cer PRICE' THREE SHILLINGS What's up there? Message from the moon Included in this issue: by Donald F. Haynes The Perfect Psalm Acclaimed by many as the most heart-warming gem of the Bible is Psalm 23. This idyll of great beauty is known as the Shepherd Psalm. It pictures a compassionate God who is pledged to sustain His human family through time, and on to eternity. —Perfect Provision. —Perfect Acceptance. —Perfect Joy. He leadeth me beside the still waters —Perfect Refreshment. � Thou anointest my head with oil He restoreth my soul —Perfect Fulfilment. � My cup runneth over The Lord is my shepherd � For Thou art with me —Perfect Security. � —A Perfect Companion. I shall not want � Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me —Perfect Satisfaction. � —Perfect Assurance. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures � Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of —Perfect rest. � mine enemies He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake —Perfect Guidance. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life —Perfect Care. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil � And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever —Perfect Insurance. � —Perfect Destiny. OUR TIME S containing GOOD NEWS FOR THE SPACE AGE EDITOR R D VINE The Way to Peace GENERAL MANAGER � SPECIAL DOUBLE NUMBER VOLUME 85/9, 10 A. ELIAS PRICE 3/- 24 26 35 46 50 52 55 2 17 18 23 19 28 30 56 57 CONTENTS EDITORIAL THIS COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE � GENERAL ARTICLES MESSAGE FROM THE MOON GOING DOWN WHO IS GOD? LOVE INEXHAUSTIBLE � "LIKE AS A FATHER" � Mary J. Vine WHAT'S UP THERE? � R. W. Engstrom CAN MODERN CHRISTIANS HONESTLY BELIEVE IN CREATION? H. W. Clark, M.A., Ph.D. ELIJAH, MAN OF THUNDER . A. J. Woodfield, M.A., Ph.D.(Lond.) SCRAPED LIKE THE TOP OF A ROCK . . . Mark Leeds, B.A. STARS OVER AMERICA ...... � H. M. S. Richards, O.D. LIFE AFTER DEATH—WHEN? (Bible Study) � . J. R. Spangler LAST WARNING MESSAGE � Raymond Cottrell WHO NEEDS A SABBATH? � Donald Haynes HEALTH FEATURES THAT OLD TRICKSTER � Mary J. Vine HOW TO LIVE � Dunbar W. Smith, M.D. PHANTOMS OF THE DUSK � IS "POT" AN ENIGMA TO YOU? DEVOTIONAL FEATURES THE PERFECT PSALM � Donald F. Haynes DOES GOODNESS PAY? � Rex Riches, B.A. BECOMING UNTWISTED � R H Pierson, D.D. A DEBT TO CAESAR � Miriam Wood CHILDREN'S PAGES TRUE STORY: THE STRANGE MOUNTAIN MAN � Lilith Ruskin THE GARDEN SPIDER � Alan P. Major OTHER FEATURES WE QUOTE � CROSSWORD PUZZLE � GEMS � WAR ON LEPROSY � NEWS AND VIEWS � SPECIAL PULL-OUT TRACT SUPPLEMENT HERE'S TO SUCCESS � PEACE on earth! Can it ever come? For centuries, talk has centred round it. "Ring out the thousand years of war: Ring in the thousand years of peace." . � . so blazed banner headlines of the national press as World War I gorily ground to a halt. But the bells rang in vain. Since the "atom bomb era" which began 4 � in Hiroshima, talk of peace has, for ob- vious reasons, become more urgent. Ancient Romans had a word for peace. 6 � They called it pax. But to them this simply 8 � meant the end of war. to � Ancient Greeks improved on this. Their 13 � word for peace was elrene, which meant 14 � not simply the cessation of war but in- 21 � cluded also the idea of settled organiza- tion. Ancient Hebrews had an even better concept. Their word was shalom—still used as a greeting by modern Israelis. Shalom means not only peace and order, but also prosperity. Such is the kind of peace promised by God. That most popular of Christmas oratorios, Handel's "Messiah," pictures Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose govern- 29 � ment will be world-wide and everlasting. 38 � Signs prove the nearness of this eternal 42 � era of peace, order, and prosperity. (See 45 � page 46). Meanwhile the world is in turmoil— "like the troubled sea whose waters cast up mire and dirt," says the prophet. Not calm, still waters, but the untameable churning of ocean waves: such is the symbol of a war-torn world that has largely lost touch with God. Understandable, be- cause peace plans are as numerous and 59 � divergent as human philosophies and 61 � political systems. Only God's plan can succeed—and it surely will: the reason is that basic in His plan is renewal of hearts and minds, an implanting of love in place of selfish in- difference and even hate. "Of the increase of His government and peace THERE SHALL BE NO END. . . ." Such is the promise of God: peace and prosperity— and immortality—for all who honestly and 31 � humbly submit to Him here and now PRINTED AND PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE STANBOROUGH PRESS LTD. ALMA PARK • GRANTHAM � LINCOLNSHIRE ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION including postage 23/6 � SIX MONTHS 11/9 Please notify change of address promptly R R Hegsted L F. Cunningham Malcolm Maxwell, Ph.D. A. S. Maxwell David C. Parker COVER PICTURE: Saturn V with Apollo VIII at the moment of blast-off. � R.D.V. 3 Discerning the times... CURRENT EVENTS IN THE LIGHT OF THE BIBLE • BY THE EDITOR This could change your life B RITAIN'S annual output of new book titles currently numbers thirty thousand! Yet this is only one per cent of what it could be; because for every book manuscript actually pub- blished, there are ninety-nine that are returned to the disappointed authors. Even in the halcyon days of wise King Solomon (991-931 n.c.) so busy were "book" publishers, that their activity evoked the comment: "of making many books there is no end." Ecclesiastes 12:12. If that com- ment were appropriate when every letter was handwritten, it is infinitely more so today. No country is more addicted to books than Britain. Books are im- portant. They feed the mind, and banish boredom; they educate, in- struct, and they inspire. How poverty- stricken we would feel without them! Said Francis Bacon in his essay on "Studies": "Some books are to be tasted, others swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." He might well have added: "And other books are to be shunned like the plague"; for while some books bring blessing, others bring only a curse. Hitler steeped himself in the philosophical books of Friedrich Nietszche which castigate Christian virtues and glorify aggression. Thus emerged Hitler's own notorious book: Mein Kampf which for a decade before World War II was virtually his nation's "bible." It taught and advocated the principle of the big lie, claiming that: "The very great- ness of the lie is a factor in getting it believed." It taught hatred of Jewry as the universal scapegoat. And so on. The book inflamed and corrupted. It directly led to war and mass murder. It is estimated that for every chapter in that book 1,200,000 people perished. It was one of several "books that changed the world." We could name many others, from Niccolo Machiavelli's volume, The Prince, with its grotesquely twisted philosophy due to which his nickname "Old Nick" was used as a synonym for the devil himself—to Mao Tse-Tung's Thoughts—the Red Book which is currently the Chinese "bible." This book which is dis- tributed throughout China, and which advocates rebellion and bloodshed in the interests of the underprivileged proletariat, is religiously studied by the nation. One dreads to contem- plate the possible outworking of Mao's principles, when that numeri- cally mighty nation gets adequately armed and organized for action. World's best-seller An encouraging and remarkable fact is that in the realm of books the world's "best seller" is still the Christian Bible. This book exceeds all others for its power and influence. Without fear or favour, it declares God's message to all mankind. It is not sectional in its focus. It is for rich and poor, high and low, Euro- pean, Asian, African — the whole human family, in fact. Though much of its story concerns the "chosen race," it makes clear that the Jews were thus chosen not for national prestige or aggrandizement, but in order for them to bring blessing and enlighten- ment to all nations. The Bible's New Testament tells how the task of spreading its good news of God's love and salvation for all who ac- cept, passed to the non-Jews or Gentiles. Here is a Book that really does good. It refines, ennobles, humanizes. It dispels doubt on all basic issues. And the wonderful thing is that it carries within it ample proof of its own divine inspiration. No other book on earth, past or present, does this. The Bible gives a safe and noble mould to all who read its teachings and submit to its influence. Further- more, the Bible is a book of super- lative power. 4 104Z,11 -rewr* IA EIS it tte4PORWS A Chinese sailor reading aloud from Mao's "Thoughts," during a meeting of his comrades at a naval base. Below.—Small group of Chinese service men gather at an air- port to discuss Mao Tse-Tung's "Thoughts." It can convert a beast-level can- nibal into a lovable Christian in a day. Thousands of them now living will gladly testify that this is so. No other book, whether by Shakes- peare or Dickens, Marx or Darwin, can do this. Two hunters in Canada's icy Yukon sought shelter in a log cabin remote among the pines of the tower- ing Rockies. Thankful to their tough- looking host, but suspicious, they crawled under their blankets with guns at the ready—"just in case." Late stirrings by their host deepened their suspicion until one peeped through a crack in the dividing door. He was reassured by what he saw. "It's all right Joe," he reported. "We're quite safe. The old man's reading his Bible." None have ever been depressed or warped, brutalized or demoralized by reading the Bible. This sacred Book invariably uplifts and gladdens those who honestly pursue its pages. It is the one book that can virtually change your life because it deals with the basic things that matter most—such as where we came from, what is life's purpose, why sin and suffering exist, how to get right with God, how death will be conquered, what the future has in store, will Christ come again and if so, when —and so on. In all our reading, let's be wise enough, and self disciplined• enough, occasionally to get out "the Old Book" and thus acquaint ourselves with God's personal message of as- surance and love to us. This is the Book of which the Psalmist says: "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105. And may we make a practical suggestion: the resources of the world's Greatest Bible Correspon- dence School are at your disposal, to help you to understand the Bible. Several study courses with systematic lessons are available—free, and with- out any obligation. You are there- fore invited to fill in the coupon on the back cover of this magazine, and send it to the Bible School. This simple act could completely revolutionize your life and for ever assure your personal happiness. R.D.V. S MESSAGE FROM THE MOON T HE Apollo 8 astronauts really did it! They elevated America's church-state-separation con- troversy to unprecedented heights. They did it by reading, while in moon orbit, a few Bible verses to their earth-bound fellows. The verses, taken from the Genesis record of Creation, were part of the astronauts' Christmas message to earth. Down here, within the polluted atmosphere, re- action was immediate. Radio and television talkathons aired debate over whether the incident did not violate America's wall of separation between church and state. Investigations established the fact that the astronauts' pulpit was erected and orbited at Government expense. At some £131 million, it was the most expensive platform for "pie in the sky by and by" ever provided. VOIK44e4pirtt Madalyn Murray O'Hair, self-proclaimed spokes- man for U.S. Atheists, was horrified. "It's just in- credible—men who are supposed to be scientists reading from Genesis like that," she was quoted by U.P.I. as saying in her Austin, Texas, home. "I'm just amazed that nobody has had the guts to do anything about it. Atheists have been so cowed by Christians they let them get away with anything." Mrs. O'Hair, the former Baltimorean who initiated and won the U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning prayers and Bible reading from public schools, said she would not take the incident lying down. She has asked associates in her Society of Separationists to join her in protesting the reading to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA). Now, something that took place in moon orbit hardly can be dismissed as a tempest in a teapot. Indeed, never before have Christians so let their "light shine before men." Therefore we have given serious attention to the issues raised by the Christmas greeting. After re-reading the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions on prayer and Bible reading in the public schools and interviewing specialists in interplanetary law, we can report that the astronauts did not violate that decision if (1) the astronauts acted spontaneously as individual citizens and not as hirelings of govern- ment, and (2) NASA did not write the verses. (Even Mrs. O'Hair will agree that Genesis was composed sometime prior to the American Constitution.) Indeed, a case can be made that removes the astronauts from the jurisdiction of the American Constitution at the time they departed the earth. Both the U.N. Space Commission and the Inter- national Law Association have suggested that "outer space should not be subject to the sovereignty or exclusive rights of any state." In view of the uncertainty surrounding questions of spatial sovereignty, we recommend that, in the future, astronauts avoid reading the Bible or praying (unless in an emergency and then, silently) until they have departed the troposphere—which begins approximately where the Florida smog ceiling ends. In the event an astronaut on a future flight wishes to recite the rosary, Protestants and Other Americans United [P.O. A.U.) recommends that this be saved for the dark side of the moon. A spokesman for the organization promised, however, that it would not initiate a court test over the Christmas message, unless the Post Office Depart- ment uses on a Christmas postage stamp a picture of the astronauts reading the Bible. Other concerned organizations that were willing to be misquoted on the incident had the following to say: 1. NASA. Official silence, unofficial embarrassment. Several scientists expressed dismay that the astronauts, at the very epitome (or was it apogee?) of scientific attainment, directed men's thoughts back to Creation and the Creator instead of doing obeisance to the god of science. It was unofficially "hoped" that "no one would take that Creat;on bit too seriously." 2. The Federal Communications Commission [F.C.C.) Broadcast Bureau agreed not to revoke NASA's broad- cast licence if, in harmony with the Fairness Doctrine, opposing views were given equal time on future flights. 3. Dr. Carl McIntire, who has carried on a running feud with the F.C.C., was reported to be in ecstasy over the transmission and thus incommunicado. 4. United States Supreme Court Justices, by an 8-1 decision, were unwilling to be quoted on the matter. "Creation in the Arkansas school system, we could handle," one admitted, off the record, "but this is just over our heads." 5. The Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C. "The moon is not made of American cheese!" 6. The Vatican. A spokesman expressed regret that a new, ecumenical version of the Scriptures was not used, but assured our reporter that Astronaut William Anders, a Roman Catholic would not be ex- communicated, though it appears he did not clear his participation in an ecumenical service with his bishop before leaving earth. 7. Theologians of both the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches were unaware, until informed, that the passage read by the astronauts was from the Bible. "I thought it was something from Shakespeare," one admitted. 8. Lord's Day Alliance. Approved of the broad- cast, while regretting that a few verses on the sanctity of Sunday were not included. 9. A Seventh-day Adventist spokesman hastily pointed out in rebuttal that no such verses can be found in either the Old or New Testament. Most Adventists, he said, felt that the reading should have included Genesis 2:2, 3: "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it . . ." OUR TIMES editor while sympathizing with the atheist objectors, is more than happy that the astronauts "breach of privilege" gave publicity to a cardinal truth that is so much denied today. The most elevated "platform" was appropriately used to proclaim the most elevated truth that God is the Creator of all, and that this Creation happened just as the Bible says it did. A last-day prophecy recorded in the Bible's last book pictures a symbolic "angel flying in the midst of heaven" appealing to people to acknowledge God as Creator and worship Him as such. (Revelation 14:6, 7). There is a happy parallel between this symbol and the astronauts! � • READERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW more about the great truths of the Bible, are earnestly invited to avail themselves of the special, free, HOME BIBLE STUDY GUIDES advertised on the back cover. �Editor 7 One of the most contested questions in the realm of religion ... HELLFIRE EVERLASTING OR NOT? answered by L. F. Cunningham A FRIEND of mine who attended some of the evangelistic meetings I was conducting in a South- ern city told me he enjoyed the services but could not agree with some of the things presented. One of his objections concerned the subject of hellfire. "What is there about this subject that you do not agree with?" I queried. "My Bible reads," he said, "that the wicked will burn in 'the lake of fire and brimstone, where the 8 beasts and the false prophets are, and shall be tor- mented day and night for ever and ever.' " (Revelation 20:10.) "You have been telling the people at the meetings" he continued, "that the wicked are burned up and the fire goes out. I can't go along with that." I agreed I could be mistaken but suggested that if he wanted to, we could study the matter together and see for ourselves whether this was true or not. He agreed, and at our first meeting he asked me to explain the meaning or the Bible terms "eternal fire" and "tormented . . . for ever and ever" in the light of what I had been preaching. I pointed out to him that though there are a number of texts which seem to indicate an ever-burning hell, there are also many that indicate a burning up of the wicked. John 3:16 implies that those who do not believe on Christ will "perish." Revelation 20:9 says they are "devoured." 2 Peter 3:10 says "the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Malachi not only says that the fire "shall burn them up" but also that they "shall be ashes under the soles of your feet." (Malachi 4:1, 3.) Isaiah 47:14 clearly indicates that when the wicked have been burned as stubble, the fire will go out, and there will not be so much as "a coal to warm at." The wicked "will be as though they had not been." See Obadiah 18 and Psalm 37:10. "Now," I asked my friend, "does the Bible con- tradict itself, teaching one thing in one place and something else in another?" He agreed that properly understood it is in harmony from cover to cover. In the weeks which followed we found the Bible to be in harmony in its teaching. For example: Eternal fire. Examining Jude 7, we found that the fire which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah was an example of the "eternal fire" that would destroy the wicked. They suffered "the vengeance of eternal fire." This fire brought those two wicked cities to "ashes" (2 Peter 2:6) and went out, and they have never been rebuilt. Instead, the site where they stood is now covered by the Dead Sea. They were eternally destroyed. Eternal, then, is descriptive of the fire's work rather than of its duration. Its results are eternal, everlasting. For ever and ever. I admitted that if Revelation 20:10 were the only text in the Bible, there would be no question about the duration of hell: it would be never ending. But this one text—seemingly in op- position to so many others—deserves careful study. I referred my friend to Exodus 21:6, where it states that under certain prescribed conditions a slave was to serve his master "for ever." To understand this to mean that his work would never end is absurd. He is not still working for him; he died some 3,000 years ago. The Hebrew word translated "for ever" is 'olam, which has the same meaning as the Greek aion, translated "for ever" in Revelation 20:10. According to Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon, aion means a "period of time, a lifetime, life, . . . an age." It means time of indefinite duration. Thus the "three days and three nights" that Jonah was in the belly of the whale (Jonah 1:17) is said to be "for ever" (Jonah 2:6). With the Hebrew slave "forever" was as long as his life lasted. With Jonah "forever" was three days and three nights. For ever in Revelation would there- fore indicate only the length of time life lasts in the fire. In Cruden's Complete Concordance under Eternal the following explanation is given: "The words eternal, everlasting, for ever, are sometimes taken for a long time, and are not always to be understood strictly. . . God promises a throne to David, an eternal kingdom; . . . that is, that his sons' empire will be of a very long duration. 2 Samuel 7:16." It also clearly states that for ever can mean "during our whole life." When used in connection with Jewish rites, "it com- monly signifies no more than during the standing of that commonwealth." It thus becomes clear that these Bible terms do not necessarily mean "without end." My friend and I had many good studies together, and the final point we discussed was the nature of God. Though God is "a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29) to the wicked and will utterly destroy them, I explained, He takes no pleasure in the punishment that He must mete out. To burn the sinner in the fire of hell is spoken of in Scripture as a "strange act" to God. (Isaiah 28:21.) He desires that all shall serve Him, that all shall live. We have a God who says: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Jeremiah 31:3. by E. G. White * The thousands of people who have been converted by this book attest to its powerful spiritual appeal. * THE GREAT CONTROVERSY traces the history of the conflict between Good and Evil, between Christ and Satan, from the times of the apostles, through the Dark Ages, the Reformation period, the Victorian re- vival, on to the present day and into the future, describing events and conditions immediately prior to the final conquest of Evil, and the restoration of Eden. Send for your copy today. Paperback edition (over 700 pages) 10/6 post free. THE STANBOROUGH PRESS LIMITED, ALMA PARK, GRANTHAM, LINCOLNSHIRE. One of the most stimulating religious classics of all time THE GREAT CONTROVERSY 9 The Bible says that eternal life depends on knowing God. In an age of growing scepticism, it is vital that we know the correct answer to the question: WHO Is GOD ? A portrayal by Malcolm Maxwell, Ph.D. I N view of current theological debate some readers may wonder if the question, Who is God? would not be better phrased, Who was God? Thomas Altizer of Emory University declares, "We must recognize that the death of God is a historical event: God has died in our time, in our history, in our existence."—Time, October 22, 1965. Again, others will question whether it is correct to ask, Who is God? for there are many theologians, such as Paul Tillich, who say that God is not a person but rather the "ground of our being." Still others will question if there is any point in asking about God at all. Paul van Buren, Associate Professor of Religion at Temple University, says that "any talk of God—including the prospect of His reappearance—is philosophically meaningless."—ibid. Thus it would appear that at least for some the question, Who is God? is impossible to begin with, for even the individual words of the question carry implications of great complexity. The importance of the question, however, and of answering it correctly is seen when it is remembered that God is the One addressed in every prayer, the One praised, knelt before, and relied upon by millions. So again, Who is God? Reliable information Attempting to answer this question raises another, and that is, Where can one go for reliable information about God? Millions, for thousands of years, have regarded the Bible as the most trustworthy source available. Indeed, such is the Bible's main purpose: to give information about God. This is what makes it unique. Stories such as David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah, Moses, and Elijah are told not merely to provide entertainment, but to say something about God. Interestingly, most of the information about God contained in Scripture is in the form of stories telling of what God has done by, for, and through men. Through this activity men have come to know God, and some of them, under His influence, wrote down what they had learned about Him. Haw would they answer the question, Who is God? For one thing, they would not be afraid to declare that God "is." This is seen in Psalm 90:1-4: "Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. . . . A thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." Elsewhere the Psalmist describes the person who says: "There is no God," as a "fool." (Psalm 14:1.) Furthermore, the Bible writers consistently portray God as a person. Thus, they would not have objected to the question: "Who is God?" To describe God as a person is not the same as describing Him as "human," for God is certainly not just a "great big man." Indeed, God cannot be adequately conceived of by human beings, and they must for ever be awake to the danger of falsely objectifying God. Interestingly, one of the astonishing facts of the Bible is its commandment prohibiting all images of God. Even so, the Bible does portray God as an intelligent, thinking, planning, feeling person whose chief characteristic is His love for the beings He has formed in His own image and with whom He desires joyful relationship. The Bible describes the kind of 10 relationship God wishes to have with His creatures by speaking of Him as a loving Father and human beings as His children. Some may object by saying that this is merely anthropomorphistic language. Of course. What other language does man understand? What kind of person? This naturally raises the question, What kind of person is God? Inasmuch as God is known to men largely through His activity among them, one must look to this activity to find out what kind of person He is. So what has God done? The Bible pictures God first of all as creating: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:1. Looking at God's creation, at least in its original form should theoretically reveal something about God Himself and the kind of person He is. God's crowning achievement in creation was man, whom He formed in His own "image" and after His own "likeness." (Genesis 1:26.) Man is an intelligent, independent being remarkably well suited to his im- mediate environment, with the capability of not only surviving but, more than this, of enjoying life. He is made in such a way that He not only has the mechanical advantages of hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, and feeling, but also the capacity of ex- periencing pleasure and happiness through these senses. Think of the joy that comes with the fragrance of a rose, the rustle of the pines, the touch of a loved one's hand. God could have made man's fuel system like that of a car, where he would merely "fill it up." He could have made man to see only black and white, but then he would have never known the red of the sunset, the blue of the sky, the green of the forest, and the joy these can bring. God loved man; and when you love somebody, you want him to be happy. So, when God created, He matched the world and man in such a way that the world was full of those good things that man had the capacity to enjoy. Some will perhaps again object to this interpret- ation by saying that man in fact is not happy—he is miserable. Here, too, something is learned about God. God so loved man when He created him that He wished him to experience not only the happiness which comes through the senses, but more than this, the ultimate in happiness which comes with love. Inasmuch as love involves a relationship between one independent individual person and another, giving man the ability to love meant also giving him individuality and freedom. This in turn meant running an awful risk, for freedom to develop an ideal relation- ship with a person implies equal freedom to hate that other person, even if that person is God. Love—the basis The whole basis of God's government is love. He intended that every person He created should devote his energy to advancing the happiness of every other person. Man's current unhappiness is the direct result 01 rejecting this law of love, and the Bible clearly blames man's unhappy condition on his rebellion The Scriptures portray God not only as the Omnipotent Creator and Sustainer, but as the compassionate Father of all who sincerely look to Him. against God and the hate he feels for his fellow-man. The Bible calls hate and rebellion "sin." Obviously, this sin and its unhappy results cannot be blamed on God, for, as stated, He planned that man should use this God-given freedom for the advancement of happi- ness and that he should for ever remain a holy, happy, healthy creature living in ideal surroundings. God deals with sin More is learned about the kind of person God Is from His response to man's rebellion and rejection of His love. Instead of destroying man, He immediately began working for the restoration of everything that had been lost through his rebellion. In fact, most of the Bible is devoted to reporting how God has coped with the problem of sin. Consistently He has worked for man's salvation, always doing that which was best calculated to result ultimately in man's greatest happiness. Sometimes this meant running the 11 risk of being terribly misunderstood. The Flood, for instance, may appear in the eyes of some to reveal a harsh, unfeeling God. Others, however, see in this story God's continued interest in man's welfare as He shaped the course of history to bring creation and, above all, man to the fulfilment of His original purpose. Similarly the call of Abraham, the blessing of Jacob, the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt, the crossing of the Jordan, the possession of the land of Canaan. Such stories are recorded in Scripture as mighty acts of God that reveal the persistent love He feels toward His way- ward children. Even the Babylonian captivity suffered by Israel was interpreted by the prophets as an indi- cation that God still cared, for in this disaster they could see God's discipline administered for their ultimate welfare. By far the most revealing act of God, from which He can be known, is the gift of His Son. The kind of person God is is seen first of all in the very act of giving: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. Furthermore, Jesus revealed God through His own life and activity, for He said: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father," and again, "I am in the Father and the Father in Me." John 14:9, 10, R.S.V. Jesus revealed God In other words, to know what kind of person God is, one need only look at Jesus and see what kind of person He was. What kind of person was He? He fed hungry people, made sick people well, gave courage to the discouraged and comfort to those that mourned. He went about doing good and in everything "lived to bless others." This meant at last being put to death on the cross. What kind of person is God? The same kind of person as was Jesus. Amazing though it be, God's love continued even after rebellious men tortured His Son to death. Clear evidence of this was given at Pentecost when God again acted to provide those men who were ready with the power they needed to continue the next step toward the final establishment of God's kingdom when His government of love would at last be fully realized. God's activity continues today, and for those who care to see it, His mighty acts continue to reveal that He is a person who knows all about us and our problems and is doing all He can to help. He is that kind of person. Some may feel along with the death-of-God theologians that "it is no longer possible to think about or believe in a transcendent God who acts in human history" (ibid.), as has been described. Such a view of God they may say is out of date and "without meaning" in our modern scientific age. This is what prompts Bishop J. A. T. Robinson to declare that God is not "up there" or "out there," and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to write "of the need for the Church to develop a 'nonreligious interpretation of Biblical con- cepts,' and of a secular world 'come of age' that no longer finds God necessary as a hypothesis to explain the sun and stars or as an answer to man's anxiety."—ibid. Thus, Harvey Cox in The Secular City concludes that "Christianity may have to stop talking about God for a while."—ibid. Not all share this modern scepticism, however, for many still find the Bible's portrayal of God so true to the circumstances of life that they find it in the highest degree probable that He Himself had a part in its writing. Their own personal experience bears out that God is the kind of person that the Bible pictures Him to be, a person full of love, ready to hear the softest cry, and quick to answer. Why pray? People pray because they believe that God has answered similar prayers in the past and that they therefore have reason to think that He will answer them again. People praise Him because they have found Him praiseworthy and obey Him because they have learned through experience that His way is best. The Bible picture of God as Father may spring from human language, but for many it is the best possible way to think of God, and they are proud to regard themselves as His children. He is the kind of person everyone would want for a Father. How important is it to answer the question, Who is God? John 17:3 states that "this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." Paul considered it his mission to spread the "fragrance of the knowl- edge of Him everywhere" (2 Corthinthians 2:14, R.S.V.), and to destroy "every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God." (2 Corinthians 10:5, R.S.V.) Why is this knowledge so important? Matthew 22:36-38, R.S.V., says the "great and first command- ment" is that "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." True and eternal life depends on fulfilling this commandment. Jesus once said: "If you would enter life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17, R.S.V.), and Paul explains: "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Romans 13:10. Here the importance of recognizing the personality of God begins to be seen, for love, defined already as describing an ideal relationship between two persons, requires that God Himself must be thought of as a person if the "first commandment" of loving Him supremely is to be fulfilled. Similarly, it can be seen how important it is to know what kind of person God is, for our love for Him comes only in response to His prior love for us, which love is known primarily by what He has done and is doing and has promised to do for those "who love Him." (1 Cor- inthians 2:9.) So then: Who is God? He is the Person whose existence is "from everlasting to everlasting," the One all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving, who, be- cause He loved us while we were yet a mere con- ception in His mind, created us to be happy, even forming us in His own image. He is the One who persisted in His love in spite of our continued rebellion against Him, and the One who has done everything within His great power to win our loyalty and love. He too is the One who has promised us the restoration of all things when at last His consistent purpose of true happiness for all will be achieved. �• 12 The boon of asphalt roads which Is enjoyed by millions of motorists In every country, Is the product of Trinidad's "Inexhaustible" asphalt lake. LOVE INEXHAUSTIBLE by A. S. Maxwell who began editing this magazine in 1916 and is still going strong. Now as editor of the world's most widely circulated prophetic magazine, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, he found his recent visit to Trinidad's famous asphalt lake thought-provoking, as this good article proves. O NLY a few weeks ago I stood beside the famous Pitch Lake in Trinidad. All my life, ever since I was a very little boy, I had wanted to see this remarkable sight; and now my dream had come true. It wasn't much to see. Just an expanse of grey asphalt, about 100 acres in extent, with patches of green here and there where wind or rain had brought soil onto the surface. And, of course, it wasn't nearly as large as I had imagined it was some sixty- odd years ago. Yet its unique, almost magical characteristic re- mained; and because of this I would gladly have gone from the ends of the earth to see it. The lake is apparently inexhaustible. Despite the fact that people have been taking pitch out of it for the past hundred years the level remains the same. Factories have been built beside it and are removing hundreds of tons a day without making any perceptible difference. There is always more next morning. I saw tread marks where a giant tractor had been the day before gobbling up the asphalt in its monstrous maw; but the marks were already almost obliterated. From the mysterious depths of the lake the pitch had oozed back almost to the previous day's level. By nightfall there would be no sign that a tractor had ever been there. Under the watchful eye of an experienced guide— for it can be dangerous—I walked out on the lake prodding it with a long stick. With the liquid pitch dripping from the end of it I wrote my name on the surface; but it soon faded away. And the little I took from it made not the slightest difference to its content. Day by day the lake blesses mankind. For the pitch, when placed in containers, is shipped to many countries to help pave their roads and their runways. Thousands of motorists, indeed passengers in vehicles of any kind, owe a debt to the great Pitch Lake. It is very much like the love of God, which also is inexhaustible. Millions may draw upon it daily without fear that it will ever diminish throughout eternity. Long centuries ago the prophet Isaiah expressed this sublime thought in these beautiful words: "My righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation." Chapter 51:8. Again: "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee." Chapter 54:10. The apostle Paul had a similar concept when he wrote: "0 the depth of riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" Romans 11:33. Most of the world's troubles today—all -its con- flicts and hatreds and misunderstandings—result from lack of understanding of this wonderful God, whose love, power and wisdom are as inexhaustible as. they are limitless. Too many people are like the person who stands beside the great Pitch Lake seeing nothing but the dull grey surface, unmoved by the mighty power that moves silently and mysteriously beneath it. It is this divine love, unfailing and everlasting, that hippies seek, that wild students need; and for which the distraught leaders of the nations yearn. Indeed we all need it. You and I. And it is only a prayer away. � • 13 "LIKE AS A FATHER" � by Mary J. Vine G IVEN a sizeable family, and the calls upon Dad's pocket cannot often very easily be estimated. No day but what the grocery bill alone would keep a bachelor for a week. Like the morning mist before the sun, his earnings seem just to disappear, and he with nothing left to show for it. Except the family, of course. Except, thank God, for the family. For what if it is an expensive business, bringing up a family, keeping them fed and warmed and clothed and shod, besides providing for their mani- fold other requirements—supplying the "jam" as well as the "bread and butter," supporting their talents, en- couraging their hobbies, furnishing their happiness— the compensations are such as only parenthood can secure. Certainly to others is the secret known, not only to parents, else Heaven were woefully unfair, but surely to parents only is it given to learn by so direct and understandable a method. Wrote James Russell Lowell: "I had a little daughter, And she was given to me To lead me gently backward To the Heavenly Father's knee, That I, by the force of nature, Might in some dim wise divine The depth of His infinite patience To this wayward soul of mine." "By the force of nature"—even the dullest should be able to comprehend such a demonstratable modus operandi. 14 "I thought I had finished with exams," said one mother, "and here I am, suffering far more than I ever suffered when I was in the examination room myself." And what mother doesn't have a similar experience? Eleven plus, G.C.E. Ordinary level, Advanced level; P.T.S., Prelims, Finals; Music, Grades 6, then 7, then 8, and maybe more. And if so be her whole family is thus inclined, it is not once she must go through this gruelling experience, she must run the whole gamut again and again and again. You would think she would get hardened, and be able to face their ups and downs more philosophically, but not she. Sixth or sixteenth, it is all one to Mother. She is equally anxious about them all. Like Susannah Wesley. That amazing John who turned England right-about- face, was her fifteenth, but fourteen others regardless, all equally precious. "I do intend," she said of the new baby, "to be more particularly careful of the soul of this child, that I may instil into his mind the principles of true religion and virtue." Could any good mother doubt for a moment the Father's love and care, she has only to look within herself for incontrovertible evidence. "Like as a father" As did David perhaps. If ever father had cause to feel at odds with his son, and justly so, certainly David did. And yet, when things were at their worst, we hear him pleading with that old warrior Joab: "Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom." And when the last tragedy overtook the boy, how sore his grief: "0 my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, 0 Absalom, my son, my son!" But times when he was weighed down with the weight of his own transgressions, the yearning in his heart after his renegade son must have come to him like a revelation, and instead of a source of suf- fering turned rather into an anodyne for his own pain. For it was David who wrote those matchless words, David, the father of Absalom: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pities . . ." There are times when David was fearfully dis- couraged. "Will the Lord cast off for ever?" he cried. "Will He be favourable no more? Is His mercy clean gone? Hath He forgotten to be gracious?" Our old adversary, the devil, just loves to get us feeling like that. There is not a stone that he will leave unturned if by any means he can bring us to that lamentable condition—gloomy, depressed, melan- choly, and without hope. He loves particularly to remind us of our failures, just as he did David. Poor David! "My sin is ever before me," he said. "Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me." But remembering above all else that the great God in heaven is first of all our kind and loving Father, like David we can shake off that depression. "This is my infirmity," he said, "I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." "When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." And David, the father, was perhaps thankful for the glimpse of fatherhood that he saw within himself. If he, so full of human frailty, could feel the way he felt toward his wayward Absalom, then, Heaven be praised, there was mercy and grace to be his for the asking. And so may all we parents feel. Sometimes it seems hard going. They make mistakes, but not only they feel the mortification. We do, too. Sometimes they bring disgrace upon themselves, but not only they feel the sting. So do we. They reach for the stars, and strain every nerve and sinew in the reaching. But not only they make the effort. We cannot help ourselves. Whether we will or no, we feel the virtue going out of us as something in us reaches with them and for them. Are they ill? Do they suffer set-backs? It is not just a well-worn cliché, it is a fact. We would much rather bear the suffering ourselves. All for a reason But let us make no mistake. These heartaches, yearnings, longings sometimes greater almost than we feel able to bear, they are all for a reason that often we tend to forget or overlook. They are indeed that we, "by the force of nature, might in some dim wise divine the depths of God's infinite patience" with our own souls. If we cannot refrain from identifying ourselves in the hopes and fears, the joys and sufferings of these our children, if they hold such an ineradicable place in our hearts and lives, surely we can have no doubts as to the Father's care for us. It is said of His ancient people that "in all their afflictions, He was afflicted." He is not less concerned for his dear ones in these dangerous days. "I have graven thee," He says, "upon the palms of My hands." He regards us as "the apple of His eye." "I have called thee by thy name," He says, "thou art Mine." "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, . . . thy Saviour." I remember a childhood poem: "I like to play close to my father's den, When he's at work, and every now and then Ask 'Father are you there?' He answers back, 'Yes, son.' That time I broke my railway track All into bits, he stopped his work And wiped my tears, and said, 'Boy! boy! be game!' And then he showed me how to put it right, And I took both my arms and hugged him tight. "Once, when I asked him if he still was there, He called me in, and rumpled up my hair, And said, 'How much alike are you and I! When I feel just as boys feel when they cry, I call to our Big Father, to make sure That He is there, my childish fear to cure; And always, just as I to you, 'Yes, son,' Our Father calls, and all my fret is done." Yes, He is always there. Let us thank Him and take courage. � • 15 A bed but not sleep. Books but not brains. Food but not appetite. Finery but not beauty. A house but not a home. Medicine but not health. Luxuries but not culture. Amusements but not happiness. A crucifix but not a Saviour. A church but not a heaven. THINK ON THESE THINGS DOES GOODNESS PAY? by Rex Riches, B.A. H E was just a young man in his late teens, a University student. Suddenly, out of the blue, he asked: "Do you have any prosperous and suc- cessful Christians in your church?" His parents were practising Christians who at times had found it difficult to make ends meet. He was brought up to attend church, but now he wanted to "make a success of life" and was not sure if it "paid" to walk in the ways of God's directing. It was not difficult to guess what he was driving at for all day long it goes on with frightening callousness. The name of God is taken in vain. The tenderness of Christian love is openly made fun of. Honesty, humility, moral purity, in fact, every Christian virtue is ignored, denied, or scorned. Yes, every day—the bold, defiant, daring disregard of the ways of God. Loud, vehement, and high-handed is the contradiction of man to every concept and practice of godliness. The Word of God declares: Disobey and die. Not true! Not true! contradicts the transgressor by his actions. He disobeys—and not only does he live, but he prospers and has good success. And still the heavens do not fall. The lightning does not strike. The earth does not open and swallow the enemies of God. Indeed, far from being punished, it often happens that the most sinful become the most affluent. Study the history books, even Scripture, and you will find it has always been this way. Unfor- tunately, it has often shaken the confidence of many. "I was near losing my foothold," said the Psalmist, "felt the ground sink under my steps, such heart- burning had I at seeing the good fortune of sinners that defy His law; for them never was a pang; healthy and sleek their bodies show." Psalm 73:2, 3, Knox. It is a very real problem that confronts many. Moreover it is a problem which by its very nature demands an answer. If there is no punishment for wrong-doing, of what value is right-doing? "I set myself to read the riddle," said the Psalmist, "but it proved a hard search, until I betook myself to God's sanctuary, and considered there, what becomes of such men at last." Psalm 73:16, 17, Knox. 17 And in the sanctuary he found his answer. "The truth is, thou art making a slippery path for their feet, ready to plunge them in ruin; in a moment they are fallen, in a storm of terrors vanished and gone. And thou, Lord, dost rise up and brush aside all their imaginings, as a waking man his dream." Psalm 73:18-20, Knox. The sanctuary was the place where the sinner came to be absolved from his sins. It was here that he came in his sinfulness. It was here where he brought the sacrificial lamb. It was in the sanctuary that he confessed his sins, as an outward manifestation of his inward repentance. It was here that the life of the innocent victim was taken. The lamb was but a type of Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God. But in this ceremony was revealed the awful truth that sin does demand death. Transgression, at whatever time, in whatever degree, and in whoever found, has a single inevitable end—death. Eternal death. Death will be required of the sinner—unless a substitute can be found. There is only one such substitute—Jesus Christ. For sin someone must die. That someone can be one of two individuals—the one who commits the sin or the Son of God. In heaven and earth there is no other means by which guilt may be expiated. Every sinner who does not come to Christ, who does not avail himself of the offered Substitute, must bear the penalty of his transgression in his own person. There is not, and cannot be, a single exception. Such is the tremendous meaning of the sanctuary services. How deceitful and untrustworthy the present out- ward, visible seeming prosperity of disobedient men! To all who have not yet come to Christ, to all who are within the Church but are unresponsive to its claims—let the truth be spoken in great urgency and Christian kindness. You are in great peril! Facing this sobering prospect, how imperative it is that we heed the call of divine love. Let us walk in the way of God's directing. It does pay—and brings eternal success. � • The world's greatest problem is that of twisted characters. By nature, all are somewhat twisted and therefore alienated from the communion with God He wants us to enjoy. But He has provided a way of 18 by R. H. Pierson, D.D. X E you saved?" an evangelist asked a man attending a religious crusade. "No, but I would like to be," was the some- what indifferent reply. "Is it because you realize you are a sinner?" the minister continued. "Oh, of course, we're all sinners!" "But are you a sinner yourself?" the evangelist pressed. "Well, I suppose I am, but not what you'd call a bad sinner. In fact, I think I'm a fairly good person, as good as the average, at least." "Then," replied the minister thoughtfully, "as long as you feel that way, there is little I can do to help you find the way of salvation. Good sinners, along with truthful liars, honest thieves, and upright scoundrels, are far from being ready to accept of the proffered grace of God. This grace is for the poor unworthy sinner with no goodness to plead and no personal merit to build upon. God can help and save only one who is ready to be saved by the works and merits of another—that One is the Lord Jesus Christ. I appeal to you to repent and seek Him with your whole heart." Whether the self-satisfied suppliant repented and found his Saviour, I do not know. I do know, however, that some "good sinners" call themselves Christians, but they have never taken the first step in finding the peace and joy in Christ Jesus which He declares is essential. The Saviour said: "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 13:3. Whether we are open sinners, never having given our hearts to the Lord, or are halting, failing, defeated saints, there is only one way to God. We must repent! We must fall helpless upon the Rock, Christ Jesus. This experience of self-abnegation is not an easy course for the natural heart to choose. "It has never struck" A young man was talking with Evangelist Moody on the subject of repentance. "It has never struck me," the young man declared. "What do you mean?" Moody asked. "Well," the youth replied, "some it strikes, and some it doesn't. I've seen many repent and take their stand for Christ, but it ha, fi, struck me." This young man had the mistaken idea that repentance is something which strikes like lightning. Such is not true. We may be moved to repentance, but repentance is not emotion. It is a deep conviction of wrong-doing that leads the individual to turn to God for cleansing from evil. Repentance and contrition are very closely related. Webster's dictionary defines contrition as "deep sorrow for sin growing out of love toward God." This was also David's conception of repentance, for he declared, "I will be sorry for my sin." Psalm 38:18. The Spirit of God points out sin. He reminds us of our wicked deeds. He reveals our lost, undone condition. Then in love and mercy He lifts us up and points us to Jesus, our only Saviour from sin. We are given a new revelation of Him upon the cross. We are reminded that it is our sins that have placed Him there. By our every sin He is wounded afresh. Sense of guilt This vision of Christ brings in its wake a deep sense of guilt, prompting a quest for something better. This consideration of Christ contrasts our unrighteousness with His perfection and awakens a de- sire for cleansing, for holiness, and for a pure life. "We mourn for the sins that have brought anguish upon Him." With David the truly penitent is led to exclaim, "I will be sorry for my sin." In Guatemala the Kekchi Indians have a good word for repentance. Its meaning is, "It pains my heart." In West Africa the Baouli people have per- haps an even better word for it. Their word means, "It hurts so much that I want to stop doing it." This is the experience the prophet desired for the Lord's backslidden children when he said, "Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord." Lamentations 3:40. It is an individual, per- sonal work of revival. It is not for me to pry critically into the experience of my neighbour. I am to turn the spotlight of God's Word inward and search and try my own ways. It is well enough to make others first in the normal course of our lives, but when it comes to getting right with God, we are admonished to begin with our own selves. As we search, we may find many things which need straightening out. In Africa another interesting tribal word describes what happens to a person's heart when he repents. The Northern Sotho say, "It becomes untwisted." This is just what God wants. We are to get all those crooked things untwisted— straightened out. Some pain may result from this untwisting process. God permits it to hurt enough that we shall want to stop doing wrong and turn again to Him. This is what the Chol Indians of southern Mexico mean when they describe repentance as "the heart turning itself back." "The worldling may pronounce this sorrow a weak- ness; but it is the strength which binds the penitent to the Infinite One with links that cannot be broken." —The Desire of Ages, page 300. May God grant us His convicting power and His enabling grace that we may abhor the sins which separate us from Him, and that true repentance which will mark the beginning of a new experience. � • We .Quote * "In lauding our age as being one in which we have machines that think, let us be mindful of the fact that human beings must think harder to keep ahead. The highest purpose of society is not to prepare a nation fit for computers, and this is one of the central points in the protest of youth. They see the world around them becoming captivated by electronic mechanisms, and they fear that they too may become slaves of the machines. They seek a profounder meaning to life, and a more satisfying culture. The society in which they wish to live would be eminently civilized, made up of men and women delighting to use their minds, loving beauty and elegance, keenly alive to the amenities and joys of life. They want poets and philosophers as well as engineers.—Monthly Letter, Royal Bank of Canada. t- "In trying to formulate what I believe, I have to begin with what I disbelieve. I disbelieve in progress, the pursuit of happiness, and all the concomitant notions and projects for creating a society in which human beings find even greater contentment by being given in even greater abundance the means to satisfy their material and bodily hopes and desires. The half century in which I have been consciously alive, seems to me to have been quite exceptionally destructive, murderous, and brutal."— Malcolm Muggeridge, "What I Believe." * "It [Weizacker's book on the world of physics] has brought home to me how wrong it is to use God as a stop-gap for the incompleteness of our knowledge. For the frontiers of our knowledge are inevitably being pushed back fur:her and further, which means that you only think of God as a stop-gap. He also is being pushed back further and further, and is in more or less con- tinuous retreat. We should find God in what we do know, not in what we don't; not in outstanding problems, but in those we have already solved."—Dietrich Bon- hoeffer, "Letters from Prison and Other Papers." * "Western man is further horrified that he has discovered the infinite resources of atomic energy, with its promise of cheap power to make the deserts bloom, but is helpless to get global agreement to keep its uses peaceful : he beholds his scientists "chopping kindling for global Gehenna" while his statesmen, so-called, chop logic to no purpose. Science, the object of his latter- day worship, the benevolent god that promised to waft him on a magic carpet to a push-button Paradise where he need neither toil nor spin for his wants, has turned suddenly into a grinning ogre ready to grind his bones to make radio-active bread."—John P. McKnight, "The Papacy : A New Appraisal." * "To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold—brothers who know now they are truly brothers."—Poet Archibald MacLeish, commenting on the view of earth from Apollo 8. * "Feminine instincts are • characterised by caring qualities, concern for beauty and form, reverence for life, empathy in human relations, and a demand that men be better than they are."—Charles DeCarlo, President, Sarah Lawrence College. 19 What's up there? What will heaven be like? Will disembodied spirits float around playing invisible harps? by R. W. Engstrom R ECENTLY a group of ministers tried to reach the strange inhabitants of the hippie haven in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district with the Gospel. After some street preaching, they fanned out to visit them personally. "Don't you want to go t' heaven?" was one question they asked. "Of course, but this is heaven," came the unexpected response. This strange hippie sub-culture, based partly on Hindu backgrounds, features among the many tin buttons worn by its adherents, the popular one with the words "Nirvana now." Nirvana, the Hindu counter- part of "that better land," is their goal—but im- mediately. "Instant heaven" is thus added to many "can't wait" requirements of modern man. But just where is heaven? One scholar who inquired of many people where they thought heaven was, reported the main answer was "Up," and as tc occupations, most thought it was "a spirit land, where disembodied spirits float around in space, playing invisible harps." David Greenfield in the Saturday Review points out that "heaven has always existed in the mind of man as the abode of spiritual beings and the ultimate destination of believers. Its location has always been 'up.' " Thus, the grandly solemn Gothic architecture of the Christian era has spires and windows pointing upward into space, indicating outreach to the world beyond. "Somewhere beyond the blue," as the singer says, lies heaven. Then suddenly, space-age man ascends into the heavens he so long adored. He travels physically in the very void he only gazed upon before. And what has he found? The Russian cosmonaut Titov com- plained on his return from space that he did not see God nor heaven, and concluded that if he could not see either, they must not exist. He is but one of many moderns who insist that they cannot believe what they cannot tangibly behold. Unfortunately, many common descriptions of the eternal home are not as attractive, by far, as some spots on earth. One author points out that "it's not the Sacred Book but the funny paper that nowadays gives most people their ideas of the after-life. The cartoon character drives over a cliff and the next moment he's dressed in a white bathrobe, sitting on a fluffy white cloud about the size of a flying carpet, strumming a harp. He wears a smug look on his face; a pair of oversized pigeon wings protrude from his shoulder blades; and a 24-carat halo perches over his head." Who wants to spend eternity this way? or be so small that ten million souls can dance on the point of a needle, as one theologian describes it. We are told that a group of religious leaders spent three days discussing the space that redeemed souls would occupy and ended up by saying that they will occupy absolutely no space. Who is interested in a future where you will be reduced to nothing at all? As bad as 'hell � • Someone has pointed out that the popular idea of heaven would be almost as bad as going to hell. "What would be a more terrible fate for the righteous dead than to spend unnumbered eons in enforced idleness, uselessness, and perfect boredom? Could the wicked suffer a fate much worse than this sup- posed weightless semi-transparent existence as a 'soul,' with no chance to shut off the everlasting harp music?" True, a choice between eternal torment and eternal boredom would be rather difficult to make. Then we find that well-meaning hymn-writers have tried to comfort weary earth wanderers with the thought that heaven is a "land of eternal rest." This hasn't much appeal, either, because healthy people (and we can't conceive of a "sick" heaven) would hardly know what to do with themselves under such conditions. What, then, is the truth about heaven? The sacred Bible's first verse contains the word heaven, and heaven is described on its final page. Between these two references to heaven unfolds the greatest subject of all—the eternal home for everyone who sincerely looks beyond the horizon of earthly life. We find in Holy Writ that heaven is the grand climax of all sacred prophecy. One third of the Bible is prophetic, and nearly one thousand predictions fill its pages. Biblical foretelling is not an unrelated string of prophecies with no particular end in view, but it is, rather, a grand march toward the second advent of our Lord—and heaven. Jesus Himself, on His last night on earth before the cross, plainly told His followers the truth about heaven: "In My Father's house are many mansions: . . . I go to prepare a place for you. . . . I will come again, and receive you unto Myself." John 14:2, 3. Then forty days after the crucifixion, Jesus ascended on high: "And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1:9-11. Donald Barnhouse put it well: "If we did not believe that there was a heaven, a locality, we could not believe in the ascension of Christ. If we did not believe in the resurrection, we could not believe in the atoning death of our Lord. We would be yet in our sins." 21 But just where is heaven? Again, we return to divine revelation, and an amazing story unfolds—not a fantastic or weird one, but a very reasonable one. The many references to the word heaven in Scrip- ture indicate it is actually not just one spot or locality, but many. Most Old Testament references simply refer to the atmosphere and the outer space around it. The "birds of heaven" are mentioned, then the stars, sun, and moon in "the heaven." Occasionally heaven has a different meaning, as where the Lord through His prophet says: "The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool." Isaiah 66:1. Thus heaven is not just one localized spot. It includes all in the vast universe that is in harmony with God. Wherever God is in control, wherever there is life and love and obedience and purity and happi- ness, there is heaven. As we look up to the stars, which in their orbits obey His will, we look into the heavens. A certain location But heaven for us is also a certain location, for real beings must have a tangible dwelling place. At one time this earth was a part of God's heaven. Though sin came, the final three chapters of the Bible grandly predict a restoration of heaven and earth. At the beginning of creation, God made the earth and placed man in it. They belong together. Because of sin, it has not been a happy union, but God's purpose is the same, and here are some indications of what He has in mind: "But the meek shall inherit the earth,' and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Psalm 37:11. Jesus Himself emphasizes this same thought: "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5. And the wisest man, Solomon, adds, "The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth." This earth, of course, needs to be renewed for it could not be a heaven in its present state. So Isaiah, the Gospel prophet, predicts, "Behold, I [God) create new heavens and a new earth" (Isaiah 65:17); and the last of all Bible writers, John, in Revelation 21:1 emphasizes his own vision of the future: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away." What strikes us most is the blessed reality of these things. Jesus tells us the resurrected faithful will be like Him. The risen Jesus had a real body. His disciples could feel His nail prints. They could talk with Him, eat with Him. So the eternal home of the new earth will be real. The Bible mentions many parts of heaven, such as the tree of life, the river of life, the throne of God, the foundations, and the streets. Isaiah speaks of it as a place where we shall do constructive work. (Isaiah 65:21, 22.) While actual details of the heavenly abodes are limited to just a few snatches here and there to give some idea of the infinite beauties beyond, there are some vivid indications of what is to be. Paul, in Hebrews 11:16, says of the ancient worthies: "But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city." Here heaven on earth is to centre about a celestial city. Verse 10 says concerning Abraham that "he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Paul, in his immortal Hebrews 11, shows that the vision of heaven enabled the great army of ancient believers to endure indescribable hardships. And finally he notes that the Lord Jesus Himself "for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame." It was the true vision of a true heaven that gave victory. Eternal Metropolis It is reserved for the two final chapters of Holy Writ—said to be the most beautiful of all—to describe this City, the New Jerusalem. But even here, we wish the Revelator might have told us more of what he saw. Most of the space is devoted to a detailed analysis of the twelve foundations of the New Jerusa- lem, but scarcely anything is said about the City itself. It has been aptly suggested, though, that the founda- tions are about the only part we earthbound folk can grasp. If they are so exquisitely lovely, how much more wonderful must be the City itself! Apparently the inspired John, who wrote the chapter, could do no more, for he doubtless recalled the words of Paul, who said that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9. This majestic ending to the Bible gives the final answers to our earth-borne questions when our hearts have been stirred about heaven, such as: When will heaven for us actually come? What are the conditions of entrance? Who is invited to be there? The Lord Jesus, who speaks directly to us on this final page, plainly says that heaven will come on earth after His second coming. "Behold . . . My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." In chapter 20, the narrative briefly tells us that after a thousand years' reign with Him in glory, the final judgment takes place, and then the "new heavens" and the "new earth" will come to our planet. The conditions? Simply our desire to obey His reasonable rule of life through His power. So verse 14 says, "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gate into the city." And finally, who will be chosen? This is the most precious message of all for verse 17 indicates that "whosoever will" may come. This is all-inclusive. Everyone is included, the condition simply being that we must be willing. If we are, God through Jesus Christ will do the rest. Heaven is real, it is unbelievably worthwhile, and we are urgently invited to be citizens. Shall we accept? • If this article has stimulated your thinking and you wish to begin a systematic study of similar Bible topics, we cordially invite you to write today for our free, easy-to-follow Bible Correspondence Course. Simply respond to the advert on the back cover. 22 I F I want to use drugs, it's my own business; it doesn't concern anyone else — particularly the government." Dan's delivery of this declaration was characterized by steely determination, flashing eyes, and almost-gritted teeth. We'd been discussing the alarming (to me) increase in drug usage by young people, when I, all unwary, endorsed the idea of stringent government controls. "One of the worst features of the modern world is the concept that a government has the right to invade a citizen's personal life," Dan continued. "I just don't owe Caesar—ancient or modern—any- thing!" For a few moments I pondered in silence this extraordinary philosophy. Then I asked, "Suppose though, that you turn out to be one of those people who become totally incapacitated by the use of drugs? If you end up a mindless, babbling idiot, unable to support yourself, what will you do?" Quick as a flash, he answered: "I'd go to welfare; what else?" Taken totally by surprise, I stammered, "But you "in" things to do just now. Both exist; both deserve attention. There's another "r" that also deserves attention however—responsibility. For every right a citizen possesses there's a corresponding responsibility to use the former wisely. Refusal to accept the truth in- evitably produces an even weaker government, and thus even greater failure. Citizenship in heaven could hardly be granted to any human being who cannot—or will not—accept the twin concepts of rights and responsibilities. In view of this, an earthly citizen gets part of his basic training for heaven by discharging his debt to Caesar. So who can say that basic training should be waived or is unimportant?—Review & Herald. �• by Miriam Wood A DEBT TO CAESAR said a few moments ago that the government must not be allowed to interfere in a citizen's 'personal life,' as you phrased it, even to his making him- self a human vegetable. Wouldn't it follow that if he opts for this course of action, the government shouldn't have to pick up the pieces?" Angrily, Dan terminated our conversation, "That's the trouble with people your age," he gritted. "You're so square it's a complete waste of time to discuss modern concepts and theories with you." With that final, rather ungallant, pronouncement he stalked away, leaving me saddened, bewildered, and feeling rather like one of the mummies not yet excavated from Egypt's Valley of the Kings (or Queens). To better inform myself, and to repair the glaring lacks in my education which my young friend de- clared exist, I've been reading in the subject area of individual responsibility, individual freedom, and the relationships of a citizen to his government. Dan won't like it, but whatever I've read has reinforced my conviction that if civilization is to endure, each person must think of himself as one of many; he must regard each of his actions as a stone tossed in a pool. How far will the ripples go? Will they turn into tidal waves, drowning first those who love him then ultimately innocent bystanders? Impassioned declarations of "the rights of each individual" coupled with the fiery diatribes aimed at "governmental failures" are high on the list of Everyone owes it to himself, to society, and to God, to live a purposeful life of useful service and moral awareness. Drug- taking rapidly destroys this possibility. 23 Can modern Christians honestly believe in Creation? by Harold W. Clark Professor Clark suggests that the only safe course is to forget the devious means that have been invented to explain away the great facts presented in the Genesis record of Creation. W HEN James Hutton presented his paper Theory of the Earth to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1785, he went back to the Greek philosopher Aristotle for his clue to the origin of the earth. All natural processes, he declared, had been going on uniformly for all time—and would continue to do so. "The result . . . of our present inquiry," he said, "is that we find no vestige of a beginning, no pros- pect of an end."—Page 304. This doctrine of uniformitarianism, as it is called, did not immediately meet with acceptance, either by scientists or by theologians; for most of them were thinking of catastrophism, which was being advocated by the great French scholar Cuvier. However, Charles Lyell, a young Englishman, became interested in Hutton's ideas and went to work to gather material to support the uniformitarian views. His Principles of Geology was the first textbook of geology ever pub- lished, and during nearly fifty years and twelve editions it firmly established in the minds of scholars in Europe and America the idea of long ages of geologic time. Darwin's "origin" In 1859 Charles Darwin sprung his Origin of Species on the world. Since science knew nothing about the laws of heredity, for Mendelism did not come out into the open for another thirty-five years, the Darwinian theory was accepted as a plausible explanation for the present life of the earth. Organic evolution and the geological ages went hand in hand and were almost universally accepted before the end of the century. Theologians were now in a predicament. They did not have scientific data by which to argue against the newly developing evolutionary ideas, and yet they would not surrender their belief in God as the Creator of all things. Therefore they compromised by turning to the doctrine introduced into Christianity in the fourth century by the famous Augustine. Interpreting the story of creation, Augustine followed the Greek philosophical ideas, which assumed that the world originated in a crude, primitive, unorganized state, but was endowed with potentialities for progressive development. Notice these words describing Augustine's views: "Certainly the instantaneous act of the Creator did not produce an organized universe as we see it now. But, in the beginning, God created all the elements of the world in a confused and nebulous mass, . . . and in this mass were the mysterious germs . . . of the future beings which were to develop themselves, when favourable circumstances should permit."— Catholic Encyclopedia (1907), Vol. 2, page 90. While great numbers of churchmen accepted the new trend, many still clung to their faith in the literal creation record of Genesis. The most prominent apologist for creationism during the early part of the twentieth century, George McCready Price, had this to say about the situation: "We . . . have been witnessing another religion in the making, the em- bryonic development of another great system of heathen religion, designated for the present, 'Theistic Evolution.' . . . It deals primarily with man's origin and his relationship to the universe. And in its essential nature it is as truly pagan . � as anything that ever grew up in Egypt, Greece, or India."—Back to the Bible (1916), page 127. The controversy was further heightened by the discovery of the laws of heredity. While Gregor Mendel had announced them in 1866, little attention was paid to them until they were rediscovered simultaneously by three European workers in 1900. Immediately a period of active research began, and an attempt was made to re-evaluate the theory of evolution in terms of the new knowledge. This became known as Neo-Darwinism. But the effort was not fully successful, at least not in the eyes of some of the most prominent scientists, for in 1921 we hear one of the world's greatest geneticists of the time, William Bateson, declaring: "It is impossible for scientists longer to agree with Darwin's theory of the origin of species. No explanation whatever, after forty years, no evidence, has been discovered to verify his genesis of species . . . We no longer feel as we used to do, that the process of variation, now contemporaneously occurring, is the beginning of a work which needs merely the element of time for its completion; for even time cannot complete that which has not yet begun." Quoted by Price in The New Geology, page 308. But biologists continued to hope against hope that light would come and that methods by which new species had been produced would be revealed. Another ten years went by, and again one of un- 24 questionable authority spoke. We quote from Austin H. Clark, of the National Museum: "All the major groups of animals have maintained the same relationships to each other from the very first. The characteristic features of these major groups have undergone no change whatever. . . . There is not the slightest evidence which supports any other viewpoint."—Zoogenesis, page 114. Evolution "does not work" In the winter of 1932-3 I heard Richard Gold- schmidt, the world-famous geneticist, lecture in Berkeley, California. He was the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut fur Biologie in Berlin, and for twenty-five years he had been experimenting on gypsy moths, trying to demonstrate Darwin's theory of origin of One of the greatest proofs of special creation Is nature's adherence to the Creator's edict: "Let everything bring forth after Its kind." (Genesis 1:24, 25.) species. After detailing his work, he was asked just how evolution did work, and he replied that as far as gypsy moths were concerned it, "simply does not work." In 1940, in his Material Basis of Evolution, he attacked Darwinism, and declared that sub-species, or varieties, are not incipient species, or species in the making. He said: "I cannot agree with the viewpoint of the textbooks that the problem of evolution has been solved as far as the genetic basis is concerned."—page 6. He then challenged the adherents of the Darwinian view to explain any one or all of twenty different anatomical and physiological features of animals, stating that corresponding examples could be given for the plants as well. But if natural selection, a purely mechanical process, cannot account for the origin of species, page 58 MEN OF LIKE PASSIONS by A. J. Woodfield, M.A., Ph.D. IKE a bolt out of the summer sky he broke into the merrymaking with his terrible oath: "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." Then at the whisper of God he turned and fled across the River Jordan to hide at the brook Cherith—till it dried up with the drought he had announced. From there he made for a place where they would least expect to find him, Zarephath, a minor port on the Sidonian coast, right in the territory from which had come the great evil he had dedicated his life to eradicating. Thus began the momentous game of hide and seek which was the career of Elijah the Tishbite. It ended with his being "lost" and never found of man again. But not before he had made such a vivid impression on his generation that he has never been forgotten by all that have ever lived since. The Jews firmly believed that one climactic day he would reappear as herald of the great Messiah. The problem It was most appropriate that his entry into history should be so dramatic; the times were heavy with destiny. Ever since the partition of Israel just over half a century before, things had been going from bad to worse. There had always been the religious problem of Jehovah 26 or Baal: it had been fought over in the time of Joshua; •it had bedevilled Israel in the days of the Judges. Some thought the differences too minor to worry about — as some usually do. Both religions tied their sacred festivals to the agricultural year. So it was all too easy for Israel to start making images supposed to represent the true God Jehovah, and it was a still easier step for country folk to gc in with their Canaanitish friends on occasion. It was easier still under the indulgent King Ahab and his Queen, Jezebel, both of whom had a fervent delight in the heathen god, Baal. Soon therefore they were joining in full worship of the forces of nature; "the creature" deified in the form of local territorial Baals. "Why make all this fuss about being different? Both were worshipping the giver of food and drink. Besides, Baal worship was such a jolly affair, and the prophets of Jehovah such Puritan fanatics." Now Baal was the supreme Canaanitish god, the great storm god. He sent the winter rains and made the country bring forth bud. He