Earlier text: ItalyReferendum in the Grand Rapids Sunday Closing Issue
By K. C. R.
One of the liveliest and most enthusiastic contests on the question of more rigid Sunday laws took place in Grand Rapids, Mich., for a week or more before the election on November 6, at which time the question was decided by use of the referendum. The result of the election was six hundred majority against the question of stricter Sunday laws. The battle there was ostensibly directed against the Sunday theater, which was set forth as a very great menace to the children and youth of that city. It is estimated that the theaters there have an aggregate attendance of about eighteen thousand on Sundays. The opposition waged by the ministers was not against the theater as an institution. A prominent minister in Grand Rapids stated that he considered it a privilege, and his duty at times, to attend the theater. Our Connection with the Issue
October 28, the Sunday previous to our first lecture, a joint debate was held in the Y. M. C. A. building between Prof. J. G. Lamson, of Holly, Mich., and Rev. R. W. McLaughlin, the leader in the movement against the Sunday theater. The usual arguments in favor of the Sunday closing of theaters were made by the Doctor. The following are a few of the points made in reply to the Doctor’s argument by Prof. J. G. Lamson, as was reported in the Grand Rapids Herald bearing date of Nov. 29, 1906:— “I am not a theatergoer myself, and do not believe in theaters, and no pupil in my school can remain in school and attend theaters; and if a theater is immoral on Sunday, it is an immoral institution upon every day of the week, and should be stopped. But a man has a perfect right to decide for himself whether he will go to a theater or not, and no man has a right to pass a law to hinder him from going to the theater unless his going is an uncivil thing.” “Sunday legislation to a certain extent means the union of church and state, and besides is unproductive of good. Many St. Louis editors, who worked hard for Sunday closing of the St. Louis Fair, afterward expressed themselves as sorry that they took that attitude, as Sunday closing only caused people to go to worse places for amusement.” Professor Lamson asked his opponent if theaters open on Sunday would disturb anybody at all who was Christian enough to stay away from them. Mass-Meeting in the Opera-House
Before we entered the theater to speak, we had a very plain understanding with the managers that we were to have the utmost freedom in what we said. We plainly told them that we did not believe in theaters on any day of the week, and that neither we nor our people attended them, but, notwithstanding that,21 we admitted the right of every other person to attend a theater on Sunday or any other day of the week. The writer spoke at a mass-meeting held in the Powers’ Opera-house Saturday evening, November 3, to a large audience, setting before them the principles of religious liberty, and the significance of the movement in Grand Rapids. Two of the Grand Rapids daily papers gave excellent and impartial reports of our lecture. From the number and variety of letters published in the daily papers regarding the question, it was evident that the subject was one concerning which the people were thinking and were deeply interested. Sunday, the fourth instant, those in favor of Sunday closing held a mass-meeting in the Second Street Methodist church, and those of the opposition held a mass-meeting in the Majestic Theater. Both were well attended. At the latter place Prof. J. G. Lamson spoke to a large audience, reviewing a document which had been placed in the homes of the citizens of Grand Rapids by the leader of the campaign for Sunday closing of theaters. The Lord blessed Professor Lamson in making clear the principles of religious liberty taught by Christ, and which lie at the foundation of this government. Monday night, the evening before the election, there were mass-meetings held again. Those favoring more rigid Sunday legislation held their meeting in a large auditorium a few blocks from the place where we held our meeting in the interests of religious liberty, and in opposition to all phases of Sunday laws and religious legislation. The occasion was one of much importance in view of the fact that the Sunday question is already becoming the great pivotal point in elections. Large and enthusiastic audiences were in attendance at both places. Avowal of the Underlying Purpose
At the meeting held in the interests of religious liberty, Elder A. G. Haughey, the president of the West Michigan Conference, presided, and after making an appropriate introductory address, he introduced the writer as the first speaker of the evening. We devoted the time to reviewing some of the arguments made by our opponents, illustrating the principles which we desired to emphasize. Among some of the points reviewed were the following: Rev. R. H. Hartley, pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian church, said, “It is absurd to say that the city or national government should keep their hands out of religious matters.” It is unusual for those who are seeking to unite church and state to express themselves so positively on the question, although they indicate in their movements that they do regard as absurd every effort which is being put forth to have the city and national government keep their hands out of religious matters. This statement made by Rev. Hartley is nothing short of an open rebuke to the teachings of Christ, the author of liberty, who said, “Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” It is also in contradiction to the teachings of the apostles, reformers, and the principles taught by the fathers of our country. James Madison said: “Religion is not in the purview of human government. Religion is essentially distinct from government and exempt from its cognizance. A connection between them is injurious to both.” Spurgeon said: “I am ashamed of some Christians because they have so much dependence on Parliament and the law of the land. Much good may Parliament ever do to true religion, except by mistake! As to getting the law of the land to touch our religion, we earnestly cry, ‘Hands off! Leave us alone!’ Your Sunday bills and all other forms of act-of-Parliament religion seem to me to be all wrong. Give us a fair field and no favor, and our faith has no cause to fear. Christ wants no help from Cæsar.” The high regard in which the theater as an institution is held by some of the ministers of Grand Rapids, Mich., except the Sunday theaters, should be a question of great concern to the real spiritual and consecrated members of the churches there. Consider the effect upon young men and women who have tendencies toward the world and its pleasures to hear their pastor, who is looked upon as their guide and leader in spiritual things, announce that he is not opposed to the theater as an institution, and that he considers it a privilege, and at times his duty, to attend it. Another minister said in an address in which he was opposing the Sunday theater, “I think we ought to make it perfectly clear that this campaign is not an attack upon the theater as a popular amusement, patronized by church-members as well as others.” The spiritual dearth so much lamented by devoted and consecrated ministers and lay members, can be accounted for to some extent by such statements as the foregoing. All can see that we have reached the time predicted by the apostle Paul, when the professed people of God would be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” Among some of the inconsistent arguments presented by a prominent clergyman of Grand Rapids, were the following:— We had repeatedly emphasized the idea that if theaters are right on other days of the week, they are right on Sunday, and in reply to this argument he said: “It is said that if the theater is right on week-days, it is right on Sunday. Now right and wrong are not absolute but relative terms. That is, in most cases, to say the least, whether a thing is right or wrong, helpful or harmful, depends upon the circumstances. For example, it would be right for Johnny to play ball on Saturday, but it would not be right for him to play on Monday, during school hours, because he ought to go to school. It would be right for a man to go to a picnic under ordinary circumstances, but it would not be right for a man to go if his wife was at the point of death and needed his presence. There is no harm in eating cucumbers, but there might be if you ate them after drinking a glass of milk.” In our reply we agreed that it would be wrong for Johnny to engage in playing ball during school hours, and for a man to attend a picnic when his wife was sick at the point of death, or for a man to eat cucumbers if they were injurious to him; but we would not consider it right for Grand Rapids to have an ordinance prohibiting all baseball playing on Monday because Johnny goes to school, and to compel all husbands whose wives are well to remain away from a picnic because Mr. B’s wife is sick, and he should not go; or to compel everybody to refrain from eating cucumbers and milk because such a combination is injurious to some. This is precisely the logic that is being used by those who are seeking to close all places of amusement on Sunday and compel every other person to conform to their particular standard of what is right and wrong. Let all who are endeavoring to enforce their ideas of religion and civility meditate upon the words of Christ when he said, “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day;” and upon the words of George Washington, who said: “Every man who conducts himself as a good citizen is accountable alone to God for his religious faith, and should be protected in worshiping God according to the dictates of his own conscience.” It is reported that since the election in Grand Rapids, which resulted in six hundred majority against the Sunday-closing proposition, the ministers are not satisfied, and have already drafted an ordinance which has doubtless been presented to the city council ere this, with the hope of securing in this way the object they failed to obtain at the election. This method reminds one of some of the West Indian or Central American governments in resorting to other means after they have been defeated in a fair vote of the people. These experiences are but a repetition of what has marked the history of the world in former periods, when the church powers have sought to dominate the state and municipal government. — On November 10 a fire, thought to be of incendiary origin, destroyed property to the value of $1,000,000 in Boston, Mass. — Heavy rains and melting snow on the Cascade slopes produced the greatest flood ever known along the rivers in the vicinity of Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., November 14. While the reported loss of life is small, the property loss amounted to millions. — At the National Congress on Uniform Divorce Laws recently held in Philadelphia, a bill was drafted which its originators hope to see incorporated into the laws of all the States. The causes for which divorces may be granted are adultery, bigamy, at the suit of injured party to first marriage, conviction, and sentence of two years for crime, extreme cruelty on the part of husband or wife to such an extent as to endanger life of either or render cohabitation unsafe, wilful desertion for two years, habitual drunkenness for a like period, hopeless insanity of the husband. The committee which drafted the original bill will remain in existence and use its efforts to have the bill passed by the various State lawmakers. — In spite of the fact that Governor Magoon has received reports from the military commanders in twenty-one towns that absolute tranquillity reigns throughout the entire island of Cuba, there is a general spirit of unrest abroad, due to the uncertainty regarding the future course of the United States. The Liberals are becoming more restive day by day under the indefinite continuance of the government of intervention. General Loynaz del Castillo, the leader of the anti-American sentiment, addressed a Liberal meeting recently, in which he predicted that if the provisional government continued long, the patriots of Cuba would again take up arms in the defense of their independence. On the other hand, there is a sentiment in financial circles in favor of the establishment of a strong American protectorate over the island. — Although it seems to be a time of comparative quiet in Russia, conditions are far from stable. The terrorists continue their bomb throwing, the governor of Irkutsk, General Rannenkampf, and the prefect of police of Moscow, General Reinbot, both escaping injury from the bombs thrown at them in the streets of their respective cities on November 12; but the terrorists were successful at Tiflis the day before in killing three of the police and wounding four by inducing them to enter a house in which explosives had been placed. On the other hand, that same day saw 104 men sent into exile for minor political offenses. Local governors are dismissing officials for refusing to leave the ranks of the Constitutional Democratic party, and are promising promotion, with the alternative of banishment, if the officials will attach themselves to parties friendly to the government. And in order to have a favorable majority in the Douma to be elected next March, the Imperial Senate has so interpreted the election law that 170,000 workmen and many peasants are deprived of the franchise. Reports, Notes, and Comments Pertaining to the Current History of the Rights of Conscience Conducted by the Religious Liberty Bureau K. C. RUSSELL, - - - - - Chairman
W. A. COLCORD, - - - - - Secretary ONE of the business firms in Wallowa, Ore., found a notice pasted on the store door by order of the district attorney, stating in substance that that place of business must be kept closed on Sunday, or he would see that law was enforced. Word has been received that the churches of the Greater New York Conference up the Hudson, are planning for a vigorous campaign this winter in the interest of the religious liberty work, by enlightening the people concerning the principles of religious freedom. Elder J. W. Christian, the religious liberty secretary of the South Dakota Conference, writes: “The time is almost here when we shall be in the very heart of the struggle for the maintenance of the principles of true religious liberty. We are anxious that we shall leave no stone unturned in this conference in placing these principles before those who are going to enter the halls of our State legislature at Pierre this winter. We are planning on writing each of these gentlemen a personal letter stating the object for which this organization is founded. We shall arrange a declaration of our faith, and call their attention to the dangers threatening our country.” A MISSIONARY is one who is sent on a mission. Before he is sent, however, he must have been given and have received his mission. Being thus possessed of a mission is the most important qualification of a missionary. But this is not to say that other qualifications, relatively less important, are not as absolutely necessary. Altogether too many persons go out as missionaries who do not have their mission. These are too often like Ahimaaz, who besought Joab to permit him to run with a message to King David. When Joab said, “Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?” he said, “Howsoever let me run.” He ran, but he bore no message to the king. So with those who pass under the name of missionary, but have no message; they run to no purpose, bearing often nothing but a false message. The only way one can have actual possession of a mission is for his mission to absolutely possess him. This can be only when it is interwoven into every fiber of his being, so much so that it is quite as much an absolute impossibility for him to relinquish this mission as for him to relinquish his life. Then, and then only, is he actually possessed of the chiefest of the many important qualifications of a true missionary. We want all our young men and women, and even our boys and girls, to become missionaries in the fullest sense of the word. This they can not be unless they are capable of being possessed, body, mind, and soul, of a purpose. Many—too many young persons—seem almost wholly incapable of grasping a purpose so firmly and tenaciously that it takes complete possession of them. They are listless, even about their sports. Now if they fail under the thrill of youth to grasp some purpose to which they cling with an unfaltering grip, we can not expect them in later life to be constant in their ways. The life of King David is a lesson upon the point in question. God was wiser than his servant Samuel in the selection of this man who should be king over his people, for he looked upon his heart. He saw in him, as a boy and a young man, those sterling qualities of the heart which for forty long years stood him in such good stead, when as a man he brought from a disorganized confederation of tribes a strong, united kingdom. He was one who could form a purpose, and then hold to it. Witness his disheartening experiences with Saul. Though he was driven into the very fastnesses of the mountains for protection, and though his persecutor was at times wholly within his power, yet he held steadily to his purpose. Brave, determined, cool, yet tender and kind as a young man, he became in the prime of life, by means of these qualities, one of the most eminent rulers of all time. The purpose and the mission are quite the same, and the one who can select and hold a worthy purpose is the one who possesses those traits of character which go to make a good and true missionary. It remains for the Christian teacher to recognize that one of his chiefest duties in the formation of the character of his pupils, if he would make them real Christian missionaries, is to seek to develop the ability to choose and hold to a worthy purpose. This can be done only by superhuman effort—by divine help. Every time the teacher allows careless and incomplete work on the part of the pupil to pass unnoticed and uncorrected, he is losing a golden opportunity for the development of the chiefest element in the character of the gospel worker. The noblest work or mission which we can present to our boys and girls and our young men and women is that of the spread of this last message of salvation to all the world. We should seek to present it to them in all its attractiveness, in such a manner as to enable them to thoroughly grasp it. When properly presented, this message is indeed an enticing one. When we have so presented it, then we must seek, by having our own lives in accordance with this mission, by every look and word in our daily intercourse with our pupils, in the teaching of every lesson, even in the form of the questions, to inculcate into the lives of those whom we teach, the great principle of unswerving constancy. Thus, and thus only, may we hope to make a real gospel missionary of each one of our pupils. F. G. Reasons Why Students Should Yield Cheerful Obedience to School Regulations
By C. C. L.
1. BECAUSE school regulations are usually moderate, reasonable, and for the best interests of the school and the students themselves. 2. Because every student promises by the act of entering school, and frequently by signing the entrance papers, to observe the regulations of the school; and no student can afford to break his promise. 3. Because the school reposes confidence in its students, placing them upon their honor, assuming, trusting, and believing that, having a high sense of honor, they will govern themselves in harmony with the regulations. Not to do so is a betrayal of confidence. 4. Because if students violate the regulations, they cause some to think, unjustly, that the members of the faculty have closed their eyes to the acts of certain favored ones. 5. Because the example of violating any regulation encourages others to23 transgress not only that regulation, but other regulations according to their fancy, thus undermining the very foundations of the school government. 6. Because if students who violate regulations are professed Christians and take active part in religious affairs, they injure their influence, and cause others to lose confidence in them by giving just ground for thinking that their religion is emotional and superficial and not based upon the eternal principles of right and duty. 7. Because any student who purposely violates any regulation injures his own character by blunting his sensibility to right and wrong, by placing himself in a wrong attitude toward law and order, and by searing his conscience in regard to duty. 8. Because disobedience is rebellion, and to rebel against the government of the school is to rebel against God. “The powers that be, are ordained of God.” There is no escaping the issue. If students can not abide by the regulations of a school, they should honorably say so and withdraw. They should not dishonorably remain in school in open or secret transgression of the school laws. Get an Education
By C. C. L.
Getting an education is like saving money and placing it in the bank as capital for your life-work. There is this difference, however: money placed in the bank may be lost, but money invested in an education is safe for all time, and for eternity, too, if it be Christian education. Furthermore, it is not only safe, but is drawing big interest in character and power to do things, which can not be measured with money. A man in business without a working capital has “a hard row to hoe.” He has to buy everything on time, paying more for lack of cash. He misses good opportunities for want of money to seize them when they come. So it is with him who enters upon the work of life without a good education. He lives from hand to mouth, and can not take advantage of opportunities because he has not the preparation to fill positions as they open to him. Men in middle and advanced life continually regret that they did not get an education when they were young. Young man, young woman, profit by their experience, and enter school now. Preparing for Work in Other Lands
By Joel C. Rogers
It is time for our youth to know that God has a mighty work for them in the world. Especially must our students realize this. We know the third angel’s message is to be carried to all the world. We should study the meaning of “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” I fear we have never seriously reckoned with this problem as we do with other enterprises. One of our small printing-offices receives an order for a hundred-thousand edition of a great book. The manager and all his assistants begin at once to figure on the details of this stupendous undertaking. “Have we the necessary machinery and equipment, the workmen, and material?” It is found that new presses must be added, more men and women must be trained for the many kinds of work, and large amounts of material must be obtained. Let us apply the illustration. Our General Conference and Mission Board have received the order—and we believe from God—to carry this message to all the nations right away. They pass the order on to our schools. The principals and faculties with their students are left to figure on the extent of the work, and provide the needed workmen. Parents and our people generally will furnish the material,—the money. The principal will keep this matter before his faculty. Certain teachers will be appointed to enlist students in—- Studying special countries, their people, conditions, and needs.
- Learning names of nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples in the land selected.
- Praying for them by name for God (a) to work on hearts of heathen, Mohammedan, Catholic, Jew, or Protestant; (b) to bless the workers already in those fields; (c) to send forth new workers; (d) to move people to give money.
- Suggesting ways of raising money to support a missionary or a native worker.
Many helps on mission study may be obtained from our own mission reports in the Review and Instructor, from the Missionary Review of the World; the American Board of Foreign Missions, New York City; Student Volunteer Movement, 3 West Twenty-ninth St., New York; United Societies of Christian Endeavor, Chicago and New York. Students, God says to you: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world . . . then shall the end come.” Find any people on earth who have not heard this message, and these words of Christ are your call to carry the message to them. Prepare for God’s work. Then unless he shows you that you should stay in the home land, heed his call to some more needy people. You need the Holy Spirit to direct your mind to the people who need your peculiar abilities. Pray for the Spirit. You are in the time of the latter rain. China is awakening and opening up for the message. Solve this problem: If the Lord gives us five years yet to work, how many workers are needed to tell the message to China’s 400,000,000? Make similar problems for India’s 300,000,000, Africa’s 200,000,000, South America’s 50,000,000, Europe’s 350,000,000, besides the millions of the islands of the seas. We are not to undertake this mighty task in any adventurous spirit, nor with any sentimental interest. Our hearts must be moved by the appealing cry and the appalling need of doomed souls. It is their last chance. God must plant in our hearts a deep love for lost souls, without God and without hope in the world. Sowing for Success
By C. F. McVAGH
The Bible teaches, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Therefore it behooves every young person to look well to his sowing. Success does not come by chance, but is the result of steadily applied, well-directed effort. Education, being primarily the development of our faculties of body and mind, is certainly a prime factor in sowing for success. At this juncture let me suggest the following questions: Have you a purpose in life? Are you willing to shake off the timidity and laziness that doth so easily beset, and steadily, determinedly strive toward that definite object? The wise man says, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” It is said that an ancient warrior, worn and discouraged, learned perseverance that made him a conqueror by observing the efforts of a little ant in dragging a grain of corn larger than itself up a high wall. Though it tumbled scores of times, yet by a persistency that put to shame the dispirited man, it finally reached the top. Is your education to end this side of the grave, or is it to go on into eternity? “The applause of men can accompany you only to the grave.” The poet has well said, “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.” An American multi-millionaire a few days prior to his death thus tersely expressed the unsatisfactory results of a self-centered life: “I am accounted of men to have attained a fair share of this world’s goods. It has cost me anxious days and sleepless nights, and I have had my board and my clothes.” A training which tends to that kind of success may be obtained almost anywhere in this land of free schools. But knowledge and skill, while essential to success, are only steps. Peter, in his famous ladder, puts faith and virtue before knowledge, and truly knowledge that does not tend to eternal life is no permanent advantage. “This is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Such an education can be obtained only where the truth is known and taught. It is important that parents and youth consider these things, that they may judge between schools and schools, and put forth the extra effort that may be required to secure an education in our denominational schools. Obstacles that can be overcome only by sacrifice and hard work are not to be classed as hindrances. Many a man has climbed to a place and influence which he might never have reached had not the circumstances surrounding him in youth compelled hard work and sacrifice. And the sons of successful men often fall for lack of necessary discipline. The young man who goes to school on some other person’s money, having his every want supplied without effort, may succeed, but in the majority of cases he will be outstripped by his classmate who has to dig every spare moment to supply the bare necessities of life. God in his love and wisdom has permitted thorns and thistles to grow in this world of sin for man’s sake. Those who have attained to usefulness and responsibility in the work of God are quite generally those who have climbed by surmounting difficulties that others were unwilling to attempt. A very important part of a Christian education is the cultivation of faith to undertake great things for God, and to know that while without him we can do nothing, we can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth us. The best help is help to help one’s self. Anything else is likely to prove more of a hindrance than a help. The boy who is making a success of something within his sphere thereby gives promise of success in larger things if given a chance. Men of means and discernment in our churches can render no better service than by encouraging in a substantial way boys and girls who are willing to work. By selling our good books and periodicals many have obtained the very experience they needed, and at the same time have earned the money to help them through school; and others can do the same. Some men of more mature years who have a trade can, by economy and industry, supply the lack of early education in a Christian school. The writer has in mind a brick mason past twenty-five years of age who has demonstrated this. The cause always needs more young men and women who have demonstrated that they have push enough to make a success of something. Conference committees are rightly skeptical about the call to preach of a man who has never made a success of anything else. The individual who is called of God to give his entire time to the work of the ministry will be found in active missionary work and usefulness in his present sphere; otherwise his recognition as a conference laborer would only prove a detriment to himself and to the conference. God needs just what our good industrial schools are designed to provide; namely, young men and women who know the Lord, trained in body and mind to usefulness, willing to bear burdens and endure hardness as good soldiers, who can adapt themselves to the conditions and requirements of the different fields of his great vineyard. The Argentine School's Work With the Earthquake Number of the “Verdad Presente”
By Arturo Fulton
THERE was an unusual commotion about the school on the bright, sunshiny morning of September 22, for the week before the earthquake number of the Verdad Presente had arrived, and the students were going out to sell the papers in the neighboring towns. A load of six students was to go south to Victoria, about sixty miles away, another to Nogaya, about the same distance east, while still another load would go later to Ramirez and Crespo, smaller towns about twenty and ten miles distant. Those of us who were going to Victoria spent the Sabbath with the Palma church, and then stayed overnight with one of the brethren farther on our way. We were heartily welcomed by the family as we drove into the yard. The low adobe house with its thatched roof was whitewashed within and without, and had a homelike and inviting appearance. The earth floors were cleanly swept, and fresh sand had been sprinkled over them; and leaves of different aromatic plants that send forth a pleasant fragrance when crushed beneath the feet were scattered around. We all admired the cooking place in this home. At first sight it resembled a kitchen sink. The framework was built up of mud which had been hardened like stone, then nicely painted. The fireplace was near one end, and the flames and smoke passed under the tin bottom and out the chimney at the other end. The thrifty housewife soon had supper cooking on this, while we went out to inspect the stock, orchard, and growing crops. This is one of the greatest wheat-raising districts of the world. Our brother has two hundred and forty acres sown to wheat and flax. This he tells me is the average sowing for a farmer here, although some have twice as much. Early the next morning we were up and off. For a time our way lay between growing fields of grain; but as we traveled farther south, the country became more rolling, and the cultivated fields gave way to well-stocked pastures, where were grazing many cattle, sheep, and horses. About noon we camped by a stream and ate our lunch. We had already taken some orders and sold papers on the way. We arrived at our destination about three o'clock in the afternoon. We spent some time in finding a place to stay, as all the fondas seemed full. We were at last nicely housed, and retired early to get a good rest for the morrow's work. We were all kindly received, and the day quickly passed. Tuesday morning we finished canvassing the town, and started for home, but not before we had bought a sack of oranges to take with us. These cost us about seventy-five cents a hundred, and we had helped to pick them ourselves. We also bought four dozen lemons at eight cents a dozen, and the lady gave us another dozen as a japa. The trees are very beautiful with their ripe fruit and fragrant blossoms. By Wednesday afternoon all had returned, and as the last load drove up, what a chattering there was! All had success, and all were happy to have had some part in the Lord's work. The prayer hour was given over to a praise-meeting—a real experience meeting. The long, tiresome ride was forgotten, and only the joy of having done something in the work was remembered. This meeting did not drag, and no time was lost in waiting for some one to rise; in fact, it was hard to bring it to a close. Our students love the truth, and many are earnestly striving to prepare themselves for a place in the work. May the Lord grant that what has been done may bear fruit in the kingdom of God. Diamante, Entre Rios, Argentina. Education and the Giving of Our Message
By A. J. Clark
The education needed by the people of God is that which will prepare them to present this message intelligently. That which we must present to the world now is Bible truth. The Scriptures are in perfect harmony, and our education must be in perfect harmony with them. Anything that is taught that is not in harmony with the Word of God is not true education, and is inconsistent. With all the error that there is at this present time, and the prejudice that exists against this truth, consistency in our belief and teaching is imperative. True education is the development of the intellectual faculties in such a manner as to better enable us to understand the character and plans of the Creator. The education of the world does not do this; it destroys a correct understanding of our Creator. It teaches infidelity in its most insidious, and hence most dangerous, form. The creation of the world is attributed to natural causes, and the doctrines of evolution and higher criticism are taught. These ideas prevail quite generally in the colleges and universities, and are even taught in the public schools of our towns and cities. The whole world is permeated with these ideas, and it is necessary for us as a people to be able to cope with this error. In “Christian Education,” page 197, we read the following: “With the great work before us of enlightening the world, we who believe the truth should feel the necessity of thorough education in the practical branches of knowledge, and especially our need of an education in the truths of the Scriptures. Error of every character is now exalted as truth, and it is our duty earnestly to search the Sacred Word, that we may know what is truth, and be able intelligently to present it to others. We shall be called upon to make known the reasons of our faith. We shall have to stand before magistrates to answer for our allegiance to the law of God.” As a people we must be able intelligently to teach the truth in contrast to these atheistic ideas. These erroneous doctrines are making it harder every year to give this message, hence we see the necessity of doing all in our power to train our children in church-schools and institutions where correct ideas of God and his creative power may be acquired. It is for this very purpose that God has placed these schools among us. In “Christian Education,” page 198, we read: “Above all other people in the earth, the man whose mind is enlightened by the opening of God’s Word to his understanding will feel that he must give himself to diligence in the perusal of the Word of God and to a diligent study of the sciences; for his hope and calling are greater than any other.” First of all, the young need this experience, and then they need a consecration to use what God in his love has given them.