OF THE TIMES '-ittkPRIL 1969 500

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, 11, by Mark Bullock

The sun arose in splendor one glad morn. Praise God it rose upon an empty tomb, And those who thought their hopes to be forlorn Now saw a glory shining through the gloom.

The Crucified had risen from the dead, And hearts rejoiced to see through all the strife New meaning to the words that He had said, "I am the resurrection and the life."

Christ died! He rose! He liveth evermore! Thank God for that glad morning's hopeful ray. A risen Lord now stands beside the door That all may enter into life today.

In This Issue Nobody needs to be told that the world is in crisis. Indeed, we S OF THE seem to move from TIMES one crisis to another, so much so that peo- ple have become weary of the word. The "Challenge of the The World's Prophetic Monthly Crisis" is something different, as Arthur A Magazine of Christian Living, Presenting the Bible as the Word of God and Jesus Hedley points out in his article on page 5. Christ as Man's Redeemer and Coming King Continuing his series on "Our Sick So- ciety," T. R. Torkelson deals with the "Deep Volume 96 Down Malignancy" which is so terribly Number 4 April, 1969 hard to eradicate. See page 7. In her article, "Tale of Two Cities," M. ARTHUR S. MAXWELL — EDITOR Carol Hetzell compares New York to an- T. R. Torkelson Associate Editor cient Sodom, raising the question whether the modern metropolis may suffer a similar Howard C. Larkin Art Director fate. See page 10. John M. Drescher has sent us several Eric Kreye Layout Artist articles in recent months dealing with var- A. R. Mazat Circulation Manager ious phases of homelife. In this issue he shows how to find happy ways to share the INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENTS : W. L. Emmerson, En- family chores. Every parent will enjoy gland; Karl Abrahamsen, Norway; Robert H. Parr, Australia; Daniel R. Guild, Singapore. "Getting Children to Help" on page 14. Many people are bothered by the number of Bible translations which still continue to CONTENTS come from the press. Are they all the "Word of God"? Can they be trusted? See A. Gra- ARIICIi ham Maxwell's comments on page 18. Challenge of the Crisis Readers familiar with the historic World 5 Arthur Hedley Deep Down Malignancy 7 T. R. Torkelson Council of Churches meeting last summer Tale of Two Cities 10 M. Carol Hetzell will peruse with interest "Verdict on Upp- Scientists and Creation 12 Harold W. Clark sala" by W. L. Emmerson, page 22. Getting Children to Help 14 John M. Drescher Much has been said of late concerning Signs of Christ's Return 16 J. R. Spangler marijuana. Some writers have even tried to Bible Translations 18 A. Graham Maxwell defend its use. Read a doctor's view on pos- Verdict on Uppsala 22 W. L. Emmerson sible hazards, page 26. How Harmful Is Marijuana? 26 Harold Shryock, M.D. Looking forward to our May issue we Ancient Hebrew Temple would call special attention to the following Found 29 Siegfried H. Horn articles: "How to Enjoy Your Bible" by Calvary's Supreme Purpose 34 Sanford T. Whitman Lester Bennett, "The Immorality Bug" by T. R. Torkelson, "Great Moments in Family POEM Life" by John M. Drescher, "Modern Bible Versions" by A. Graham Maxwell, "One Glad Morning 2 Mark Bullock Thousand Years of Peace?" by J. R. Span- gler, "Stop Killing Yourself!" by Ernest H. J. REGULAR FEATURES Steed, "Lambeth and Unity" by W. L. Em- What's Going On? 4 Lorna Tobler merson, "Youth in Action" by Dale Von Test Your Bible Knowledge 17 Bergen, "Five-day Plan Stirs Iraq" by Anees Can You Answer This? 24 C. Mervyn Maxwell A. Haddad, and "Look Up!" by Kenneth Your Health Questions Wilson. Answered 28 Harold Shryock, M.D. Your Bible Questions Answered 32 Charles D. Utt

Rates in U.S.A., its possessions, and Canada: A publication of the Seventh-day Adventists, the SIGNS OF THE TIMES One-year subscription . is printed and published monthly (twelve issues a year) by the Pacific Press . $5 50 Publishing Association at 1350 Villa Street, Mountain View, California 94040, Single copy 50 U.S.A. Second-class mail privileges authorized at Mountain View, California. Form 3579 requested. Allow thirty days in requesting change of address; give To other countries requiring extra postage: both old and new addresses and zip numbers. In placing orders for your personal and gift subscriptions, please include zip code numbers. The post One-year subscription $5 90 office requires this on all second-class mail. Only paid-in-advance subscriptions entered. Member of Associated Church Press and Religious News Service. Copyright, 1969, by the Pacific Press Publishing Association.

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 3 7VER: FPG

GE 2: ARTIST: WILLIAM HOLE itho in U.S.A. Now It's a "Metroversity" Eight Louisville, Kentucky, institutions of higher education—including a Southern Baptist seminary, a Presbyterian seminary, and two Roman Catholic schools—have joined to form "Kentuckiana Metrover- sity." The "metroversity" is a cooperative effort of the schools to broaden the variety and lower the cost of their educational programs, while at the same time maintaining autonomy of each institution. The joint program will be coordinated through the University WHAT'S GOING I of Louisville's Urban Studies Center. Catholic Membership in World Council of Churches ON? Dr. John Coventry Smith, one of the World Council by Lorna Tobler of Churches' six presidents, said recently that he ex- pects to see the Roman Catholic Church become a member of the international ecumenical body within Volunteer Doctors the next decade. Dr. Smith, who is moderator of the In Southern California Loma Linda University's United Presbyterian Church, based his forecast on Alumni Association doctor recruitment program, in- conversations with Catholic spokesmen in Rome and augurated last July, has brought offers from 250 at the WCC Fourth Assembly in Uppsala. He said alumni who are willing to serve short terms as relief that in recent conversations with "official spokesmen" physicians in overseas hospitals. Ten are already serv- in Rome, he had been told not to be "pessimistic" over ing in Seventh-day Adventist hospitals in Korea, Oki- the possibility of Roman Catholic membership in this nawa, Biafra, Thailand, and Libya. hitherto largely Protestant organization. He added that Catholic spokesmen at the Uppsala assembly last India and Christian Missions summer had told WCC leaders to "prepare a structure V. C. Shukla, India's Minister of State for Home for some type of Roman Catholic membership in the Affairs, said recently that the government's policy on Council." Meanwhile WCC headquarters in Geneva foreign missionaries is to replace them all with Indians. has announced that Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, general The government is keeping a "strict watch" on mis- secretary of the World Council, has met privately with sionary activities, he said, and any missionary found Pope Paul VI to discuss Roman Catholic membership engaging in politics will be directed to leave India. in the Council. Mr. Shukla also defended a law in Madhya Pradesh which virtually bars conversions to Christianity in that New Help for Hearts state. He said the Indian Law Ministry is of the opin- Dr. J. A. de Grizia, left below, assistant professor of ion that the legislation is constitutional. Mr. Shukla radiology at Stanford Medical Center, and Dr. Joseph noted that he had received a large number of com- P. Kriss demonstrate a new diagnostic tool that will plaints on the law from Christian missionaries. expedite diagnosis of heart disease. Developed at the Center's nuclear medicine laboratory and known as New Vatican-Hungary Pact radioisotopic angiocardiography, the system utilizes A major agreement providing for the appointment a scintillation camera which enables the physician to of several new bishops in Communist-ruled Hungary record and display photographically the movement has been signed by the Budapest government and the of the radioactive material as it flows through the Roman Catholic Church, according to the Vatican heart and lungs. According to Dr. Kriss, "the new Press office. Climaxing two years of secret negotiations, technique is less traumatic to the patient than con- the agreement calls for the naming of two new arch- ventional methods, does not require hospitalization, bishops, three bishops, and five apostolic administra- can be performed in two or three minutes, and involves tors for vacant Hungarian sees. The agreement follows only a low radiation dose to the patient." one made in 1964 which was designed to ease religious restrictions and to guarantee greater freedom for Cath- olics in Hungary.

Damaging Evidence According to Dr. Melvin H. Kniseley, professor of anatomy at the Medical College of South Carolina, even a little alcohol is too much. In his report to the twenty-eighth International Congress on Alcohol and Alcoholism he offered evidence to show that when a drinker begins to feel giddy, a few of his brain cells are being killed. A heavy-drinking bout can damage or destroy as many as 10,000 such cells. UPI 4 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 Challenge of the

What God Expects or Lis Today by Arthur Hedley

We are all too familiar today with the word "crisis." It has become so commonplace that we are not unduly alarmed by it unless it affects us materially. Some tell us the church is passing through the "greatest crisis" in its history. We are told that Christianity has "had its day" and is no longer a relevant institution. Christians, it is said, have the wrong "wave- length" and fail to reach the millions. The bishop of Coventry said recently, "We seem to have lost our way. We are drifting downstream like an old barge without steam— toward the rapids of moral decay. The existence of the church today is threatened as it has not been for a thousand years. All that is finest in youth is in danger of destruction by militant atheism, shallow and selfish materialism, pernicious mass communication through the press, TV and radio." If there is to be a great spiritual awakening, there must be a ruthless examination of the situation facing the church today. If we are to emerge triumphant, it will be only as we are ready to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, however great the cost. The darker the day, the greater the need to look at things calmly, steadily, trustfully, courageously, and above all to exercise patience. See Luke 21:19; James 5:7, 8. Our Sav- iour has warned us that until the end of this present dispen- sation His people will have to face fearful odds. The Bible holds out no prospect of a time in this world when life for the Christian will be safe, serene, and comfortable. "In the world," says Christ, "ye shall have, tribula- tion." John 16:33. The test will be so se- vere and pro- longed that many will fail. He put this startling question to His disciples: "When the Son

PAUL B. RICCHIUTI of man cometh, Christ was intensely real to them; and the sense of Challenge of the shall He find His presence, of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, faith on the earth?" made them strong, resolute, fearless of what men Luke 18:8. The Bi- might say or do. ble contains many We need more faith in our Christian beliefs and CRISIS grave warnings to in the gospel which is still "the power of God unto those who seek only salvation to everyone that believeth." Romans 1:16. leisure, treasure, and pleasure. See Isaiah 32:9, 10; When we fearlessly do something difficult that others Amos 6:1. "Take thine ease" was the motto of a fool- may experience the joy and peace of God's forgive- ish farmer. Luke 12:19. ness and the transforming power of Christ, we shall The Christian faith is presented in the Bible as a meet with many a rebuff; but the love of Christ within highly critical affair, as a challenge addressed to the the heart will move us to pray, especially for those valiant soul. There is no prospect that life will be a who seem hostile but may be nearer to the kingdom walkover. We are warned in unmistakable language than we realize. A Christian who takes his faith seri- that we shall need to gird up our loins to run a race ously and in whose heart "the love of God is shed that will challenge our strength to the uttermost (Luke abroad" ( Romans 5:5) cannot but evangelize, for he 12:35; 1 Peter 1:13 ), a strength given to all who "wait feels and knows that he has such a wonderful Saviour on the Lord" (Psalm 27:14; Isaiah 40:31). that everybody should know about Him. But however strong may be our foes, we have the Dr. D. M. McIntyre, in his inspiring book Spirit assurance of ultimate victory through our heavenly and Power, says, "The bare simplicities of Christian- Captain who overcame the world ( John 16:33 ), and ity are the things that count. The efficiency of the vic- through whom we can be "more than conquerors" torious church in the first century lay in this, that re- ( Romans 8:37 ). Since God is for us, "who can be deemed men preached the gospel of the grace of God against us?" Verse 31. The church has survived the with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven and most critical and hopeless periods in its history, and certified it by a blameless life. This power is lying to the centuries have proved the truth of Christ's state- our hand now." ment that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." We cannot really help others Christward and Matthew 16:18. In its darkest days God has always heavenward unless we have in our hearts a deep ex- raised up some valiant soul to champion His cause. perience of the saving love of Jesus Christ, unless we When priests and people had become so godless and know Him as our personal Saviour who has given us corrupt that the doom of the church seemed inevita- power to live a new life and a love that goes out to ble, He brought forth men like Savonarola, Wycliffe, those in need. Luther, and Wesley, whose faith, courage, and passion Needed most today is an army of courageous and for truth and righteousness saved the situation. Their committed Christian witnesses in churches, homes, noble example inspired rich and poor, learned and il- offices, and factories in whose lives there will be such literate, to rally round them, to suffer, and even to die a clear reflection of the graces and virtues of Christ in obedience to the voice of conscience. that others will be compelled to wonder why they The noble fortitude with which Hooper, Latimer, are so different from others. If we yearn to witness and Ridley endured the fire consecrated the cause for a great spiritual awakening in this age, we must pray which they laid down their lives. Great was their faith for divine leading and grace to do God's will what- and optimism, even in martyrdom. "Play the man, ever the cost and consequences. Master Ridley," cried Latimer as he stood amid the I knew a Methodist brother in Christ, a rough dia- flames; "we shall this day light up such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put mond who, before going to work in the Royal Arsenal out." The light has often burned low, but God has in South East London, felt led to stand a few yards never allowed it to be extinguished. "Christianity," from the high iron gates to bear his witness for Christ. says Dr. Kerr, "is the religion of revivals: pronounced He was at a loss for words and had to wait for a sud- dying or dead, it comes out into a higher life. It bears den inspiration before he could utter another sen- imprinted on it, Resurrection." tence. As I stood and waited he invited his comrades Today we listen too much to the voice of man and to "taste and see that the Lord is good." Then the give too little heed to the Word of God, with the re- great iron bell summoned everyone to work. I walked sult that we become confused, perplexed, depressed. in with him and commended him for his Christian We need to recapture the enthusiasm and sacrificial witness. spirit of the early church. There was nothing apolo- His influence was contagious, for in a little while a getic or defeatist in the preaching of the apostles. dozen Christians of different denominations stood with When persecuted, they refused to lie low; when him twice a week during the dinner hour interval, commanded to cease preaching Christ and His resur- mounting the soap box in turn to bear their witness rection, they boldly replied, "We cannot but speak the for the Master. At least three became ministers of the things which we have seen and heard." Acts 4:20. gospel, one of whom was used mightily of God to When the rank and file were "scattered abroad" reach millions in the United States through radio and through persecution, they "went everywhere preach- TV and through his pen. All that this fervent, uncul- ing the word." Acts 8:4. The crucified, risen, exalted tured brother, who first (Continued on page 30)

6 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 itil‘va ipvuta

by T. R. Torkelson

Fourth in the Series on Our Sick Society

Any father who ever had a daughter will share the reproduce other similar cells in runaway fashion. The bitterness felt by the man to whom Susan belongs. faster-growing cancer cells crowd out normal cells the Even the townspeople where this pretty teen-age girl way faster-growing weeds crowd out grass. This mal- grew up reacted with such indignation against the function may take place anywhere in the body; and crime committed against her that the trial of her as- when it does, that particular organ has cancer. sailants had to be moved to another county. Author- Cancer of the soul behaves in a similar manner. A ities reportedly feared a lynching attempt. thought gets out of control, just how, no one knows for Susan's terrible ordeal began one August night sure. It begins to produce other kindred thoughts in when two men abducted her near her home, drove her runaway fashion. These faster-growing cancerous to a lonely mountain area, raped her, and then shot thoughts crowd out healthy thoughts, much the way her and left her for dead. Her life, once bright with weeds crowd out grass. Then the soul has cancer. promise, will never be the same. Almost totally para- lyzed, she must now spend her days in a wheelchair or in bed. Her voice box, also paralyzed, had to be re- moved to prevent strangulation, so she cannot talk. Wan and tragically helpless, her plight cannot but evoke pity from anyone who sees her. Supposing Susan were your girl; could you forgive those cruel men who maimed her for life? We hardly dare to ask the question, lest it reveal the sickness of our own hearts. Resentment and desire for revenge so burn them- selves into soul tissue that the resulting wounds be- come cancerous, sapping vitality from our own better nature and leaving our humanity emaciated. We lie awake at night all raw inside. We can't forget the per- fidy, the wrong, the injustice. Memory, like a boiling mud pot, keeps tossing up the muck. Here we have malignancy—down deep. Physical cancer, too, thus feeds upon healthy tissue, eventually destroying the body of which it is a part. It is primarily a disease of misbehaving cells. What causes them to misbehave no one knows for sure. A cell or cluster of cells gets out of control and begins to

SAN JOSE MERCURY AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY. A. DEVANEY, INC., UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

There are several kinds of cancer of the body. So 1 Kings, chapter 21, affords a typical illustration of also of the soul. Or, more accurately, we could say how a vagrant thought gets out of control and before there are several kinds of hate-producing thoughts long wreaks havoc deep in the soul. which produce cancer of the soul. The king's consuming desire for the vineyard, cove- Prominent among them is envy. Careful research teousness, developed other cancerous thoughts in shows envy, along with closely related covetousness, runaway fashion—self-pity, deceit, hate, intrigue— to be responsible for more malignancy in the history thoughts which crowded out healthy thoughts until of spiritual medicine than any other cause. finally Ahab resorted to foul play to achieve his selfish It started in the heart of Lucifer in heaven. A purpose. That's the way the story ends, with Naboth thought got out of control. He began to envy Christ, being framed and then stoned by royal decree. begrudging Him the honor due to Deity. And that's the way spiritual cancer of hate ends too, Other similar thoughts developed in runaway fash- if not checked. The Bible doesn't overstate the case ion, crowding out every good thought about God. He when it says, "Whosoever hateth his brother is a infected others with the virus and thus became a murderer." 1 John 3:15. He is indeed a murderer, if causative factor in the spread of spiritual cancer of not of others, at least of himself—of his own manhood. hate, eventually contaminating one third of the angels God knew all along the potential for violence and the whole human race. packed into envy—potential not only for self-destruc- So far no virus responsible for bodily cancer has tion but for social strife and class warfare. Thus he been found. But scientists have discovered that the sought to isolate man from it by the commandment disease gains entrance more readily under certain en- "Thou shalt not covet." Exodus 20:17. vironmental conditions favorable to it, conditions pro- Ellery Sedgwick, longtime editor of The Atlantic duced in some cases by a causal factor, such as ciga- Monthly, showed keen discernment when he singled rette smoke in lungs. out envy as the besetting sin of the world today, desig- Likewise in spiritual cancer of hate, the causal fac- nating it as "the virus of socialism, the venom of tor here being an evil thought. Also the environmental communism." In men, a basic weak spot is compari- factor has to be favorable, such as seen in anemic son, leading to envy, grudging, rivalry, and eventually conditions of character. Cancer of the soul can be said violence by the have-nots against the haves. Contem- therefore to be clinically related to another spiritual plation of this viewpoint will give a hint of the magni- disease, malnutrition of moral nature, a subject for tude and seriousness of the problem. later study and one highly suggestive of the impor- Then take resentment—another type of hate-pro- tance of preventive medicine in this area. ducing thought. How bitter it can become! Doctor Now back to envy and covetousness and how they Jung, the famous psychiatrist, once said: "Justified or produce spiritual cancer of hate. Take a case study not, resentment and the ache for revenge are poison." from ancient Hebrew history—that of king Ahab. This If you suspect possible malignancy—hurt feelings, king, like most kings, presumably had all that a man gnawing jealousy, a lump such as a "chip on your could want. But his acquisitive nature took a fancy shoulder"—seek professional help at once. Cancer of to a vineyard belonging to a commoner named Naboth. hate can develop faster than you think. Your only The story, as related in the Old Testament book of hope is to get it out of your system.

8 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 Malignant thoughts of envy and resentment, like spreading cancer cells, infiltrate the soul, degrading the character and causing hate and destruction.

European country, treating him as one of their own. But the boy showed a sullen, unlovely disposition and would have nothing to do with any of the family except little Sammy, whom he followed like a shadow. As his knowledge of English grew, so also did his hostility, and he used his new language to vent his spite and to tell monstrous lies, often malicious. Fur- thermore, he turned out to be a little thief. But through it all the Adams family sought with love to win the heart of the little boy with an unpronounce- able European surname. One day in summer Paul became critically ill. He had picked up a virulent staphylococcal infection while swimming in a stream forbidden to all the chil- dren. The family spared no effort to pull him through. When at last he was nearly well, he demanded to have Sammy near him, but this was of course forbidden. But Sammy sent him daily notes and messages of love. One night Paul sneaked out of isolation and crawled Jerry Kramer, right guard for the Green Bay Pack- into bed with Sammy. Next morning the father found ers, became mysteriously ill in the fall of 1964. He lost Sammy asleep with Paul's arms around him and his weight and ran a constant fever. Doctors suspected breath in his face. Predictably, Sammy caught the in- cancer. They told him he'd probably never play foot- fection, and before long he died. ball again. They had operated once to remove a lump, Dr. Cronin, away on the west coast at the time, sent but he didn't snap back. Something continued to sap a note of condolence to the bereaved family and with his strength. Finally the doctors decided to operate it his advice to send away the little ingrate who had again, suspecting a foreign object in his body. brought them only grief in return for kindness. Jerry had suffered an accident twelve years earlier Some time later Dr. Cronin returned, and as he on the farm. He and his father had been chasing a stopped beside the Adams home, he saw Mr. Adams calf when the calf ran across an old weathered board. in his garden and by his side a small boy—a scene so The wood split, and the jagged end had shot into reminiscent of the happy days when Sammy had Jerry's groin. Later doctors removed a seven-and-a- worked thus with his father. Mr. Adams came over half-inch splinter. But perhaps they hadn't got it all, to the fence, with little Paul behind him. Dr. Cronin the specialists now treating Kramer thought. expressed his sympathy again, and then added, nod- Sure enough, operating again, they found the trou- ding toward the boy, "I see you still have him." ble—three pieces of wood. These apparently had Mr. Adams glanced at the child. "Yes, he's quieter punctured the intestine and had lodged there all this now, and brighter. The doctors are giving him some time, releasing bacteria into Jerry's bloodstream. gland medicine. You won't have any more trouble Within two weeks after the operation the doctors with his name either. We have adopted him. The told Jerry he could play football again in the fall. And name is Paul Adams now." he did, becoming once again the powerful right guard That's forgiveness—Heaven's antibiotic for cancer that made the Packers formidable. of hate—a quality that belongs to the divine life and Do you see what doctors mean when they speak of which Christ imparts to them who are born again. getting something poisonous out of your system? And Possessing it, one cannot be embittered. It gives pro- do you see what God means when He says to get hate tection no one can afford to be without if he would and malice out of your system? remain immune to the cancerous infection of hate. Dr. A. J. Cronin tells a story that illustrates the heal- But what if cancer has already developed in the soul? ing power of forgiveness. He once lived near a family Then surgery is the only cure, and the earlier the bet- named Adams. They had two teen-age daughters and ter. "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." a six-year-old boy named Sammy, the pride of their Ephesians 4:26. Get hate out of your system. But trust lives. When Mr. Adams was at home, he and the little no other than the great Specialist in soul problems boy could often be seen working together in their to perform the operation. When He operates, He gets garden. all the malignancy. With laser beam proficiency un- Then came World War II, following which an ap- known to human science He says to the penitent who peal was made to Americans to open their homes to seeks Him in faith and submission, "Be clean"; and the orphaned European children. The Adamses responded disease is cured from that very hour. And no cases are and took in a small boy named Paul from an eastern inoperable with Him. [END]

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 9 HE evening was warm, and Shuffling his way through the ingless paint on canvas unable to through the open window crowds, a man of indeterminate defend itself. They rose from little came the sounds of a city. A age, but bent with misery, thrust streets bedecked with "bargains" to young woman worked her out a hopeful hand to likely-look- plod crosstown to vibrate to the voice up and down the ing prospects: "A dime for the sub- throaty blast of giant ocean liners Tscales, concentrating on open way?" Or a dime for bottled bliss? or the quiet plop of an empty bot- and closed vowels. Breaking into Three blocks south his female tle hitting the mucky waters of the the sirenlike notes occasionally counterparts muttered the same pi- Hudson. came the harsh shouts of a man teous plea, and a white-faced youth, Above the rough and scuff of it deep in his bottle and angry with eyes glazed, leaned hard on two sounded faintly the pulse of an- the world. The heavy thud of his companions. The notes of "Swanee other city—a city that was, and is fist on wood punctuated his re- River" wheezed forth from a blind no more. marks. beggar's accordion and mingled in- Her stone walls sprawled across Now and then an automobile congruously with the night noises, the land with a strength men mar- horn bleated plaintively or brayed swelling ever so slightly as a coin veled at. Her towers offered wide fiercely above the hum of motors. A clinked into his tin cup. vistas to delight the eye. Produce pianist pounded out a dance num- The screech of rubber clawing of the fertile plain that was her host ber like an automaton while a score asphalt, the shrill of a police whis- glutted her markets. of clicking heels and toes tapped tle, and somewhere in the distance Five streams supplied her citi- rhythmically against a stage floor. a fire siren added to the cacophony. zens with ample water for bathing, Hardly a block to the east the And there were voices—young for irrigating, cooking, drinking. flashing lights of Times Square voices excited at their first glimpse Her courtyards offered space for made magic in the night as they of the Big Town, voices heavy with games, for the display of skills vied for attention from an endless the accent of other lands, voices both physical and mental. And flow of traffic—pedestrian and au- smeared with the language of the when interest in these waned, her tomotive. Some blinked, some gutter, voices sharp with long years wineries distilled from her lush whirled, some flickered with a mes- of competition, voices blurred with vineyards delights that set the sage in words, and some did all alcohol. pulses racing. three at once. The gray canyons of concrete and The wealth of the land provided A window on the second floor steel echoed the thoughts of men. its inhabitants with a leisure they above a cluttered drugstore an- They stretched from the giggle of filled with the vigorous or languid nounced "Fun City" and displayed playboy bunnies past the chatter- pursuit of pleasure. In time the nat- the writhing go-go girls to prove it ing commercials of Madison Ave- ural pleasures lost their appeal, and while a band blared out its version nue, on past the nod and bellow of men turned to unnatural lusts. The of music a la 1968 calculated to Wall Street to the moan of long- city became one travelers avoided. "draw the crowd." haired guitar- Strangers who chanced to visit In a narrow stall between two ists and the her found it unsafe to walk stores a man with a straw hat and splash of her streets. Men with per- red nose wound up little dogs that mean- verted hearts sought only wagged their tails and sat up. A small boy passing by aimed his dime-store atomic pistol at the dogs and "vaporized" them with a high whining sound.

Weee ?few *ePt Saipt eite 7ate oa Sodom?

D. TANK self-gratification. For them there was no God. How foolish to believe in the unseen! For any who be- lieved, there was only mockery. But there came a day— To the people who stretched in soft luxury on satin couches, this day began like every other—a little wine to get the day started. Per- haps an unhurried breakfast of fruit, a round of bread blessed with the broth of lamb or a touch of goat's cheese. Then to the market, to the baths, or to the city gates where perchance there might be a stranger. Some recalled with rising anger the frustration of the previous night when one of their judges had refused to turn over to them two strangers. Today the judge would learn his lesson! But even as they plotted, there came a rumble, then a roar. The thick walls jettisoned their stones as if they were pebbles. A choking smoke began to curl up from a dozen fires that sprang up from no- where. Towers toppled. Mansions filled with the treasures of ill-gotten gains melted. Higher and higher rose the flames, their roar transcending all for such a conflagration. That God put pleasure in the place of God, other sound. was the Author of the fire no Jew men who preserve the outward Outside the walls of the city the nor Christian will deny. The rec- form of religion, but are a standing green vineyards wilted. Leaves ord is there in the Bible, passed denial of its reality." 2 Timothy curled, then shriveled, then began down from generation to genera- 3:1-5, NEB. to smoke. In a short time the tion by a people with whom God God is not dead. Nor can the lovely valley was ablaze. Flocks of once talked! mockery of men who say His Word sheep and goats bleated piteously, Four thousand years—and a mul- is no longer pertinent to this world then fell silent and still. titude of cities dot the earth. How be long endured. The psalmist has The pall of smoke hung for days do their people live? Is there a said: "Our God shall come, and over the valley, then slowly drifted heart-shaking echo in their multi- shall not keep silence: a fire shall away. storied towers that is reminiscent devour before Him, and it shall be Beneath the bright blue sky of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah? very tempestuous round about Him. stretched a blackened plain slowly How does the Bible description He shall call to the heavens from filling at one end with brackish wa- fit today? above, and to the earth, that He ter—water mixed with the ashes of Looking toward our day, the may judge His people." Psalm what had once been some of the apostle Paul wrote: "You must face 50:3, 4. most prosperous cities of the Mid- the fact: the final age of this world In the burning of Sodom and dle East. The water tasted strongly is to be a time of troubles. Men Gomorrah God went far out of His of salt. And it was named the Dead will love nothing but money and way to save one man—Lot—who Sea. self; they will be arrogant, boastful, believed God and did not fear the Nearly four thousand years have and abusive; with no respect for mockery of his peers. God has done rolled around since Sodom and her parents, no gratitude, no piety, no even more to save men and women sister cities were destroyed by fire. natural affection; they will be im- from that final destruction foretold That such cities once existed, archae- placable in their hatreds, scandal- in Scripture. He has given His Son ologists have proved. There is no mongers, intemperate and fierce, Jesus, through whom man may doubt that the engulfing fires could strangers to all goodness, traitors, have eternal life. have happened, for scientific stud- adventurers, swollen with self-im- Have you accepted His gift? ies in the area reveal the materials portance. They will be men who [END] by M. Carol Hetzell cientisti Creatio Consequences of the Deistic Approach

by Harold W. Clark Professor Emeritus of Biology

Pacific Union College HAT do scientific men think about creation? We For many years I have been writing in opposition to often hear this question asked; yet it is not an any kind of evolution, whether mechanistic evolution W easy one to answer. There are as many views on as held by the atheists and deists or theistic evolution the subject as there are individuals involved. No uni- as advocated by some creationists. In this study I wish form scientific attitude can be pointed out. to discuss some of the problems involved in the deis- After all, what is a scientist? He is simply a per- tic approach. son who studies some phase of natural phenomena. In the seventeenth century Isaac Newton discoverd If he studies the stars, he is an astronomer; if he stud- the law of gravitation and other laws of physics. His ies the rocks, he is a geologist; if he studies plants principal contribution to science was the idea that and animals, he is a biologist. And so with many other natural .phenomena are governed by law and are not lines of study. A scientist is nothing but a student of erratic in their actions. This gave a powerful impetus nature. But merely studying these natural phenomena to the mechanistic interpretation of the universe; and gives no man the authority to make pronouncements although Newton was a firm believer in God, many regarding that which only divine revelation can in- scientists regarded these discoveries as doing away form us: How the earth and its life came into being. with the necessity of a divine Being, since nature True, scientists can speculate, they can erect a multi- apparently could operate on its own. tude of theories, but that settles nothing; and the During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries various theories vary so much that no common ground the deistic interpretation became a powerful influence can be found that can be called the scientific view. in theology. It served a double purpose: (1) Scien- Furthermore, no matter what a man may think tists who wished to accept the existence of God saw in about God and His relationship to the universe, when it an answer to their problems. (2) Theologians who he investigates any phenomenon of nature, he will get wished to keep in step with advancing scientific theo- the same factual answer as any other man. For in- ries saw in it a means of reconciling science and reli- stance, when an atheist analyzes the composition of gion. This view of the origin of things prevailed until water, he will learn that it is composed of two parts of it was gradually crowded out by the rise of theistic hydrogen united with one part of oxygen ( H20 ), just evolution. the same as does the firmest believer in God. Or a At the present time, although we hear little of geologist will find that salt is NaC1, just the same as deism as a theological dogma, and it is hardly men- does the chemist; and what they think about the tioned as a scientific view, yet, if we ask the scien- existence or nonexistence of God makes not one iota tists regarding their view of the origin of the present of difference in results of chemical experiments on the order of things, we will find that they generally will nature of material substance. tell us something like this: How, then, do scientists look at the relationship "Yes, there is some kind of Supreme Being, although between God and nature? We find that these men not necessarily a personal God. Perhaps He is merely fall into three categories: the atheists, the deists, and the inherent force in nature. But in any case, what the theists. we choose to call God, really did, in some way or an- As the term implies, an atheist believes that there is other, bring material substance into existence. no God. He assumes that matter and energy are eter- "When matter was brought into existence, whether nal and that all natural forces are self-operating. The by an instantaneous process, or by slow actions and properties of material substance and the laws of na- reactions of primordial forces, each unit of matter was ture, he insists, are inherent, that is, self-existent. All endowed with certain properties by which it was to natural phenomena, therefore, must be automatic and be governed. In all subsequent reactions between dif- uniform in action. Life, according to this theory, has ferent atoms, or whatever natural units we may con- come about spontaneously, and the activities of living sider, these inherent properties would determine things are purely physical and chemical reactions, what kinds of activities should be carried on, and what with no supernatural control. reactions would or would not be possible. Thus na- Deists believe that there is a God who started the ture became, from the moment of its inception, a universe going, but that, after bringing material sub- self-operating mechanism. From that time onward stance into existence, He left it to operate by means the Creator would have no need to watch over any of the properties with which He had endowed it. of the operations of nature, for it would take care of Practically the only difference between atheism and itself." deism is that for the first the properties of matter As one reads textbooks on science, or as he listens are inherent from their own power, and for the sec- to lectures in the science classrooms of colleges and ond these properties were given by God. universities, he gets the definite impression that, even Theists believe that there is a God whose creative though there may be a God, that God has little to do power was responsible for bringing the universe into with the normal operations of nature. I know this to be existence. They may hold one of two views: (1) that true from personal experience, having sat through creation was a direct process, bringing into existence hundreds of such lectures where no hint was ever the world and its life by fiat, or direct, command, or given that God ever interfered in the affairs of the (2) that creation took place by means of a long- natural world. Even little children are told about drawn-out process, generally known as theistic—God- "Mother Nature," as if she were some kind of an intel- directed—evolution. ligent general overseer (Continued on page 33)

PHOTOS BY THREE LIONS, LAMBERT. ORVILLE ANDREWS, DEVANEY, ERIC BREVE, Signs of the Times, April, 1969 13 ROBERTS, H. D. WHEELER, ALAN CLIBURN, AND HARRY ANDERSON © P. P. P. A. UMMIII=N1111111111111111111111 11 by John M. Drescher Geffinq Children to Help Happy Ways to Share the Family Chores

"What can be done to get our children to help around the house?" This question, asked in a parents' study group by one frustrated mother, sounds familiar to many families. It points to a perennial problem. What can parents do to train children to help in the home? Of course we should not believe the myth that par- ents can be so skillful in setting the family stage that each child will always naturally want to peel potatoes, scrub floors, make beds, sweep and dust, wash dishes, and willingly do all that should be done. But parents can be assured that there are principles all parents can D. TANK follow to develop in children a healthy attitude toward work. the home is to start early taking time to teach when A child loves to help, so much so that at times he the child wants to help. Dampening the early desires can become an annoyance. It is so much quicker for a child has to help is sometimes the start of the later parents to do small chores themselves. A schoolteacher problem of the child's not wanting to help. To respect can also add and spell better and faster than her pu- the initial exuberance of childhood expressed in the pils. But she knows how important it is to give the spirit of "let me help" or "I'm helping too" is a good child a chance to learn. So also does the wise parent. start in helping the child assume responsibility. One morning two-year-old Sandra was suspiciously One step beyond honoring the child's first desire to quiet in the bathroom. When her mother looked in, help is to seek to stimulate the child to try many dif- she saw that Sandra had smeared toothpaste over mir- ferent things. ror, washbowl, walls, and floor. Like any parent, her Often the child is stimulated when parents simply first inclination was to punish, to make it plain to allow him to share in small things. He is encouraged Sandra that such behavior is bad. But Sandra may to be helpful when allowed to carry small packages have had good intentions. Perhaps she was trying to on the family shopping trip. He is stimulated to hang clean as she had seen her mother clean. Besides, up his clothes when parents place hanging rods low squeezing the toothpaste was fun. enough for him to reach. He is spurred on to wash Sandra's mother recognized her interest in helping his hands if a box or low stool puts the washbowl and took the first step in teaching her how to clean within easy reach. the mirror and washbowl properly. Of course it is Initiative is also stimulated by permitting some simpler to scold or spank in such a situation. But it is leeway to do things, to investigate and try new proj- better to take time to give guidance. A little time at ects. two can save much time and tension at twelve. The Take the time ten-year-old Billy started a thriving important thing is for each child to have some regular shoe-shining business. He made his own awkward- responsibility. Additional work can be given gradu- looking but functional shoe kit. The family dis- ally and increased as the child grows older. cussed what a fair charge might be for various kinds In assigning work, keep in mind that a child at of footwear. For a time Billy earned extra money various age levels has different attention spans. Give keeping all the family's shoes polished to a high gloss. short jobs to the younger, and chores taking more True, the project was of short duration, but his parents time to the more mature. encouraged him and made allowance for the natural Remember, one secret in securing a child's help in ups and downs of enthusiasm.

14 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 The child should be permitted to join in planning "The more agreeable and companionable the child's and preparing for something he likes to do. The relationships with his parents, the more willing he is to Williams children, like most children, are sociable. share in household duties and drudgeries," says one They enjoy parties and guests. But this involves extra authority. "It is hard to duplicate the closeness and work. When the children asked for a party, the entire sense of sharing when parents and children work side family took time to sit down and to discuss what it by side." means to have friends come. During the discussion Jeff Andrews typifies this approach. One evening each decided on something to do to lighten the load he was telling his neighbor about the big job coming for Mother. What was often drudgery became delight. up next day. He needed to trim some trees and land- Now cleaning, washing dishes, and helping to make scape a large part of the lawn. After discussing the the meal had meaning. Further, each child had an work he turned to his boys standing by his side and inner joy because he was making a particular contri- said, "We can get it all done in one day, can't we, bution. boys?" They responded with readiness. Express Appreciation Tim had a small garden. The weeds were getting ahead, and he was rather discouraged. One evening Appreciation is the key which unlocks a helpful Mr. Andrews said, "I'm free tomorrow. Suppose I go spirit in the home. Parents are prone to accept a along out with you to your garden and help get rid of child's work as their due. They find it easier to correct the weeds. An hour should do it." Next morning Tim and criticize than to commend. If parents desire to was up early and ready to go to work. Not only was teach good work habits, they must accept the chal- Tim's father helping him, but his father was also his lenge and also celebrate the child's successes. Jane companion in work. Grossman writes in Life With Family that "celebrating Many a family has learned that washing dishes success is important. We should register our pleasure isn't much of a chore when mother and daughter do and satisfaction when a son or daughter shows im- them together. And many a father knows that his provement in a heretofore difficult course, when work son responds much more readily when he asks his son is well done." to help him with a task rather than demanding that The child receives encouragement from these first he do it alone. expressions of appreciation. A smile when the child Of course, jobs cannot always be done together. first picks something up from the floor stimulates the However, an overall feeling of togetherness can be spirit of helpfulness. A generous use of compliments developed. In Bringing Up Children Langdon and calls out the best. And parents who praise their child Stout write, "It is a good idea to think of a child's for work well done will find him living up to his responsibilities as just part of everyday family living, reputation. They will also find him more ready to re- not merely the doing of certain assigned chores. . . . spond in other areas of living. They come to a child because he is one involved in all In his book, How to Help Your Child Grow Up, the family affairs. They are a natural part of living." Angelo Patri says that just as every artist needs an audience and perishes without one, so every child Be Consistent who achieves something needs to be praised. The The parents who desire their children to see the young performer is inspired by the acceptance and value of work and to help in the home must be con- approval of his elders whom he longs to please. sistent. The real joy and feeling of responsibility for But what is the proper kind of praise? Praise should a task dwindles when it is required one day, ignored be specific. To express appreciation to Johnny for the next, then demanded again. It is far better to have helping his baby sister put on her rubbers is much one job done well each day than to have half a dozen better than, "Johnny, you were a good boy today." done poorly through frequent reminders. A child, to Perhaps Johnny is reminded, with such a blanket com- have effective work habits, must learn to form such pliment, of something he did which was not good. To habits in the routine of everyday home life. thank six-year-old Ann for helping Mother set the If work is left undone, there should be consistency table or clean the playroom has far deeper meaning also in carrying out a penalty. It is good that the child than to say simply, "Thank you for helping Mother so knows the penalty beforehand. Never should more well today." work be assigned as a penalty. This creates wrong at- Praise a child for doing things which required ef- titudes toward work. Rather, withhold some pleasure, fort, self-sacrifice, or a right response. To praise a and enforce it without fail. child for such things as blue eyes or beautiful clothes, Although each child should have a definite and which do not come by personal effort, can be harmful regular responsibility, consistency does not mean a rather than helpful. child should forever do the same job. What parent has Praise should not create the impression that the not heard the argument of favoritism about the divi- child is working for external rewards. There should sion of work? One way to avoid argument is to ro- be no suggestion that parents owe money or special tate chores; Alice washes dishes one week, Judy favors because a child helps a bit around the house. washes them the next, and so on. Children like varia- Home is a cooperative effort, not a commercial enter- tion, and this can develop broader skills and interests. prise. Sincere words of appreciation on the part of One mother suggests that a list of chores be made, parents for work well done is the pay most children using a separate slip of paper for each job. Then mix miss yet need most. them and let each child draw (Continued on page 33)

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 15

world's two most awful wars in licytiogue._ terms of lives lost, property dam- 93161e age, and money spent needlessly have taken place in the twentieth •century. A brief glance at the na- tional budgets of nations indicates that more money is being invested SIGNS in maintaining armies, navies, and air forces than ever before. The war index for the twentieth cen- tury, which still has thirty-two F CHRIS 9S years left, far exceeds any pre- I- -I ceding century in history. There is one thing that puzzles me. How do our great peace move- ments through the United Nations fit into the picture? Paul, would by J. R. Spangler you comment on this? "You know perfectly well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. While they are Panel Members This Month: Jesus, Paul, Jude, Peter talking of peace and security, all at once calamity is upon them, sud- den as the pangs that come upon a For nearly two millenniums ar- My name and saying, 'I am the woman with child; and there will dent Christians have longed for the Messiah'; and many will be misled be no escape." 1 Thessalonians 5: second coming of Jesus. When the by them." Matthew 24:4, 5, NEB. 2, 3, NEB. subject of Christ's return is dis- "For false christs and false proph- In other words, this strange para- cussed, the question always arises, ets will arise and show great signs dox of great peace movements When will it happen? So let us ask and wonders." Matthew 24:24, paralleling war conditions and Him. RSV. preparations for war is a compel- Master, since You are the One to That makes sense. No wonder ling sign of the soon coming of return to our world the second we witness on every hand the Christ. time, I would like to ask Your masses being deceived and led Are there any other signs You opinion as to whether Christians astray by every conceivable reli- wish to mention, Master? can set a definite date for Your re- gious error and false doctrine. This "Earthquakes in various places." turn. explains the increasing number of Matthew 24:7, RSV. "That actual day and time no so-called religious miracles which That's interesting. I just read in one knows—not even the angels of are taking people's minds away the 1968 World Almanac that 1,200 heaven." Matthew 24:36, Phillips. from the Holy Scriptures. seismograph stations around the If it is impossible for us to know Do you have a comment to make world detect 500,000 temblors a the exact date and hour of Your on this point, Paul? year. I did a little figuring and return, can we know the approxi- "Understand this, that in the noted that between the years 1868 mate time of Your return? last days there will come times of and 1967 thirty-three major earth- "Learn what the fig tree can stress." "Evil men and impostors quakes caused 735,925 deaths, teach you. As soon as its branches will go on from bad to worse, de- which was more than three times grow full of sap and produce ceivers and deceived." 2 Timothy as many deaths as recorded dur- leaves you know that summer is 3:1, 13, RSV. ing the previous hundred years. near. So when you see all these Please give us another sign of Master, could men's attitudes things happening you may know Your soon coming, Master. toward one another, such as racial that He is near, at your very door!" "The time is coming when you prejudice, be a sign of Your soon Matthew 24:32, 33, Phillips. will hear the noise of battle near coming? What a pointed statement, Mas- at hand and the news of battles "Many will lose their faith; they ter! If I understand You correctly, far away; see that you are not will betray one another and hate even though we may not know the alarmed. Such things are bound to one another. . . . And as lawless- exact day or hour, we can tell from happen; but the end is still to ness spreads, men's love for one certain signs when Your coming come. For nation will make war another will grow cold." Matthew will be extremely near, even at our upon nation, kingdom upon king- 24:10-12, NEB. "very door!" Please tell us what dom." Matthew 24:6, 7, NEB. Your answer is amazing! It de- some of these signs are. I suppose some may say that we scribes the conditions of our world "Take care that no one misleads always have had wars, but the dis- today so accurately! No wonder you. For many will come claiming cerning student will see that the You told us that we can know when

16 Signs of the Times, April, 1969

Your coming is near, "even at the door." What about people's characters in the time of the end? Will we find that the human race will be 4Eeot Vour on a higher platform of spiritual existence, or will there be a state of 93ible 564otulecige moral degeneracy? I would like to ask Jude if he would give us his BIBLE DIALOGUE QUIZ opinion. The quiz below is based on the Bible Dialogue on "You must remember, beloved, these pages. If you have not already read this unique the predictions of the apostles of presentation of the Holy Scriptures, we suggest you read our Lord Jesus Christ; they said to it before beginning to answer the quiz. You will also you, 'In the last time there will be find it helpful to study the texts accompanying each ques- scoffers, following their own un- tion. Check the phrase or phrases which accurately com- godly passions.' " "These are grum- plete each sentence. blers, malcontents, following their 1. Jesus promised that the day of His return own passions, loudmouthed boast- O ers, flattering people to gain advan- would be known in advance tage." Jude 17, 18, 16, RSV. O would be preceded by certain signs Paul, can you expand on Jude's O would arrive without warning (Matthew 24:32, 33, 36) predictions? 2. The peace movements of our time "But you must realize that in O are the best hope for the future the last days the times will be full O are evidence that this is not "the time of the end" of danger. Men will become ut- O are one of the signs of the end terly self-centered, greedy for (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3) money, full of big words. . . . 3. Both Christ and Paul predicted that as time goes on They will be utterly lacking in men will gratitude, purity and normal hu- ❑ become more mature and tolerant man affections. They will be men O become more lawless and intolerant of unscrupulous speech and have O become converted no control of themselves." 2 Timo- (Matthew 24:10; 2 Timothy 3:1-4) thy 3:1-4, Phillips. 4. As far as most youth are concerned, they will How about youth attitudes toward O "go to the dogs" as usual authority in the last days? O reform the world "They will be proud and con- O show contempt for authority (2 Timothy 3:2) temptuous, without any regard for what their parents taught them." 5. Many react to all this by Timothy 3:2, Phillips. O scoffing and living self-indulgently Peter, what will be the general 111] sneering, "Where now is the promise of His attitude of the world toward these coming?" signs of Christ's soon coming? O asserting that "everything continues exactly as it "In the last days there will come has always been" (2 Peter 3:3, 4) men who scoff at religion and live self-indulgent lives, and they will 6. The response of Christ's followers will be to say: 'Where now is the promise of r] take courage in the hope of His soon coming O live in dread of judgment His coming? Our fathers have been laid to their rest, but still ev- O unite to save the world on their own (Luke 21:28) .erything continues exactly as it has always been since the world WHAT TO DO NEXT began.— 2 Peter 3:3, 4, NEB. When you have answered the quiz, cut it out, fill in your name and address below, and mail it to "Signs of the Times," 1350 Villa Street, Well, panel, you have painted a Mountain View, California 94040. We will return it to you duly marked, rather gloomy picture of world together with additional material on the same subject—all free, of course. conditions and attitudes in these This offer limited to the U.S.A. and Canada. last days. I would like to ask the Name Master to end this discussion on a positive, encouraging note. Street "When all this begins to happen, stand upright and hold your heads City State Zip high, because your liberation is near." Luke 21:28, NEB. [END]

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 17

MINISTER friend of mine likes to make frequent of the people they have gone out to serve. Frequently reference to a version of the New Testament they run into extraordinary difficulties in representing which happens to have a light-blue binding. the Biblical ideas in languages that have no equiva- This is sometimes the cause of mild distress to lent idioms. Sometimes very interesting modifications his wife, for how can a book bound in blue be the have to be made. Bible? He cites for example the words of Jesus, "Behold, In my study at home I have more than a hundred I stand at the door, and knock." Revelation 3:20. different versions and editions of the Bible. Some of According to the custom in one part of the world, only the more recent ones are even paperback! Yet my col- a thief would knock. A friend would announce his lection is far from complete. presence by calling. Thus the memorable phrase has No one seems to know exactly how many English been suitably altered—but the essential meaning is translations have appeared. I have a list of at least still the same. two hundred of the New Testament. There are many After many years of experience Dr. Nida can still more of individual New Testament books. Unfortu- say that though there are innumerable translations, nately, there are far fewer translations of the Old. they are all the Word of God—but in man's language. Some sincere Bible students find it rather discon- In no other language have there appeared so many certing that there should be so many different versions different translations and revisions as in English. of the Scriptures. And almost every year sees the The first complete English Bible was the work of publication of yet another. Wycliffe and his followers. It appeared in England in Can all these translations and revisions rightfully 1382. claim to be the Word of God? Can they all be trusted? In those days the original languages of the Bible Visitors to my study often ask, "Which translation were not known in the West. In fact, Greek was first do you like best? Which one do you consider the most taught at Oxford University in the same year that authentic?" Columbus made his great discovery, 1492! Conse- Naturally the most authentic Bible is the original quently, Wycliffe had to base his translation on the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—so far as it has been Latin Vulgate, already a translation itself. possible to recover the original wording from the Printing had not yet been invented, either. So the manuscripts and other sources. entire Bible was written out by hand. But few people have the time to study the Biblical Wycliffe has been called "The Morning Star of the languages. Nor is it necessary that they should. Reformation" and not without due cause. He knew For this we owe eternal gratitude to the many no- that the people of England must have the Bible in ble scholars who through the centuries have taken their own common language if they were to learn upon themselves the task of translating the Bible into the truth for themselves. the languages of the world. The idea that mere laymen should have free access Some books of the Bible have been translated into to the Scriptures was considered highly dangerous by more than a thousand languages other than our own. Can all these translations claim to be the Word of God? Or have only the English-speaking people been favored with the true Bible? When people in Turkey, in Ethiopia, in Iceland, in Korea read from their Bibles in their native tongues, Bible Translations are they reading from the Word of God as much as we are when we open one of the English-language ver- sions? CAN THEY They surely are. There is only one Bible, but it exists in many languages. BE TRUSTED? One of the most interesting accounts of the work of translating the Bible into the languages of earth was MENT published in 1952. It was written by the secretary for Ho11 versions of the American Bible Society, Eugene A. in Nida. He titled his book God's Word in Man's Lan- mug' Modern guage. Dr. Nida describes his work of assisting mission- English SANTA aries in the translation of the Bible into the languages BIBLIA PHILLIPS

Another Selection from "You Can Trust the Bible" REVISED Macmillan STAN DARE VERSION:1.: by A. Graham Maxwell Chairman, Department of Religion Loma Linda University

18 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 the church authorities, and Wycliffe was bitterly op- disease of virtues, the instigation of rebellion, the milk posed in his work. Nevertheless, he proceeded with of pride, the nourishment of contempt, the death of the translation, regardless of the great personal risk. peace, the destruction of charity, the enemy of unity, He died of a stroke, but after his death the authorities the murderer of truth!" ordered his body exhumed and burned. If this sounds unbelievable, just recall the intem- More than a century passed before the appearance perate language that greeted the American Revised of another English Bible. Standard Version in 1952. In 1525—again in the face of violent opposition— Even before Tyndale was executed, the religious William Tyndale produced his remarkably accurate climate of England was beginning to change. Other modern-speech New Testament. This time it was versions began to appear at short intervals, Cover- translated from the Greek. It was a very attractive dale's in 1535, Rogers' in 1537. publication. The text was arranged in paragraphs. In 1539 there was published the first "authorized" There were no verse divisions, for these had not yet English Bible. It was called the Great Bible, in view been invented. of its considerable size. Since it was substantially a Tyndale did not live to complete his work on the revision of Tyndale, perhaps it should be known as Old Testament, much of which he translated in prison. the first authorized revised version. While he was a refugee in Europe, copies of his New Other versions continued to appear during the six- Testament were publicly burned as fast as they ar- teenth century. After 1557 they all contained verse rived back in England. Finally he was arrested, stran- divisions. gled, and burned at the stake. These 7,959 little verse paragraphs were arranged Of the estimated 18,000 copies of Tyndale's New by a man named Stephanus during a horseback jour- Testament printed between 1525 and 1528 only two ney from Paris to Lyons. Some unfortunate divisions remain today—so determined were the efforts to stamp would suggest that at least some of the work may have out his "heretical" version. Fortunately, as much as been done on the horse! 90 percent of Tyndale's wonderful work has been Take for example Revelation 20:5. "But the rest of preserved in the wording of the King James Bible. the dead lived not again until the thousand years were Meanwhile, in 1522 Luther published his excellent finished. This is the first resurrection." The unfortu- German New Testament, followed by the Old Testa- nate arrangement of these two sentences in the same ment in 1534. He faced the same opposition that seems verse would suggest that the first resurrection is of the to greet any important new version of the Bible. wicked and occurs at the end of the millennium! To illustrate the bigotry that so often seems to pro- But one need never be tied to the verse divisions. duce such opposition to new Bible translations, here is They have no authority in themselves, and they should the criticism that Tyndale's enemy Cochlaeus leveled cause no difficulty to the reader who is careful to against Luther's Bible. study the whole context. "The New Testament translated by Luther into his The same is true of chapter divisions. These were native tongue is in truth the food of death, the fuel probably introduced about 1228 by Stephen Langton, of sin, the veil of malice, the pretext of false liberty, a teacher in the University of Paris and later arch- the protection of disobedience, the corruption of disci- bishop of Canterbury. pline, the depravity of morals, the termination of con- One of the most notable sixteenth century Bibles cord, the death of honesty, the wellspring of vices, the was the Geneva Version of 1560. It was prepared by the Calvinist refugees from England who had fled to Geneva during the reign of Mary. This is the version known as "the Breeches Bible." For where the King James Version reports that Adam and Eve sewed fig /IDLY leaves together, and made themselves "aprons," the HOLY Geneva Bible describes the garments as "breeches." BIBLE This was a very popular version and offered strong

ccNcoRoAN C. E competition to the later King James Version. It was BIBLE much smaller and less expensive. Besides, it contained some most interesting Protestant notes about Roman Catholics. Eight years later, in 1568, came the second author- References ized revised version. It was called the Bishops' Bible,

*This article is one chapter from a new, up-to-date, authoritative book about the Bible. If you would like a copy, send 50 cents to "You Can Trust the Bi- ble," Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1350 Villa Street, Mountain View, California 94040.

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 19

`),FORD. Icingiames were blighted by the inclusion of very interesting but rather inflammatory doctrinal notes. Tyndale, for example, observed in the margin oppo- site the story of the golden calf, "The Pope's bull slay- Ho eth more than Aaron's calf!" This was hardly calcu- REVISED lated to abate the fierce opposition he was already kIEILIGE STANDARD experiencing. VERSION Bbl SCHAIFT In a 1549 printing of the 1537 Rogers Bible, I dis- covered a remarkable note. Opposite Peter's instruc- PHILLIPS tion that wives should be in subjection to their hus- BIBLE TRANSLATIONS bands, the margin adds: "He dwelleth with his wife Can They Be Trusted? according to knowledge, that taketh her as a necessary helper and not as a bond servant or a bond slave. And if she be not obedient and helpful unto him, endeavor- since so many church dignitaries had a part in the eth to beat the fear of God into her head, that thereby work. Their revision became the chief basis of the she may be compelled to learn her duty and do it.' King James Version. What if the 1549 Rogers Bible had become our At about this time it was becoming a matter of con- common version today! cern to the Roman Catholic Church that so many of In the Geneva Bible there is a note for Revelation the faithful were making use of Protestant versions. 13:18 explaining that 666, the number of the beast, This led to the publication of the first Roman Catholic obviously refers to the papacy. English Bible, the New Testament in 1582, the Old in In the margin of the Rheims-Douay appears an ex- 1610. tended reply to the effect that while it could readily The work was done in the cities of Rheims and be shown that the number refers to Martin Luther, Douay, hence this Bible is known as the Rheims- the translators would not deign to do him this honor, Douay Version, or sometimes just the Douay Version. since he was but a forerunner of the antichrist. Since it was translated from the official Bible of the Then came 1604. Under the sponsorship of King Roman Church, the Latin Vulgate, the Rheims-Douay James, plans were laid for the preparation of a third was actually a translation of a translation. Neverthe- official revised version. less, it was a faithful version. The king had commanded that "one principle good Sometimes one hears stories about serious changes one" be prepared, a version "not justly to be excepted made in the Catholic Bible. These are not true. The against." It was to be based on the best of its prede- Ten Commandments, for example, may be quoted in cessors, especially the Bishops' Bible, and it was to abbreviated form in the catechism, but they are given contain no doctrinal notes. in full in Exodus 20. Thus was produced in 1611 the famous King James Equally unfounded charges of corruption were Version, by far the most influential of all the versions leveled by the Douay translators against the Bible of the English Bible. It is frequently referred to as versions they sought to replace. They denounced them "the Authorized Version." Actually, no record of its as "false translations" and accused their makers of authorization has ever been found. And since it was a "corrupting both the letter and the sense by false revision rather than a new translation, perhaps the translation, adding, detracting, altering, transposing, most precise name would be "the King James Revised pointing and all other guileful means, specially where Version." it serveth for the advantage of their private opinions." How different was that first edition from our mod- It was the expressed hope of the Douay editors that ern printings! It was of immense size, weighing more their more trustworthy version would lead the faith- than twenty pounds. Imagine taking a copy with you ful to "lay away at least such their impure versions as to church. The spelling and punctuation look very hitherto you have been forced to occupy." old-fashioned to us now. Next time you see a candy That the version should be readable and easy to store quaintly named "Ye Olde Sweete Shoppe," re- understand was not a concern of the Rheims-Douay mind yourself that the original King James Version committee, as they freely admit. Where, for example, was in that style. the King James Version refers to "things in heaven, There were no dates in the center column. Arch- and things in earth, and things under the earth," the bishop Ussher had not yet developed his chronology. 1582 Rheims offers "the celestials, terrestrials, and in- There were far fewer words in italics and fewer fernals." Philippians 2:10. cross references in the margin. Most of the ones we Where Paul speaks of Jesus "emptying Himself," have today were added later. The chapter summaries the Rheims translates, "He exinanited Himself." Phi- and column headings are also different now. lippians 2:7. For many years the King James Bible contained As might be expected, following so closely on the the books of the Apocrypha. All English Bibles, heels of the Geneva Bible with its outspoken notes, the whether Protestant or Catholic, used to include these Douay replied in kind and at length in the margin. extra books. The only difference was that Protestant Actually, all these sixteenth century Bibles were versions followed Luther's bold innovation of group- faithfully accurate translations. But most of them ing these books together between the Testaments,

20 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 whereas Catholic Bibles left them scattered among thereto, then to deliver Gods booke unto Gods people the other books as traditionally placed in the ancient in a tongue which they understand? . . . Yet for all Greek Septuagint. that, as nothing is begun and perficted at the same In the front of the 1611 edition there were many time, and the latter thoughts are thought to be wiser: pages of material no longer included—genealogies, cal- so, if we building up on their foundation that went be- endars, "An almanacke for XXXIX yeers," "Proper Les- fore us, and being holpen by their labours, doe en- sons to bee read . . . on the Sundayes throughout the deavour to make that better which they left so good; yeere," et cetera. no man, we are sure, hath cause to mislike us; they, One section begins, "These to be observed for Holy we perswade our selves, if they were alive, would dayes, and none other. That is to say: All Sundayes in thank us." the yeere." But such appreciation was not immediately forth- The original King James Version specifically en- coming from the British public. The appearance of joined the keeping of Sunday. another revision only brought confusion to many of A most important change in modern editions of the the unlearned. How could these different translations 1611 version is the dropping of the preface, a very en- all claim to be the Word of God? lightening document. Goodspeed tried for years to To this the King James Committee replied with have this omission corrected, but without success. great skill and wisdom: This preface tells a surprising story of strong opposi- "Wee do not deny, nay wee affirme and avow, that tion to the King James Version when it first appeared. the very meanest translation of the Bible in English, One might naturally suppose that the people of set forth by men of our profession . . . containeth the England were waiting with keen anticipation for the word of God, nay, is the word of God. As the Kings appearance of this important revision. But even be- Speech, which hee uttereth in Parliament, being trans- fore publication the committee was under heavy criti- lated into French, Dutch, Italian and Latine, is still cism for presuming to revise the English Bible at all. the Kings Speech, though it be not interpreted by The Bishops' Bible of 1568 ( the second authorized every Translator with like grace, nor peradventure so version) and the Geneva Bible of 1560 had by now be- fitly for phrase, nor so expresly for sense every where. come widely accepted in Britain. The possibility that . . . No cause therefore why the word translated the familiar wording of these established versions should bee denied to be the word, or forbidden to be might be modified in the 1611 revision was viewed currant, notwithstanding that some imperfections, and with widespread alarm. blemishes may be noted in the setting forth of it." Many years later, it is said, the Pilgrim Fathers re- Everyone would do well to share this generous re- fused to allow a copy of the King James Version on gard for other versions. Indeed it is a strange paradox board the Mayflower because they considered it a to see a defender of the King James Version making newfangled translation. The Geneva Bible was their disparaging remarks about other translations. This was official version. not the attitude of the 1611 committee. In an effort to allay suspicion, the King James com- The King James revisers were grateful for all the mittee appointed Myles Smith, one of their number versions that had preceded them. Their only goal was and later Bishop of Gloucester, to write a suitable to keep the English Bible up to date. preface in explanation and defense of their new ver- How they would rejoice to see the versions of our sion. He entitled the document "The Translators to day! How attractively they are printed, how easy the Reader." they are to read, how inexpensive they are to buy! "Zeal to promote the common good," he began, A copy of the excellent 1966 Today's English Ver- "whether it be by devising any thing our selves, or re- sion of the New Testament can be had for only a few vising that which hath been laboured by others, de- cents. The 1611 King James Version cost a fortune. serveth certainly much respect and esteeme, but yet It is true that not all versions are translated "so fitly findeth but cold intertainment in the world. . . . for phrase, nor so expresly for sense, every where." It Even though the King James translators were un- is possible to find "imperfections and blemishes" in der a measure of public condemnation themselves, every one of them. they spoke only with great respect of the Bible ver- But as the King James scholars also observed in sions which had appeared before their time. their preface, the kingdom of God is not words and "We are so farre off from condemning any of their syllables. The truth about God remains eternally the labours that traveiled before us in this kinde. either same, in spite of the inadequacy of human language to in this land or beyond the sea, either in King Henries describe Him. time, or King Edwards . . . or Queene Elizabeths of The very contrast between the greatness of God ever-renouned memorie, that we acknowledge them and the limitations of human speech makes variety in to have bene raised up of God, for the building and Biblical translation highly desirable—in fact, essential. furnishing of his Church, and that they deserve to Hats off to the King James translators! be had of us and of posterity in everlasting remem- Their version now looks rather quaint. But their brance. . . . Therefore blessed be they, and most understanding of the purpose of God's Word is as honoured be their name, that breake the ice, and give modern as today. the onset upon that which helpeth forward to the sav- You can trust translations published by such men. ing of souls. Now what can bee more available [END]

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 21 tion churches, most of the Eastern the belief that "without raising the VERDICT Orthodox churches and the newer doctrinal issues which were divid- churches of Africa and Asia, but ing the churches," the Life and on Uppsala also of the Roman Catholic Church, Work Movement could lead the in the persons of fifteen delegated- churches "in the promotion of jus- observers led by Bishop Wille- tice and peace in the service of all Whether the university city of brands, Secretary of the Secretariat humanity." Uppsala was decided upon pri- for Christian Unity. This view, however, was not marily for its geographical accessi- Pope Paul VI had himself sent a shared by all who came to Stock- bility, as compared with Addis message to the assembly, assuring holm. As Dr. Berkhof said in his Ababa which had been mentioned, it of the intention of the Roman address on "The Finality of Christ" certainly no more significant meet- Catholic Church "to continue and at Uppsala: ing place could have been chosen extend the collaboration which al- "From the beginning of the ecu- for the Fourth Assembly of the ready exists." In a longer message, menical movement two answers World Council of Churches last Cardinal Bea wrote: "We cannot have stood over against one an- July. For it was in the mind of Na- relax our efforts until, through the other" to the question of how God's than Soderblom, bishop of Uppsala grace of God, we realize the ec- future is "related to the great so- and archbishop of Sweden, that, clesial unity of all Christ's disci- ciety which we ourselves are build- almost half a century ago, the idea ples." ing now. . . . The one said: God's of the World Council of Churches In addition, for the first time, one future will come through our ef- was born. of the keynote speeches was given forts. The other has said: God's It was while he was attending by a Roman Catholic, Father Ro- future will come from above, en- the first great interchurch gather- berto Tucci, S.J., editor of La Ci- tirely by His deed." ing after the end of the first world vilta Cattolica, who declared that It was on this issue as to whether war, at Oud Wassenaar in Holland Roman Catholics "no longer regard the establishment of the kingdom in 1919, that he made known his themselves as outside spectators, of God was to be conceived pri- vision of church unity. "I advo- who are indifferent or merely curi- marily in political, economic, and cate," he said, "an ecumenical ous . . . but as partners engaged social terms, or was to be founded council which will be the spiritual in the same quest for unity," and on personal faith in God and on representative of the whole of that "the psychological and practi- hope in the coming of His own Christendom." And the first practi- cal obstacles to Catholic member- kingdom of righteousness to super- cal step he took to achieve this was ship" are "no longer insuperable." sede the "kingdoms of this world," the inauguration of the Life and Without exaggeration, therefore, that the Stockholm Conference of Work Movement at Stockholm in Canon Bernard Pawley was able to 1925 was fundamentally divided, 1925. This, together with the Faith say in the Church Times that Upp- and the Faith and Order Move- and Order Movement launched in sala was "the only assize of Chris- ment was inaugurated at Lau- Lausanne in 1927, were merged tendom since the Council of Ephe- sanne in 1927 to act as a counter- into the World Council of sus in A.D. 431," more than 1,500 balance in the growing ecumenical Churches, which met for its First years ago, which could "regard it- movement. Assembly at Amsterdam in 1948. self in any real sense to be ecumen- When the World Council of If Archbishop Soderblom could ical." At the same time he had to Churches was established in 1948, have seen the considerable con- admit that, in contrast with that the two movements merged, but course of delegates, delegated-ob- authoritative gathering, the Upp- they did not lose their identity. At servers, observers, advisers, and sala assembly was still "consulta- Evanston in 1954 an attempt was others from 232 churches in eighty tive" only. made to resolve the basic diver- countries gathered in the Fyrishal- In another sense too, Nathan gence on the mandate of the len of Uppsala, he would surely Soderblom would have felt that church by the courageous choice of have felt that his dream had come Uppsala, 1968, was the near realiza- "The Christian Hope" as the theme to fulfillment. For in this large tion of his dream. When he con- of the assembly. The issue was not gathering were representatives, not vened the Stockholm Conference resolved; but, as Dr. Visser 't Hooft only of all the great Reforma- on Life and Work, he expressed has said: "Evanston made clear that

22 Signs of the Times, April, 1969

by W. L. Emmerson Our London Correspondent

eschatology as the dimension of lence and student protests as the God's final purpose and final ac- "rods" of God's "anger" to turn the First of Two Articles Linking tion of salvation must not be con- church to the work it should be do- the Fourth Assembly of the sidered as an appendix to the faith ing. And it was even debated on World Council of Churches and the 1968 Lambeth Con- the assembly floor whether a Chris- but rather permeate the whole life ference of the Church of Eng- of the church." tian could be justified in taking land. At New Delhi in 1961 the "old part in a "just revolution." inherent tension in the life of the Apart from the opening address ecumenical movement" was moved of the assembly on the theme "All munity in expressing its ministry nearer to Soderblom's conception Things New," by Orthodox Metro- of witness and service." by the increasing impatience of the politan Ignatius of Latakia, Dr. H. Two of the other sections, "Re- younger churches with old theo- Berkhof's fine presentation of "The newal in Mission" and "The Wor- logical problems and their urgent Finality of Christ," and Dr. Visser 't ship of God in a Secular Age," demand that the church should be- Hooft's address on "The Mandate were also slanted toward new come more active in bringing jus- of the Ecumenical Movement," methods of penetrating the new tice and peace in the relations practically all the keynote speeches structures of society, and only Sec- between the developed and unde- were on political, economic, and tion I on "The Holy Spirit and the veloped nations. social themes by such notables as Catholicity of the Church" was pri- Uppsala brought Soderblom's President Kenneth Kaunda of Zam- marily concerned with the "faith" dream to near fulfillment, as wit- bia, Justice Aniagolu and Mr. Bolu and "order" of the Christian church. nessed by the overwhelming domi- Ige of Nigeria, Lady Jackson ( Dr. And this did little more than mark nance of the doctrine of secular ac- Barbara Ward) of England, Lord time on the basic issues of unity. tion in the keynote speeches, in Caradon of the United Nations, It was only to be expected, the reports of the various sections and the American Negro novelist therefore, that when the "message" and in the message sent from Upp- James Baldwin. of Uppsala to the churches was sala to the member churches. The sections into which the de- drawn up, it revealed, as the Early in the assembly Dr. Eu- liberations of the assembly were Church Times put it, "the over- gene Carson Blake, who had funneled similarly gave prominence whelming priority given to the replaced Dr. Visser 't Hooft as Gen- to the relation of the church to the problems and perplexities of the eral secretary of the World Coun- world. Three of the six sections, world." It dealt with the Chris- cil, made it clear on which side he "The Church's Role in World Eco- tian attitude to racialism, man's re- stood when, commenting on the as- nomic and Social Development," sponsibility to guard, develop, and sembly's venue, he said: "The Church's Role in Interna- share the world's natural resources, "It is good in these times that tional Affairs," and "Toward New human rights in a just world com- the World Council of Churches Styles of Living," were deliberately munity, and the closing of the gap should come to Sweden for an as- directed to world problems. Said between the rich and the poor na- sembly, if for no other reason than the report on Section II on World tions, while its only reference to the to make it entirely clear that its in- Economic and Social Develop- original purpose of the World terest and involvement in justice ment: "In their faith in the coming Council of Churches was the vague and peace, in development and aid, of the kingdom of God, and in declaration that "present plans for are not, as some suppose, a new their search for His righteousness, church union call for decision." emphasis, but rather a renewed Christians are charged to partici- Little wonder that Time maga- emphasis on an early and essential pate in the struggles of millions of zine commented that "the scene at part of what we are." The churches, people for greater social justice Uppsala smacked more of a New he said, "must not be afraid of po- and world development." And Left 'demo' than a religious body litical action, since the crucial de- again: "In a world where the whole in pious conference." cisions for the poor will be made of mankind is struggling to realize It was against this "horizontal" by governmental and intergovern- its common humanity, facing com- as distinct from "vertical" orienta- mental action." mon despairs, and sharing common tion of the World Council of Dr. Blake went so far as to char- hopes, the Christian church must Churches that Dr. Visser 't Hooft acterize the worldwide racial vio- identify itself with the whole com- protested (Continued on page 30)

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 23

Can You Answer This?

Questions Youth Are Asking Today

by C. Mervyn Maxwell Chairman, Department of Church History Andrews University

CAN A YOUNG TEEN-AGER LOVE AN OLD GOD? versity hospital, the realization came over me that up Question. How is it possible for a teen-ager to iden- on the fourth floor of that big stone building was a tify with God when He is always pictured as an an- part of me, and I knew I loved it. This thing about cient figure with long flowing robes? loving your own child didn't seem boring at all any- more. It hasn't since, even when he has disobeyed Answer. Get out your Polaroid and take a new pic- me. And it never will. ture of Him. I'll help you develop it in ten seconds. When you get one of your own, you'll know that Jesus said, "If you have seen Me, you have seen God loves you too—even when you're bad. the Father." Jesus left the earth before He was thirty- five, as if to put an end forever to the "creaky old CAN AN INVISIBLE GOD HAVE AN IMAGE? man" concept of God. Question. OK, so we're made "in the image of Jesus was popular with big crowds, faced danger God," like some of your writers say—quoting the Bi- unafraid, walked on water ( compare that to mere surf- ble, to be sure. Well, doesn't the Bible say somewhere ing! ), defied an entrenched establishment, knew how that God is invisible? How can visible people be the to be kind to little kids, hiked interminable miles on image of an invisible God? His preaching tours, and frequently had enough en- ergy left over to stay up all night. If God is like Jesus, Answer. The word "invisible" can refer to some- doesn't this help? thing we cannot see because it is totally transparent Incidentally, the Bible doesn't say that God is an or to a thing that we cannot see because it is hidden old man. It calls Him the "Ancient of Days." Daniel or is too far away. Many stars are "invisible" to the 7:9. The term is an understatement. If God made the naked eye but are very visible when looked at through stars a billion years ago, He has been around for a a telescope. God is invisible to us, but this does not very long time. If He were an old man, He wouldn't prove Him to be transparent, like air. The same Bible be merely wrinkled and bald; He'd be dead. But He that says he is invisible ( 1 Timothy 1:17) also says is God, and He is just as strong and vigorous today as that someday those who love Him will "see His face." He ever was. That's why He sent Jesus to represent Revelation 22:4. Him to us as a young man, always in the prime of life. WHY SATURDAY? CAN GOD LOVE BAD PEOPLE? Question. I like a lot I read in the SIGNS, but insist- Question. How can God love me when I do so many ing on the "seventh-day" Saturday Sabbath seems unkind things? weird. What difference does it make in a world vexed about big things like racial prejudice and city crime? Answer. God doesn't love your unkind things; He If we can't be rational, at least let's be relevant. loves you—like a father loves his children even when they aren't always good. See Psalm 103:13, 14. Answer. In a hundred words or less? I'll try. First, But I wonder how that sounds to you? When I the seventh-day Sabbath isn't our choice of a day; the was a teen-ager and people told me that God loves Bible says it's God's choice. Exodus 20:8-11. wayward people just as a father loves his wayward The Bible tells us to keep the Sabbath because it children, it sounded pretty trite to me. I was bored. is a reminder that God created the earth and that He But then I got a child of my own. My wife and I made man "in His image." Genesis 1:26. This, I think, had to wait ten years for him, but he finally arrived makes the Sabbath the most relevant thing in the while I was studying at Chicago University. There world today. If God created all men in His own he was, in a little glass box, stark naked, splotched image, the Sabbath tells us that all men are brothers with purple and blue all over, redheaded like his —and that says a lot against racial discrimination. And mother, and yelling his lungs out. My kid! if God made our bodies, I shouldn't abuse mine or ex- A few hours later as I drove away from the uni- ploit someone else's. That gives us an answer to a

24 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 lot of current questions about sex. The Sabbath com- with his language homework. Could You please help mandment tells us to keep the Sabbath by families, him to do better? Or maybe I ought to say, Could You providing for family fellowship in depth, an antidote help me to help him understand it better? to juvenile delinquency. The Sabbath requires physi- "And then there's Ray and Rosy. They've been cal rest, helping us prevent tension and suicide. The talking a lot about not getting their rights. They're Sabbath inculcates respect for God's law—the oppo- Negroes, You know, God. Help me to be good to them site of crime. and to get other kids to love them better too. Say, what a good world this would be if every- "Well, I have to go to sleep now. I'm very tired. body kept the Sabbath! Will you join me? It's been nice talking to You for a while. I'll see You again in the morning. Amen." IS GOD ANTHROPOMORPHIC? Question. Writers in the SIGNS make God sound SHOULD PREACHERS HAVE FLASHY CARS? so much like a man. Would you believe, sometimes Question. Don't give me a phoney answer; level they give Him arms and legs! . . . The most ade- with me. Do Adventist ministers really believe Christ quate concept of God is person divorced from all an- is coming soon? They don't seem to put much money thropomorphic overtones. into their own church, judging by their flashy cars. The Adventist preacher in my town has a very small Answer. If you're right, don't you think God made a mistake when He sent His Son to represent Him in the congregation, but he drives a better car than any form of a man? other minister in town, and he changes models every Was it not the case that God had so long revealed year too. Himself through nature ( "the heavens declare the Answer. I think we all believe Jesus is coming soon. glory of God," Psalm 19:1) that too many people I certainly do. But I'm not sure we all realize it as we had come to think of Him as a mere force, or power, should. I know that often I don't. or substance, or pure intelligence? If any of these But as for the money and the cars: If you would concepts had been adequate, the omnipotent God visit the minister you are speaking of and ask him could surely have revealed Himself by sending to man about his church contributions, you would probably as His personal representative a "perfect power" or learn that he gives at least 15 to 20 percent of his some sort of visible "pure intelligence." Instead, He income in offerings. Some give as much as 30 percent. chose to reveal Himself as a man. Adventist ministers with small churches frequently As a man, indeed, who gave a lot of presents to peo- pastor several small congregations in different towns ple who asked Him for things. Who told stories. Who —and drive as much as twenty or thirty thousand even set little children on His lap. At this His disci- miles a year. Because of this they find that trading ples protested. "No," they said in effect, "our God isn't cars annually is cheaper than paying for repairs. like that. He isn't an anthropomorphic grandpa God. He doesn't have time for boys and girls." But Jesus CANNED FOOD THAT DIDN'T CACKLE rebuked the disciples and took the little children on Question. I traded lunches with an Adventist girl His lap and later said, "Anyone who has seen Me has at school a few days ago. Her mother had fixed her seen the Father." John 14:19, NEB. a "Linkette" or something. Looked a dead ringer for Of course, God isn't just a man. He is Creator and a weiner, and tasted almost like one too, yet she in- Redeemer too—but a Creator and Redeemer who, sisted it wasn't made of meat at all. But when I paradoxical as it may seem, has chosen to tell us that asked her what it was made of, she couldn't tell me. He can best be understood as a Person with a great I'm curious. Can you? many human characteristics. Answer. Because of the disease animals are subject to, many Adventists prefer to eat vegetarian-protein I'D LIKE TO LOVE GOD BUT— foods rather than meat. Three main sources of protein Question. It is said that God loves us, but how can are used in these foods, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans. I be sure His love is meant for me? I want to love Him, Wheat flour is washed until the high-calorie starch is but for some reason I just feel rejected. In your removed from it and only the high-protein gluten is column, please touch on this problem. left. Soybeans are sometimes treated by a patented Answer. For one thing, what about your prayers? process to produce "fibrotein," which has a texture re- Are they stiff? Memorized? Even nonexistent? If so, markably similar to meat. According to the label on let me suggest for one thing that you try talking to the can, Loma Linda Linkettes are made of gluten and God as if He were a good friend. Then He'll soon soy flour, with various other ingredients including the seem to be one. amino acid lysine to guarantee a "complete protein." Here's the kind of prayer you might send up to Repeated scientific tests have shown that these Him when you kneel down for a moment by your bed foods can provide twice as much protein per ounce as at night: meat, and are even more digestible than beef, lamb, "Hello, God. It's been an OK day in lots of ways, I and eggs. Some of them are flops as meat substitutes. guess, but I can't figure what's happened to Bill. He's ( They're nutritious but they're tasteless.) Others are been so different lately. I do wish You'd help us to be fantastically successful. The Worthington Co. makes special friends. Of course, if You don't think it's best— a soybean chicken ("Soyameat" ) that you could swear "Oh, yes; my kid brother is having an awful time cackled before it was canned.

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 25 How Harmful A distraught father of my acquaintance was con- fiding his concern over his teen-age son who was doing poorly in school and becoming a nuisance in the neigh- borhood. "I can't seem to get through to him any- more," the father admitted. "The boys of his age who come to the house also act indifferent. When I enter the room where the boys are, they seem to be uneasy. We don't seem to talk the same language. It didn't used to be that way with my boy. We were quite companionable, in fact. My fear is that the boys are using marijuana and maybe some other drugs too." There was something about the father's remarks that reminded me of a comment by Leon S. Minkler, published in Science for August 2, 1968. Minkler was discussing the effects of marijuana on the behavior and personality of "immature young people." Then he uttered this warning to parents of teen-agers: "If your youngster rather suddenly ( 1 ) becomes alienated against you, ( 2 ) drops his old friends and acquires a new and different sort, ( 3 ) has a sharp drop in school grades, and ( 4 ) abandons his commitments and plans for the future; then you had better find out what is go- ing on." Marijuana is now mentioned so commonly in news- papers and magazines that one wonders if it is really being used as generally as the articles suggest. Of course marijuana users don't brag about their habit except among those who share their ways of life, so accurate figures are hard to get. However, at the re- cent Symposium on Psychedelic Drugs and Marijuana held in Chicago, it was stated that there are now 60,- 000 marijuana users in the United States. This figure apparently applies to persons whose habit is estab- lished, not to those who have merely experimented with the drug. The AMA News of September 16, 1968, quoted the American Medical Association's policy statement. re- lating to marijuana as indicating that "probably 50 percent of the students in sophisticated college envi- ronments" use the drug. An editorial in Science for March 15, 1968, bearing the title "LSD and Mari- juana," states that "today these drugs are being tried by a substantial fraction of the best of our nation's youth. . . . The current favorite among university students is marijuana. . . . The use of marijuana ap- pears to be growing, both in high schools and in uni- versities." Marijuana is not a new drug, but it has only re- cently become popular in the United States. It has been used for centuries as an intoxicant in such parts of the world as Asia, Africa, and South America. In view of the present legal ban in the United States on the distribution and use of marijuana, and inas- much as it has no medicinal benefits, one wonders what causes a person to start to use it. Practically all new users may be classed as experimenters. Most of them try the drug out of curiosity to see if it really measures up to what they have heard about its thrill- producing qualities. Another large group of new users are persuaded directly by companions of their own DEVANEY 26 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 Marijuana? by Harold Shryock, M.D. age. Sometimes the persuasion is by personal appeal— About 10 percent of marijuana users keep on using "Be a good sport and try it once"—and sometimes it the drug indefinitely and become victims of its serious is merely by example. A young person hates to be effects. different, and if he thinks that "all the others are doing The question is often asked, Does the use of mari- it," he feels a compulsion to do the same. juana prompt a person to use other, even more dan- In the United States most users of marijuana use it gerous, drugs such as heroin? Present evidence is that intermittently for "sprees" rather than taking it daily as many marijuana users do not "graduate" to heroin and in some other countries. other opiates, but many ( perhaps most) of those who Most persons who defend the use of marijuana continue to use marijuana do go on to "speed," goof- make comparisons between the effects of its use and balls, LSD, and other psychedelic drugs. those of the use of alcohol. They contend that the ef- There is another complication here, however, and fects of marijuana are minor compared with the disas- that is that the users of marijuana tend to choose for trous results of ordinary drunkenness, and that mari- their friends persons who are on marijuana or other juana is therefore less harmful than liquor. drugs. This is understandable because it is only in A study group composed of representatives from such company that they can be at ease and can speak the American Medical Association and from the Na- about the drug experiences that are of interest to them. tional Research Council, reporting in 1968, disagreed Included in such company are persons who use heroin sharply with the contention that marijuana is "less and other opiates. Naturally the influence of such per- harmful" than alcohol. It is only when the effects of sons has its effect. So it develops that some marijuana small, occasional doses of marijuana are compared users do become heroin addicts, not because the mari- with the effects of large, toxic doses of alcohol that juana produces a physiologic craving for stronger marijuana appears to be less harmful. When both drugs but because of the personal influence of their drugs are taken in comparable large (loses, the effects drug-using friends. are seriously harmful to the individual and to society Another part of the tragedy of the use of marijuana in both instances. is that persons are tempted to experiment with it while Individuals react differently to marijuana. For some in their teens or early twenties. This is the time of life there seem to be no serious aftereffects. For others the when young people are called upon to make their ma- effects are disastrous. jor life decisions. If a young person is to accomplish Marijuana is not habit-forming in the sense that a something worthwhile in life, the basic decisions must user becomes physiologically dependent on it. By this be made relatively early. Marijuana, by robbing a I mean that there are no distressing withdrawal symp- person of his drive and initiative, and by making him toms such as haunt the user of heroin or morphine content with the status quo, deprives him of his op- when he discontinues the drug. The marijuana user portunity for accomplishment. develops a psychic dependence on the drug ( not a Many young persons are innocently victimized by physiological dependence) because he craves a repe- marijuana and become aware of its harmful effects tition of the influence it has on his thinking and on his only after they have experienced them. Being de- attitudes. prived of ambition and incentive, and being now in a Marijuana, somewhat like alcohol, causes the per- state of poor mental health, their lives are permanently son who is under its influence to be less aware of his ruined. problems. And this is what prompts the person who Unfortunately there is no satisfactory cure, short has once used the drug to take it over and over again. of a miracle, once the damage is done. And it is at Once he has experienced this false peace of mind, his this point that every reader of this article must make first response, when problems bear down on him, is a choice. not to find ways to solve the problems but, rather, to The choice is not merely, Shall I or shall I not ex- partake again of the drug which makes him unmindful periment with marijuana? but, What can I do to in- of the problems. It has been said, therefore, that form the youth of my acquaintance regarding the ter- "marijuana is the coward's approach to dealing with rible hazards of experimenting with it? life's problems." For every responsible citizen, warning youth on In larger doses marijuana produces some very un- such matters becomes a duty. And for those young desirable psychic effects. Among these are mental people over whom you have the greatest influence— confusion, disorientation ( being unaware of one's perhaps those in your own home—the responsibility is identity or whereabouts ), hallucinations, impulsive broader than merely admonishing them negatively to and antisocial behavior, and even psychoses ( episodes stay away from drugs. It requires you to help them of insanity ). When they occur, the psychoses may per- find their satisfactions positively in worthwhile under- sist for days, weeks, months, or even indefinitely. takings. Help them to find their thrills in accomplish- Chronic users of marijuana typically lose their ment rather than in the unnatural hallucinations which drive and initiative. They become lethargic, and care- drugs produce. Help them to keep so busy and inter- less with respect to cleanliness and personal neatness. ested in wholesome real-life activities that they will Even though they are failing in their enterprises, they have no time or curiosity for experimentation with have a false feeling of adequate capability. drugs. [END]

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 27 Heat exhaustion typically occurs in persons who are not accustomed to high temperatures. It is more common in women than in men. When suddenly exposed to high external temperatures, the body's heat-regulating mechanisms go into action and large quantities of blood accumulate in the small vessels of the skin. Under favorable conditions this would facilitate sweating with a consequent cooling of the body. But in unaccustomed persons this reduces the amount of blood in the internal organs. The heart's action is handicapped, and the brain cells begin to by Harold Shryock, M.D. suffer for lack of blood. This accounts for the fre- SMOKING AND PREGNANCY quent loss of consciousness for a short time in cases of heat exhaustion. Q. Is there scientific information on the effect of In heat exhaustion there is profuse sweating, faint- cigarette smoking on mother or child during preg- ness, extreme weakness, paleness, clammy skin ( which nancy? feels cool ), weak pulse, and shallow breathing. A. As far back as 1935 an article by Drs. L. W. The immediate treatment of heat exhaustion re- Sontag and R. F. Wallace, in the American Journal of quires that the patient be kept lying down with his Obstetrics and Gynecology, stated: "A series of eighty- feet a little higher than his body. Tight clothes one observations on five patients demonstrated that should be loosened. Cool, damp cloths on the fore- the nicotine does pass from the blood of the smoking head and wrists are helpful. Rubbing the skin of mother through the fetal membranes to the blood of the legs and thighs toward the body serves to hasten the unborn child. After the mother had smoked one the blood on its way back to the heart. The patient cigarette there was a change of fetal heartbeat, aver- should be kept quiet in a cool place for several hours aging five beats per minute increase." after the acute attack. The taking of a reasonable In 1936 an article by Dr. A. M. Campbell in the amount of salt water ( one teaspoonful of salt per same journal presented the firm opinion that smoking glass of water) will restore the amount of salt that is harmful to a pregnant woman. Dr. Campbell offered has been lost by perspiration. no scientific data, however, and made no mention of Heat stroke, by contrast, is more common in men, the possible effect on the unborn child. usually affects elderly persons, follows heavy physical In 1957 Dr. Winea J. Simpson reported, also in the exertion, and typically occurs when there is high American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the humidity in addition to high temperature. It is a results of her scrutiny in this connection of the records serious condition in which the death rate runs as of 7,499 live births. She concluded that the occurrence high as 50 percent. of premature birth is approximately twice as frequent The basic cause of heat stroke is a failure of the among smoking mothers as among nonsmoking moth- body's heat-regulating mechanism. The body tempera- ers. The incidence of premature delivery increases ture rises to dangerous levels—as high as 106° F. in with the number of cigarettes smoked per day. some instances. Flushed, red, dry skin provides an Within the past ten years many well-documented important clue to heat stroke. The victim is usually scientific reports on this question have appeared in in a state of collapse. medical literature. These confirm Dr. Simpson's con- The first thing to do while waiting for the doctor clusions that babies born to smoking mothers are or the ambulance is to take the patient's body tem- smaller and are born earlier than babies born to non- perature by placing a fever thermometer beneath the smokers. They also indicate that the incidence of fetal patient's tongue. If it is above 104°, drastic means death is significantly higher in cases of pregnancy in should be used to reduce the temperature. Removing which the mothers smoke. One writer ( Dr. T. M. the patient's clothes and placing him in a tub of Frazier) indicates that 15 out of 1,000 children of very cold water ( with ice in the water) is the most smokers die before birth as contrasted with a rate of effective procedure. If no tub is available, the skin approximately 6 per 1,000 for nonsmoking mothers. can be sprinkled with water while it is fanned vigor- ously. Frequent checks should be made of the pa- HEAT EXHAUSTION AND HEAT STROKE tient's body temperature. When it drops as low as Q. What is the difference between heat exhaustion 100°, the drastic means of reducing the temperature and heat stroke? may be discontinued. Should the temperature rise A. Heat exhaustion is milder. The basic causes of the again, however, the cooling should be resumed. two ailments are different, however, and they must be Even with a favorable turn of events, the person carefully differentiated so that they can be treated who has had heat stroke should be under medical care appropriately. throughout a long period of convalescence.

28 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 ARCHAEOLOGISTS ANCIENT EXCAVATE THE HEBREW BIBLICAL CITY TEMPLE OF ARAD FOUND by Siegfried H. Horn Professor of Archaeology and History of Antiquity, Andrews University

The Biblical city of Arad mentioned first in connec- ous parts of the ruins more than 100 ostraca, broken tion with Moses' stories of the wilderness wandering pieces of pottery containing inscriptions, were discov- of the Israelites ( Numbers 21:1) lay on the fringe of ered. Many of them written in Hebrew date from the the southern desert, halfway between Beersheba and ninth to the fifth century B.C.; others written in Ara- the Dead Sea, about seventeen miles south of He- maic date from the Persian period. bron. Beginning in March, 1962, excavations at Tell Of interest are Biblical names that appear in these Arad, the ruin mound which still bears the Biblical inscriptions, such as Meremoth and Pashur, the names name, have been carried on by a team of Israeli of two priestly families well known from Biblical rec- scholars. The citadel mound of Arad was uncovered ords. "The king of Judah" is also mentioned in one of under the direction of Y. Aharoni, of the Hebrew Uni- the texts, although his name is not given. The most versity, Jerusalem, and the lower city under the direc- interesting reference is to a structure called the Beth tion of Ruth Amiran, of the department of antiquities Yahweh, meaning "the house of the Lord." This term of Israel. During the excavations, which are not yet evidently refers to the local Hebrew temple which completed, many discoveries have been made that are was discovered in the course of the excavations. of interest to students of the Bible. This temple, the first Hebrew sanctuary ever found The excavations have shown that Tell Arad con- in Palestine, had originally been built in the time of tains the remains of a city which existed long before King Solomon. After an existence of more than 200 the first patriarchs moved into Palestine. By the time years it was destroyed by Hezekiah in the late eighth Abraham roamed through the southern desert of century B.c., when that pious king cleansed the coun- Canaan, Arad lay in ruins and was not rebuilt until the try of sanctuaries and high places in which idolatrous time of Solomon. After its rebuilding it was then con- practices were carried on. 2 Kings 18:4, 22. tinuously occupied until the late Roman period, al- We know from Scripture that Solomon erected though it was frequently destroyed and rebuilt dur- shrines and sanctuaries in addition to the temple in ing these centuries. Jerusalem ( 1 Kings 11:7 ), and it seems that some of However, the Arad mentioned in the writings of these seditious places of worship remained in use for Moses lay eight miles to the southwest of Tell Arad, centuries until they were in turn destroyed by King and is represented by a ruin hill now called Tell Hezekiah, while others shared this fate under King Malhata. Both sites, Tell Arad as well as Tell Malhata, Josiah. 2 Kings 23:4-20. must have borne the name Arad in ancient times, as Until now the remains of no such sanctuary had indicated by the text on the victory monument of ever been found. The temple discovered at Arad is Shishak, king of Egypt, who carried out a military the first such building that has come to light. The campaign against many cities of Judah and Israel five complex consists of three rooms and a courtyard built years after Solomon's death. 2 Chronicles 12:1-4. In in an east-west direction, with the entrance facing the the list of conquered cities Shishak mentions two east, just as the Jerusalem temple did. The arrange- Arads: Arad Rabat, meaning "great Arad," and Arad ment of the Arad temple into three rooms also resem- of Beth Yeruhan, meaning "Arad of the house of Yeru- bles the division of the temple of Jerusalem into a han." porch, a holy, and a holy of holies. During the excavations a great number of inscribed Furthermore, in front of Solomon's temple there objects have come to light. Among these is a bowl on were two freestanding columns flanking the entrance. which the name Arad is written, giving proof for the 2 Chronicles 3:17. Evidently the same architectural correctness of the identification of Tell Arad. In vari- pattern was followed at the temple of Arad, for flank-

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 29 ing the entrance to its porch, two round stones, evi- erected by the Israelites in its most holy place. In fact, dently column bases, were found. The columns them- the whole idea of having temples in various places, selves have disappeared. even if they served for the worship of Yahweh, was a The sanctuary room measures 9 x 33 feet. Benches clear transgression of the Mosaic law. Deuteronomy lined its inside walls, showing that it was used for 12:13, 14. purposes of assembly, a feature in which this temple Toward the end of the eighth century B.c., this evidently differed from the Jerusalem temple. The sanctuary, which had been in use for more than 200 most holy place, on a higher level than the sanctuary, years, was destroyed in the movement of reform ini- was reached by a low stairway consisting of three tiated and carried out by Hezekiah, a pious king of steps. Judah. The walls of the sanctuary were pulled down, On either side of the steps was a stone altar, the and their debris covered the cult objects of the build- highest twenty-one inches high. In the shallow cup ing, such as the altars in the sanctuary and masseboth holes on top of both altars were remains of burned in the most holy place. A city wall, built soon there- matter, presumably the remnants of the last sacrifices. after, crossed the ruins of the destroyed temple. This In the most holy place stood a raised platform and prevented the ruins from further destruction and pre- three upright stone pillars, the well-known Hebrew served them until the present day. masseboth. In the courtyard stood an altar of burnt During the excavations of several sites in Palestine, offerings built of undressed stones, the same as the pagan high places and temples have been discovered. Mosaic regulations required. Exodus 20:25. Also its However, the temple of Arad is unique; it is the first size, 3 x 5 cubits, agrees with the Mosaic instruction. sanctuary structure found which can definitely be la- Exodus 27:1. bled as a Hebrew temple dedicated to Yahweh. Ac- It is strange to find that the Mosaic influence is cording to Biblical statements, similar sanctuaries ex- noticeable in certain features of this sanctuary, while isted in such places as Beersheba, Bethel, and Dan. other features do not agree with the Mosaic law. For Amos 8:14; 5:5. The temple in Arad is not mentioned example, Moses repeatedly admonished the Israelites in the Bible, but recent discoveries show that such to destroy all masseboth, upright standing stone pil- schismatic sanctuary buildings may have existed in lars ( Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3 ), which were regular many parts of the country, thus witnessing to the fre- features of all pagan sanctuaries, but in the temple of quent religious apostasies of the people of Israel and Arad three such forbidden cult objects had been Judah. [END]

Inspired by his example one missionary society after Challenge of the Crisis another was founded, and today thousands of faithful (Continued from page 6) missionaries are proclaiming in hundreds of different invited his fellow workers to "taste and see that the languages the glad tidings of salvation. Lord is good," accomplished for God will be known According to the measure of our faith and commit- only in eternity. ment to God's will, whatever the cost, divine blessing Let us cease talking dolefully and be up and doing will rest on our lives and service. See Matthew 9:29. for God. To those who are full of gloom and see no Your faith and prayers, your love to God and man, hope for the future of Christ's church He says, as He your spirit of adventure and sacrifice for Christ, may did to His terror-stricken disciples on the storm-tossed completely transform a very critical situation in your own community. It may be God's challenge to you at sea, "Where is your faith?" Luke 8:25. Faith can [END] transform apparent defeat into glorious victory and "such a time as this." Esther 4:14. bring us triumphantly through the most critical situa- tion. The apostle Paul had to face many a crisis when Verdict on Uppsala everything seemed against him, but God proved to (Continued from page 23) be his sufficiency in the most desperate situations. See in his forthright address on "The Mandate of the Ecu- 1 Corinthians 4:9-13; 2 Corinthians 1:8-12; 3:5. He menical Movement." could say, "To God be thanks who in Christ ever leads "There is a great tension," said Dr. Visser 't Hooft, us in His triumphal procession, displaying every- "between the vertical interpretation of the gospel as where through us the sweetness of the knowledge of essentially concerned with God's saving action in the Him." 2 Corinthians 2:14, Weymouth. life of individuals and the horizontal interpretation of it Let us widen our horizons, looking beyond our own as merely concerned with human relationships in the particular assembly, where things may be depressing, world." "The crisis," of the World Council today, "is and witness the great victories being wrought for a crisis of motivation, of fundamental attitudes," and Christ in many lands. Nearly two centuries ago Wil- "a Christianity which has lost its vertical dimension liam Carey was told by his elders to sit down and be has lost its salt and is not only insipid in itself, but quiet when he dared to propose they should send useless for the world." missionaries to take the gospel to the heathen. His The well-known Evangelical, Dr. John Stott of All faith, courage, sacrifice, and zeal won the day, and he Souls, Langham Place, London, was even more forth- went forth to found the great mission of Serampore. right about present trends in the World Council. "Dur-

30 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 ing these days," he said, "the assembly has given its reconciliation to a lost world, must be deeply disap- attention to the hunger and poverty and injustice of pointed. the contemporary world. Rightly so. I have myself The Protestant Evangelicals in the World Council been moved by it. But I do not find a comparable of Churches are becoming increasingly disturbed—on concern for the spiritual hunger of man. . . . The the one hand by the theological liberalism which is Lord Jesus wept over the impenitent city which had finding its extreme expression in the "debate about rejected Him: I do not see this assembly shedding God," and on the other, by the steady strengthening any similar tears." of the "catholic" conception of faith and order as a In an article "Why I Was Disturbed" in the Church result of the massive attachment of Orthodoxy to the of England Newspaper, Dr. Stott enlarged on his im- World Council, and of the new interest of the Roman pression of the assembly. There were few signs, he Catholic Church since Vatican II. Certainly, as Dr. said, "of any understanding of what it means to live Blake himself said: "The World Council can no longer under the authority of Scripture." be called a Protestant agency." Evangelicals are also The frequent reiteration in the message of the further disturbed by the increasing involvement of phrase, "But God renews," seemed, Dr. Stott said, the Fourth Assembly in political, economic, and social "to be a naïve suggestion that all the revolutionary issues, almost to the exclusion of concern for their movements of our day disturbing the status quo and spiritual task. inaugurating a new social order, were part of the re- At the other end of the theological scale, the "catho- newing work of God who says, 'Behold, I make all lic" elements in the World Council are becoming things new.' But it is certainly not true that "all his- more and more impatient with the slow progress of the torical change is divine renewal." Faith and Order Commission in finding a solution to This being so, he said, "the choice of a theme text the Protestant-Catholic problem and the increasing which could fulfill its intended function only by being movement away from theological issues to secular alienated from its context" was a "serious blunder." involvement. His second criticism, which followed naturally They are, of course, encouraged by the growing from his first, was "the preoccupation of Uppsala . . . interest in ecumenism on the part of the Roman Catho- with the social and material needs of mankind," almost lic Church since Vatican II; but at the same time they to the exclusion of the evangelical priorities of the are disconcerted by the decision of Pope Paul VI, just gospel. before the opening of the assembly, to promulgate a "That the assembly should concern itself with the "Credo" reasserting fundamental Roman Catholic be- plight of the undeveloped nations, the hungry, the lief. The Church of Rome, he declared, is the "one homeless, and the victims of racial discrimination was holy Catholic and apostolic church, built by Jesus good and right. But not at the expense of Christ's own Christ on that rock which is Peter," and through it the commission to preach the gospel and make disciples." "universal magisterium," the "divine promises" and Especially, as Dr. Stott pointed out, the expressed aim "powers," have been handed on "from century to cen- of the "Commission on World Mission and Evange- tury" by the "successor of Peter and the bishops in lism" is specifically defined as being "to further the communion with him." He also expressed the "hope proclamation to the whole world of the gospel of Je- that the Christians who are not yet in full communion sus Christ to the end that all men may believe in Him of the one only church will one day be reunited in one and be saved." flock with one only shepherd." A youth paper circulated during the assembly Dr. Blake tried to soften its disturbing effect on the asked: "Why are we spending the whole time talking assembly by suggesting that the "Credo" was not so about politics and so on? . . . The World Council of much directed at ecumenism as against the extreme Churches seems to focus exclusively on horizontal, hu- progressives in the Roman Catholic Church itself, but manistic, and secular topics. But is God's transcen- he had to admit that the "dogmatic position was not dence and the vertical dimension not forgotten in this changed." In other words, Rome's view of ecumenism assembly?" is still a "return" to the one Mother Church. What conclusions then can we draw from the de- Despite, therefore, the appearance of intense ecu- liberations of this great assembly? What is the verdict menical activity given by the great gathering at Upp- on Uppsala? sala, it would seem that three diverging movements are Those, of course, from General Secretary Eugene crystallizing in the ecumenical field. First, a move- Carson Blake downward, who are anxious for the ment on the part of the radical Evangelicals away churches to restructure the "good news" into "secular from participation in the present ecumenical move- gospel," will be entirely satisfied with the results of ment; second, an unchangeable determination on the the assembly. Indeed, for them, in the words of the part of the Roman Church, despite its anxiety to co- Youth Department Report, "The period ahead in the operate with the World Council, to insist on Rome as ecumenical movement seems more exciting than any the "one only church"; and third, a growing realization other period we have had." on the part of the "catholic" churches in the World Those, however, who hoped that the ecumenical Council that a "non-Roman unity" is the only goal movement would point the way to the recovery of the having, at the present time, any possibility of achieve- "unity" of the church in "truth," and to the fulfillment ment. of its supreme task of bringing God's message of (Next Month: "Lambeth and Unity")

Signs of the Times, April, 1969 31 who came at the witch's bidding, woman and the deceived king what YOUR but an evil spirit to deceive the they thought they saw and heard. king and drive him to despair and To make the deception more real suicide. and convincing, the evil spirit God no longer answered Saul quoted some of the actual words when he inquired by the means He spoken by Samuel while he was had appointed. 1 Samuel 28:6. God alive. Compare 1 Samuel 28:17, 18 had forbidden necromancy, or pre- with chapter 15:1-9, 28. tended communication with the Neither does the fulfillment of dead. Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27; the prediction attributed to Samuel Deuteronomy 18:9-12. It is there- prove that Samuel was the speaker. fore unreasonable to suppose that Saul knew that his situation was God would communicate with Saul hopeless and that he must suffer by a means which He had ex- defeat within a matter of hours. pressly forbidden or that He would "When Saul saw the host of the send Samuel from heaven, even if Philistines, he was afraid, and his he were there, to communicate heart greatly trembled." 1 Samuel BIBLE with the wicked king. Saul in the 28:5. The woman herself could earlier years of his reign had de- have made the prediction, "To- QUESTIONS stroyed wizards and those having morrow shalt thou and thy sons be familiar spirits out of the land. 1 with me." Verse 19. Even if one ANSWERED Samuel 28:3. He knew when he believes in the conscious existence consulted the witch that he was of the soul after death, it is hardly by Charles D. Utt disobeying God. to be supposed that Saul, a man re- In the latter part of his life Sam- jected of God and who died a sui- cide, would be in the same place as REASON VS. REVELATION uel had ceased to have any com- munication with Saul. 1 Samuel the righteous Samuel. The evil When did men begin to rely on 15:35. Therefore it cannot be sup- spirit, impersonating Samuel, reason, and hence to regard reve- posed that Samuel, even if he were makes no distinction between the lation as an inferior approach to alive in the spirit world, would righteous and the wicked. reality? K. S. leave it and come at the command Saul's turning to the witch for The human tendency to place of a witch to talk with Saul. counsel was the crowning act of his reason in opposition to God's reve- If this had been a genuine ap- sinful course. "So Saul died for his lation began in the Garden of pearance of Samuel, Saul would transgression which he committed Eden, when Adam and Eve rejected have seen him. Instead, he asked against the Lord, even against the God's expressed command and ate the witch, "What sawest thou?" word of the Lord, which he kept the forbidden fruit. "When the "What form is he of?" She an- not, and also for asking counsel of woman saw that the tree was good swered, "An old man cometh up; one that had a familiar spirit, to for food, and that it was pleasant to and he is covered with a mantle." 1 inquire of it; and inquired not of the eyes, and a tree to be desired Samuel 28:13, 14. Saul saw noth- the Lord: therefore He slew him, to make one wise, she took of the ing, but from the witch's descrip- and turned the kingdom unto Da- fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave tion he "perceived that it was Sam- vid the son of Jesse." 1 Chronicles also unto her husband with her; uel." What he "perceived" was 10:13, 14. and he did eat." Genesis 3:6. Thus purely in his distraught imagina- The message that came to Saul reasoning from the evidence of tion from the witch's description. was not from God or Samuel but their senses, they rejected God's He had fallen under the spell of from Satan or one of his angels, revealed will. Ever since, in one the evil spirit. who counterfeited the dead way or another, their descendants The appearance that the woman prophet. Now, as then, those who have followed their example. saw came up out of the earth at know and believe God's Word will Endor, a place about seventy miles not look for light or truth by con- KING SAUL AND THE MEDIUM distant from Ramah, where Samuel sulting those who claim to be in In reading the Bible I ran across was buried. Verse 3. Therefore this communication with the dead. an incident where King Saul went could not have been Samuel in "And when they shall say unto you, to a medium to seek Samuel. person, and no one supposes that Seek unto them that have familiar Whose voice was it that he heard? his soul or spirit was an old man spirits, and unto wizards that peep, R. L. P. "covered with a mantle." Verse 14. and that mutter: should not a peo- If we consider the circumstances Though the record says the witch ple seek unto their God? for the liv- of Samuel's supposed return from "saw" Samuel and that Samuel ing to the dead? To the law and to the spirit world and the reason why spoke, it does not follow that Sam- the testimony: if they speak not ac- Saul consulted the witch and asked uel was actually there, either in cording to this word, it is because her to "bring up" Samuel, we shall body or in spirit. The writer merely there is no light in them." Isaiah see that it was not Samuel at all tells from the viewpoint of the 8:19, 20.

32 Signs of the Times, April, 1969 Scientists and The Bible teaches us that ma- God of love, one who provides His terial substances and processes creatures with the necessities of Creation come about as the direct result of life and who expects from man love (Continued from page 13) divine power. To begin with, "God and adoration in return for His created the heaven and the earth." blessings. Let us not be so entan- of the lives of plants and animals. Genesis 1:1. "For He spake, and it gled in a maze of impersonal uni- Nature is deified—that is, she is was done." Psalm 33:9. All through formitarianism that we lose our imbued with the powers and po- the Psalms, and in many prophetic hope of salvation and a home in the tentialities generally supposed to writings, the personality of God is eternal world that the Bible por- reside in the Deity. emphasized, particularly in Isaiah. trays as the reward for those who Theologically, deism involves a And the New Testament supports love and obey their Maker. number of very serious conse- the idea beyond the shadow of a [END] quences. Let us mention a few. doubt. "All things were made by Inasmuch as deism makes all the Him; and without Him was not operations of nature automatic, Getting Children anything made." John 1:3. John there is no place for miracles, un- was not talking of some vague, less God should choose to violate to Help impersonal power, but of Jesus some of the laws He has ordained. (Continued from page 15) Christ, whom he recognized as a Prayer would not be more than a to learn what his job will be for member of the eternal Godhead. psychological exercise, for why the day or week. Paul speaks of God as "upholding all should we pray for help and guid- A child also has a sense of fair- things by the word of His power." ance if God always allows things ness. That sense is best satisfied Hebrews 1:3. "By Him all things to take their natural course? We when parents are considerate and consist." Colossians 1:17. find ourselves, therefore, under a consistent both in the requests and rigid impersonal rule of atomic The only way we can avoid the in the requirements of homelife. forces, with which God cannot or conclusion that God is a personal Parents' attitudes toward work would not interfere. Of what value, Being, and that He maintains a di- deeply influence the child's atti- then, would faith be, any more rect, continuous, superintending tude. A child usually respects work than as a belief in the unyielding control over the affairs of the uni- when his parents look upon their forces of the atomic world? Since verse, is to deny the reality of the own work with respect and dignity God has left the world to run by Scriptural descriptions of His power as well as with satisfaction. A par- itself, how could He have any per- and creative works and to make ent might say, "I don't want my sonal interest in man, who appar- the Bible a work of fiction. child to work, sacrifice, and strug- ently is the end product of a long This we cannot afford to do. The gle as I had to as a child." Such line of evolutionary sequences? only reasonable course for Chris- expressions can cause only harm. Or The deistic approach leads to a tians to take is to accept the Bible a foolish charge of lack of love— fatalism as bad as any pagan reli- as the Word of God, the revela- "After all I do for you, you ought gion, yes, even worse; for pagans tion of the purposes of a personal to do some things for me"—can do believe they can appease their God for His earthly children. only have an adverse effect. gods or persuade them to help in God has revealed Himself as a Two boys who today are a trib- time of need. The impersonal, uni- ute to their parents stood by the formitarian, self-operating system side of their father one day when of deism leads to a "what-is-to-be- INTERNATIONAL SERVICE he said to a friend, "I am glad for will-be" attitude. In such a case my work. In fact, I think one of To meet the needs of the mil- there is no need for us to attempt lions in the United States and the worst things that can happen to any personal relation with God. Canada who speak languages a healthy person is to be out of a Where does this place the plan other than English and prefer to job." Some time ago one of these of salvation? There could be no read magazines in their own young men said, "You know, in our forgiveness of sin, for there would mother tongue, the publishers of home we never had much fuss the "Signs of the Times" issue be no sin. All our errors would similar journals in the following about doing jobs around the place. be the results of our inher- languages: Today, as I look back, I believe my ent weaknesses, for which we parents' attitude toward work is French: "Mieux Vivre" would not be responsible. Of what made work enjoyable for us." German: "Zeichen der Zeit" course, with no sin, no atonement. To the parents who ask, "Can we Spanish: "El Centinela" The basic truths of Christianity do anything to get our children to Ukrainian: "Oznake" would be swept away, and all that help in the home?" the answer is would be left would be a system of Should you wish a free copy of Yes. At any point parents can be- ethics. The only hope for man one of these journals, either for gin to teach wholesome attitudes yourself or for a friend, address would be to live so closely in har- your request to Frank L. Baer, toward toil which make helping mony with nature's laws that he Manager, Foreign Language Di- interesting and natural. Their own could have a healthy, happy life. vision, "Signs of the Times," attitudes will say with Kahlil Gib- As to a future life, nothing could Mountain View, California 94040. ran, "Work is love made visible." be assured whatever. [END]

Signs of the Times, Amil, 1969 33 had become His very flesh and bone, the death of His humanity spelled out and constituted the doom of the kingdom of sin. Romans 6:6. 1 Peter 2:24. It Calvary's paid the awful debt of sin. In full. It shattered and annihilated the awful power of sin. Completely and forever. No claim was overlooked, however small. No pocket of resistance was left. Sin's end was as utter as it was final. SUPREME Wonderful transaction! How it argues for victory in the daily life! How it shames our apologetic and by Sanford oft-repeated admissions of failure! How it witnesses T. Whitman to the infirmity of our faith! If only we could under- Purpose stand, accept, and enjoy its benefits! Morning by morning we go forth to our warfare Spring had come to the valley of the upper river. with sin. Day after day we launch a frontal assault Fat pussy willows. Boisterous winds. Leafless trees. upon the bastions of evil. Stung by defeat and aware Black shower clouds trailing long veils of rain. Im- of our hopelessness, we cry, "Lord, save us!" Still the petuous downpours of hail. Bursts of brilliant sun- conquest we seek eludes us. shine. Frogs in tumultuous chorus. Stars that blazed It is all so needless and beside the point. We are and glittered like newly cut diamonds. fighting a war that has already been fought. We are The door of the little white church was ajar, and a struggling for a victory that has already been won, a shaft of yellow light fell across the walk and onto the prize that has already been secured, a peace that has lawn. Inside, the midweek prayer meeting was in already been established. We can never win and earn progress. A white-headed farmer with heavy voice these things, because Christ has already won and and calloused hands was leading the Bible study. earned them for us. To make them ours we have only "Everyone who has come under the influence of the to claim them by faith. church has heard the story of the cross, the tomb, and Every serious-minded Christian recognizes that the the resurrection. Yet to millions of believers these cross and the tomb assure the believer of victory over tremendous facts are little more than historical events. death and release from the grave. What so few realize "The Bible says that Jesus was made a 'curse' ( Ga- is that these same events carry identical guarantees lations 3:13 ); that He who knew no sin became sin of victory over sin. Indeed, the coming forth to new- ( 2 Corinthians 5:21 ); and that 'He Himself bore our ness of life is ever conditional upon release from sin's sins in His body on the tree.' 1 Peter 2:24, RSV. burden and deliverance from sin's power. esus did not write our sins on a piece of paper and carry them in a pocket. He did not wrap them in a bundle and carry them on His back. He did not take them with Him like a bird in a cage. He became sin. He was sin. "This sin was not a token amount. It was not a cross-section sample. It was your sin. It was my sin. It was everyone's sin. All of it. It was' the sum, the total, the accumulated sin of the world. Past. Present. Future. The mountains of committed sin. The weak- ness to sin. The wanting to sin. The fierce, deter- mined, relentless willingness to sin. —He suffered death . . . on behalf of every hu- man being.' Hebrews 2:9, Goodspeed. "The very purpose of His coming was to take away the sin of the world. John 1:29; 1 John 3:5." How true! We cannot comprehend such a con- centration either of guilt or of power. But we should be eternally thankful that Jesus was both able and willing to accomplish it. What happened to all this sin when Jesus died on the cross? It died with Him! The immensity of the fact is not immediately apparent. God's sin prob- lem—all of it—was there on the cross. When Jesus died it was solved and buried in the tomb. All of it. So was yours. So was mine. So was everyone else's. If not, Jesus must either have remained forever in the tomb, or have come forth to suffer and die again. Because the sum and substance of the world's sin DEVANEY

34 Signs of the Times, April, 1969