Hold the Home Front! Keep Comfortable Sacred Skywriting
Hew Data on the Ape Theory The Heed of Divine Revelation Women and War Work
SEPTEMBER
TEN
CENTS



A COMPARISON—The Ameri-
® OUR COVER—The photograph used on the cover of this issue of The Watchman Magazine is to remind you that the men serving in our armed forces become very homesick at times. All reports indicate that nothing does them more good than to get a big, fat letter from home at frequent intervals. Sit down today and write to that dear one you have in our country’s service.
(£j) CAREFUL!—During the year 1942 a total of 350,000 American homes were destroyed or seriously damaged by fire.
® STILL WORKING—There are approximately 1,188 Protestant missionaries still working among the people of China.
® COSTLY—Global war is a costly thing. By April of this year our nation’s war bill was running over $7,000,000,000 monthly.
® IN OUR COUNTRY—Accord-ing to the Official Catholic Directory for 1943, the Roman Catholic population of the United States, Alaska, and the Hawaiian Islands, now numbers 22,945,247- This figure represents an increase of 389,005 over the number of Roman Catholics reported last year, and includes infants baptized into that faith.
(& IN CHILE—In his well docu' mented book, “Is Chile A Catholic Country?” Alberto Hurtado, a Jesuit, holds that “not more than five or six per cent of the masculine population of Chile really professes Catholicism, and only 14% of the feminine population. In total, not more than 20% of the whole population professes the Catholic religion.” In The Christian Century of April 7,1943, it is reported that according to data compiled by the Evangelical Council of Chile, “the total number of members of different Evangelical denominations in this country is nearly
200,000,	or about four per cent of the population.”
can Bible Society says that the firing of a single torpedo from a submarine costs $25,000, as much as the cost of 85,000 Bibles, or 500,000 copies of the New Testament, or 2,500,000 copies of the Gospels. The estimated cost of the new super battleship U.S.S. New Jersey is $100,000,000, whereas every dollar received from all sources by the American Bible Society from 1816 (the year it was founded) to 1940 amounted to only $44,000,000. It has issued over
300.000.	000 volumes of the Sacred Scriptures in some 250 languages plus 29 systems for the blind.
® SCHOOL PROBLEM—At the National Education Association’s annual convention held in Indianapolis in June, 1943, the report presented by Dr. Donald Dushane, secretary of the association’s Commission for the Defense of Democracy Through Education, showed that 2,000,000 boys and girls 14 to 18 years old had left school to work, that
500.000	of them were 14 to 15 years of age, and that “many thousands” of them were under 14. It is also estimated that there will be a shortage of
75.000	teachers when the schools open this fall.
® SYPHILIS—The United States Public Health Service report to Congress in June of 1943 showed that in the examination of men aged 21 to 35 for the armed forces, 47-7 of each 1,000 were found to have syphilis and that prevalence among Negroes in one Southern state ran to 405.9 in each
1.000.	The figures were based on a study of 2,000,000 drafted men examined in 44 states. Rejections ran to
46.000	in each 1,000,000 men because of syphilis and 15,000 in each 1,000,000 on account of gonorrhea infection.
(& STARGAZERS	—Hewsweeof
May 3, 1943, reports an alarming revival of superstition in Europe, and adds: “But it was in the United States that the most cash was being paid to all manner of fortune tellers—people who snatch at straws, tea leaves, and stars in time of strain. Upwards of 80,000
Americans who make a living out of ‘strange wisdom,’ including 30,000 astrologers, were fattening their pocket-books to the extent of $200,000,000 a year.”—Page 75.
® RIOTS—“There was no nonsense about President Roosevelt’s words. He had called out Federal troops to halt the nation’s worst race riot since the last war. When the shooting, the stoning, the knifing and the bludgeoning, the arson and the looting had ended after 24 hours, 35 were dead, some 700 injured, 1,300 under arrest, and a million dollar’s worth of property damaged. War production dropped 40 per cent.”—“J\[ewswee\" July 5, 1943.
(§) NOT ENFORCEABLE—RelL gious News Service informs us that promises to donate substantial sums of money to church organizations, in the form of signed pledges, due 60 days a^ter death from proceeds of an estate, are not enforceable at law, the Kentucky Court of Appeals held in June, 1943, in deciding uncollectible $10,000 worth of'similar pledges made by a Warren County resident in 1924.
Volume LII -	Number 10
September, 1943
Robert Leo Odom, Editor R. E. Crawford, Circulation Manager
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PAGE 2
The Watchman Magazine
THE HOME FRONT!
The Enemy Within Is More Dangerous than the Foe Without
By Arthur W. Spalding
Director of Social Education, Madison College
WHEN America’s victorious soldiers come home, will they find a peace? Or will they have another war to fight? There is a home front as well as a foreign front; and unless that home front is held, all the victories of our armies overseas will have gone for nought. To be out' flanked, to have our communications cut, to have our bases destroyed, because we put all our confidence in winning a war in Africa and Europe and Asia and the islands of the seas, and forgot to guard our line in America, would be to lose the war and the world. And it is a question whether another war for liberty could even be begun.
What are we fighting for? Every man must answer that for himself. But if we have a common purpose, a single aim, we are fighting to preserve in the world for ourselves, our children, and all men, the right to live as our American fore' bears have lived—free to labor, to speak, to love, to worship as we will, while preserving a balanced sense of the rights of others, and never trespassing upon those rights. This liberty is challenged and destroyed by the totalitarians who proclaim the superiority and rightful supremacy of certain races, classes, and individuals, assuming the right to rule over the rest of mankind as serfs that shall labor and speak and wop ship only as their masters prescribe. We are fighting to de' feat autocracy and to preserve democracy.
Then let us consider well what is involved; and let us not mistake incidental issues for the main cause. To defeat the armies and the fleets of the Axis? A means to an end. To destroy the dictators? As we swat flies to prevent further infection. To keep our territories and to restore ravished lands? Only as we may preserve therein the principles and practice of righteousness. To revenge the cruelties and the lust visited upon the innocent, by heaping multiple evils upon the perpetrators? God forbid it, if we would win our cause. To plant the banner of democracy upon the conquered ramparts of tyranny? Without righteousness within democ' racy, that would be to toss victory to the enemy. De' mocracy provides the opportunity to think and to act as we please: we may think and do good, or we may think and do evil. But the democracy that generates evil thinking and evil doing destroys itself, and invites autocracy. To win our war, then, we not merely have to overcome the overt foes of democracy; we must overcome evil in ourselves and in our people.
This world war is not the greatest contest now going on. It is but one segment and one phase of the great war of the universe. To that universal war this global struggle is as comparable as is the battle of Guadalcanal to the present (Continued on page 18)
PAGE 3
HOLD
Sacred Skywriting Heralds to
the World an Eventful future
FROM the days of antiquity men and women have at' tempted to anticipate coming events. They traveled from distant climes, enduring the perils of land and sea, to consult a Pythian or Delphian oracle that professed to unlock the mystic future. Sorcerers, soothsayers, magicians, and astrologers took their money, and gave advice regarding romance, travel, adventure, riches, and escape from the perils and realities of the world.
In this twentieth century wishful thinkers still gaze into the crystal ball, hoping to look beyond the present, and dis' cover the secrets of tomorrow; yet the globe of clear glass reveals nothing save the reflection of its own surroundings. But what about the unborn years and centuries? Is humanity in total darkness concerning the time to come? Is there no source of authentic information that forecasts the future?
Yes, the Creator of heaven and earth announces Himself as the One who declares ‘"the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” Isaiah 46:10. Likewise Daniel the prophet, when addressing the mightiest monarch of antiquity, testified: "There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known . . . what shall be in the latter days.” Daniel 2: 28.
The disciples of Christ were also anxious to look beyond the obscuring veil of the future. They listened intensely to the Master’s ominous words concerning their magnificent temple, and were astonished at His prediction: "See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2. At the earliest opportunity they approached Him privately with their pressing inquiries: "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Verse 3.
In His memorable reply to these questions, Christ told of the approaching destruction of the Jewish metropolis, and gave them a specific sign by which they might know when to make their escape from the doomed city: "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the deso' lation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.” Luke 21:20, 21.
In view of the coming national overthrowof the Jews, Jesus counselled His followers, "Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” Matthew 24:20. That prayer was answered. A marvelous providence of God opened the way for their departure in the middle of the week. After the Roman commander had laid siege, said the historian Josephus, he suddenly "retired from the city with' out any reason in the world.” The Jewish army pursued with a furious attack; and those trusting, watchful Chris' tians who were acquainted with Christ’s prophecy uttered many years before, now saw their opportunity for quick flight. Soon afterwards the Roman forces returned, and in
PAGE 4
Strange Astronomical Phenomena Speak to Us
By Roy F. Cottrell
Author of “Tomorrow in Prophecy”
the terrible destruction a million Jews perished. No Chris' tian who heeded the Saviour’s counsel lost his life; while in exact accord with the Master’s predictions, the temple was leveled to the ground.
Our Saviour briefly outlined the hardships and persecu' tions through which the church would pass during the long, cruel night of the Dark Ages. (Matthew 24: 21, 22.) For many centuries the papacy was the mistress of Western Europe; and from her full establishment in 538 a. d., the 1260 years of papal supremacy, as revealed in Bible prophecy (Daniel 7* 25; Revelation 12:6; 13: 5), extended to the year 1798, when Pius VI was taken prisoner by the French general Berthier.
Replying to the question, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” our Lord stated:
The astronomical phenomenon known as “The Dark Day” of May 19, 1780, was divinely foretold over 17 centuries before it occurred.
The Watchman Magazine
The stupendous meteoric shower of November 13, 1833, was the greatest display of celestial fireworks known in the annals of man. It, too, was foretold in sacred prophecy.
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven.” Matthew 24: 29, 30.
The reader’s attention is also di' rected to the sequence of events as pre* sented in the parallel prophecy by John in the Revelation: "And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.”
Revelation 6:12, 13.
The introductory sign in this series is "a great earthquake.” It occurred precisely on time. Just as the relentless persecution, or "tribulation of those days,” had spent its fury, the world was stunned by the tragedy of the Lis-bon earthquake. On the morning of November 1, 1755, 60,000 persons perished in less than six minutes. While mentioned as the "Lisbon earthquake,” be' cause that city was the greatest sufferer, half of the world felt the convulsion; and according to Professor W. H. Hobbs, geologist, this historic catastrophe "takes first rank ... in some respects, among all recorded earthquakes.”
The second great sign is the darkening of the sun and moon. The identity of this particular dark day is made clear
by the words of Jesus as given in the Gospel of Mark: "In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened.” Mark 13:24. The religious persecution waged against dissidents began to abate about the middle of the eighteenth century, and by the year 1773 religious toleration had been granted by most of the leading nations of Europe; while, let it be observed, the days of papal supremacy extended to the captivity of the bishop of Rome in 1798. In harmony with these facts, the darkening of the sun and the moon men' tioned by our Saviour and other Bible writers, was to occur within a limited number of years, "in those days,” yet "after that tribulation”—that is, between 1773 and 1798.
Had there been a thousand other dark days, none of them would have fulfilled the specifications, but the notable "dark day” of history occurred on scheduled time.
"The 19th of May, 1780, was unprecedented in New England for its great darkness. . . . The darkness extended over several thousand square miles, though differing much in intensity in different places. Nowhere, perhaps, was it greater than in this vicinity. The day was appropriately called and is still known, as The Dark Day.”—"History of the Town of Hampton, J^ew Hampshire,” by Joseph Dorr, p. 217.
" ‘The dark day of New England,’ so familiar to old and young, came May 19, 1780. . . . Near eleven o’clock, it began to grow dark, as if night were coming. Men ceased their work; the lowing cattle came to the barns, the bleating sheep huddled by the fences, the wild birds screamed and flew to their nests, the fowls went to their roosts. ... At night it was so inky dark that a person could not see his hand when held up, nor even a white sheet of paper.”—"History of Weare, New Hampshire,” by William Little, p. 276.
The mysterious darkness of that day and night was not caused by an eclipse, for the moon was approximately at its full, in which event no eclipse of the sun would be possible. Eminent astronom' ers assert that there was no transit of either Venus or Mercury during that year; while in Noah Webster's Die' tionary, edition of 1869, under-Explana' tory and Pronouncing Vocabulary of Noted Names, it is stated: "The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known.”
The event created a profound im' pression upon men.
William Little further said: "Men, ordinarily cool, were filled with awe and alarm. . . . Some ran about saying that the day of judgment was at hand; the wicked hurried to their neighbors to confess wrongs and ask forgiveness; the superstitious dropped on their knees to pray in the fields, or rushed into the meeting houses to call on God to preserve them.”
"And the moon shall not give her light.” Although the moon was approximately at her full, the darkness of the fob lowing night was so intense that the animal creation, as well as man, was gripped with a nameless terror. "The darkness of the following evening was probably as gross as ever has been observed since the Almighty fiat gave birth to light.
(Continued on page 15)
God’s Law
By
G. C. Hoskin
I gazed into my mirror and I knew
The stains of toil and weariness and sin, And I was vexed at the distressing view That seemed to have but mockery within.
Impatiently I grasped its fragile mold And quickly cast it heedlessly aside, Unwilling to thus consciously behold My faultlessness the spectacle belied.
And thus it is with God’s most holy law That shows defects in character and deed, To crush the one does not amend the flaw, To scorn the other but avows the need.
September — 1943
PAGE 5
Can Mrs. Houdini Talk With Her Husband Now?
CAN MRS. HOUDINI talk with her husband now? It will be remembered that Harry Houdini acquired fame as a sleight-of-hand performer and an escape artist during his lifetime. He also maintained that spiritistic manifestations were nothing more or less than sleight-of-hand performances.
Before Houdini died in 1926, he and his wife gave each other sealed messages. It was agreed that the one who died first would try to send the message that was written and sealed in the envelope. On the anniversary of her husband’s death every year, Mrs. Houdini spent the day in trying to get some message from her deceased husband. She would go into a darkened room and there sit beside his candle-lighted picture waiting for him to send her the sealed message. After trying this for ten consecutive years, Mrs. Houdini is reported as having said, “After trying fruitlessly once a year for ten years to pull down a. message from Harry, I’m convinced the dead can’t communicate with the living. I gave the spirits a chance to make their move.”
Just recently Mrs. Houdini passed away. Now that she has joined the dead, is it at last possible for her to communicate with her husband? Before she died she was convinced that the dead cannot communicate with the living. How about the dead talking with the dead?
The Bible makes clear just what Mrs. Houdini discovered —“I’m convinced the dead can’t communicate with the living.” The Bible is the only authority on the subject of life and death, and the hereafter.
Other works are merely speculative.
So to the Word of God we must turn for light and truth on all questions of this kind.
That the dead can communicate with the living grows out of the theory that consciousness survives after death. In other words, dead people are not really dead, but living, perhaps in some loftier place than ever before. But there is not one iota of evidence in the Word of God for this doctrine. On the contrary, the Bible makes it clear that death is an unconscious sleep. Over and over in the Scriptures we find death compared to sleep.
Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. . . . Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” John 11:11, 14.
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them
PAGE 6
Both Are Now Dead
By M. L. Rice
Mrs. Houdini was not able to communicate with her dead husband while she remained alive. Now that she, too, is dead, can she communicate with him? The accompanying article answers this question.
which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14.
“Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52.
In this unconscious sleep the dead know not anything. “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the
sun.” Ecclesiastes 9: 5, 6. This divine instruction should forever settle in the minds of those who believe the Scriptures that the dead cannot communicate with the living, neither can the dead talk with the dead. Dead people, “know not anything.” Since dead people know not anything, all forms of communication are impossible.
The dead are entirely unconscious.
When a man dies, “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:4.
If dead people could talk, they certainly would communicate with God. But the Scriptures say, “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Psalm 115: 17-
Job has said: “He that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.” Job 7: 9,10. “As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decay-eth and drieth up: so man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.” Job 14: 11, 12. Until the resurrection day, when the Lord shall raise the dead from their dusty beds, the deceased will sleep in silence. Such is the answer the old patriarch found to his question: “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee: Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands.” Verses 14, 15.
No, Mrs. Houdini cannot communicate with her husband.
ipTMmrmmi t
The Watchman Magazine
“IFF CHRIST’S resurrection on Sunday did not I make that day a holy day, I do not know what it would take to make a day holy,” reasoned a cer-tain man when confronted with the fact that the Holy Scriptures nowhere sanction Sunday-keeping.
It is thus that many reason today. Notwithstanding the fact that there is no scripture warranting the observance of the first instead of the seventh day enjoined in the Decalogue, yet they seek to justify its observance on the ground that its celebration is an honor paid to Jesus because He arose from the dead on that day. Is such reasoning sound? Let us examine the foundation of such claims in the light of reason and the Scripture.
It takes more than the occurrence of some great event on a certain day to make it holy. Who can question the fact that the death of Christ was incomparably the greatest event which ever occurred in all the plan of salvation. Yet no Christian thinks of observing Friday, the day upon which He died, as a weekly holy day. It was no marvel, but a thing to be expected, that the Father would call His Son to life after He had died to pay the penalty of man’s transgression. But the death of Christ on Calvary called forth the wonder and adoration of the whole heavenly host. (Revelation 12:10-12.) It is evident therefore that if we should weekly observe a day in honor of Christ’s work of salvation, it would be that of His death rather than that of His resurrection to life.
Furthermore, there is no other ground whatever for
Did Christ's Resurrection Sanctify Sunday?
Some Cogent Reasoning on the Sabbath. Question
Sunday observance is based on the claim that it is commanded by God to be kept in commemoration of Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the week. Do the Sacred Scriptures support this claim?
By I. A. Crane
the wee\ly observance of a holy day, except that which commemorates the events of the original creation week. (Genesis 1; 2:1-3.) At that time the Creator manifested His power by the different creative acts performed upon the first six successive days. And when He had finished and fully perfected His work of creation in those six days, He rested on the seventh day and joyfully contemplated the happiness of a sinless creation. (Genesis 2: 2, 3; Exodus 20: 8-11; Hebrews 4:4.) To commemorate this event, He instituted for man (for “the Sabbath was made for man,” according to Mark 2: 27) the weekly cycle, of which He set apart the first six days for work and sanctified the Sabbath (the seventh day) as a sacred day of rest. There is, therefore, a sound and logical reason for the weekly observance of the Sabbath day. On the other hand, Jesus did not die on six successive days and then rise from the dead on Sunday. Nor did He stay
dead in the grave six days and rise on the first. Therefore His crucifixion day, or His resurrection day, if observed at all, can be observed only as an annual, not a weekly, holiday.
But think what it means to set aside the Sabbath and substitute Sunday instead ! It was Jesus Himself who made the world. (John 1:10.) He was with the Father before the creation. (John 17: 5; Colossians 1: 14-19.) It was Jesus, God the Son, who made the world in the first six days of creation week. “By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,” Colos-sians 1:16. It was He who blessed and sanctified the seventh day as the Sabbath. He honored that day Himself during His life on earth. (Luke 4:16.) He called Himself “Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:28. The early Christian disciples “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23: 56. The redeemed hosts in the new earth will keep the Sabbath throughout eternity. (Isaiah 66: 22, 23.) Had man never sinned, there would have been no death (Romans 5:12), and the world today would be inhabited by a sinless people keeping the day Jesus set apart as holy in Eden. No, Christ’s resurrection on Sunday neither made Sunday holy nor nullified His Sabbath.
September —1943
PAGE 7
THE NEWS INTERPRETED
By the Editor
THE JORDAN HISTORY BARED
A VERY interesting report of new archeological discoveries made as a re' suit of the excavations carried out in the Jordan River valley recently under the direction of Dr. Nelson Glueck, director of the American School of Oriental Re' search of Jerusalem, appeared in The 7<[ew Tor\ Times of June 1, 1943.
The report, which was sent by wire' less from Jerusalem to New York, tells of the discovery of the ruins of 70 villages that anciently existed in that region. “Between the 13th and sixth centuries b. c. there were about 35 villages along 35 miles of the eastern side of the Jordan valley. The inhabit' ants then totaled 35,000 to 40,000, fasfl compared with the 12,000 in Arab en' campments today/’
The report declares that “his dis' coveries also confirmed the biblical narrative in Genesis 13:10“ about the Jordan valley being well watered every' where, “even as the garden of the Lord.” “Dr. Glueck established that the eastern side of the valley was densely settled, from earliest historical times onward by a large, thriving per' manent agricultural population dwell' ing in numerous villages of considerable size. From the area, however, must be excluded much of the western side of the Jordan valley where the hills come so near the river that little space is left and because of the scarcity of water.”
The account written by Moses of the inhabitants of the eastern side of the Jordan valley, as recorded in Deuter' onomy 2:18-37; 3:1'17, reveals that when the region was occupied by the Israelites at the time of the Exodus, it was a populous one, among whose in' habitants figured remnants of the giants of olden times. The region of Argob alone, the kingdom of Og in Bashan, contained 60 villages or towns. The same book of Deuteronomy, in chapters 28, 29, and 30, reveals why that land
PAGE 8
Thanks to the progress of science, the boy pictured on the right was saved from an experience worse than that of trying to digest green apples. He accidentally swallowed a small, steel lock. By means of the magnetic device attached to the end of the cord, the doctor was able to fish the swallowed object from the lad’s stomach and save him from a surgical operation. The X-ray picture below shows both the lock and the magnetic device as they appeared in the boy’s stomach.
has not retained its former fertility and abundance of water, which made it a land flowing with milk and honey.
In this case, as in all others, the spade of the archeologist confirms the truth' fulness of the ancient records of the Book of books. We can believe what it says.
•	PRESSURE GROUPS"
CONDEMNED
RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE re-ports an editorial statement condemning the activities of alleged Roman Catholic “pressure groups” has been released in New York by a special committee of Protestant editors representing the As' sociated Church Press. The statement, consisting of 1,100 words, has been sent
to more than 250 Protestant journals with the request that it be published in full if possible.
The statement was drafted by a special committee consisting of Dr. Guy Emery Shipler, chairman and editor of The Churchman (Protestant Episcopal); Dr. L. O. Hartman, editor of Zions Herald (Methodist); and J. Edward Moseley, associate editor of the Chris' tian Evangelist (Disciples of Christ). It charges that “Roman Catholic pressure groups” have for many years banned from the press and radio “statements of fact and opinion adversely critical of the political activities of the Roman com' munion.”
A protest against this curtailment of freedom of speech in the press and on
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the radio has long been due. Every attempt to muzzle freedom of speech in matters pertaining to religion ought to be resisted.
BLUE-LAW BLITZKRIEG?
A REPORT from Religious News Service states that the Lord’s Day Alii' ance has protested the relaxed vigilance of Sunday laws now on the statute books in all but four states in the Union and has promised “to see that the law is enforced again and violators . . . pun' ished.”
According to Dr. Harry L. Bowlby, secretary of the Alliance, a bill will be introduced in the next session of Con' gress instructing the Post Office De' partment to stamp mail cancelled two weeks prior to, and including Easter Sunday, with the words: “Observe Sunday.’’
Our lawmakers and magistrates should turn a deaf ear to the petitions of the Lord’s Day Alliance. Sunday is an ecclesiastical festival and not a civil in' stitution. Sunday legislation by Con' gress and the use of the Post Office De' partment, a government institution, for furthering the interests of zealots who wish to use the civil power for the achievement of their religious objectives is un'American and contrary to the fundamental principle of the separation of church and state as long cherished by our nation. The proper means for the promotion of Sunday observance should be found in the churches of the people who believe in it. It is a dangerous move when men attempt to make the civil government a tool for the promo' tion of the interests of religious organi' nations.
Sunday laws serve as a means of re' ligious persecution. The avowed objec' tive of the Lord’s Day Alliance “to see that the law is enforced and violators . . . punished’’ indicates that these blue laws are designed to serve as a means of persecuting such persons as do not believe in nor practice Sunday ob' servance. Seventh'day Adventists, Seventh Day Baptists, Orthodox Jews, and other religious people who. keep the Sabbath (the seventh day) as sacred and consider Sunday a working day, will be the victims of Sundaydaw enforcement. Also the people who do not profess any religious regard for a weekly holy day, will be forced to observe Sunday against their will. Thus Sunday laws compel
them to put on a show of hypocrisy, making them keep Sunday when their hearts do not sanction the day. By en' forced idleness on Sunday millions of irreligious people of this country will turn to all kinds of vice and obnoxious pleasures, when otherwise they might spend Sunday in some form of whole' some and profitable labor.
DIVORCE BOOM PREDICTED
DR. HORNELL HART, Duke Uni' versity sociologist, is reported by Re' ligious News Service as saying that a survey which he has conducted recently indicates “the terrible fact that between 33 and 55% of the marriages now being consummated will end in divorce” after the war. The statement was made in the commencement address delivered by Dr. Hart at the Atlantic Christian Cob lege in Wilson, North Carolina.
This interesting prediction un' doubtedly will lead the readers of The Watchman Magazine to appreciate all the more the article entitled “Hold the Home Front” on page 3 of this issue of our journal. The author, Arthur W. Spalding, director of the Department of Social Education at Madison College, Tennessee, has had a wide experience in the study and the teaching of the science of Christian home'making. He has writ' ten several good books on the subject. This is the first of a series of articles from this author.
When he foretold “that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Tim' othy 3:1'5), the gospel prophet de' dared that disobedience to parents, lack of natural affection, pronounced incon' tinence, and notorious treason,—sins that bring tragedy to multitudes of American homes today—would be causes of present'day perils.
FAITHS AND FIGURES
THE YEARBOOK of American Churches, recently published by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, shows that 67,327,' 719 persons in the United States are considered as church members. This is reported as being 50.3% of the total population of the country. The com' bined membership for all Protestant churches is listed at 38,502,067; for the Roman Catholic Church, 22,945,247; and for Jewish congregations, 4,641,184. A total of 256 denominations exist.
It is also reported that 14,922,060 of
the 67,327,719 church members are 12 years of age or under. Infant baptism accounts for much of Roman Catholic membership.
The religious census reveals some things worth remembering. The United States is not a Christian nation. Only 50.3% of the total population of the country makes a religious profession, and of this portion some 4,641,184 per’ sons are Jews. If we deduct from the 50.3% those who profess Judaism, the remainder of the religious element in the United States constitutes a minority. In other words, more than half of the in' habitants of our land are not Christian by profession. A far greater portion of them are not Christian in practice.
These sober facts about our nation ought to cause every sincere and Chris' tian American to regard our own land as a mission field in need of true wit' nesses for Christ. The situation de' mands not religious legislation by Congress, as some zealots would have it, but more consecrated preaching and practice of real Christianity by those who profess to believe in it.
BESTSELLER BOOM
THE HOLY BIBLE is still the world’s best'seller book. The Bible So' ciety Record of May, 1943, says: “In spite of all manner of hindrances, in' eluding labor shortage, restricted paper supply, priorities, and scarcity of special materials, the {American Biblefl So' ciety, in its effort to meet the extra' ordinary demands for God’s Word in our own country and to furnish Scrip' tures for other lands, produced in 1942 the largest volume of Scriptures ever issued from the Bible House in the 127 years of its work. The total was 8,230,865.”
A record circulation of the Sacred Scriptures in Mexico was reported, the total of 274,457 copies in 1941 having jumped to 445,370 in 1942.
Writing in the Minneapolis Sunday Tribune of June 20, 1943, John K. Sherman, a columnist, paused to say: “Speaking of best sellers, there is a Bible shortage, at least a shortage of the English'printed ones which have always led in prestige and popularity the Bibles printed in this country. Oxford’s India'paper edition of the New Testa' ment and Psalms is virtually unavail' able ... a lot of them lie at the bot' tom of the Atlantic today.”
September —1943
PAGE 9
The theory that man is the progeny of apes and monkeys has been abandoned by those persons who have carefully examined the data presented in support of it.
WHEN Charles Darwin in 1859, published his "‘Origin of Species," purporting to prove the evolu' tion of all forms of life from some common primeval origin, Huxley described the volume as "a veritable whit' worth gun in the army of liberalism." By it, he believed, the Bible teaching of creation by divine fiat was shot to pieces.
Continuing the metaphor, we may presume he regarded Darwin’s "Descent of Man," published in 1871, and his own essays on "Man’s Place in Nature" as having simply riddled the dead corpse of creationism.
It must indeed be admitted that in the latter part of the nineteenth and the first two decades of the twentieth cen' tury, the protagonists of the "ape theory" did seem to have a formidable case.
In 1857, between Dusseldorf and Elberfeld in the Ruhr, the remains of the so-called "Neanderthal man" had been found, whose skull Huxley had acclaimed "the most pithecoid of human crania yet discovered."
During the next 40 years the discovery of many other similar fossil remains proved the widespread distribution of this "apedike" Neanderthal race, short in stature, with bulky frame and robust limbs, a low cranial vault, indicating inferior intelligence, large brow ridges, and a receding chin.
In 1890 a Dutch army surgeon, Dr. Eugen Dubois, found in certain deposits in Java, East Indies, some "sub-human" remains which revealed a still lower cranial vault and more pronounced brow ridges—that is more "apedike" even than the Neanderthal man of Europe—and which Dubois classed as actually "borderline" between man and ape.
The first decade of the present century saw the discovery of the "Heidelberg man," which was alleged to be inter' mediate between the Neanderthal and the Java man, while in 1912 the "Piltdown man" of Sussex came to light and was
placed between the Neanderthal and "modern" man.
Finally in 1926 and 1927, near Peking in North China, some skeletal fragments were pieced together to produce the "Peking man" between the "Java man" and the "Heidelberg man."
By this time the evolutionists were really beginning to think the chain of "missing links" was nearly complete.
But just as during the past 20 years or so biblical arche' ology has dealt the death blow to many of the finespun theories of the historical critics, so these two decades have turned the tables on the evolutionary anthropologists in a most remarkable way. And the apparent triumph of the "ape theory" now throws into more striking relief its precipitate fall.
Let us begin with the lowest rung of the evolu' tionary "ladder" from ape to human, the "only just human" Java man.
Further search in the Solo River area resulted in the discovery in 1932 of fossil remains of a Java man who was anatomically very close to the Neanderthal type and who, from associated artifacts, evidently had the intelligence to make and use bone harpoons!
Still more recently, in 1939, in the Sangiran district three quarters of the brain case of another fossil individual was found, with a cleft in it obviously made by an instrument like an axe.
These sensational finds put the Java man in a very different light. For a creature with so large a brain case, who could make bone harpoons and axes and who could use them so pur' posefully was clearly far removed from "ape" mentality.
Instead, therefore, of representing the "borderline" be' tween ape and man, the Java man turns out to be a being of considerable, if misguided, intelligence!
We now turn to the Peking man, supposed to be the second rung of the ladder, "higher" than the Java man but lower than the Heidelberg and Neanderthal types.
Since the original fragments were found nearly 20 years ago, the remains of at least 24 different individuals have come to light. An examination of this large mass of fossil material reveals that while the earliest fragments suggested that the Peking man was of much lower brain capacity than the Ne' anderthal man, some of the more recently found skulls reveal but little difference. A number of thigh bones show con' clusively that the Peking man did not stoop like an ape, but stood quite erect. The lower jaw is, in certain cases, more "modern" than the Neanderthal jaw, while, perversely enough, the brow ridges were sometimes more "primitive" even than the Java man.
Moreover, the Peking man, who, like the Java man, was regarded as so "sub'human" as to be incapable of making instruments or using fire, has now provided evidence of both these accomplishments. The fact that he worked in bone and stone indicates that he was no mere animal, but as intelligent as the bone'and stone'working peoples of early Europe.
Which, of course, all means that the Java, Peking, and Neanderthal men can no longer be graded as three widely
NEW DATA
Sensational Scientific
PACE 10
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separated and successive stages of human development either in anatomy or intelligence.
What then of the relations between the Neanderthal and the “modern” man? In this field further research has demon' strated the existence of Neanderthal characteristics in living races such as the Australian aborigines, and has led to the conclusion well stated by the anthropologist, Humphrey J. T. Johnson, in his “The Bible and the Early History of Mankind”:
“In no sense can the Neanderthal bones be regarded as the remains of a human being intermediate between men and
which, of course, would be entirely in harmony with the Bible story of the fall.
Whatever be the final answer, the important fact which emerges is that the gap between ape and man, between simian and human intelligence, is as great as ever.
The Java, Peking, Heidelberg, Neanderthal, and Piltdown men were all “real” men, exhibiting human intelligence, cub ture, and even religious beliefs. And from their remains not a shred of evidence can be adduced contrary to the Bible die' turn of the separate creation of man.
ON THE APE THEORY
scoveries that Provoke Serious Thought Y W. L. Emmerson
of “Present Truth” Watford, England
apes. At most they demonstrate the existence of a man who . . . may be said to revert somewhat to the pithecoid type.” {Italics ours.J
But these anatomical and cultural facts are not all. For the Neanderthal man, whose abundant remains have now permitted extensive study, was not only intelligent enough to make implements and weapons, and use fire, but has now given evidence of religious thought.
In the Grimaldi caves of Mentone he deliberately buried his dead in a bed of red ochre. Elsewhere various objects were buried with the dead Neanderthals, presumably with a religious significance.
At Tashkent, in Central Asia, for example, the horns of goats were found arranged in pairs round a Neanderthal body. Some remains found in France had associated with them a rhinoceros tooth and a bison horn, evidently put in as magical charms to protect the dead. Even food has been found in Neanderthal graves to meet the needs of the de^ parted in the afterlife.
These evidences clearly show not merely a degree of cub ture, but also religion and belief in an afterlife!
Thus the carefully graded “missing links” from animal intelligence to man are shown not to be a chain at all, and their supposed progressive evolution from an “only just human” is demonstrated to have no basis whatsoever in fact. Every one of the supposed “sub-human” men is proved to be separated anatomically, culturally, and spiritually, from the apes by a great gulf.
What then is the explanation of the unusual anatomical features which have given rise to the “ape theory”?
Humphrey J. T. Johnson, the anthropologist mentioned above, suggests that it may be due to “a high degree of plasticity” of bodily form “which has since been lost,” pro* ducing “exaggerations of racial characteristics ... in an unfavorable environment.”
Professor Hadden, from his studies of Australian aborigb nes (“The Races of Man”), has suggested “racial senility,”
With a few bones and a great deal of imagination, the early advocates of the evolution theory tried to make it appear that the “Neanderthal man,” the “Peking man,” the “Java man,” the “Heidelberg man,” the “Piltdown man,” and so forth are links connecting the human with the simian tribe. Recent scientific discoveries have thrown new light on this matter.
Manners must adorn knowledge and smooth its way through the world. Like a great rough diamond, knowledge may do well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value; but it will never be worn nor shine if it is not polished.—Chesterfield.
September — 1943
PAGE 11
THE NEED Of DIVINE REVELATION
Why Do Men Need the Sacred Scriptures?
WHAT THE foundation is to a building, such are the Holy Scriptures to the Christian religion. The writings composing this Sacred Volume came to us from the God of heaven. He is their Author. In them is given a revelation of His character and will, the laws and principles of His government; and the attributes pertaining to His position as Creator and Sovereign of the universe.
The Holy Scriptures inform us that men lost the revelation which God gave them in the beginning, because they did not want to retain Him in their knowledge. The result was that they "changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." Romans 1:23. Their conception of the Deity and of His worship was degraded to the lowest pagan level.
A knowledge of the revelation given to mankind in the Holy Scriptures is a safeguard against false worship. The value of them as such is seen in what false worship has brought upon mankind, as disclosed in history and manifest in heathen lands today. By paganism men were led into the most abominable practices recorded in human annals. Idol worship was accompanied by licentiousness and cruelty of
PAGE 12
By Leon A. Smith
so dreadful a nature that even the thought of it causes one to shudder.
Hopeless indeed would be the condition of the human family if men were left to depend upon what their own minds could discover for their knowledge of God and the right manner of His worship. Men have depended upon themselves, neglecting the pages of the Divine Revelation. Because of this the world has become filled with innumerable diverse and conflicting systems of worship, each claiming to be the true religion.
Mental ability, which enables men to discover scientific truth and master the various branches of secular knowledge, cannot be solely relied on to discern between truth and error in the spiritual realm. The truths of divine revelation are not set forth in the words of the scholar and the orator. To the Christians at Corinth the apostle Paul said that he came to them "not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God; . . . that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5.
The truths which cluster around the cross of Christ, are of a nature which puts them beyond the reach of human reasoning. They are contrary to the thinking of the natural mind. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14. Men's writings are prone to glorify the human. If the Holy Scriptures had been the product of human minds, they would have ignored or excused men's weaknesses and sins, and would have been full of the glorification of the great characters of sacred history. The Bible writers, on the contrary, lay all human greatness and goodness and wisdom in the dust.
When men had, the knowledge of God, "they glorified Him not as God," the Scriptures state. (Romans 1:21.) They were not willing to give to God the glory that was His due, because they wanted to glorify themselves. That was the rule governing the operation of the natural heart back long ago, and it is conspicuously so today.
The human mind fails as a guide to spiritual truth not only because of its very finite powers, but because there is associated with it a carnal heart filled with the weaknesses of human nature. Religious beliefs are often determined more by individual prejudices and passions than by the exercise of the reasoning faculties; they are shaped more by wishful thinking than by logical study.
"The world by wisdom knew not God," the Sacred
The Sacred Scriptures have been published in more than 1,000 languages and dialects. They constitute the most widely circulated book ever known among men. The accompanying article tells us why the revelation of God in nature does not suffice for us in the struggle against sin.
The Watchman Magazine
Book affirms. 1 Corinthians 1:21. The representatives of worldly wisdom today, both in the church and outside it, are not willing to give God the glory due to Him as the Creator, and have set up a theory which attributes the origin of the human family to some supposedly inherent power by which creatures on the lowest plane of existence have become elevated to the position of beings endowed with reason and conscience. Such is the commonly accepted theory of evolution—a doctrine which makes man his own savior, denies the Bible story of the creation and the fall of man, and does away with any necessity for the cross of Christ.
Against the reception of such theories the Holy Scriptures are a safeguard; for no one can hold to the Genesis narrative of the creation, and to the Ten Commandment law, while believing the doctrine of evolution. The fourth command'
ment of the Decalogue, in harmony with Genesis, affirms that the heavens and the earth were made in six literal days. (Genesis 2:2, 3; Exodus 20: 8'11.) To believe otherwise would make obedience to the commandment impossible; and he who obeys this Sabbath precept by resting on the seventh day of the week, thereby proclaims that he is not a believer in evolution.
From all this it is evident that without such a revelation of God as is given in the Inspired Volume, we would be, so far as spiritual truth is concerned, like a mariner adrift at sea without chart or compass. We would be without knowledge of our origin, of how we arrived at our present estate, or of whither we are bound.
Without the enlightenment of Holy Writ we would be without a knowledge of the origin of the world in which we (Continued on page 18)
IN A RECENT issue of a popular religious maga' zine it was said that “Moses was inspired to deliver to the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness of Sinai the Ten Commandments."
Many people suppose that Moses, who was one of the inspired writers of the Holy Scriptures, was the author of the Decalogue. But true facts of the case are that God Himself
first came down in person and orally proclaimed the Ten Commandments from the rocky summit of Mount Sinai, in the hearing of the assembled children of Israel. (Exodus 19.) “God spake all these words." Exodus 20:1. (See Deuteronomy 4:10-13; 5:4, 5; 33:2, 3.)
Moreover, God Himself wrote the Ten Commandments for Israel. Although Moses was a great prophet and writer, he was not entrusted with the task of writing that famous code of sacred law known as the Decalogue. After .the Lord had proclaimed orally the Ten Commandments, He said to Moses: “Come up to Me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them." Exodus 24:12. “And He gave unto Moses when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." Exodus 31:18.
Forty years later, when Moses rehearsed the experience of his people, he said to them: “And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was* written according to all the words, which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly." Deuteronomy 9:10.
“And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables
were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." Exodus 32:15,16. (See Deuteronomy 4: 13; 5: 22.)
When Moses arrived at the Israelite camp, he found that the people had broken God’s law and were worshiping a golden calf. Thereupon “he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount." Exodus 32: 19. (See Deuteronomy 9: 17.)
A little later God said to Moses: “Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest." Exodus 34:1. (See verses 2, 4; Deuteronomy 10:1-3.)
Moses obeyed. “And He IGodJ wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." Exodus 34: 28. “And He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me." Deuteronomy 10:4, 5. (See Exodus 25: 16, 21; 1 Kings 8: 9.)
It is very clear, therefore, that Moses did not write the Ten Commandments. They were the “writing of God," and were “written with the finger of God."
An unearthed mammoth, dug up near Clovis, New Mexico, was found to have a man-made spear embedded in one of its forelimbs, proving definitely that man lived on earth during the time of these hairy giants.—“The Nashville Tennessean," July 2,1943.
Facts Versus Fiction — No. 3
Who Wrote the Decalogue?
By A. Mytheswatter
September —1943
PAGE 13
Many people, in their desire to escape the heat of the summer months, go to the mountains in search for a cooler and more refreshing clime. The war effort has made it impossible for most of us to go away from home for a vacation this year. We must meet the hot-weather problem in some other way.
KEEP COMFORTABLE IN WARM WEATHER
WE HAVE reached the time of year when we are likely to greet each other with, “Very hot today.” Each one reminds his neighbor of the “unbearably hot weather,” something we are all anxious to forget.
Hot weather is by many regarded as a curse. Everyone seems bent on searching out a cool spot somewhere. Hot weather may even be a blessing. During the winter months the skin is inactive, and an extra burden is thrown on the kidneys. This is especially true of those whose habits are sedentary, who never take sufficient exercise to get up a good sweat, those who are earning their bread by the labor of the brain. Naturally, impurities tend to accumulate.
The skin is a very important organ of elimination. When the warm weather ap' pears, the skin is active, and the accumulated wastes are thrown off. We have what we might term a spring house^cleaning. Many persons are willing to pay anywhere from one to two dollars for an electric light or Russian bath in order to get a good sweat in the winter. As the summer months come on and people may have this treatment without money, they are likely to complain. Those of us who cannot afford to take time off to secure a cool spot ought to adapt ourselves to exist' ing conditions and convert the apparent curse into a blessing. This may be done.
The human body marvellously adapts itself to changes in the temperature in such a way that the internal body temperature remains practically the same all the time, winter and summer. The normal temperature in the mouth is about 98.6 degrees. The outside temperature may be 20 degrees below zero or 100 degrees above, and yet the internal temperature remains the same. Wherever men may dwell upon the face of the earth, the internal temperature is uninfluenced. The temperature inside of man is maintained by equalizing the circulation of the blood, and this is itself under the control of a very delicate nervous regulating mechanism.
The amount of heat produced in any organ or muscle of the body is dependent upon the amount of oxidation that takes place within it. The liver, being very vascular, may have a normal temperature of 105 or 106 degrees. The tern' perature of some of the deeper muscles, not so vascular, may range from 100 to 102 degrees, while the mucous membrane of the mouth has a temperature of only 98.6 degrees. The temperature of the skin is still lower. In the armpit the thermometer registers approximately one degree lower than it does in the mouth.
If there were no way of affording relief from the produC' tion of heat internally, in a very short time the liver cells would be destroyed by the intense accumulation of heat. Nature has so arranged that the heated blood from glands and muscles is brought to the surface of the body for cooling. The temperature being reduced, the blood is then conveyed to the internal glands, organs, and muscles. In this way an
PAGE 14
Practical Tips from the Doctor By Daniel H. Kress, M. D.
equitable temperature within the body is constantly main' tained.
In cold weather less blood is brought to the surface to be cooled. This accounts for the white skin and the blue lips. This is a means of protection to the internal organs. When the weather is very cold, the skin may even assume a goose' flesh appearance in an effort to keep the blood from coming freely to the surface. This is nature’s way of protecting the body from an excessive loss of heat.
There are drugs which interfere with this delicate mechanism. In fact, most of them do. Alcohol, for instance, does not protect the body from cold. True, it causes a sen' sation of warmth by dilating the capillaries of the skin and imparting heat to the sensory nerves which influence the regulating nerve centers. Nature’s delicate mechanism is thus interfered with, and the warm blood from the dilated surface capillaries, by producing a sensation of warmth to the skin, sends a deceptive report to the heat'regulating cen' ters. The internal temperature of a person under the influ' ence of alcoholic drink may be as low as 93 degrees, and yet
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he may feel comfortable. Men have been known to freeze to death in extremely cold weather under the supposition that whisky was keeping them warm.
Cooling of the blood is brought about chiefly by the evapo-fration of moisture from the surface of the skin. A normal adult gives off from two to four pints of moisture every 24 hours through the skin, and yet gives no evidence of perspiration.
When the weather becomes very hot, the surface of the skin becomes red, and more moisture oozes out through the pores. This is nature’s way of cooling the blood. This explains why those who sweat readily do not suffer so much from the heat as do those who have a dry and inactive skin. The moisture on the surface of the skin answers the same purpose that the moist cloth surrounding a pitcher of water does on a warm day. The breeze passing over it causes evaporation to take place and tends to keep the water within the pitcher cool. In the same manner the internal temperature of the body is maintained. Men working outside, where there is a circulation of air, suffer less from heat than do those who are confined to offices with no breeze. The purpose of a fan is to encourage evaporation, thus cooling off the body.
(To be continued.)
Sacred Skywriting
(Continued from page 5)
... I could not help conceiving at the time, that if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was equally invisible with the blackest velvet.”—Letter of Dr. Samuel Tenney, cited in “Collections of Massachusetts Historical Society,” for the year 1792.
During the latter part of that same eventful night, the moon became visible as a blood-red ball in the heavens, thus fulfilling the word of Inspiration, “And the moon became as blood.” Revelation 6:12.
In like manner the next great sign of the heavens arrested the attention of millions and directed their thoughts to the words of Christ: “The stars shall fall from heaven.” Writing of that dazzling event, the celebrated astronomer and meteorologist, Professor Denison Olmsted of Yale College said:
“Those who were so fortunate as to witness the exhibition of shooting stars on the morning of November 13, 1833, probably saw the greatest display of celestial fireworks that has ever been seen since the creation of the world, or at least within the annals covered by the pages of history.” He further estimated that the meteors fell at the rate of 34,640 per hour.
“The most sublime phenomenon of shooting stars, of which the world has furnished any record,” says “Burrits Geography of the Heavens,” “was witnessed throughout the United States on the morning of the 13th of November, 1833. The entire extent of this astonishing exhibition has not been precisely ascertained, but it covered no inconsiderable part of the earth’s surface. The first appearance was that of fireworks of the most imposing grandeur, covering the entire vault of heaven with myriads of fireballs resembling sky-
rockets. Their coruscations were bright, gleaming, and incessant, and they fell thick as the flakes in the early snows of December.”
As described in the vision of the ancient prophet: “The stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” Revelation 6:13. In many newspapers and magazines, the likeness of the prophetic description was emphasized. Said one of these:
“No philosopher or scholar has told or recorded an event like that of yesterday morning. A prophet eighteen hundred years ago foretold it exactly. . . . The falling stars did not come as if from several trees shaken, but from one. Those which appeared in the east fell toward the east; those which appeared in the north fell toward the north; those which appeared in the west fell toward the west; and those which appeared in the south . . . fell toward the south; and they fell, not as ripe fruit falls; far from it; but they flew, they were cast, like the unripe fig, which at first refuses to leave (Continued on page 17)
Why do I get a headache when downtown shopping, if I go without eating past lunch time? L. M.
It is thought that this may sometimes be caused by overdistention of the gall bladder, since it is emptied by a meal in which there is some form of fats; so that a glass of milk containing the cream taken at lunch time might help to pre~ vent this troublesome symptom. There might at the same time be other causes, such as eye strain, constipation, and many other factors, all of which should be considered in keeping oneself physically fit.
Can cataracts be cured without an operation? B. G. R.
No, cataracts cannot be cured without surgery if they are at all advanced. It is possible, however, in early cases to so direct one’s physical habits that they may sometimes be arrested in their progress so that the eyesight will not be further diminished, for cataracts are closely related to all aging processes such as arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and as such are greatly affected by one’s physical habits. One should avoid the poisons or drugs contained in coffee, tea, tobacco, and alcohol, and also avoid those food poisons which accumulate in the bowel tract when eating largely of meat and other foods of acid-engendering type. Fruits and their juices together with green and yellow vegetables, some milk, cereals, and a little cottage cheese, with an occasional egg, make up a diet highly alkalizing and tending to contribute to the retaining of the youthful condition of the tissues as long as possible.
September —1943
PAGE 15
Women And War Work
A Plea for Neglected Homes and Kiddies
By Martha E. Warner
Author of “Let's Build a Home”
PERHAPS not many of my readers will agree with me when I say that I believe that out of the many women who are doing war work, those who are mothers of little children could better serve their country by staying in their own homes and carefully training those children by planting in their minds the high principles and aspirations that men live and die for.
As a well-known writer has said, “There are certain basic truths in life that nothing has ever altered even by so much as a hair’s breadth. There is no new way for a baby to be born. There is no adequate substitute for a mother or a mother’s love, or a mother’s incessant care and watchfulness. No hand is so potent in shaping a child’s character and determining its destiny as its mother’s. Nor is there any place in which a child can grow up into fine manhood or womanhood as it can in a peaceful, happy home.”
Though wearing a snappy uniform, or working in slacks for big money, may be more attractive than darning socks or changing the baby, yet no woman can be a good mother who will leave her children for work in shop or factory, however great the need, because being a good mother is a one-woman job, and one which cannot be delegated to others. Our children need homes, and homes need mothers.
Now I would not have you think that by this I do not approve of women answering their country’s call and taking part in this war which has taken our husbands, our sons, and our sweethearts; for I do approve most heartily.
And still more. I am proud of these women—proud of the WACS and the WAVES, the Red Cross workers, the canteen workers, and the legion of women who are so successfully replacing men in shops and factories, thereby proving to the world that American women are not slackers. But what I am not proud of are the scattered homes where children are left to shift for themselves. And just now there are too many of these homes.
Not long ago I called at a house and a little four-year-old boy answered my knock, solemnly announcing, “I’m the only one at home in this house.” I later learned that he spoke the truth, for both parents were away from the place all through the day, and day after day.
As I thought about it, I could not help but wonder what the attraction was that could lure a mother away from her home and her child, and I asked myself if it was the patriotic spirit or the desire for big money.
It was young Mrs. White, the mother of two children, who gave me an answer. She frankly said, “It’s the money I am after. I am making $62.50 a week. Isn’t that wonderful? And just think of all the things I can buy for myself and the children with all that money. My 10-year-old Helen is perfectly capable of looking after Junior, so we get along just fine!”
PAGE 16
Well, maybe they do, but the question, “Who looks after Helen?” keeps arising in my mind. And what of the babies who haven’t even a Helen?
You may have read the story of Mrs. Blank and little Sally, for the daily papers gave considerable space to it. The family lives not many miles from my home, and the story touched me deeply.
Mrs. Blank is an attractive, vivacious little woman, whose husband is in the U. S. Navy. Being fired with the spirit to do her part in helping win the war, she entered one of the defense factories and worked on the night shift.
Her hours were such that she could see that little four-year-old Sally was safely tucked into bed before she left for work, and in the morning she was home in time to help the child dress and to serve her breakfast.
When questioned as to how she dared leave Sally alone in the house all night, she laughed and said, there were neighbors near, and besides Sally never got out of her bed in the night.
But there came a night when she did. Nobody knows why. It may be that she went to the stove to get warm, for it was a bitter, cold night; but however that may be, in some way her night clothes caught fire. Her screams brought a passer-by; but before she was rescued, she was horribly burned and died four hours after reaching the hospital.
Go where you may, and you will find little children being neglected, and older ones getting their education from the street and from questionable companions, at the risk of losing their manners and their morals.
One of the vital questions facing mothers today is this: “Am I needed in the factory more than I am in my home?” Read the accompanying article and answer that question for yourself.
The Watchman Magazine
If some of these patriotic mothers only knew some of the things that go on when they are away, I believe their hair would stand on end in horror. But they do not know. And even if they did, their eyes would be blinded to the fact that c their children could be a part of it.
I could tell you of little five-year-old Patsy whose profane and dirty language will equal that of many men; and of Julia
Two Builders
By Zita Harris
Who seeks to build a house Of love and laughter,
Must first have faith and hope In every rafter.
The walls must never speak Of loud dissensions,
But silently will mold Freedom’s dimensions.
So build that friends may know Your joy together,
Within a two by four Breasting dark weather.
With faith and hope engrained In every rafter,
Your house will harbor dreams Of love and laughter.
just 14, who regularly visits a man’s apartment night after night. I could tell you of—but what is the use? Stories alone do not awaken mothers to a sense of their responsibility to their children; it may take the sight of a cold little form lying in a white casket, or the knowledge of a young girl ruined for life, to do it; but what a dreadful price to pay for thinking it is a mother’s duty to help win this war at the expense of losing her children!
In last night’s paper, J. Edgar Hoover, chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, deplores the increase of crime, which threatens a ‘'breakdown of our home front.”
He says, “Something has happened to our moral fibers when the nation’s youth under voting age accounted for 15% of all murders, 35% of all robberies, 58% of all car thefts and 50% of all burglaries.”
He also states that “arrests of girls under 21, for offenses against common decency” increased 76%. And then he added that “now is the time to start a counter-offensive to keep the home front clean, wholesome, and strong.”
Yes, dear mothers, “now; is the time” when you can serve your country best by watching over your children and steering their stumbling feet into the right road. I hope you will agree with me.
Sacred Skywriting
(Continued from page 15)
the branch; and when it does break its hold, flies swiftly, straight off, descending; and in the multitude falling, some cross the track of others, as they are thrown with more or less force.”—“JSJeu; Tor\ Journal of Commerce,” J\[ov. 16, 1833.
It is truly marvelous how these great phenomena of nature came marching along to the divine schedule, and in the exact manner outlined in the Inspired Word. Had there been a succession of two, or even three, outstanding episodes in prophetic fulfilment, it might be charged to chance, or the caprice of nature. But when four notable events of the first magnitude occurred at the precise time foretold, and followed one another in the exact sequence outlined by prophecy, honest hearts must feel that “this is the finger of God.” According to the New Testament timetable, the second coming of Jesus is the next great event to occur, for immediately after enumerating these signs, our Lord declared: “Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and 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. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24: 30, 31.
SOCIAL PROBLEMS, ANSWERED
The timely and helpful suggestions given to readers of THE WATCHMAN MAGAZINE in this department are sup* plied by Arthur W. Spalding, director of Social Education, Madison College, Tennessee. Address your questions to Mr. Spalding in care of this magazine.
You do not approve of long engagements. either do 1. But now I have been engaged for a year to a young man whom I have \nown all my life. He is in the army, of course, and he wants me to marry him before he goes overseas. But I have heard a good deal said against war marriages, and I fear it would not be satisfactory. Should we brea\ our engagement?
Sister, you just don’t seem to be the marrying kind. If you had known the young man for only one week, and had been engaged for no more than six days and a half, and he was going overseas the next minute, I would say, Yes, break the engagement. But when you have known the young man all your life, and have been engaged to him for a year, and he is about to sail away into battle, if you aren’t wildly enough in love to embrace him at the altar, well, perhaps he would better break the engagement, but I don’t know that it matters much about you. You would be just as placidly apprehensive whether you were a war widow, or the girl back home, or free, white, and twenty-odd. It’s a precarious business advising young people sight unseen to marry. Without doubt there are thousands and tens of thousands of hasty and unwise marriages started off by the guns, and there are going to be perhaps millions of tragedies. But we may as well face the fact that it is futile to spend time weighing two pennyweight of sugar on a Troy scale while the ammunition is being passed. Life will not pause for our niceties. Either we live tremendously in these tremendous times or we help swell the casualties. Marriage is, always was, and while time lasts will ever be, the most significant and potential act
PAGE 17
September —1943
of life. It holds in its two hands the fate of the twain and the fortunes of the race. Would that we might make every mar' riage eugenic, sagacious, ideal; but the ingredients of mar' riage have been long preparing in the lives of those who speak their vows. We have to build tomorrow's society out of the stuff that yesterday’s and today’s society have made. So, daughter, for better for worse, marry the man, or else forever after hold your peace.
Hold the Home front!
(Continued from page 3)
global war—a part of it, an important part, but only a part. The greater war is the conflict between good and evil, the war between God and the devil. Every man, every woman, every child, every people, every nation that stands for the principles of right—for free will, good will, truth, kindness, mercy, ministry, purity, reverence, unselfish love—is on the side of God. Such champions of the right may be marshaled in armies that batter down the strongholds of tyranny; or they may be marshaled in home service, to make the re' sources, material and spiritual, which not only support the armies in the field but, even more important, build the moral fiber of the nation. These latter make the home front.
The enemy is diabolically cunning. He is not weak in strategy nor limited in tactics. He does not merely stand up and fight; he infiltrates, he sneaks, he ambushes, he seduces, he betrays. Nothing pleases him better than to draw our forces into an exposed front while we leave gaps for infiltra' tion of his most subtle agents into our inmost strongholds. In these tactics he is succeeding. While the guns thunder and the air rains destruction in Tunisia and the Ruhr and New Guinea, the devil laughs because he is planting avarice and malice and lust and treason in the minds and lives of some men and women at home. For out of such evils, un' checked, will come victory for the forces of autocracy, op' pression, and tyranny. That is no theological abstraction; that is the moral factor in politics. This war, as all wars, will be won or lost not primarily on the fields of battle but in the moral fabric of the nations' souls. Let an autocracy be defeated in war but succeed in implanting its concepts in the minds of its opponents, and its cause is won. The caption may be changed, but the substance endures. Great Babylon ceases to be a geographical point, and becomes the air we breathe.
We are fighting the battle on the home front as well as on foreign shores and the high seas. What profit will there be if our armies and navies smash the forces of tyranny, only to come home to an America that has lost the battle for liberty, for law'keeping, for justice, for fairness, for purity, for com' passion, for the love of God, and has become the habitation of mean and petty tyrants and of congenital criminals? That possibility is no figment of the imagination. No thinking man can look today upon the developments in the industrial and labor world, without apprehension of a gripping tyranny that tomorrow can throttle the industrial freedom of every' one, and with it his right to all freedom. No thinking person can view today the social conditions that surround and in' fluence the children of this generation, and the already great increase in juvenile delinquency, without apprehending a wave of crime tomorrow that can swamp the nation. For
PAGE 18
the juvenile delinquency of today makes the adult criminality of tomorrow.
We face the foe in our own institutions and our own homes. We are forced to join battle. The outcome of this struggle on the home front is more vital to our fortunes and to the cause of liberty than is the outcome of the military struggle. Are we trained and disciplined and spiritually equipped to meet the enemy and to conquer him? Only if the answer is Yes, will victory be ours.
(This is the first of four articles by Professor Spalding. The second will appear in our next issue.)
The Heed of Divine Revelation
(Continued from page 13)
live, and of the cause and significance of the existing world upheaval. Such questions as that of the origin of evil, who made the devil, why does God permit him to live, and why the present cataclysm of death and ruin spreading over the earth, after all that has been done for mankind by modern civilisation, educational advancement, and scientific progress and enlightenment—questions which must be in many minds—would have no clear and convincing answer. There must be something back of the present world situation that is not understood by statesmen and news interpreters. There must be some viewpoint from which the reason for this world crisis can be seen and understood. In the Bible, and there only, it is to be found.
The Inspired Volume tells us that evil did not originate with the Creator. It affirms that God made everything per' feet, but the beings created in His image were given liberty of thought and action. God did not want us to be automa' tons. He did not wish to receive from us the service of robots but the tribute of willing service prompted by love, for He is a God of love. Thus opportunity was left for disloyalty to arise in the angelic host, and it was there that evil had its origin. Lucifer, whose name signifies “Light'bearer,” occu' pied the exalted position of covering cherub by the throne of God, and was the leader of the angelic host. He became lifted up with pride and aspired to be equal with God. Only Christ, the begotten Son of God, had this equality, and Lucifer became jealous of Christ. Clear information on this subject is given in Isaiah 14:12'15, and Ezekiel 28:12'19.
Using his great influence with the angels to spread decep' tion, Lucifer led a vast number of them into disloyalty and rebellion. Finally God issued against them a decree of expulsion. “There was war in heaven,” the Divine Word states. “Michael fChristJ and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fSatanJ fought, and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12: 7'9.
After being cast out of heaven, Satan led Adam into dis' obedience, and thus established his kingdom of evil on the earth; and from that time to this there have been upon the earth two rival kingdoms—the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of Satan—warring against each other. This war' fare has influenced the course of history, and must be taken into account today if we would understand what is behind
The Watchman Magazine
the present world crisis. Time has brought the climax of the age-long controversy between these opposing kingdoms; and what will happen in the world from this time forward, will be determined by the unseen superhuman actors who are contending for the allegiance of mankind. God has His program, and Satan has his. It is for us to decide which one of them we shall follow.
The climax of the great controversy means that the great decisive hour for the world has arrived. Men will either yield themselves to God and take their stand under the banner of Christ, or they will be left to fall under the deceptions of Satan and be drawn to his standard by a power which they cannot resist. When Satan makes his final effort to capture human souls, he will work “with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” 2 Thessa-lonians 2: 9, 10.
It is from the Sacred Bible, and not from radio and newspaper commentators, that we may obtain this all-important knowledge of the meaning of present world conditions, and of what is quickly to follow.
What a mistake, then, is made by those who allow the Holy Tome to become a neglected volume; those who act as if it were of no importance whether they gave attention to it or not; those who depend for a knowledge of religious truth and duty upon the say-so of other persons, the priest or the pastor, and who will not take the trouble to read and study God’s word for themselves; or who are not willing to let the Divine Word come to them except when strained through some other human mind!
And what disrespect is shown by these careless, indifferent ones to the God of heaven whose inspiration produced the Bible, the production of which took 15 centuries of time, and at a price which is measured only by the cross of Calvary! What folly for men to treat such a precious volume with neglect and indifference! When God’s warnings are unheeded and calamity shall come upon them, they will have only themselves to blame.
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[SCRIPTURE PROBLEMS
This department of THE WATCHMAN MAGAZINE is a service for answering questions concerning the Holy Scriptures and the Christian Religion. Send your queries, accompanied by your full name and address, to the editor. Only the initials will be used in publication.
Is there any record to show when the beginning of the day was changed from sundown to midnight? F. S.
The change was brought about gradually for the world in general, as some nations made it sooner than others did. The Roman civil day began at midnight, and the Roman civil law formed the basis of the legal systems of most of the European nations that rose from the ruins of the Roman Empire. For a long time Christians observed the biblical practice of reckoning the day from sunset to sunset for religious purposes, although they were obliged at the same time to reckon the day from midnight to midnight for civil purposes. In the course of time there was a disposition to prefer the civil reckoning for all purposes. There is evidence that in England and in Colonial America it was customary to reckon the day from sunset to sunset for ecclesiastical purposes. Our Christmas Eve and Halloween (Holy Evening) still remind us that our forefathers used to reckon their religious days from sunset to sunset.
Please explain the meaning of Isaiah 24. C. T.
The 24th chapter of Isaiah refers to the final scenes of this world’s history, to things that will happen shortly before and at the time of the second coming of Christ. The tremendous earthquake and the destructive tempest of hailstones, which will devastate the earth at the time of the last of the seven plagues (Revelation 16: 17'21) will accomplish the desolation depicted in this prophecy of Isaiah.
The great sin of the age is pointed out in verse 5. Men have transgressed the law of God, and have changed one of its ordinances. In place of the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord, they have exalted the first day of the week. Three of the Gospel writers were careful to note that Christ emphatically declared in the presence of both His friends and His enemies, that the Sabbath is the Lord’s day. (Luke 6:5; Mark 2: 28; Matthew 12: 8.) This attempted change of the law of God was foretold in prophecy. (Daniel 7: 25.)
Verses 13 to 16 of Isaiah 24 refer to the joy that will be expressed by the saints of God because of their deliverance at the coming of the Saviour. Verses 17'21 refer to the great earthquake and hail of the seventh plague of Revelation 16. Verse 22 refers to the millennium of Revelation 20. During the “many days” of the 1,000 years Satan and his followers will be shut up in the dismal prison house of the desolate earth. Their being “visited” means the destruction of the wicked at the end of the millennium. (Revelation 20.) Verse 23 refers to the reign of Christ and His people in the New Jerusalem in the new earth. (Revelation 21, 22.)
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September —1943
THE NEWS IN PICTURES
1—One of the Japanese two-man submarines damaged and captured by the American forces during the attack on Pearl Harbor has been exhibited before the Capitol in Washington, D.C., to boost the sale of war bonds. 2—The Queen Mary, the giantess of transatlantic ocean liners, pauses at anchor in Table Bay at Capetown, South Africa, after a record run from New York in 12 days. She carries lend-lease material for the war effort. 3—The group who present the Hymns of All Churches program on the National Broadcasting Company’s network,
listen to Dr. Roy G. Ross, general secretary of the International Council of Religious Education, read a citation for their 10 years of meritorious service. 4—A motor launch transports wounded men from an island base to the U. S. S. Solace, a converted passenger liner that now serves as a naval hospital ship. 5—Lieutenant Martha Richardson of New York City has an armful of her uniform and other supplies issued to her at the supply store of the Smith Naval Training Station, shortly after her arrival to join the force of WAVES there.