Cry from Afar the Coming King a Triumph for Truth
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INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE CRY FROM AFAR OUR TIMES THE COMING KING A SURE FAITH IN A SURE FUTURE A TRIUMPH FOR TRUTH In Quietness and Confidence by Marjorie H. Cooper N quietness and confidence I Shall be your strength," In waiting patiently, your Reward at length; Serenely resting in God's love Brings peace of mind; Walking in His perfect ways is Light to the blind; Enduring trustfully, in this Last time of test, Assures the heart for ever that Our God knows best. THE BIBLE and This month ... SCIENCE and technology loom large in human affairs today, but Sir Cyril Hinshelwood, in his presidential address to the British Association, admits that science does not have all OUR TIMES the answers. We comment on his striking discourse in our editorial, "Science and the Ultimate."—Page 4. The remarkable messages and pic- tures which came back millions of A FAMILY JOURNAL OF CHRISTIAN LIVING DEDICATED TO THE PROCLAMATION miles across space from Mariner IV OF THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL. PRESENTING THE BIBLE AS THE WORD OF GOD remind A. S. Maxwell that even a whispered prayer is heard by God. AND JESUS CHRIST AS OUR ALL-SUFFICIENT SAVIOUJ2 AND COMING KING Read his article, "Cry from Afar." —Page 7. EDITOR W LESLIE EMMERSON That modern scientific achievement ASSISTANT EDITOR RAYMOND D. VINE stimulates faith in God, is the theme also of J. R. Lewis's article, "Talking ART DIRECTOR . C. M. HUBERT COWEN to God."—Page 8. CIRCULATION MANAGER W J NEWMAN Watching Emperor Haile Selassie descend from the sky on his recent VOLUME 81 • NOVEMBER, 1965 • PRICE 1/- visit to Zambia, led B. Pilmoor to think of the soon-coming, also in the clouds, of the real Lion of the Tribe PRINTED AND PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE STANBOROUGH PRESS LIMITED of Judah, the Lord Jesus Himself. WATFORD ' HERTFORDSHIRE • ENGLAND See "The Coming King."—Page 10. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, including postage 17/6 ' SIX MONTHS 8/9 In his studies on the great sayings Please notify change of address promptly of Jesus, J. A. McMillan draws at- tention to His solemn warning, "Take Heed."—Page 12. CONTENTS Further comment on the Crathorne EDITORIALS Report on Sunday Observance comes from V. N. Olsen in "Britain's Sun- SCIENCE AND THE ULTIMATE 4 day."—Page 14. GENERAL ARTICLES Christians today may not always CRY FROM AFAR A. S. Maxwell 7 practise what they preach, but neither TALKING TO GOD J. R. Lewis 8 did the worthies of the Bible. Cer- THE COMING KING! B Pilmoor 1 0 tainly, asserts Ernest Cox, this is no JESUS SAID-11 excuse for not seeking grace to fol- "Take Heed" J. A. McMillan 12 low Christ. See "Inconsistent Chris- BRITAIN'S SUNDAY V. Norskov Olsen 14 tians."—Page 16. INCONSISTENT CHRISTIANS Ernest Cox 16 TRIUMPH FOR FAITH R. D. Vine 18 The remarkable capitulation of the THOU SHALT LOVE Lois L. Lane 20 Lysenko school of biologists in Soviet IF WE CONFESS R. T. Bolton 22 Russia is, as R. D. Vine points out, HEREDITY, ENVIRONMENT, AND GOD . J. C. Mitchell 24 a significant "Triumph for Truth" in "TICKLING THE DRAGON'S TAIL" Leo van Dotson 26 the evolution controversy.—Page 18. GIVE ME THINE HEART K. Fretson Taylor 28 BIBLE FLORA AND FAUNA-3 The relation of "Heredity, Environ- The Burning Bush and Others Eric Hardy, F.Z.S. 29 ment, and God" in spiritual life is discussed by J. C. Mitchell.—Page 24. REGULAR FEATURES YOUR BIBLE QUESTIONS ANSWERED 30 The third of Eric Hardy's informa- THE CHILDREN'S PAGES 32 tive series on animals and plants of MIRROR OF OUR TIME 35 the Bible deals with "The Burning Bush."—Page 29. POEM IN QUIETNESS AND CONFIDENCE . Marjorie H. Cooper 2 The Children's Pages, as always, have many interesting features for COVER PICTURE: Autumn in Regents Park, London our younger readers.—Pages 32-34. DISCERNING THE TIMES... CURRENT EVENTS IN THE LIGHT OF THE BIBLE BY THE EDITOR SCIENCE and THE ULTIMATE HE annual gathering of the mostly from trivial to denunciatory, "Let there be no doubt about it," British Association for the but since "two great wars" have he declared, "science is one of the T Advancement of Science, said high-lighted "the power of applied great activities of the human mind Sir Cyril Hinshelwood in beginning science to affect our lives," the atti- and soul," and "we shall forget at his presidential address at the recent tude of the public "can very nearly our cost that an honoured place in Cambridge meeting, "is tradition- be called a revolution." the community must be found for ally the occasion . when the At the present time, he said, the dedicated thinker" who seeks scientists try to explain themselves "there is not much doubt that the "not only to know but to organize and expound what they are doing, general interest centres on applied knowledge into a coherent picture and the lay world listens with vary- science rather than on pure science. of the world." ing proportions of excitement, sym- Governments are anxious for eco- To illustrate this he cited first pathy, criticism, scepticism, or nomic advantages from technology, three great physiologists, Ivan Pav- amusement." so too is industry, and so, on the lov, Ramon y Cajal, and Sir Charles In the early days of the Associa- basis of what he is told, is the Sherrington, who between them, tion, he went on, comment varied ordinary man." have given us our modern under- But, warned Sir Cyril, though standing of the "architecture of the "the most urgent task may be to nervous system." gather the fruit from the tree, woe Next he instanced three great betide those who kill the roots of physicists, Max Planck, Sir Arthur the tree in the process. There could Eddington, and Baron Ernest be no surer way of rendering the Rutherford, whose primary en- future completely barren" than to deavour was to find "the inner re- issue "any kind of Draconian edict lations between the microcosm with- that all scientific work must hence- in the atom and the macrocosm of forth be devoted to demonstrably the stellar universe." practical ends." While the work of these men "led to world-transforming practical discoveries," they were, first and foremost, "creative scientists," whose primary aim was a continually grow- ing "representation of the world" and an ever-increasing understand- Sir Cyril Hinshelwood, president of the ing of "the relations of things to British Association this year, examines a one another." "learning machine" simulating certain features of animal behaviour. But even so, Sir Cyril went on 4 to admit, the most dedicated cre- "the multiplication of cells and the science we come up against what ative scientist, in whatever sphere handing on of life." But ultimately are probably the inherent limita- of nature he is working, comes the biologist comes to the realiza- tions of human understanding. At ultimately to a point where seem- tion that the "major code-bearing the edge of biology we meet the ingly he can go no further, and molecules," cannot "replicate them- chasm between what science des- significantly that point is on the selves in isolation. They do so only cribes and what the mind experi- threshold of the "fundamental prob- in the integrated organism of the ences. In the physical sciences too lems" of existence, the problems of living cell." And as to what life we encounter insoluble contradic- "the nature of the cosmos, the is he knows absolutely nothing. tions if we try to contemplate the nature of matter, the nature of "Great advances have been made limits of space, or the beginning life." in understanding the working of of time." Sir James Jeans very appropri- the nervous system, and we have a Science knows nothing and can ately called one of his last books, rough idea how that most subtle know nothing of the ultimates of The Mysterious Universe, because and elaborate of all computers, the whence? whither ? and why ? although astronomy has made human brain, performs its functions. Up to this point Sir Cyril known to us amazing facts about But what remains utterly incompre- Hinshelwood's description of the structure of the universe, it can hensible is how and why the brain "science," and "scientists" as he tell us nothing of "the origin of becomes the vehicle of conscious- conceives them was indeed an ad- things" or the "beginning of time." ness." mirable combination of dedication "One of the greatest concentra- As Sir Charles Sherrington per- and true modesty. tions of recent effort has been on tinently said, "Mind knows itself He refused, on the one hand, to the physics and chemistry of living and knows the world : chemistry accept the idea that the purpose matter. There is now an essential and physics, explaining so much, of science is merely to provide man- understanding of the complex mole- cannot undertake to explain Mind kind with technological gimmicks of cular patterns" which constitute the itself." one kind or another. The true "genetic code" which in turn pro- The fact is, Sir Cyril admitted, scientist is dedicated to the pursuit vides the mysterious guidance in that "at all the boundaries of of knowledge not so much to pro- duce wealth or power, but for the satisfaction of knowing all he can about the world in which he lives. At the same time Sir Cyril ad- mitted that the scientist cannot pro- vide the answers to every question, for in whichever direction he goes, he comes to a "chasm" which he cannot cross. The ultimates are be- yond his ken.