p. 12 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 44. (11/10/1909)

The Religious Trend in Education

“Blasting at the Rock of Ages”

Several months ago an article appeared in “The Cosmopolitan” by Mr. Harold Boice, bearing the title “Blasting at the Rock of Ages,” in which the writer set forth what he understood to be the teaching of the leading colleges and universities of this country, touching the fundamentals of Christianity. He told us that “the colleges repudiate the doctrine that man is ransomed by the blood of Christ, declaring that the fall of man is a myth, and that it was simply a Judean peasant and not God who died on Calvary;” “the colleges say that it isn’t the death of the Nazarene, but His life, that counts;” “the colleges say that the ancient cities perished not because they despised God and practised abominations, but because they became valueless when routes of traffic changed.”

Some of these professors repudiated the Decalogue and the Bible as a system of ethics. In fact it was a tremendous arraignment of our institutions of learning.

Some of our religious papers in turn utterly repudiate his articles, claiming that Mr. Boice is unscientific himself, unable to judge of the teaching of the universities, that he had gathered out a sentence here and there, stripped it of its connection, and given an altogether wrong meaning to it.

In order to ascertain the accuracy of Mr. Boice’s arraignment, “The Christian Statesman” sent a circular letter to the presidents of 400 different colleges, asking them to state whether these destructive views, or any portion of them, as alleged by Mr. Boice, were taught in any of the classrooms, either positively or in logical deduction. “The Christian Statesman” for November says that a large number of colleges in all parts of the country have replied; that these replies fall into four classes: first, from institutions charged by Mr. Boice with skeptical teaching; second, from state universities not named in “The Cosmopolitan” articles; third, from Roman Catholic colleges, with a wish to be considered in a class by themselves; fourth, from various denominational or non-sectarian colleges.

The editor says regarding the universities and colleges charged by Mr. Boice with infidel teaching, that “very many of our letters have complained of Mr. Boice’s conclusions as ‘unscientific’ and of his methods of investigation as hasty and ‘unscientific;’ but if there has been any serious attempt at denial or disparagement of the substance of the charges, it has not been called to our notice. Indirect evidence from other sources confirming the charges has come to our hands; but without exception, any letters we have received from the hands of these institutions have assumed to treat the accusations with contempt and to refuse to comment upon them.”

And then samples of the replies are quoted by “The Statesman.”

The Roman Catholic Colleges

The replies from Roman Catholics contend, of course, that all their colleges are strictly orthodox. One of them says, “The religious convictions of our students, no matter what these are, are as sacred as life itself;” and that none of their students “ever fell under such influence as those referred to in ‘The Cosmopolitan.’” At the same time the Catholic replies indicate that they believe the charges by Mr. Boice are true.

Some of the other state institutions, notably in the South, declare that most of their professors and instructors are Christians.

The denominational and non-sectarian colleges generally ring with a note of triumphant orthodoxy so far as language goes, and we would fain take their statements at par value. Almost invariably they declare themselves to be orthodox, believing in the verbal inspiration of the Holy Scriptures and the infallibility of all Bible truths; at the same time some of them approve of what Mr. Boice says regarding the teaching of the large universities.

The presidents of the smaller colleges are willing to admit that infidel and skeptical theories characterize the teaching in the great universities. They think, however, that the smaller colleges have not as yet become much affected by them. Yet one Southern college president declares: “Men’s brains are reeling under the vastness and almost limitless possibilities of the material world, and vision is disturbed and distorted. Some of the old beliefs and theories will not hold the new content, and there is a general breaking up, a chaos.”

Another college president declares: “We stand four-square for the teaching of the Bible. We do not believe it is a worn-out book, but that it is up to date, and meets the needs of humanity in the 20th century as in all the centuries of the past. No portion of the destructive views of which you speak is taught in our college or is allowed, and no system of science or philosophy from which these could be deduced is taught in our classrooms.”

These same sentiments are uttered by other college presidents; but as one president states it, “At the same time it is not to be denied that these teachings have gained wide-spread influence, and constitute one of the significant signs of the times.”

The Source

The source of this infidelity is traced by the Roman Catholics and by other presidents to Germany. It is German rationalism, transplanted into a luxuriant and fertile soil. One Southern college president, for instance, tells us that he spent eighteen years in Germany, and while there saw the large number of young Americans who had gone to Germany to secure the degree of Doctor of Philosophy; young men of unformed character, with slight equipment in philosophy, logic, or the foundation principles of Christianity; well-meaning enough, but wholly unable to cope with German infidelity.

The Outcome

What will be the outcome of this? This is indicated to some extent even by the replies from presidents of what may be called thoroly Christian schools. A few years ago there was not a question as to how these schools stood. Some of them are drifting. Others tell us that it is more and more difficult to obtain teachers who are thoroly Christian. One declares that “a number of our graduates have taken post-graduate courses in state universities after leaving here, and it is a fact known to me that almost every one has had his Christian faith impaired or destroyed while in the university. We have found some difficulty in securing safe Christian teachers and books for our schools. The situation is such as to demand the attention of all Christian people.”

Again, there is strenuous effort put forth throughout the whole educational field to unite just as far as possible all the various institutions of learning, to form some kind of system between the various schools. Looking at this from one view-point, it seems a splendid thing; from another, it will mean that infidelity will permeate all below the great skeptical universities as it exists among them, because the demand is for university teachers, for those who have had the largest, widest training. Rationalistic Germany will furnish the teachers for our great universities; our universities; for our smaller colleges; and our universities and smaller colleges will furnish the teachers for the rank and file of America. Our smaller colleges and state universities and state normals who drink at the polluted waters of the university, will teach our children, and they will teach them their own infidelity. The result will be as has been declared, “a nation of infidels.”

Future Strife.

The Independent of September 23, in reviewing a book on Austria-Hungary, by Geoffrey Drage, referring to what the author says on England, declares that in the future war, England must rely on herself alone. France and Russia will not fight for her; “an entente cordiale being far from being an offensive and defensive alliance.” His theory for the future of England is, “More British Dreadnoughts. They will undoubtedly be built, and be matched by more German Dreadnoughts, in addition to those of her ally in the Mediterranean, with France and Russia and Italy bravely struggling to keep up with the rivalry until—who can foretell the end?”

The Super-Dreadnought

A FEATURE of Neptune, the greater Dreadnought, which was launched last Thursday from the British shipyard at Portsmouth, says the Christian Advocate, is that her bulkheads are so heavily armored that they should keep her afloat after several compartments are penetrated by shell or torpedo. Her displacement is 20,250 tons, which is ten per cent more than Dreadnought. Her turbines will drive her twenty-one knots an hour. Her main battery consists of ten twelve-inch guns. This is the eighth Dreadnought that England has launched, or the eleventh reckoning that Inflexible and her sisters, which are classed as battle-ship cruisers, from their combination of gun-power and speed.

The Remedy

What shall be done about it? The only true method of meeting the overwhelming flood of infidelity, is for parents themselves to stand for God, for a personal God, for a personal Saviour, for the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and to demand that their children shall be taught this; teaching it themselves at the family altar, in their going out and coming in; in other words, making the education of the youth as thoro as the ancient Israelites were instructed to do; and so thoroly imbuing the youth in the home and in the church, that they will be able to meet by living Christian experience, by evidences that can not be gainsaid or set aside, any learned thesis which may declare that Christianity is not all that it claims to be.

But what if the heads of the homes are themselves skeptical? What if they are drinking in this same pollution from week to week in the sermons to which they listen, in the religious papers which they read? There is a remedy for all of this. God has given it in the great Threefold Message which He is sending out to all the world; a return to the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ, to the creative power of God instead of evolution, to His Word instead of tradition, to God instead of to man. There is healing for the church, for the world, in the reception of that message. Rejecting it is everlasting destruction.

A Foolish Nation and Its Money

While the most powerful war fleet ever assembled in American waters lies peacefully at anchor in the Hudson, and the newspapers are estimating its cost in hundreds of millions, it may be well to reread a striking paragraph entitled “National Fools,” which appeared a little while ago in “The Philadelphia Record.”

The German Reichstag has voted $125,000,000 to cover naval deficits and provide the Kaiser with future means of building warships as big as those of England. “And yet there is not a German, outside of the military and naval services, who wants war with England; and there is not an Englishman—not even in the army and navy—who wants a war with Germany. England has just levied additional taxes of about $80,000,000, mostly to provide ships to fight the Germans with. As national fools we are not much behind either.” The general cost of carrying on the Government, civil and miscellaneous expenses, has doubled since 1896 and 1897, the cost of the army from $48,000,000 to $164,000,000, and the navy from $34,000,000 to $115,000,000. “In 1898-9 the costs of the Spanish War ran the expenses of the Government up to $605,000,000; and in the fiscal year just closed, with no war, and after deducting the expenses on the Panama Canal, the ordinary expenses of the Government were $659,000,000.” Such figures recall the remark alleged to have been made by a tramp about December: “This is an awful month for the rich.” “How is that?” said his companion. “O, think of the amount of coal and taxes they have to pay for this time of year.” However, the American Government has to deal with constantly increasing populations; has the Pacific Coast as well as the Atlantic to guard; has taken on many things that formerly were taken care of by the states, or not taken care of at all; has superintended Cuba and managed Porto Rico, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Philippine Islands, not to mention San Domingo and Panama. The public shows symptoms of a desire that the United States should become a world power, and under the circumstances must be ready to pay the piper.—Christian Advocate.

President Taft and Labor

In his speech in Chicago, President Taft expressed his sympathy with labor, and with organized labor, but he was also brave enough to state just what his position was regarding the rights of those who were outside of organized labor. He said, as reported in “The Independent” of September 23:

“Nothing I have said or shall say should be construed into an attitude of criticism against, or unfriendliness to, those working men who for any reason do not join unions. Their right to labor for such wages as they choose to accept is sacred, and any lawless invasion of that right can not be too severely condemned. All advantages of trades unionism, great as they are, can not weigh a feather in the scale against the right of any man lawfully seeking employment to work for whom and at what price he will.

“Of course when organized labor permits itself to sympathize with violent methods, with breaches of the law, with boycotts, and other methods of undue duress, it is not entitled to our sympathy.”

Stirred in Mexico

A RELIABLE correspondent writes us that the Catholic press of Mexico have recently issued a circular and scattered the same extensively throughout the country, under the following caption: “The End of the World Is Near, as Announced by Earthquakes and Other Calamities.” The sheet is illustrated with the most startling and terrorizing scenes of earthquakes, lightning, and flood. They declare that all of these demonstrations that are taking place in the world indicate clearly that its final destruction is at hand; that the final judgment without doubt is very near; that the religious prophecies are almost completed; and that of this fact we are warned by a multitude of signs.

Among these signs which the sheet names are the revolutions in Spain and Barcelona, the persecution of the Catholic clergy in Spain, the earthquakes and floods in Mexico, etc. The sheet also carries the idea that the persecution of Catholic priests in Spain is without any ground of justice; that people in that country have the opportunity to believe and do just as they desire religiously, the history of Spain to the contrary notwithstanding. There is more which we have not space to record.

Many of the signs given are inconsequential ones; many of them are truly signs of the end. Mexico itself has some of them right in her own midst.

Another thing connected with this effort, however, is that Catholics are declaring that antichrist is about to appear, and are telling the fable of a child that is a false christ, born out of the regular order of humanity; this, of course, to endeavor to fulfil the prophecies of the antichrist.

If they were set forth on a truly Scriptural basis, they might mean something; as it is, it is quite questionable.

Literary Notices

“Christian Science: the Faith and Its Founder.” By Lyman P. Powell, Rector of St. John’s Church, Northampton, Mass. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York and London.

In the preparation of this book the author has delved into every phase and side of Christian Science. He has read a hundred or more works for and against the cult; has read and reread every edition of “Science and Health;” has made special inquiries of the proponents of the faith, traveling hundreds of miles in order to ascertain the correctness or incorrectness of various claims. He sets before us in his little book, in its eight chapters: Christian Science and Historic Christianity, Science and Health, The Source of Its Ideas, The Founder of the Faith, The Philosophy, The Religion and Theology, Christian Science Healing, Marriage and the Family.

For many years he discouraged none who sought its ministry, but in the evolution and growth of the cult he gave it closer observation and more serious consideration, which brought him to three conclusions; namely:

“1. That when members of any Christian church turn to Christian Science healing, they usually turn away from historic Christianity.

“2. That there are in the theory of Christian Science certain structural weaknesses which may easily be overlooked by people unversed in philosophy, theology, or science.

“3. That the answers of the accredited exponents of the movement to the criticisms which are steadily gaining headway, satisfy none save Christian Scientists, and such others as read carelessly and think loosely.”

Mr. Powell goes on to show by abundant evidence that the real author of Christian Science is not Mrs. Eddy, but Mr. Quimby, to whom Mrs. Eddy once gave credit, but whom she in later life repudiates. What she herself claimed as a revelation is shown to be an adaptation of old views.

What has been proved by others, is very clearly demonstrated by Mr. Powell, that Christian Science is but another form of pantheism, and results in philosophical anarchy. It is a book which strikes tremendous blows at the deceptive philosophy, and is packed full of information for those who desire to know the origin and teaching of Mrs. Eddy’s work. It ought to have a large circulation. We do not see how it is possible for a candid mind, a mind not under the delusion of Christian Science, a mind which desires to know the truth, to come to any other conclusion that that to which Mr. Powell has himself come. It seems to us that he has been more generous toward the false philosophy than the thrice-proved facts would warrant.

“Christian Science in the Light of Holy Scripture.” By I. M. Haldeman. Price, $1.50. Fleming H. Revell Co., Chicago.

Taken all in all, this is a remarkable book, presenting as it does a fearful broadside of Holy Scripture against one of the most terrible errors of modern times. The book takes up authoritative statements on Christian Science, many from Mrs. Eddy’s book, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” and then places with the statements the exact truth as recorded in the Word of God. After this manner the author presents the teachings of Christian Science and the teachings of the Bible side by side, upon the following subjects: Christian Science and Matter; Christian Science, Sin and Evil; Christian Science, Sickness and Disease; Christian Science and Death; Christian Science and Man. In a similar manner the Christian Science teachings and the teachings of the Bible are presented upon the subjects of God, Christ, the Devil, Christian Doctrine, Prayer, Marriage, Woman’s Place in the Church; and then five more chapters close the book. These chapters are entitled: Christian Science and the Name It Never Exalts; Christian Science and How It Handles the Word of God; Christian Science and the Integrity of the Bible; Christian Science and the Shadow of Antichrist; Christian Science and the Twofold Peril. At the close the author has a chapter in which he sums up all the arguments of the book.

Barring some arguments relative to death and man’s nature, which are not as strong, we think, as they might have been, the book is a marvelous compendium of truth, as contrasted with the error of Christian Science. While it is not exhaustive in the absolute sense, practically it exhausts the subject so far as covering all the leading points is concerned. And it is an unanswerable argument.

Christian Scientists will never be able to meet the array of evidence which here condemns them as antichristian and unscriptural.

Modern Light Bearers

“Modern Light Bearers.” Addresses Celebrating the Centennial of Religious Journalism. Edited by Rev. J. Pressley Barrett, D.D. Christian Publishing Association, Dayton, Ohio.

This book tells the story of the beginning, growth, and influence of “religious journalism.” September 15-17, 1908, representative men from various denominations assembled in the city of Portsmouth, N. H., down by the sea, where one hundred years before, Elias Smith began religious journalism in the publication of the Herald of Gospel Liberty. The addresses delivered on that occasion are given to the public in this book. While the origin of the celebration comes from the Christian Church, addresses were given as well by men of other denominations. The celebration was preeminently that of the Christian Church in rounding out one hundred years of existence since its beginning under Elias Smith.

Who and What Are They?

HERE is an illustration reproduced in the Literary Digest of October 16, 1909, showing the interior of what was formerly Mr. W.-T. Stead’s office, but which is now a “Spirit Bureau.” The Digest says:

“Mr. Stead’s ‘bureau’ of communication with departed souls is said to be in working order, and many successful efforts to communicate with the other world are affirmed. Not long ago he wrote a magazine article which we quoted, setting forth his determination to establish an office where people by the payment of a small contribution to the ‘Borderland Library’ could talk with friends who had entered the spirit world. His agent for communications on the other side is his familiar, known as ‘Julia,’ identical with an American lady whom he once knew and with whom since her death he acknowledges frequent communication.

“At present the number of applications is about half a dozen a day, and it is declared that, of the cases accepted, about seventy-five per cent have ‘gone through’—that is, communication is believed to have been established.”

It is no longer a question, even in the scientific world, as to whether or not communications are actually received through supernatural agencies. The question is, What are these agencies? You will find this question answered to your entire satisfaction in “Spirit World,” a pamphlet of 96 pages written by Prof. George W. Rine. Price, 10 cents. Address your tract society, or the publishers of this paper.

“Writing and Speaking.”

By Charles Sears Baldwin. Price $1.20. Longmans, Green & Company, 91, 93 5th Ave., New York.

There are unnumbered books on English, and especially on English composition; but there is always room for something a little better yet, and thus we would denominate this new book on “Writing and Speaking” English. The author of this review thinks so well of it that he is using it as a text-book in giving special instruction in English to a private pupil.

Having been closely identified with school work, and knowing practically everything there is on the market, we consider this one of the best books, if not the best book, published for those who wish a text-book on practical rhetoric. The purpose of the author is well expressed in the following statement which we take from its Introduction:

“What all writers know makes the laws of writing. These are not like the laws of the state, but like the laws of sailing. In bringing a boat to the wharf the law is to come up on the lee side. You may learn that law in either of two ways: you may try the windward side instead, smash the bowsprit, and perhaps fall overboard; or you may accept the teaching of an old sailor. When you have learned the laws of sailing you are not less free to go where you wish; you are more free. In fact, you are hardly free at all until you have mastered the laws practically. So it is in writing. The whole object of a text-book of composition is to help you gain your end; the whole object of learning these laws is to apply them practically to your own purposes.”

The author states that the great objects of composition are two, clearness and interest; and around these two great objects he builds his book, and toward these objects he leads his pupils.

The book covers work in Sentences, in Punctuation and Capitals, in Letter Forms, in Revision, Conversation, Principles of Clearness, Principles of Interest, Planning, Revising, Bringing Books to Bear, Presentation in Argument and Exposition, Structure of Narrative, Story Telling, Style, and The Forms of Composition in Literature.

The book is a valuable one for use with students who have well mastered grammar. As the author says, the object of this book is “not only to make better writers, nor to make writers at all in the professional sense, but through writing and speaking to make better thinkers, men and women more sympathetically responsive to their actual world and better able to answer its calls.”

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

“Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.” An edition for the people. Prepared by W. Grinton Berry, M.A., illustrated in colors, 414 pages. Price, post-paid, 85 cents. Eaton & Mains, New York City.

The author feels that a book which held such a strong place in the household in days gone by, alongside of “Pilgrim’s Progress,” ought, in the service for evangelical and Protestant truth, to be revived. In this edition some of the deficiencies in Foxe’s literary attainment have been remedied. The arrangement in some cases has been simplified; but nothing essential, so far as the editor is aware, has been omitted. He has endeavored to conserve everything in the Book of Martyrs that most obviously makes for edification. Many of the repetitions of similar examinations of martyrs, by their judges, have been eliminated. But a chapter has been devoted to each of the more illustrious ones, and the truths for which they offered up their lives are fully and explicitly stated.

The editor has endeavored to keep the essential points in mind in his preparation of this volume. He believes that the great theme with which this book deals, “the falsehood, aggressiveness, and intolerance of Romanism, and its cruelty, which always merely awaits its opportunity, are topics full of living significance at this time; and it becomes reasonable to entertain hope that this volume may receive a great popular welcome, and again nobly serve the cause for which it was written.”

We think the author has done a brave thing to revise the work for publication, and that the publishing house itself is taking a brave step in these days of compromise in giving it to the public. We certainly believe that the public ought to know this important history, especially in the light of the claim of Roman Catholics that the church does not change.

Mountain View Home for Sale

For Sale.—A splendid home in Mountain View. Modern cottage, 5 rooms, pantry, bath, etc., large screened porch. Lot 100 x 150, family orchard, peaches, prunes, apricots, figs, olives, almonds, and variety of berries. Neat barn, cement walks. Two blocks from church and church school. Three blocks from SIGNS office. A bargain if taken quick. Address F. J. Brainerd, Mountain View, Cal., Box 293.

Honey for Sale

By S. H. Colvin

I have a small quantity of fine amber colored honey from alfalfa blossom, in sixty-pound cans at $4.00 per can, in Turlock, Cal. Any one wishing any write me at Turlock, Cal.

S. H. COLVIN.

Second Advent Movement, The Great.

By John Norton Loughborough

By J. N. Loughborough. A late revision of the old book “Rise and Progress of Seventh-day Adventists.”

This book forms a most interesting and instructive narrative on the subject indicated by its title. Commencing with the early experiences of the Advent movement of 1843 and 1844, the writer, who has been actively engaged in proclaiming the doctrine since 1849, here presents a graphic account of the struggles and difficulties through which the pioneers were safely carried by their unwavering faith in God and their unfaltering loyalty to the cause they had espoused. Due attention has been given to those agencies which, in the providence of God, have aided in building up and preserving the work represented by this people. Illustrated, 480 pages. Cloth, $1.25.

Our Great Cities

By Editor

Struggles for Reform

This is one of the most attractive and highly illustrated numbers of the SIGNS yet issued. Its subject will favorably impress every friend of good government; and its messages, presenting the lessons God would have conditions teach, must win their way to honest hearts.

Several Selling Features

Current Topics: Review of work and power of E. H. Harriman, with map showing lines of railroad in which he held controlling interest.

Our Nation’s expenditures for luxuries, made interesting with five striking illustrations.

Cities: “Legalized Crime,” in which reports and incidents taken from recent Chicago records show actual conditions, and form a message to parents and the youth concerning the dangers.

“New York,” some of the expositions made by ex-Commissioner of Police Bingham.

Reforms: San Francisco, Pittsburg, Los Angeles.

Other articles give the prophecies which show the significance of these conditions.

Bible and Prophecy: “Christ the Author of the Sabbath.”

“Struggles for Religious Liberty in the Western World.”

“The Time and Manner of Receiving Perfected Life.” A Bible reading.

Home and Health: A story entitled “How the Message of Jesus’ Coming Began in America.”

“The Road to Health.” By Dr. Kress.

Agents have already begun work with this number. Hundreds more who believe the message it contains are needed to help circulate it. You may have opportunities which have not been taken advantage of in the past.

Will you not join us this month in the circulation of a liberal quantity? You will receive a blessing in it. More than sixteen thousand copies have already been sent out. Order early.

Twenty-five copies cost $1.00; they sell for $2.50. 100 cost $4.00. You sell them for $10.00. Order of your Tract Society.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES MOUNTAIN VIEW, CAL.

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