Signs of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 17. (5/5/1914)

Signs of the Times

May 5, 1914

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 5, 1914

The Bible a Challenge to Atheism

By George B. Thompson

Why Do Not Men Produce Such Books To-Day? Never So Well Equipped for It as Now

Human Failure, and the Divine Origin of the Book

By GEORGE B. THOMPSON

THE Bible is indeed a wonderful volume. It is a library, consisting of sixty-six books, written by many writers, covering a number of centuries. Its light and power have permeated and changed the map of the world. No other book has been hated as the Bible has. It has been cursed and burned, and yet it continues its work of blessing and uplifting humanity. It is a rock, impregnable to the assaults of infidelity. While its enemies are denouncing it as a human production, millions of people are ready to testify that it is the product of an infinite God.

The divine origin of the Bible was most forcefully set forth by the distinguished statesman, William J. Bryan, the present secretary of state, in a most eloquent address somewhat recently delivered in Washington, D. C. From this inspiring address I take the following paragraphs:

CHALLENGE TO ATHEISTS

“Atheists and materialists declare that it is merely the work of man — that it was written under the limitations that apply to human wisdom. Taking this position, they must necessarily contend that, unless man has degenerated in ability and declined in wisdom, he can now produce a book equal to the Bible. Let them produce it.

“Judged by human standards, man is far better prepared to write a Bible now than he was when our Bible was written. The characters whose words and deeds are recorded in the Bible were members of a single race. They lived among the hills of Palestine, in a territory scarcely larger than one of our counties. They did not have printing-presses, and they lacked the learning of the schools. They had no great libraries to consult, no steamboats to carry them around the world and make them acquainted with the various centers of ancient civilization. They had no telegraph-wires to bring them the news from the ends of the earth, and no newspapers to spread before them each morning the doings of the day before. Science had not unlocked nature's door and revealed the secrets of rocks below and stars above. From what a scantily supplied storehouse of knowledge they had to draw, compared with the unlimited wealth of information at man's command to-day!

“And yet these Bible characters grapple with every problem that confronts mankind, from the creation of the world to eternal life beyond the tomb. They have given us a diagram of man's existence from the cradle to the grave, and they have set up signposts at every dangerous point along the path.

“We turn back to the Bible for the Ten Commandments, which form the foundation for our statute law; and for the Sermon on the Mount, which lays down the rules for our spiritual growth. The Bible gives us the story of the birth, the words, the works, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension of Him whose coming was foretold in prophecy, whose arrival was announced by the angel voices, singing peace and good will — the story of Him who gave to the world a code of morality superior to anything that the world had known before or has known since — the story of Him who is the crowning figure of all time, whom the world is accepting as Saviour and as the perfect example.

WILL THEY ATTEMPT A BETTER ONE?

“Let the atheists and the materialists produce a better Bible than ours, if they can. Let them collect the best of their school to be found among the graduates of universities — as many as they will, and from every land. Let the members of this selected group travel where they will, consult such libraries as they please, and employ every modern means of swift communication. Let them roam at will wherever science has opened a way. Let them take advantage of all the progress in art and in literature, in oratory and in history. Let them use to the full every instrumentality that is employed in modern civilization. And when they have exhausted every source, let them embody the results of their best intelligence in a book, and offer it to the world as a substitute for this Bible of ours.

“Have they the confidence that the prophets of Baal had in their god? Will they try? If not, what excuse will they give? Has man fallen from his high estate, so that we can not rightfully expect as much of him now as nineteen centuries ago, or does the Bible come to us from a source that is higher than man — which?

NO REFUGE IN RETROGRESSION

“But our case is even stronger. The opponents of the Bible can not take refuge in the plea that man is retrograding. They loudly proclaim that man has grown and that he is growing still. They boast of a world-wide advance, and their claim is founded upon fact. In all matters except in the science of how to live man has made wonderful

progress. The mastery of the mind over the forces of nature seems almost complete, so far do we surpass the ancients in harnessing the water, the wind, and the lightning.

“For ages the rivers plunged down the mountainsides and exhausted their energies without any appreciable contribution to man’s service; now they are estimated as so many units of horse-power, and we find that their fretting and foaming was merely a language which they employed to tell us of their strength and of their willingness to work for us. And while falling water is becoming each day a larger factor in burden bearing, water rising in the form of steam is revolutionizing the transportation methods of the world.

“The wind that first whispered its secret of strength to the flapping sail is now turning the wheel at the well.

“Lightning, the dread demon that, from the dawn of creation, has been rushing down its zigzag path through the clouds as if intent only upon spreading death, has been metamorphosed into an errand boy, and brings us illumination from the sun, and carries our messages around the globe.

THE BIBLE AN UPLIFTING POWER

“Inventive genius has multiplied the power of a human arm, and supplied the masses with comforts of which the rich did not dare to dream a few centuries ago. Science is ferreting out the hidden causes of disease, and teaching us how to prolong life. In every line, except in the line of character building, the world seems to have been made over; but the marvelous changes by which old things have become new, only emphasize the fact that man, too, must be born again, while they show how impotent are material things to touch the soul of man and transform him into a spiritual being.

“Wherever the moral standard is being lifted up — wherever life is becoming larger in the vision that directs it, and richer in its fruitage — the improvement is traceable to the Bible and to the influence of the God and Christ of whom the Bible tells.

THEY MUST CONFESS IT

“The atheist and the materialist must confess that man ought to be able to produce a better book to-day than man, unaided, could have produced in any previous age. The fact that they have tried, time and again, only to fail each time more hopelessly, explains why they will not — why they can not — accept the challenge thrown down by the Christian world to produce a book worthy to take the Bible’s place.

IMPRESS IS ON THE WORLD

“They have prayed to their god to answer with fire — prayed to inanimate matter with an earnestness that is pathetic. They have employed in the worship of blind force a faith greater than religion requires, but their almighty is asleep. How long will they allow the search for the strata of stone and fragments of fossil and decaying skeletons that are strewn around the house to absorb their thoughts to the exclusion of the Architect who planned it all? How long will the agnostic, closing his eyes to the plainest truths, cry ‘Night, night,’ when the sun in his meridian splendor announces that noon is here?

“The Bible has stamped its impress upon the map of the world. Its boundaries are clearly marked, and the light that emanates from the Christian nations is flowing outward toward those who sit in darkness. Back of the progress that marks the present day is the code of morals that Christ proclaimed, and back of that code of morals is the divine character of Him who is both Son of God and Saviour of mankind.”

THEIR ORACLE IS DUMB

This challenge to the god of unbelief and skepticism we judge will go unanswered. Their oracle is dumb. “That which is noted in the Scripture of truth” will stand. The predictions of the ancient seers, covering millenniums of the future, have all been accurately fulfilled, and will stand.

“The tumult and the shouting dies, The captains and the kings depart; Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice, An humble and a contrite heart.

“Far called, our navies melt away. On dune and headland sinks the fire. Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!” — Kipling.

But while we see that all earthly things are stamped with decay, and in a few brief years crumble into ruins, the word of our God stands fast forever and ever; and those who keep their feet upon this imperishable rock will endure the trials and disappointments of life, and share finally in the reward which it promises.

The Will of God Is His Law

By M. C. Israel

NOT every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 7: 21. Where is the will of God to be found? Rom. 2: 17, 18 says, “Behold, thou art called a Jew, . . . and knowest His will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law.” The verses following show that this is the law of God; and the one who obeys it, is the one who has done the will of God.

Christ is our example, and of Him it is predicted: “Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; . . . burnt offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required.” Ps. 40: 6. Whence the necessity of these offerings? — Because man had transgressed God’s law — committed sin. “To obey is better than sacrifice.” 1 Sam. 15: 22. If man had not sinned, these offerings would not have been necessary. “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart.” Ps. 40: 7, 8. “He taketh away the first [sacrifices and offerings], that He may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Heb. 10: 9, 10.

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” Verses 16-18. When the law of God is written in the heart of an individual, and his past sins are forgiven, he will never sin any more, provided he remains in that relation to God’s law. Ps. 37: 31; 119: 1-3. He will be fully sanctified, holy, perfect. This is to know God. “They shall not teach every man his neighbor: . . . for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.” Heb. 8: 11.

This is the class who know righteousness. “Harken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.” Isa. 51: 7. These are called “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” Isa. 61: 3.

EVIDENCES OF BEING THE CHILDREN OF GOD

“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” 1 John 3: 14. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5: 2, 3. “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” 1 John 3: 22.

Some might ask, What commandments are here referred to? The answer is in the following verses: “And this is His [the Father’s] commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him.” The Father’s will is, “that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ”; and the Son says, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments, . . . Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal,” etc. Matt. 19: 17-19. “Blessed are they that do His [the Father’s] commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22: 14.

“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 7: 21.

To do God’s will on earth through faith in Christ, will make us citizens of the heavenly kingdom. “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matt. 6: 10. This says and means God’s whole will, as contained in His law. James 2: 10-12. “For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Phil. 3: 20, A. R. V. M. C. ISRAEL.

Habit of Happiness

By E. Elffers

ONE can acquire a habit of happiness just as one can fall into that dreadfully bad habit of being sorry for oneself, and it is astonishing how happy people and happy homes are sought and appreciated. Happiness in the face is like the sun in a landscape or a fire in our living-room; it attracts the attention as the principal thing, and warms and cheers all those who see it. Happiness, like good humor, is contagious; and just as one unconsciously begins to smile when watching radiant, laughing people, so one unconsciously begins to feel happy when one is in the company of genuinely happy people. “True happiness” is only another term for gratitude to the Giver of all good, and there is wonderful help in counting the blessings that we have, large or small, and hunting them up determinedly. E. ELFFERS.

Nominal Protestantism Bowing to Rome

By A. R. Bell

America the Land of Opportunity for the Papacy

Catholic Ceremonies in Protestant Churches — What the Significance

By A. R. BELL

FOR more than half a century, we have said to the world that nominal Protestantism would yet unite with Catholicism to form a great, world-wide persecuting power. We have also said, for all this time, that the United States would take the lead in this colossal ecclesiastical movement. Our conviction in this matter has been brought about by the study of the book of Revelation, especially chapters 12, 13, 14, 17, and 18. The evidence is plain enough to show what is coming. The facts presented by Elder Bell might be multiplied at length; but of course the majority will not give heed, and at the same time they will fulfil the prophecy, though all the while scoffing at it. The question is one of God’s word and the facts; and no matter whether Catholic or Protestant, every individual should weigh the testimony. Neither our clamorous teaching, nor our vaunted “broad-mindedness” and “liberality,” nor our prejudices, will be the deciding factor in the Judgment. We must all meet what God’s word says, rather than what is the teaching of the church. EDITOR.

THE decline and fall of Protestantism seems of late to be the theme of Roman Catholic journalism, and keeping step with this is their boast of the progress and the onward march of Roman Catholicism.

"THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY"

To that system, America is the land of opportunity. The word has gone forth to make America Catholic; and in spite of all the fearful things they say of the Reformation and the Reformers, and of Protestantism in general, in spite of the intense spirit of hatred breathed in all their utterances concerning Protestantism, and the professed and published detestation in which they hold all members of the Protestant faith, it would seem as though professed Protestantism were doing what she could to help make the aim of Rome successful.

"DISINTEGRATING BEFORE HER EYES"

Roman Catholicism says “Protestantism is disintegrating before her eyes,” and that “multitudes of its greatest representatives are hurrying to the temples which their forefathers had abandoned.”

They are telling us that “from one end of Christendom to the other, all monuments and memorials of these demoniacs [the Reformers] must be blotted out,” and that “the world at large will soon fall into line . . . and expurgate their history, making confession of its sin, and begging forgiveness.”

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY WILL BE ENDED

The boast has been made that when Roman Catholics shall be in the majority in this country, which they say will “certainly be the case by and by,” then “religious liberty will have come to an end in the republic of the United States.”

CARDINAL O'CONNELL, WHO WELCOMED THE CONVENTION TO "CATHOLIC BOSTON"

And yet in the face of all this hatred and antagonism, professed Protestants seem to have forgotten that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” and that “Rome never changes”; and with a zeal not according to knowledge, they are found playing court as to a mother from whom, by their own wrongdoing, they had been estranged.

SOME WEATHER-VANES

Note a few straws that show which way the wind is blowing. In an English weekly newspaper we are told:

“Protestantism is being steadily sapped. Ministers of the Church of England deny that they are Protestant ministers. Many of them openly flout the Reformation, and tell us, without mincing words, that the martyrs were traitors, and that they deserved their fate.”

We come over to this side of the Atlantic, to the “land of opportunity” in the eyes of Romanism, and we hear a Philadelphia minister telling us, speaking of Protestantism:

“We are all approaching . . . the Roman Catholic. The world is more cultured; and as people become more refined, the need of an appeal to the senses increases, and ceremonials, vestments, high-class music, pageants, lend dignity and impressiveness. This observance of feasts and fasts, of saint days and martyrs’ days, in my opinion is not harmful. It increases the veneration of worshipers for the church.”

Note that as we become more cultured and refined, the appeal must be to the senses, and not to the heart, and that veneration for the church is the object sought. This is the very essence of Romanism.

PROTESTANTISM A THING OF THE PAST

Another Philadelphia minister tells us that “the spirit of Protestantism is fast dying out in the United States, and will soon be a thing of the past.”

We hear another, in Camden, New Jersey, in a sermon on “The Altar Fires,” say:

“There are writers . . . who tell us that the Roman Catholic Church is a threat to the future welfare of our nation. Will you hear me when I say that the putting out of the fires that burn at this moment on Roman Catholic altars would be the greatest disaster that could overtake our country or our civilization?”

CARDINAL GIBBONS, WHO BLESSED A CROSS FOR A PROTESTANT MINISTER

ASKED THE CARDINAL TO BLESS IT

We read of a Protestant minister of Washington, D. C., sending a cross to Cardinal Gibbons, to be blessed by him, before presenting it to a member of his Sunday-school, and telling her:

“This will have an added sacredness and value to you as a faithful child of the church, because it has a cardinal’s blessing.”

CATHOLIC MASS IN BAPTIST CHURCH

We read of a Roman Catholic mass being held in a Baptist church in Elmhurst, New York, and the minister saying:

“We’re getting along splendidly. There’s plenty of room here for both congregations. You see I’ve always preached brotherly love, and I believe in it.”

We are told of a minister in New York City who, preaching in a large tent, said he felt it would “be but a short time before the Roman Catholic Church and all the Protestant churches would unite in one grand church.”

A PROTESTANT CONFESSIONAL

And now we read, in the Literary Digest, of a movement for a “Protestant confessional.” Of this movement, a writer in the Western Christian Advocate says:

“Now the class-meeting has gone, and the revival fails to reach the multitudes of men. How will the church readjust herself to the new conditions? — Not with a confessional established under ecclesiastical control, but with some form that will give men opportunity to confess their sins. A Protestant confessional would be a pastoral clinic which drew men to it because of their need, and which wins and holds their confidence because of the service rendered. Let us encourage and facilitate confession. It is good for the soul.”

And through it all, Rome laughs to herself and bides her time.

ROMEWARD TREMENDOUSLY

Coupled with all this fearful apostasy and drawing of Protestantism Romeward is the tremendous increase of Roman Catholic population, and the attitude of men in public civil life toward the papal hierarchy. We remember that for the four years of the last Republican president’s stay in the White House, he, with many of his cabinet and high officials of the government, attended mass each Thanksgiving day in St. Patrick’s Church, Washington, D. C. We remember Cardinal O’Connell’s being introduced as “the first citizen” of Massachusetts, at a banquet given in Boston, and of high

officials of that commonwealth who “bowed the knee and kissed his hand.”

Water-front at Buenos Aires, and the canal through which vessels are towed to the open water. Brother Hall was longer in passing through here than from New York to London.

And we have in mind the action of the present occupant of the executive mansion in Washington, D. C., who, in the face of over ten thousand letters and telegrams of protest, attended mass with Secretary Bryan and many of the officials of the legislative and judicial departments of the government.

OBSEQUIOUSLY BOWING

All these are signs of the times. We see Protestantism turning Romeward. We see our leaders in public life obsequiously bowing before that religio-political system. We see Roman Catholic governors and mayors increasing everywhere. We see Massachusetts, the cradle of religious liberty, in the hands of a Roman Catholic majority. We hear Cardinal O’Connell, at a recent Catholic congress held in Boston, saying to the delegates, “Catholic Boston welcomes you.” We hear the loud boast, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow,” as given to us in the prophecy of Rev. 18:7; and we realize, as we look the situation over, that the day is fast approaching when “all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the papal beast], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8.

Thank God that while all these indications of a dying Protestantism, and of Rome's approaching greatness and power, are signs of our time, and are the testimony of history to the voice of prophecy, they are besides the sure evidence of Rome's soon-coming final and complete overthrow and destruction under the wrath of God. Rev. 18:5-10.

A SAVING MESSAGE

To save men from that destruction, a destruction that involves “all that dwell upon the earth,” God is sending to the world the threefold message of Rev. 14:6-12. This message prepares those who accept it, for the coming of the Lord. See verses 14-16. The result of heeding the message is given us in verse 12: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

These will worship neither the beast—Romanism—nor his image—apostate Protestantism. Getting complete victory over all apostasy and every wrong, walking in obedience to every divine requirement, they “have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:14.

Dear reader, may you read the signs of the times aright! May you know the time of our visitation, and by all these things be led to seek that safety which only a life surrendered fully to God may know, and worship only Him.

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