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Ocrozer 15, 1903 lom, the disrespectful, ungrateful, disobedient son, selfish, avaricious and grasping, came to a disgraceful end in the prime of life, and marks a lesson to his kind. On the other hand REV. DR. MORGAN SAYS “J preached this summer in Fifth Avenue church New York, a series of sermons on some of the saying of the Gospel of John. When I came to deal with the death of Christ, I began by saying that it brought me face to face with a moral mystery; that unless there was some explanation of that tragic ending of a pure life, it was the most terrible reflection on the government of God, and would make me an infidel. The whole sermon was to answer that position and to show how the death of Christ reveals the infinite goodness of God. But next morning I saw in the New York Journal a flaming headine: “Dr. Morgan PuzzLep Asout THE DEATH oF CHRIST: Says THar THERE 1s 4 Moral MYSTERY IN IT, AND IT MAKES Him an INFIDEL,’ ZION’S WATCH TOWER (399-403) Solomon, the peaceful, the good, the wise son, attained to the kingdom, and attained to it, too, with his father’s blessing and the divine favor. HE IS NOT AN INFIDEL “This was copied into religious periodicals, and ever since I have been receiving letters explaining the death of Christ. In fact, the cutting has been sent to me three times within the last two weeks by people in England.” * * * Zion’s Watcu Tower, having circulated the error, takes pleasure in correcting it. It is always difficult to choose words which the worldly cannot misconstrue, and doubtless this illustration will make Doctor Morgan, and us all, more careful than ever to avoid expressions subject to such distortion. On the other hand we are glad that in this day of “falling away” from the faith there were still numerous religious journals ready to protect against such teachings in pulpits dedicated to God. Vou. XXIV ALLEGHENY, PA., NOVEMBER 1, 1903 No. 21 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER A BIBLE LEAGUE “A ‘Bible League’ has been organized in the Methodist Episcopal church, with the avowed purpose of driving out destructive Higher Criticism. Its president is Bishop Mallalieu, and the promoters hope to establish branches in every Methodist Conference in the country.”—Eachange. We are glad to see that the situation is being partially realized. It is much more dangerous than many might be willing to believe. No words can more graphically describe the results than the words of Scripture themselves, viz.: “A thousand shall fall at thy side.” (Psa. 91:7) A thousand to fall to one who will stand means a great “falling away” from faith. Our Master’s question is pertinent here, “When the Son of Man cometh [at his second advent] shall he find faith on the earth?” The cleavage or separation on this subject can only result favorably so far as the gathering of the Lord’s “jewels” is concerned. Those who will cling to the Bible honestly and intelligently will give it more careful examination than ever. And their longings will not be satisfied by the interpretations and creeds of the dark ages, ruled by superstition and the spirit of persecution. Nothing short of “the faith once delivered to the saints,” which now rejoices our hearts with its lengths and breadths and heights and depths of divine love and provision, will satisfy them. These will be but a “little flock” in all, however. We will be glad to greet Bp. Mallalieu among them, but we do not forget the Apostle’s words, that not many rich or great or noble are being chosen now, but chiefly the poor and ignoble, rich in faith, to be heirs of the kingdom. That the battle above referred to has commenced is shown by the press dispatach:— “CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 10. “The Outlook, an official publication of the Methodist denomination, has made a sensational attack upon the Methodist universities. That the doctrines of “Tom” Paine are being taught by Dr. Milton S. Terry, professor of Theology in Garrett Biblical Institute, and by Dr. Hinckley G. Mitchell, of the Boston University School of Theology, is the charge. Methodists are advised not to send their sons and daughters to schools ‘where such teachers are allowed to remain on the faculty.’ ” GENERAL UNREST PREVAILS “Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plow shares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, Lf am strong.”—Joel 3:9-16. The whole world is growing restless—preparing to fulfil the above prophecy, of which we quote only the introduction. The people of Macedonia and Bulgaria are impatient of the Turkish rule, and fomenting rebellion and bringing upon themselves the brutal vengeance of their rulers—the only kind of reprisal and suppression known to the Ottoman. France is still in a warfare with the secret orders of the Roman Catholic church, in an attempt to free the rising generation from the incubus of superstition, which it realizes has for years been opposing the Republic by misrepresentations of the facts of history. In a word, the French Government is seeking to turn the religious schools built by the people into free public schools, similar to those of the United States. They refuse to have these taught by garbed nuns and priests, and the golden hours of childhood given specially to studying the Roman Catholic Catechism. In no sense is it a movement to curb the freedom of the Roman Catholic conscience to believe and teach as it pleases outside the public schools. This warfare is so absorbing to the French that other questions are no more than secondary. The clerical party would even favor war in hope of reviving monarchy. In England a very similar question is before the public mind. Parliament has recently put the control of public-school education into the hands of the church (Episcopal), and other denominations are fearful of the results. In Austro-Hungary partisanism runs high. Both nations desire to exercise controlling influence, yet both realize that division would injure both dreadfully. They maintain a union of hatred and bitterness that bodes an open warfare at the opportune moment. Russia, according to the London Times, is keeping from general publicity her dreadful interna] disorders, which may eventually force her into war to offset the restless spirit and give it employment. It says in part:— “The murderous assault made on Prince Urussoff by the peasants of his estate, in the province of Tchernigoff, has its parallel in the similar crime perpetrated on the person of Prince Gargarin, his wife, and their guest, Prince Sherbatoff, in the province of Riazan, hundreds of miles further north. The governor of the province of Ufa has been murdered under the shadow of the Urals; and the prisons of St. Petersburg are filled with political prisoners, who largely belong to that most dangerous of all classes, the intellectual proletariat. The very forces of the state are not themselves untainted. There were military trials at Moscow not many weeks since for revolutionary agitation in the army, and it is even alleged that several members of the crew of the imperial yacht, including some non-commissioned officers, are at present in detention in the capital for being in possession of forbidden literature on board the Standart, (the Czar’s yacht) herself. “The government appears to have been attempting to practice a double policy toward the labor movement, which now for the first time is growing conscious of its strength. On the one hand, M. Witte seems to have attempted more than two years ago to solve the problem by discovering the real wants and wishes of the artisans and factory hands. As the result of a conference instituted on his suggestion, the men obtained the right to elect spokesmen who might confer with the manufacturers and government inspectors. But the new scheme has not been fairly applied, while a childish attempt has been made by the reactionaries to convince the working-men that their best friends are the bureaucrats and their worst enemies the enlightened middle classes. In several cases the men have elected their representatives, only to see them subjected to summary arrest, while any combined action by the men employed in different factories is severely punished. On the other hand the secret police of St. Petersburg have been endeavoring to educate the workmen in loyalty to the existing institutions of the country by telling them that the French Revolution led merely to the triumph of the bourgeois, bought by the blood of the proletariat, and that the Government are eager to meet them half way. Naturally these devices have not produced much effect, but neither, so far, have the repressive measures of M. dePlehve. The problem remains unsolved and perhaps [3263]