. M. Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 God Knows, BERT RUSSELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

General. The Water of Life, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 “Paul, a Prisoner of Jesus Christ,” AUGUSTA W. HEALD . . . . . . . 2 Victory over Temptation, MRS. E. G. WHITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Gethsemane, BIRDIE WATSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Father of Lies, H. C. GILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Man's Condition in Death, J. O. CORLISS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Which Day Do You Keep? A. SMITH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Editorial. “The Two Covenants” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Question Corner.—Nos. 1039 to 1034 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Outlook.—Sunday Desecration, the Reason—Is Rome Becoming Liberal?—Chickens Die of Consumption—That Mississippi Criminal Again, R. S. OWEN—A Deceptive Prosperity—A Million-dollar Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 9

Missions.—Character of the Chinese, W. E. HOWELL—Within Four Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 11

The Home.—The Training of the Child’s Will, FREDERICK GRIGGS—The Significance of Pain in the Chest, DAVID PAULSON, M.D.—One Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13

International Sabbath-school and Sunday-school Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Publishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

God’s Message Today

The test of our loyalty is not in heeding God's message of yesterday, but in heeding God's message to-day.

The Test of Character Is Now

The test of character is NOW. The present is all we have. Give up present sin. Accept God's present cleansing, present help, present light. Do present duty; there is no other. Live in the present. "To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." "Now is the acceptable time."

Ecumenical Conference Report on Foreign Missions

By Editor

In our Missions department this week will be found a notice of the report of the Ecumenical Conference on Foreign Missions, to be published in two volumes. We think, as is suggested in the report itself, that every minister, church, and missionary society will find these volumes a great help. It will be noticed that all who subscribe for them before May 1 will get them for $2.00 instead of $2.50, the regular retail price.

The Mind—the Will

By Editor

The Mind—the Will.—In another column is an article containing excellent suggestions respecting the study of a child’s mind and the training of the will. These are necessities, as the article well sets forth. But we would like to supplement the thoughts there presented by saying that the only being in all this universe who understands the workings of the human mind is God, the Creator; His Word, therefore, is the best book in the world on psychology. Again, the use of the will is all-important. But the only way that the will can be properly trained is by submitting it to God’s will. The only way man can be independent is to be dependent upon God. The only way he can be free is to be God’s servant.

A Chinese Who Has Accepted Christ—Congenial and Intelligent.