JANUARY 15, 1906 established under the whole heavens, but, additionally, we are privileged of the Lord now to be the antitypical Elijah, the antitypical John the Baptist. Throughout the entire Gospel age the church in the flesh has been doing toward the world a work similar to that done by John to the Jewish nation— announcing Messiah, not in the flesh, but the glorified Christ, Head and body, and the kingdom which he will set up. This greater John the Baptist or greater antitype of Elijah, the church in the flesh, has exhorted the world, or as many of them as have had ears to hear the message, to repent of sin, to reform their lives, to come near to the Lord in heart, that they may be prepared for the great changes that are imminent, when Messiah shall now shortly take unto himself his great power and reign. Those who accept the message are urged to make a conseeration of themselves to the Lord and thus to prepare their hearts for his kingdom. Our announcement also is that the great Christ of glory will shortly appear on the scene and that all in harmony with him will then receive a blessing of the holy Spirit—not the first fruits but the completed blessing, the resurrection to glory, honor and immortality—while to the remainder of mankind will come the great time of trouble Vou. XX VII ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, PA., FEBRUARY 1, 1906 (31-35) spoken of by the mouth of the holy prophets from the beginning, a time of discipline and purification, that the whole world may learn the lessons necessary to their harmony with the Lord, that they may be ready to receive the blessing which his kingdom will put within their reach. Let us, dear brethren and sisters, who are privileged to be heralds of the coming kingdom, be earnest, zealous as was John the Baptist, giving comparatively little heed to the customs and formalities of the world, and giving very diligent heed to our appointed work, to show forth the praises of our heavenly Bridegroom, to announce him to all, to make known to all the terms and conditions of his favor and to bear witness to his presence now in the harvest time of this age, that his fan is in his hand, that he will thoroughly purge the threshingfloor of all chaff, that he will gather the wheat into the garner of his kingdom, and that the great majority of Christendom will soon enter the great time of trouble. If faithful in this ministry as the antitypical Elijah on this side the vail, we may feel sure of our acceptance as members of the body of the Anointed One on the other side the vail, and thus have participation in the sufferings of the present time and in the glories and dignities of the future. No. 3 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER EVOLUTIONISTS IN TROUBLE Evolutionists certainly deserve some commiseration: they so frequently forget themselves and tell things against their own theory. For instance, whilst telling us that Africa was the cradle of mankind from which by evolution various races advancing have spread over the earth; and while hunting in that field for a claimed ‘‘missing link’’ between the ‘‘least developed’’ of mankind and the monkey, they unthinkingly blurt out a completely different story. In an article on Irrigation, Prof. A. W. Hadley now gives it as his opinion that Africa once had a wonderful civilization, whose ‘‘stupendous’’ plans and perfect ‘‘technical details’’ were so grand that ‘‘later efforts are paled into insignificance.’’ If thousands of years have brought degradation to the inhabitants of Africa, does not this down the Evolution theory and exalt the Bible teaching of a fall? We quote from Prof. Hadley’s article as follows:— ENGINEERING PAST AND PRESENT ‘‘Phe ancient period has to do with that accomplished during the reign of the Pharaohs, kings of Egypt who ruled 4,000 years ago, and carried out irrigation plans so bold in conception and colossal in execution that modern works are dwarfed into practical insignificance. ‘*Recently discovered ancient writings and subsequent investigation by scientific explorers reveal substantial evidence to the effect that the famous six cataracts of the Nile between Assouan and Khartoum are not, as had been supposed for ages, mere works of Nature, but are, instead, the ruins of gigantic works of man, who constructed them for irrigation, power and navigation purposes. “‘Tf this be true, then is Egyptian irrigation, like its civilization and literature, but another of the ‘Lost Arts of the Ancients; ' for so stupendous were the plans and so perfectly were the technical details of engineering carried out that later efforts paled into insignificance. “For hundreds of miles over the barren wastes on either side of the Nile, where history tells us there once flourished populous cities, can now be found the traces of great canals extending northward to the Mediterranean and, in fact, radiating over the entire Soudan. These are found to lead to the vicinity of the several cataracts where the gigantic blocks of granite which form them extend for more than a mile across the river and are visible at low Nile. Furthermore, these blocks are of a peculiar formation of granite, totally unlike any other rock in the vicinity, and found only built up in this way at the several cataracts. ‘As additional writings are discovered and exploration progresses the evidence continues to grow until we are now practically convinced that immense areas in the great Soudan, with its miles of trackless, sun-scorched waste, were once under the most intensive cultivation, and the support of a vast popuation. ‘““Who may say but that the surviving ruins of the pyramids, temples and tombs were but at the elevated gateway to such a region, and that there now lies hidden beneath hundreds of feet of silently shifting sand the graveyard of an empire, with its cities, towns and hamlets and its one-time fertile val leys; but with its inhabitants destroyed or scattered panicstricken or degenerate to the four corners of the Earth???’ THE CONFUSION (BABEL) OF CHRISTENDOM We every now and then hear of some great scholar who has spoken or written things which have shaken the faith of many. Then we note announcements that his arguments have been met and refuted by some other professor: that Christian faith is saved, &. The fact of the matter is that so much confusion reigns on theological questions in the minds of many that they know not what they are discussing. They will not look at the truth, but will, without reading, denounce it on the strength of some one’s opposition. They are blind and dote on things they do not comprehend. For illustration, Prof. Haeckel, a German scholar, has been whacking away at all revealed religion in a publication, ‘‘The Riddle of the Universe.’’ Because he attacked openly ‘‘ Orthodoxy’’ could understand him and concluded it should be frightened because he so intimated. At once a champion is found in the person of ‘‘Sir Oliver Lodge, D. Sc., F. R. 8., LL. D.,”’ whose array of titles implies worldly wisdom. He declares that he can refute Haeckel. ‘‘Orthodoxy’’ grasps the suggestion with joy! not because Orthodoxy knows what he will say or cares much, but because he says he is on her side and he has influence and titles. The Christian Commonwealth devoted an entire page recenty to Sir Oliver Lodge’s arguments and commented on them thus:— ‘In view of the world-wide circulation of Prof. Haeckel’s attack on the fundamentals of the Christian faith—for that is what his ‘‘Riddle of the Universe’’ amounts to—the publication of Sir Oliver Lodge’s reply is a matter of the first importance to all Christians, especially preachers and teachers.’’ With such indorsement what spiritual wisdom might we not expect. From among other unchristian and unscriptura] presentations we quote below some extracts which, going out thus labeled *‘Orthodox,’’ will no doubt do far more harm than Prof. Haeckel’s nonsense, more plainly labeled infidelity. Thus it is everywhere: professors and ministers are posing as defenders of Orthodoxy who, most decidedly, are unbelievers in the fundamentals of Christianity. Among other things Sir Oliver Lodge said, as quoted in ‘“‘The Christian Commonwealth’? (we are glad that we are not participators in its common wealth of error): ‘I believe that the universe is struggling up towards something, and that we are agents, that God does not work without agents. We have to lend Him a helping hand; certain things will not be done on this planet unless we do them. We have the power to help and the power to refuse help or even to hinder.’’ Sir Oliver Lodge’s vague ideas respecting a Nature God may be guessed from his statement following. He is wholly adverse to the Bible teaching of man’s creation in God’s image, his fall through sin, his redemption by the sacrifice of Christ and his hope of resurrection to more than was lost by obedience to the Redeemer when his kingdom comes. We quote :— [3713]
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