H.A. ROBERTS
THE
AUGUST
TEN CENTS

WATCHMAN
MAGAZINE
AN INTERPRETER OF THE TIMES
The News Interpreted
By the Editor
LET US KEEP AMERICA FREE!
IN SPITE of special measures made necessary by the war, which a few people may regard as irksome restrictions, we citizens of the United States still live in the land of the free.
In this country the Protestant, the Jew, the Roman Catholic, the Hindu, the Theosophist, the Mohammedan, the Mormon, or the man of some other cult follows the dictates of his own conscience in matters of religion. The atheist, the agnostic, the freethinker, the pagan, and the indifferent enjoy the same freedom.
Our courts of justice are still trying to preserve to us this freedom of conscience. A notable instance of it was recently published all over the nation. In The Tennessean of Nashville (April 21, 1944) the case was reported from New York by the Associated Press, as follows:
“A selective service registrant objecting to war on humanitarian grounds is entitled to classification as a conscientious objector even if he claims no obligation to a ‘deity or supernatural power,’ the United States Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today.
“Reviewing the decision of the federal court of the western district of New York State, the circuit court held that Frederick U. Reel, 27, an apprentice seaman in the Navy, should have been classified as a conscientious objector instead of 1-A.
“Reel had told a department of justice hearing officer, who upheld a local draft board’s 1-A classification, that he ‘believed it wrong to participate in the conduct of war.’ ”
During this present war the United States Government officials have been very considerate toward the men required to register for the draft. Some thousands of them have been permitted to go to special camps provided for conscientious objectors, who are opposed to participation in the war in any manner. Thousands of other men, whose conscience is opposed to the bearing of arms, have been permitted to enter non-combatant lines of service in the armed forces of the nation, such as the medical corps, where they can labor to save life instead of taking it. In practically every case the objector has set forth religious grounds as the basis of his conscientious convictions against participation in the war.
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This mascot of the “Bombing Bruins,” an operational squadron of the American Bomber Force in Great Britain, is Roscoe-Ann. She is inspecting a pile of ammunition while the ground crews load up a bomber. Originally named Roscoe, the bear was discovered to be a female, and so became Ann. She always accompanies the crews to the takeoff, riding on the hood of the jeep.
But in the particular case we have cited, the federal court has upheld the right of a lone individual to follow his conscientious convictions even when these are not based on religious belief, but are founded on purely humanitarian grounds. That is going a long way to respect and safeguard our precious freedom of conscience in this country.
The majority of Americans believe that participation in this war to the extent of taking the lives of people belonging to the enemy nations is religiously justifiable, and think that everybody else ought to feel the same way about it. Nevertheless, among the 137,000,000 people of this country there are some thousands of souls (who constitute a small minority, of course) whose conscience dictates to them that such a course is morally wrong. And while our nation tells the world that it is fighting for the cause of liberty, it is consistently guaranteeing freedom of conscience to men here. There are lands where the iron will of those in power deals unmercifully with those who conscientiously refuse to take up arms and kill. Such tyrants apparently neither have any consciences of their own nor any regard for those who do have one.
Truly this high respect manifest by the leaders of our government, and by those who preside over our courts of justice, toward the conscientious convictions of the individual citizen ought to awaken in the breast of every true American a feeling of profound love and gratitude to
his country. It makes me glad that I am a citizen of a country where religious freedom is real and not fictitious.
August, 1944
Robert Leo Odom, Editor
R. E. Crawford, Circulation Manager
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The Watchman Magazine
The Dream of
fl New International Order
is Not Something Modern
IT IS the aspiration—and intention— most positively stated, of the world’s great nations and most powerful ecclesiastical organizations, to create a new international order following the war, a world federation or alliance, together with a world police force to bring about and maintain global order, justice, peace, and security. War is to be ban-wished. Peace is to be durable.
The idea has caught the attention of the world. It is winning support everywhere. The press is for it. The churches are for it. The great nations are for peace—lasting and world-wide. Who would not be for it?
A congeries of sovereign states in America has demonstrated that sovereignty and federation, resulting in peace and stability, are not incompatible. Why not try it on a world scale?
It is not a new idea. It has been tried —and failed. It was the basic conception underlying the Holy Roman Empire. It did not result in either righteousness or peace. It produced corruption and war.
But that was not the only attempt to place the idea in operation. With some modification there have been similar attempts. Following the medieval centuries a radical change took place in the religious conception of the kingdom of God. Before this came, however, there
Members of the European Advisory Commission are shown as they met in London early this year. According to all indications, we shall soon see a world organization set up for the purpose of securing international peace and order.
By Carlyle B. Haynes
was the development of a completely different line of thought, a speculative philosophy which has led to noteworthy results. These have been merged in various ways with theological and ecclesiastical theories.
The many conflicts between popes and emperors came to an end in a gigantic struggle in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It was carried on not so much by arms, as former conflicts had been, as by literary controversy. The universities had arisen. They speedily became an intellectual power and provided a bond of union in the civilized world. Now there was a trinity contending for supremacy—church, empire, and the intelligentsia.
Inasmuch as the great and all-absorbing question of the time was the conflicting claims of the pope and the Caesar, men’s minds were bound to be led in the direction of political discussion and speculation. The great thing to settle was the right relation between religious and civil authority, the foundation of each, together with the principles on which mankind ought to be governed, and the best way of realizing the true objectives of government.
Out of this age conceptions of ideal states came to the front, many of which still persist, some of which are being proposed for the projected world federation. They were proposed at first in the medieval method and spirit, as in Dante’s “De Monarchia.” Later, other principles were introduced, some more ancient, some more modern.
As the Renaissance produced a sense of the power of intellect and education, there revived in Europe the Greek philosophical conception that knowledge and culture were the true bonds of society as well as the means of bringing it to a perfect development.
A remarkable class of literary works came into being. In these were presented political and social ideals in the form of imaginary commonwealths, which political, social, and religious leaders are even now seeking to have adopted in their proposed new international order. One of the best known is More’s “Utopia.”
In all these presentations the attempt is made to conceive the nature and conditions of a perfect state of society. Medievalism is broken with altogether. The chief principles assuming great importance and stirring the minds of men most largely were those of liberty and education.
The watchwords of the humanists were liberty and learning as against authority and regulation. In More’s “Utopia” they appear side by side. The commonwealth of Utopia is constructed on a community of goods, an absence of money, the education of its citizens. Within certain limits personal freedom of choice and action is allowed, particularly in religion.
But all of this did not, at that time, get beyond the stage of literary discussion and philosophical speculation. Practical movements awaited the radical change in the religious conception of the kingdom of God soon to be produced by the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation.
In the sixteenth century an enormous stir that moved all of Europe was caused by the rediscovery and the republication of the simple teachings of Jesus about the kingdom of God. The recovery of this original Christian teaching, after it had been so long buried under ignorance and overlaid by superstition, set forth the central truth of the gospel, forgiveness of sins by God’s free grace irrespective of any merit or works of men, to be received by faith alone, in opposition to the ecclesiastical doctrines of salvation by human merits and external rites, which had developed under the shadow of the visible theocracy.
(Continued on page .14)
August — 1944
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GREATEST struggle ever waged in this world is the battle _.L between good and evil. The greatest victory that man can ever win is the triumph over sin. The most important thing for man to know is what is at stake for him and the world in this conflict between right and wrong, and to know how the victory over sin will be obtained.
In the battle against wrong man is fighting against the most powerful, the most cunning, and the most malevolent forces this world has ever known. This is a struggle which he cannot win alone. Left to himself, he can but ill understand the issues involved in the controversy. It is a war that started before this world was created, a struggle which will not end until this present world has passed away.
In this conflict every man has a part. His allegiance is on either the one side or the other. He is either working for the building of a new and better world in which sin and all its evil fruitage will have no place, or he is aiding and abetting those forces of evil which have long held the world in the grip of lust, corruption, and greed, and have flooded the whole earth with hatred and blood,
When Jesus uttered the words “It is done,” and expired on the cross, He sounded the death knell of the devil, and made sure the ultimate triumph of right over wrong.
useless imagery were it not for that crowning event of ancient history—the supreme sacrifice made by Jesus for the sins of men.
Paul would have died a Jewish zealot but for the vision of the cross which transformed his life and did so much to bring about a change in the entire course of human history. Peter would have passed into the insignificance of Galillean rusticity but for the cross on which his Master died. Abraham would have been only another forgotten
The VICTORY
THAT SAVED THE WORLD
It Was Achieved at Infinite Cost for You
bitterness and tears, disaster and woe.
That force which is doing more than any other in this world in the battle against evil is the church. The outstanding symbol of the church is the cross. Take away the cross and all for which it stands, and you take away the heart of the religion of Jesus Christ. Christ would not have been the Saviour but for the cross on which He died. Christianity would not be the true religion but for the cross which symbolizes the supreme event in the history of mankind. The Gospels would be meaningless but for the climactic scenes witnessed on the hill of Golgotha. The most solemn rites of the church—baptism and the holy communion—would be without significance but for the death of Jesus on Calvary. All the typical ceremonies of ancient Judaism would be but empty form and
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inhabitant of ancient Canaan had not the altars he reared envisioned the cross upon which the Master of men was to make the supreme sacrifice. Isaiah would have remained in eternal obscurity had he not foreseen Him who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, who was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and who, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so opened not His mouth. (Isaiah 53: 5, 7.) The sanctuary of Moses in the wilderness, and the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, would have meant nothing to the ancient Hebrews but for the cross of Jesus Christ prefigured by their elaborate ceremonies.
The cross of Christ marked a climactic point in the great controversy between good and evil. It is there that the forces of evil received their defeat and the ultimate triumph of the forces of righteous-
By Edwin R. Thiele
ness was eternally assured. It was in the streets of old Jerusalem, midst the olive groves of ancient Gethsemane, and on the old hill of Golgotha, where the hosts of evil gathered their mightiest array, where they put forth their most desperate efforts, and where they suffered their most complete and ignominious defeat. It was Christ and His kingdom of righteousness that came out victorious from that memorable combat. It was Satan and his stygian hosts that there received wounds from which there will be no recovery.
Since the death of Jesus on the cross Satan knows that his doom is sealed. (Revelation 12: 12.) Since that hour he knows that, try as he may, there is no way
The Watchman Magazine
by which he can force him who is determined to throw in his lot on the side of righteousness to become a hapless tool of the forces of iniquity. From the hour in which the dying Saviour uttered the triumphant cry, “It is finished,” Satan knew that he was a defeated foe and that the ultimate triumph of the forces of righteousness is altogether sure. Till that time the powers of evil were moving forward with their nefarious schemes in expectancy of ultimate success. Today they have no such hope. To His followers Christ could say: “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” Luke 10: 18, 19.
Concerning Himself and His kingdom, Jesus in triumph declared: “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.” Luke 20: 17. It was because Jesus “humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,” that “God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Philip-pians 2: 8-11.
It was because of the victory which Jesus gained over the Satanic hosts of darkness that this earth became His purchased possession—repossessed from the powers of evil into the hands of which it had fallen; it was for that reason that erstwhile sinners could henceforth go under the tide of the “redeemed”— redeemed from their condition as ignoble slaves of the ruler of the kingdom of evil. Henceforth the title of Jesus as King of this world and Master of men was altogether sure and clear. Any claim that Satan hitherto had held to the title of prince of this world was gone forever. (John 12: 31.)
It was because of that glorious victory of Jesus over the forces of evil that He is called the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5: 5) and it was because of this victory that “the Root of David” prevailed to open the book revealing the fate of this earth, and that to Him was given the privilege of loosing its seven seals (Revelation 5: 1-5). It was for this reason that those who had one time been under the control of the powers of darkness were able to sing their new song, saying, “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and {Continued on page 15)
THE FLYING ROLL
“Be Sure Your Sin Will Find You Out”
THERE are many portions of the earth where the whole population is in a constant state of alarm, and where the roar of airplanes fills the heart with terror. In those areas death and destruction have been literally dropping from the skies and turning the peace and quiet of community life into scenes of desolation.
One of the ancient prophets has seemingly borrowed the figure of this modern weapon to represent a far greater danger that threatens our entire globe—a peril not confined to populous areas engaged in warfare but which hovers over every individual on the earth whether living in isolation or in the midst of millions.
Take a view of this picture: “Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by My name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.” Zechariah 5: 1-4.
A casual glance at this startling prophetic picture reveals very clearly that the Lord of hosts has pronounced a terrible curse upon those who swear and steal. And the fact that the curse against swearing is written on one side of the scroll, and that the one against stealing is recorded on the other side shows further that this roll contains the two tables of the moral law. While stealing and swearing were perhaps outstanding sins in the days of Zechariah, yet the same curse waits for every sin.
Daniel Webster once declared that his personal accountability to God was the greatest thought that ever entered his mind. In this prophetic scene we have this truth magnified a thousand fold.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Galatians 6: 7, 8.
By B. H. Shaw
God’s law is represented as a great moral bomber cruising in mid-air over every transgressor and with the efficiency of an experienced detective entering into every house which contains a sinner. This, rather than the latest bomb raid in Europe, ought to be front page news to every transgressor. It should lead every sinner to seek shelter with desperate haste.
Nevertheless, with puzzling indifference men go on in sin, apparently unconscious of the danger. The prophet Isaiah assures us that this indifference is only a moral camouflage. “For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; in transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” Isaiah 59: 12-14. Men may think that they have hidden from all eyes the sins that they know in their hearts they have committed; but it will be with all as Moses said to ancient Israel: “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32: 23.
What a picture of our day! And yet the prophet quotes the guilty ones as saying concerning their sins, “We know them.” The Lord says further: “But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in His spirit by the former prophets.” Zechariah 7: 11, 12.
Think of the heaven-daring attitude that would lead a person to stop his ears, and make his heart hard, to avoid the reproof which offers him salvation and shelter! It surely magnifies the love and mercy of God to note what heart-touching appeals He makes to arouse us to our danger. “The day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” Joel 2: 11. “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, . . . and I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” Zephaniah 1: 14-18.
Those who persist in rebellion will, when Christ appears, cry for the rocks and mountains to hide them from His face. It will be too late then. The “line by us unseen, which crosses every path” will have been passed. Now is the time to seek refuge. The divine law is not our enemy. It was given by Him who is love. And if we surrender to His love we will never be troubled by His law.
August — 1944
PAGE
BE YE followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11: 1), was the admonition of Paul to his converts. This was also the counsel of all the apostles. In all things, including Sabbathkeeping, they followed the example of their Lord and declared that all Christians in all ages should do likewise. A “disciple” is a “follower,” and no person has a right to claim discipleship unless he is willing to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, even to the place of worship on the Sabbath day. It is therefore to be expected that the apostles would observe the same Sabbath and teach it to their converts.
When Paul visited Thessalonica he went to the synagogue “as his manner was” and “three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” Acts 17: 1, 2. His manner, or fixed custom, was the same as that of Jesus. (Luke 4: 16.) Let me again repeat: “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” 1 John 2: 6.
Jesus promised His disciples that after His departure the Holy Spirit would call to their remembrance “all things” whatsoever He had said to them. (John 14: 26.) The fact that the writings of the apostles are as silent as the grave in regard to any teachings of Jesus touching a change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week is evidence that He never gave any such instruction. In John 20: 30, 31 we are told that everything necessary to our salvation has been written or recorded. Hence, there is but one possible conclusion, either Jesus did not give any instruction about such a change, or the Holy Spirit failed to call it to the attention of the apostles. Therefore it has no place in the plan of redemption. The very fact that it is not recorded proves that such instruction was not given by Christ.
The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written about six,' 10, 28, and 63 years respectively after the ascension of Christ. The Holy Spirit, who inspired their authors to correctly record what had happened so long before, still designated as the Sabbath the seventh day which the disciples of Jesus kept “according to the commandment.” (Luke 23: 56.) He still placed the Sabbath between the preparation day (Friday) on which Jesus was crucified and the first day of the week (Sunday) when He arose from the tomb. (Mark 15: 42; 16: 1, 2.) In other words, the Christian Sabbath comes between Friday and Sunday and no person should therefore have any difficulty in finding it. (Luke 23: 54, 56; 24: 1.)
The Book of the Acts records the ob-
DID THE APOSTLES institute SUNDAY OBSERVANCE?
Here Is What the Apostolic Church Did about the Sabbath Question
By Taylor G. Bunch
servance of at least eighty-four Sabbaths. When Paul and his associates arrived in Antioch in Pisidia, they “went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.” Acts 13: 14. When the apostle
On the Day of Pentecost the apostles witnessed to the truth under the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In all their preaching and writing they have nowhere left on record a law for the observance of Sunday.
was given the opportunity, he preached a sermon in which he proved from the Holy Scriptures that Jesus was indeed the true Messiah. “And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. . . . And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.” Verses 42, 44.
Antioch was a Gentile city. At the first Sabbath service some Gentiles were present and heard Paul’s sermon, and they were so impressed that they asked
him to preach again the next Sabbath. During the week they were so successful* in advertising this service, that “almost the whole city” came to hear the gospel message. Those Gentiles did not request
that Paul speak to them the next day, (Sunday, the first day of the week), which would have been true if it had been the new Sabbath that had been substituted for the old. The only Sabbath that even the Gentiles knew anything about was the seventh day. And if the Sabbath had been changed, Paul would have told them of the fact, and would have announced the second meeting for the following day instead of the next Sabbath.
In Acts 16: 12, 13 we read of Paul’s visit to Philippi, in Macedonia, where he
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AUTOTYPE FINE ART CO
remained several days. Luke says: “And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.” The statement is sometimes made that Paul did his preaching on the Sabbath because that was the only day the synagogues were open so that he could get an audience of Jews. But in Philippi there doubtless was no synagogue, and a Sabbath service was held beside the river. Thus the Sabbath-keeping custom of Paul and his associates was so strict and well-established that they held religious services on the Sabbath even when they could not visit a synagogue.
In Acts 17: 1, 2 we are informed that when Paul and his company reached Thessalonica the apostle followed his regular custom of Sabbathkeeping by visiting the synagogue three Sabbath days in succession and “reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” Greeks as well as Jews attended his meetings. Verse 4. In Acts 18: 1-4, 11 is recorded Paul’s visit to Corinth, where for 18 months he was the guest of Aquila and Priscilla. With them he wrought on the six working days at the tentmaking trade, and “reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” “And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” This means that 78 Sabbaths were observed by Paul and his fellow Christians in that one place.
Can any person by the utmost stretch of the imagination conceive of such a record as this being possible if the Sabbath had been changed by Jesus? For a year and a half Paul and his companions labored in Corinth during the working portion of the week, and attended divine services on the seventh day, with not even , a hint that another day had supplanted the Sabbath as the day of worship. What an unmatched opportunity it was for the Holy Spirit to have mention made of the change if it had been commanded by Christ or by the apostles. Reason unites with divine revelation in insisting that no such change took place in New Testament times.
When the apostle Paul arrived in Rome as a prisoner, he called the chief of the Jews of the city together and said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.” Acts 28: 17. It would not have been possible for Paul to say truthfully that he had done nothing against the customs of the Jews if he (Continued on page 14)
WE HEAR some people saying much about the abolition of the law of God. We are told that it ended at the death of Christ on the cross, that it expired by limitation when Jesus died on Calvary.
We know that in legal matters some statutes are enacted to meet certain emergencies, and that such enactments are operative only for a stated length of time. Also laws are repealed for various reasons. When a law is repealed, or when the time expires during which it is declared to be operative, it ceases to exist just as completely as if it had never existed. Such things are not uncommon in the modern administration of law, and there are sufficient reasons why such might be the case with the imperfect legislation of men.
Jesus has said: “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than for one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16: 17. The devil would be glad to see the government of God on earth overthrown. Since he has never been able to do this, he doubtless is well pleased when he can make people think the law of God has ceased to exist. This is why he continually suggests theories to make men bold in ignoring and violating it.
Feeling the need of legal advice in answer to questions concerning the repeal of law, I once entered a law office and was invited to make free use of the large library with the attorney’s assistance. I was seeking information especially in answer to two questions: First, if a law is repealed, or expires by limitation, what effect does this have on the persons who are still serving sentences for offenses committed while the law was in force? Second, what effect would the repeal of a law have on those who had committed offences while the statute was in force but had not yet been convicted and sentenced?
In regard to the complete ending of a law that had expired or had been repealed, we read the following:
“The legislature, however, may limit the time in which a statute shall be operative, and when the time so limited expires, the statute ceases to operate as completely as if it had never existed.” —“American and English Encyclopedia of Law” Vol. 26, p. 715.
We have an example of this in war taxes on certain articles for a stated period of time. The point is also illustrated in the Medo-Persian law prohibiting prayer for thirty days. (Daniel 6: 6-9, 12.) It will be seen from the reasoning in the quotation given, that if the Ten Commandments were abolished by the death of Jesus on the cross, they passed completely out of existence, and can never have any bearing on the decisions of the coming judgment day.
Place this thought with the following statement found on page 755 of the same authority on law:
“When a statute prescribing a punishment for a crime is repealed after such crime is committed but before final judgment of conviction, though after a verdict of guilty, no punishment can be imposed, because the act must be punishable when judgment is demanded.”
That is, when a law expires or is repealed, even at the last moment of the trial before judgment is rendered and sentence is pronounced, the person
The LAW that has NOT been
REPEALED
By I. A. Crane
guilty of violating that statute cannot be punished, because there remains no law to condemn him. This is made plain also by the following:
“It is well settled that a party cannot be convicted after the law under which he may be prosecuted has been repealed although the offence may have been committed before the repeal.”— “American Decisions and Law,” p. 596.
This agrees perfectly with the scripture which says: “Sin is not imputed when there is no law.” Romans 5:13. (See also Romans 4: 15.) Therefore this principle is not only verified by English and American legal decisions, but it is also scriptural and reasonable.
Now let us apply this sound principle of law to the Ten Commandments and the final judgment day. The people of Old Testament times had not yet been judged when Christ died on the cross. Christ told the Jews of His generation that people of the past would stand a better chance in the judgment than they. (Matthew 12: 41, 42; 11: 24.) Paul spoke of a judgment to come, and said God had appointed the day for it to begin. (Acts 24: 25; 17: 31.) If, therefore, the Ten Commandments came to an end at the cross, not a sinner in Old Testament times can be condemned and punished. The law which they transgressed had passed away more than 1900 years before they were to be judged. And even if a new law had been instituted later, they would not be amenable to it. This would be to them an “ex post facto law,” the very thing which is prohibited in the fundamental law of American government. (See Art. 1, Sec. 9 of the U. S. Constitution.) And even if, as some claim, the people of Old Testament times had been judged, and were now serving sentences, they would have been pardoned when the law ended, for “the repeal of a law imposing a penalty is of itself a remission of the penalty.”—“American Decisions and Law,” p. 598.
According to these sound principles of law, which have been set forth by unquestioned decisions in both American and English courts, no one living in Old Testament times can be convicted in the day of judgment unless the Ten Commandments under which they lived are still in force.
That is not all. Most of those who declare that the Ten Commandments came to an end at the death of Christ on the cross, say that the supposed new law did not go into effect until the day of Pentecost, which was 50 days later. If this were true, then there was no moral law at all existing in the universe of God for a period of fifty days! Think what this would mean! It was during this time that the soldiers who guarded the tomb saw Christ as He rose in glory, and hastened to the city to tell the story, but were intercepted by the priests and bribed to perjure themselves and lie about Christ, the Son of God! (Matthew 28: 11-15.) Here was a case of bribery, lying, and deception, but no law to condemn it! What inconsistency and what a reproach upon the character and wisdom of God does the theory of the abolished law entail!
The Bible reveals but one supreme standard of moral law, the Ten Commandments. (James 2: 10-12.) It reveals but one plan of salvation. (Acts 4: 12.) When man sinned in the beginning, he violated the law, for “sin is the transgression of (Continued on page 77)
August — 1944
PAGE 7
THERE are, in round numbers, about 135,000 people in the United States whose eyes have been veiled by the hand of destiny. What a vast, pathetic army struggling day after day, month after month, year after year, or a whole lifetime, in Egyptian darkness!
In the ordinary pursuits of life, vision constitutes such an indispensable qualification that those persons bereft of it find the avenues of endeavor very narrow, and many of them are closed alto-
father, of brother and sister, of husband and wife, of son and daughter, all are hid behind the veil of obscurity.
One hundred thirty-five thousand blind people! What is our duty toward them? As editor of a Braille journal that has a larger circulation than any other inspirational periodical for the blind in the United States, I receive thousands of letters from them in all parts of our country and from England. I hear their cry, and their need has so gripped my
selves to constant dwelling upon their affliction. Many appear undismayed and have an abundance of cheerfulness. They adjust themselves to their conditions and thus save themselves from some of its bitterest pangs.
They do not, as some have concluded, acquire a sixth sense or some mysterious endowment that enables them to accomplish wonderful achievements—although some of their achievements are truly wonderful. For years I have seen
gether. The annual earnings of two thirds of working blind men is less than $300. Their sustenance in life, therefore, must depend in a large measure on outside sources. We must remember, too, that thousands of blind people are totally incapacitated, for the ill fortune that struck them blind also left a vast army of crippled, deaf, dumb, paralyzed, or incurably diseased men and women.
When we think of the blind, few of us who are blessed with sight understand them, sympathize with them, or attempt anything whatsoever which might in some way tend to lighten the dead weight of the load which fate has placed on their shoulders. Do we think of them as illiterate, useless, and burdensome? We are prone to think of the whole army of sightless people as being like the unfortunate, illiterate, and perhaps misguided blind man who stands at the street corner and holds out his cup for alms, while we forget the thousands of excellent men and women who, by the very nature of their affliction, are compelled to spend their lives in seclusion and away from the haunts of men.
If we could trade places with them for only one day, perhaps we would better sense the deprivation of a life shut up in continuous night. What does it mean to be totally blind? It means that the soul is plunged into pitch darkness with no hope of the dawn. The budding shrub, the greensward, and the blooming rose are never seen. The gay crowds, the gilded automobiles, and the fast-flying plane are unobserved. The bow painted in the heavens, the fire of the setting sun, and the storm cloud’s silver lining are empty terms. The vault of the starry heavens, the glory of bold Orion, and the wonderpath of the Milky Way are shrouded in impenetrable night. And, climaxing all of this, the loving faces of mother and
soul that my entire time and strength are centered in their welfare. They ask not for sympathy. But only an adamant heart could fail to sympathize, for they need the touch of a guiding hand, and welcome the cheer and comfort and help of loving service.	I
Indeed, man shows the magnitude of his heart in his sympathetic, unselfish, and loving service for distressed humanity. We have no way of exemplifying the principles of enlightened civilization and true Christianity except as we do unselfish service for others. You remember what the great Master taught: “For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me. . . . Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” Matthew 25: 35, 36, 40. There is true brotherly love; there is true Christianity.
It is not so much a matter of how long we preach or how loud we pray. The vital question is: Am I fulfilling my mission on earth, even at personal sacrifice, by handing out the cup of cold water to thirsty humanity? What am I doing to make the way of life a little easier, a little brighter, for some struggling wayfarer?
Yet the blind are not a disheartened people. They do not spend their time in bemoaning their fate nor giving them-
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The Watchman Magazine
RAYS OF LIGHT
my blind friends move about with apparent ease, going up and down the street. They can enter the various stores without striking against the door frame. They can recognize passing friends, * avoid obstacles, turn the corners, and proceed with seeming ease. All this is but a natural result of the condition of the blind. Having lost the sense of sight, they must depend largely upon hearing, feeling, and smelling; and in the use of these senses they develop a keenness to a degree far beyond that possessed by • sighted people.
FOR
THE BUND
A Great Humanitarian Work
By
David D. Rees
Editor of the “ Christian Record''
{Above) A group of blind people are seen participating in a reading circle that enjoys the fine literature published for the sightless by The Christian Record Benevolent Association, Inc. {Below) The blind read by touch, and an alphabet composed of raised, or embossed, dots is used in printing publications for them.
Aside from supplying them with the tphysical necessities of life, the next greatest boon to the blind is perhaps good literature. It is doubly true in the case of the blind that good reading brings cheer, comfort, inspiration, education, and pleasure. But how do the blind read? Of course, you must know that they read by the sense of touch. Instead of seeing the letters, they feel them. Consequently, the printed characters for the blind must be of a nature to be felt. In other words, they must be embossed. These embossed “characters are not the same as the letters of our Roman alphabet, but are made from a group of six embossed dots, being made by a partial perforation of the paper. The system taught in all schools for the blind throughout the country today is known as the Revised Braille. The deft fingers of the blind glide over these dots, and the combinations are
August — 1944
Editor Rees is shown standing beside one copy of the Braille Bible. It consists of 21 volumes, and makes a stack nearly five feet high. On the top is seen a copy of the one-volume Bible in ordinary use among those who can see to read.
readily detected and perceived by the reader.
Such printing, you may imagine, is quite bulky. The Bible in Braille is in 21 large volumes. These volumes, piled one on top of another, make a stack nearly five feet high.
With the thought in mind of bringing cheer, comfort, and sunshine into the lives of the physically blind, the Christian Record Benevolent Association, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was established. It is one of the oldest and best and most favorably known of all welfare organizations for the blind.
This association publishes four monthly magazines for the blind, and maintains a large, free circulating library. The Christian Record, the parent journal, was founded in 1900, and is the oldest current journal for the blind now being published in the United States. It is a welcome visitor in the homes of thousands of sightless people throughout the country, has a national and international circulation, and is without doubt the most loved of all embossed current literature. Three other journals published by the association are The Bible Expositor, The Sabbath School Monthly, and The Children's Friend. So large has the circulation of these journals become that we now turn out between three and four tons of reading matter for the blind each month. The magazines are sent postage free to the homes of blind people of all walks of life and of all religious affiliations.
The maintenance of the work, because the output is so enormous, is a great problem. It requires thousands of dollars, many thousands of dollars annually. We
use the best of material, and our paper bill alone is more than $5,000 a year. But notwithstanding the heavy expense incurred in printing, our magazines go to the blind from month to month entirely free of charge. No blind reader is asked to pay a penny for his literature. Many of them could not pay, and if a charge were made, they would be deprived of the inspirational visits of a journal they have learned to love.
The value of this work is recognized by men of worth everywhere. The late Governor I. L. Patterson, of Oregon, said, “The Christian Record does much to alleviate the unfortunate conditions of the afflicted persons who receive it.” Former Lieutenant Governor George A. Williams, of Nebraska, says, “I am personally acquainted with the work of The Christian Record. An exceedingly high standard is maintained with a view to ministering to every need of the blind.” Former Governor Charles W. Bryan, of Nebraska, says, “Our state is proud of the work done by The Christian Record." From our readers we receive such letters as this: “ The Christian Record has made dark land a brighter and a happier place for me.”.
Welfare labor for the blind is wonderful work. It is wonderful because the cry of these needy people grips my very soul. They do not ask for sympathy. But (Continued on page 15)
PAGE 9
BY THE time high school days are past and the youth is ready for college or university, his mental pattern is pretty well established, and his physical development essentially complete in many cases. Some reach this mental stage before the physical development catches up.
In this period the contagious diseases are relatively rare. However, some students will have escaped infection in earlier life, and will have measles, mumps, scarlet fever, or chicken pox while in college. Usually educational institutions of today are equipped with medical staffs and hospitals, so that such cases receive prompt and proper care.
By this time most young people have decided upon their lifework, and if not, they certainly ought to do so as soon as possible. Thus they are in college for a definite purpose of training, and a fair percentage are so intent upon achieving this end that they are tempted to overwork. Among all students there is a tremendous demand upon the eyes, which have up to this time seemed normal
Building Stronger School Children — IV
Hale and Hearty College youth
By George A. Skinner, M. D.
and able to endure any use, but now begin to show strain. Hence if there is any eye discomfort, the eyes should be promptly examined by an expert to determine accurately and scientifically what error exists. Practically no eye is optically perfect, although in many instances the error is so slight that it does not interfere with very prolonged and near work. But if we recall that normally the eyes are designed for use mostly at a distance, and that all near work requires the use of the eye muscles to hold the lens in the proper curve so that the images will exactly focus on the eye nerves (retina), it is not strange that these muscles get tired. Like other muscles,
they are strengthened by training. They can be overworked, and the fatigue is often expressed by headaches, scratchy and reddened eyelids, or actual pain in the eyeballs.
If the eyes are irregular, and the effort of the eye muscles is excessive in making a proper focus, fatigue will come much sooner. Sometimes the eyeball is actually too long or too short, and the muscles cannot overcome the defect. Then we say a person is “near sighted” or “far sighted.” In neither case can they see distinctly at the ordinary reading distance, which is about 15 inches. If this defect is severe, it is usually noted in early life and correction is made by glasses. However, because one correction has been made, this does not indicate that nothing further will be necessary, because as growth proceeds the eyeballs may also change somewhat and require a change in the lenses. Our most valuable special sense should be carefully and frequently checked to be sure that the glasses correct the defect. This cannot be done with “ten-cent-store” glasses. Often great damage is done to eyes by inexpert fitting. The best skill available ought to be used when any eye defect is present.
In the rapid and tremendous mental changes that take place in the passage from the child to the adult status, not all persons survive without danjage. In some cases this damage shows promptly, and in others it is delayed until one is well into the college age. Sometimes the, mental shock or injury is so great that there is no doubt about it, and something is done at once, either in assigning the youth to an institution or by giving adequate treatment at home. This last is rarely possible and almost never desirable.
In other cases the changes develop very slowly, and are often not observed for a long time, as people usually will not admit such possibilities in their family. Mental sickness seems to be taken as some sort of stain on the family name, and hence any suggestion in this line is resisted tenaciously. But mental sickness, as well as physical occurs, and often is
College degrees and diplomas mean more to the youth when they are backed by strong bodies and good health.
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The Watchman Magazine
CY LA TOUR
fully as curable. Hence there is need for prompt recognition.
The condition indicated is called “dementia praecox,” or insanity of youth, and is much more common than is usually recognized. Sometimes a youth who has been social, jolly, industrious, and a leader in school life, gradually becomes melancholy or sulky, keeps to himself, is quarrelsome, and is neglectful of his studies, shows himself careless in his personal appearance, and seems to be a completely changed personality, as indeed he is. This may be a very slow development, and only one or two of the ordinary symptoms may appear, but it can always be seen in retrospect. The desire to be alone and the brooding are perhaps the more common developments that call attention to the changes in personality. Such cases should be referred to a specialist at the earliest possible time, and the treatment is rarely satisfactory except where institutional care is possible. In a fair percentage of cases recovery will take place under modern treatment, but treatment should be prompt, because cases taken early have a much better chance of full recovery. If recovery is not prompt, cases do much better under the skilled and special treatment in highly specialized hospitals, private or state.
With the regular and often strenuous mental efforts necessary to maintain scholarship at high-grade schools, regular exercise is often neglected. Fortunately in many colleges a certain amount of exercise is required, and the gymnasium is a part of the regular routine, unless replaced by games in the open. No physical toughness can be developed without regular use of the muscles, and regularity of exercise is much more important than the quantity. A little every day keeps the body in much better condition than a large amount taken occasionally.
Exercise does more than just move the muscles and keep them elastic and tough. It stimulates all parts of the body, and makes mental work easier. There always ought to be a suitable balance between the physical and the mental efforts, so that both may be kept at the maximum.
In college life another factor, which has not been much in evidence heretofore, becomes important. The combination of many things we call “morale” is a sustaining factor in all difficult and trying problems. It sustains our men in exhausting military life, and especially in defeat. It is a combination of spiritual, mental, and physical forces working in harmony that produce morale. Basically it is probable that the spiritual power, as expressed in religion, is the most power
ful sustaining force in most lives. Hence a cultivation of the spiritual qualities in college life is very important, and ample provisions need to be made for this development. In most large educational institutions opportunities for such spiritual development are available in the campus life or in near-by churches. And it should be encouraged in every way, for nothing stimulates and sustains the individual more than a sound morale.
The mutual attraction of boys and girls at this age is strong and perfectly normal. All youth, however, ought to be properly
THE DOCTOR REPLIES to HEALTH QUERIES
This information given to the readers of THE WATCHMAN MAGAZINE is supplied by Owen S. Parrett, M. D., a physician and writer of wide experience. Questions should be addressed to the doctor in care of this magazine.
Please give cause of soft ulcers of stomach. Can they be cured by operation or by medical treatment?
Ulcers are perhaps less common among overweights and the well nourished than among underweights and thin patients. Two types of operations are commonly resorted to; namely, removal of the lower third of the stomach or the making of a new opening in the stomach and joining this opening to a loop of small intestine. The first operation is quite radical but more certain of cure; the latter may cure, but new ulcers may form at the new opening. Medical treatment should always be tried out first, since either operation is quite a serious procedure but sometimes necessary in cases resisting medical care. A leading surgeon ranking among the highest in America recently stated that no ulcer could be permanently cured by any means, if the person treated used tobacco. Since this condition may prove very serious, no habit of eating, drinking, or smoking should be allowed to stand in the way of recovery. Ten days of milk diet (a glass and a half every two hours, with four ounces of grapefruit juice one-half hour before every other feeding) is a good starter, to be followed by a bland diet of toast, gruels, pureed green and yellow vegetables,* some eggs, and much milk, together with fruits and fruit juices, avoiding the fruits and vegetables at the same meal. Avoid processed foods. Supply bulkage but not too much roughage. Avoid all worry and nerve strain; secure much sleep, and sun bathing if possible.
A baby five months old has eczema which seems to break out with the use offruit juice. What can be done?
This problem may be far from simple as it represents an allergy which may show either hay fever, asthma, or eczema in some of the ancestors. Fruits and juices are so essential in normal diet as to be worth a real effort to develop a tolerance. You might try vitamin C for a time, using about ten milligrams daily to begin with and gradually working up to fifty milligrams; and then try subacid fruits such as peaches or pears cooked without much sugar; then try grapefruit, pineapple, or lemon juice, rather than orange juice. Cool baths and sun bathing may be used to toughen the baby’s skin; and an ointment of half Lassar’s paste and half vaseline mixed together may allay
instructed in the purpose of sex and of normal reproduction, and in the danger of loose living and venereal diseases. Fortunately these subjects are no longer taboo, and often are approached in early life by studies in biology and physiology.
It is no easy task to guide childhood to a successful, vital, strong, and enduring adulthood. It demands the best of all of us. The prize, however, is so great that it is well worth the price to see our children grow into strong, self-reliant, able, Christian citizenship and all that it stands for. This is one of life’s rewards.
the irritation somewhat. Don’t be too easily discouraged. Look out for eggs and certain other foods such as oatmeal, which sometimes produce allergy in certain individuals. As the child gets older this difficulty will probably tend to disappear. Soy milk might be tried out for a time as a substitute for cow’s milk.
What can be done for an enlarged and leaking heart? Is the condition serious?
A leaking valve that has existed for sufficient time to be chronic can seldom be cured. Many persons with slight leaks in the heart valves may live normal lives and remain quite active in every way. Even though the leak may be quite bad, if the heart muscle is in good condition, and the patient lives carefully with proper diet, exercise, and rest, life may be prolonged indefinitely. If the heart is very much too large, the leak may become serious; but many patients are able to live for years with this condition, if they can be advised as to their daily regime by experts familiar with heart conditions.
The Law that Has Hot Been Repealed (Continued from page 7)
the law.” 1 John 3: 4. When Adam and Eve partook of fruit from the forbidden tree, they took that which did not belong to them. Hence they stole. The only hope of salvation to them and to us came through the promise of a Saviour who was to die for them. The faithful in Old Testament times showed their faith in this coming Saviour by the sacrifice of animals, as indicated in the typical law. (1 Peter 1:19; John 1: 29, 36;
1 Corinthians 5: 7.) The gospel was thus preached unto Abraham, and he believed. (Galatians 3: 8; John 8: 56.) The gospel was preached to Israel in the wilderness as well as unto us. (Hebrews 3: 17-19; 4: 1, 2.) Moses believed in Christ and wrote of Him. (John 5: 46; Luke 24:27; Hebrews 11:24-26.) All the prophets taught salvation only through the blood of Christ. (Acts 10: 43.)
August — 1944
PAGE 77
WHEN they read the word “hell” in the Bible, many persons think of a subterranean region of fire into which immortal souls of sinners have been streaming, through some mysterious and undiscovered entrance, ever since the death of Cain, and that they will burn there eternally without any respite or relaxation. Some there are who still believe that even infants who have died unbaptized are there to burn eternally. One theologian, believing in the damnation of “non-elect infants,” has said that he doubted not that there were infants not a span long crawling about on the floor of hell.
In the Bible the term “hell” does not always refer to a place of punishment. In the Old Testament the English word is translated from the Hebrew noun she'ol which is rendered 31 times “hell,” 31 times “grave,” and 3 times “pit.” In the New Testament the English word “hell” is derived from three different Greek nouns: Geenna, occuring 12 times; Hades, 11 times; and Tartarus, once.
Geenna is always translated “hell” in the Authorized Version, and always refers to a place of punishment. The word is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Ge Hinnom (the Valley of Hinnom). The Valley of Hinnom lay on the south side of Jerusalem, and there the refuse of the city was consumed. Ofttimes the bodies of beasts and malefactors were thrown therein. Constant fires were kept burning, and what the fires in the center did not consume, worms on the outer edge did. It was a most repulsive and forcible picture of utter destruction. Jesus used it as an illustration of the final punishment of the wicked.
Hades occurs 11 times, and in our Authorized Version it is translated “hell” 10 times, and “grave” once (1 Corinthians 15: 55). Also in the margin of Revelation 20: 13 it is rendered “grave.” Hades does not refer to a place of punishment, but like the Hebrew word she'ol it is used to designate the place of the dead.
Tartarus is found once in the Bible (2 Peter 2: 4), and refers to the lower region into which the devil and his angels are cast.
Let us now consider two questions.
First, are the wicked dead now burning in hell-fire, and will they burn there eternally?
The Bible teaches plainly that the devil, his angels, and the wicked dead are not now being punished. If there is such a place as a burning hell now, the evil angels are not there, because “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [Tartarus], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” 2 Peter 2: 4.
The demons of Christ’s time knew that there was a future time set for their punishment. They said to Christ: “Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?” Matthew 8: 29.
Likewise the wicked dead are reserved. “Have ye not asked them that go by the way? And do ye not know their tokens, that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.” Job 21:29, 30. The apostle Peter writes: “The Lord knoweth how . . . to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” 2 Peter 2: 9. Is not this reasonable? Why should they go to hell before they are judged? The Bible teaches that all the wicked will be punished together. (Isaiah 1: 28.)
From the place where they are now being reserved, the unjust will be brought
Awaits The SINNER
What Ooes the BIBLE Say about It?
By Jesse C. Stevens
forth (resurrected) to be punished in the day of wrath. That place where they are being kept now is the grave, for Christ has said: “The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall ’come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5: 28, 29. Now if at death evildoers enter into their punishment in hell, why should there be a resurrection of them unto damnation? The truth is that both the righteous and the wicked dead are now in
their graves, and they will remain there in an unconscious sleep until the resurrection. (Job 14: 21; Psalm 6: 5; 115: 17; 146: 4; Ecclesiastes 9:5.)
Now let us consider the second question. Will the wicked burn eternally? Eternity is an awful word. The human mind cannot comprehend its boundless limits. If the great oceans should lose only one drop of water every million years, how long would it be before their
beds would be left dry and dusty? Then eternity would be in its beginning.
There was a time when there was no sin, not one discordant note in the vast universe of God. Sin entered. Is it to exist eternally, or is it to be eradicated? God’s plan of redemption, centering in Christ’s atoning death on the cross of Calvary, is to eradicate sin so completely that there will not remain a vestige of it in all His universe, so that “the former [things] shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” Isaiah 65:17. (See also Revelation 21:4.)
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The Watchman Magazine
The
HELL That
Christ died to destroy the devil (Hebrews 2: 14), and also to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3: 8), and the time will come when the full effect of Christ’s death in this respect will be realized. (2 Peter 3: 10-13; Malachi 4: 1-3.) “Sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1: 15), and this finish, or end, of sin will be in the lake of fire at the last great day (Revelation 20: 13, 14). God “will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.” Nahum 1: 9. The wicked will be destroyed root and branch. (Malachi 4: 1.)
In more than 100 places the Bible says that the wicked will be destroyed, consumed, burned up, and be as though they b had not been. As examples, see Psalm 37:20; Isaiah 1:28; Proverbs 10:25; Ezekiel 18:4; Obadiah 16; Nahum 1: 9, 10; Matthew 7: 13; 2 Thessalonians 1: 8-10; Revelation 20: 9.
Some believers in the natural immortality of the soul have a special definition for the above words, as a Baptist minister points out: “It is a notorious fact that in our theological works a nondescript dictionary is made: ‘To be dead’ means to be more conscious; ‘to die’ is to live on in woe; ‘to lose life’ is to preserve a miserable existence; ‘to burn up’ is to make a living salamander; ‘to destroy’ is to be preserved whole; ‘to devour, perish, consume’ means ‘to be without end.’ ”
The wicked in the day of their final fate are compared by the Bible to inflamable and combustible material, which is certainly a misleading use of words if the soul is immortal and indestructible. God compares the wicked to “the fat of lambs” (Psalm 37: 20), “thorns” and “stubble fully dry” (Nahum 1: 10; Malachi 4: 1), “chaff” (Matthew 3: 12), “tares” (Matthew 13: 40), “wood, hay, stubble” (1 Corinthians 3: 12), “thorns and briers” (Hebrews 6: 8), “branches” ■ of the vine (John 15: 6), and other things.
Christ said that the wicked would be burned up like chaff with unquenchable fire, fire that cannot be put out while it is doing its work. God once told Israel that if they continued in their sins, He would “kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” Jeremiah 17: 27. The Jews did not heed the message, and the fire was kindled, and it did what God said it would do. (2 Chronicles 36: 19.) Neither the Jews nor the soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar’s army could r quench it until God’s purpose was accomplished. That fire is not burning today. When its work was done, it went out of itself. When fire shall come down from heaven, as we are told in Revelation 20: 8, 9 that it will, the devil, his angels, and the wicked of all the ages who
have come forth in the second resurrection, will not be able to quench it to save themselves. It will be unquenchable fire, and it will devour them, completely eating them up.
This is not contrary to Christ’s statements about “everlasting fire” and “everlasting punishment.” (Matthew 25: 41, 46.) The term “everlasting” is used in two senses: (1) continuance, and (2) effect. Sodom and Gomorrah are spoken of as “suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Jude 7. Are these cities burning today? No. Peter speaks of God as “turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, . . . making them an ensample unto those-that after should live ungodly.” 2 Peter 2: 6. The fire that destroyed them was eternal in its effect; there will be no restoration of those cities. The fires of the last day will reduce the wicked to ashes (Malachi 4: 1-3), and this riddance of sinners will be everlasting in its effect. The second death is really the punishment of the wicked. (Revelation 2: 11; 20: 6, 12-14.) “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6: 23), not eternal existence in misery. The second death is an everlasting death. There will be no resurrection from the second death. It will be an everlasting punishment, not an everlasting punishing.
A period of time will be allotted for the fires of the last day to accomplish their purpose. We are not told how long a time this will be, but it will be one of
This unusual picture shows a recent night eruption of Mount Vesuvius, with its red-hot lava streaming down the mountainside, while an accumulation of static electricity crackles over the fiery crater. It reminds us of a statement made by the Lord in 2 Peter 3:10.
days and nights. This period is the “forever and ever” of Revelation 14: 11; 20: 10. The basis of that expression in the New Testament is the Greek word aion, which in the Bible is not always coequal with eternity. The Greek lexicons define the word thus: “Duration, finite or infinite; unlimited duration; a period of time, past or future; time, age, lifetime; the world; universe.”
The Jewish servant, after having his ears pierced, served his master forever (Exodus 21:6), that is, as long as he lived. The Passover was to be observed forever (Exodus 12: 14), but it ended with the death of Christ. (1 Corinthians 5: 7.) For other examples, see 1 Samuel 1: 22, 28; 2 Kings 5: 27; Jonah 2: 6.
The time of the punishment of the wicked will not be as long as eternity. After the awful destruction of sin and sinners on the earth at the end of the millennium (Revelation 20: 9-15), at which time the earth itself will be the hell of the Bible (2 Peter 3: 7, 10), the prophets saw the same earth purified by fire and restored to its Edenic glory and beauty. (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1.) Then shall come to pass the saying: “Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 21: 5. “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” Isaiah 65: 17. Let us, therefore, repent and live for that better and more glorious world to come.
August — 1944
PAGE 13
U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES FROM ACME
4 New International Order
(Continuedfrom page 3)
This evangelical teaching resulted in a new conception of the church. This is powerfully set forth in the three great writings by which Martin Luther shook the world. These were his “Address to the Emperor and Christian Nobility of the German Nation,” his treatise “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church,” and “The Freedom of a Christian Man.” In these he unfolded his reformed teachings, developing in different aspects the thought of the universal priesthood of believers, which he based on the passage in 1 Peter 2: 5-10, where the spiritual theocracy of the New Testament is described in contrast with the outward theocracy of the Old.
Here was drawn the outline of a Christian commonwealth or kingdom of God, founded on the gospel of Christ, and freed from the fatal corruptions of the Middle Ages. This was at first simply new teaching of old truth. The teaching, however, soon resulted in attempted reforms, in efforts to carry out a new conception of the kingdom of God, unfortunately by men of a different spirit from Luther. Under the general name of Anabaptists, enthusiasts such as Thomas Munzer, Storch, and their associates, holding in common with Luther that the church is not the body of those under ecclesiastical government, but the community of believers, differed with Luther in assuming that this community could have a visible and political form. It was, to them, a community of true saints, ruled and guided by inspired prophets, diametrically opposed to the medieval conception of an organized hierarchy. This was not merely a thing to be hoped for in the future, but a thing to be hastened by human efforts, an external reign of power to be advanced by force and violence. Thomas Munzer tried, at first in Saxony, to establish, in place of the old despotism, a Christian commonwealth in which all should be equal and have all things in common. The attempt was speedily put down and its enthusiastic leader slain.
The same fanaticism broke out later in the Rhineland and the Low Countries, when the Anabaptists gained possession of the city of Munster, and erected their kingdom of the saints there. The magistrates were deposed, an “inspired prophet” assumed supreme power, and ultimately the name and insignia of a king. All men were proclaimed equal. All goods were held in common. All partook of common meals. The government was held to be a theocracy, God reigning through inspired men.
These enthusiasts hoped that their spectacular effort to establish the millennial reign of Christ might be swiftly extended, so that from Munster, as from a new Zion, there would flow out to all nations the blessings of God’s kingdom. Instead of this they brought disgrace on themselves and their theocracy by legalizing polygamy, and by sensual excesses under the cloak of Christian liberty. They could not withstand the forces sent against them. Their false theocracy was overwhelmed in violence and blood.
John Calvin in Geneva, John Knox in Scotland, the Fifth Monarchy Men in England, the Puritans in New England, all made efforts more or less influenced by the theocratic idea, to create a Christian commonwealth, the establishment of God’s kingdom by the creation of an ideal state. They all failed. The kingdom of God was not to be so established.
Indeed, it appears that all attempts in the past to realize the kingdom of God, or establish a Christian commonwealth, or construct a perfect state, have been but a series of failures. This is true. And it is true because they have been conceived by men, built on men, centered in men, and made dependent on men. And as men are not perfect, it is quickly demonstrated that imperfect beings cannot create perfect states.
A perfect state requires a perfect Founder, a perfect law, a perfect Ruler, a perfect administration, and a perfect people. Then, and then only, will it be a kingdom of God.
Failures as all such past efforts of men have been to realize their hopes and dreams, nevertheless a perfect and permanent kingdom of God is assured for this earth. And before long.
The Lord of the kingdom is One who “shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for His law.” Isaiah 42: 4. He has His own plans. He has His own methods. He has His own time. That time is nearly here.
Did the Apostles Institute Sunday Observance?
(Continuedfrom page 7)
had set aside the Sabbath, observed another day in its stead, and taught others to do likewise. Sabbath observance had been and was certainly one of the chief customs of the Jews through many generations. The transgression of no command of the Decalogue would have brought so quickly from the Jewish leaders a severe condemnation as would Sabbathbreaking. Hence, Paul virtually
declared that he was still a faithful Sabbathkeeper.
After stating that the Lord rested on the seventh day from all His works at the close of creation week, in his letter to the Hebrews the apostle said: “There re-maineth therefore a keeping of a Sabbath [Sabbatismos\ to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Hebrews 4: 4, 9-11, margin.
“There remaineth, therefore, one rest, the Sabbath, to the people of God,” is the Italian Version. “It follows that there still remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,” says Weymouth’s translation. “There is a Sabbath-rest, then, reserved still for the people of God,” reads Moffatt’s translation. Only that could remain which had previously existed; hence, the text proves that the same Sabbath which had been observed by God’s people since creation is to continue through what is called the Christian dispensation.
The word “Sabbath” means “rest.” “Rest” is defined as “freedom from anything that disquiets, worries, or annoys; peace, quiet, security, tranquillity.” Since there is no peace to the wicked, the Sabbath rest is a sign of freedom from sin and of soul-rest. It is the sign that we have entered the kingdom of God with its peace and rest. Since the only hope of soul-rest is in Christ, who is our peace, the Sabbath rest becomes the outward sign of the indwelling of Christ. It is a pledge that the Eden rest that was lost through sin will be restored through Christ. (Isaiah 66: 22, 23.)
The following are a few of many testimonies regarding the total absence of any New Testament evidence for the change of the Sabbath.
“The Bible nowhere commands us to make any change in our holy day. Any man who gets his faith and practice from the Bible is bound, at whatever inconvenience, to observe Saturday as the Sabbath.”—E. A. Wasson (Episcopal), in “The Church Standard” August 31, 1895.
“The truth is, as soon as we appeal to the litera scripta [literal writings] of the Bible, the Sabbatarians have the best of the argument.”—“ The Christian at Work” {Presbyterian), April 19, 1883.
“Some Baptists are fond of demanding a ‘Thus saith the Lord’ for everything, and profess to accept nothing for which explicit authority cannot be produced from the word of God. Probably not a reader of this paragraph would be willing to follow this principle to its legitimate conclusion. It would involve the imme-
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diate return to Sabbath worship, and the abolition of Sunday schools.”—Examiner {Baptist), January 7, 1894.
Roman Catholics bear similar testimony: “If the Bible is the only guide for the Christian, then the Seventh-day Adventist is right in observing the Saturday with the Jew.” — Conway, “The Question Box,” p. 179. “Hence, the conclusion is inevitable, viz., that those who follow the Bible as their guide, the Israelites and Seventh-day Adventists, have the exclusive weight of evidence on their side, while the Biblical Protestant has not a word in self-defense for his substitution of Sunday for Saturday.”—“The Catholic Mirror,” September 9, 1893.
r Cardinal Gibbons said: “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”—“The Faith of Our Fathers,” p. 89, 110th ed.
In the light of the example and teachings of Christ and the apostles, and of the candid admissions of many noted Bible students, it would seem that only a person who is either innocently or willingly ignorant would presume on the authority of the New Testament Scriptures to excuse their Sabbathbreaking. Let us beware lest the words of the Master apply to us: “Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6: 46. “In vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Mark 7: 7.
Rays of Light for the Blind
{Continuedfrom page 9)
whose heart is not touched when 135,000 people, shut up in earth’s darkest night, are struggling for very existence? Our      sympathy must go out to them. And more, our hand must reach out to them in proffered help.
In seeking to verify my interpretation of the heart-cry of the people for whom I spend my life, I asked a blind man, a friend of mine, this question: “If your eyes could be opened just for a moment, and then be forever closed again, what would you choose to see during that golden moment?” Place yourself in his stead. What would you choose? Yonder is the gorgeous sunset with every cloud aflame, and all the western heaven is one      grand supernal painting, wrought by the hand of Omnipotence. Here are the wonders of the city: the surging street, the restless crowds, the skyscrapers that pierce the clouds, the glittering automobiles, and overhead the darting planes and gliding dirigibles. There is the
CAPTAIN BONG SETS AN EXAMPLE
“WHEN Captain Richard I. Bong shot down his twenty-seventh enemy plane in the southwest Pacific, he qualified for the token of appreciation promised by Captain Rickenbacker to the first fighter pilot who surpassed his World War I record of 26. The prize was to be ‘a case of Scotch.’ Though a teetotaler himself when he set his own splendid record, whisky apparently seemed to Captain Rickenbacker to be the most appropriate or perhaps the most tempting token of esteem to offer to the young fliers of today. Captain Bong thought differently. He expressed a preference for soft drinks, and got them. Having had the courage to fly in the face of flak and fighter opposition, he also had the courage to fly in the face of what might easily have seemed to be the prevailing wind of public opinion on the liquor question.”—“The Christian Century,” May 10, 1944.
boundless ocean stretching away to the setting sun, whose lingering rays pave a highway of gold and silver across the restless waves. Would you choose any of these scenes? All these were too trivial to engage my friend’s thought.
Without hesitation he said: “O let me see my little boy and baby girl.” In that one sentence there came to me a horror of blindness such as I never had experienced before, and in spite of my effort to suppress it there came a tear to my eye that seemed to burn itself across my face. He had never seen the scintillating sparkle in the eye of that chubby boy of his, or the rose on the dimpled cheek of his baby daughter; and his father heart cried out: “O let me see my children—once—for a brief moment, and all the rest of the world may forever remain in undiscernible blackness.”
O friends, we must sympathize, we must help. We are our brothers’ keepers. It is through us that the God of heaven expects to do the work which He describes when He says: “And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” Isaiah 42: 16.
The Christian Record Association will be glad to receive the names and addresses of all blind people who do not already receive The Christian Record. If they desire this inspirational literature, it will be sent to them entirely free of cost. For a free Braille instruction chart, a
catalogue of the Free Circulating Braille library, for a subscription to any of the association’s four magazines, write to the Christian Record Benevolent Association, 3705 South 48th Street, Lincoln 6, Nebraska.
Victory that Saved the World
{Continuedfrom page 5)
hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5: 9, 10. It was that mighty victory which made possible that glorious scene of triumph which is still to come when there will be gathered round about the great white throne “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” Revelation 5: 11-13.
That scene will be the most glorious that man has ever seen; that cry of triumph will be the most supreme that history has ever heard; the victory there commemorated will be the most complete, the most cheering, the most significant that time will ever record.
The future triumph in which all the righteous will have the pleasure to participate, will be possible because of the victory gained by Jesus when, as a ransom for us, He gave up His own life on the cross of Calvary. His sacrifice sounded the death knell of the hosts of iniquity, insured the ultimate triumph of right over wrong, and made free forever countless thousands who had once been hopelessly and helplessly living in the bondage of sin.
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August — 1944
PAGE 15
NEWS NOTES
This recent picture of Mount Vesuvius, shows the famous volcano called “the pride and scourge of Italy,” in eruption—the worst in 72 years. A giant canopy of smoke and ashes hangs over the crater of the boiling mountain, dominating the countryside for a radius of many miles. Many hamlets and villages in the shadow of the volcano have been buried-under a blanket of lava and ashes.
© In his book “Rebuilding a Lost Faith,” John L. Stoddard, a convert from agnosticism to Roman Catholicism, tosses a hot potato to Protestants to handle. He says: “Protestants often deride the authority of church tradition, and claim to be directed by the Bible only; yet they, too, have been guided by customs of the ancient church, which find no warrant in the Bible, but rest on church tradition only! A striking instance of this is the following:—The first positive command in the Decalogue is to ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,’ and this precept was enforced by the Jews for thousands of years. But the Sabbath day, the observance of which God commanded, was our Saturday. Yet who among either [Roman] Catholics or Protestants, except a sect or two, like the ‘Seventh Day Baptists,’ ever keep that commandment now? None. Why is this? The Bible, which Protestants claim to obey exclusively, gives no authorization for the substitution of the first day of the week for the seventh. On what authority, therefore, have they done so? Plainly on the authority of that very [Roman] Catholic Church which they abandoned, and whose traditions they condemn.”—New edition, p. 80.
@ “Deaths from cancer since Pearl Harbor have exceeded many times the deaths in combat in the armed forces of the United States,” says “The New York Times” of January 21, 1944.
@ Commenting on the visit of Dr. Sigurgeir Sigurdsson, Lutheran bishop of Iceland, to the United States in April, “Time” (May 1, 1944) remarks: “Of Iceland’s 130,000 population all but 400 Roman Catholics and 70 Seventh-day Adventists are included in Dr. Sigurdsson’s see.” The Seventh-day Adventist “Year Book” for 1944 says that the Iceland-Faroes Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has eight churches with a membership of 449. These figures do not include unbaptized members of Seventh-day Adventist schools. Neither does this church baptize into its membership infants and tiny children who have not reached the age of accountability.
@ “Rome’s critical situation and the perils menacing the Vatican have caused Pius XII to permit the Swiss Papal Guards to be reinforced by Swiss recruits and rifles substituted for their traditional weapon, the halberd.”—The New York Times, April 23, 1944.
@ “In an event unprecedented in the South,” reports “Time” of January 3, 1944, “a Negro last month won North Carolina’s Mayflower Cup, awarded annually by the North Carolina Society of Mayflower Descendants, for the best book by a resident of the state. This year’s winner is 37-year-old J. Saunders Redding, professor of English literature and creative writing at Virginia’s Hampton Institute.”
© A report from Washington states that “every passing hour of 1943 saw more than $10,000,000 pouring out of the Treasury to meet the costs of global war.” A total of $85,135,000,000 was spent for the war effort during the entire year. The average daily rate was $272,-900,000.
@ Speaking about the national budget requested by the President for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1945, “Time” of January 24, 1944, remarks: “Franklin Roosevelt was asking for over twice as much as the United States national income in 1933. World War Il’s cumulative cost to the United States by 1945 would be $397,000,000,000—a third of a trillion.”
@ According to “Time” (May 22, 1944) researchers of the University of Denver recently quizzed citizens about the United States Bill of Rights, and reported that 23% never heard of it, 39% could not identify it, 15% gave hazy or wrong definitions of it, and 23% were reasonably acquainted with the first Ten Amendments.
@ In “The New York Times Magazine” of January 23, 1944, it is stated that the Office of Scientific Research and Development has some 6,000 scientists and their assistants working, and is spending almost $3,000,000 a week in scientific research to develop new weapons of war.