Publication date
10/15/07
Volume
28
Number
20
The WatchTower
Views from the Watch Tower
/../literature/watchtower/1907/20/1907-20-1.html
 
 
VOL. 
XXVIII 
ALLEGHENY, 
A., 
OCTOBER 
15, 
1907 
VIEWS 
FROM 
THE 
WATCH 
TOWER 
No. 
20 
ROMANISN: 
BESET 
IN 
STRONGHOLDS 
One 
after 
another 
so-called 
"Catholic 
countries" 
are 
shak­ 
ing 
themselves 
free 
from 
the 
Roman 
church-fetters 
which 
have 
held 
them 
for 
centuries. 
All 
are 
familiar 
with 
the 
situa­ 
tion 
in 
Fra:pce, 
where 
the 
authority 
of 
Rome 
is 
now 
disowned 
and 
disallowed-Catholics, 
Protestants 
and 
Jews, 
etc., 
all 
standing 
on 
common 
footing 
before 
the 
law-much 
as 
in 
this 
country. 
Spain 
followed 
the 
same 
course 
with, 
it 
is 
reported, 
the 
following 
outline 
of 
policy:- 
Fir:;t. 
No 
religious 
order 
shall 
be 
established 
without 
the 
authotization 
of 
parliament. 
Second. 
'l'he 
State 
shall 
accord 
support 
to 
any 
member 
of 
religious 
order 
desiring 
to 
renounce 
the 
vows 
taken. 
Third. 
The 
Minister 
of 
Justice 
is 
empowered 
to 
with­ 
draw 
the 
authorization 
of 
any 
religious 
order 
found 
to 
be 
inimical 
to 
morality 
or 
pUblic 
tranquility. 
Fourth. 
The 
Cabinet 
shall 
forthwith 
examine 
the 
author­ 
izations 
previously 
granted 
to 
religious 
orders 
and 
cancel 
those 
which 
are 
illegal. 
Fifth. 
Religious 
orders 
whose 
members 
are 
foreigners 
or 
whose 
director 
resides 
abroad 
shall 
be 
dissolved. 
The 
au­ 
thorities 
are 
empowered 
to 
enter 
monasteries 
without 
ecclesi­ 
astical 
sanction. 
Sixth. 
Religious 
orders 
shall 
not 
be 
allowed 
to 
hold 
prop­ 
erty 
in 
excess 
of 
the 
objects 
for 
which 
they 
were 
instituted. 
Seventh. 
The 
sums 
of 
money 
given 
by 
members 
of 
re­ 
ligious 
orders 
to 
such 
institutions 
on 
their 
admission 
and 
the 
sums 
derived 
by 
orders 
from 
charitable 
subscriptions 
shall 
be 
strictly 
limited. 
Eighth. 
All 
legacies 
to 
religious 
orders 
or 
donations 
to 
orders 
by 
living 
persons 
or 
by 
testaments 
or 
through 
inter­ 
mediaries 
are 
formally 
prohibited. 
Ninth. 
Religious 
orders 
engaging 
in 
trade 
or 
industry 
shall 
pay 
the 
regular 
taxes. 
Tenth. 
Rel1;ulations 
for 
the 
dissolution 
of 
religious 
orders 
shall 
be 
established. 
Eleventh. 
The 
law 
of 
1887 
concerning 
the 
registering 
of 
religious 
orders 
remains 
in 
force. 
ow 
the 
people 
of 
Italy 
are 
in 
ferment. 
Charges 
of 
immorality 
against 
the 
clergy 
(many 
of 
them 
probably 
false) 
are 
being 
widely 
published, 
with 
demands 
for 
the 
opening 
of 
all 
"homes," 
"reformatories," 
"nunneries," 
etc., 
to 
civil 
in­ 
spection, 
as 
are 
all 
others 
not 
Roman 
Catholic. 
In 
word, 
the 
special 
privileges 
and 
immunities 
of 
the 
church 
of 
Rome 
are 
likely 
to 
be 
abolished-as 
of 
course 
they 
should 
be. 
Aus­ 
tria-Hungary 
is 
the 
only 
great 
nation 
still 
acknowledging 
pro­ 
nouncedly 
the 
Roman 
Catholic 
system 
as 
entitled 
to 
special 
and 
exclusive 
rights 
and 
privileges. 
The 
reason 
for 
the 
apparent 
greater 
prosperity 
of 
Roman­ 
ism 
in 
Protestant 
countries-Germany, 
Great 
Britain, 
Canada 
and 
the 
United 
States-is 
that 
in 
these 
their 
clergy 
wisely 
refrain 
from 
expecting 
much 
special 
privilege, 
though 
they 
quietly 
obtain 
some 
because 
of 
their 
solidarity 
and 
the 
respect 
of 
politicians 
for 
the 
influence 
of 
their 
votes. 
The 
stripping 
of 
Romanism's 
power 
and 
special 
privileges 
will 
doubtless 
prepare 
her 
the 
better 
for 
the 
new 
role 
marked 
out 
for 
her 
in 
Revelation-her 
cooperation 
with 
Federated 
Protestantism 
in 
the 
exercise 
of 
power 
during 
the 
closing 
days 
of 
this 
Gospel 
age-just 
before 
the 
downfall 
of 
every­ 
thing 
in 
horrible 
anarchy. 
SECULAR 
EDITORS 
CRITICISE 
THEOLOGIANS 
Under 
the 
heading, 
"Preaching 
without 
Religious 
Faith," 
secular 
editorial 
says:- 
The 
confusion 
of 
religious 
thought 
at 
this 
time 
of 
declining 
religious 
faith 
was 
never 
made 
more 
apparent 
than 
in 
the 
sermons 
preached 
hereabouts 
on 
Sunday. 
The 
Rev. 
Dr. 
Van 
Dyke, 
preaching 
on 
the 
Atonement, 
de­ 
clared 
his 
belief 
"that 
the 
Son 
of 
God 
would 
have 
come 
into 
the 
world 
whether 
man 
had 
sinned 
or 
not," 
confession 
which 
conflicts 
radically 
with 
the 
whole 
orthodox 
theory 
of 
the 
sacrifice 
of 
Christ. 
He 
said 
also 
that 
"there 
are 
thou­ 
sand 
true 
doctrines 
of 
the 
Atonement," 
which 
is 
substantially 
the 
same 
thing 
as 
saying 
that 
no 
doctrine 
specifically 
is 
true, 
for 
instance, 
the 
doctrine 
of 
the 
Westminster 
Confession, 
to 
which 
Dr. 
Van 
Dyke 
pledged 
loyalty 
when 
he 
was 
ordained 
Presbyterian 
minister. 
The 
first 
sermon 
of 
the 
Rev. 
Dr. 
Hillis, 
as 
pastor 
of 
Plym­ 
outh 
church 
in 
Brooklyn, 
was 
devoted 
to 
extolling 
Christ 
with­ 
out 
any 
reference 
to 
the 
Atonement 
or 
any 
doctrine 
which 
raises 
him 
to 
divine 
or 
supernatural 
elevation. 
He 
spoke 
of 
"the 
supremacy 
of 
Christ 
among 
men 
of 
genius," 
said 
II 
Jesus 
is 
the 
supreme 
literary 
artist," 
and 
celebrated 
the 
wonderful 
power 
of 
his 
"imagination." 
Nowhere 
in 
his 
sermon 
was 
there 
any 
evidence 
of 
the 
positive 
faith 
which 
gave 
the 
impulse 
to 
Christianity; 
only 
generality, 
sentimen­ 
tality, 
the 
vague 
imaginings 
of 
mind 
without 
any 
definite 
belief 
were 
made 
manifest 
in 
the 
pretty 
sentences 
of 
Dr. 
Hillis. 
Secular 
editors 
deprived 
of 
theological 
instruction 
in 
word 
and 
conscience-twisting 
seem 
much 
more 
logical 
and 
more 
hon­ 
orable 
than 
theologians. 
This 
editor 
evidently 
sees 
clearly 
that 
those 
who 
have 
abandoned 
the 
faith 
of 
their 
ordination 
vows 
should 
seek 
new 
ordination 
in 
accord 
with 
their 
present 
agnosticism, 
and 
not 
practise 
fraud. 
We 
publish 
the 
item 
to 
call 
attention 
to 
the 
departure 
from 
the 
central 
feature 
of 
the 
Gospel-our 
Lord's 
atonement 
for 
sin. 
We 
have 
challenged 
the 
evidence 
that 
there 
is 
single 
college 
or 
theological 
seminary 
in 
the 
United 
States 
where 
Evolution 
or 
Higher 
Criticism 
infidelity 
is 
not 
taught 
publicly 
or 
privately. 
Noone 
thus 
far 
has 
produced 
proof 
in 
refuta­ 
tion 
of 
this 
charge. 
Similar 
conditions 
prevail 
in 
Canada. 
minister 
recently 
charged 
publicly 
that 
there 
is 
but 
one 
college 
in 
Canada 
loyal 
to 
the 
doctrine 
of 
original 
sin 
and 
our 
redemption 
from 
it 
by 
the 
death 
of 
Christ. 
We 
challenge 
that 
one 
case. 
We 
are 
morally 
sure 
that 
investigation 
will 
prove 
that 
if 
Higher 
Criticism, 
Evolution 
and 
Nb 
Atonement 
for 
Sin 
are 
barred 
from 
the 
textbooks 
and 
curriculum 
some 
of 
the 
professors 
surely 
hold 
these 
wrong 
views 
and 
privately 
confess 
them 
and 
laugh 
at 
the 
backwardness 
of 
their 
college. 
Well 
did 
the 
Apostle 
declare, 
'I 
The 
time 
will 
come 
when 
they 
will 
not 
endure 
sound 
doctrine, 
but 
having 
itching 
ears 
[desiring 
some­ 
thing 
new 
and 
different] 
will 
gather 
to 
themselves 
teachers 
after 
their 
own 
liking: 
and 
they 
will 
turn 
away 
their 
ears 
from 
the 
truth 
and 
unto 
fables' 
'-respecting 
monkey 
progeni­ 
tors 
millions 
of 
years 
ago.-2 
Tim. 
4:3, 
4. 
JEWISH 
EMIGRATION 
TO 
PALESTINE 
Dr. 
M. 
Scheinkin, 
Director 
of 
the 
Information 
Bureau, 
Jaffa, 
Palestine, 
says 
in 
recently 
published 
report 
in 
The 
Jewish 
ExponC'nt:- 
"Soon 
after 
the 
October 
riots 
of 
1905, 
Jewish 
immigra­ 
tion 
intu 
Palestine 
considerably 
increased. 
Every 
vessel 
from 
Russia 
brought 
sixty 
and 
even 
one 
hundred 
passengers. 
About 
1,500 
persons 
arrived 
in 
Palestine 
during 
the 
winter 
of 
1905-06. 
Among 
these 
three 
to 
five 
per 
cent. 
were 
wealthy 
people, 
be­ 
tween 
ten 
and 
fifteen 
per 
cent. 
workmen, 
ten 
per 
cent. 
artisans 
and 
twenty 
per 
cent. 
had 
no 
particular 
occupation, 
and 
the 
remainder 
consisted 
of 
old 
people 
who 
became 
protoges 
of 
the 
Halukah. 
Almost 
all 
of 
the 
young 
workingmen 
found 
work 
in 
the 
colonies. 
Most 
of 
the 
artisans, 
with 
the 
excep­ 
tion 
of 
the 
tailors 
and 
shoemakers, 
who 
arrived 
in 
very 
large 
numbers, 
obtained 
employment 
in 
the 
cities 
of 
Jaffa 
and 
Jerusalem. 
Twenty 
families 
of 
~!le 
wealthier 
class 
remained 
in 
the 
land, 
eight 
of 
whom 
acquired 
land 
in 
the 
colonies, 
one 
rented 
large 
farm 
from 
an 
Arab, 
and 
the 
rest 
engaged 
in 
business, 
chiefly 
in 
Jaffa. 
Eighteen 
thousand 
dunams 
of 
land 
passed 
into 
Jewish 
hands 
during 
the 
past 
two 
years. 
"Different 
societies 
undertook 
the 
rebuilding 
of 
various 
streets 
in 
Jerusalem. 
London 
philanthropic 
society 
built 
up 
one 
quarter 
of 
150 
houses. 
There 
are 
also 
two 
private 
building 
associations 
which 
are 
financially 
assisted 
by 
the 
Anglo- 
Palestine 
Bank. 
large 
society 
of 
artisans 
recently 
began 
to 
build 
up 
new 
quarter 
in 
Jerusalem. 
Ten 
families 
formed 
company 
to 
build 
up 
Jewish 
quarter 
in 
Kaifa, 
at 
the 
foot 
of 
Mt. 
Carmel. 
'The 
large 
commercial 
enterprises 
are 
still 
in 
the 
hands 
of 
Mohammedans 
and 
Christians, 
although 
during 
the 
last 
decade 
many 
Jews 
also 
attained 
high 
position 
in 
the 
com­ 
mercial 
world. 
In 
consequence 
of 
the 
recent 
immigration, 
twenty 
new 
Jewish 
stores 
were 
opened 
in 
Jaffa, 
similar 
num­ 
ber 
in 
Jerusalem 
and 
several 
in 
Kaifa 
and 
in 
Beyrut. 
During 
the 
last 
month 
Russian 
Jewish 
immigrant 
opened 
large 
grocery 
store 
in 
Damascus. 
The 
lumber 
business 
is 
passing 
entirely 
into 
Jewish 
hands, 
due 
to 
the 
large 
credit 
allowed 
them 
by 
the 
Anglo-Palestine 
Bank. 
"The 
spiritual 
condition 
of 
the 
Palestine 
Jews 
greatly 
improved 
during 
the 
past 
two 
years. 
The 
hundreds 
of 
young 
laborers, 
the 
teachers 
and 
other 
intelligent 
persons 
brought 
with 
them 
new 
life 
and 
new 
spiritual 
aspirations. 
"Aside 
from 
lower-grade 
schools 
the 
grown-up 
youth 
is 
desirous 
of 
obtaining 
more 
knowledge, 
and 
for 
that 
purpose 
there 
was 
organized 
in 
Jaffa, 
first, 
evening 
classes 
for 
lan- 
[4073] 
Vou. XXVIII ALLEGHENY, PA., OCTOBER 15, 1907 No. 20 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER ROMANISM BESET IN STRONGHOLDS One after another so-called ‘‘Catholic countries’’ are shaking themselves free from the Roman church-fetters which have held them for centtries. All are familiar with the situation in France, where the authority of Rome is now disowned and disallowed—Catholies, Protestants and Jews, etc., all standing on a common footing before the law—much as in this country. Spain followed the same course with, it is reported, the following outline of policy :— First. No religious order shall be established without the authorization of parliament. Second. The State shall accord support to any member of a religious order desiring to renounce the vows taken. Third. The Minister of Justice is empowered to withdraw the authorization of any religious order found to be inimical to morality or public tranquility. Fourth. The Cabinet shall forthwith examine the authorizations previously granted to religious orders and cancel those which are illegal. Fifth. Religious orders whose members are foreigners or whose director resides abroad shall be dissolved. The authorities are empowered to enter monasteries without ecclesiastical sanction. Sixth. Religious orders shall not be allowed to hold property in excess of the objects for which they were instituted. Seventh, The sums of money given by members of religious orders to such institutions on their admission and the sums derived by orders from charitable subscriptions shall be strictly limited. Eighth. All legacies to religious orders or donations to orders by living persons or by testaments or through intermediaries are formally prohibited. Ninth. Religious orders engaging in trade or industry shall pay the regular taxes. Tenth. Regulations for the dissolution of religious orders shall be established. Eleventh. The law of 1887 concerning the registering of religious orders remains in force. Now the people of Italy are in a ferment. Charges of immorality against the clergy (many of them probably false) are being widely published, with demands for the opening of all ‘‘homes,’’ ‘‘reformatories,’’ ‘‘nunneries,’’ etc., to civil inspection, as are all others not Roman Catholic. In a word, the special privileges and immunities of the church of Rome are likely to be abolished—as of course they should be. Austria-Hungary is the only great nation still acknowledging pronouncedly the Roman Catholic system as entitled to special and exclusive rights and privileges, The reason for the apparent greater prosperity of Romanism in Protestant countries—Germany, Great Britain, Canada and the United States—is that in these their clergy wisely refrain from expecting much special privilege, though they quietly obtain some because of their solidarity and the respect of politicians for the influence of their votes. The stripping of Romanism’s power and special privileges will doubtless prepare her the better for the new role marked out for her in Revelation—her codperation with Federated Protestantism in the exercise of power during the closing days of this Gospel age—just before the downfall of everything in horrible anarchy. SECULAR EDITORS CRITICISE THEOLOGIANS Under the heading, ‘‘ Preaching without Religious Faith,’’ a secular editorial says:— The confusion of religious thought at this time of declining religious faith was never made more apparent than in the sermons preached hereabouts on Sunday. The Rev. Dr. Van Dyke, preaching on the Atonement, deelared his belief ‘‘that the Son of God would have come into the world whether man had sinned or not,’’ a confession which conflicts radically with the whole orthodox theory of the sacrifice of Christ. He said also that ‘‘there are a thousand true doctrines of the Atonement,’’ which is substantially the same thing as saying that no doctrine specifically is true, for instance, the doctrine of the Westminster Confession, to which Dr. Van Dyke pledged loyalty when he was ordained a Presbyterian minister. The first sermon of the Rev. Dr. Hillis, as pastor of Plymouth church in Brooklyn, was devoted to extolling Christ without any reference to the Atonement or any doctrine which raises him to a divine or a supernatural elevation. He spoke of ‘‘the supremacy of Christ among men of genius,’’ said [4073] ‘“Jesus is the supreme literary artist,’’ and celebrated the wonderful power of his ‘‘imagination.’?’ Nowhere in his sermon was there any evidence of the positive faith which gave the impulse to Christianity; only generality, sentimen tality, the vague imaginings of a mind without any definite belief were made manifest in the pretty sentences of Dr. Hillis. * * * Secular editors deprived of theological instruction in word and conscience-twisting seem much more logical and more honorable than theologians. This editor evidently sees clearly that those who have abandoned the faith of their ordination vows should seek a new ordination in accord with their present agnosticism, and not practise a fraud. We publish the item to call attention to the departure from the central feature of the Gospel—our Lord’s atonement for sin. We have challenged the evidence that there is a single college or theological seminary in the United States where Evolution or Higher Criticism infidelity is not taught publicly or privately. No one thus far has produced proof in refutation of this charge. Similar conditions prevail in Canada. <A minister recently charged publicly that there is but one college in Canada loyal to the doctrine of original sin and our redemption from it by the death of Christ. We challenge that one case. We are morally sure that investigation will prove that if Higher Criticism, Evolution and Nb Atonement for Sin are barred from the textbooks and curriculum some of the professors surely hold these wrong views and privately confess them and laugh at the backwardness of their college. Well did the Apostle declare, ‘‘The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears [desiring something new and different] will gather to themselves teachers after their own liking: and they will turn away their ears from the truth and unto fables’’—respecting monkey progenitors millions of years ago.—2 Tim. 4:3, 4. JEWISH EMIGRATION TO PALESTINE Dr. M. Scheinkin, Director of the Information Bureau, Jaffa, Palestine, says in a recently published report in The Jewish Exponent :— ‘*Soon after the October riots of 1905, Jewish immigration into Palestine considerably increased. Every vessel from Russia brought sixty and even one hundred passengers. About 1,500 persons arrived in Palestine during the winter of 1905-06. Among these three to five per cent. were wealthy people, between ten and fifteen per cent. workmen, ten per cent. artisans and twenty per cent. had no particular occupation, and the remainder consisted of old people who became protogés of the Halukah. Almost all of the young workingmen found work in the colonies. Most of the artisans, with the exception of the tailors and shoemakers, who arrived in very large numbers, obtained employment in the cities of Jaffa and Jerusalem. Twenty families of the wealthier class remained in the land, eight of whom acquired land in the colonies, one rented a large farm from an Arab, and the rest engaged in business, chiefly in Jaffa. Eighteen thousand dunams of land passed into Jewish hands during the past two years. ‘*Different societies undertook the rebuilding of various streets in Jerusalem. A London philanthropic society built up one quarter of 150 houses. There are also two private building associations which are financially assisted by the Anglo-Palestine Bank. A large society of artisans recently began to build up a new quarter in Jerusalem. Ten families formed a company to build up a Jewish quarter in Kaifa, at the foot of Mt. Carmel. ‘‘The large commercial enterprises are still in the hands of Mohammedans and Christians, although during the last decade many Jews also attained a high position in the commercial world. In consequence of the recent immigration, twenty new Jewish stores were opened in Jaffa, a similar number in Jerusalem and several in Kaifa and in Beyrut. During the last month a Russian Jewish immigrant opened a large grocery store in Damascus. The lumber business is passing entirely into Jewish hands, due to the large credit allowed them by the Anglo-Palestine Bank. ‘The spiritual condition of the Palestine Jews greatly improved during the past two years. The hundreds of young laborers, the teachers and other intelligent persons brought with them a new life and new spiritual aspirations. ‘‘Aside from lower-grade schools the grown-up youth is desirous of obtaining more knowledge, and for that purpose there was organized in Jaffa, first, evening classes for lan (307-308)

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