HE who does not understand his own rights, cannot be expected to know what are the rights of others, and in the natural course of events must develop into a despot.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.1

THE government of God is the only government which guarantees every individual under it the full exercise of all his rights, and actually secures for him all that it guarantees.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.2

THE basis of all successful government is love. When the American people cease to love the principles of liberty upon which this Government was founded, the latter must give place to a despotism.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.3

WHERE in all history is there any record of a good civil government managed by the church, or conducted upon a religious basis? On the other hand, it is easy enough to point to some exceedingly bad governments which have been run by the Church, or have been established upon “Christianity.” The pagan governments controlled religion, and they were bad enough: but the papal governments, in which religion—and “Christianity” at that—was the controlling power, were infinitely worse.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.4

This question is meant especially for the “Christian citizenship” and Christian Endeavor people.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.5

A LULL in the battle for the maintenance of religious liberty, does not mean that the enemy is idle or has abandoned his purpose of overthrowing it. We may confidently look for him to return to the attack suddenly, and with greater power and determination than ever before.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.6

“Salvation Is Science” American Sentinel 12, 32, pp. 497-499.

ATJ

THE one subject of the whole Bible, is Salvation. Whatever other subject may be touched upon or dealt with in the Bible, it is always subordinate to the great subject of salvation.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.1

This fact does not stand in any way against the great truth that the Bible is science. Instead of this fact arguing for a moment that the Bible is not science, it argues forever that Salvation is science.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.2

Instead of standing thus: The Bible treats solely of the subject of Salvation, therefore the Bible is not science; the true argument runs thus: The Bible is science; the Bible treats solely of Salvation; therefore Salvation is science.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.3

Salvation is truly a science. It is more than a science, it is the chief of all sciences, the one most worthy of investigation. It is the science of sciences.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.4

That Salvation is truly a science is plain from this consideration: With the mind, man explores the realm, and delves into the secrets, of all other sciences. Indeed “Physical Science” is defined by a scientist as “a product of our thinking as to external things.” But while it is with the mind that man deals with all other sciences. Salvation deals with the mind itself.AMS August 12, 1897, page 497.5

The first word in the call to Salvation is, “Repent,” which is literally “change your mind.” The first of all the commandments is this, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all ... thy mind.” And it is written, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” “So then, with the mind, I myself serve the law of God.”AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.1

As it is with the mind that man investigates all other sciences, while Salvation has to do with the mind itself, it is certain that Salvation is a science as truly as is any other. Shall the product of that which deals with all other things be science, and the product of that which deals with that which deals with all other things, be not science?—That will never do. Assuredly there can be no other right way than that. While the product of that which investigates all other things is science, much more the product of that which investigates that which investigates all other things is science.AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.2

This just conclusion demonstrates not only that Salvation is science, but that it is greater than all other sciences. Because since it is with the mind that all other sciences are dealt with while Salvation deals with the mind itself, in the nature of things it follows that the science of salvation is greater than the others. Beyond all question that which deals only with the thing that deals with all other things, is greater than those other things.AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.3

That Salvation is science is further suggested by the fact that those who are well acquainted with all other sciences, are deeply interested in this. And that it is the greatest of all sciences is further shown by the fact that those who most thoroughly understand all other sciences, are more deeply interested in this than in all the others; and while they thoroughly understand all the others, they are so deeply interested in this that they may understand it.AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.4

The ones here referred to as thoroughly understanding all other sciences, are the angels of God. Surely no man who admits the existence of such intelligences, can fairly question that the angels do, more thoroughly than all other created persons, understand the recognized sciences. Those who traverse the stellar spaces as familiarly as the florist his flower paths—shall it be said that they do not understand astronomy? Those who gladly joined in the joyful anthem of all the sons of God when the morning stars sang together at the laying of the foundations of the earth—shall it be suggested that they do not understand Geology? Those bright minds which saw the origin of every other form of living creature—shall it be intimated that they do not understand Biology?AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.5

No, no! They thoroughly understand all these things. Each one of them understands all these sciences infinitely better than all men together ever understood any one science. Yet with this thorough knowledge of all the recognized sciences, the angels “desire to look into” the subject of Salvation. For unto the prophets “it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things that are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things THE ANGELS DESIRE TO LOOK INTO.”AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.6

The Greek word here rendered “desire” means “to set one’s heart upon.” And the Greek word here rendered “look into” means “to stoop to a thing in earnest, to look at it; to look at, with head bowed forward, and to look into with body bent; to look carefully into, to respect curiously—of one who would become acquainted with something.” It is the word used to tell them the disciple “was stooped down and looking into the sepulcher.”AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.7

Such is the attitude of the angels of God toward the subject of Salvation. They desire to look into the subject of Salvation to become acquainted with it, that they may understand it and learn by it. For again it is written, “Unto me who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers IN HEAVENLY PLACES MIGHT BE KNOWN by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.8

Now if the men who are acknowledged to be the best of all men acquainted with certain sciences, should keep their whole attention intently to the investigation of another subject and should continue that to the exclusion of everything else, that subject, even though it had never before been thought much of, would be instantly raised to the dignity of a science: and not only to the dignity of a science, but to the dignity of the leading science. The very fact that such eminent scientists should give such attention to a subject, would of itself be the best possible evidence that they considered that subject more worthy of their attention than the other sciences; and would be sufficient evidence that they considered that a greater science than the others. And if any should treat lightly, or scoff at, such work of such men they would be looked upon as persons of inferior caliber and sadly lacking in the “scientific spirit.”AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.9

Very well; here are the angels of God, who are thoroughly acquainted with all others sciences, yet turn their whole attention intently upon the subject of Salvation and have continued to do so age after age. This is evidence enough that they consider salvation a greater science than all the others put together: the one science most worthy of their thought. This being so with the angels, is not this ample evidence that all who slight or scoff at Salvation, or who count it second to any or all other sciences, are greatly lacking in the true scientific spirit?AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.10

Yet further: All sciences are the products of mind. Salvation is of God. It is God himself who reveals, and works out, Salvation. It is the product of God’s thinking. It is therefore divine science, the science of God himself.AMS August 12, 1897, page 498.11

From this and the other considerations here presented, it follows that Salvation is not only science, but that the science of salvation is the highest, the deepest, and broadest science that is known not only in this world but throughout the whole universe.AMS August 12, 1897, page 499.1

“Sin and Crime” American Sentinel 12, 32, pp. 499, 500.

ATJ

THE minds of religious people are naturally shocked at any exhibition of what they regard as a sin; and under the influence of this shock they are prone to forget the important distinction that is to be maintained between sin and crime. A failure to observe or to respect this distinction leads to very serious results.AMS August 12, 1897, page 499.1

Religious people are shocked alike at exhibitions of both sin and crime. And there are some sins which occasion a greater shock to the sensibilities of such people than do many serious crimes. To the mind trained to revere the name of God, it is as shocking to hear the street urchin shouting profanity as it is to see him appropriating an article which does not belong to him. A mock celebration of the “Lord’s Supper,” by some persons who wished to make sport of it, would be quite as distressing a sight to Christian people as an exhibition of assault and battery. But would the one thing be therefore as properly a subject of legislation as the other?AMS August 12, 1897, page 499.2

It is very distressing to some good people to witness “Sabbath desecration.” And it distresses them for precisely the same reason that a mockery of religion would distress them. On their way to church of a Sunday morning, it may be, they pass a group of boys indulging in a noisy game of baseball. On any other day nothing more would be seen in this than an exhibition of healthy, innocent sport; but being Sunday,—the day which they regard as the holy Sabbath—the sight gives them a painful shock, and they naturally feel that Sunday baseball ought to be suppressed by law.AMS August 12, 1897, page 499.3

Now it is for religious reasons that these good people are shocked at the sight of a Sunday ball game, and it is a fact that whatever is wrong for religious reasons, is a sin. What these good people really ask, therefore, is that the civil law shall forbid a thing because it is a sin. But it is certainly true that while good people are greatly shocked at some sins, they are but little disturbed by others which are quite as bad. A sin is to be viewed in the light of righteousness,—not the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, but the righteousness of God. Is Sabbath desecration any worse in the sight of God than covetousness, or idolatry, or pride? Is the self-sufficient person who scorns the gospel offer of salvation, or the proud church member who refuses to humble himself as the Scriptures enjoin, less guilty in the sight of God,—in other words, less guilty as a sinner—than is the youth who desecrates the Sabbath? Is the one sin to be passed over while the other is punished?AMS August 12, 1897, page 499.4

From the Word of God it is plain that Sabbath-keeping is a spiritual matter, and that mere cessation of work on the Sabbath day does not satisfy the requirements of God’s law. They who worship God acceptably must worship him in spirit and in truth; and the proud or covetous person, or any person who is not truly a Christian, cannot keep the Sabbath, and is just as guilty of Sabbath desecration in God’s sight, even though he may go through all the forms of worship, as is the ball player who spends the Sabbath in recreation.AMS August 12, 1897, page 499.5

Considered as a sin, therefore, it is altogether inconsistent and improper to demand that Sunday baseball be suppressed by law. It must be dealt with, is at all, as a crime. But it is not a crime, because, considered apart from religion, it would not be condemned as wrong.AMS August 12, 1897, page 499.6

A wound to our sensibilities may be felt as keenly as wound a wound to our bodies, or even more so; but this fact cannot justify the civil law in undertaking to guard our sensibilities against injury. Our training and education in religion may have been faulty. The heathen is trained to reverence his idols, and would be greatly shocked at an application to them of the doctrines of Christianity. The devout Catholic might easily be shocked at the actions of the consistent Protestant; and the good Protestant who has looked with horror on a game of Sunday baseball, may, by changing his religious views so as to regard the seventh day as the Sabbath, arrive at a condition where he would pass an exhibition of Sunday ball without any shock whatever.AMS August 12, 1897, page 499.7

Very little intellectual progress has been made in the world without a shock to some person’s ideas and sensibilities. To say that these ought to be protected by law, would be to disregard alike the lessons of history and the dictates of reason.AMS August 12, 1897, page 499.8

God deals with sin. He alone understands sin perfectly and is competent to deal with it justly and effectively. Crime is a different thing. The law of man cannot properly take any cognizance of the question whether a thing is right or wrong or not it is sinful; and must be left to another and higher authority than that of man. Crime must be based upon a different ground,—that of the right of every individual to liberty in the pursuit of whatever he may deem essential to his welfare. And the individual rights of all being equal, the rights of one cannot interfere with the rights of another. “To preserve these rights, governments are instituted among men;” and this alone is the province of the civil law.AMS August 12, 1897, page 499.9

“Christian Unity” American Sentinel 12, 32, pp. 500, 501.

ATJ

WHILE the religious world is busily devising and discussing plans for securing Christian unity, there is a ... Christian unity in the world to which all are led who receive and love the truth of God. The Apostle Paul has written that in Jesus Christ—who is the embodiment of divine truth—there is neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian nor civilized, male nor female. All earthly distinctions of race, class, or condition, are broken down, and nothing is left but “a man in Christ Jesus.” And this makes its believers one.AMS August 12, 1897, page 500.1

This unity, we repeat, exists to-day, as it has since existed since the day when it was first exemplified in the Christian church. Let a man who holds the Christian faith—the glorious truth which has brought to him the salvation of God—meet with others of “like precious faith,” and whether it be an African, a Turk, a Russian, or one of any other race or class, there is a greeting like that between old friends, though they may never have seen each other before. They are acquainted though they have never met, and all difference of circumstances between them is ignored and lost in the significance of their one common and mighty circumstance of having been created new in Christ Jesus.AMS August 12, 1897, page 500.2

This mighty truth fills all the horizon of vision in the Christian life, and leaves no room for denominational divisions. In Christ, there is neither Methodist nor Presbyterian, Catholic nor Protestant; but the old self with all its connections and titles is gone, and only Christ is left.AMS August 12, 1897, page 500.3

Let people of all sects find the truth, and they will find Christian unity. They will find the truth when they find Christ, for he is “the way, the truth, and the life.” In the same prayer in which the Saviour prayed for the unity of his followers, he said, “Sanctify them through thy truth; Thy Word is truth.” By the study of the Word, and faith in it, is Christian unity to be realized.AMS August 12, 1897, page 500.4

This is not the way in which this unity is being sought by the churches. It is being sought through a confederacy; not through love, but through force; and the result will be not Christian unity, but a union which will bring persecution to those who put their trust in the Lord of hosts alone.AMS August 12, 1897, page 501.1

“Not Based on the Law of God” American Sentinel 12, 32, pp. 502, 503.

ATJ

IT is a common idea that certain human laws are based upon the law of God. For example, it is frequently asserted that the common statute against “Sabbath desecration” is based upon the fourth commandment of the Decalogue. There is an assumption in this which is but little, if anything, short of blasphemy. Does man’s law rise higher than the law of God? Is the divine law a mere underlying principle upon which man needs to rear the superstructure of thought and expression which will apply it to human affairs? To affirm such an idea would be to deny that God has the attributes of deity. No; the law of God is as high as heaven itself and cannot be made a basis of anything by finite man. Moreover, it is perfect, and therefore will allow of no additions. Human law cannot be based upon divine law. Human law can be based only upon those principles of justice which govern the relations of each man to his fellows. If it is not based upon this, it has no foundation in truth and right.AMS August 12, 1897, page 502.1

“No Conception of their Own Rights” American Sentinel 12, 32, pp. 503, 504.

ATJ

FROM a personal investigation conducted amongst the immigrants from some of the more despotic governments of Europe, it appears, says a writer in a New York daily, that these victims of oppression have, for the most part, become so confirmed in the soul slavery which was their lot in the Old World, that they are utterly ignorant of the fact, and cannot be made to grasp the idea, that they have personal rights, which both individuals and governments are bound to leave inviolate. Only their children, born and reared in this country, are capable of assimilating the knowledge that they have a birthright to liberty.AMS August 12, 1897, page 503.1

With such facts before us, it is not difficult to perceive the providence of Him by whom all men were created equal, in setting up this free Government for a beacon light of liberty to the oppressed in all the world. But is it not true to-day that this Government has so far departed from the plan of the Creator, that it is most frequently the case that these downtrodden victims of European despotism, meet on these shores the same injustice and oppression, in a slightly less degree, from which they sought to escape by crossing the seas? Without the promulgation of the doctrine of individual liberty made by our heroic forefathers who put forth and maintained the Declaration of Independence, and founded a great republic upon the American Constitution, what would have been to-day the condition of the masses of mankind, under the rule of the classes?AMS August 12, 1897, page 503.2

It is bad enough, certainly, as it is. But when this Government shall become—as it is fast becoming—a despotism like those of the Old World,—when Liberty is chained and dies in her own home—when the experiment of a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” proclaims itself a failure—a condition of things will be reached which only the coming of the Lord can relieve.AMS August 12, 1897, page 503.3

August 5, 1897

August 19, 1897