THE WORLD IN PERSPECTIVE BY GORDON M. HYDE

HEN the British electronics en- signals have been sent, and then re- of the system, one might wonder Wgineer Arthur C. Clarke predicted turned with a spread that covers one whether the gospel—the good news— in 1945 that man could put a satellite third of the globe. And this, say the will be given worldwide dissemination. into orbit above the earth in such a way delighted engineers, is but the begin- And if so, by whom will it be spoken? that it would hold a fixed position in ning. More and more sophisticated The gospel commission to go into relationship to the earth, and actually packages of electronic wizardry will all the world and preach the gospel calculated that it should orbit at 22,- soon be "on location" above the earth, and to make disciples of all nations 300 miles, men wrote him off as a making it possible to beam multiple- comes inevitably to mind as these fairly wild science-fiction writer. Clarke signal TV, radio, or telephone com- "heavenly" messengers take up their did prove to be an effective writer, but munications to any spot on the earth. stations in the sky. Will men permit the in May, 1965, his fiction turned to fact The rapid development of such a everlasting gospel of the love of God to in the launching of a stationary satel- world-embracing system of communi- be proclaimed to every nation, kindred, lite. cation has inevitat ly aroused plenty tongue, and people? Or will these de- When Clarke made his calculations of international reaction and has given vices of man's God-given genius be put twenty years ago, there was no rocket the Western World a new channel for to purely secular uses for national ad- more powerful than the German V-2, matching the propaganda attempts of vantage? and it could climb only 100 miles. But the Soviet system. And even between If the gospel is proclaimed, will it be since that time a series of interlocking friendly nations jealousies are arising the gospel according to the majority, developments (so phenomenal as to ap- as the possibilities of addressing a according to the World Council of pear providential) has provided the world forum are being recognized. Churches, or will minorities be heard? delicate electronic components, the As the marvels of electronics serve A domination of the satellite signals by rocket thrust, and the fantastic control increasingly to shrink the dimensions the world-embracing ecumenical move- which made possible the orbiting of the of our world and bring all men within ment could easily bring a revival of the Early Bird "stationary" satellite. instant communicating distance, one monolithic church which dominated Nudging itself back into place when can but wonder what ultimate use will the Dark Ages. led astray by the numerous and vari be made of this vast new potential for As Clarke's fiction has turned to able forces of outer space, this high- persuasion and influence. Apart from fact, may the God of the electron have flying satellite has provided a fixed military and political uses, and the His hand on the men who speak platform to which TV and telephone little-explored educational possibilities through the Early Birds! END

FROM FACT TO' 7 FICTION

This time

These Times KIND of communications explosion is that being undertaken by the American Bible Society, which is planning to celebrate 1966 A APRIL the sesquicentennial of its founding on May 11. (See page 22.) VOLUME 75 No. 4 As part of its 150th Anniversary Year, the Society proposes to increase annual distribution of the Holy Scriptures to 75 million A RELIGIOUS MAGAZINE dedicated to the strengthening of the mental, physical, and copies—more than a 50 percent rise over the distribution of 1964. spiritual life of the individual reader. Bas- Also scheduled for completion this year is a twelve-story Bible ing its recommendations on the living truths House near Lincoln Center in New York City, a modernized of the entire Bible, THESE TIMES promotes nerve center for the Society's diversified activities and a showplace evangelical Christianity, the care of the for visitors. needy at home and abroad, religious lib- Americans and people around the world have a stake in this erty, the systematic study of God's Word, the Bible, the exaltation of Jesus Christ, program. Organized in 1816 to ease the Bible shortage then exist- and the news of His literal soon coming. ing in the United States, the Bible Society has expanded its mis- sionary distribution and translation work to ninety-four other

Editor countries. More than sixty-five denominations in the United States KENNETH J. HOLLAND support the Bible Society as their worldwide agency for translating, publishing, distributing, and encouraging the reading of the Holy Assistant Editor LAMAR PHILLIPS Scriptures. The Society's efforts, begun a century and a half ago, played General Manager a large part in making the United States a Biblically rooted nation. IRVIN H. IHRIG Indeed, this nation might not be a people of advanced readers, Circulation Manager informed in their self-government, had it not been for the Bible R. J. CHRISTIAN distribution and reading in most areas long before printed news- Associate Circulation Manager papers were established and other reading materials became avail- W. L. CROFTON able. Bible-founded schools were the start of present-day secondary

Art Director and higher educational institutions. SHIRLEY C. ELDRIDGE The current task of supplying Bibles is a problem that staggers the imagination. Present world population of about three billion is Art Editor expected to reach four billion or more within twenty-five years. CHARLES COOK Approximately 70 million adults are learning to read each year. In Advertising Assistant the face of this growth in population and literacy, it will be im- KATHY MEAD possible even by the year 2000—at the present rate of supply— to provide a Bible for every Christian home, a New Testament for Contributing Editors: W. R. Beach, Cecil Coffey, A. A. Esteb, R. E. Finney, Jr., J. De- every Christian, a Gospel for every literate, and a Scripture Portion Witt Fox, Roland Hegstad, Frank Holbrook, to share with others. Siegfried H. Horn, Gordon Hyde, Mary H. Toward this end, however, it is hoped the American Bible Moore, C. A. Oliphant, Robert H. Pierson. Society will be able to escalate its Bible distribution substantially beyond that presently planned. Address all correspondence to Box 59, Nashville, Tennessee 37202

IA COVER STORY 7 ARTICLES C From Fact to Fiction Gordon M. Hyde The Great Dangers of a Soft Life Paul Dudley White, M.D. 4 What Does the Future Hold? Gordon M. Hyde 7 Do You Understand Bible Prophecy? Frank B. Holbrook 12 Printed in the United States of America We Don't Know Where We're Going Ernest Lloyd 16 Copyright, 1966 Southern Publishing Association The Coming of Elijah the Prophet Desmond Ford 17

Established in 1891. Published monthly (except 150 Years of Kingdom Work Harry G. Sandstrom 22 September and November, when semimonthly) You Can Choose Howard E. Kershner 26 by the Southern Publishing Association, 2119 Twenty-fourth Avenue, North, Nash- The Theological Significance of the Seventh-day Sabbath V. Norskov Olsen 28 ville, Tennessee 37202. Second-class postage paid at Nashville, Tennessee. Rates: 50 cents a REGULAR FEATURES copy; one year, $5.00; two years, $9.75; three years, $14.75, in the United States; slightly This Time 3 Focusing 27 higher in Canada. Rates higher for other countries. Quantity prices upon request. Your Questions, Please! 21 Editorials 34 Change of address: Please give both the old and the new addresses. Expiration: Unless re- POETRY newed in advance, magazine stops at the ex- piration date which is shown on the wrapper. Progress Takes All Enola Chamberlin 32 COVER: Painting by James Padgett

APRIL, 1966 3 the great dangers of a soft life

BY PAUL DUDLEY WHITE, M.D. However, many fine things have also happened to man's body, mind, and soul. Reminiscing, I see a The world's most famous and honored heart panorama of my own environment as a young boy specialist gives, his suggestions for positive, living in a suburb of Boston. We were an average healthful living. family, if that of a family doctor could be called such, neither rich nor poor, neither geniuses nor morons, MY OWN LIFE covers the interval from the later years neither ascetic nor worldly. There were four of us of the Victorian Era to the present exploration of children, and we went to the best schools of our outer space, actually an appreciable period of time neighborhood. in that of the history of civilized man. In those nearly I myself attended the Roxbury Latin School, eighty years there has been a greater change in our founded in 1645, where a fine classical education was physical environment and ways of life than for cen- offered, including Greek, which is still a part of the turies before. curriculum there today. We attended the Dudley As a practicing physician interested also in the Street Baptist Church, where my father became head history of man in education and in scientific research, deacon. Without, of course, being conscious of the I have observed very intimately the reaction of the fact, we lived rather austere lives as compared with genus Homo to all the remarkable advances that the standards of today. We had a coal furnace in the have so altered our lives. While applauding and con- cellar which my brother and I took turns in stoking gratulating the ingenious and brilliant minds of our and banking through the winter. inventors, engineers, and research scientists, I de- The house grew quite chilly in the fall before we plore the fact that we biological scientists, anthro- started the furnace about the middle of October— pologists, physiologists, psychologists, biochemists, we marked the dates each year with chalk on the side biophysicists, physicians, social scientists, and edu- of the furnace—and resumed its chilliness in the cators have been so slow in trying to avoid, or cor- middle of the spring when we stopped using it. For rect, the difficult situation in which we find ourselves unusually cold days in spring and fall we used our today. fireplaces, but only very sparingly. And so our winter All INTERPRETING THESE TIMES,*

flannels were really needed, in contrast with the situ- ation today when we wear them only in zero weather in the New England hill country in midwinter. I remember two red-letter days as a boy, the first being the installation of the primitive telephone, one of the very earliest in our neighborhood because of father's profession—that of a family doctor. The number was 333. Before that event, it was the ring of the doorbell that summoned father to a sickbed or an accident, whether day or night. He was always on call. The other special event was our first electric lights, actually no better than our student gas lamps with their Welsbach wicks, but safer and more prac- tical. But even then we still used oil lamps for the most part, and we have continued to use them in our country cottage, until two years ago, as a token of the more austere life of our youth. Incidentally the inferior light they gave us and the bother to take care of them forced us to go to bed earlier; so we got more sleep earlier in the night, which allowed us to see more sunrises, a more natural way of life. But very recently, as a concession to age, we did turn to electricity, which also helps to pump the water from our well when there is not enough wind to turn our windmill which we installed many years ago, one of the last then on the market. Continued Continued myself examined hundreds and hun- nervous or emotional stress that we dreds of young and middle-aged men possess, far better than tranquilizers or The Body sick with coronary heart disease long sedatives to which, unhappily, so many The most important difference in a before their time, following and quite are addicted today. And the third is period of seventy-five years was in our likely resulting from their gain of thirty that in some way, not yet determined, diet. Small numbers of almost every or forty pounds of adipose tissue in vigorous muscular metabolism helps to country's population have for hun- twenty or thirty years after they had prevent or to retard the atherosclerosis dreds or thousands of years been pros- reached their fighting weight. or rusting process in our important ar- perous enough to overeat, a natural But perhaps the way in which life teries, especially the coronaries. temptation of the great majority of the differed most in my boyhood was in It matters little, or not at all, how the members of the human race. But in the our transportation. Healthwise we were leg muscles are exercised, whether by case of primitive countries, very few very lucky indeed without realizing it. walking, running, bicycling, swimming, people are able to gorge themselves We quite naturally walked much of the golf without a cart, tennis, skiing, or with food more than once over a long time to get from one place to the next, hill climbing, but it should amount to period of time. Today, in many coun- even miles away. In the city there were more than a mile walk daily. I have tries, we all, with rare exceptions, have of course horse cars; electric cars were suggested that a minimum of an hour gotten into the natural but bad habit beginning to appear, but these were a day of fast walking or comparable ex- of eating too much food all the time, usually overcrowded and often incon- ercise, or seven hours a week, is abso- and much of this food has been too venient. As for automobiles, we saw lutely necessary for one's optimal and sampled the very first primitive health, including that of the brain, and At eighty, Dr. Paul ones but gave them up early, because more would be better. of their unreliability and expense, and Dudley White, famed The Mind heart surgeon, is still returned to shanks' mare and our bi- strong and well. Son cycles. Father tested a few, but re- I remember the mental hardships of of a New England turned to his horse and buggy. I did my youth, or, if one prefers, blessings, Baptist doctor and one of four children, Dr. finally get a Model T Ford when I was depending upon the point of view. I White attended the twenty-eight, but I learned to walk was so fortunate as to be accepted at scholastic Roxbury early in life, and I still keep it up. the Roxbury Latin, which required in- Latin School in Rox- It is not only the automobile, how- tensive study both at school and at bury. Massachusetts, ever, that has deprived us of the use of home, undistracted by radio or tele- and went on to earn several degrees in the large muscles of our body which we vision, which didn't exist then. Al- medicine. During the were born to utilize infinitely more though I am one of the first to con- Eisenhower adminis- than we do today. Life is often just too gratulate those who have organized tration he was the easy and soft for our proper health. We various educational programs of the President's personal physician. should walk upstairs more and use ele- highest order, the radio and television vators less. We should, except as pro- should be kept in proper relationship fessionals, use our saws and lawn mow- to required reading, group discussions, rich. Calories do count, especially the ers and shovels with our own muscles and teaching sessions. We studied at animal fat calories, despite occasional much, or at least some, of the time. We the Roxbury Latin School at the same remarks to the contrary. shouldn't sit to watch television more time, that is, in the same year, English, Our family in my boyhood was not than one hour at a time. Get up and French, German, Latin, and Greek, prosperous enough to eat rich food, al- walk or run a bit, or use a standing along with history, mathematics, and though we ate enough to grow up and bicycle for at least two minutes once the sciences. It was a stiff curriculum, to carry on a lively program. We did every hour when you are sitting or but it didn't hurt us. And although have butter, but we used much less of standing still, to avoid stasis of blood this eased up a bit in college, it was a it. Ice cream we made ourselves in our in your legs from gravity, and the good preparation for medical school interesting old freezer about three or danger of clots in the leg veins and and a medical career which have been four times a year, especially on holi- their being pumped as emboli to the very demanding of time and energy. days. Although we had plenty of milk lungs, often with serious consequences. Work, not luck or genius, is the to drink to help, along with cod liver There are three additional reasons master word in one's education, and oil, to protect ourselves from tuber- why the vigorous use of the leg muscles, nothing can take its place. culosis, we did not in our teen age which are the largest in the body, is so I don't remember in any of my drink the enormous quantities of milk important for health. The first is physi- schooling any "true or false" examina- which the teen-agers and even the ological. Their contraction squeezes tions which, on the law of chances, twenty-year-olders of yesterday and to- the leg veins which are supplied by give one a 50 percent correct grade day drink simply because they like it. nature with valves so that the blood with no knowledge whatsoever, and a This, along with other overeating when compressed by the muscular con- 70 percent mark right as readily as a and often with underexercising, may traction will be pumped up against 70 percent mark wrong. In my boy- very likely be at least partly responsi- gravity to the heart and thence to the hood, which was largely devoid of liv- ble for the high degree of atherosclero- brain. The brain is our most important ing literary giants, we were dependent sis (rusting of the intima, or in- organ, and it may be poorly supplied on the works, both poetry and prose, ner lining of their important arteries, with blood if we just sit all day. The of the great authors of the centuries especially their coronaries) at an early second reason is psychological—vigor- before. age. In the past few decades I have ous leg exercise is the best antidote for (Continued on page 31)

THESE TIMES of the top-ranked divinity schools in is the source of her predictions or NOTE: With this issue we begin the country. whether, indeed, He is dead. With a an important series of six in- Now, the conundrum which con- view to setting up just such a series of depth presentations on the rele- fronts ordinary mortals is this: If God tests, let a key question be posed. Who vance of Bible prophecy. For be dead, who is giving the devout Mrs. holds the future? Then let a series of our uncertain world here is a Dixon her uncanny, inside information propositions be laid down which have voice of certainty for us all. on upcoming events? She herself claims some logical relationship to, and de- that her insight is a gift of the Spirit of pendence upon, one another. Let evi- LIFE BECOMES no simpler for ordinary God, and it is creditable to note that dence be presented in support of these mortals when they can read two pub- she seeks no personal profit from the propositions, and then let conclusions lications in one week and learn from exercise of her "gift." be drawn. We shall now proceed with one the disturbing news that "God is There are a number of solutions a serious examination of the entire mat- dead" and from the other that the which readily suggest themselves for ter before us. same God (presumably) has bestowed the apparent conflict between Jeane Propositions on "Who Holds upon a charming, sociable Washington Dixon and the theologians. For exam- the Future?" woman the ability to foretell coming ple, Mrs. Dixon could be mistaken in events, whether those events concern her belief that God is the source of her There is either one God or no God. an individual only or the peace of the revelations. On the contrary, our "athe- If there is such a God, such God world. istic" theologians might themselves be must be immortal, eternal, self-existent, The favored "prophetess" is none out of touch with God and so be un- all-wise, all-powerful, and unhampered other than the now-famous Jeane able to know that He is still alive! by the limitations of time and space. Dixon, whose story in Ruth Montgom- It is possible, however, that Jeane If there is such a God, it must lie ery's A Gift of Prophecy has made that Dixon's concern with the future and her within His power to communicate with book a sustained best seller. claim that it is God who knows and the intelligent creatures in the universe The daring discoverers of the "death reveals to her the future might lead to (including man) and to communicate of God" are a small group of "brilliant" the framing of a series of issues that to the universe His plans for it and the young theologians who teach at several would help to determine whether God creatures in it. Continued

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

BY GORDON M. HYDE

APRIL, 1966 Continued of the adversary and of all who choose basis of reasoning, one inferior to God If there is such a God, He must be to remain, with him, in that posture of in any way, one less than God, cannot a perfectly just and righteous and lov- rebellion against the government of also be God; and conversely, there ing God, without a trace of selfishness God which was assumed by man in his cannot be one superior to God in any in His nature. beginning. way, one greater than God, or that su- If there is such a God, He must be Jesus Christ, the Logos—the Word perior one would have to be God. It is able to intervene in the affairs of the of God—made audible to man and of the essence of the concept of "God" universe in a manner commensurate readable through the prophets of the that He be supreme over all. with His nature and character. Bible, and personal to man through The Self-existent, All-wise God. On If there is such a God, He must be His incarnation at the first advent, the same basis of reasoning, God must the source and sustainer of life and all based His claims to divinity shared not be dependent upon another, or that that is essential to the welfare of the with the Father upon the unfailing ful- other would be God. There must not creatures of the universe. fillment in Himself of the numerous be another before Him; therefore He If there is such a God, the past, pres- and sometimes incredible predictions of must be self-existent. There cannot be ent. and future must be equally known the Old Testament prophets. another as wise or as powerful as He. to Him. Jesus Christ, the Logos Himself, as- Indeed, He must not be deficient in any If there is such a God, He could not sumed the role of prophet, particularly attribute if He is to be unsurpassed and be the mere creation of man's reason- regarding the events of our times, unsurpassable as God. ing, and the declaration of His death, which times are marked with the fulfill- The Communicating God. Again, by on the part of theologians, would have ment of the predictions made by Him- the very nature of the relationship, it no practical significance. self and by His disciples, and which must not be possible for any of God's The Bible reveals just such a God times are soon due to climax in Christ's creatures to place themselves beyond as the above propositions require, and personal second advent to terminate the His communicating reach, or beyond a presents to all other proclaimed "gods" present age. position of dependence upon Him; the challenge of revealing the future as The second advent of Jesus Christ, otherwise in some respects they would He does. with the restoration of God's govern- show themselves more powerful than The Bible presents a panoramic ment upon the earth made new, will God, whereupon He would cease to be view of the age, pointing to present- settle forever the present question re- God. day trends and movements as markers garding the "death of God" and the The Just, Righteous, and Loving of the end of that age. nature of the predictions made by the God. The four thousand recorded years The Bible presents also a brilliant in- Jeane Dixons of all time. of man's history tend to demonstrate tellectual adversary that has dared to How each individual relates himself that the attributes of justice, righteous- challenge the supremacy of God in all to the evidence regarding the character ness, love, and unselfishness are the areas, including the prediction of com- and government of God which has been brightest jewels in the crown of human ing events. made available to man throughout his progress, though no mere man can The Bible presents a series of tests history will determine that individual's claim to have had these attributes to by which to distinguish between the two eternal destiny. perfection. He who is God must have supernatural sources, and it calls upon The life, death, and resurrection of these attributes in perfection, lest He man to apply the tests that he be not Jesus Christ provide the heart and the be in danger of being superseded by misled in the placement of his loyal- crown of the evidence upon which in- one of the creatures of the universe. ties. Such Biblical tests may be ap- dividual destiny hinges; thus the over- The Intervening God. Were it pos- plied to the work of a Jeane Dixon riding question of our time is an old sible for any one of the creatures of the and all others who profess to speak for one: What then will ye do with Jesus universe to be beyond reach of the in- God. which is called the Christ? tervention of God, then to that degree The Bible presents the end of the such creature would be in possession age as the opening of God's interven- Evidence on "Who Holds the Future" of a greater power than the power of tion in the affairs of the universe and Let the supporting evidence for these God, whereupon God would cease to of man on the earth. propositions now be presented. be truly God. The Bible portrays the ultimate end One God, or No God. Purely on the The Life-giving and Life-sustaining

8 THESE TIMES God. If God were not the source and "To whom will ye liken me, and matters involving the destiny of peo- sustainer of life and all that is essential make me equal, and compare me, that ples, nations, and mankind as a whole to the existence of the creatures of the we may be like?" Isaiah 46:5. down to the end of the age. But there universe, then another must assume "Thus saith the Lord the King of is one characteristic of the messages, such a role or roles; and since life is Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of visions, and predictions of Biblical basic to existence, that other would hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; prophets which calls for specific com- be possessed of a more vital power and beside me there is no God." Isaiah ment: these messages invariably reflect than God, which would be inconsistent 44:6. the character of the God for whom with God's position as God. "Lift up your eyes on high, and be- they claimed to speak, and most fre- The Future-revealing God. Could the hold who hath created these things, quently they have a direct bearing upon future hide its secrets from the mind of that bringeth out their host by number: the progress in the world of the king- God, then it might be conceived that he calleth them all by names by the dom of God. They are seldom primar- God could be confronted with a situa- greatness of his might, for that he is ily concerned with the mere comfort, tion for which He would not be pre- strong in power; not one faileth." convenience, welfare, or happiness of pared, and whoever controlled or cre- Isaiah 40:26. man. ated that future would show himself "Declaring the end from the begin- God's Adversary. If the powers at- to that degree superior in power to the ning, and from ancient times the things tributed to God thus far in this presen- Omnipotent God. that are not yet done, saying, My coun- tation are accurate, it requires little The Imperturbable God. He who is sel shall stand, and I will do all my thought to recognize what powers must truly God cannot be shaken by the pleasure." Isaiah 46:10. be possessed by anyone who world set pronouncements of the wisest of men "The fool hath said in his heart, himself to challenge directly the su- respecting His nonexistence or insuffi- There is no God." Psalm 14:1. premacy, the wisdom, and the character ciencies. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall of God. Such an adversary the Bible The Bible-revealed God. If the above laugh: the Lord shall have them in plainly portrays from the appearance reasonings are sound regarding the at- derision." Psalm 2:4. of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, tributes of whosoever is truly God, is Panorama of the Ages. It will be the in Genesis, to the destruction of the it mere coincidence that the Bible por- burden of the next five issues of THESE devil in the "lake of fire," in Revela- trays such a God, possessed of such TIMES to consider in depth and in de- tion. Moreover, it plainly portrays the attributes as reason seems to demand? tail the Bible's panorama of the ages. beginning of this rebellion against the Let a random sampling of the Biblical The balance of power among the na- government of God as taking place in evidence be presented: tions; the history of the rise, decline, heaven itself among the hosts of angelic "One God and Father of all, who is and revival of the Papacy; the ascent beings that served God day and night. above all, and through all, and in you of the United States to world leader- (See Revelation 12:7-9.) all." Ephesians 4:6. ship; the decline of the spirit which What may be the full intellectual "For who hath known the mind of made Protestantism; the ecumenical power of this adversary is beyond hu- the Lord? or who hath been his coun- trend among the churches; the rise of man power to determine, but the Scrip- sellor? or who hath first given to him, spiritism; the surging increase of crime, tures predict the performance of "mira- and it shall be recompensed unto him immorality, marital laxity, juvenile de- cles" by this adversary and provide again? For of him, and through him, linquency, of conflict between capital examples of such miracles in the con- and to him, are all things: to whom be and labor, of war, of pestilence, of flict between Moses and the magicians glory for ever. Amen." Romans 11: famine, of earthquakes—all these are of the court of Pharaoh in Egypt. (Sec 34-36. the subject of the prophecies of the Exodus 7-11.) "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Bible. The Bible portrays this adversary as or whither shall I flee from thy pres- The messages of Biblical prophets the usurper of divine prerogative—for ence?" Psalm 139:7. often pertain to matters of purely local he deceived man into a false loyalty in "For as the heavens are higher than and immediate concern, matters involv- the beginning—and then claimed the the earth, so are my ways higher than ing only an individual—and sometimes position of "god of this world." But your ways, and my thoughts than your a relatively humble and insignificant in- the essence of the Biblical message thoughts." Isaiah 55:9. dividual. Again, they have to do with Continued APRIL, 1966 9 Continued such gifts to a person "no matter what The foretelling of bane or blessing, concerning the future is that the ad- [his] language or religion." in Jeane Dixon's work, seems to bear versary of God and man shall be ut- Paul and other New Testament writ- no relationship to the faith or the terly defeated on his own terms and ers indicate that these gifts of the character of the one who receives a reap the fruit of his own activities— Spirit of God are bestowed upon those "reading." And this failure to distin- utter destruction. who have consciously given their lives guish between the merits of good and Tests of the Supernatural. The Bible over to the control of God's Spirit as a evil is wholly inconsistent with the portrays the supernatural powers of result of a "conversion" from the world character of God and the work of His God and of the adversary of God, and and its secular life. Jeane Dixon con- prophets through the ages. And there intimates that from external observa- siders such gifts are "predetermined is the further complication that some tion it may not be possible always to by God at the moment of our concep- of Mrs. Dixon's predictions fail in ful- distinguish the source of supernatural tion and are ours to develop for the fillment. phenomena. good of others." Thus the gifts of the God's Intervention. The assurance of Among the many types of super- Spirit are placed in a category with the divine intervention in the affairs of this natural phenomena which are discussed artistic, poetic, mechanical, or intel- world is basic to the teachings of the in the Scriptures, special warnings are lectual talents of a gifted child. Scriptures, and particularly the teach- given about persons who claim to hold But if it be contended that Mont- ings of Jesus Christ. And although this communion with the dead, who com- gomery's book about Jeane Dixon is fact will receive special emphasis in mune with "familiar spirits," who as- not presented as a theological treatise, the June issue of THESE TIMES, let this sume the role of prognosticators, sooth- and that exception is being taken to fine much evidence be presented here: sayers, magicians, astrologers, and the points, then let the major factor of dif- "When the Son of man shall come in like. Under the theocracy governing ference between the work of Jeane his glory, and all the holy angels with the ancient people of Israel, the people Dixon and a prophet of the Bible be him, then shall he sit upon the throne of God, such persons were regarded as drawn: Accepting at their face value of his glory: and before him shall be a menace to Israel and were to be de- the claims of Jeane Dixon's prophecies gathered all nations: and he shall sepa- stroyed. of numerous events over the past forty- rate them one from another, as a The New Testament warns that mira- odd years, a Bible believer must point shepherd divideth his sheep from the cles will be wrought by the power of out their lack of bearing upon the ad- goats. . . . Then shall the King say devils, and calls upon believers in the vancement of the kingdom of God on unto . . . [his sheep], Come, ye blessed true God to "try the spirits whether earth. In the main, they consist of prog- of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- they are of God: because many false nostications of good or ill for individ- pared for you from the foundation of prophets are gone out into the world." uals, political parties, governments, and the world." Matthew 25:31-34. (1 John 4:1.) (For a listing of Biblical nations. Thus Christ's second advent and the tests distinguishing between true and false prophets, see box on page 32. Mrs. Jeane Dixon, a prominent The Tests Applied to Jeane Dixon Washington socialite and and Others. As a counterfeit is most columnist, is the star of a recent successful when it most nearly resem- book, which reveals her long- bles the original, so in the matter of a standing role as prognosticator claim to the gift of prophecy. Jeane and teller of future events. Her uncanny power and the amazing Dixon's biographer makes much of the fulfillment of most of her abstemious personal habits of the predictions have intrigued the "prophetess" and of her many works nation. Thousands are looking to of charity. Her pious devotion to the her for what the future holds, Catholic religion is indicated, plus her while many are wondering how genuine is her power and breadth of mind in being willing to co- what the Bible has to operate with persons of other faiths, say about such persons. Christian or otherwise. (And the fair- minded must find much to commend here.) Then Ruth Montgomery quotes di- rectly Jean° Dixon's view of her gift of "prophecy." This view is almost a para- phrase of several verses in chapter twelve of Paul's first letter to the Co- rinthian church. But in one or two sig- nificant details, there is a great differ- ence between Paul's accounting of "spiritual gifts" and that presented by Jeane Dixon. Paul is addressing his instruction to men and women who have professed faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jeane Dixon would attribute

10 establishment with His heavenly Father For then will God bring every man's Of course, no man can be compelled of His kingdom of glory will mark the "work into judgment, with every secret to believe until that day when sight close of the domination of this world thing, whether it be good, or whether makes faith unnecessary, and then it by the "god of this world" and those it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14.) will be too late to save him, "for he that who have continued to follow him, and The Saving Revelation of God, in cometh to God must believe that he is, will lead on to the annihilation of all Christ. Clear and challenging as was and that he is a rewarder of them that who have spurned the love of God. the portrayal of the character of God diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6.) (See Matthew 25:41-46.) through His dealings with men of the But the God of the Bible meets all Christ's Appeal to Prophecy. Even a Old Testament ( and particularly with the philosophical requirements of casual reading of the Gospels must in- His chosen people, the children of "God-hood." The God of the Bible has dicate that Christ's primary conflict Israel), it was not until the advent of manifested that the outcome of the with the religious leaders and people Christ into the world that "the express ages is in His hands and that He can of His day was to convince them that image" of God was revealed to man- reveal, and has revealed, that outcome He, the son of Mary, was the Son of kind. For in Him was manifested "all to men who are willing not only to be- God—God incarnate. the fullness of the Godhead bodily." lieve but also to do God's will. As His first line of reasoning in be- Thus men had before them a living He who has portrayed the end from half of His divinity, He made constant presentation in human flesh of the true the beginning is far from dead. And if appeal to the prophecies of the Old character of God. those who declare God "dead" would Testament (with which His opponents Does this fact not heighten the trag- examine the evidence in humility of were intellectually familiar) and the edy of the crucifixion—the clear por- mind and with a willingness to believe, manner of their fulfillment in Him. trayal of the bitter enmity of the ad- they could readily see that He is very Although this is more fully explained versary of God against His Son through much alive and that He is still overrul- in the article "Do You Understand Bi- human agents under the adversary's ing the affairs of the nations for the ble Prophecy?" beginning on page 12 control? Yet the cross of Calvary is but ultimate outworking of His eternal pur- of this issue, it may be noted here that a glimpse to our dull senses of the pose. when Christ's disciples became con- burden and pain which sin has brought The predictions of future events fused by the traditions of the rabbis re- to the Godhead since the rebellion of which have made Jeane Dixon famous garding the work expected of the prom- Lucifer in heaven. seem not to be made with the purpose ised Messiah, Jesus reproved His Pilate's question to the Jews at the which marked. the forecasts of the Bib- followers for their failure to believe all trial of Jesus, "What shall I do then lical prophets. Indeed, if she believed that the prophets had spoken. "And be- with Jesus which is called Christ?" was the Bible's predictions of the end of the ginning at Moses and all the prophets, pertinent to the eternal destiny of those age, would she be predicting events he expounded unto them in all the who were then confronted with the di- ahead to 1999? No Biblical prophet scriptures the things concerning him- vine character of Jesus Christ. The ever led men to say, "My lord delayeth self." (See Luke 24:25-27.) selfsame question confronts every man his coming." The appeal of the Biblical Christ, the Prophet. Not only did today who has opportunity to hear and prophet is ever to heed the appeals of Christ appeal to the Old Testament know the story of the cross. Jesus Him- God's love "today." So Jesus Himself prophets for the vindication of His self declared, "He that believeth on . . . warned, "Watch therefore: for ye own divine mission, but He repeatedly [the Son] is not condemned: but he that know not what hour your Lord doth assumed the role of prophet Himself, believeth not is condemned already, come." "Therefore be ye also ready: as the above-mentioned article indi- because he hath not believed in the for in such an hour as ye think not the cates. And in this capacity, as prophet, name of the only begotten Son of God. Son of man cometh." Matthew 24: He spanned the Christian age from His And this is the condemnation, that light 42, 44. own day to the end of time. And the is come into the world, and men loved That some supernatural intelligence multiple signs which He gave by which darkness rather than light, because is communicating with the Jeane Dix- men could know that the end of all their deeds were evil." John 3:18, 19. ons of the world there is little doubt. things is at hand are to be the subject What then will ye do with Jesus That the recipients of such communi- of special emphasis and unique treat- which is called the Christ? cations may be sincere and honest ment in the August issue of THESE with themselves in what they do need Conclusions on "Who Holds TIMES. Suffice it to say here that the not be disputed here. But the destiny the Future?" great majority of His predictions have of this world and its burden of human- already marked our modern time, and On the basis of the introductory evi- ity does not rest with the Jeane Dixons, that none but the climactic events clus- dence presented in this issue and on any more than it rests with the theolo- tering around His second advent re- the basis of the further evidence that is gians. The future of this world rests main to be fulfilled. Truly, the Lord is to be provided in the next five issues, with Him whose hands laid the founda- near, even at the doors. the answer to the question as to who tions of this earth, with Him whose When Christ does appear in His own holds the future should be available to hands guide the unerring stars above, glory, and in the glory of the Father, anyone who desires to know. That is as- with Him who sees even the despised and in the glory of all the loyal suming that his desire to know is sparrow fall, with Him who so loved angels, then it will be incontrovertibly prompted by more than idle curiosity, the world that He gave His only- known that God is very far from and that his desire is prompted by a begotten Son for this world, with Him "dead," and the work of all prophets willingness to commit the control of his who was "in Christ, reconciling the and prophetesses will be demonstrated life and destiny to the One who holds world unto himself." for exactly what it is. the future. (Continued on page 32)

APRIL, 1966 11 DO YOU

UNDERSTAND

BIBLE

PROPHECY?

THESE TIMES

The proper understanding of Bible prophecy can lead to such priceless boons as BY FRANK B. HOLBROOK confirming Christian faith, explaining the future, and galvanizing a lethargic church into action.

TO MANY Christians Bible prophecy is delineated for a third time the swift- are divinely intended to serve as spiri- a conundrum. Such prophetic books as moving events of that never-to-be- tual spikes in a believer's temple of Daniel and the Revelation are regarded forgotten weekend: "Behold, we go up faith. Being driven deep into believing as enigmatic jungles of strange and for- to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall hearts and clinched by historical ful- bidding beasts! For mysterious reasons be betrayed unto the chief priests and fillments, Bible prophecies produce a these have been included in Holy Writ unto the scribes, and they shall con- trust and confidence in God that is but are considered as sealed off from demn him to death, and shall deliver calm and settled. The confirming of ordinary human understanding! Even him to the Gentiles to mock, and to faith in God and in His plan of re- John Calvin, whose voluminous writ- scourge, and to crucify him: and the demption is therefore one of the es- ings number some fifty volumes, did third day he shall rise again." Matthew sential purposes of prophecy. not attempt to write a commentary on 20:18, 19. Through the gift of prophecy God the Book of Revelation. There lay the simple, clear-cut pre- has foretold all the major aspects of On the other hand, there is an hon- diction: betrayal, trial and condemna- His plans and purposes regarding man- est revulsion to Bible prophecy by tion by the leaders of His own nation, kind. (Amos 3:7.) Fulfilled prophecies some sincere Christians. To these it has mockery, scourging and crucifixion by always honor and vindicate God, for seemed that predictive writings only the Romans, and His resurrection on the ability to foretell is rooted in the afforded a convenient point of depar- the third day. On the eve of His death omniscient nature of the Godhead. Just ture for deluded enthusiasts into bi- Christ further startled the disciples by as the starry heavens appear to the zarre and fanciful interpretations. announcing that one of them would be human eye to twinkle from the same Rather than uncertain, erratic flights the betrayer-catalyst in this chain re- plane without depth, so the infinite, all- into these vagaries, they argue, it would action of blood. knowing God reads the future and the be better to stay on the terra firma of Doubtlessly the Saviour sought to present as one. God declares, "I am Bible doctrine and history. But al- soften the blow of the crucifixion for God, and there is none like me, declar- though these attitudes are common, His friends, but a deeper purpose un- ing the end from the beginning, and Bible prophecy, composing as it does a derlay His predictions. This purpose, from ancient times the things that are large portion of Holy Scripture, was repeated in substance three times, high- not yet done, saying, My counsel shall and is the divine instrumentality for lights Christ's relationship to Bible stand, and I will do all my pleasure." confirming and authenticating the prophecy. "Now I tell you before it Isaiah 46:9, 10. It is not strange then Christian religion. come, that, when it is come to pass, ye to discover that the life of our Lord, If Bible prophecy is invalid and in- may believe that I am he." John 13:19. His teachings, and the certainty of comprehensible, then Christianity has (See also John 14:29; 16:4.) Blinded Christianity as the true religion are all no sure basis—for even its founder, by their longings for an earthly king- intertwined, linked, and locked to Bible Jesus Christ, cannot be attested as the dom, Christ's followers were little pre- prophecy. pared for the tragic event of Calvary. true Messiah, the promised Saviour of Christ, the Author of Prophecy the world! But subsequent to the resurrection, these fulfilled predictions created in the Were the Biblical prophets simply Christianity and Prophecy disciples a Gibraltar-like faith and cer- clever guessers? Did they just dream Just how significant prophecy really tainty that Jesus of Nazareth was un- rosy thoughts of the future out of fertile is to Christianity may be seen in equivocally the Messiah, the Son of imaginations? Whose spirit activated Christ's relationship to it. Twice in the God. This was the Master's design in them—their own or that of Another? closing months of His ministry the foretelling the crucifixion and its re- The Bible answers by first noting that Saviour foretold His passion. A few lated events. the prophets themselves earnestly days before the crucifixion He carefully Likewise all prophecies of Scripture Continued

APRIL, 1966 13 Continued first advent. As the numerous Old Tes- make certain forecasts, it was with the searched their own writings: "Search- tament Messianic prophecies are stud- ultimate purpose of arousing the na- ing what, or what manner of time the ied, there is pieced together before the tion's faith and deepening its spiritual- Spirit of Christ which was in them did mind an exquisite mosaic of the fea- ity. In other words, Bible predictions signify, when it testified beforehand-the tures of the Messiah. are not made merely to satisfy idle sufferings of Christ, and the glory that The prophetic Word recorded the curiosity about one's own future, love should follow." (1 Peter 1:11.) biography of the Saviour before He life, or the mundane political affairs Observe that the apostle's statement was born! Ancient prophecies foretold and space explorations of tomorrow. implies that the prophets received an His birthplace (Micah 5:2) and the Bible prophecy meets a deeper need. understanding of the whole plan of very year of His official appearance as It is given to tell the people of God redemption with its two focal points— the Messiah (Daniel 9:25). Other where they are in the stream of time Christ's first advent (His sufferings) passages sketched His sympathetic, un- and to acquaint them with the impor- and His second advent (the glory that derstanding ministry. (Isaiah 11, 42, tant crises and issues they will have to should follow), together with informa- 61.) And still others predicted His tri- meet. Prophetic forecasts, rightly un- tion on the timing of these important umphal entry into Jerusalem and the derstood, will galvanize a lethargic events. And note further that this New exact particulars of His atoning death. church to alertness, to action—to co- Testament writer asserts it was the (Zechariah 9:9; Isaiah 53; Psalm 22.) operation with heavenly forces in Spirit of Christ, that is, the Spirit sent It was on the basis of these and hastening the coming of Christ and His from Christ, who inspired the prophets. many similar prophecies that Jesus of kingdom. (2 Peter 3:11, 12.) Let the import of this witness be Nazareth made His claim to the Mes- God is no respecter of persons when grasped by modern Christians: it was siahship. To the despondent disciples it comes to bestowing the gift of proph- ecy. Some of Israel's prophets were -t kings, others were priests or judges; still others were selected from among the common people. But all were the "The predictions which range from Genesis to Revelation Lord's "messengers." Our Lord, Him- are not the guesses of good men, but the accurate fore- self the "messenger of the covenant," came as foretold in the tradition of the knowledge of the Son of God." prophets. ( Deuteronomy 18: 18; Mala- chi 3:1.) He was recognized by the -31111111111111MINI people as a prophet. (Luke 24:19.) He did the work of a prophet and the divine Son of God, the preexistent traveling to Emmaus Jesus declared, more. Jesus Himself acknowledged His Christ, who by means of the Holy "Ought not Christ to have suffered prophetic office when He told His un- Spirit informed the prophets regarding these things, and to enter into his glory? believing countrymen, "No prophet is His coming, His life, teachings, death, And beginning at Moses and all the accepted in his own country." Luke resurrection, subsequent priestly min- prophets, he expounded unto them in 4:24. istry, and coming kingdom of glory. all the scriptures the things concerning Christ and Apocalyptic Prophecy And what is true of the prophecies of himself." Luke 24:26, 27. That eve- the Old Testament is also true of the ning He again systematically pointed Most Bible prophecies are stated in prophecies of the New. out the specific Messianic predictions— simple, literal, straightforward lan- The predictions which range from inspired by His Spirit hundreds of years guage; but some, generally designated as Genesis to Revelation are not the before—that now in every particular apocalyptic, are couched in figures and guesses of good men, but the accurate had been historically fulfilled in Him- symbols which must be explained by foreknowledge of the Son of God— self: "These are the words which I other clear, literal passages. By using the essential Author of Bible prophecy! spake unto you, while I was yet with the sound Biblical principle of compar- Through hundreds of prophecies writ- you, that all things must be fulfilled, ing scripture with scripture, one dis- ten over a millennium and a half, the which were written in the law of Moses, covers that the Bible provides its own divine Son of God was saying again and in the prophets, and in the psalms, key to unlock its mysteries. (1 Corin- and again to His ancient people as He concerning me." Luke 24:44. Thus the thians 2:13.) is still saying to His modern church, very strongest evidence that Jesus was Some Christians have misgivings "Now I have told you before it come the Messiah is contributed by fulfilled about value of studying the apoca- to pass, that, when it is come to pass, Bible prophecy, and the Christian re- lyptic prophecies of Daniel and the ye might believe." John 14:29. ligion is inextricably locked to the va- Revelation. The use of wrong princi- lidity of Bible prophecy! ples of interpretation and fanciful fore- Biography Before Birth casts conjured up from restless imagi- If one considers the eschatalogical Christ and the Prophets nations searching for the sensational prophecies of Scripture, those dealing Our Lord endorsed the work of all have brought discredit upon these two with final events, he will be impressed the prophets even though many made important books which focus on last- that the New Testament alone makes no long-range predictions. (Matthew day events. more than 300 references to the sec- 23:37.) The major task of Israel's Conditions were the same in Jesus' ond advent of Christ. Christians may prophets was to prod the nation's slum- day. Evidence from the scrolls of the be sure that these will be as accurately bering conscience as revivalists and re- splinter sect of Judaism that lived at fulfilled as those were that foretold the formers. When they were inspired to Qumran indicates that the Book of

14 THESE TIMES Daniel was very popular with the Es- senes. Altogether seven manuscripts of Daniel are represented in the finds. Al- though the Essene interpretations of Daniel doubtlessly differed from those SOME MESSIANIC PREDICTIONS FULFILLED BY of Christ, yet our Lord did not hesitate JESUS OF NAZARETH to endorse the serious study of this important book. Although its mysteries might be perverted by some, it had a true message for the wise and sincere seeker for truth. In His own panoramic prediction of coming events (both im- mediate and the end of the age) He re- ferred His disciples to Daniel and said, "Let him that readeth understand." Mark 13:14. PREDICTION FULFILLMENT When one turns to the final book of Holy Scripture, he finds that not only Isaiah 7:14 Supernatural virgin birth. Matthew 1:18-23 is it a companion apocalyptic prophecy to Daniel, but also it is specifically au- Micah 5:2 Bethlehem birthplace. Matthew 2:1; thored by the Lord Jesus Himself! The Luke 2:1-7 opening lines read, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Isaiah 9:6, 7; Divine-human Messiah to Luke 1:32-35; him, to shew unto his servants things Daniel 7:13, 14 take Davidic throne and Matthew 25:31 which must shortly come to pass." world dominion. (Yet fu- Revelation 1:1. This crowning work of ture.) inspiration is both a revelation of the glorified Christ and an unveiling, a dis- Daniel 9:25 Time for the official appear- Luke 3:1, 21, 22 closing by Jesus Himself of "things ing of the Messiah. [events, happenings] which must shortly come to pass." And a blessing Isaiah 61:1-3 Messiah's preaching-healing Luke 4:16-21 is pronounced on the student and the ministry. obedient: "Blessed is he that readeth, A forerunner was to pre- Luke 1:13-17; and they that hear the words of this Malachi 3:1; 4: pare the way for the Mes- Matthew 17:10-13 prophecy, and keep those things which 5, 6 siah's mission. are written therein." Revelation 1:3. Eyesight is precious; without it one Zechariah 9:9 Messiah's triumphal entry Matthew 21:1-11 is enshrouded in a world of unrelieved into Jerusalem. darkness. But no twenty-twenty vision can penetrate the future. Tomorrow is Isaiah 53:5-8 Messiah's substitutionary John 19:18; as black or as bright as one's pessi- Daniel 9:26 death for sinners. 1 Peter 3:18 mism or hopes—but the significant facts cannot be known with certainty. How Zechariah 13:7 Messiah's followers would Matthew 26:31, 56 providential that Christ through the desert Him at His smiting. medium of Bible prophecy has given the Christian church a second sight, Psalm 22:18 Lots cast for Messiah's John 19:23, 24 a prophetic sight that sees beyond to- clothing. morrow! Above the din of crime and riot, staccatoed by submachine-gun bul- Isaiah 53:9, 12 Messiah to be identified Luke 23:32, 33; lets and underscored by roaring jet- with both wicked persons Matthew 27:57-60; propelled ballistic missiles and rockets, and the rich in His death. John 19:39 the Christian student of Bible prophecy can hear again those calm, measured Psalm 22:7, 8 Taunts of Messiah's ene- Matthew 27:39-43 accents uttered in the stillness of that mies. upper chamber: "I have told you be- fore it come to pass, that, when it is Psalm 22:1 Messiah's cry of despair. Matthew 27:46 come to pass, ye might believe." John 14:29. And the Christian is strength- Psalm 16:10 Messiah's resurrection. Matthew 28:1-6; ened by some other encouraging words Acts 2:22-32 from the lips of the Prophet of proph- ets: "And when these things begin to Psalm 110:1, 4 Messiah to be a royal Priest. Acts 5:31; come to pass, then look up, and lift up Hebrews 8:1 your heads; for your redemption draw- eth nigh." Luke 21:28. END APRIL, 1966 15 HE SIGNS of history's approaching science and the free intelligence of It is a deplorable fact that many T climax are multiplying. Many au- men. They have failed us. We have Protestant ministers almost completely thors and statesmen are uniting their long since cast off God. To what can ignore the study of Bible prophecy. voices with churchmen to declare that a we now appeal?" It is because men Yet, fulfilled prophecy is one of the mighty change is at hand. The false op- have cast off God that they are con- most powerful weapons against unbe- timism of the early part of this century fused and wander in the dark. lief and worldliness. The preaching of is strangely missing from most of the Many keen students of the times the gospel of our Lord and Saviour in- predictions of the leaders of world have expressed astonishment at the cludes the interpretation of Bible proph- thought today. Indeed, many of their failure of most of the Protestant min- ecy, and the minister who is not mak- predictions are full of fear and dread. istry to give the Biblical interpretation ing known the meaning of world A few years ago the intellectuals of of the grave problems before the world conditions today in the light of Bible the civilized world frequently told us today. Says one of them, "The silence prophecy is neglecting the spiritual that salvation would come through the of the theologians on these matters is welfare of his people as well as his own. magic of man's intellect, that his one of the incredible phenomena of Current conditions throughout the achievements in the scientific labora- these dangerous days." He exempts world are exactly as portrayed in Bible tories would bring about the desired from criticism those who preach Bible prophecies. How strange, then, that heaven on earth. Today the picture prophecy and point out the signs and while endeavoring to find a way out of they give us is of "irritated futility," portents of these days as corresponding the dark, most men and women give suggesting almost complete discourage- with those prophetically named in Mat- little or no attention to the Book of ment and hopelessness. thew 24, Luke 21, 1 Thessalonians 5, light! The solution of the world's prob- Dr. Robert M. Hutchins, former uni- 2 Timothy 3, and other passages in the lems is found in the writings of four versity president and later a director New Testament. simple men of God—Matthew, Mark, of the Ford Foundation, was reported This writer continues: "What I de- Luke, and John. And nearly everybody as saying, "We do not know where we sire to show is that the New Testament has a copy of the New Testament, are going, or why, and we have almost offers precise and elaborate specifica- which contains those writings, reveal- given up the attempt to find out. We tions of the events preceding the inevita- ing the meaning of the approaching cli- are in despair because the keys which ble end of the world, and a fair read- max. Blessed are those who open the were to open the gates of heaven have ing of them must lead any rational man Bible daily with a prayer, and who read led .us into a larger but more oppres- to conclude that these events are now with a desire to know the will of God sive house. We thought these keys were upon us." and to be guided by Him. END

An "irritated futility" in the hearts of men BY ERNEST LLOYD suggests complete discouragement a n d hopelessness.

TRANGE and mysterious appears the idolatry was Israel in Elijah's day that daunted, Elijah replied, "I have not S final prophecy of the Old Testa- he could say, "The children of Israel troubled Israel; but thou, . . . in that ye ment, "Behold, I will send you Elijah have forsaken thy covenant, thrown have forsaken the commandments of the prophet before the coming of the down thine altars, and slain thy proph- the Lord, and thou hast followed great and dreadful day of the Lord." ets with the sword; and I, even I only, Baalim." 1 Kings 18:17, 18. Malachi 4:5. am left; and they seek my life, to take Then we read of the great contest For centuries men and women in it away." 1 Kings 19:10. Thus Malachi, held to determine who was the true many parts of the world have antici- in foretelling an Elijah message before God—Jehovah or Baal. Elijah "re- pated the return of the Old Testament the second advent, is actually asserting paired the altar of the Lord that was reformer Elijah. But is he the one fore- that the world prior to Christ's return broken down." (1 Kings 18:30.) The told in this prophecy? Is the latter-day will be characterized by religious apos- issue of the contest led many to turn Elijah the prophet of that name who tasy. His words find their counterpart from sun worship to obedience to the lived in Palestine five hundred years be- in the latter-day message described in commandments of the Creator, while fore the penning of this prophecy? And Revelation which calls upon men and the leaders of apostasy were executed has he yet appeared in fulfillment of women to separate from the prevalent at the brook Kishon in the valley of Malachi's prediction? customs and beliefs of a modern idola- Megiddo. Not long afterward "Elijah It is clear from the context of this try masquerading as Christianity. (Rev- went up by a whirlwind into heaven." prophecy that its fulfillment is to take elation 14:8; 18:1-4.) Even the re- (2 Kings 2:11.) place just prior to the return of Christ ligious intolerance which characterized In connection with His first advent to this world. (See Malachi 4:1, 2; 2 the times of Elijah is to be revived in Christ had a forerunner who labored Peter 3:10.) Evidently Elijah, by call- this twentieth century! "in the spirit and power of Elias [Eli- ing the world to repentance and refor- Consider now the Old Testament jah]" as he called men to prepare them- mation, is to be the herald of the com- story, for it mirrors a counterpart situa- selves for Christ's kingdom by separa- ing of Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness. tion in today's world. Ahab, king of tion from tradition and formalism. But But God is not going to send back to Israel, had married Jezebel, priestess of our Lord indicated that the full ac- earth the prophet of Ahab's day. He Baal, the sun-god. Altars of apostasy complishment of Malachi's promise will not be forced to leave the bliss of were raised throughout Israel (1 Kings would be in the final message of reform heaven for the sorrows of earth. 16:30-33), and the worshipers of before His second advent. "Elias truly The key to the prophecy of Malachi Jehovah were persecuted (1 Kings 18: shall first come, and restore all things." lies in the fact that all Old Testament 4). No longer was the sacred law Matthew 17:11. As Elijah restored the characters, places, or events, when ap- taught to the people. Instead it was altar of the Creator and then challenged plied prophetically to New Testament flagrantly disregarded by ruler and sub- apostatizing worshipers to give their al- times following Christ's death, have a jects who believed in a religion that re- legiance to Him, so the Scriptures fore- worldwide and not a restricted applica- quired little commitment. The Creator tell a latter-day message restoring the tion. For example, God's Israel today was ignored while multitudes bowed forgotten truths of Holy Writ and chal- consists of Christians scattered through- down to images representing the ruling lenging moderns to return to their for- out the whole world. Babylon in New forces of nature. gotten Lord. ( Revelation 14 : 6-12; Acts Testament prophecy does not refer to At such a time the hitherto unknown 3:19-21.) the city of Nebuchadnezzar responsible Elijah was entrusted with a message of We live in days paralleling the times for the persecution and captivity of the judgment. Traveling night and day, he of Ahab. The blessings of heaven— Jews, but to worldwide apostate re- at length reached the palace of Ahab. peace and sufficiency—are being with- ligion which copies Babylon's practices Without waiting to be announced, and held from the world, as was the rain of idolatry and persecution. Similarly, clad only in the usual coarse garb of a from Israel, and for the same reason. when God promises to send "Elijah the prophet, he passed the guards and pro- True religion is as rare now as in Eli- prophet," He speaks of a worldwide claimed to the astonished monarch, jah's day. The nature worship practiced movement, doing for the world what "As the Lord God of Israel liveth. be- by the apostate Israelites finds its Elijah did for Israel. No one man could fore whom I stand, there shall not be counterpart in the philosophies of evo- today warn the entire world of God's dew nor rain these years, but according lution and scientism. It is not surprising coming judgments. to my word." 1 Kings 17:1. With this that such concepts are pleasing to un- How tragic are the implications of brief word he was gone. After three regenerate hearts, for they involve the this prophecy! The first Elijah's work and a half years of drought the prophet dismissal of ideas such as sin, responsi- was to call the truehearted from the reappeared before a vicious and frus- bility, and judgment. What is surpris- apostasy which enveloped the pro- trated Ahab. "Art thou he that trou- ing, however, is that professed churches fessed people of God. So far gone in bleth Israel?" demanded the king. Un- of Jesus Christ should accept such un- "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." Malachi 4:5.

scriptural beliefs. Here is the hub of apostasy of the church of Israel, points "the hour of God's judgment is come." modern apostasy. out that idolatry was succeeded by Here in almost the identical wording of None can rightly analyze the modern man-made forms of worship. We read the fourth commandment is the appeal dilemma without being aware that it is of Jeroboam, first king of the apostate to worship the Creator, which involves the theory of organic evolution which northern tribes, that he "made two the surrender of all relics of sun wor- has abolished God and demoted man. calves of gold . . . and made priests of ship, including the observance of Sun- As Philip Edgcumbe Hughes has writ- the lowest of the people. . . . And day. In this message "the command- ten: Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth ments of God" are emphasized, and "The implications of the evolutionary month, . . . even in the month which he men are called back to the hallowing theory are total: they involve the whole had devised of his own heart." (1 Kings of the true Sabbath as a sign of submis- realm of existence. . . . If it is true that 12:28-33.) sion to the Creator. False worship is all living organisms throughout the Similarly, in our day the Word of here identified, and the world is ex- world, small and great, simple and com- God has too often been swept aside by pressly warned against continuing par- plex, have evolved from a solitary pri- institutions of human devising, institu- ticipation therein. mordial germ plasm, then evolution tions which date back to paganism. The final verse in this description of must be the key and explanation of Particularly is it true with reference to the Elijah message describes a people everything—of the intellectual, aes- the God-instituted barrier against made ready for the coming of the Lord. thetic, and religious no less than the idolatry, namely the Sabbath of the "Here is the patience of the saints: here anatomical and physiological aspects of fourth commandment. The majority of are they that keep the commandments existence. Evolutionism becomes a men observe no Sabbath at all, but the of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revela- complete and self-sufficient philosophy remainder honor a day that God Him- tion 14:12. And an adjoining verse of life. self has never blessed or sanctified, a pictures Jesus coming in the clouds of "It means, further, that, apart from day associated with ancient heathenism heaven to reap the harvest of earth. the principle of evolution itself, there and idolatrous sun worship. (Verse 14.) can be no absolutes. Everything must Sin entered our world in the begin- Like Elijah, the people of this pro- be seen in terms of different stages of ning when our first parents chose to phetic movement are repairing "the evolution. All is comparative and rela- obey the suggestion of a creature in- altar [worship] of the Lord that . . . tive. And this applies to the religious stead of the word of the Creator. This [has been] broken down" for centuries. sphere as much as to every other is ever the course of apostasy, and at (1 Kings 18:30.) Another Old Testa- sphere. Relativism reigns supreme."— this present time the same sin is being ment prophecy clearly identifies their Christianity Today, September 25, repeated on a worldwide scale. Where, specific task: "And they that shall be 1964, p. 62. then, is the Elijah rebuke and warn- of thee shall build the old waste places: Does not this discerning statement ing for our day? thou shalt raise up the foundations of provide the key to modern chaos? The In the fourteenth chapter of Revela- many generations; and thou shalt be law of God was forsaken in Ahab's tion, under the symbolism of three called, The repairer of the breach, The time because of nature worship, and angels flying in the midst of heaven, restorer of paths to dwell in. •If thou now in the twentieth century amorality having the everlasting gospel, we have turn away thy foot from the sabbath, and immorality reign in the lives of a description of a latter-day movement from doing thy pleasure on my holy men because theorists of evolution af- which is to perform for its generation day; and call the sabbath a delight, the firm that there are no absolutes and the work that Elijah and John the holy of the Lord, honourable: . . . then consequently no binding moral code. Baptist did in their eras. Elijah warned shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; The story of Eden and creation having his contemporaries of coming judg- and I will cause thee to ride upon the been banished, the other stories of ments; he called upon apostate Israel high places of the earth." Isaiah 58: Sinai, Calvary, and the Sermon on the to worship the Creator, to separate 12-14. Mount can be relegated to the scrap from sun worship, and to return to the In the typical days of old a great con- heap. commandments of God. John the Bap- test occurred between Elijah and the Besides the idolatry of worshiping at tist "in the spirit and power of Elias" sun-worshiping Israelites. Elijah ex- the shrine of false philosophical theo- also called for reformation in order "to horted the people, "If the Lord be God, ries, another form of idolatry exists in make ready a people prepared for the follow him: but if Baal, then follow modern Christendom. Religious tradi- Lord." Similarly in Revelation 14's de- him." He urged those who believed in tions have taken the place of Scripture scription of God's final warning to the the true God, the Creator of heaven for many communions, never wholly, human race we find all the characteris- and earth, to come out and be separate but sufficiently to adulterate the whole. tics of the messages of Elijah and John from their idolatrous companions. The Old Testament, in recording the embodied. Here is the warning that Continued

A Christian, after a manner of speaking, puts We are Christians—or we are not. One-day-a- all his eggs in one basket; he invests his time week Christianity or Christian behavior in one and strength—his whole life and living—in area of life and not in another is a privilege we Christ and His kingdom. "The Realm of heaven may not claim. "Whoever obeys the whole law, is like treasure hidden in a field; the man who except to slip in a single instance, is guilty of finds it hides it and in his delight goes and sells breaking it all" (James 2:10, Williams), or all he possesses and buys that field." Matthew "Remember that a man who keeps the whole 13:44, Moffatt.* Law but for a single exception is none the less Treadmill spiritual behavior, bereft of living a law-breaker" ( Phillips'`') . meaning, is an inadequate substitute for vigor- *From The Bible: A New Translation by James Moffatt. ous Christianity. "Circumcision counts for noth- Copyright, 1954. Used by permission of Harper and Row, ing, uncircumcision counts for nothing; obedi- Publishers, Inc. **From The New Testament in Modern English. Copyright, ence to God's commands is everything." 1 Co- J. B. Phillips, 1958. Used by permission of The Macmillan rinthians 7:19, Moffatt.* Company.

Similarly, the last book of the New tions of life. But . . . so long as he pur- people, aware that all good works are Testament makes prominent the fact sues this search in self-sufficiency, re- dependent upon a power outside them- that in the last days true believers in lying on his own virtue, wisdom, or selves, will experience righteousness by Jesus Christ are called upon to separate piety, it will not be God that he finds, faith, and they will lighten the earth from all forms of false religion sym- but an idol—the self, or some aspect of with the glory of the Creator as they bolized in Revelation as "Babylon." the self, writ large, projected, objecti- reflect His character of unselfish love. God's call is, "Come out of her, my fied, and worshiped."—Protestant— As Elijah was translated without see- people, that ye be not partakers of her Catholic—Jew, pp. 254, 255. ing death, despite his being proscribed sins, and that ye receive not of her Against such false worship the Eli- by Jezebel, so the people of the Elijah plagues." (Revelation 18:1-4; 14:8.) jah message of the last days sounds its message will ultimately welcome their According to the last verses of Revela- warning. This message calls upon men returning Lord as their Deliverer from tion 13, there is to come in our genera- to receive the seal of God, the likeness the world's antagonism and be caught tion a great contest, a religious contest of their Creator, in all love, goodness, up to meet Christ in the air. They will which will separate all men into one and truth. The outward sign of this witness the worldwide destruction of camp or the other. As in Elijah's day, true worship will be the hallowing of all who have chosen to reflect the like- the issue will concern worship and the the fourth commandment, God's great ness of Satan—at the battle of that great commandments of God. eternal bulwark against all idolatry; day, the battle of Armageddon. The essential element in true religion and the observance of the seventh-day Who today will be valiant for the is not of course outward forms or even Sabbath is to characterize those who truth? Who like Elijah the Tishbite professed belief—it is whether we will have been re-created in Christ Jesus, will brave scorn and opposition in giv- let God be God. The outward forms those who have ceased from depen- ing the message of God to the world? we espouse in the long run will be but dence upon their own works, and who May we seek God for the courage to the symbols of our actual experience. have entered into Christ's rest. echo the words of another ancient re- The Elijah message warns us that it is Those who choose to keep God's former, "Choose you this day whom not enough to be religious—we must Sabbath in these last days will thereby ye will serve; . . . but as for me and be wholehearted for God. Will Herberg signify their belief before others that my house, we will serve the Lord." has expressed this admirably: the Bible is true from its very begin- Joshua 24:15. "Sinful egocentricity invades all ning, and their assent to all the teach- areas of life, including the religious. ings of the Christian gospel. The Reprints of this article (Number T-10) and Man is homo religiosus, by 'nature' re- two-fold emphasis of the Protestant others in this series of Truth for These ligious: as much as he needs food to Reformation—the impotence of man Times are available. Prices, postpaid to one address: Single copies, 5 cents; 10 copies, 45 eat or air to breathe, he needs a faith and the omnipotence of God—will be cents; 100 copies, $4.00; entire set (12), 50 for living. . . . He is always searching proclaimed by a people giving evidence cents. Special prices for larger quantities. for some god and some way of salvation that they believe only God can create Address: Reprint Editor, Box 59, Nashville, from the fears, futilities, and frustra- the heart and mind in holiness. Such a Tennessee 37202.

r Gentlemen: One of the most meaningful questions ever put to Jesus Without cost or obligation, please enroll me in your course in Christ was. "Lord. to whom shall we go? Thou hast the systematic study. words of eternal life." John 6:68. Yes; where can we go for help but to our Creator? Truly there is no hope in the Name counsels of man. Despite flashes of brilliance, even the wisest of men fail to provide the ultimate answers to life. Only God Address has these. He says, "Come unto me, and I will give you Language rest." Rest. joy, dynamic, satisfaction, hope—all these are (Available in most national tongues) yours in Christ. Our free Bible course will make all this very plain. Simply send in the coupon at the left. There is Mail coupon to The Bible Course for Busy People no obligation. Box 59, Nashville, Tennessee 37202

In this column Pastor Frank B. Holbrook answers questions regard- YOUR QUESTIONS, ing spiritual truth, ethical behavior, and Biblical understanding. Write to him c/o THESE TIMES, Box 59, PLEASE! By Frank B. Holbrook Nashville, Tennessee 37202. Names are confidential.

When a person dies, we place the remains nians 4:16. Not a natural, inherent immortality but the in the ground, but what happens to the resurrection through the power of Christ is the Christian's spirit? Does the Bible have anything to hope! say on cremation? Do the angels keep the very same Ten In answer to the latter question, cremation is a European Commandments (word for word) that and not a Semitic custom. It is rarely mentioned in the were given to man? If possible, give Bible Scriptures. The bodies of Saul and his three sons were thus texts. cared for, and their bones buried. (1 Samuel 31:12, 13.) Amos predicts the removal of famine dead in a similar The Ten Commandments, brief, comprehensive, and au- manner. (Amos 6:9, 10.) Although no stigma is at- thoritative, define the duty of man to his God and to his tached in thus disposing of the human body, the usual fellowmen. These ten precepts are applications of the custom was burial in graves or in rock sepulchers. principle of love. This Jesus illustrated by summarizing the The problem of death has perplexed aching human first four in the sentence "Thou shalt love the Lord thy hearts since the entrance of sin. But Jesus Christ holds the God with all thy heart," and the last six as "Thou shah key to unlock both its mystery and its reality. He declares, love thy neighbour as thyself." (Matthew 22:35-40.) This "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am twofold principle of love is eternal and unchangeable be- alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [the cause it is rooted in the very character of God, "for God grave] and of death." Revelation 1:18. When Christ as is love." (1 John 4:8.) Creator made man (see John 1:1-3, 14), the record de- All intelligent beings in God's universe are governed by scribes the simple act thus: "And the Lord God formed this principle or law. To violate it is to sin against the man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his will of God. (1 John 3:4; Psalm 40:8.) Now angels and nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." mankind are two different orders of intelligences. Both Genesis 2:7. Note that the Scripture does not say that the were created by God, and both are under His gracious Creator put some immortal soul or spirit entity into the rule. (Hebrews 2:6, 7; Psalm 103:20.) It must be ap- body of dust, but that He joined with the body of dust parent, however, that the twofold principle of love would His "breath of life"—the life principle. be adapted—of necessity—so as to meet the unique situa- The union of the life principle and the body produced tion of these distinct orders of beings. In the stated Ten a living, thinking, intelligent soul or person. Sometimes Commandments the principle is made applicable to the the Bible refers to this life principle as "spirit" or "spirit condition and circumstances of man. For example, God of God." (See Job 27:3; 33:4.) When death occurs, the created man in two sexes. (Genesis 1:27.) Therefore the life principle returns to the Creator, who gave it, and the principle "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" body returns to dust. (Ecclesiastes 12:7.) The psalmist among other things must be stated to mean proper honor declares, "His breath [life principle] goeth forth, he return- and respect for parents on the part of their children eth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." (fifth commandment). It would further mean that mar- Psalm 146:4. According to the Scriptures, death is just riage would be preserved inviolate (seventh command- the opposite of life. It is not life in another form. It is the ment). complete cessation of life. It is evident that the fifth and seventh commandments Death is an unconscious condition. "The living know could not apply "word for word" to angels, since Jesus that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing." implies that angels do not marry. (Matthew 22:30; Mark Ecclesiastes 9:5. "The dead praise not the Lord, neither 12:25.) If angels do not marry, then they do not have any that go down into silence." Psalm 115:17. The Scrip- parent-child relationships and hence need no guides on this tures consistently refer to death as a "sleep." Jesus said of point; nor is there need for guards to family life. Although Lazarus, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." John 11:11. "If we know that some of the angels "sinned" (2 Peter 2:4) a man die, shall he live again?" was the ancient question and that Satan was a liar and a murderer (John 8:44), of suffering Job. (Job 14:14.) yet the Scriptures as a whole are silent on just how the Our victorious Lord Jesus by His own resurrection has basic rule of love is expressed in precepts and adapted to answered this cry of the ages: "Marvel not at this: for the meet the case of angels. This is one of the "secret things" hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves God has not seen fit to reveal. (Deuteronomy 29:29.) shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." John 5:28, Our chief concern should not be, "What has God said 29. And when will that climactic summons be heard? The to angels?" but rather, "What has He said to me?" Jesus Apostle Paul points to the second coming of Jesus. "For declared to all mankind, "If ye love me, keep my com- the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, mandments." John 14:15. And these He has plainly enunci- with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of ated in the moral law, the Ten Commandments. (Exodus God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thessalo- 20:3-17.) END

APRIL, 1966 21 150 YEARS OF KINGDOM WORK

A brief history of the American Bible Society, which celebrates its 150th anniversary in 1966, the "Year of the Bible"

BY HARRY G. SANDSTROM

22 THESE TIMES

• Left: The old and the new. The three- story wooden building in the center con- tained eleven hand presses when it was erected in 1816. Behind the original Nas- sau Street (New York City) building is the new Bible House, which will be ready for occupancy this year. Below: Two warehouse employees arrange packages of Scriptures in preparation for their worldwide distribution from the new American Bible Society facility in Wayne, New Jersey. Right: Dale C. Recker. Sec- retary for the Blind. studies the Scriptures in Braille with young students. Recker, who went blind while pastoring a church, stayed on for fifteen years more, until he accepted his present position.

it is the world's largest distributor of the Book, and the best known. Many millions of copies of Scripture have been given to grateful recipients throughout the world, in over 1,000 translations. All this is supported by volun- tary contributions. The frail youth was Samuel J. Mills, Jr. All through his education at college (Williams) and seminary (Andover), he carried on his "divine ferment." His awkward figure, ungainly manners, unelastic and croaking voice could not hide his great heart and great designs, for he propounded his dreams judiciously and wisely. He made two trips, one west and one down the Missis- sippi Valley to New Orleans and back through the coastal states (1814-1815). He found great destitution of the Bible. He came north again with passionate and persistent appeals for the organization of a national Bible society, having been ordained to the gospel ministry in June, 1815. Though met with divided counsels and opposition, he also met with cheer and cooperation. The most effective was N THE early spring of 1802, a frail young man with a that rendered by Dr. Elias Boudinot, who had been a sallow skin was plowing in the Connecticut hills near president of the Continental Congress and who retired at Litchfield. Unimpressive in appearance, he yet had a age sixty-five to study the Bible. good mind and—a minister's son—a heart devoted to the There were about seventy laymen and clergy who at- kingdom and its work. tended that first meeting in Garden Street Church. Mills While he was walking behind his horse, his mind was came to the gathering full of hope, but with a heart active with his future—how he could best serve the Lord. weighed down with fear for the outcome of a meeting of At the end of a furrow he stopped to wipe the perspiration so many sects. His fears were unfounded. from his face. At the same time a warmth and glow flowed Dr. Eliphalet Nott, president, Union College, New all through his frail body. As he told it later, God appar- York, opened the meeting with a prayer, a petition for the ently had given him the answer. "Then and there I was guidance of the Holy Spirit, which expressed the solemnity convinced that the one desire in my life was to communi- of the moment and the yearnings of every heart in that cate the gospel of salvation to the poor heathens." room. On the eighth of May, 1816, fourteen years later, in When the roll of delegates had been made up, the the Garden Street Reformed Church in New York, the object of the meeting was presented and freely discussed, American Bible Society was formed. Now, 150 years later, Continued

APRIL, 1966 23 With a thousand languages and dialects yet to be

translated into Scripture, the ABS pushes forward

undaunted. Millions of Bibles and portions of Scrip-

tures are distributed each year by this beneficent or-

ganization. At left. the Ward of God reaches African

young people on a bicycle, while below, James Ricci-

telli and an African national helper, Duba, translate

the Scriptures into Bwamu, Haute Volta. At right.

another team in Puerto Rico continues the laborious work of translating.

Continued not without divergencies of view. Dr. Lyman Beecher, who was one of the delegates, wrote of the convention many years later: "There was one moment in our proceed- ings when things seemed to tangle and some feeling began to rise. At that moment, Dr. J. M. Mason rose hastily and said: 'Mr. President, the Lord Jesus never built a church but what the devil built a chapel close to it; and he is here now, this moment, in this room, with his finger in the inkhorn—not to write your constitution but to blot it out.' The laughter caused by this sally dispelled the storm and the sun appeared again." To the amazement of all present, these champions of denominational competition stood at one point of view. In the afternoon when a resolu- tion was presented that "it is expedient to establish with- out delay a general Bible institution for the circulation of the Holy Scripture without note or comment," it was The birth of ABS was a matter of wide interest. The adopted without a dissenting vote. daily papers and other periodicals devoted much space to it. The chairman of the convention, Joshua M. Wallace of Presidents John Quincy Adams (an ABS vice- New Jersey, could not control his emotion. His eyes filled president), Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, U. S. Grant, with tears, and he said, "Thank God!" Rutherford Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, Almost hidden behind the crowd in the rear of the room Theodore Roosevelt, gave ABS aid not only by their names was Samuel J. Mills, Jr., the man who had consecrated and influence, but also by definite service. But, then, every himself to the organization of a national Bible society, U.S. President since 1816 has bestowed his blessings and with his great executive power in exciting and combining his help—in one form or another—on the kingdom work minds for benevolent work. When he saw that the day was of the ABS. won, a look of heavenly delight spread over his counte- The first Bible printed in America was a translation for nance. Massachusetts Indians, dated 1663. The second, a Ger- The initial income of ABS, according to its second an- man Bible, was printed 1743 in Philadelphia. English edi- nual report, was about $40,000. The very first ministry tions of the Bible, published by ABS, reached out across was to supply Scripture in French for the new citizens of the prairies to ranchers and settlers, went with the forty- Louisiana, where Mills had traveled and deplored the lack niners to California, and climbed into mountain fastnesses of Bibles. to lumbermen and miners. The founders of ABS were a group of highly intelligent During the Civil War, ABS distributed over five mil- and educated clergymen, businessmen, statesmen, and lion Bibles to Northern soldiers and civilians. Also hun- creative personalities, with many accomplishments to their dreds of thousands were sent, without charge, through the credit. The sands of time have obliterated the names of lines to the soldiers of the South. This was approved by most of them. Yet two remain: James Fenimore Cooper, the commanding generals of both sides and was a unique writer, and John Jay, first chief justice of the Supreme event in the annals of war. Court. Two of the ultimate goals of the ABS are simply

24 THESE TIMES although never more than the cost of production. We've even accepted such unlikely things in trade as fruit, par- rots, monkeys—even cobras." "Who make up the difference?" "Individuals and churches in contributions." But distributing Bibles all over the world is only one part of the work of ABS. Almost as important is the trans- lation of the Book into every language and dialect in the world. To date, at least one book of Scripture has been published in 1,232 languages. "And we've just started," says ABS. "Millions of folk today have not read the Word of God. The Scriptures must still be translated into more than another 1,000 languages and dialects—and this is a conservative estimate." Currently more than 3,000 scholars are at work trans- lating the Bible. Many began with some degree of prior training. Others found these duties evolving out of a need in a particular locality, or they found themselves drafted for the work. Again the potential but quizzical contributor says, "Most of the translators, perhaps, belong to specific churches. Does this mean they interpret the Bible accord- ing to the dogmas of their particular church?" "Absolutely not," replies ABS. "The Society is an or- stated: "A Bible in every Christian home throughout the ganization with many churches and faiths participating in world and a Testament in every Christian's hand." And the translation and distribution of the Book. One of the to let you know they are not being starry-eyed, they give truly great strengths of the Christian religion is the fact an estimate of 370 years to accomplish this—at present that underlying all Christian churches is the Bible." rates of distribution and computing no increase in popula- A skeptic asks, "But the events of the Bible took place tion. The last areas to be reached will be those in West so many centuries ago. What relevance can it possibly Asia. Additional funds may shorten the 370-year period. have to living in today's world?" Neither you nor I, alas, will be around to see whether Reply: "The late President Kennedy wrote to ABS: the ABS reaches its shining goal. But then, all the Lord `An inspiring record of human confrontment by God, of requires of us is to do our very best—and He will take judgment of the temporal by eternity, the Bible is a syn- care of the rest. thesis of that which abides and endures.' " And for 150 years the ABS has been doing its very Now, the skeptic says, "Well one thing for sure, the best, and the present outlook is that it will better its best— ABS really knows and sticks to its goals." if it is not doing so right this minute. "Yes," says ABS, "our goals were set a long time ago In 150 years the Society has distributed 750 million by men who not only pointed the ABS in the right direc- Bibles. tion, but who even helped get America itself on the right "But to be precise," explains ABS, "when we refer to path." Bibles, we don't always mean the entire Bible—both Old Of particular concern to the ABS are the blind, of Testament and New Testament. In many instances, we which there were 400,000 in the U.S. in 1964. That year have found that a copy of just the New Testament or ABS supplied more than 58,000 Scriptures in Braille or even one book of the Bible, which we call a 'Portion,' on records or tape to some 18,000 blind folk. This distri- serves even better to stimulate the desire to read more bution was free, and ABS urges you to send in names and and more of this great Book." addresses of blind folk you know who don't have a Braille "But 750 million?" an intelligent questioner writes. Bible or recordings. "That's nearly four times the U.S. population!" ABS lists seven urgent needs in this their 150th anni- "True," says ABS, "but it's only a minute fraction of versary year: New Testaments: Seven out of eight Chris- the world's population. And to reach all of them with at tians in the world do not possess one of their own. Africa: least a Portion is the ABS goal." Eleven nations are without a complete Bible in a language At the moment, ABS is distributing the Bible through- of their land. Bibles: Fifty percent of Christian homes are out 130 countries, in addition to the U.S. without a complete Bible. New Literates: Seventy million Another questioner writes, "You keep using the word adults annually require new Scripture formats in simple `distribute.' You do give Scriptures away free, don't you?" language. Scripture Translations: One thousand languages Answer: "Yes, in a good number of cases we do give and dialects still to be done. Training: Many more insti- away Bibles, or Portions—especially when the receiver tutes required for Scripture distribution and for translation. cannot afford to pay anything at all. You see, we've dis- Personnel: Augmented staff needed in each of the 131 covered that when a body has to make an actual invest- countries where ABS is at work. ment in his Bible, he's far more likely to read and No other American organization has, for 150 years, study it." done the distinct salvation-kingdom work that has been "How much do you charge then?" done by the American Bible Society. It deserves our "It all depends upon the individual's ability to pay. applause and thanks. END

APRIL, 1966 25 YOU CAN CHOOSE

in a Cadillac. The vehicle in which one weak about his statement. He was in no BY HOWARD E. KERSHNER travels is not the most important con- doubt about his ability to choose. He sideration. The attitude of the driver is faced up to it and made the choice with THERE ARE those who will tell you that far more significant in determining the a definiteness and determination we all you are a victim of your ancestry, that quality and character of life. admire. you cannot rise above your heritage, We have too many wishy-washy Living in a corrupt Oriental court that your parents and grandparents people today who will not dare to make with evil all about him, Daniel might have determined your character and right decisions, who will not strive to have said, "I cannot rise above it; I am capacity, and that you must be satis- make the most of themselves, who do the victim of my situation." Instead, fied with yourself as you are. not use their physical. mental, and "Daniel purposed in his heart that he Others will tell you that you are a spiritual powers to live the finest and would not defile himself." Daniel 1 :8. creature of your environment, that you most useful lives of which they are Again, he did not say he would try: cannot rise above the level of your sur- capable. Such people are not using their he did not seek a psychiatrist to ex- roundings. The situation in which you resources. They are living beneath their cuse him or help him. He "purposed find yourself determines what you are capacity. They are choosing to be small in his heart." That is, he said, I will to be. when they might be great. not succumb to these evil conditions. I Still others say you are the product On a memorable occasion, Joshua will live a righteous life in spite of of your glands. They determine your once put the question to himself and them. He carried his determination strength, your character, your abilities, the people of Israel. He stood up be- clear into the lions' den because he the scope of your activity, and the ex- fore the throng and called upon all to insisted on serving God rather than tent of your physical, mental, and spiri- choose between serving God and wor- evil. tual existence. shiping idols. He did not say, "You are Three times a day he knelt in prayer There is enough truth in the above the victims of the customs of this land with his face toward Jerusalem. He assertions to give one excuse for drift- in which we live; you cannot do any- made his decision, and he lived up to ing. One who does not wish to take thing about your environment." He it without faltering or equivocation. He responsibility for making the most of called upon the people to choose righ- might have compromised. He might himself need not lack excuses. teousness. Hear his words: have tried to worship God in secret On the other hand, there is a very "Choose you this day whom ye will while outwardly conforming to the large area in which one can choose. He serve; . . . but as for me and my house, practices of the pagan court. His deci- can alter his environment. He can make we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15. sion for righteousness was clean-cut. the most of his hereditary equipment. Note the will in Joshua's decision: He stood foursquare before friend and Many a man rides a bicycle success- he did not say we will try to serve the foe alike. fully to an honorable destination, while Lord; we will make an effort in the When the three Hebrew boys, Me- others drive to destruction and death right direction. There was nothing shach, Shadrach, and Abednego, re-

26 THESE TIMES fused to fall down and worship the golden image which the king had set up, Nebuchadnezzar told them that if they did not do so, they would be cast FOCUSING into the fiery furnace. Although faced By Walter Raymond Beach with this horrible death, these brave young men would not compromise. Hear their ringing words: "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery fur- nace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, 0 king. But if not, be it known unto thee, 0 king, that we will .-a3C013 not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3:17, 18. TERMITES How refreshing it is to find people who can say, "I will," or "I will not"! fie Fortunately no one had told these I young men that they had no power of FTER a trip to tropical Africa, an war against yellow fever as Louis Pas- decision, that they were victims of their A overseas traveler told graphically teur battled germs more fatal to France heredity, their environment, their of the secret ravages accomplished than Germans. The result of these ex- glands, and their training. They knew there by the white ants. He described ploits has been miracle serums and only to do right, to decide in favor of the enormous powers of destruction wonder drugs to challenge man's in- righteousness. these little creatures can marshal and visible foes to mortal combat. Had they been acquainted with mod- how insidiously and secretly they work The might of the termite! In the ern techniques, they probably would to undo man's creations. "Picture," realm of the spirit we do well to be- have said, We will fall down and ap- said he, "an African in his hut think- ware of similar dangers. Spiritual wis- pear to worship the king while retain- ing that it is as strong and protective dom requires that we fear the germ ing the truth in our hearts. We will not as the day he built it. Suddenly he more than the giant. Emphasizing this make ourselves conspicuous by being awakens to discover there is nothing truth, Dr. Frederick Brown Harris pro- stubborn and obstinate. We will go around him but a shell." claimed aptly, "We are not likely to be along with the crowd. We will stay in White ants work that way. No one floored by the devil with cloven hoof, the middle of the road. No, they did sees these little destroyers; no one with all his weapons of impish seduc- not know these modern excuses. So hears them tearing down a building; no tion. Rather, we may meet our moral they stood up and said, "We will not," one has any warning of their presence. Waterloo by unnoticed and unsus- and these words have come ringing Outside, life goes on as usual. Then, pected temptations to drift, to follow down the centuries, proving that men in a moment, comes the realization that the line of least resistance, to compro- do have the power of decision. the very pillars of the house are about mise, and just to melt into our sur- We can make the most of our hered- to collapse. In fact, ofttimes they do roundings." ity. We can rise above our environ- collapse without warning. Evil's most subtle attacks are not ment. We can exercise an enormous in- Many years ago a noted essayist made with the sound of bugles—they fluence over our health and energy by made it plain that one is more likely approach with silent sandals. The real right thinking, right decisions, and to meet disaster from a mosquito than danger is to acquiesce in compromise, availing ourselves of the spiritual from a mad dog. To be sure, lightning to live on low levels of rectitude or power and help which God makes can kill, but so can dry rot. And to one morality, to accept the ugly without a available to those who seek earnestly unfortunate who is gobbled up by a battle; to believe, in a word, that life to serve Him. Unfathomable, infinite ravenous beast, a thousand are felled can be taken as it comes and as it is. resources are at hand the moment we by invisible germs. These ubiquitous He who taught as never man taught, uncompromisingly choose to put our- killers cannot be measured, weighed, told of a defeated life which fell short selves on God's side and unswervingly or seen. Commenting further on this, of glory. This young man was not seek to learn to do His will. END our overseas traveler reported that tripped and trapped by any great, re- more than one hunter in the wide pulsive venal sin which, if known and spaces of Africa or Asia had escaped proclaimed, would have ostracized lions, tigers, and snakes only to be him from his fellows. No, not that. READER'S CHOICE: Who of us killed by the bite of a poisonous or The rich young man might have come doesn't need the admonition in this germ-carrying insect. down to us a companion of Christ's dis- thought-provoking essay from "Chris- This principle marks the story of ciples; but he failed in sorrow. The tian Economics"? It was suggested to us by Mrs. M. Toland of Newark, human achievement. Walter Reed's way of the world and the lure of riches New Jersey. Send in your favorite ar- name was given to the great army hos- had made him hollow. ticle or book chapter. If you are first pital in the nation's capital because he The great enemies of the good life to suggest it and we print it, you will battled successfully the air force of call forth our swords and shields and receive $15.—Ed. mosquitoes that descended on the build- coats of mail, but beware of the ter- ers of the Panama Canal. He fought the mites! END APRIL, 1966 27 HE REVIVAL of a renewed under- Christ. The bishop told the world just ment regarding the Sabbath: "The standing of the sanctity and what our generation wanted to hear, content of this event of the seventh day blessings of the seventh-day "Glory to man in the highest; for man was the revelation of the true deity, the Sabbath during the past century in- is the master of things." genuine freedom and love, of the Cre- volves more than the question of Encouraged by the response to his ator. In this self-revelation of His true whether or not a person should keep first book, he has now written a second, deity He has thus united Himself with Saturday or Sunday as a day of rest. and the title expresses his objective: the world which He created. It com- There are deep theological reasons why The New Reformation. Here he con- pletes and crowns all creation that, as every Christian should keep the sev- fesses that intellectually he is willing to the One He Himself was and is and enth day as the Sabbath of the Lord. take his stand with the atheists in de- will be, in His rest He associates Him- claring that the concept of God that self with it in the fullest possible way." Our God-Concept Christianity has so far accepted is "in- Barth continues by saying, "That When Nietzsche declared that "God tellectually superfluous," "emotionally God rested on the seventh day, and is dead," he said only what would be- dispensable," and "morally intoler- blessed and sanctified it, is the first di- come commonplace for a considerable able." vine action which man is privileged to part of the human race in this century. A person's God-concept expresses witness; and that he himself may keep There is the fierce dogmatic atheism of more clearly than anything else his re- the Sabbath with God, completely free world communism. There is the ligion. If there is no creation, but evo- from work, is the first Word spoken quieter, less sensational, intellectual lution, then there is no fall; conse- to him, the first obligation laid on conviction that nothing exists beyond quently there is no need for the cross, him."2 a natural order explicable and dis- and the doctrine of the advent of Christ Although Karl Barth recognizes the coverable by science. This is, by now, becomes ridiculous. In the heart of the place of the Sabbath in the creation of the normal outlook in most of the ed- immutable law of God we read, "But the world, he fails to follow the con- ucated West. Within the churches the the seventh day is the sabbath of the sequences of this teaching. As a whole, confession "I believe in God the Father Lord thy God: . . . for in six days the Christianity today has come far away Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth" Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, from the Biblical observance of the has been undermined by liberal theol- and all that in them is, and rested the Sabbath as a memorial of God's cre- ogy. In other words, the influence of seventh day: wherefore the Lord ative act. The Book of Revelation, how- Darwin and the evolutionary theory blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed ever, states that God will send a mes- have destroyed faith in God as the it." Exodus 20:10, 11. sage, saying, "Fear God, and give glory Creator. The importance of Sabbathkeeping to him; . . . and worship him that made A most recent example in this re- as a memorial of God's creation was a heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the spect is the book Honest to God, writ- part of the beliefs of the early church. fountains of waters." Revelation 14:7. ten by Dr. Robinson, the Anglican In a well-known Christian document The acceptance of the seventh-day bishop of Woolwich, England. In four- from the close of the fourth century we Sabbath restores the right God-concept: teen months this book passed through read, "0 Lord Almighty, Thou hast a transcendent God who is absolute, ten editions and is still selling well. It created the world by Christ, and hast personal, and holy; the Creator and is the most widely read religious book appointed the Sabbath in memory Sustainer of the whole universe. of recent years. His thoughts harmo- thereof, because that on that day Thou nize with the antitheistic spirit of our hast made us rest from our works, for The Advent of Christ age. Dr. Robinson advocates a "Chris- the meditation upon Thy laws."' When the Old Testament prophets tianity" that dispenses with all thought The present-day great Swiss theolo- spoke about the coming of the Messiah of a personal, transcendent Deity, and gian Karl Barth, in a discussion of the and the new earth, as in Isaiah 66, the a gospel that proclaims only a human creation, makes the following state- Sabbath is closely linked to the world

28 THESE TIMES Tie geological Agnificance of the jeventh-day Abbath

A revival of true Sabbathkeeping would answer questions PART II regarding the origin, nature, and final destiny of man.

BY V. NORSKOV OLSEN to come. This idea became so much a also says, "Fear God, and give glory to dressing on Sabbath morning so as to part of the Jewish religion that even in him; for the hour of his judgment is be sure not to wear anything which rabbinical literature this truth is em- come." Revelation 14:7. might tempt to some form of labor. A phasized. C. W. Dugmore writes, "In The message of Christ's second com- woman must not go out with ornaments the thoughts of the Rabbis, the Sabbath ing, with its twofold purpose of judg- or pins or necklaces or rings, lest in is the essence of the world to come; or, ment and restoration, as well as the her vanity she might take them off to to express the relationship in another truth of God as the Creator, are theo- show to a friend, and replace them, way, the world to come is a day that logically expressed in the doctrine of which would be "work" and so a sin. is all the Sabbath."3 the Sabbath. Women were also forbidden to look in Early Christian writers continued a mirror on the Sabbath because they with the same train of thought. Origen The Commandments of God might discover a white hair and try to and the Faith of Jesus spiritualized the truth about the Sab- pull it out, which would be a grievous bath, but it is interesting to notice that The Sabbath, as related to man's sin. he writes: "If . . . you . . . offer the personal salvation, should be a sign of Twenty-four chapters are filled with ear for . . . thoughts of heavenly things, justification and sanctification. We can this absurd casuistry, these endless and give attention to the future life, keep thus speak about the Sabbath "within." minute regulations, these burdensome before your eyes the coming judgment, When the Sabbath has been considered rules for each detail of the Sabbath. It do not regard present and visible things as a sign of the central spiritual realities is no wonder that Jesus opposed the but the invisible and the future: this is of man's salvation, it has often led to Pharisaic Sabbath observance of His the observance of the Christian Sab- two opposite dangerous positions: le- time. bath."4 It is interesting to notice that galism and antinomianism, or allegori- In the early history of the Christian Origen mentions that having "before zation of the actual day. The Jews at church some Christians went to the your eyes the coming judgment" is "the the time of Christ observed the Sabbath opposite extreme. In the second cen- observance of the Christian Sabbath." day scrupulously, but the Sabbath be- tury antinomianism was strongly ex- In Isaiah 66:23, 24 the Sabbath and came a stumbling block for their spiri- pressed by some of the theologians. God's judgment are linked together. tual advancement. When we trace the entrance of Sunday When the Jews of Jerusalem took their In the Pentateuch all the legalism on into the church, it is significant to no- Sabbath walk, they went to that part of this subject is comprised in the limits tice that some of the first statements the city from which they could see of about four octavo pages. In the against the Sabbath and in favor of Gehenna. This was in some way a cli- Talmud it consists of 156 double pages Sunday are from these men. Speaking max of their Sabbath observance, for of folio; in other words, it is about about Ignatius and Justin Martyr, Dug- from this place they could see how three hundred times as large in bulk. more, a present-day authority in early God's righteousness had won over the For example, "carrying" is forbidden church history, himself a Sunday- wicked ones, who had received their in Talmudism. After much discussion, keeper, states: just punishment as they were lying the maximum weight which might be "These two writers seem to repre- there dead or dying after stoning or "carried" was that of a dried fig. An- sent the extreme of Anti-Nomianism. crucifixion. other rule stated, "He who has a tooth- The command to keep holy the Sab- God has revived the truth of the ache may not rinse his teeth with bath was enshrined in the Decalogue, seventh-day Sabbath in these latter vinegar and spit it out again, for this and it was the Decalogue alone, of the days because the Sabbath points to the would be to apply a medicine; but he Mosaic Law, which the Jewish Chris- advent of Christ, which means judg- may wash them with the vinegar and tians held to be still valid." "Granted ment on the one hand and restoration then swallow it, as this is but taking then, that individual Christians urged on the other. The message of Revela- food." the casting off of everything even re- tion, which points to God as Creator, Minute regulations are given as to Continued

APRIL, 1966 29 Continued those who accept and proclaim the statement is taken from the Schaff- motely connected with the Jewish Law, three angels' messages "keep the com- Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious they probably do not represent the con- mandments of God, and the faith of Knowledge, article "Sunday": "The sensus of opinion in the Church. There Jesus." In their lives the faith of Jesus first day of the week was adopted by were others who compromised by ob- is an objective trust in Him as their the early Christians as a day of wor- serving both Saturday and Sunday."5 Creator, Saviour, and coming Lord; by ship. The sun of Latin adoration they He further writes, "The Sabbath did faith they are saved. Subjectively the interpreted as the Sun of Righteous- not disappear from the actual practice faith of Jesus is His life lived in their ness. . . . No regulations for its ob- of the Christian church." However, "it lives. The first is justification and sal- servance are laid down in the New is possible that a decline in Sabbath vation by faith alone; the latter is re- Testament, nor, indeed, is its observ- worship was setting in about the mid- generation and sanctification with its ance even enjoined."" The Sunday of dle of the fourth century."6 new life and obedience, not born by Oriental, Greek, and Roman cults was The Epistle to the Hebrews, chap- the works of man but by the indwelling through allegorical interpretation made ters 3 and 4, makes clear that Israel Christ. This is the Sabbath within. Christian by theologians who were failed in their relationship to God be- more Gnostic than Christian. The Separation of cause they did not enter spiritually into Reference has been made to the Church and State the rest of the Sabbath. The Reformers historical fact "that a doctrine in Sab- of the sixteenth century, with many of Although the doctrinal significance bath worship was setting in about the the early church fathers, made the of the Sabbath does not point to the middle of the fourth century." This Sabbath typical of the continual rest separation of church and state, the situation is closely linked to Constan- from sin given by God in this world. historical Sunday-Sabbath issue does. tine's state-church. Says Calvin, "The substance of the It is generally agreed that Sunday as a Given equal rights with the old re- Sabbath is not in a day, but in the day of worship and rest is pre-Christian ligions by the Edict of Toleration in whole course of our lives." in its origin. 311, Christianity gradually assumed a They spiritualized the Sabbath, however, to the degree that the day, as such, was allegorized away. Thus the "If a free church and a free state should unite in issuing church lost the Sabbath as a fence or Sunday laws so that seventh-day Sabbath observers cannot hedge within which some basic doctri- 'buy or sell,' then Sunday would become a signal of a false nal truths were realistically symbolized. When spiritual truths are divorced from alliance between church and state." realities, they die. Therefore the essential spiritual truths, represented WNW rift 41=11111 by the Sabbath, cannot be divorced Sunday was to a considerable extent favored status as through his laws Con- from the actual Sabbath day itself. "sanctified" through an ancient Orien- stantine showed his favor to the Chris- There are a material side and a tal cult of the sun, namely Mithraism. tian clergy and church. In Constan- spiritual side to the Sabbath, and con- This cult came to Rome in the first tine's mind Christianity was the bond sequently there are both physical and century A.D., but its greatest extension that could cement divisive elements of spiritual blessings connected with the was in the latter part of the second and the empire. The empire "had one Em- day. The Sabbath within the heart em- during the third centuries. The most peror, one law, and one citizenship for braces both aspects. important aspect of this cult was the all free men. It should have one re- The Sabbath is enshrined in the Ten worship of the sun upon the first day ligion."" Commandments of God. The observ- of the week. The influence of Mith- Through ecclesiastical lawgiving ance of the Sabbath becomes a testi- raism upon Christianity through the Constantine sought to glue together his mony to their immutability, and the gradual infiltration of Sunday as a day vast empire. He issued his decree that spiritual rest from sin through forgive- of worship is admitted by many his- Sunday, the day which Mithraism had ness by faith in Jesus Christ is a wit- torians. dedicated to the sun, should be the ness to their spirituality. One scholar writes, "Our observance official holiday. Church and state sig- "The Sabbath is a sign of creative of Sunday as the Lord's day is appar- nalized their union by their official pa- and redeeming power; it points to God ently derived from Mithraism. The ar- tronage of the legalized Sunday. as the source of life and knowledge; it gument that has sometimes been used Decisive authority under the new condi- recalls man's primeval glory, and thus against this claim, namely, that Sun- tions was the emperor. "Councils of witnesses to God's purpose to re-create day was chosen because of the resur- the church passed upon questions of us in His own image. rection on that day, is not well sup- creed and of organization, but it re- "The Sabbath and the family were ported." Comparing Mithraism and mained with the imperial authorities alike instituted in Eden, and in God's the Christian Lord's day, Arthur E. P. to confirm and execute the anathemas purpose they are indissolubly linked Weigall writes, "As a solar festival, against recurring heresy or the deci- together. On this day more than on any Sunday was the sacred day of Mithra; sions as to conflicting claims of power other, it is possible for us to live the and it is interesting to notice that since and precedence. For good or for evil life of Eden."7 Mithra was addressed as Dominus, the church was in politics."12 Reference has been made to the `Lord,' Sunday must have been 'the "Great as were the favors which message of Revelation 14 in its re- Lord's day' long before Christian Constantine showed to the church, they lationship to the revival of the seventh- times." were only for that strong, close-knit, day Sabbath. Verse 12 points out that The following and most significant hierarchically organized portion that

30 THESE TIMES called itself the 'Catholic.' The various "illegitimate interference with the right- 1 The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7, p. 474. `heretical' sects, and they were still ful liberty of the individual,"14 to watch (Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, The many, could look for no bounty from Apostolic Constitutions, Book 7, chapter carefully present and future moves rel- 36.) his hands."13 In other words, the im- ative to Sunday laws. 2 Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics III, 1, pp. perial state church, built upon the de- If a free church and a free state 216, 219. crees of the state, became a persecut- should unite in issuing Sunday laws so 3 C. W. Dugmore, The Influence of the ing and intolerant church. that seventh-day Sabbath observers Synagogue Upon the Divine Office, p. 32. 4 From the time of Constantine the Origen, Homily in Numbers XXIII 4, cannot "buy or sell," then Sunday Pastrologia Graeca XII, p. 749. history of Sunday is the story of a day would become a signal of a false alli- 5 The Influence of the Synagogue Upon the of worship and rest, enacted and en- ance between church and state. Divine Office, pp. 24, 30. forced by civil and ecclesiastical laws. To a very large degree our genera- 6 Ibid., pp. 28, 35. First in the birth of the United States tion has lost the dimension of depth in 7 Ellen G. White, Education, p. 250. of America was a nation established in which questions concerning "from 8 Gordon J. Laing, Roman Religion Sur- vivals in Christianity, p. 148. which a free church could live and where" and the nature and final destiny 9 Arthur E. P. Weigall, The Paganism in work in a free state. Freed from secular of man are faced and answered. The Our Christianity, p. 145. and ecclesiastical Sunday laws, the full theological impact of the Sabbath 10 Schaff-Herzog, Encyclopedia of Religious practice of seventh-day Sabbath observ- truth will give that dimension of depth Knowledge, Vol. 4, art. "Sunday," p. ance could be a Biblical reality with in which we can face and answer the 2,259. (Third edition.) no hindrance for work and worship. question "from where," as well as the 11 Williston Walker, A History of the Chris- tian Church, p. 112. However, it behooves us, believing nature and final destiny of man. The 12 W. A. Dunning, A History of Political as we do with the nineteenth-century theological significance of the Sabbath Theories, Ancient and Mediaeval, p. 133. philosopher John Stuart Mill that all begs each of us to enter into "his rest." 13 A History of the Christian Church, p. 113. legislation in respect to Sunday is an END 14 John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, p. 16.

THE GREAT DANGERS the attraction of young people into the To effect this, we need a positive OF A SOFT LIFE medical profession. program to counteract the negative ad- Much has been written and said monitions that meet us at every hand. (Continued from page 6) about psychosomatic physiology and These are my specific suggestions and The brain, our most important or- psychosomatic diseases, and there is no recommendations as to items of this gan, is kept supplied, or should be, doubt whatsoever about their impor- positive program: with the freshest blood by the beating tance. Take peptic ulcer, for example; 1. For physical fitness a minimum of of the heart, which we should regard ulceration of the duodenum, the first a four-mile walk each day, which not as the center of all our life but as part of the small intestine, may be ini- should take you about an hour, or the handmaid to all other parts of our tiated or even repeatedly precipitated seven hours a week if on some occa- body, especially the brain. And our leg by emotional stresses of one kind or sions you can't work in an hour on cer- muscles pump blood up to our lungs another in a susceptible individual. It tain days. Or perhaps you can substi- and heart to be pumped on from there is not, however, adequately appreciated tute 12 miles on a bicycle, whether to the brain. The brain is, of course, that the somatopsychic relationship is indoors or out, or the equivalent of the site of our mind, which physically equally potent. The brain in which are swimming, tennis, golf, or working in is a remarkable computer full of hun- located both mind and soul—and they the garden, on a farm, or by pruning dreds of thousands of tapes of memo- can't be anywhere else—needs to be trees. rized recordings to be called upon as well fed with oxygen and other chemi- 2. A minimum of half an hour a needed. If our circulation becomes cals, and its waste products removed; day or three and a half hours a week rusty—that is, the arteries feeding our and only the blood can do this. For its reading literary masterpieces. brain—our mental processes become optimal function, therefore, the brain 3. A pad and a pen (and some of slowed and defective, as they do when must have a good fresh blood supply the pens are illuminated these days) for we take overmuch alcohol or hallucina- delivered by a good heart and good the recording of special thoughts at tory drugs. Many little strokes are fun- blood vessels, which should be kept in night or early in the morning. I have damentally due to unhealthy habits of the best of condition. It is of course found myself that these are the clearest health. possible for individuals with crippled and the most useful thoughts in any brains, for example, from strokes, to twenty-four hours. The Spirit or the Soul have remarkable minds and souls, but 4. Take a personal interest in some I have worked for years for our that is true despite the disease, very, helpful community activity which will public health service, which is a por- very rarely because of it. aid in raising the level of local, na- tion of our Federal Government called It is not necessary or wise to espouse tional, or international prestige, H.E.W.—Health, Education, and Wel- or endure either extreme of silks and whether educational, artistic, musical, fare—freely defined as the care of the satins or the hair shirt, cakes and ale athletic, moral, or spiritual. In other body, mind, and spirit (or soul). The or a crust and water, the soft life or words, my advice is, be positive—not true physician cannot limit himself to the hard one. There is to be found and negative. the physical side alone; he is naturally practiced a middle of the road. But a 5. Send freely items of special inter- concerned with the minds and the souls return to at least some of the rugged est concerning good happenings and of his patients. This fact is not always life and virtues of our ancestors— achievements to newspapers and jour- appreciated by the layman, but it is physical, mental, and spiritual—is long nals to counteract the overabundance often the most compelling reason for overdue. of bad news. END

APRIL, 1966 31 WHAT DOES THE Biblical Tests of a True Prophet FUTURE HOLD? (Continued from page 11) The Bible advises that men "try 3. The consequences of his teach- the spirits," "because many false ings will be in harmony with the In the frequent sense of desperation prophets are gone out into the Biblical revelation of God's will. which our troubled generation brings world." (1 John 4:1.) (Matthew 7:20.) increasingly to bear upon us, let us not 1. A true prophet's statements are 4. The prophet's own life will be lose heart. Let us not decide that God in harmony with the moral teach- as holy as his teachings. (2 Peter must be dead after all. Let us not turn ings and tone of the law of God 1:21.) to psychic resources or to the spirits of (Ten Commandments) and the 5. He manifests the inner work- the departed for direction. teachings of other inspired prophets. ing of the Spirit of Christ in his daily Let us place our destiny in the hand (Isaiah 8:20.) life. (1 Peter 1:10, 11.) that was nailed to the cross, in the hand 2. His predictions come to pass that cradled this world in space, in the exactly unless they are based on a 6. He recognizes that Jesus of hand that will place a crown of eternal condition which, unless fulfilled, Nazareth was indeed God "come in life upon the head of every believing, would modify or negate the predic- the flesh," and not just another obedient child of God. For that is the tion. (Ezekiel 12:25; Jeremiah 28: world figure like Shakespeare, Mo- mighty hand that holds the future! 9; 18:7-10.) hammed, Gandhi, or Confucius. END

I will not grieve that now the house is gone, The old two-story house with gable ends. Time has a way of striding boldly on, Unheeding that it robs us of our friends. I will not mourn because the pasture land PROGRESS TAKES ALL Is studded now with houses row on row. The heavy feet of progress take their stand, By Enola Chamberlin And lush green grass and buttercups must go. I will not sorrow that the little stream Is prisoner now to pipe, its music stilled. The future must be met, its far, white dream Of better lives for all must be fulfilled. But, oh, the builders might have left the tree Where my high limb-held playhouse used to be.

32 THESE TIMES "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Proverbs 25:11.

PRAYER FOR ZEST Oh, the comfort—the inexpressible com- Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee as Thou de- fort of feeling safe with a person, servest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and Having neither to weigh thoughts, not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for Nor measure words—but pouring them rest; to labor and not to ask for any reward save that All right out—just as they are— of knowing that we do Thy will. Chaff and grain together— —Author Unknown. Certain that a faithful hand will Take and sift them— Keeping what is worth keeping— ADVENTURE IN GOD And with the breath of kindness A true walk with God will do more to awaken Blow the rest away. awe, wonder, and amazement in your soul than —Dinah Maria Mulock Craik. would a century of travel through the sights of this From Melody H. Booth. earth. Your Guide will keep to no beaten path; He will God does not die on that day when we cease to lead you by a way such as you never dreamed your believe in a personal Deity, but we die on that day eyes would look upon. He knows no fear, and He ex- when for us life is no longer shot through with the pects you to fear nothing, while He is with you. ever-radiating splendor of miracles from sources be- To take you to His end by a way you know would yond the reach of reason. profit you little. He chooses for you a way you know —Dag Hammarskjold. not that you may be compelled into a thousand ex- From Charlee May Fraser. periences with Himself, which will make the journey forever memorable to Him and to you. Difficulty is When perplexities arise, and difficulties confront the very atmosphere of miracles—it is a miracle in you, look not for help to humanity. Trust all with its first stage. If it is to be a great miracle, the con- God. The practice of telling our difficulties to others dition is not difficulty—but impossibility. only makes us weak, and brings no strength to them. It is our business to learn to be peaceful and safe It lays upon them the burden of our spiritual infirmi- in God in every situation, for we may be absolutely ties, which they cannot relieve. We seek the strength sure of an unperplexed and undismayed Guide and of erring, finite man, when we might have the Saviour. —Author Unknown. strength of the unerring, infinite God. From Mrs. M. Ruth French. —Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, p. 146. Advice to a dieter: "No thyself!" From H. R. Robbins. EDITORIALS

WHY WE EMPHASIZE BIBLE PROPHECY

ACK in the 1920's a noted lecturer on Bible prophecy Was the prophecy fulfilled? It was; for in 332 B.c. B followed the plan of going into a city, advertising Alexander the Great attacked the city and took the his meetings, and inviting all classes of unbelievers to walls, towers, and timbers, and ruined the palaces. So attend and to interrupt him with questions at any time great was the demand for material to build the solid during his talk. The fact that he answered the questions causeway to the island city that the very dust was completely and satisfactorily always amazed his listeners scraped from the site and laid into the sea. To this day and astonished people who looked upon the subject as fishermen dry their nets on the rocks just as the prophet being too mysterious for them—as something only for said they would. theologians to muse over in the musty halls of ancient Furthermore, Daniel 8 and 9 prove beyond all doubt seminaries, or for eschatological tyros to tinker with at that Jesus of Nazareth is the true Messiah. These two their own discretion. The simple truth is that Bible Bible chapters do this by announcing more than five prophecies are so marvelously accurate and readily centuries beforehand the very year God's Anointed demonstrable that any Bible student armed with his- One would appear among men at His first advent, torical and archaeological facts can meet any question. and also the time when He would be crucified. This Among all the thousands of books written by in- prophecy also furnishes a key to an understanding fidels there is not one devoted to showing how Bible of what Jesus is now doing in heaven. It tells the exact prophecies have failed. However, every other part of the year (1844) for the opening of that heavenly tribunal Bible has been criticized in elaborate detail. Paul said, where the destiny of every soul will be decided forever. "Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things." 1 Thes- It also points forward to the close of the gospel dispen- salonians 5:20, 21. Here is a direct challenge by God sation, when Jesus will come to the earth the second to see whether prophecy is what He intends it to be— time to gather all the saved into His heavenly kingdom. a sure anchor for one's faith. We accept this challenge. This issue begins a six- URELY the most inclusive prophecy in the Bible is month-long emphasis on Bible prophecy. (See page 7.) S found in Daniel 2 and 7, where a clear predic- You will learn, perhaps for the first time, of the pre- tion of the whole history of the world, beginning with dictions of the great prophets of Holy Writ, these men Babylon and reaching to the present, is given. It is not who first received instruction from God Himself and possible to go into all the details of the prophecy—that then conveyed it to the people. Our series, under the will come later in our series—but one point should be blessing of Heaven, will provide authentic answers for noted here. Daniel stated that there would be just four doubters who have oft cast a fishy eye on Scriptural world empires—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and prognostications. Rome. He made that Heaven-inspired declaration It will also bear a message for those Christians who knowing these four empires would rise in 400 years' shy away from the subject of prophecy. The prophetic time. Analogy would teach that there would be twenty Book of Revelation, which indicates by its very name more universal empires in the twenty succeeding cen- an intention to unveil the mysteries of the future cul- turies. On the contrary, there has not been even one! minating in the triumph of Jesus Christ, is looked upon All the attempts of Charlemagne, Charles XII of Swe- as a closed book, its symbolism too difficult to com- den, Napoleon, Hitler, and others to break the prophecy prehend by the average believer. But let us "look at of Daniel and to establish a fifth world empire have the facts." Let us dare to investigate the great prophe- failed. No wonder the Apostle Paul could say, "Despise cies of Holy Writ, applying the Bible's own principles not prophesyings. Prove all things." of prophetic interpretation. Our cover emphasizes the fact that without the What are some of the prophecies that have proved authentic voice of God's chosen spokesmen, the proph- so convincing to the open-minded and have served so ets, we inhabitants of earth, which constitutes merely a well to engender faith in tl4e Bible and its God? How tiny speck in infinite space, are terrifyingly uncertain as accurate are these prophecies? to what the future holds. Thank God, we need not be For example, let's take the prophecy about the an- in doubt any longer. We need not be uncertain as to cient prosperous city of Tyre. The Bible prophet Ezekiel whether communism will succeed in ruling the world or, in 590 B.C. said, "They shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, for that matter, just what role will be played by the and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust Roman Catholic Church and by the United States of from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall America. We invite you, then, to consider with us the be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the amazingly "sure word of prophecy," God's anchor for sea." Ezekiel 26:4, 5. your faith. K. J. H.

34 THESE TIMES NO PLACE TO H

E rt 111 t Iii, ,Sficlii0IU of tlic Cross oj Jesus

In every human heart there is a longing to know more about the conflict between good and evil. How did this conflict between right and wrong begin? How am I related to it? What are the great principles involved? How long will this struggle continue? Will this world of ours sink, as some scientists tell us, into the depths of a sunless and eternal night? Or is there a bright future before us, radiant with the light of life? In short, will God's great love for us and His plan for our redemption finally triumph? THE TRIUMPH OF GOD'S LOVE is published to strengthen this most deeply cherished of all our hopes—the final and right solution to human affairs. Its 42 chapters will reveal many startling facts, and, in the face of a world nuclear crisis, will point each one effectively to God and to His faithful promises.

Your mind will be enlightened, your soul will be deeply stirred, and your life will be made happier by reading this prized volume. Send the coupon today—why not right now while you are thinking about it!

It is difficult to give even a short description of this soul-satisfying volume here, but we shall be happy to send you , COMP7 k k 7) k 7 4//S Just fill in and mail the coupon to: SOUTHERN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION BOX 59, NASHVILLE 2, TENNESSEE

Please send full information on THE TRIUMPH More than one million copies sold. OF GOD'S LOVE. There is no obligation. Over 130 illustrations, with 28 in NAME sparkling, living color. ADDRESS 429 large pages, with easy-to-read type. CITY STATE A book to cherish and keep a lifetime. by Arthur S. Maxwell

eke Guatat Sofia Eva '16,Id ltot tite *Giedat look Eva Mitot In these ten beautiful BIBLE STORY volumes Parents, teachers, church and youth will be found: leaders, judges, all + More than 400 stories unexcelled in clarity of pre- agree: Good Books sentation. build Good Charac- + Nearly 2,000 pages. ter and help young • Full coverage of the Bible narrative people to success- + Exquisite full-color illustrations by fully meet the real- nationally known artists at every page ities of life. opening. + Reading enjoyment for the children of the modern family.

The writer of these ten marvelous volumes, THE BIBLE STORY, Arthur S. Maxwell, is a world- renowned editor, author, and lecturer. He is known and loved the world over by scores of millions who have read his ever- popular BEDTIME STORIES series.

IRIBLE is loved by boys and girls of all 401.0 STORY ages, for it is written in easily understood words. It is more colorfully illustrated than any other story of the Bible ever published, regardless of price.

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