The Pope to have no Voice in Peace Conference.
Dr. Robertson, Venice, writing in the Bulwark, makes the following interesting remarks:—”It is high time that, as individuals and as a Protestant nation, we should recognise the fact that the Vatican and its agents, lay and clerical, are the Allies of Germany and our uncompromising enemies. This, I am glad to say, is recognised in Italy. What the Vatican is working for is the temporal power. The Pope has openly said that he hopes to be represented at any peace congress which may be held at the conclusion of the War, in order to bring forward his claims to temporal sovereignty. Since 1870 there never has been a peace congress but he has expressed the same desire and the same hope. It must be a satisfaction to all outside its ranks (to many men inside them) that the Allies are pledged to Italy to exclude any and every papal representative from any peace congress that may be held, and not even in any secondary way to allow the Pope to have a voice in such a matter. Italy, according to the secret despatches published by Russia, made this a condition of its entering the War.”
Poisoning the Wells.
Of the many dastardly outrages of which our enemies have been guilty, that of poisoning the wells in West Africa has been held up to well-deserved execration. The same work in a different sphere has been going on in our own country by men who, whatever their protestations may be, are devoted followers and imitators of German Biblical scholars. Only recently a book by Principal Selbie, Mansfield College, Oxford, entitled The Nature and Message of the Bible, has been issued for the Student Movement, and professes to be written for “students who have no theological equipment.” Here are a few of the daring statements one meets with:—Jehovah was “a Kenite or Midianite deity”; Jehovah is further spoken of as a desert God, whose home is in Sinai, who became localised in the Ark. The Ark “was a sacred box containing an image of Yahweh (Jehovah), or a holy stone from Sinai, which served to give a visible and material guarantee of His presence.” We quote these few statements, and they are but a few of a like nature, to show to our readers the kind of nonsense that is taught in the high places of scholarship to-day. When the blind lead the blind both fall into the ditch. Such barefaced dishonour to Jehovah and His Word is appalling, and the thought that such a book is prepared as a guide for young men by one occupying such a position ought to fill one with deep concern, rendering, as it does, virulence of the plague.
Modern Jerusalem.
The occupation of Jerusalem by the British forces has awakened interest in this famous city throughout the civilized world. Modern Jerusalem, however, is very different from the Jerusalem that existed in the time of our Lord. The now existing walls,” says the Bible School, “were built about the middle of the sixteenth century. The modern city stands upon the ruins of the former cities. There have been no fewer than eight Jerusalems. The deep ravines that once surrounded the city have in them an accumulation of ruins and rubbish which has long ago filled them up. The streets of the Holy City through which our Lord passed are buried beneath the present surface to a depth of between twenty and fifty feet. Notwithstanding this, tradition professes to indicate the exact site of every incident that the Bible records having taken place in the city. And not only these, but the scenes of other events have been collected within the walls. The variety is most extensive, from the tomb of Adam, and the footprint of Enoch, to the stones which would have cried out if the disciples had held their peace (Luke xix. 40).” One can scarcely imagine the multitude of sites of happenings of long ago if the Pope and his emissaries got command of the Holy City.
The Conqueror of Jerusalem.
The British Weekly recently communicated the interesting fact, through a correspondent, “that General Sir George Scott-Moncrieff, at a recent gathering of ministers and laymen, mentioned that General Allenby, on the eve of taking over the command of the Palestine army, gathered his officers together for a quiet time of prayer in Cairo.” It is encouraging to know that among our military leaders there are men who realise their need of looking to God in view of the tremendous responsibilities that rest upon them as planners of military operations, the carrying out of which involve so many lives.
The late Brigadier-General Bradford, V.C.—An Example.
This distinguished officer was only twenty-five years of age, when he fell on 30th November last. He was the youngest Brigadier in the British Army, and a bright example to those around him. How sad that he should have been cut off at the beginning of his noble career! Witness the following address to his men a day or two before his death:—“Comrades, I have come to introduce myself to you as your new Brigadier. This is the first opportunity I have had of speaking to you. I am going to ask you to put implicit trust and confidence in me; look upon me, not only as your Brigadier, but as your friend. By the help of God I will try and lead you to the best of my ability, and remember your interests are my interests. As you all know, a few days from now we are going to attack; your powers of endurance are going to be tested. They must not fail you; above all, pray. More things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of. It is God alone who can give us victory, and bring us through this battle safely.”
Concerts on the Lord’s Day at Inverness.
Those who are engaged in the unholy work of secularising God’s Day are not slackening their efforts. Only recently the Magistrates of Inverness gave their consent to the holding of a concert on the Lord’s Day. These gentlemen, at least some of them, profess to be as concerned for sanctifying the Sabbath as those who have been protesting against them. Most serious-minded people will agree that the holding of a concert on the Holy Day is more an effort in serving the devil than anything else. The arguments brought forward by some of the Magistrates are of the world worldly.
Several copies are still to be had of the “Exposition of the Seven Seals and the Seven Vials in the Book of Revelation,” by the Rev. D. Macfarlane, F.P. Manse, Dingwall. Application may be made to Mr. Macfarlane, or the Editor of this Magazine, 248 Kenmure Street, Pollokshields, Glasgow. Reduced price, 2 ½ d., post free.