The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 14 (April 1, 1880)

The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald

April 1, 1880

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · April 1, 1880

MISSIONARY ADDRESS.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

(Concluded.)

SOME ministers who have power in presenting the truth from the desk, neglect their duty in the family circle. They should manifest deep feeling in speaking of the truth in the families they visit, and then bow down and plead with God, that the light of truth may find its way to the heart of every member of the family. We should feel the responsibilities that rest upon us as Christians, and labor as though we realized the value of souls, remembering that one soul saved in the kingdom of God is worth more than ten thousand worlds like this. When we have this spirit, we can more readily convince others that we have the truth. But so long as indifference is manifested, we cannot expect to exert a decided influence in drawing others to God.

When we see a world lying in wickedness, sinners going to ruin, and appeals for help coming from all directions, we are reminded of the many young men who might be workers in the cause of truth, if they would consecrate themselves to God. There are many who might be as efficient workers in the cause as those who are already in the field. God has not chosen any persons to engage in his work to the exclusion of others, but he has accepted those who were willing to bear burdens and responsibilities.

I have just returned from Indiana, where the people are eager to hear the truth. Upon very brief notice, houses of worship were crowded. Although it was in feebleness that I attempted to speak to the people, yet God sustained and strengthened me. When I saw the house so crowded, and the people so eagerly listening to the truth, my soul was stirred within me. My mind went out to the great missionary field. We are not all called to occupy the desk, but we are all called to be missionaries, though perhaps in a limited sense. None can be excused. It is the duty of every one to sow the seed of truth, that it may spring up and bear fruit to the glory of God. The Lord has not given his work into the hands of a few men only; but he has given to every man his charge.

The design of this Institute is to teach you how to work; and we hope that you will give time and attention to this course of instruction. Here is a God-given privilege, in the improvement of which you may learn how to labor intelligently for the Master. God will help all who will take hold to help themselves; but we cannot expect light and help to be given us unless we heed the light we already have. If we would be efficient laborers in the cause of God, we must learn how to work. If you would be a carpenter, you must learn the carpenter’s trade; if you would be a worker for the Master, you must learn how to work for him. You should study to do your work well. It is the duty of every one so to labor that those who come into the truth, will come in ready to work in harmony with us on all points.

A few have borne the responsibilities and burdens of the work; but the cause is increasing, and their arms cannot encircle it. The work is becoming so much extended that no one individual can carry it forward. As Elders Haskell and Whitney have labored in the missionary cause, and have tried to show others how to work, they have met with success, and have gained an experience which they should impart to others. If you have already been somewhat successful in this branch of the work, do not think that you have learned all that is worth knowing, but attend this Institute and learn all you can. There are points on which you may receive instruction. The plans may be different from yours; if so, try to follow them, and work in harmony. It cannot be expected that all minds will run in the same channel; but you can all work understandingly after the same plan.

The tract and missionary work is an important part of the third angel’s message. Canvassers must go out into various parts of the country. The importance of this work is fully equal to that of the ministry. The living preacher and the silent messenger are both required for the accomplishment of the great work before us.

I see before me a number of youth. I hope you will individually feel the importance of laboring in the missionary cause. I love to see the young working for the Master; but it pains me to see young people professing our faith, waste their time and energies on outside adornments. How much better it would be for these persons to employ their time in the formation of beautiful characters, and in helping in the work of gathering souls into the fold of Christ. I would that you who are devoting your time to frivolity and needless display, could look over on the other shore and see the result of such a selfish, indifferent course.

All of us can be workers for the Master. Women might do much more in the missionary cause, if they would. There are many positions which they could fill acceptably. We should all learn to be self-denying and self-sacrificing; and as time is spent in preparing to present a pleasing outward appearance, so let us study to form such characters as shall rightly represent the religion of Christ before the world. As you go out to labor in the missionary work, your deportment and manner should be such as to please, and not to offend. You should labor in meekness, and with the fear of God before you. You should be Christian ladies and gentlemen; let your conversation and deportment be such as will recommend you to others.

There is missionary labor to be done in the distribution of tracts and papers, and in canvassing for our different publications. Let none of you think that you cannot engage in this work because it is taxing, and requires time and thought. If it requires time, give it cheerfully; and the blessing of God will rest upon you. There never was a time when more workers were needed than at the present. There are brethren and sisters throughout all our ranks who should discipline themselves to engage in this work; in all our churches something should be done to spread the truth. It is the duty of all to study the various points of our faith, that they may be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is within them, with meekness and fear.

A great work is before us. There are souls to be saved; and we are responsible for the salvation of those around us. Let every one see how much he can do to get the light before others. You will meet with ridicule, but that need not hinder you. Show yourselves men and women in Christ Jesus. Show that you can bear reproach. Remember that your Master bore the same before you; and have courage to stand for the right. There is a rich reward for you by and by. The Master will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Who can understand the joy of the Lord? Who can comprehend it? It is the satisfaction of seeing souls saved through the virtue of his own blood.

He left the courts of Heaven, his royal throne, his majesty, his honor, his glory; he clothed his divinity with humanity, and for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. He took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man; and he walked among the children of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised

for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” For the joy that was set before him, he “endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” When we consider the infinite sacrifice that has been made by the Son of God, in dying for the sins of the world, and then think that here are men and women who do not consider they have anything to do, any sacrifice to make for the salvation of their fellow-men, we can but cry to God to arouse us to a sense of our duty.

To the young who are obtaining an education at our College, we would say, Do not let your studies hinder you from attending these meetings, and learning what you can. You ought to make it your business while here to obtain an education in the things of God, as well as in the arts and sciences. To learn your duty to God and to your fellow-men, should be your highest aim. I can see a broad field open before you. Take hold intelligently and understandingly, working with your whole soul, mind, and strength, and you will see the work go forward.

There has been with us a great lack of prayer. We ask of the Lord, but do not believe we shall receive the things for which we ask. We lack that faith which takes hold upon God. He wants us to come to him in our feebleness, with faith, knowing that he turns his compassionate eye upon us, and that his willing hand is stretched out over us. We should have implicit confidence in God. He has met with us, and manifested his power in our midst. We have received special tokens of his love; and we know that the Lord is ready to hear us, if we only put our trust in him. When we come to him as a child to a parent, he will withhold no good thing from us. Jesus says if we love him and keep his commandments, he will pray the Father, and he will send the Comforter to bless us.

The old and young in our midst are falling beneath the power of death. Will they come up in the first resurrection? When I travel through the country, and see in the distance the white tomb-stones gleaming among the evergreens and ornamental trees, I am led to inquire, How many of the silent sleepers will awake in the morning of the first resurrection? How many have lived and died without hope for the future?

We want you to feel that God has a work for you to do, and that it is your duty to take hold of it earnestly and understandingly. We ask every one of you to engage in this missionary work, and do what you can for the salvation of souls. First, understand the truth yourself, and then you will desire to have others understand it. This is an important and solemn work; and we need to seek God in earnest prayer, that we may be prepared to perform our duty faithfully.

We should not only profess Christianity, but we should carry out its principles in our daily life; and if faithful, when Christ shall come he will place a crown of immortal glory upon our brows. I love him; he died for me; and I want to bring souls to Jesus. Let this be the feeling of every heart.

THE LOVE OF GOD.

Souls of men, why will ye scatter Like a crowd of frightened sheep? Foolish hearts, why will ye wander From a love so true and deep?

Was there ever kindest shepherd Half so gentle, half so sweet, As the Saviour, who would have us Come and gather round his feet?

It is God! His love looks mighty, But is mightier than it seems! 'Tis our Father! and his fondness Goes far out beyond our dreams.

There's a wideness in God's mercy Like the wideness of the sea; There's a kindness in his justice, Which is more than liberty.

There is welcome for the sinner, And more graces for the good; There is mercy with the Saviour, There is healing in his blood.

For the love of God is broader Than the measures of man's mind; And the heart of the Eternal Is most wonderfully kind.

But we make his love too narrow By false limits of our own, And we magnify his strictness With a zeal he will not own.

There is plentiful redemption In the blood that has been shed; There is joy for all the members In the sorrows of the Head.

Pining souls! come nearer Jesus; And O come not doubting thus; But with faith that trusts more bravely His large tenderness for us.

If our love were but more simple, We should take him at his word, And our lives would be all sunshine In the sweetness of our Lord.

—Selected.

THE TRUE FRIEND.

By Nellie F. Heald

BY NELLIE F. HEALD.

How dreary would this world be without friends! To love and to be loved—how it sweetens the chalice of earthly enjoyment! Every true pleasure is greatly enhanced when shared by those we love. There are many lonely moments, when the heart longs for sympathy and affection, when it turns from every other source of pleasure to the heart of a true friend. But friends, however dear and true, cannot satisfy the heart’s deep need. Human friendship is imperfect. It cannot reach the inner recesses of the heart.

Friends, too, must part. They cannot always be with us. Death may set its icy seal upon some dear form, and the frozen lips utter no response to our loving appeal, the closed eyes return no answering look. Earth may present to us scenes of beauty and brightness; but they have lost their power to charm, because the heart that once throbbed in sympathy with ours is still and pulseless. We may be surrounded by all the comforts of life, but oh, the dreary desolation of the bereaved!

But deeply as we may feel the need of earthly friends, there is One whose friendship is dearer and sweeter, of whose aid and sympathy we have more urgent need. Our Saviour is that friend. He can supply all our need. Other friends may misunderstand and repulse us, but this dear Heavenly friend understands us perfectly. His sweet and tender sympathy enters into the heart’s inner depths, soothing its wild throbbings, and speaking, “Peace, be still,” to its troubled waters. Other friends may forget us; but he assures us, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” When the blank future stretches out before us, dark and uncertain, he whispers, “I will guide thee with mine eye.” At times he may seem far away, but the winged prayer will bring him near. Amid life’s changes and uncertainties, we may remember for our comfort, that with him is “no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” He is the same loving, all-powerful, and perfect Saviour. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.” The heart can feel no sorrow, no trial, that Jesus cannot bless for our present and eternal good. Let us, then, trust him and cling to him till the conflict of life is over; for love—unbounded love—shall guide us through this “vale of tears” to perfect joys above.

Battle Creek, Mich.

A VISIT TO BROTHER “ELIHU.”

By R. F. Cottrell

BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.

I took a little pains recently to visit the brother who wrote the tract called, “Elihu on the Sabbath,” which has been so extensively published within the last twenty-five years. He was ninety years of age in January past, and is still able to walk about quite nimbly. His article over the signature of Elihu was written a little this side of 1830, published in the organ of the S. D. Baptists, and then put out in a tract. One of these tracts was found in a house in Connecticut, and came into the hands of Bro. White. From that time, numerous editions have been published in the English and other languages. Little did he think when he penned that article what the effect would be. He did not know that the little ball which he set in motion would roll on till the end of time, and tell in the Judgment in the cases of so many This may teach us the importance of sowing the right kind of seed at all times. Though past the time of active labor, he is still speaking, as I said to him, not only in his own tongue, but in the German and other languages.

He has some peculiar views that have become stereotyped with him, in which he does not agree with S. D. Baptists nor with us. He does not, and probably will not, at his advanced age, recognize the fulfillment of the third angel’s message. He has come down to the present from former generations, and may be of the class to whom the Lord says, “I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already, hold fast till I come.” Rev. 2:24, 25. He used to take pleasure in the explication of those portions of Scripture which are figurative, such as Solomon’s Song; and some twenty-five years ago or more he suggested to me that “the company of two armies” (chap. 6:13) were S. D. Baptists and S. D. Adventists. His address is Benj. Clark, Alden, Erie Co., N. Y.

WHY?

By A. S. Hutchins

BY ELD. A. S. HUTCHINS.

WHY will our brethren and sisters walk in the dark, suffering bondage, when there is light and freedom for them? “O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Apply to God in faith and prayer, plead his precious promises, and his blessing will follow.

Some have braced themselves against the principles of health reform till they have nearly fought their religion away; but the temperance movement in our midst is bringing some of these dear souls into line. Some months ago they were slaves to appetite; but now their countenances brighten, and their testimonies have edge and force to them. Their confessions are to the point.

Some of the blessings already experienced by many of these friends are, 1. A better state of health; 2. An increased degree of peace of mind, and greater communion with God; 3. A stronger union with the church; 4. A love to hear of and talk about the principles of reform; 5. Money needlessly spent for idols is now used for reading matter; 6. An increased desire to do good to others.

Dear brethren and sisters, let us unite more fully to advance the cause of temperance.

PRAYING FOR THE STRANGER.

A young lady from one of the British Provinces came to Boston seeking employment. In a church she attended, the pastor’s prayer had some fervent petitions for the stranger. Her heart was greatly affected by an allusion so interesting to herself. She felt she was cared for, though unknown to the preacher, and though far from her own home. She must attend that church again, under the influence of such an attraction. At her next attendance a sermon about the prodigal son gave her impressions speedily resulting in her conversion, and union with the church. She has returned to her distant home, rejoicing in such a blessed result of her visit to this city, and never to forget the kindness of her pastor, whose prayer for the stranger had an issue of which he had not dreamed, and which will give new stimulus to the fervor of his interest in behalf of strangers and visitors here from distant lands.

Cannot other preachers see their duty and privilege in the fact above related? “I was a stranger, and ye took me in.”—Selected.

SHUN THE SKEPTIC.

I WARN you to shun the skeptic,—the young man who puts his finger in his vest, and laughs at your old-fashioned religion, and turns over to some mystery in the Bible and says, “Explain that, my friend; explain that;” and who says, “Nobody shall scare me; I am not afraid of the future; I used to believe in such things, and so did my father and mother; but I have got over it.” Yes; he has got over it, and if you sit in his company a little while longer, you will get over it too. Without presenting an argument against the Christian religion, such men will by their jeers and scoffs and caricatures destroy your respect for that religion which was the strength of your father in his declining years, and the pillow of your aged mother when she lay dying.

Alas! a time will come when that blustering young infidel will have to die, and his diamond ring will flash no splendor in the eyes of Death as he stands over the couch waiting for his soul. Those beautiful locks will lie uncombed upon the pillow; and the dying man will say, “I cannot die—I cannot die.” Death standing upon the couch says, “You must die; you have only half a minute to live. Let me have it right away—your soul.” “No,” says the young infidel, “here are all my gold rings, and these pictures; take them all.” “No,” says Death. “What do I care for pictures?—your soul.” “Stand back,” says the dying infidel. “I will not stand back,” says Death; “for you have only ten seconds now to live. I want your soul.” The dying man says, “Don’t breathe that cold air into my face. You crowd me too hard. It is getting dark in the room. O God!” “Hush,” says Death; “you said there was no God.” “Pray for me,” exclaims the dying infidel. “Too late to pray,” says Death, “But three more seconds to live, and I will count them off—one, two, three!” He has gone! Where? Where? Where? Carry him out and bury him beside his father and mother, who died while holding fast the Christian religion. They died singing; but the young infidel only said, “Don’t breathe that cold air into my face. You crowd me too hard. It is getting dark in the room.”—The Presbyterian.

THE NEW TESTAMENT ON ENDLESS TORMENT.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.

We found in the Old Testament only three of the nine texts relied upon as direct proof of the doctrine that the wicked will be tortured throughout the ages of eternity. We come now to the fourth text, which we find in the New Testament.

4. “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt. 25:41.

Every candid person must admit that this text is one of the strongest that can be produced on this side of the question. The wicked are to depart into everlasting fire. The original Greek is aionion fire, that is, everlasting fire. Then must they not suffer there eternally? Not necessarily. Let us compare this with another passage where the same term is used: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Jude 7. The apostle, in referring to the overthrow of the cities of the plain, says that they suffered “the vengeance of eternal fire.”

Now we ask, What happened to those cities? Are they still burning? Is the fire still alive in Sodom and Gomorrah? No; every intelligent reader knows that the waves of the Dead Sea have rolled over those plains for more than three thousand years. That fire has been long since extinguished, and yet it was an eternal fire. Hear Peter’s testimony upon that: “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.” 2 Peter 2:6. It will be noticed that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were turned to ashes by eternal fire.

But how could it be said to be eternal fire, if the fire has long been out? The answer is simple. The cause is put for the effect; the destruction which it wrought was eternal. These cities were burned down, destroyed, never to be rebuilt. They never have been and never will be. Hence their destruction was eternal. The effects of the fire were eternal. And hence by the very common way of speaking, the cause is put for the effect, and the fire is called eternal. The simple meaning is, as any one can see, not that the fire is eternally burning, but that the result will be eternal. Let us take a few other cases to illustrate this use of the word eternal. Thus Paul says, “Of the doctrine of baptism, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.” Heb. 6:2. Is the Judgment to be eternal? Is God to be eternally carrying on the Judgment, and never have done with it? Is it to be unending? If so, the world can never be judged. In this case we do positively know that it cannot have that meaning. All will agree that it means that the effect of the Judgment will be eternal, the decisions of the court will never be reversed. The one who is judged to destruction will remain eternally destroyed. Those who are judged to life will eternally live. Hence the Judgment, by a common form of speech, is itself called eternal.

Take another case: “Having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Heb. 9:12. Eternal redemption! Is the Lord to be eternally redeeming his people, and never redeem them? Oh, no; but the effects, the results of their redemption, are eternal, hence it is called eternal redemption. Just so in the text under consideration. Everlasting or eternal fire means precisely the same that it means in Jude in regard to the cities of the plain. They were burned up, or as Peter says, “reduced to ashes,” by eternal fire. Now we argue that if Sodom and Gomorrah could be burned with eternal fire, and at the same time be reduced to ashes, and the fire go out, so also the wicked can be burned with eternal fire, be reduced to ashes, and that fire may cease to burn. We leave our readers to judge if this is not the candid truth in the matter.

5. “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal.” Matt. 25:46.

All will agree that this is by far the strongest text in the Bible in favor of endless torment. Our opponents themselves will admit that if this text does not teach it, then there is none that does; and we agree with them. But we are confident that it teaches no such thing, and that a few words of explanation will convince our friends of the same fact. Look carefully at what it does say. It says that the righteous shall go into everlasting life; the wicked, into everlasting punishment. Now, is not the life of the righteous unending? Certainly. Well, is not the punishment of the wicked to be parallel with the life of the righteous? Does it not last as long as the life of the righteous? Yes. Indeed, the original Greek term aionion, rendered “everlasting” in the clause referring to the wicked, is the very term that is rendered “eternal” in the next clause referring to the righteous. Hence, literally, these shall go away into eternal punishment, and the righteous into eternal life. We have opposites in this text; that is, the punishment of the wicked is placed in direct opposition to the life of the righteous. Whatever the righteous have, the wicked have just the opposite, and it lasts just as long.

Now let us look carefully at the statement. The righteous go into eternal—what? into eternal life. What do the wicked have? They go into just the opposite of this. Now we ask what is the opposite to life? Let us have no evasion. The answer must be death; for death is certainly the opposite of life. Very well; then the statement plainly is this, that the wicked shall go into eternal death. They shall die, as the Scriptures say; and this death will be eternal. There will be no resurrection or coming to life from it. This is so plain that a child ought to see it.

But would this be eternal punishment? Well, we ask again, Is not death a punishment? Certainly it is as great a punishment as the law can inflict. Then if death is a punishment, eternal death would be an eternal punishment. Notice: the text does not say the wicked shall go into eternal punishing, but eternal punishment. The punishment is something that is done, completed, finished. Punishment is thus defined by Webster: “Any pain, suffering, or loss on account of crime.” The wicked lose eternal life, hence their loss is an eternal loss, and therefore an eternal punishment. We maintain that this is the simple meaning of the text. The wicked are destroyed. This destruction is eternal, and hence their punishment is eternal.

Listen to the apostle Paul upon the same subject. Speaking of the wicked when the Lord shall appear, he says: “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” 2 Thess. 1:9. Matthew says that they shall go into everlasting punishment, but does not state, except by implication, what that punishment will be. Paul takes up the same subject, and carries it a little farther. He says they shall “be punished with everlasting”—so it is everlasting punishment. Then he explains what it shall be: “punished with everlasting destruction.” This settles the question. Their punishment is to be destruction, and that destruction is to be everlasting; hence, it is to be everlasting destruction. We are willing to leave it to our readers whether this celebrated passage is not plainly harmonized with the position that the wicked shall be utterly destroyed.

6. “But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” Mark 3:29.

This is claimed to be a strong text proving eternal suffering; but it says no such thing. It simply affirms that a certain class of the wicked shall suffer eternal damnation. The only question is, What does damnation mean? Turning to Webster, we find as follows: “Damn.—To condemn; to decide to be wrong or worthy of punishment; to adjudge to punishment or death.” To damn, then, is to condemn or adjudge to death. This is the simple meaning of that word. It means condemnation, and nothing more. Turning to the original Greek, krisis, Greenfield defines it thus: “Decision; sentence; condemnatory sentence; condemnation.” Christ, then, simply affirms that those who sin against the Holy Ghost will be eternally condemned. But he does not say to what they are condemned, whether it is imprisonment, or stripes, or death, or something else. Other scriptures must determine that. But we have already seen that scores of texts plainly declare that the wicked shall die, perish, be destroyed, burned up, etc.

(To be continued.)

A REVIEW OF PAINE'S "AGE OF REASON."

By A. T. Jones

BY ELD. A. T. JONES.

(Continued.)*

On page 29 he says, “I recollect not a single passage in all the writings ascribed to the men called apostles, that conveys any idea of what God is.” He may not recollect, but that does not prove that there is not a single passage that conveys any idea of who God is. We find in Rom. 1:19, 20 that “that which may be known of God is manifest in them [margin]; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him 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 are without excuse.” “And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is.” Acts 4:24. Paul and Barnabas said, “We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein; . . . he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” Acts 14:15–17. “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of Heaven and earth.” Acts 17:24. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Rev. 4:11. His memory must have been very poor.

Again, on page 28, he says, “As to the Christian system of faith, it appears to me as a species of atheism—a sort of religious denial of God. It introduces between man and his Maker an opaque body, which it calls a Redeemer, as the moon introduces her opaque self between the earth and the sun, and it produces by this means a religious or irreligious eclipse of light. The effect of this obscurity has been that of turning everything upside down.” How much alike infidelity is in all ages! See Acts 17:5, 6. When Paul and

Silas preached Jesus, “The Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.”

On page 39 we read, “But the Christian system laid all waste; and if we take our stand about the beginning of the sixteenth century, we look back through that long chasm, to the times of the ancients, as over a vast sandy desert.” This was not the Christian but the Anti-Christian system. “It is an inconsistency scarcely possible to be credited, that anything should exist, under the name of a religion, that held it to be irreligious to study and contemplate the structure of the universe that God had made.” That is true; and it is an inconsistency no less surprising, that a power professing to believe the Bible should hold it to be irreligious to study the Bible. Yet this also is a fact; and it was this very fact of that power “casting down the truth to the ground” (Dan. 8:12; John 17:14) that caused that “long chasm” reaching from the beginning of the “sixteenth century to the times of the ancients.”

On page 37 Mr. Paine says, “Had Newton or Descartes lived three or four hundred years ago, and pursued their studies as they did, it is most probable they would not have lived to finish them.” True; but was not Newton a Christian? Most assuredly. But on page 39 he again makes a most important statement: “The event that served more than any other to break the first link in this long chain of despotic ignorance, is that known by the name of the Reformation by Luther. From that time . . . the sciences began to revive, and liberality, their natural associate, began to appear.”

This is true, every word of it, and how plainly it illustrates Ps. 119:130: “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Mr. Paine's intense infidelity would not suffer him to allow this, of course; yet the revival of the sciences, liberality, and enlightenment was nothing else than the result of Luther's work of printing and scattering Bibles through Europe. By the light of the Scriptures the nations saw the despotic power that had kept them in ignorance, and they arose with Luther in the strength of the Lord, and burst the fetters that had bound them so long. They found and learned the truth, and the truth made them free. John 8:32; 17:17.

On page 43 he says: “Though it is not a direct article of the Christian system that this world that we inhabit is the whole of the habitable creation, yet it is so worked up therewith, from what is called the Mosaic account of creation, that to believe otherwise, that is, that God created a plurality of worlds, at least as numerous as what we call stars, renders the Christian system of faith at once little and ridiculous, and scatters it in the mind like feathers in the air. The two beliefs cannot be held together in the same mind; and he who thinks that he believes both has thought but little of either.”

So far from this being the truth, it is directly the contrary. And I shall show that the two beliefs not only can, but must, “be held together in the same mind;” and that he who does not believe both “has thought but little of either.” “Through faith we understand that the worlds [plural] were framed by the word of God.” Heb. 11:3. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds [plural].” Heb. 1:1, 2. “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names by the great- ness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.” Isa. 40:25, 26. Also Ps. 147:4; Job 9:9; 38:31, 32; Ps. 33:6.

Again, on page 43: “A world of the extent of ours may, at first thought, appear to us to be great; but if we compare it with the immensity of space in which it is suspended, like a bubble in the air, it is infinitely less in proportion than the smallest grain of sand is to the size of the world, or the finest particle of dew to the whole ocean.” I suppose Mr. Paine thought, when he penned this, that he was announcing to Bible believers something they had never known, or thought anything of; but he was grievously in error. More than twenty-five hundred years before he wrote this, it was announced and written in words far more forcible and sublime. Isa. 40:15, 17: “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance. . . . All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.”

The following, on mystery and miracle, pages 50 and 52, is sound and good, therefore we hold it fast: “With respect to mystery, everything we behold is, in one sense, a mystery to us; our own existence is a mystery; the whole vegetable world is a mystery. . . . But though every created thing is, in this sense, a mystery, the word mystery cannot be applied to moral truth, any more than obscurity can be applied to light. The God in whom we believe is a God of moral truth, and not a God of mystery or obscurity. Mystery is the antagonist of truth. It is a fog of human invention, that obscures the truth and represents it in distortion.” Every Bible believer, every Christian, can indorse this; for the Bible is a revelation, and not a mystery.

He continues: “In the same sense that everything may be said to be a mystery, so also may it be said that everything is a miracle, and no one thing is a greater miracle than another. The elephant, though larger, is not a greater miracle than a mite; nor a mountain a greater miracle than an atom. To an almighty power it is no more difficult to make the one than the other; and no more difficult to make a million of worlds than to make one. Everything, therefore, is a miracle, in one sense, while in the other sense, there is no such thing as a miracle. It is a miracle when compared to our power, and to our comprehension; it is not a miracle compared to the power that performs it.”

This is all true. At the marriage in Cana of Galilee it was in reality no more of a miracle for Christ to turn the water into wine, than is performed before our eyes every season. The vine which he has created draws sustenance from the moisture of the earth and air; it buds, blossoms, bears grapes, they ripen, we extract the juice, and, lo, we have wine. So the only difference is, that there he did in an instant what here is done in a season; and the one required no greater exertion of his power than the other, for his power is almighty. The first was only a miracle in that it was “contrary to the established constitution or course of things.” Dr. Horne gives this as the definition of a miracle: “A miracle is an effect or event contrary to the established constitution or course of things, or a sensible suspension or controlment of, or deviation from, the known laws of nature,” etc. “Thus, the production of grain by vegetation is according to a law of nature; were it to fall like rain from the clouds, there would be a miracle.” Yet even in that case, it would be no more of a miracle to the power that performs it, than it is in the present case where it is produced by vegetation; for it would be the Almighty Power which performed both.