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THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
A GOOD “SIGN” “ Signs of the Tim es,” a Seventh Day A dventist paper, contains an endorsement of the movement fo r Christian Fundamentals, w ith the following exceptions taken: ‘‘As fa r as the doctrinal statem ent of the Fundam entalists is concerned, the de nom ination heartily1 endorses every point except the idea of conscious punishment of th e lost, the restoration of the Jew s to Palestine and th a t the law and the seventh day Sabbath are no p a rt of the C hristian dispensation. Aside from th e teaching of these few erroneous points, the Fundam entalists are doing a great work for God in th e e a rth .” W hat does this admission indicate? A re th e A dventists gradually slipping away from th e teachings of th eir so-called prophetess, Mrs. Ellen White, whose divine au tho rity has so long been acknowledged by them? I f these few points mentioned are the only points of difference, then certainly the Adventists must have repudiated th e great bulk of Mrs. W h ite ’s interpretations. We hope th is is not merely a trap. Mrs. White, as a young woman, was a nervous and excitable character. A t seven teen she began to have visions and claimed she was caught up to heaven. These visions were comm itted to w riting and for these w ritings she claimed inspiration even as the Bible is inspired. I t is a well known fa c t th a t these w ritings were altered again and again, and in view of th is fa c t and th e fa c t th a t so many of her predictions have been proven false, it is astonishing th a t there should be anyone le ft who would p u t any faith iij her “ divine insp iration .” H er teachings on the Sabbath question and prophetic m atters are minor in com parison w ith other errors. For instance, she tau g h t th a t S atan would bear th e sins of the world into oblivion where he would be annihilated w ith them still on him. She tau g h t th a t the blood of Christ did not cancel the sins o f those receiving Him as sub stitu te, b u t th a t receiving Him was merely the expression of a desire for pardon and th a t our sins must finally be borne by Satan, the author of sin. She tau g h t th a t to worship on the L o rd ’s Day instead of the Jew ish Sabbath meant sure damnation and th a t only 144,000 are to be saved, these being all Seventh Day Adventists. All other churches she characterized as “ B abylon.” These are v ita l m atters, b u t th e editorial statem ent above shows a different a tti tude and even acknowledges th a t those who are contending for the old Gospel are doing a great work for God in the world. May we not tru st th a t in time the Adventists will also come to see th e ir error in worshiping on Saturday, the day when C h rist’s body lay dead in the tomb, when the disciples were filled w ith restlessness and gloom, when th e Jew s were mocking God w ith th eir sacrifices, when S atan and his imps rejoiced, believing they had the Saviour under the power of death, when creation was under doom, and when friends mourned even more deeply th an on the crucifixion day itself ? * K. B. B. “HOUSE TO LET” W e a re h e a rin g on ev ery h a n d th e c a ll to “ th e relig io n of th e open m in d .” T h is p o p u lar id ea does n o t m ean a m ind open to th e lead in g s of th e H oly S p irit o r illum in a tio n in th e W o rd of God, b u t a m ind re a d y to ta k e in ev ery sugg es tio n of m a te ria listic th in k e rs fo r d iv esting th e B ible of its so-called “ d isfiguring en cum b ran ces.” A P re sb y te ria n m o d e ra to r, fo r in stan ce, says, “ T heology m u st no lo n g er be a closed system bu ilt upon & priori assumptions. I t must be constructed of know l edge received th ro u g h experience. T heology is in 1th e crucible of h isto ry .” In his call fo r freedom of th o u g h t, th is m o d e ra to r d em ands th a t th e a u th o rity
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