A SURE FAITH IN CHANCTONBURY RING. SUSSEX "The Lord bless thee" "On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, the Lord bless thee and keep thee: the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace!" Numbers 6:23-26. Can anybody imagine that the Lord God of Israel would have instructed Aaron so to bless the people unless He Himself intended to bestow upon them all the favours of which He spoke? In the verse that follows tthese stately words God as good as says that. if Aaron promises, He Himself will perform. Would a father encourage his little girl to ask "Father Christmas" for a doll unless he had it firmly in mind to include a doll among her Christmas presents? So that, unlike many of our pious aspirations, this is no mere gust of wishful thinking. It is a pledge and a covenant. God bids His ministers breathe this lovely benediction upon His people because He has Himself resolved to bless them and to keep them; to show them His Shining Face and His overflowing grace; to reveal Himself to them in beauty and in majesty; and to pour into their fevered hearts the peace that passeth all understanding. —From "A Late Lark Singing," by F. W. Boreham, D.D. PRECEPT and POWER I T happened some time ago on a sun- drenched island of the Pacific. A European trader was discussing business with friendly Fijians. Talk eventually veered to the subject of Christianity and the Bible. THE BIBLE and • "71-3 TIME A family journal of Christian living dedicated to the proclamation of the everlasting Gospel. Presenting the Bible as the Word of God and Jesus Christ as our all-sufficient Saviour and coming King EDITOR RAYMOND D. VINE ASSISTANT EDITOR DONALD P. McCLURE ART DIRECTOR � C M HUBERT COWEN CIRCULATION MANAGER GENERAL MANAGER E. L. SOUTHEY W. J. NEWMAN VOLUME 84/2 � FEBRUARY, 1968 • PRICE 1/6 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE STANBOROUGH PRESS LIMITED ALMA PARK • GRANTHAM � LINCOLNSHIRE ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION including postage 23/6 • SIX MONTHS 11/9 Please notify change of address promptly CONTENTS � A. S. Maxwell � 5 GENERAL ARTICLES YOU CAN'T PAY LATER . . . A. J. Woodfield, M.A., Ph.D. (Land.) A DOCTOR'S VIEWPOINT Let's Get Our Priorities Right . � Dr. 1. G. White, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P � "I WILL COME AGAIN" � LAW AND LOVE Thou Shalt Love God Supremely � J A. McMillan � 14 "DESERT ISLAND DISCS" � John R. Lewis � 17 SHOULD PROTESTANTS UNITE WITH ROME � . . � M. G. Phillips � 18 � THINKING ALOUD by a former M.P. . . Major George Herbert, M.B.E. � 25 CHRISTIAN BELIEFS IN A SCIENTIFIC AGE � Wild Wisdom H. W. Clark, Ph.D. THE HISTORY OF THE SABBATH God's Happy Day � DEVOTIONAL FEATURES SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY � W. R. Beach A PRAYER � Cecil Spencer BIBLE STUDIES BIBLE QUESTIONS � Charles D. Utt � 12 IS THERE ONE TRUE CHURCH ? � R. H. Libby � 21 WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE . . . ? . E. W. Marter, M.A., M.Th. � 29 REGULAR FEATURES NEWS AND VIEWS � 7 CHILDREN'S PAGES � 32 Cover picture: Canada geese at cherry blossom time. 3 EDITORIAL FIRST THINGS FIRST REACTION � STORY DAY OF DELIVERANCE Mary S. Ogle � 10 In an age of accelerating departure from God and goodness, OUR TIMES reaffirms its faith in the Bible. Problems of time and eternity are solved by its teaching. The basic problem of all is that of perverse hearts and warped minds. The Bible has the. two-fold answer—it provides not only precept but also power. In this it differs vitally from any writing of man. None who honestly study it would dis- agree with the testimony of the poet Coleridge. He said: "I know the Bible is inspired because it finds me at greater depths of my being than any other book." "Don't bother with the Bible!" the trader said. "Few people nowadays believe it or read it." The natives were unimpressed. Their views were different. Moreover, they had a powerful answer which the trader was obliged to accept. With a pearly smile the Fijian spokesman pointed to a cauldron beside a palm- shaded hut nearby. "If it were not for the Bible," he said, "we would already be R D. Vine � 4 � preparing to boil you in that potl" It was a valid point. No other book can so fully change human hearts. Take Marx or Nietzsche, Kant or Keerkegaard, 6 � Shakespeare or Dickens, or any other work of the great writers and philosophers, 8 � to areas of paganism and cannibal 13 � brutality—but no miracles of transformation would be wrought. No ennobling change of heart would result. The Bible on the other hand, has proved its power. It is miraculous—even explosive—in its beneficent results. 26 � A humble Christian, once a loathsome derelict, was once taunted by a sceptic Leslie Shaw � 30 � for believing the Bible. "I can't answer your criticism," he said, "but this I know, that the message of the Bible 9 � changed my life." 22 BY THE EDITOR DISCERNING THE TIMES... CURRENT EVENTS IN THE LIGHT OF THE BIBLE IT IS A FACT... THAT Britain's "Golden Ages" were times when Bible teaching and Bible reading were paramount. These ages were the first Elizabethan and the Victorian. THAT a nation is pre-eminent which stresses Holy Scripture, because a nation's moral fibre is directly related to knowledge and practice of God's truth. THAT a nation is exalted by obedience to God and His Moral Law. THAT what applied in ancient times applies equally today (for God and Truth are unchangeable): "I have taught you statutes and judgments. . . . Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your under- standing in the sight of the nations. . . . What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them? . . . What nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this Law. . . . Only take heed . . . lest thou forget . . . but teach them [unto] thy sons. . . ." Deuteronomy 4:5-9. First things first B RITISH parents may feel justly gratified with their progeny. Thanks to the help of a social system which gives every encourage- ment, and which freely offers many fine facilities, parents can rightly rejoice in a generation of youngsters whose health and sturdiness is un- excelled anywhere on earth. Young Britons are a privileged breed. No- where the world around, will one see so consistently high a standard of vigour and physical stamina as that which they enjoy. Gone are the days of griping poverty. Gone is the time when deficiency diseases crippled young bodies and caused high mortality. Emaciated bodies and sartorial shab- biness are, thank God, things of the past. But parents' interest extends beyond the material and physical. They are concerned about minds and characters as well as bodies. Recent surveys have proved that this is so. The "overwhelming majority" of them want their children to grow up in the Christian faith. They are insistent that religious education be given them at school. They realize that goodness counts more than cleverness; that character and dis- position are more important than healthy bodies or fact-packed brains. Guest speaker at a girls' Grammar school's "prize day" recently was Miss M. B. Powell, C.B.E., Matron of St. George's Hospital, London. She appealed to the girls to think seriously about the possibility of a nursing career; then, without minimizing the need for top quality academic training, she stressed the supreme importance of character. Clever brains and deft hands must be associated with reliability, in- tegrity, compassion, kindness, and all the other vital virtues which are marks of true Christianity. "This is where you parents can help," she said. How right she was, for whatever 4 may be the moral guidance given at School or Church, its value is exceeded by that of the Christian home. This, for the obvious reason that in properly ordered homes, where mutual respect as well as love prevails, parents make a far deeper and more lasting impact on im- pressionable youngsters than teachers or ministers. Parents are right to express concern that their children be acquainted with Christian doctrine and standards. But where countless thousands stumble is in assuming that it is the sole business of School and Church to do the instructing. A recent Times editorial claims "the case is as strong as ever for religious education keeping its privi- leged position as the one subject which is required by law to be taught in schools." Unfortunately, success is often limited by the blurred witness of teachers whose personal convictions lack strength. How essential it is, therefore, that our homes follow the Bible pattern: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart. . . . And, these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in chine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deuter- onomy 6:15-7. This is the secret of happiness— personal, family, and national. In fact, national greatness is in direct proportion to the acceptance and application of this advice to parents. It is generally the case that national greatness is understood in terms of population figures and technological advance. But the only true criterion is goodness. An infallible, overruling God Himself declares: "Righteous- ness exalteth a nation." Right- eousness, not weapons; virtue, not � material things; � kindness and justice, not Of the three main factors In Child-training— the Church, the School, and the Home— that of the Home Is paramount. scientific know-how--these are the hallmarks of greatness and the guarantees of security and happiness. Parents are therefore right in voting for a continuance of Chris- tian teaching. But let's remember this can most effectively be given at our own firesides. In this connection —and especially for parents who are hesitant or who don't know how, we strongly recommend the completely free facilities of the world's largest school: The Voice of Prophecy Correspondence Bible School. (See back cover for coupon). � R.D.V. REACTION by ARTHUR S. MAXWELL N OT since Vatican II has"Rome seen such activity as it did during October last. At the Vatican palace, about 1200 bishops from all over the world met in historic but secret synod convened by Pope Paul. Nearby, at the Pius XII auditorium, more than 2,800 Catholic men and women assembled for the Third World Congress for the Lay Apostolate. The two meetings, though held simultaneously, were vastly different. By papal order the bishops confined their discussions to reform of canon law and certain matters of doctrine. Because of tight security regulations nobody outside knows what was said or done, though rumour has it that an international theological com- mission was appointed to review doctrinal questions. The laymen's meeting was different. As reported by Time magazine, the spirit of this assembly was set by the keynote address of Steering Committee Secretary Dr. Thom Kerstiens. "We must put questions to the theologians which often coincide with those put by men who are not Christians," he said. "Modern man wants to see things from the viewpoint of his daily existence." He wants answers to such questions as: "What should be our attitude toward revolutionary movements?" and "Is racial dis- crimination a sin to be confessed?" After such a beginning subsequent developments became exciting. One correspondent reported that the whole place "seethed with indepen- dent ideas." Delegates insisted on discussing such subjects as freedom of speech, a greater voice for the laity in church government and, of course, birth control. Even though Pope Paul has reserved any final decision on the latter subject to him- self, these outspoken laymen de- clared that planned parenthood was the responsibility of parents. One lady delegate from Holland went so far as to say, "We cannot lay the decision of whether or not to apply birth control on the shoulders of one man." This was too much for the con- servatives in the hierarchy. Papal reaction was swift. Addressing the laymen, Pope Paul told them that "it was absurd to think they could free themselves from the authority of the Church. Anyone who tries to act without, or against, the church hierarchy is like a branch which withers when it is separated from the tree trunk which gives it sap." This solemn pronouncement may have "put the lid on" the discussions for the time being but how long the lid will stay there is anybody's guess. Clearly the cleavage between• liberals and conservatives in the Church is growing wider each passing year. It could be that a new break-away is coming, such as almost shattered this great organization in the six- teenth century. This is not something for Protes- tants to gloat over. Tens of thousands of godly people are involved, people who need our prayers. Who knows, these may be the very ones who will hear God's closing call: "Come out of her, My people." Revelation 18:14. 5 "YOU CAN PAY by A. J. WOODFIELD, M.A., Ph.D. (Lond.) T HEY'RE thinking seriously in America of teaching children in schools how to budget properly. This is because more and more Americans who are living it up now are finding that they can't pay for it later. A bankruptcy court judge in Denver, Colorado, said that bankruptcies are increasing so fast that soon everyone in the community will have stood before the court. Be that as it may, over 163,000 people (not including firms) went bankrupt in the U.SA. last year; only 10,000 in 1946. Thousands of Americans have debts three or four times their annual incomes. Not surprisingly marriages are crumpling up; some couples go to the divorce courts wearing wedding rings on which instalments are still unpaid. Years ago a boy went through a Roman Catholic mission school, gained a diploma in teaching, took a degree in economics, and went on to study theology. He became a lecturer in political science, entered politics himself, and embarked on a spectacular rise to power. In 1960 he made himself the first president of the first British colony in Africa to become indepen- dent, he visited the Queen, he entertained her husband. He called himself the African "Messiah." 'But he lived it up too high, he rode hard to a deadly fall. 'His dreams. of grandeur were shattered; he didn't have what it took to realize them. In 1962 they threw a bomb at him; three more times they tried to make him pay up. 'He shut himself up in a castle to dodge his creditors and posted armed guards to keep them off. But the day of reckoning came; and he was found wanting. Judgment to come Years ago most people 'believed in a day of reckoning—Doomsday was the name, the day of judgment. Christopher Marlowe wrote one of the most moving scenes in literature about the man who lived it up in this life and on his day of judgment found he couldn't pay later. They call it "a load of ecclesi- astical rubbish" today. They jeer at the poor wretch on his knees at the end begging God to be merciful. "It takes a great actor," scoffs one critic, "to deliver that speech without wringing a strangled sob of laughter out of me." But he admits that Richard Burton succeeded. There are some very uncomfortable sayings in the Bible about this business of paying later—something about weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, not sobs of laughter. The people who live it up so gaily now on credit can't pay what they should pay when the creditors come; but they have to pay something. They have to hand over their self-respect, the goods they so light-heartedly signed for on the dotted line, their peace of mind, their wives, or their husbands. They pay all right—in misery. It's a pity they don't read their Bibles better and mark the warning: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Galatians 6:7. It's a pity the African "Messiah" did not remember it too from his mission school days. God paid for us There are certainly many who think that "Hell is something to scare children with and Heaven just a gimmick to get you to pay your dues." But one day they will cut a sorry figure when they find that "we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to render an account for all the deeds done in the body." And that will include the mocking. But let us not be smug. If we're honest we'll all admit to qualms about this paying later. I rather think we'll all be down on our knees begging for mercy—unless we remember now that accounts can be settled in advance. You see, God knew we're all a lot of spiritual 'bank- rupts, "sold under sin," doomed, and lost. So He paid up for us—not with silver or gold but "with the precious blood of Christ." All we have to do to meet our bill is to ask Him to cancel it for us, now. It's risky to put it off because there's no second chance. You can't do it later. 6 LATER" "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 everlast- ing. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Galatians 6:7-9. NEWS and VIEWS COMMUNIST PRAISE FOR BIBLE.—A Communist literary critic has termed the Old Testament "a majestic literary monument that stands on the level of the Iliad and Odyssey." The reviewer, A. Kashdan, a frequent contributor to the Soviet atheist journal Science and Religion, told his readers that the Bible is based on "historical truth." He praised the appearance of the new Russian version entitled Biblical Tales as a "break in the conspiracy of silence" which in the U.S.S.R. had previously relega- ted the Old Testament to oblivion. Last year the Russian authorities put on sale 100,000 copies of the Russian translation and they were virtually sold overnight, according to the foreign observers in Moscow. Kashdan's review emphasized the "positive value" of the Old Testament, saying it "deserves a distinguished place in man's esteem because of its qualities as a literary work and its insight into human psychcilogy."—Ecumenical Press Service. No book in the world has made even a significant contribution to the uplifting of mankind compared with the Bible. No wonder, for its unique inspiration, which is so obvious to the fair-minded reader, dispels all doubt about its claim to be the very Message of God to the world. LAITY CONGRESS.—The first Roman Catholic Laity Congress since Vatican II ended last autumn with a strong plea to let couples decide about birth control for themselves. A Congress motion pointed out "the need for a clear stand . . . on fundamental moral and spiritual values, while leaving the choice of scientific and technical means for achieving respon- sible parenthood to parents acting in accordance with their Christian faith, and on the basis of medical and scientific consultations." The congress also urged the Synod of Bishops to recognize marriage solemnized by Protestant ministers, and that the education of the children of such marriages should be left solely to the discretion of the parents.—(Ecumenical Press Service.) POLISH PROTESTANTS.—A new religious and social centre for Methodists and other Protestants is to be built in Katowice, Poland. Methodists in America are being asked to raise $100,000 to help. There are 18,734 Methodists in Poland. Membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is 4,000. UNITY OPPOSED.—Presbyterians in Brazil are opposed to ecumenical efforts directed toward the Roman Church and Greek Orthodoxy. The Northern Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, meeting at Sao Luiz, deplored the idea of linking with "religious systems divorced from the truth taught by Scripture." "EARLY PARTNERSHIP."—General Secretary Of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, appealed for an early partnership between Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy "to crush the social ills that plague mankind." He was addressing a congregation of 300 in the Jesuits' Gregorian University, Rome. Comment by "Father" John Witte, Professor of Ecumenical Theology at the University: "What a remarkable thing it is for Dr. Blake, as a leader of world Protestantism, to be addressing a gathering in what was once the bulwark of counter- reformation theology." A DOCTOR'S VIEWPOINT LET'S GET OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT Society is suffering from an underlying malaise that is sapping its moral strength. We used to look to the Church, the Law, the Government, and the common demands of the Community—but there is no worthy example there. They only reflect the lowest common denominator. Isolated peaks of individual righteousness stand out, but they are getting fewer S EX advice for all" was the front-page banner head- line of our local weekly newspaper the other week and the half of the page reported the decision of the local Borough Council to provide family planning advice and contraceptives to unmarried persons. This not unnaturally caused a vigorous discussion and the arguments flew to and fro across the Council chamber and, since then, from person to person in the street. It is a sign. It is a straw in the wind which is working up to a whirlwind. One of my own patients, who is deputy mayor, rightly laid down the principle that education starts in the home and we should be teaching them to respect their relationships. With his sincere religious conviction (he did not obtrude his Roman Catholic beliefs) he rightly stated that it is wrong not only to permit but to encourage youngsters to participate in the sexual act outside matrimony. For this respon- sible view many others spoke and some made the point that youngsters who have a right upbringing will not use the clinic anyway. Slide in moral decadence A local vicar went further into the principles behind this widening of publicity on sexual matters and held responsible personalities and well-known people guilty of the slide in moral decadence. He says he is against the "ease with which we accept moral decadence, pretending to be worried about it, yet all the time placing every form of encouragement in the way of those who have no sense of personal discipline or respect for other people." He truly hit a psychological nail on the head when he declared by Dr. L. G. WHITE, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. that we have let down the younger generation by pandering to their whims, and have encouraged the attitude that any form of self-control or concern for other people's feelings is a sign of weakness and a thing of the past. People in prominent positions too often forget or overlook the power of unconscious influence. More and more is less and less attention paid to open adultery in high places. No moral issue appears to be involved and one deplores the apparent connivance of the majority with the lowest common denominator of personal and moral conduct. The "with-it" attitude now appears to be to demand and obtain the widest freedom in discussing the most sacred and intimate subjects in the sacred name of "freedom." This word is now ambivalent and like "liberty," is the excuse to charge right across other concepts like "respon- sibility," "privacy," "self-discipline," and "duty." Letting down the defences The call to legalize soft drugs is another example of letting down the defences. Since no one is known to have died as the direct consequence of addiction to a soft drug, some liberal-minded people with huge doses of amorality have campaigned for its free use. They have ignored completely (either naively or stupidly or irresponsibly) the pernicious associations and climate in which it is used, and also (for some not inconsiderable number of teenagers) its inevitable progress down the road to being hooked irretrievably. God-given attribute A church discussion group which followed this outburst on sex in the local paper highlighted certain important facts. We do well to remember that sex is a God-given attribute. Its gift to man at creation, where He made male and female with all their sexual differences in genital organs and hormones in their blood-streams, marks it as a marvellous attribute. Its function was to increase the oneness that should exist between husband and wife. Along with physical beauty, akinness and harmony in thinking, desires, activities, there was to be infused this sexual unity. A lot of thinking today is haywire, for sex is talked of as if it is a separate entity: a parcel all by itself: even a separate organ of the body. We should never forget that when adolescence begins, the sexual hormones begin to swarm in the blood-stream and every other organ in the body becomes associated. Sometimes the new development in the adolescence is so great that other disciplines and self-control, even thought, rational thought, itself, becomes hopelessly swamped. The "crush" of the swooning school-girl crushes out all right. Reason may take its weary flight from the throne of human conduct when sexual urges (originally God-given) become abused and given a priority and importance that they neither merit nor deserve. Adolescence—new birth Some psychologists have likened the adolescent development to a new birth, and this has the merit of assisting understanding. For the teenager is really entering a new life. In spite of his academic biology lessons, he has no experience of what it feels like to become an adult, any more than the embryo before birth has any experience of what it is like to develop into a foetus, then a baby, and then leaving the cosy environment of the uterus and entering a new world where he has to do his own breathing and learn a sense of balance. Would you put it too far from the mark to say that the teenager has to learn a new sense of balance? Mere technical explanation in biology class is not enough. Nor is more sexual instruction the answer. One could easily argue that since there is more sexual immorality today when there has already been more instruction and publicity, then more information will only add to the damage done. Underlying malaise The problem is bigger than this. So is the problem of drug taking. All these demoralizing excrescences on the public life are symptomatic of the underlying malaise and an evidence of moral bankruptcy. Lord Fisher of Lambeth has rightly pinpointed the lack of example and leadership. We used to look to the Church, the Law, the Government, and the common demands of the Community, but there is no example there. They only reflect the lowest common denomina- tor. Isolated peaks of individual righteousness stand out, but they are getting fewer. The priorities are all wrong, and some demon has been into the shop window and changed all the price tags. The late Dr. Sangster told the dramatic illustration from the sinking of the Titanic when hundreds rushed to the boats, a few clutching their diamonds, but one sane soul came leaving everything behind but bringing three oranges. In the overwhelming crisis the values had changed. It would seem that the best text to give the modern crowds demanding their rights, their extra pay, their shorter hours, their less onerous duties, their greater leisure, their bigger allowances would be: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." FOCUSING by WALTER RAYMOND BEACH SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY J ESUS Christ our Lord taught His followers to practise living a day at a time. This is what the Master had in mind when He said: "So do not be anxious about tomorrow; tomorrow will look after itself. Each day has troubles enough of its own." Matthew 6:34, N.E.B. Sir William Osier years ago wrote a little book called The Student Life. The famous British physician gave much good counsel to young people at the starting line of life. In one chapter he urged students to "undress their souls" as they undress their bodies each night before retiring to rest. What he had in mind was that mistakes and follies of the day were to be confessed and .set aside—in the past and done with. Certainly, wrongs were to be made right and the lessons of the past were to be learned thoroughly; but there was to be no brooding over a past which was completely out of reach and irredeemable. Sir William went on to advocate the shutting out of the future as tightly as the past. Thus the modern physician again joins Jesus Christ in the thought that we have strength only for the burdens of each day as it comes. To add future, sombre possibilities to present burdens is the height of folly. The Master taught three main lessons (and experience confirms them): 1. Most events about which people worry never happen. 2. The anticipation of events that are inevitable is more distressing than the actual experience itself. 3. Even if the event is serious, even more so than the anticipation of it, strength can be discovered to meet it. (Matthew 6:25-34.) In harmony with His teaching on the Palestinian hillside, Jesus promised Saul of Tarsus: "My grace is all you need; power comes to its full strength in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 N.E.B. 9 at4, Not 4P.“ 11'11P IF 14 IFJR A Pis 017: Home at last after years of captivity in a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp, I felt joy and relief, and genuine happiness. But a greater deliverance and a greater home-going are just ahead • by MARY S. OGLE M Y three years of internment by the Imperial Japanese Army on the island of Luzon, Philippine Islands, had seemed like a long, long time. Now in the first days of February, 1945, the five hundred American and British civilian internees quartered in Old Bilibid Prison, Manila, knew that the day for which they had waited and longed and prayed was near at hand. The very spirit of deliverance was in the air. Deliverance from P.O.W. camp Yes, more than the spirit—the actual forces of deliverance were literally in the air. We had seen them—American planes like great silver birds gliding in the bright sunshine high above fleecy white clouds! At first they were only silent messengers from the homeland as they reconnoitered at great height over the city of Manila. In a few days, however, they came lower; and we began to hear the ack-ack-ack of anti- aircraft guns. Forbidden by our guards to watch, we risked punishment and stood transfixed at the windows or on the balcony and thrilled at the sight of those silver birds gliding in and out among the circular puffs of white smoke that ascended from enemy ground emplacements. Then like a flash of lightning, one of those silver streaks would dart earthward, and the whine, the thud, and the explosion of a dropped bomb would silence another anti-aircraft nest. Gripped by a terrible fascination, we watched this life-and-death game of warfare. Then came Saturday evening, February 5th. A roar and a rumble of motors filled the air. Rushing to the second-floor windows, we looked across an expanse of some five hundred feet to Quezon Boulevard; there in the dusk of early evening we saw military men and equipment on the move. At first we thought it was the Japanese army, so slow of heart were we to believe. "That's the American army. That's the American jeep!" shouted one man who had been the last in camp to leave the shores of the United States. And 10 sure enough, it was! Tanks, trucks, jeeps, and cars with helmeted GI's all over them! Instantly we were no longer on the sidelines watching war—we were in the midst of it. "Downstairs, everybody! Get down on the floor. Stay below the window line!" ordered our American camp director and liaison officer. Like untrained hunting dogs scared at the sound of shotgun fire, we cowered below the windows and listened to a new sound of war—shelling at close range. At last that night of horror ended. The noise of battle moved a little farther away. Our liaison officer called us all together in the lobby of our building and read to us a proclamation that had been handed to him by our camp commandant before he fled the premises. The proclamation stated that we were "voluntarily released. by the Imperial Japanese Army," that we were now "free citizens." Released! Free! these were the words we had been waiting to hear for three years. We laughed and cried. We sang "The Star Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America." We hoisted the American flag that some of the women had made in secret and kept hidden for this very occasion. All that day we were on no-man's land, 'but by evening the American forces found us, and the next morning a contingent of GI's came to guard and police us. On Monday Manila began to burn. By nightfall the whole sky was red with flame. A brisk wind swept the wall of fire right toward Bilibid. About nine o'clock we were ordered to evacuate for the night. We were taken by army truck to General MacArthur—the man whose promise that he would return had kept hope alive in the hearts of Filipinos, prisoners of war, and civilian internees alike all those long, weary months— what a thrill to see him! What a cause for rejoicing! Against great odds he had indeed been able to fulfil his promise: "I shall return!" The Battle of Manila continued to rage around us; and although we had been freed from the grasp of the enemy; we were still not out of danger of his return assaults. We therefore had to remain confined behind stone walls. Not until April 10th did I sail for home on the troopship, E. W. Eberly. Four thousand soldiers, sailors, and civilians made it a floating city, a city of too many people for the avail- able space. Amid all the attendant miseries of that rough voyage, however, one little theme song kept playing round and round in my mind: "Homeward bound, homeward bound!" On May 5th we landed at San Pedro, California, and stepped off the gangway onto American soil. The band was playing, flags were waving, and Red Cross Gray Ladies were passing out milk and sand- wiches. The hero's welcome accorded to us civilians as well as to the service-men made us feel a little embarrassed. We hadn't done anything to deserve all this attention, but how we loved it! The Red Cross took us in buses to a distribution centre in Los Angeles, where we were helped to get in touch with our families or friends. We were given food and even money if we needed it. Every mission board had representatives there to receive and care for their returning mis- sionaries, and many business firms had someone there to look after their returning representatives from abroad. What a day to be remembered! What a delight to meet friends and loved ones! With the realization that we were out of danger, that we were home at last, came a sense of relief, of joy, of genuine happiness, such as I never expect to experience again until I stand on that heavenly shore, delivered from the hand of the enemy who would prevent my ever reaching that land were it not for the Great Deliverer. Another deliverance More sure than the word of General MacArthur is the promise made by Jesus Christ: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if •I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 114:11,3. Yes, Christ, the Prince of life, not only offers us deliverance from the power of our deadly foe, Satan, the prince of this world, but 'He is literally, bodily, coming back to this earth to deliver us from the land of the enemy and to take us home with Him. True, no man knows the day nor the hour of His coming, but He has not left us without signs whereby we may know when that day is near. As real as the sight of planes and the sound of dropping bombs are these evidences that the final conflict is near at hand: wars and rumours of war, nation rising against nation, false christs and false prophets, signs and wonders (Matthew 24); the cry of peace and safety that is to be followed by sudden destruction (I1( Thessalonians 5:3); many running to and fro and the increase of knowledge (Daniel 12:4); perilous times, men who are lovers of self, covetous, boasters, proud, blas- phemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy (12 Timothy 3:11-4). These are facts accurately foretold by seers of old and actually seen on every hand today. "Thiel in the night" The coming of the American forces into the city of Manila took us by surprise, though we were expecting them; even so, notwithstanding fulfilling signs on every hand, the coming of Jesus will be as unexpected as the coming of "a thief in the night." (See 2 Peter 3:10; II Thessalonians 5:2; Revelation 3:3.) Not with the stealth of a thief will He come, for something more than drifting silver streaks high in a bright tropical sky will herald the coming of our Deliverer. "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." Matthew 24:27. "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him." Revelation 1:7. "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." '1 Thessalonians 4:16. Which class ? How shall we, the captives of Satan, receive the conquering Christ? Shall we, like our camp com- mandant and guards at Bilibid, flee before Him? Some will, we know; for John the revelator has given us this picture: "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Revelation 6:14-17. 11 Or shall we be among that number who will gaze at this spectacular scene in the sky and exclaim in reverent awe: "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isaiah 25:9. Consider our happy experience if we are among this latter group; for now begins our transport to our heavenly home in company with our redeemed loved ones, who may have fallen asleep in Jesus. Paul gives this description: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with 'Him. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17. How unlike that voyage on a storm-tossed troop- ship that brought me to the shores of America in the spring of 1945 will be the space flight to the Holy City, the New Jerusalem! Long years ago the 'beloved disciple John was banished as a prisoner to the lonely island of Patmos; and there in panoramic view he was given a glimpse of this beautiful scene and glorious experience. He heard the voice of Jesus saying: "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be. . . . Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. . . . He which testifieth these things saith, Surely, I come quickly. Amen." Revelation 22:12-20. All who are longing for that day of deliverance add their fervent prayer to that of the beloved disciple: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Verse 20. * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * 11E1 MNInt by CHARLES D. UTT STRANGE FIRE Will you please explain Leviticus 10:1? What does "strange fire" mean? Is there a difference between fires? A.F.K. The verse reads as follows: "And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not." "Strange fire" is understood by most 13:111e com- mentators to mean fire kindled in the ordinary way by men in contrast to the fire of the altar of burnt offering, which the Lord sent to consume the sacrifice. (Leviticus 9:24; 2 Chronicles 7:1.) On the Day of Atone- ment coals from the altar were to be used for burn- ing the incense (Leviticus 16:12), and this was no doubt the rule to be followed on other occasions. That Nadab and Abihu knew and disregarded God's require- ment is clear from the last clause, "which He com- manded them not." Their disregard for God's instruc- tions is referred to later as a reminder of the serious consequences of failure to follow God's directions for the conduct of His services. (Numbers 3:4; 26:61.) REJECTED QUESTION: I am now eighteen and I have been in various institutions since I was eleven. I was in an orphanage for one year and spent four years in a reform school, and now I am in a mental institution for emotional disturbance. Next month I am to be released, but I am afraid of being rejected in the outside world because of my record. Because of it I feel rejected even by my church friends, especially the young people. ANSWER: You have indeed had some very un- fortunate experiences which might well cause you to face the future with hesitancy. However, your scholastic success ought to be a real encouragement to you and should restore some of your confidence. Be prepared for the fact that if some have rejected you already, they will undoubtedly do so when you are released. Sometimes even church people can be thoughtlessly cruel. However, their attitude toward you might merely be tentative as they try to ascertain what you really are like. You can break down their distrust by being interested in them and treating them with kindness and sympathetic consideration. Since anyone who offers understanding and genuine concern is always appreciated, you may be surprised at how quickly they will accept you. Do not spend any time feeling humiliated about the past, but remember the Bible maxim: "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly." Proverbs 18:24. DIAL - A - PRAYER Phone : Birmingham (ViCtoria 5754); Bolton (Lance.) 24111; Cardiff 40811; Dundee 40333; Newport (Mon.) 73051. A community service by telephone by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The two-minute message and prayer are changed daily. 12 71 The only hope for the world is wrapped up in this promise of Christ. It is a promise that will unconditionally be fulfilled—and, according to the prophetic indications, in the very near future T HE story is told of an old man who lived in a dilapidated shack, with no one as a companion except an aged dog named Shep. One day the man fell down the front steps of his humble quarters and severely injured himself. Shep hastened to the door of the neighbours and barked until their attention was attracted to him, and he led them to the scene of the accident. The ambulance was called immediately, and the suffering man was rushed to the hospital, but not without the faithful Shep. While it was against the rules for a dog to ride in an ambulance, the driver could hardly refuse the determination of the animal to remain close to his master. When they arrived at the hospital, the attendants quickly wheeled the patient to the lift, and Shep was right at their heels. Of course, dogs were not supposed to enter the hospital, but again it was hard to restrain the anxious Shep. When the lift door opened, and he started to follow his master into it, the nurses had to hold him back. They could not permit him to go up to the operating room. The old man, who was still conscious, turned toward his dog, and said: "You wait here, Shep; I'll be back." The patient was whisked to surgery, where it was soon apparent that he had been mortally injured. He died within the day. Shep remained at the lift entrance in the main lobby; and every time the door opened he arose expectantly, looking for his master. This went on for days. The nurses were not able to persuade him to give up his vigil. They became fond of him, and fed and cared for him. A bed was prepared for him close to the lift door; and at all hours of the night and day he would rise in anticipation every time the door was opened. This went on for weeks, until one day, when Shep was hurrying across the street in front of the hospital to get back to his waiting place by the lift, he was struck down by a car. The promise made by this master to his dog that he would come back was the promise of a man. Such promises are broken many times. But the assurance of our Saviour, "I will come again," is dependable. He always keeps His promises, and He is able to do so. "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?" Numbers 23:119. The promise that Christ will come again is given many times in the (260 chapters of the New Testament. The Bible teaches that "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." 11 Thessalonians 5:2. Some have interpreted this to mean that His coming will be in secret. The true thought is that to the world at large He will come unexpectedly, for many will be unprepared to meet Him. (Luke (17:26-30; 21:34- 36.) But the true Christian will not be caught in this condition, for he will be waiting and watching in great expectation. "But ye, brethren, are not in dark- ness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thessalonians 5:4. There is to be nothing secret about the second advent of our Lord. It will be the most impressive sight ever to meet men's eyes. The Master Himself has said that "then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matthew 24:30. Even the wicked inhabitants of the earth who shall witness this awe-inspiring scene will be terrified by it, for the prophet saw in vision that "the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond- man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from 13 the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Revelation 6:1.517. In the midst of such confusion, and as the earth is rocked by a mighty earthquake at the presence of the Lord, the saints of God will lift their faces to behold the glory of the coming Redeemer. All about them will be the impenitent who have rejected Christianity, whose cries of despair will pierce the air as they seek a place to hide from, the presence of the Lord. The children of God will joyously cry: "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isaiah 25:9. The second coming of Christ is sure. The Bible says: "His going forth is certain as the dawn." Hosea 6:5, Arabic. His coming is as certain as the fact that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. His coming is the only real hope for this distraught world. There can be no lasting peace or prosperity until the Prince of peace returns. In which group will you be when this greatest world event occurs? To every individual without exception God extends His offer of mercy, for His invitation is: "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Revelation 32:117. COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Cover : Jane J. Miller ; Barnaby's Picture Library, pages 26, 27, 31 ; Studio Lisa, pages 5, 6, 8, 13; Church Information Office,age 15 ; E. W. Ware, page 17; Keystone, page 18 (left and right; Three Lions page 29; Lensart, page 2. * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * LAW & LOVE THOU SHALT LOVE by J. A. McMILLAN T HE qualities of love and law are the foundation attributes of the eternal Godhead. And if man is to be rescued from the jungle of selfishness, greed, and hatred which lead ultimately to self- destruction, he must yield to the claims of love and law. Only in this way can the divine image, marred by sin, be restored in man's mind and heart. The first and basic principle in this restoration is, therefore, that we shall love God supremely. This is couched in the negative form in the First Command- ment: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Exodus 20:3. This is the bed-rock of all morality and religion. That is why this foundation truth is so frequently stressed throughout the holy Scriptures. That is why almost the entire history of Israel and God's dealings with His people, from their sojourn in Egypt to John the Baptist's preaching, centres around this theme. Is sincerity sufficient ? In our day an age-old heresy has been revived— that it does not matter what you believe so long as you are sincere. That it does not matter whom, when, where or what you worship, so long as you live a decent life. This reasoning means that belief is not important, and truth is immaterial and irrelevant to life. But loose opinions inevitably lead to loose practices. The' reason why God commanded the Israelites to wage relentless war against the seven nations in Canaan is clearly stated: "For they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods." Deuteronomy 7:4. Was this selfish on God's part? Or was it for Israel's benefit? The reason is given: "Because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He sware unto your fathers, bath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen. . . . Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations." Deuteronomy 7:8, 9. Religion's pure beginning The subsequent history of Israel is replete with the struggle, generation after generation, between the worship and service of the living God, and the subtle and sensual worship of the gods of the Canaanites and the Babylonians. Some scholars have advanced the theory that the Jews obtained their ideas of God from the Egyptians or Canaanites. But as Dr. Langdon of Oxford wrote: "There is no possible influence of primitive totemism. Early Canaanitish and Hebrew religions are far beyond totemism (if it ever existed among them) in the period when any definite information can be obtained about them. . . . All Semitic tribes appear to have started with a single tribal deity whom they regarded as the Divine Creator of His people."—Semitic Mythology, page ill. He later advanced the thought: "In my opinion, the history of the oldest religion of man is a rapid decline from monotheism to extreme polytheism and wide- spread belief in evil spirits. It is in a very true sense the history of the fall of man."—Pennsylvania Field Museum Leaflet, 28. Making God in man's image 'Polytheism, the worship of "Gods many and lords many," is the story of man making gods in his 14 RSONA SATISFACTION, AN ABID- SENSE OF FULFILMENT, AND As LTHY, PROGRESSIVE SOCLETY — ALL NATURALLY FOLLOW 'PROM PUTTING GOD FIRST IN OUR THINKING AND AFFECTIONS own image. "Howbeit every nation made gods of their own." Q. Kings 17:29. These gods possessed all the passions, prejudices, and vices of those who made them. To Israel alone, through the writings of the Holy Scriptures, belongs the unique privilege of preserving the knowledge of a "God with a conscience." As the Lord Himself declared: "I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy." It was to hand down this divine revelation that Israel was delivered from bondage and preserved through the ages. "For I am the Lord that 'bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." Leviticus 11:44, 45. So long as Israel walked in the ways of God, and kept herself free from the abominations and evil practices of the nations around her, she was able to enjoy a wholesome nationhood, and a pure religion. But, from time to time, apostasy and backsliding invaded Israeli and the worship of other gods bore sway, with the inevitable corruption of morals and decay of national independence. Law and order broke down, the security of the realm was in hazard, and peace of heart and hearth disappeared. In captivity "they feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations who carried them away from thence." 2 Kings 17:33. This was not only true of the Samaritans, but unfortunately, also of the Israelites themselves who worshipped Baal and other deities. So it came to pass that when Israel was "without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law, . . . in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the in- habitants of the countries." 2 Chronicles 15:3-6. Such indeed becomes the plight of the nation or the individual who deprives himself of the counsel of the true God. When we reject the principles that emanate from the Creator of the universe, we cut ourselves off from the streams of •blessing that God has provided; we divorce ourselves from all the positive influences that make for prosperity and peace, and we expose ourselves to those malign and destructive GOD SUPREMELY forces that are alien to the character of the living God. As a penetrating thinker has written: "No mis- fortune is so great as to become the worshipper of a false God. No man is in such miserable darkness as he who has lost his way to heaven. It seems that an infatuation is upon him; for he has a false god." Did not the Hebrew prophet ask the question: "Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?" Jeremiah 16:20. History demonstrates that no nation, and few individuals have lived long without a god of some kind. When men turn away from the living God, they invent gods "unto themselves." When Christopher Wren was constructing St. Paul's, he was asked: "What kind of memorial will you have?" He waved his arm around at the cathedral and said: "Here is my memorial." So "all that may be known of God by men lies plain before their eyes; indeed God Himself has disclosed it to them. His invisible attributes, that is to say, His everlasting power and deity, have been visible, ever since the world began, to the eye of reason, in the things He has made. There is therefore no possible defence for their conduct: knowing God, they have refused to honour Him as God, or to render Him thanks." Romans 1:19-21, N.E.B. The eye of reason is blinded by false reasoning and wrong philosophy. And perverse thinking leads to a denial of God. To deny the creative power of God is to set up a false god. Creative power is the outstanding sign of the true and living 'God, according to the Scriptures: "For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens." Again and again, this claim is made: "The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth," are contrasted with "the true God, He is the living God," who "made the earth by His power, He bath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens 'by His discretion." Psalm 916:15; 100:31; Jeremiah 10:7-12. The non-creative "gods" were to "perish from the earth," and indeed, the gods of the Egyptians, the Canaanites, the Babylonians, the Greeks and the Romans, have perished. Their memories are kept in mind in our museums. God's nearness The story is told of an avowed atheist who lay dying. In his room was a framed scroll, bearing the words: "GOD IS NOWHERE." He asked his little daughter to read this to him for the last time. Halt- ingly she began to spell out the words "G-O-D I-S N-O-W H-E-R-E." The misplacing of one single letter made all the difference 'between faith and un- belief. The 'Spirit of God is still operating in the hearts of men. No one can travel that far as to be out of reach. No matter how much we may try to stifle the voice of conscience "thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it." Isaiah 30:21. Our angry clamours, the fretfulness of our feverish desires, the disquiet of our unholy or unfulfilled ambitions, may silence this voice for a time, but in the stillness of a meditative moment, God speaks: "Be still, and know that I am God." When the wind has ceased, the fire abated, and the earthquake subsided', the still, small voice brings conviction. ('Psalm 46:10; '1 Kings 19:11-13.) Jesus invites us to try this experiment. "Go into a room by yourself, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is there in the secret place; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." Matthew 6:6, N.E.B. Self-preservation, we are told, is the first law of life. But self-worship, is the first law of idolatry. This is the inevitable step taken by man when he turns away from making God supreme in his life. "They boast of their wisdom, but they have made fools of themselves, exchanging the splendour of immortal God for an image shaped like mortal man." Romans 1:22, 23, N.E.B. It is an undeniable fact that when men turn from the worship of the living God, they debase themselves. For the worship of self, which invariably takes the place of the worship of God, is both degrading and destructive. Once remove the fear of God from the human heart, and there is no hindrance to the down- ward progress of the soul. Living on diminishing capital When we starve the body, malnutrition follows. When we starve the soul the well-being of man is diminished. The humanist, the materialist, the atheist, may live graciously for a while on the capital of Christian culture, but eventual spiritual poverty will overtake them. "Thus, because they have not seen fit to acknowledge God, He has given them up to their own depraved reason. This leads them to break all rules of conduct. They are filled with every kind of injustice, mischief, rapacity, and malice; they are one mass of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and malevolence"; and the further list of social evils is all too evident in our modern cities. (Romans 1:28-31, N.E.B.) God's call to give Him supreme and first place in our hearts, is designed for our good. It provides health to the body and wholesome balance to the mind. Just as an engineer designs a machine to work with efficiency when the proper oils and fuels are used, so God made man in His own image to function sweetly when he acknowledges his Maker. This is what Augustine meant when he said that God created us for Himself and we shall never be at peace until we make our peace with Him. Give God homage The Lord's command to every man and woman is: "Fear God and pay Him homage." Revelation 14:7, N.E.B. Obedience to this is the way for man to reach fulfilment. Such is the Bible's fundamental claim. By coming into communion with the Supreme Power and Personality of the universe, man is uplifted and ennobled. Thereby Life takes on meaning and purpose. In such communion, His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are 'His children. And the assurance is ours: "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another." Romans 8:116: 1 John 1:7. Only in the fellowship of the divine Spirit can we be freed from the slavery of self-idolatry and so enter "upon the liberty and splendour of the children of God." Romans 8:21, N.E.B. The purpose of the 'first commandment is plain. When God is given His rightful place in our hearts and minds, a richer, fuller, and more abundant life is ours. The love of God pervades our lives by His Spirit, and we are enabled to love Him with all the heart, with all the mind, with all the soul, and with all the strength—and this is the very soul of the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40.) 16 Interesting records of faraway places "Desert Island Discs" God's ancient prophet declared: "The Isles shall wait for Thy Law." The islands of the world confirm the truth of this picture. Furthermore, they give strong support to the Genesis record of the terrifying upheaval which brought the so-called geological age to a close • by JOHN R. LEWIS R OY PLUMLEY should find plenty of islands for his castaways, for there are thousands of mini- islands from the Andamans to Zanzibar, from Acklin to Zealand, surf-washed by the waves of the world's oceans. They are not desert islands, however. They are inhabited, and their peoples preserve strange records and experiences for us. The stories of the nations in OUR TIMES would not be complete without a look at the islands of the world. We start at home with. England's island which houses fifty million people in a climate of gloom, damp, fog, bronchitis, and rheumatism; yet for £11511 166., one can fly "Qantas" from London airport any day at noon, and touch down in Honolulu before midnight (local time), there to enjoy amethyst seas, lush green foliage, hibiscus, motionless lagoons, dazzling white beaches, and a climate of eternal summer. The world's islands have a thousand tales which could be told—tales that are bizarre, horrifying, entrancing, uplifting. Accepting the definition that islands are land masses surrounded by sea, we do in fact, thereby make islands of both the Old and New worlds, of Australia, and of Greenland. People learn with surprise that Antarctica is an island. It rises a formidable six thousand feet into a freezing atmosphere of 70°, and its eight million square miles are covered with a vast, 'blizzard-swept ice sheet fifteen hundred feet thick. Its fiery, 1a,000 feet volcano, Mount Erebus, does not unfreeze it. By contrast there are the sunny Bahamas, seven hundred of them, where grows the silk-cotton tree which gives us kapok; Jamaica with its waterfalls and lovely foliage is an island paradise; Trinidad has a unique lake of pitch which provides an unlimited supply of natural asphalt to the world; Martinique with its terrible record of having destroyed 40,000 inhabitants in one day when its volcano Mt. Pelee erupted in 1902. Who has not heard of the Andamans, in Bengal Bay where the most primitive savages were cannibals, repulsive in feature, and who were merciless to ship- wrecked seamen. Widows in these islands wore the bony skulls of their late husbands round their necks. Or Ceylon, with its famous Adam's Peak, 7,352 feet, and its five-and-a-half-feet foot-print which Buddhists declare was made by Adam when he left Paradise. continued on page 23 17 0 NE of the most exciting and momentous phenom- ena of our time is the ecumenical [world-wide] movement of Christians seeking unity. Local churches of different denominations are worshipping together in common services. Denominations are merging. Inter-church councils are numerous. "Dialogue" between different religious persuasions is common. Theologians are emphasizing "that which unites us" rather than "that which divides us." Ecumenical books and magazines are rolling off the presses in ever greater numbers. Most significant, perhaps, is the fact that the three great divisions of Christianity—Protestantism, Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy—are making overtures toward one another. The goal of this ecumenical movement is the eventual reunion of all "separated brethren" into one fellowship, the healing of the "fragmented" Christian body, the final restoration of all Christians—Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox—into one organic whole, one Christian Church on earth. But in order to make this enormous dream come true, the great split created by the Reformation must be closed. Realizing this, both Protestant and Catholic churchmen are stretching their arms toward each other across the chasm created by the Reformation. Until recently, it seemed that the Protestants were doing most of the stretching. But Vatican II has changed all that. At that council the Catholic hier- archy, led by Pope Paul VI, let the world know that the Church of Rome is both willing and eager to reunite with Protestants, indeed with all Christians everywhere. At that time Rome made, and is still making, specific overtures toward Protestants—proof A CATHOLIC PROPOSAL AND A PROTESTANT REPLY by M. G. PHILLIPS SHOULD PROTESTANTS UNITE WITH ROME? 18 that she has entered into the spirit of ecumenism with vigour. The ecumenical wing of Protestantism has openly welcomed this Catholic approach, but other Protestants have viewed it with suspicion. Some Protestants seem ready and willing to sign the contract without reading the fine print. Others refuse even to read the contract. But fair-minded Protestants should be willing first to read the contract, including the fine print, and then to decide whether or not to sign. Rome asks forgiveness Rome frankly admits her share in the guilt of the Reformation schism. This is not idle talk from over-anxious laymen. It comes from the top. In a speech to the Vatican II Council fathers, the arch- bishop of Caracas, J. Humberto Cardinal Quintero, said: "We [the Roman Catholic hierarchy] were by no means completely free of blame for these separations. Thus, to give only one example, we must admit that in the sad events of the sixteenth-century Reformation, a large share of the blame for this split in the Christian Church must fall on the lives of many prelates, disgracefully lacking in perfection and Christian virtues, men who were not ashamed to combine their love of renaissance literature with a pagan way of life."' The critical Protestant will immediately react, asking how this plain statement can be reconciled with the equally plain dogma that the Roman Cath- olic Church does not and cannot err nor commit sin. But this query can be easily answered: The Church of Rome does not admit error or sin in doctrine, but men within the Church, even bishops and popes, can fall into error and sin. As the eminent Augustine Cardinal Bea pointed out in a 1962 Paris speech, the question of sin and error was "not a question of the Church as a whole but of certain members of the Church—of men who in past centuries such as the 11th and 16th—guided or governed the Church, whether a part or the whole of it." According to the Catholic view, the Church of Rome never fell into error or sin, but certain men within the Church did. And it is for these men—not for the Church—that Rome now asks forgiveness. Rome does not label living Protestants "apostates." The children are not charged with the sin of their fathers. Vatican II decreed: "One cannot impute the sin of separation to those who at present are born into these (separated) Com- munities and are instilled therein with Christ's faith. The Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers."' Nor does she hold that they are beyond the pale of salvation. "Separated Churches and Communities," the fathers decreed, "though we believe they suffer from defects already mentioned, have by no means been deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation." Critical Protestants will ask how this declaration can be reconciled with the dogma that there is no salvation outside the Roman Catholic Church. Again the answer is simple: Protestants, though members of "separated Churches," are by virtue of being baptized Christians accounted as members of the "invisible" Roman Catholic Church, which is united, although imperfectly, with the "visible" Roman Catholic Church. Vatican II declared: "Men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are brought into a certain though imperfect communion with the Cath- olic Church."' Catholics who have been baptized by a priest are members of the "visible" Church. Non-Catholics who have been properly baptized are members of the "invisible" Church. And this is no new notion. As far back as the Council of Trent (1545-63), which met to counter the Reformation forces, Rome pronounced an anathema, a curse, on anyone who "says that the baptism, which is given by heretics in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the Church does, is not true baptism." Furthermore, Vatican II declared that the separated brethren "carry out many of the sacred actions of the Christian religion," that "these actions can truly engender a life of grace," and that they are "capable of providing access to the community of salvation." Rome claims acceptance of the Reformation principles In his book The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism Father Louis Bouyer, a former Lutheran minister, develops the thesis that the "positive" principles of the Reformation—such as salvation by grace alone, glorification of God alone, justification by faith alone, and the sovereign authority of Scripture—are accept- able to Catholics. These principles are not only acceptable, Bouyer argues, but they belong to the Church of Rome and were affirmed by the Church of Rome both before and after Martin Luther stood before Emperor Charles V and said, "I cannot and I will not recant!" Then, after making these points, Bouyer accuses Protestants of distorting and defiling these "Catholic" Reformation principles and severely criticizes them for doing so. Bouyer is supported in this by Father Gustave Weigel, professor of ecclesiology at Woodstock College, who writes in his book Catholic Theology in Dialogue, "Sola Fides [faith alone], cola scriptura [Scripture alone], are phrases which the Catholic is willing to accept, if they are understood in the light of Catholic principles."—page 81. Bouyer is also supported by Father George H. Tavard, chairman of theology at Mount Mercy College, who favourably quotes Lutheran Hans Asmussen in Two Centuries of Ecumenism, page 175: "Christ alone means Christ and the Church; by grace alone means God and the saints." Bouyer is here in agreement with liberal Catholic theologian Hans Kiing, dean of the Catholic theological faculty at Tubingen in heavily Lutheran Germany, who argues in The Council Reform and Reunion, pages 79, 80, that Martin Luther "took certain perfectly Catholic principles and in some cases formulated them so as to give the maximum risk of misunderstanding, disunity and sheer contradiction, and in others asserted them with a one-sided stress, which was not only polem- ical but actually heretical." Kung contends that the only "actual" reason Luther was rejected by his Church was his "personal, subjective" interpretation of Scripture, which he set in principle above the Roman Catholic Church and her traditions. This rejection of Luther's "perfectly Catholic principles" was, Kiing believes, due to the spiritual and theological incompetence of the men in Rome 19 and Luther's own incapability of "grasping the true form of Catholicism behind its deformity." Unrepudiated dogmas But however much Catholic theologians wish to interpret Martin Luther, one fact remains inescapably clear: Since the days of the Reformation Roman Catholic dogma has never been changed, never been hidden, never been repudiated. The very same Cath- olic doctrines rejected by Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and a host of other Reformers are still fully endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church today. Many abuses (and the Reformers faithfully battled abuses) have disappeared or undergone alteration, but the same dogmas still exist in force. Not one has ever been changed or revoked. Vatican II in its official Constitution on the Church [De Ecclesia], reaffirmed them all: There is still no salvation outside the Roman Catholic Church. The pope is still perpetual and infallible. He still retains "full, supreme and universal power over the Church. And he is always free to exercise this power." Mary, being "free from all guilt of original sin," was in no need of the sacrifice of Christ. Finally, as though to eliminate any possible fuzz- iness of thought concerning Rome's ecumenical position, Cardinal Bea makes the matter very. clear: "The decrees drawn up by the Council of Trent show clearly that the Church was in need of reform in the practical domain of customs and morals. But on the dogmatic or doctrinal level, she was always guided by the Holy Spirit and was never led astray; she could not be.' Catholic theologians may say, then, that Rome accepts the principles of the Reformation. But it must be well understood that she accepts these prin- ciples only as she interprets them, certainly nos as the Reformers interpreted them. For Roman Catholics the decrees of the Council of Trent are as authoritative today as they were in the days of Martin Luther. Rome's view on unity As previously seen, in the Catholic view there is a type of unity already in existence between the Church of Rome and Protestants. Vatican II realized that this unity was "imperfect" and stated that differences in doctrine and discipline still create "serious obstacles to full ecclesiastical communion." However, as the father pointed out, "the ecumenical movement is striving to overcome . . . [these obstacles]." But how? Can there be a "Noah's Ark" Church where every species of belief is represented? Can there be a theological synthesis, a general consensus, with everybody giving in a little? Can all established doc- trines be temporarily suspended in an unconditional return to the sources of faith to build anew the structure of Christian doctrine? Rome says No. In her view unity implies authority. "There can be no true religious unity without the Church, and there can be no true Church without the papacy," said Giovanni Cardinal Montini before he ever knew he was to become Pope Paul VI. (See The Mind of Paul VI, page 73.) Rome offers terms of reunion with Protestants Can Protestants find here at last a basis for unity? Can they recognize the pope as "the natural head" of the great united Christian Church without accepting him as infallible and obeying him as such? Can he become the symbol of a nominal unity? Again Rome says No. "True religious unity is to be achieved not by the external federation of Churches while each retains its own doctrinal creed, but by the separated Churches returning to the fold of the Mother Church and embracing again the faith of their fathers.' So writes Father John A. O'Brien, research professor of theology at Notre Dame Uni- versity, in his book The Faith of Millions. And Tavard holds that "only a return to the Catholicism of the Fathers of the Church will make Christian reunion possible." But Weigel is, perhaps, the most explicit. "The historical fact," he says in A Catholic Primer on the Ecumenical Movement, page 58, "is that every living non-Catholic Christian community broke away from the Catholic Church." If this is true, then why not simply graft the Protestants back onto the Catholic tree? As it turns out, this is exactly what Weigel has in mind. "For ecumenical work," he says in An American Dialogue, page 220, "the Catholic can follow only one tactic. He must ask the Protestant to be converted to Catholicism. He has absolutely no other choice." But ecumenical Protestants have not been bargain- ing on conversion. That alternative has been open all along. "Dialogue" and "compromise" have been the watchwords of the ecumenical movement. Conversion would mean a return to a Roman Catholic Church, which has changed none of its dogmas. Yet Weigel sticks to his point: "As I see it, the only way to this consummation so devoutly to be wished is conversion. Compromise will never do. Nor will some rarefied theory of the comprehension of opposites produce what we are looking for. This is the fearsome conclusion I always reach, no matter how I try to look for another." Weigel is forced to this conclusion because "the Catholic principle" does not allow for any dogmatic change. However, as he sees it, Protestants are not faced with this problem. Because of the essential freedom in "the Protestant principle," Protestants can "without violence to logic entertain the notion of becoming a Catholic." It means, he concedes, abandon- ing "the Protestant principle. But," he says, "strangely enough, the principle itself permits this.' In A Catholic Primer on the Ecumenical Movement, page 66, Weigel compares the Protestants to a piece of Christ's seamless robe torn off by Martin Luther and other Reformers. He appreciates the Protestants' will- ingness to re-evaluate the Reformation but insists that Catholics cannot accept the Protestant proposal that "the Catholic Church was just as wrong as the Reformers." Instead Catholics must insist that their Church was "substantially right, and therefore any endeavour toward reunion will be a return to her un- reconstructed, unreformed unity." Pope Paul stated at Vatican II that recent ecu- menical movements clearly show that the "mystic and visible union cannot be attained except in ident;ty of faith, and by participation in the same sacraments and in the organic harmony of a single ecclesiastical direction." "Identity of faith" means that all Protestants must accept all Roman dogmas. And "organic harm- ony of a single ecclesiastical direction" mean that all 20 Protestants must obey the Pope without reservation. Cardinal Bea pointed out: "We would bring to the idea of unity a mis- guided kind of love if we sought to give non-Catholics any hope that recognition of 'fundamental dogmas' is all that will be demanded of them ... or that they need not accept the decrees of the Council of Trent. Nor are we ready to re-examine the Primacy or the Infallibility of the Pope.' "We can only say that the fear of rendering obe- dience to an arbitrary and tyrannical power is quite groundless. Obedience certainly implies humility, loyalty, patience, and sacrifice. But it is not unreason- able if it is the will of Christ."' It cannot be said, then, that Rome has offered any ambiguous formula for reunion. While ecumenical Protestants shift from proposal to proposal, seemingly preferring unity to truth, the Church of Rome has calmly and politely, but resolutely, offered one un- changing formula. And by its very permanence that formula looms bigger and bigger in Protestant eyes every day. Stripped of its ecumenical verbage, that formula can be summed up in one word. And that word, softly spoken, is "Return." A Protestant answer We have seen that Rome 'presents a friendly face and oustretched arms toward Protestants. She feels bad about the hostilities expressed on both sides of the Reformation schism. She asks forgiveness. She seeks to heal the schism. We have seen that she does not charge living Pro- testants with the sin of actively breaking away from her. Instead she believes that Protestants are already united with her in an imperfect communion through baptism and as such participate with her in the "my- stery of salvation." And she longs to bring that im- perfect communion into perfect unity. We have seen that she even accepts the principles of the Reformation, but only as she interprets them. She does not ask that Protestants abandon the Re- formation, only accept her interpretation of its prin- ciples. Finally we have seen the terms she offers. Pro- testants must return completely and unreservedly to her fold. They must accept every Roman Catholic dogma in its entirety, including the infallibility of the Pope. And they must give him their humble, loyal, patient, and sacrificial obedience. Reunion on terms like these, we answer, means nothing less than unconditional submission to Rome's claim to absolute authority, an authority which as- sumes superiority over Scripture and claims the sole right to interpret it. It means surrendering the right to judge Scrip- tural truth for oneself under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It means accepting whatever Rome says— regardless of what she says—without question. It means there can be no standard, no norm, no criterion, no pattern, no direction—nothing by which Rome might be judged. It means there can be no basis whatever for determining whether Rome is right or wrong, whether she is following the Lord's direction or going in her own way. For Protestants who have lost their faith in the final authority of Scripture, this might come as good news. For Protestants who have given up the auth- continued on page 25 IS THERE ONE TRUE CHURCH? What is the Church? "If I am detained, you may know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God." 1 Timothy 3:15, Amplified Bible. Note: The living God has a Church which the Bible says is His household. It is composed of people. They belong to God, and He calls them His child- ren. They call Him "Our Father." It is a spiritual household. Who is the Head of this Spiritual house, or Church? "Christ is the head of the Church." Ephesians 5:23. How long has God had a Church on earth? "This is He, that was in the Church in the wilder- ness with the Angel which spake unto him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers." Acts 7:38. Note: Stephen spoke these words just before his martyrdom, and declared that the Church existed from Israel's Exodus. Was Christ with His Church in Old Testament times? "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear. This is He." "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." Acts 7:37, 38, 56. Note: Christ was with His Church in Moses' day, and Moses foretold His appearance as the God-man to a Church in a less later time. Stephen saw in his dying hour the Head of the Church, Christ, risen and ascended to the throne of God in heaven. How was the history of the Church foretold by John the revelator? "I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." Revelation 1:12, 13, 20. Note: In vision the prophet saw the future of the Christian Church portrayed under the symbolism of seven churches, with Christ in their midst. Seven is a complete number and represents the whole. The seven churches depicted cover the history of the Church from Christ's ascension to His second advent. Christ is with His Church in every age. What commission was given to the Church by Christ, its Head? "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 2a them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19, 20. On what is the Church built? "Upon this Rock I will build My Church." Matthew 16:18. Note: The apostle Peter later defined this Rock: "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, pre- cious. . . . The same is made the head." 1 Peter 2:6, 7. Jesus Christ is that "Stone cut out without hands." Daniel 2:45. "The Lord is my Rock." 2 Samuel 22:2. The Church is built on Jesus Christ, the mighty Rock. Can there be any other foundation for God's Church? "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 3:11. What is God's purpose in founding His Church on Christ, the Rock? "The Church of the living God, the pillar and stay— the prop and support—of the Truth." 1 Timothy 3:15, Amplified Bible. Note: Christ, the living Word, designs that His Church shall be the defender of the Word, for "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4. What living words did God deliver to His ancient Church? "Unto them were committed the oracles of God." Romans 3:2. "You who received the Law as it was ordained and set in order and delivered by angels." Acts 7:53, Amplified Bible. Note: The Eternal God committed to His Church the living words of 'His holy Law. Moses described this commission: "He flashed forth, . . . a flaming fire, a law, at His right hand." Deuteronomy 33:2, Ampli- fied Bible. How did the death of Christ demonstrate His love far His Church? "Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might pre- sent it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Ephesians 5:25-27. Note: Christ died to make possible the creation of a Church that would be purified by the Word of God. In obeying the truth the Church would be cleansed. We cannot separate the saving blood of Christ from the purifying power of the Word. Peter says: "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit . � ." 1 Peter 1:22. Will God's true Church become noted for adherence to Bible truth? "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12. Note: To the end of time God will have a holy people who remember that He committed to His true Church the living oracles, His changeless law. They honour His holy law and in simple trust hold firmly to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Obedience is the surest test of faith. With whom will all members of the true Church asso- ciate in eternity? "Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant." Hebrews 12:22-24. Note: Everlasting life for everyone enrolled in God's true Church written in heaven's records! Such is the reward of the saints— those whose lives have been purified by the washing of the Word, made white by the blood of the Lamb, the Living Word. They have been made perfect through obedience to the Word and will for ever live with the Head of the Church—the pure spotless bride of the Lamb, who by His Spirit wrote His law in their hearts and minds and redeemed them to Himself. * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * by CECIL SPENCER S LOW me down, Lord, that I may be able to relax and see Thy wondrous creation. Slow me down, Lord, that I may notice the shape of a leaf, the perfect symmetry of a rose, the texture of its petals, and its distinctive smell. Slow down my hurrying footsteps, Lord, that I may pause to hear the whisper of the crystal clear waters of a stream. Slow me down, Lord, that I may appreciate how green the grass really is and how soft it feels to walk upon, how beautiful are the birds with their varied plumage and song, a sight to gladden the eye and a sound to uplift the heart. Slow us all down, Lord, that we may find time to ponder good things and know that in Thy perfect love, Thou bast given them to us that we may find tranquillity of mind in con- templating both them and Thee. Amen. 22 23 "DESERT ISLAND DISCS" continued from page 17 Here is the famous Dagon Pagoda, gilded every year at a cost of £30,000, where are preserved eight hairs of the Buddha. There is Bikini Atol where the first underwater atomic explosion occurred. And Pitcairn where two hundred Sabbath-keeping Chris- tians have come from a group of mutineers. And Haiti with its frightening tales of Voodoo. Were Conference delegates at Blackpool to witness the appearance of an island from the sea overnight, they would have something to talk about. Why then take the presence of far-away islands for granted? Why are they there? Whence came they? What titanic forces projected them? Appalling land subsidences Geologists call some islands continental relics. The holiday-maker to the Isle of Wight who sea-trips around the chalk white "Needles" will observe that the land mass of this island lies on its side, the rock layers do not lie horizontally as might be expected, but they rise on their edges from the sea. It is believed that the island was once part of the mainland. Arran, Isle of Man, too, were part of the English mainland. England likewise, in turn, was joined to the continent. What appalling subsidences of land and sea-beds effected these changes in contour and surface! Between the mountains of Guatemala and Caracas, the pattern of the chain of islands '[Cuba to Trinidad•] which encircles the Carri•bean Sea, suggests an even greater subsidence of land and ocean beds. The great chain of islands between the Malayan Peninsula and Australia [Sumatra, Java, Sumba, Timor, and New Guinea] presents a similar pattern of geological formation suggestive of mighty upheavals and inundations. There is a necklace of Aleutian Islands encircling the Bering Sea; and a Japanese string of islands encircling the Sea of Okhotsk; and in many other places there are these continental relics. The imagination boggles at the spectacle of such terrestrial upheavals, such inrushing and turbulence of displaced seas, such gigantic disappearances of land masses in eddying waves, such sinking and tilting and folding of land on a world scale. It staggers the mind. How did it happen? Result of the Flood of Noah's day While it is admitted that there were gradual subsidences here and there, there are many scientists who believe that these large-scale catastrophes are linked with, and explained by, the Bible narrative of the great Flood of Noah's day which tells us that "the fountains of the great deep were broken up." Genesis 7:H. We should remember that the Bible Flood involved more than a heavy downpour of rain. It involved great physical changes in land structure, in atmospheric conditions, and sea boundaries. The existence of so many islands in their watery envelopes bids us re-examine this narrative of the Deluge. Other islands have a volcanic origin. Like lovely tropical Tahiti. Excepting a five mile tail, the island is circular, only twenty miles between its beaches. A coastal border surrounds the central volcanic cones, one of which rises eight thousand feet. The rugged interior is wholly impenetrable. On the coastal strip, "you will find enchanting scenery, a balmy climate matched by a relaxed and charming people whose charm is legendary. Tropical diseases are unknown." Fiji is the chief of a three hundred island group. These islands are spiked with soaring mountains, mostly volcanic. Hawaii, home of lovely girls and flower chains, is little larger than the Isle of Man, but it boasts the largest active volcano in the world—Mount Kilauea, 13,675 feet high. The crater, eight miles in circum- ference boasts a lake of glowing molten lava which ebbs and flows like the tide. There is an up-to-date car park just fifty feet from its edge, which allows motorists to park their cars and look down into the furnace—a sheer drop of eight hundred feet. Didicas in the Philippines rose smoking from the sea in 1952, and in four months had reached a height of eight hundred feet, and covered six hundred acres. Java has an active volcano, Mount Bromo. Iceland, which is slightly larger than Scotland, surprisingly has one hundred volcanoes. Some are still active, and three-quarters of the island surface is volcanic lava. Tristan-da-Cunha, with its 200 population, suffered a violent volcanic eruption about five years ago. Its people found refuge in England until the eruption died down. Whence these fiery red carbuncles on the earth's fair skin; these crucibles of molten rock; these sulphurous subterranean furnaces; these fires, ever- burning, everlasting? Terrifying disturbances Only a text book on geology can give in detail how these varying volcanic disturbances broke out in this area and that. But there can be no doubt that the gargantuan upheavals of the sea-bed and the rock strata associated with the Flood already referred to, provided the chemical and physical conditions for volcanic activities. Enormous pressures built upon enormous pressures created by the displaced rock-beds caused furnace-like temperatures to be generated. Fierce and violent chemical reactions took place. Super-heated lime, coal, oil, sulphur, and gases, as well as super- heated steam all reacted to produce the most explosive upheavals and terrifying disturbances. The writers of the Bible knew little of earth structure from experiment and observation as we do. Nevertheless they made numerous references to the fierce heat gendered in the earth. This heat they Chiefs in the South Sea Island of New Guinea. These two had presented themselves to the Seventh-day Adventist Mission appealing for educational and medical help. state will be even more in evidence one day. (See Isaiah 34, Revelation 21, etc.) Population problem We must now ask another question. How did the islands become populated? Almost illimitable miles of ocean isolate Honolulu from the rest of the world. It is 4,711 miles from Panama, 3,379 miles from Yokohama, 3,220 miles from Brisbane. How did any primitive ships spot this lonely twenty-mile island dot in 8,000 miles of ocean? Easter island is one of a thousand mysteries. It is 2,000 miles from Chile, 1,100 miles from its nearest neighbour, Pitcairn, a remote outpost of the Poly- nesians. It is part of the vanished empire of Lemuria, and its strange burial platforms and fifty-ton stone- head images are far beyond the present population's ability to create. How did humanity reach this island? We can only speculate upon the number of early voyages ventured upon before these thousands of inaccessible desert island dots were found and peopled. No one can give a detailed answer to the problem. But some things we know. And we have a fascinating story of man's initiative and endurance to delight the most ardent lover of science and adventure. It is wrong to assume that peoples designated "primitive" in history were "primitive" in culture. This is a common and a false assumption. Indeed, we know that the Cretan and Sumerian cradles of life were highly cultured and civilized. There is wide- spread, and ever growing evidence that the early settlers in Peru, and Sino-Malaysia enjoyed the skills and knowledge of Sumeria. There is a strong suggestion that these skills came from pre-flood days. There are ethnic, religious, and culture links between the islands and Sumeria. Be that as it may, we know that the Arabs sailed to the Indies in 1000 B.C.; that the Irish sailed the seven hundred miles to Iceland long before the Norsemen reached there; that long before Christ, the Greeks were using 1150 oarsmen in 120 foot triremes in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; that Solomon had a navy in 1000 B.C.; that the Phoeniceans had sailed a thousand miles west to Carthage in 900 B.C. Who would think that the Endeavour which took Captain Cook to Tahiti, that the Santa Maria which took Columbus to the West Indies, that the Mayflower which took the Pilgrim Fathers to Boston were scarcely bigger than these early vessels. Sir Francis Chichester sailed 25,000 miles around the oceans of the world in a one-man yacht. Thor Heyerdahl, a Norse anthropologist, built a raft of Balsa wood. On his famous "Kon Tiki" expedition he sailed on this raft from Callao in Peru to the Tuamotu islands. The voyage of 4,1300 miles took 101 days! How indomitable has been the spirit of man. There is a connection between the compelling urge within men to travel and conquer, and the command of the Creator recorded in Genesis: "Multiply, replenish the earth, and subdue it." Thus by adventure, expedition and sea voyages, intrepid men found their way across the seas to the large and small islands of the world. When we consider the races who voyaged, we find a mixed pattern: the islands have been a meeting place of many races. In the islands they have interbred, and inbred, and passed on to other islands. Common ancestry Roughly one can say that the mongol migrants journeyed south down the Chinese coast; that Indians migrated via Burma and Malaya; that Negroes crossed from Africa; and that Arabs sailed the shores of the Indian Ocean. Some, it is said, sailed west from Peru and Chile. All types are found in the islands. Those who have followed earlier articles will recognize now that all islanders can trace their origin to the dis- persion of the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah, who, with their wives, were the sole survivors from the Flood. Malayans are a mongol type, much influenced by Hindu and Arab. Papuans have traces of Indian and pygmy types. Polynesians combine likenesses to Indian and Hawaiian peoples, they are seamen, and are known as "Vikings of the Pacific." Their pride is to know by heart their family trees for twenty generations, and all the voyaging exploits of their forebears. Sumatra and Java are Malayan, with strong mixtures of Chinese, Arab, and Hindu. New Guinea and Fiji with their frightening reputation for can- nibalism and human sacrifice, have negroid and Malayan traces. It is asserted that the Australian and New Zealand aborigines have Hawaiian strains. Pitcairn's two hundred inhabitants have bred from a few Tahitian women and nine British mutineers. The islands are famous for stories of missionaries. What motive urged the early preachers to forsake western society, to endure the privations of a dangerous sea-voyage, to live among hostile savages, to endure squalor, tropical sickness, to face being savagely murdered? The missionary exploited no wealth, sought no honour of state, no expansion of business enterprise. He died unknown, a man "of whom the world was not worthy." The missionary to the islands can be explained only by the recognition of another divine command: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel." The missionary, obedient to the heavenly command went to the islands, and "loved not his life unto death." Jesus saves Missionaries have made the desert island "blossom as the rose," "even with joy and singing." "The eyes of the blind are opened," "the lame man leaps as an hart," "the inhabitants come to" church—not the idol house—"with songs." Isaiah 35. Cannibals have become vegetarians, head-hunters are now preachers, witch doctors have learned to be teachers, the "lost" have been "saved." The message of the islands is that "Jesus saves;" and those who cruise past Pitcairn will hear the natives sing this very song from their canoes: "We have heard a joyful sound Jesus saves, Jesus saves." East of Java is the exceptionally •beautiful island of Bali, the "island of dreams." Likewise the Greeks dreamed of the "Isles of the Blessed." They were in the extreme west where lived "those whom the gods exempted from death, and where the herb of life grew." By tradition all was beauty and peace. The Christian knows that such dreams can come true. The beauty of the islands is the beauty of the "New Earth" where God has promised His redeemed will live one day. Every island paradise is a token of the real paradise to come. The Observer advertizes 700 tropical islands where a husband can take his wife to escape the chill ills of winter. The Bible announces a lovely "New Earth," better than any tropical paradise, for those who would escape the chills of sin and death. ('Revelation 21.) Praise be to God! 24 Thinkin aloud BY A FORMER MP Major GEORGE HERBERT, M.B.E. T ODAY we read and hear much of education and the rising generation, whether it be the 11-plus, comprehensive schools, G.C.E., Universities, or drugs, but very little about Christian influences affecting the youth of our day. Therefore, I propose to think aloud of a recent experience I had at Durham University, where I was one of the four invited speakers in the Union debate. The motion before the House was: "The Church Is Out of Touch," and the House was packed, and some hundreds of undergraduates outside could not get in. This was an unusual motion for a University Union debate, and the great interest was quite contrary to the popular impression that young people are not interested in religion. The Bishop of Durham [recently retired] and my- self were the two principal speakers against the motion. To the great surprise of Church dignitaries present, the motion was defeated. I criticised the terms of the motion. Did it mean that the Church was out of touch with modern life? Out of touch with Church unity? Out of touch with God? Out of touch with the true interpretation of the Bible? Out of touch with happiness? I ventured to suggest that the world is out of touch with the Church. I have been in touch with a Church for over seventy years, which I consider a privilege and duty. As a result, I found happiness, health, and contentment. I have attended Churches of many denominations over the years, and unless a Church influences our con- duct and philosophy of life, it is certainly out of touch. Before I joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I was seeking a sort of fulfilment and guidance, but, today, my Christian growth has put me in harmony with God's Commandments and creation, from whence cometh heavenly direction and strength to find contentment through service and sacrifice. A philosophy of life As a child at Sunday school, I used to sing the hymn— "Kind words can never die; Kind thoughts can never die." On this theme the writings of Ellen G. White ring out and re-echo in my philosophy of life. "Every shining star which God has placed in the heavens obeys His mandate, and gives its distinct- ive measure of light to make beautiful the heavens at night; so let every converted soul show the measure of light committed to him; and as it shines forth, this light will increase and grow brighter. Give out your light." Briefly, my philosophy of life may be summarized thus: 1 To find happiness, give happiness to others; the more happiness we give, the more we receive. 2 A kind thought creates a memory, born to keep us company. 3 A kind deed creates indelible memories that will help to guide and inspire us. 4 Our personality is influenced by the memories which we create. 5 I regard good thoughts as flowers, and ill thoughts as weeds; and the world for us can be—and should be—a beautiful garden, as the Creator intended. Should Protestants Unite With Rome ? continued from page 21 ority of Scripture, the choice may lie between the authority claimed by Rome or no authority at all. For them a return to Rome might be the only way to avoid religious disintegration. But for Protestants who have retained their faith in the final authority of Scripture the issue is very diff- erent. It resolves itself into one simple and funda- mental option: Should a man obey Scripture as the Holy Spirit impresses him? Or should he obey the words of a body of men, both living and dead, who claim superiority over Scripture and the only right to interpret it? We stand where Martin Luther stood. The issue is the same. And we speak with his words: "Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against con- science is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can- not do otherwise. God help me. Amen." We seek rather, in a spirit of ecumenical love, to convince our Catholic brothers that the Word of God as recorded in Scripture still speaks with highest authority to all men everywhere and that all men will be held accountable to it by a God who is "no respector of persons." 1. Council Speeches of Vatican II, eds. Hans Kling, Yves Congar, and Daniel O'Hanlon, p. 150. De Ecumenism° (Decree on Ecumenism), chapter 1, section 3. An English translation of this document as well as all the official documents of Vatican 11 can be found in The Docu- ments of Vatican II, gen. ed. Walter M. Abbot; tr. ed. Joseph Gallagher (New York : Guild Press, 1966), which is avail- ablein paperback. 3 Ibid. • The Council and Christian Unity," an English translation of which appears in the pamphlet "The Second Vatican Council." p. 16. George H. Tarvard, Two Centuries of Ecumenism, The Search J for Unity, p. 172. • ohn A. O'Brien, The Faith of Millions, The Credentials of the Catholic Religion, p. 38. Gustave Weigel and Robert McAfee Brown, An American Dialogue; A Protestant Looks at Catholicism and a Catholic Looks at Protestantism, p. 224. Ibid., p. 225. 9 Council Speeches, p. 145. " Giovanni Battista, Cardinal Montini, "Unity and the Papacy in the Church," a speech recorded in The Mind of Paul VI: On the Church and the World, ed. James Walsh, tr. Archibald Colquhoun, p. 70. " Quoted by Roland Bainton in Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, p. 185. 25 CHRISTIAN BELIEFS IN A SCIENTIFIC AGE O N a western mountain cattle ranch, bears had been taking young stock, so the owner decided to try to put a stop to their depredations. Taking a calf that had been partly eaten, he dragged it up into the mouth of the canyon from which the bears had apparently been coming. Then he stretched wires across the narrow defile, both above and below the bait, and attached each wire to a loaded rifle, pointed so that when it went off it would get whatever had touched the wire. He went back to the ranch house quite sure that his scheme would be successful. But he did not reckon with the wild wisdom of the predator he was fighting against. The next morn- ing, when he visited the bait, he was surprised to see that it was gone, but that neither rifle had been discharged. Upon careful examination he read in the bear tracks a peculiar story. A bear had come down the canyon, smelled along the upper wire without touching it, and had then gone back up and climbed over the rocks and approached the bait from the lower side. Finding a wire there, he had again climbed the canyon wall, come down between the wires, and dragged the bait off up the rocks and devoured it. This incident illustrates why the mammals are considered the highest of all the animal kingdom. Not because they are the most highly complex in structure, but because they are the most intelligent. They are well fitted to rule the world of animal life. Sheepdog to the rescue We are well acquainted with the intelligence of such animals as the horse or the dog. The following story, which was told me by an eyewitness, will illustrate the point: A little girl three or four years of age was playing with her companion, a sheepdog, along the shore of a lake. Nearby was a platform running out into the water. The land end of the platform was twenty feet or so back from the shore. While they were playing around, the little girl went onto the platform and walked out to its end. Then she fell off into the water. The dog was on the shore, close to the water's edge. When he heard the splash, instead of swimming toward the girl, which was the short- est way to reach her, he wheeled, ran back up the bank and onto the platform, then out to where she had fallen off. There he plunged into the water and seized the girl. He was able to run the greater distance much faster than he could have swum to her. He used good judgment in accomplishing her rescue. In recent months quite a craze has developed in the U.S.A. for keeping dolphins in backyard swimming pools. They make good pets and are believed to be the most intelligent animals known. Anyone who has visited an American marineland show has witnessed their remarkable actions. Appar- ently they understand a considerable number of words of human language. While we have been considering various types of animal life in this series, we have observed over and over that each group is a unit by itself, with no clues as to how it could have arisen from any other. This is doubly true of the mammals. If we look at some of the features that characterize them, we shall realize better than ever the truth of this assertion. Characteristics of the mammals Mammals are so named because they have mammae, or milk glands, to furnish nourishment for the young. No other group of animals shows any such structure. It is unique among the mammals. The nearest thing to this is "pigeon's milk," which is produced by glands in the crop of both the male and female pigeons, and nourishes the young birds for about a wild week after they are hatched. But this can in no way be assumed to have any evolutionary significance, since the glands in the pigeons and in mammals are anatomically unrelated. Another feature that characterizes the mammals is that the young are, with the exception of the echidna and the platypus, brought forth alive. And even though some lower animals do give birth to young, as in some fishes and reptiles, yet the methods are entirely different. One group of mammals, the marsupials, including the kangaroo and the opossum, develop their young in a pouch. Most mammals, however, develop them in a uterus, in which is pro- duced a body, also the placenta, which brings blood 26 from the mother to circulate in close proximity to the blood from the embryo, furnishing it with food and carrying away its wastes. Other anatomical features might be mentioned, such as the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, and nervous systems, each of which has characteristics peculiar to mammals, or specially developed. All in all, this group is marvellously equipped for the highly-organized life its members pursue. Many fascinating habits and activities might be discussed, but to cover the subject adequately would require a volume. We can mention only a few. Take, for instance, the habit which some mammals have of hibernating in winter. If you go into the mountains of Yellowstone National Park in winter, you will find that the ground squirrels have all denned up and are sleeping whereas the tree squirrels remain active and are able to obtain food from the twigs of the trees. We can but wonder what kind of process goes on in the nervous system of the ground squirrel that wisdom makes him go to sleep at the right time. The same might be said of the marmots and the bears. Perplexing question Here we face a very perplexing question. It is obvious that at one time the climate of the Yellow- stone region was much warmer than it is now. Trees buried in volcanic ash in the northern side of the park are of species that now live in semi-tropical climates. Therefore we would conclude that the ground squirrels and marmots and bears did not need to hibernate at that time. But as the climate grew colder, they took on this habit. How did they know enough to do it? Why did they not all perish in the growing severity of the winters? Some influence must have been at work on them to cause them to seek refuge from the cold in their dens, quite a natural thing, of course. But then, a peculiar change took place in their metabolism, slowing it down and enabling them to survive for many long months with- out food. I can think of no natural processes that would account for this change. It is interesting to note that the ones that could not find food during the winter went to sleep, while those that could, remained awake. It reminds me of the statement of the Psalmist: "These wait all upon Thee; that Thou mayest give them their meat in due season." Psalm 104:27. Father of modern classification Ever since European scientists began to classify plants and animals in the early modern period, they have puzzled over the problem of the origin of the different kinds. Carolus Linnaeus, the father of modern classification, was quite confident when he declared that he recognized just as many species as were created in the beginning. His Systema Naturae (System of Nature}, twelfth edition, published in 1758, became the basis of modern classification. But other scientists disagreed with Linnaeus. Jean Lamarck, a zoologist of Paris, published a treatise on AMAZING HABITS OF WILD ANIMALS DECLARE THE WISDOM AND POWER OF THE CREATOR by H. W. CLARK, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Biology Pacific Union College 27 the subject in 1809, in which he propounded the idea that changes in animals were cumulative. Any change taking place in an animal during its life would be passed on to its offspring. This is known as the theory of transmission of acquired characters. Lamarck knew nothing of the method by which heredity took place, and could therefore give no evidence to support his theory. However, about fifty years later, when Charles Darwin came into prom- inence he attempted an explanation. He, too, knew nothing of the mechanism of heredity but assumed that the body produced what he called pangens, tiny particles derived from all the tissues and accumulated in the germ cells. Thus any egg or sperm would contain the body in miniature, as it were. Darwin was opposed by August Weismann, a German scientist. Weismann, about 1885 proposed the idea of the continuity of the germ plasm. The body, he said, is composed of two kinds of substance, or plasm: The somato plasm, or body plasm; and germ plasm, composing the germ cells, the eggs and sperms. Changes in the somatoplasm, he argued, could not affect the germ plasm. Therefore, he declared, Lamarck and Darwin were both wrong. Mendel discovers the law of heredity In the meantime, while this argument was going on, the secret had already been discovered, but lay dormant. In 1865 an Austrian monk, Gregor Mendel, had announced findings later recognized as the laws of heredity. But his work was unappreciated until 1900, when three scientists discovered the same prin- ciples simultaneously. The basic point in Mendelism is that hereditary factors are units, which are passed on from generation to generation, being combined and reassorted over again without losing their identity. For instance, if we cross a tall pea with a short one, the next generation will all be tall. But in the second generation part of the plants will be short again. The tall factor was dominant over the short one, but the genes, as we call them, were reassorted without being changed. Even in the case of the evening primrose, where the first generation of a cross between the white and red will be pink, there is no true blending, but only a lack of dominance. In the next generation red and white separate again. In the quarter century following the discovery of Mendel's laws a tremendous amount of research was done. We owe much to Thomas Hunt Morgan, of Columbia University and California Institute of Technology, for his elaboration of the laws of heredity as he followed up the work of Mendel and those who had discovered his laws. The results of the work of Morgan and hundreds of other workers placed the problem of the origin of the present life of the earth on a new basis. Genesis vindicated Perhaps the situation can best be understood by referring to the work of Austin H. Clark, zoologist of the Smithsonian Institution. One quotation from his book Zoogenesis, published in 1930, will make the case clear: "All the major groups of animals have maintained the same relationship to each other from the very first. . . . There is not the slightest evidence which supports any other viewpoint. "Yet on the other hand within each major group there has been constant and continual change."—Page 114. Here we have two categories brought to light, the major groups, and the smaller ones. Their relation- ship is more clearly explained by Richard Goldschmidt in his The Material Basis of Evolution, published in 1940. He points out two processes, as he calls them, microevolution and macroevolution. The latter is the assumed process by which, it is believed, the major groups arose, and microevolution is the process by which they have, within themselves, as Clark stated, given rise to many minor forms. Micro—but not macro— Creationists are in perfect agreement with the postulates of Clark and Goldschmidt with regard to the process of microevolution. It is obvious that the million or more "species" of animals now known to exist could not have been in Noah's Ark. And it is just as obvious that what we now call "species" are merely minor variations within the major groups. But when it comes to macroevolution, or the origin of the major groups, that is a different matter. As Clark said, the major groups have maintained the same relationship to one another throughout all past time. Nothing that modern science has brought to light has been able to explain the origin of one major type from any other. When all is said and done, it becomes clear that the Genesis record of "each after his kind" is, after all, the most accurate description of the origin of the major groups of animals. Then, when we ask how they each got their peculiar modes of behaviour, it is just as obvious that instinct, as we call it, is nothing more than the action pattern the Creator built into each creature. Modifications This brings us to a problem that has puzzled many; namely, how about changes in instinctive behaviour under changing conditions? Here it seems that the most reasonable explanation is to say that not only did the Creator endow each animal with suitable instincts; He also is able to modify those patterns in order to allow His creation to survive changing conditions. Even at this there are some patterns of behaviour that are hard to understand. For example, take the grizzlies of Yellowstone. Rangers have been shooting them with darts containing a drug that puts them to sleep. Then they attach tiny radios to them, which send out beeping signals that are picked up in a central station. Thus their movements can be traced. From this procedure has come a most surprising discovery. As winter approaches, the bears wander off to the vicinity of their dens. But they do not den up with the first snow. They continue to forage for some time yet. Eventually, however, a storm comes that buries everything. Before this storm catches them, they enter their dens, and are ready for it. Now let us ask: How did they know that this was the storm that would seal up their dens? You may feel that I am wrong, but I believe the Creator still keeps His hand over the creatures He has placed on this earth and exercises a controlling influence in their activities. 28 7 What motivation did He recommend for living a life pleasing to God? "On one occasion a lawyer came forward to put this test question to Him: 'Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus said: 'What is written in the Law? What is your reading of it?' He replied: ASPECTS OF THE WORK OF CHRIST • 3 by E. W. MARTER, M.A., M.Th. Department of Theology, Newbold College What difference does it make that Christ taught with- out first attending school? 1 Was Jesus an impressive teacher? "The people were astounded at His teaching; unlike their own teachers He taught with a note of authority." Matthew 7:28, 29. The temple police said: "No man ever spoke as this Man speaks." John 7:45,46. A member of the Jewish Council who came to Jesus by night said: "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher sent by God." John 3:1, 2. 2 Is it true that Jesus had not attended school? Yes, and on account of this the Jews were aston- ished: "How is it," they said, "that this untrained Man has such learning?" John 7:15: Obviously He had received no formal training under rabbinical scholars, but must have learned to love and read the Scriptures at home. That He had thoroughly investigated Scripture truth for Himself is indicated by His ready and frequent quotation from Scripture, the incisiveness of His questions concerning Scripture, and the originality of His answers when questioned about Scripture. However, He very surpris- ingly did not claim originality. 3 What explanation did Jesus give about the source of His knowledge? "The teaching that I give is not My own; it is the teaching of Him who sent Me. I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who sent Me has Himself commanded Me what to say." John 7:16 and 12:49. 4 What difference does it make then, that Jesus was neither school-trained nor self-taught? Does it not mean that Christianity, instead of being an outgrowth of Jewish culture, or a flowering of human wisdom, is something far better! It is a message from Heaven. 5 What was Jesus' favourite theme when teaching? In correction of the over-emphasis in Judaism on the stern righteousness of God, Jesus continually taught by both word and example the love of God for all: for even the sparrows (Matthew 10:31), the prodigals (Luke 15:11-32), the city that rejected Him (Luke 19:41-44), but especially for those who responded to Him with love and faith (John 16:27). 6 By what principle of conduct did Jesus expect His followers to live? "Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors; only so can you be children of your heavenly Father who makes His sun rise on good and bad alike, . . . You must therefore be all goodness, just as your heavenly Father is all good." Matthew 5:44-48. 29 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.' 'That is the right answer,' said Jesus; 'do that and you will live.' " Luke 10:25-28. 8 Did Jesus practise what He preached sufficiently to have an influence? "The love of Christ leaves us no choice. . . . His purpose in dying for all was that all men, while still in life, should cease to live for thethselves, and should live for Him who for their sake died and was raised to life." 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15. "It is not the fear of punishment, or the hope of everlasting reward, that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him. They behold the Saviour's matchless love, revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary's cross, and the sight of Him attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice and follow Him."—D.A., 480. (In this series of studies. Old Testament quotations are from the Reviled Standard Version, and New Testament quotations from the New Engli.rh Bible. THE HISTORY I THE FOLLOWING IS PASTOR LESLIE SHAW'S SECOND ARTICLE IN A NEW SERIES The Fourth Commandment of God's Eternal Ten bids us: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. . . ." Exodus 20:8-11. This Commandment enjoins positive action—the observance of one day every week for rest, relaxation, fellowship, and worship. The history of this weekly day of pure pleasure goes back to the very dawn of time ID'S HAPPY DAY T HE Bible clearly records when and how the Sabbath was made. The Genesis account declares: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Genesis 2:1-3. In the previous chapter of Genesis—chapter one— there is a comprehensive account of the Creation of God. In that one historic week all things living and non-living were made; and having made them God "saw everything that He had made, • and behold, it was very good." Genesis 1:31. Just one thing now remained to be done. That was to make the Sabbath. This was done so that the Creator and His works might be perpetually remembered. And it is just this that the words in Genesis 2:1-3 reveal—they, and they alone explain just HOW the Sabbath was made. Of the previous six days it is declared: "And there was evening, and there was morning, one day. . . . And there was evening, and there was morning, a second day," and so on until "And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day." Genesis 1:5, 8, 31, RSV. Each of these days was similar, composed first of a dark part, and then of a light part. Each one of those days was made, just as every day has since been made, by the earth making one complete revolution on its own axis. They were not extraordinary days; they were not miraculously long days; they were no different from every other day since. They were simply the first six days in the history of our world. Yet they were the six most extraordinary days, as in them God accomplished His creative works; for of the work done in them it is declared: "The works were finished from the foundation of the world." Hebrew 4:3. God rested After the six literal days of creation came the seventh day. It would be correct to say that this day was just like the other six days that preceded it. It was composed of one dark part, and one light part, as the earth continued to rotate on its axis. But during the hours of this day God was not engaged in any active work of creation—for all that work was complete. Instead, God rested "on the seventh day from all His work which He had made." Genesis 2:2. Why did God thus rest? Was He weary? Did He need a physical rest as we so often do? Was He worn out with all His previous activities? No, not at all. The Bible says that "the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary." Isaiah 40:28. So God's rest was not an enforced rest due to fatigue, but it was to establish a purpose that embraced all mankind. God was thereby MAKING the Sabbath; and Jesus Christ who is Himself synonymous with this Creator-God, when He was upon this earth, thus spoke of this event: "The Sabbath was MADE for man" Mark 2:27. Yes, the Sabbath was "made"—made by the same Creator who made "all things" and of whom it is declared that apart from Him was not one single thing made that was made. (See John 1:1-3.) God put blessing or happiness into His day So God's rest on that first seventh day of time was a deliberate rest by divine choice. Then, after that day was complete, and His rest on that day was com- plete, we are told that "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Genesis 2:3. Note carefully that this "blessing" and "sanctify- ing" did not take place until AFTER the rest was complete, and so was performed upon the first day of the next week, and was done "because that in it" (in the first seventh day of time in this world) God hadade".r"ested from all His work which God created and m God's rest on that first seventh day made that day His rest day, just as a man's birth on a par- ticular day makes that day his birthday. This is a simple objective fact. But in the constitution of our world, the passage of time is marked off by days, and weeks, and months, and years. As far as we know, there never has been a time when mankind has not so counted and reckoned up time. (The author would be very glad to hear from any reader concerning this point.) Genesis 1:14 says: "Let there be lights in the firmament [expanse) of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years." The years increase in numbers with the passage of time, but the seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter; the months January to December; and the days of the week, within each week, constantly repeat themselves. With reference to the week in particular, every suc- cessive week from that first week in time beginning with the Creation, has been composed of seven days numbered from one to seven, and, in the institution 30 of the divine Sabbath, every recurring seventh day is a repetition of that first seventh or Sabbath day in which God rested. This fact is vitally important because of the "blessing and sanctifying" by God of that day which we now want to consider in detail. •'Set apart" The Hebrew word QADASH rendered "sanctified" is defined by Gesenius, the Hebrew Lexicographer, as meaning: "To pronounce holy, to sanctify, . . . to institute an holy thing, to appoint." In the Old Testa- ment, when this word is used, it quite commonly signifies that a particular thing is set apart for a stated use, along with a public pronouncement to that effect. For instance, when the Cities of Refuge were set apart for their purpose in Israel, the record states (Joshua 20:7): "They appointed [Heb. 'sanctified' margin), Kadesh in Galilee in Mt. Naohtali, and Shechem in Mt. Ephraim. . . ." Here a public proclam- ation was made to all Israel concerning these Cities of Refuge, that every manslayer might know where he could flee for security. The word "sanctify" is the word used to signify this public proclamation. In Joel 1:14, we find another such example. The prophet announces: "Sanctify [i.e. 'appoint') ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord." Nothing but a public action proclaiming to the whole nation could possibly fulfil this prophetic demand. The same word: "sanctify" is used in 2 Kings 10:20, RSV: "And Jehu ordered: 'Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.' So they proclaimed it." Nothing could be clearer than that the officials to whom Jehu spoke these words understood by the word "sanctify" that it was their duty to "proclaim" the calling of the priests of Baal to this "solemn assembly." Again, a reference to Exodus 19:12, 23 will show that the word prescribed that Moses should acquaint all Israel with the peril of actually touching Mt. Sinai during the period that the Lord's presence was manifested at the time of the giving of the Law. On the significance of this word "sanctify," as it is used in the Old Testament, John Owen has this to say: "But as to men and things, to sanctify them is either really to sanctify them, by making them internally holy, or to separate and dedicate them to holy uses; the former peculiar to persons, the latter common to them with other things sacred, by an A beautiful view of Friar's authoritative separation from profane or common uses, unto a peculiar, sacred, or holy use for the worship of God." Owen on the "Original Sabbath," pages 295-298. (Gould Ed.) A tragedy It is the greatest of tragedies that the true and accurate meaning of the "blessing and sanctifying" of the seventh day by God at creation seems so largely to have been overlooked. Because of this the matter of the Sabbath is rather misunderstood. Conclusive for all Christian are the words of Jesus Christ: Our Lord refers to the Genesis record when He says: "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2:27, 28. He understood that when Moses says: "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it," that those words were meant to convey to all succeeding gen- erations till the close of time that God clearly made known that Adam and all his descendants should regularly and faithfully observe that same seventh day, week by week, as it came to them. Dr. Owen's Testimony Only "set aside prejudices and preconceived opinions, and any man would think that the institution of the Sabbath is here [in Genesis 2:1-3), as plainly expressed as in the fourth commandment. The words are a continuation of a plain historical narration. Having finished the account of the creation of the world in the first chapter, and given a recapitulation of it in the first verse of this, Moses declares what immediately ensued thereon, namely, the rest of God on the seventh day, and His blessing and sanctifying that day whereon He so rested. That day on which He rested He blessed and sanctified, even that individual day in the first place, and a day in the revolution of the same space of time for succeeding generations. This is plain in the words, or nothing can be thought to be plainly expressed. And if there be any appear- ance of difficulty in these words, 'God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it,' it is wholly taken away in the explication given of them in the fourth commandment, where they are plainly declared to intend its setting apart and consecration to be a day of sacred rest." Owen on the "Original Sabbath," pages 295-298. (The next article in Pastor Shaw's series will appear in the April OUR TIMES.) Crag, Watendlath, Cumberland. just DISAPPEARED The man G ARI MEIER, her arms full of stovewood, pushed open the kitchen door and paused in surprise to see her mother standing at the sink washing the dishes. It had been a long time since mother had been able to do that. "How good it is to have you up, Mother!" Gari exclaimed, rushing over to give her mother a quick hug. Then she added with a mischievous smile, "And especially doing the dishes! It's just like old times, isn't it?" "Yes, Dear, it is. You'd be surprised how wonderful it seems just to be able to stand on my feet and put my hands in dishwater again. But you're not getting lazy in your old age, are you?" Mother teased. Gari laughed. She hadn't had time to get lazy, but really she did feel old sometimes. The responsibility of taking care of the house and her two younger brothers often weighed heavily on her teenage shoulders. Ever since the start of World War II, it seemed, her mother had been sick. That horrible war had been going on now for almost two years, and that was just about how long her father had been gone too. Gari remembered wistfully how hand- some he had looked the day he left to be a chaplain in the German Army. She turned to gaze out of the window. Things really had changed, she thought. How different their large beautiful farm in Eifel, Germany, had looked before the war. The leaves were coming out now in a bright spring green. The flowers were a bank of pink against the house, and wild-flowers made blotches of white against the hillside and a flowing sea of yellow in the meadow. But, lovely as it was, the beauty of the season wasn't enough to console Gari. There was no singing from the birds, no crops in the fields, and no cattle in the pastures. Gari hated the war. She had been having so much fun before it started. There had been school, friends, and parties. Now she never saw her old friends nor even heard if they were safe. Yet such dreary thoughts always brightened, for it was impossible not to see how the Lord had taken care of her family during those dark months. by JILL LE BARON Look how that little garden beside the house had prospered and some- how escaped the notice of the soldiers who had tramped across their prop- erty several times that year and had taken nearly everything else. With oc- casional help from her mother, she had bottled more than enough vege- tables last year, and it looked as if there would be plenty for them to keep this year too. "Here, I'll finish the dishes," Gari offered suddenly, thinking that per- haps her mother wasn't strong enough yet to do that much. "Really, Gari, I do feel quite well this morning," mother reassured her, then turned to question suddenly: "John, where do you think you're go- ing?" Gari's twelve-year-old brother was passing through the kitchen to- Suddenly a man's voice made them Jerk round. "Leave it alone, boys; it's dangerous," he said. His tone was kind— but definite. 32 ward the back door. He was carrying the gun given him by his father be- fore he left. Tim, his seven-year-old brother, was following behind. "Just thought Tim and I would do a little huntin' today," John ex- plained. "Do you think you should? You know how dangerous these woods are, boys. It hasn't been safe to go into them since the war started." Mrs. Meier spoke with real concern in her voice. "But, Mother, we haven't heard the guns for days. They have probably moved away by now," Gari suggested hopefully, realizing how eager John was to prove his manliness and carry responsibility in his father's absence. Mother, realizing this fact, too, finally gave her consent, but a troubled look lingered on her face. As Gari stood in the doorway, watching her brothers walk toward the woods she noticed how young they really were. How large the gun looked on John's boyish shoulder, and yet how useless it would be for any- thing but rabbits or squirrels. "Lord, please protect them," she prayed and kept the prayer on her heart all day as she went about the housework. The boys were not quite so serious- minded as they romped into the woods. There was not much under- brush, and they spotted a dead rabbit, mostly by accident. "Let's go to see if the T.R. is still there," Tim called, already on the run. T.R. was short for "tree ranch," which they called their tree house. "There it is! There it is!" The two shouted in unison as they caught sight of their oversized hideaway, snuggled high in the fresh green branches of a large old tree. The miniature house had been made out of the lumber left over when the new barn was built. Mr. Schultz, a carpenter who be- longed to their church, had built it for them because of his appreciation for all that the boys' family had done for him. "Your father has too much to do, trying to be the minister and take care of a farm too," he had insisted. "I'll enjoy building you a nice tree house." For special finishing touches he had built a porch all along the front and a small window beside the front door. A long window nearly the full length of the "house" spanned the back. In- side were chairs, a table, and two beds. How many nights the boys had slept there! And how much fun they had had playing war with all the neigh- bourhood boys. Playing war! How could they have enjoyed playing a game like that? The idea was repul- sive now. War wasn't a game any more, but a hideous reality. "Looks like somebody has invaded the place," John observed anxiously after the boys had clambered up to the house. "Yes," agreed Tim, as he surveyed the clutter all about the room. Then he noticed the wall. Bullets had carved splintery holes all along the back side. "Bullets!" he nearly shouted. When they looked out of the window to estimate where the bullets must have come from, something shiny, about ten feet from the tree, caught their eye. Quickly they climbed down to see what it was. "Hey, a bomb!" Tim exclaimed, his voice exploding with excitement. "We had better leave it here!" John cautioned, but he was already inspect. ing it eagerly. "Something must be the matter with it if it fell all that way and didn't go off," Tim said. John seemed to be pondering Tim's statement for a minute, but he had actually made up his mind already. The bomb couldn't be dangerous, and it would be such fun to play with. He began to tie a rope to one end of it in order to drag it home. Forgetting all caution, Tim grew excited and started helping. Suddenly, a man's voice made them jerk round. "Leave it alone, boys; it's danger- ous." His tones were kind, but the words were firm and decisive. There he stood, tall and straight, and as calm as if there wasn't a war at all, as if he were simply on a leisurely afternoon walk. The boys couldn't have said what it was, but something about the man made them obey immediately, and they scrambled to untie the rope. The simple task took only a minute, but when they turned around again, the man was gone. He had left with- out the slightest sound. The boys stared at the empty spot, then gazed intently around the deserted clearing. They walked home in the late after- noon sun, each absorbed in his own thoughts. Finally Tim interrupted the silence. "He just disappeared, John, didn't he? He just disappeared." "People don't just disappear, Tim," John retorted. He was trying to tell himself that the man must have gone somewhere. As they neared home, Tim broke into a run. "Gari! Gari!" he shouted to the girl who waited for them in the doorway. When he got to her, his words spilled over each other. "We saw a man and he just disappeared! He was there and then he wasn't! We found a rabbit too," he added, still gasping for breath. "Throw it in the dustbin," she said, and then scooted him into the house. A stranger in the woods? It could have been someone dangerous, Gari re- flected. Her heart was pounding and fear showed in her eyes when she turned to John who was just approach- ing. "What's he talking about?" she asked, but John regarded her casually. "I don't know. We talked to a man W HATEVER is the matter with you, Tim?" his sister Kay asked in astonishment. "Your face is enough to turn the milk sour." "So would yours be," growled Tim in surly tones, "if you had to go right over to Gray Goose Green." "Oh, I know it's a long way," admit- ted Kay, "but it's a lovely day and a good walk, too; I can't see any great hardship in that." "There's lots of things you can't see," snapped her brother ungraciously. "I was going to play football and now Dad has asked me to go on this beast- ly errand." "Well, I'll come with you if like, although you don't deserve it for being so rude," said Kay. "Since you appear to imagine you're so clever at seeing things, I'll tell you something that I've who left while our backs were turned, that's all." He pushed past her and on into the house. At least they were safe, she thought as she said a prayer under her breath. But her heart was still pounding, and she was exasperated with John who didn't even worry enough to tell her about it. Finally, she got the story out of them, mostly from talkative Tim. John was little help, indeed, "People don't just disappear," he kept saying to himself. The next day as Gari and her brothers were going about their house- hold duties, they heard an explosion that seemed to rock the house. It could only mean that their bomb had exploded, for not one plane had been heard all day. The boys rushed out of the house fearful for the safety of the T.R. Gari ran after them anxious to see what it was all about. When they reached the place of the explosion, they found it was not near the tree house at all. Someone else had moved it farther on and had been killed when it went off. Gari couldn't look at the pitiful sight. One thought drummed over and over in her mind: It could have been her brothers—would have been her brothers that were killed if it had not been for the man who disappeared —the man sent from God. "The man sent from God?" She tried the thought out again. Could it be? Did God 'consider her brothers so precious that I-le sent an angel to protect them? When Gari's father returned home a few months later, he answered her question. "If God loved us enough to send His only Son to save us," he told her, "He certainly considers each of us very precious. He has promised to care for all who put their trust in Him." seen, and I very much doubt if you will find it. It's on the way to Gray Goose Green." "What is it?" inquired Tim, in curious tones. "A bird's nest," Kay replied. "What! In February?" exclaimed Tim in surprise. "If it's a last year's that's nothing, I could show you dozens." "Of course, it's not a last year's," said Kay indignantly. "Well what kind is it?" challenged her brother. "I don't know," Kay admitted. "Then how do you know it's not an old nest?" Tim queried. "Because I saw the bird going in. I didn't get a chance to see it proper- ly. The nest is in such a tangle of thorns that I only caught a glimpse of CHERRY TREE FARM by RONALD JAMES 33 Lovest h©u, M. 'e000 • ,011 See how nicely you can colour this picture and send it with your name, age, and address to Auntie Alice, The Stanborough Press Ltd., Alma Park, Grantham, Lincs., not later than March lath. 34 the bird as it vanished inside the nest." Tim looked very sceptical. "All right, I'll find it, you' see; that is, if you've not dreamed it all. 'It's a mite early for nests,' as Lijah would say." "I count that's a true word, Tim," replied Kay, attempting to mimic Lijah's voice. This effort completely banished Tim's gloom, and they set off in good spirits. "You needn't start looking yet," Kay said. "We shall never get to Gray Goose Green today if you look all the way. I'll tell you when we get within about fifty yards or closer, then you can start searching." "Fair enough!" Tim agreed, and they were able to quicken their pace. "Start now," Kay said some half- an-hour later. Tim began to peer carefully into the hedgerow. There was little cover in the way of leaves, but the hedge was a very old, thick one. Suddenly Tim stopped. High in the hedge amid a thick tangle was a nest made of sticks. "That's not it, surely," he exclaimed. "Yes, it is," replied Kay in dis- appointed tones. "I didn't think you'd find it." "Couldn't very well miss it, but that isn't a this year's nest I know." "I tell you I saw the bird go in," answered Kay angrily. Tim stared up at the nest. It was domed and had a hole at the side and he knew it for a magpipe's. "Look Kay," he said. "I knew this nest last year and it's a magpie's nest. They usually build about April and it's only early February now." "Perhaps the bird doesn't know that," said Kay sulkily. "Well, it might be a starling or sparrow using it," her brother sugges- ted, "but it's more likely you made a mistake and only thought you saw something." Kay was so angry that she would not speak for a little while. However, when they reached the nest on the homeward way, Tim said; "Look, I'll get up to it and see if there's anything in it." "Can you? Looks rather difficult," replied Kay dubiously. Presently Tim was scrambling slowly and painfully up toward the nest. When he was within a yard or so some- thing emerged from the nest and, chat- tering angrily, vanished from sight almost immediately. "What was it?" cried Tim, who had been unable to spot the nest's tenant. In fact he had fallen almost to the foot of the hedge. "A grey squirrel," laughed Kay. "You and your this year's nest!" grumbled Tim, as he extracted numer- ous thorns from his hands and legs. "A good thing it was not a this year's bird's nest," commented Farmer Jones when told of the affair. "Birds which nest so early in the year run grave risk of disaster. Shortage of food and rain, frost and snow are all likely to bring dire results to such early nesters." "Told you it wasn't a this year's," jeered Tim. "Well it was," Kay laughed. "It was a this year's squirrel's nest." To which claim Tim had no answer. My Dem. 5.4,444eAn.4, Can you remember—without looking —the first rule on our Sunbeam mem- bership card? I'm sure you will imme- diately answer: "Read a portion of Scripture every day." Why is it so important that we do this? Because it is the Book which tells us about our Heavenly Father, and of Jesus, our Saviour, and the more we read, the more we shall understand the deep, deep love they have for us. God's Book will become very precious to us— Just as it was to the little Korean boy who loved Jesus and wanted a Bible more than anything else in the world. One day this boy heard that a supply of Bibles was on the way to his village, and he wished so hard that he could earn one. Suddenly he thought of one thing he could do. He could make rope! He collected a heap of straw and worked from morning to night until he had made a rope, 400 feet long! When the Bibles came he ran, with his rope, to see if it would buy one, He returned with a happy heart, hugging his precious Bible to him. Every day he read from it so that he could learn more about Jesus. Many years ago, in one particular country, people were not allowed to own a Bible. Soldiers would search the houses—destroy any Bibles they found —and punish the people. One lady was making bread when she saw the soldiers coming to her door. Quickly she covered her Bible with the dough and popped it into the oven. The soldiers searched her house, even looked in the oven, but failed to see the Bible, and went away. It was certainly a queer place to hide a Bible wasn't it? David the Psalmist tells us to hide God's Word, not in an oven, but in our hearts. How? By read- ing a portion of Scripture each day and memorizing some of its verses. Yours affectionately, Ideal for all who desire a better life and are uncertain how to find it STEPS TO CHRIST • HANDY SIZE • FULL-COLOUR HARD COVER • 96 PAGES • ILLUSTRATED DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE 1968 THE MORNING WATCH * First published 1892 • Still in heavy demand • Millions have been purchased Published in 20 languages PRICE 6s. 6d. post free Ow. This book, written by one who was truly inspired of God, will genuinely help you to enjoy a closer walk with Him. It will help you to a fuller under- standing of why Christ came to this earth, and why it was necessary for Him to die and be raised again. It is a clear, convincing, and heart-warming portrayal of the truth of the Bible's best-loved text—John 3:16: "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." SEND CASH WITH ORDER TO: The Stanborough Press Ltd. Alma Park, Grantham, Lincs. Please send me �copies of STEPS TO CHRIST @ 6s. 6d. each Post free. � I enclose £ � Mr./Mrs./Miss � I Address � 1 1 OT L � • THE MORNING WATCH has specially selected texts from the Bible with brief captions for every day of the year. • Devotional poems, and systematic Bible study plans. • Beautiful full-colour cover. 36 pages. T SEND CASH WITH ORDER TO: The Stanborough Press Ltd. Alma Park, Grantham, Lincs. Please send me �copies of THE MORNING WATCH @ 1s. 3d. each BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE Post free. � I enclose £ � PRICE 1s. 3d. post free Mr./Mrs./Miss � Address � BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE OT Why not invite the into your home THROUGH A FREE BIBLE STUDY COURSE SENT TO YOU BY POST ? WHATEVER YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES— WHATEVER YOUR PERSONAL PROBLEMS —WHATEVER YOUR AGE GOD'S WORD HAS HELP FOR YOU NDEReN, ARTIST e REVIEW, & HERALD FREE HOME BIBLE STUDY GUIDES ARE YOU INTERESTED to know the meaning of world events today? Do you wonder whether there is life after death? Are you interested to find the secret of answered prayer? Then, "GREAT TEACHINGS AND PROPHECIES OF THE BIBLE" will help you. ARE YOU A PARENT OR TEACHER helping children to know more of the wonderful life of Jesus Christ? If so, the "HOPE OF THE WORLD" Bible Study Guides are just what you need. ARE YOU A YOUNG PERSON wishing to become better acquainted with the interesting stories of men and women of Bible times? Then you will find the "YOUNG PEOPLE'S BIBLE COURSE" interesting and informative. THE VOICE OF PROPHECY HOME BIBLE STUDY GUIDES WILL HELP YOU TO FIND IT. JUST FILL IN THE COUPON INDICAT- ING YOUR PREFERENCE AND THE LESSONS WILL BE DISPATCHED TO YOU IN PAIRS UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE COURSE AND RECEIVED A CERTIFICATE. Please send me the course indicated below. (Tick course desired) K GREAT TEACHINGS AND PROPHECIES OF THE BIBLE Li HOPE OF THE WORLD (Life of Christ) El YOUNG PEOPLE'S BIBLE COURSE Mr./Mrs./Miss � Address OT BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE COMPLETE COUPON AND POST TO: VOICE OF PROPHECY BIBLE SCHOOL, 123 REGENT STREET, LONDON, W.I.