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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 1911)
FALSE CONCEPTS OF DIVINE WISDOM Some Suggestions Worthy ot Consideration. THE ALMIGHTY SLANDERED. Pastor Russell Declares That Millions ef Christians Unwittingly Profane the Creator In Misrepresenting What His Holy Name Represents Blas phemy Common In Every Creed. Denver, June 18. Pastor Russell gave two public addresses here to day, one of which we report Many of Denver's promi nent religious peo ple were conspicu ous in the large audience. Profound Impressions were undoubtedly made. Speaking from the text, "Holy, holy, holy Lord God Al mighty, the whole earth 6hall be filled with Thy glory" (Revelation iv, 8), the speaker said: Shakespeare tells of some "damned by faint praise!" We grasp his state ment as implying that a faint praise is more Injurious than silence. Rut as we look to ourselves and the remainder of the reputed four hundred millions of Christendom and their united trib ute of praise to the Almighty Creator we are forced to admit that with many He Is given "faint praise," while the Test majority positively blaspheme the Eoly Name by most atrocious misrep resentations of the Divine character, which they claim to be Ills own reve lation of a demoniacal plot for the eternal torture, in one way or another, of the thousands of millions brought Into existence by Ilia power and with out their own consent. There may be said to be three dif ferent theories prevalent In Christen dom on the subject. They all have - tealous, earnest, honest advocates. Each contradicts the others. Each claims to love God and to seek to serve and honor Film. Evidently, two at least of the three are wrong. It is our fonvlction that all three are in error. We believe that all three of them have fragments of the truth around which Lave crystallized distorting, slander ous, blasphemous errors. The uphold ers of these theories are so blinded and bewildered that they fall to discern that their praise and worship toward the Creator are defiled and converted Into slanders and calumnies and blas phemies by their incrustations of false hood. Three General Views. All three of these views declare that the Almighty, with full power to have done otherwise, so created humanity that a child once born Into the world can never die he must live somewhere unceasingly either In pain or in pleas ure. By what authority any make these declarations we have never as certained. Surely It Is a gross slander upon a God of infinite Justice, Wisdom. Love and Power to claim that lie ever en trusted to poor, fallen, human par ents the power to bring into existence sin-blighted and sin-disposed human creatures such as we see our race to be, and then made the happiness of their eternity dependent upon u suer human resistance of the evils of their environment and of their depraved constitutions! This blasphemy against the Holy Name is common to nearly every creed of Christendom. Our Catholic friend loll us that by Divine arrangement terrible purga torial experiences await practically every member of our race. In the hope thHt. If rightly exercised thereby, after centuries of torture, an eternity of bliss will be gained. Is not this also a blas phemy against the Holy Name? Who can deny It? Who would not shudder to have such an awful crime of evil design charged against himself or against his earthly parents? Who that is begotten of the Holy Spirit Is not pained even to think of such a charge being tnade agalust his Heavenly Father, "the God of all grace"? Surely such a theory Is blasphemous, hor rible. . Rut we have grown so accustomed to this blasphemy that It falls to prick the majority to the heart as it should. With all of our development of human sympathy and care for the sick and even for our wounded enemies on the battlefield, and with our precautions of modern times against criminal neg ligence which might lead to the de struction of human life by conflagra tionwith all of our fire apparatus and benevolent laws for the protec tion of the very humblest of our race, we have calmly and without protest charged against our great Creator, and indorsed It as our belief, either pub licly or tacitly, that He would look upon a holocaust of millions with no Are brigade for their relief. Is not this blasphemy of the Holy Name? Worse and Worse Predestinated. Is it any wonder that In early life our chlldWh !irts were filled with fear rather than wlih love toward our Creator and toward His Revelation, the RIMe? Is It any wonder that It required all kinds of Muliting with our common sense to believe, as we were taught we should, that God lov ingly predestinated that all the fa ml -lies of earth should suffer eternally except a saintly handful because lie was pl,sd to have It so! levanse He foreordained that It must be so! be cause lie made a great place called hell before He imide the earth, and made it large enough to hold the en tire human family! because He ere ated fire-pnwf demons to inflict tor ture upon the poor unfortunates who were bom in sin, s tin pen in iniquity. In sin conceived by their mothers, and many of them left without an oppor tunity of hearlug of the "only name whereby they must be saved" and that He wisely and with devilish in tention laid up fuel enough to last to all eternity for the torture of His helpless creatures! And are not such evil thoughts and presentations respecting our great Creator blasphemy? If not. pray telJ me what kov Id be blasphemy? Most assuredly I can think of nothing that could possibly enter the human mind or pass the human lips more blas phemous than this doctrine. And yet those who bow down before this creed number some of the ablest and most Intelligent, most enlightened and most benevolent of our depraved, fallen race. How is this? How comes It that we have been so blinded as respects our own conduct and misbelief? The Scriptures answer that Satan has de ceived us; be has put light for dark ness and darkness for light Still Another Blasphemy. A considerable portion of thinking and Christian people will Join with us in saying, Ah! surely Brother Calviu grievously erred and grievously mis represented the God of Love when he taught the doctrine of the predestina tion of the wicked to eternal torture! Ah! say these Christian friends, our hearts rebel against that theory of Divine predestination. We claim that the Almighty is Love itself that He is sympathetic with His creatures and is using every effort to avert the groat calamity of eternal torture. ' Ah! my friends, is not this still an other form of blasphemy? If some of us blasphemed the Holy Name in rep resenting our Heaveuly Father as mer ciless, loveless, have we not In another way blasphemed thnt same Holy Name In declaring that He lacks the power and the wisdom to do the good which Ills loving heart would prompt? Do we worship a stupid and impotent God, one who blundered ii; the creation of our race, and who, for six thousand years, has been striving to rectify that error and all the while bns been al lowing thousands of millions of His creatures whom ne loves to go down to an eternity of torture? Alas! It would be nearly as easy to worship an all-powerful and loveless God as to worship an all-loving but unwise and Impotent God who foolishly, sinfully, brought thousands of millions of In telligent beings into existence only to cause them to suffer an eternity of agony through Ills incompetence. Earth Full of God's Glory. Thank God! dear friends, for the glorious day in which we are living, with Its electric light, and other evi dences that we are In the dawning of a New Age. Thank God! that In this day the electric lamp of truth Is show ing up the mistake of these blas phemous errors which have so defiled all the precious truths of God's Book for years, for centuries. Thank God that our Bible Is becoming a new Boot to those whose eyes of under standing are opening to the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the love of God which It declares. Now we are seeing that "the wages of sin Is death" not eternal torment nor Purgatory. Now we are seeing that Jesus met this death penalty as the Redeemer of our race from the power of the tomb. Now we are see ing that the salvation that God has promised will be brought to us at the second coming of Jesus and the es tablishment of his mediatorial king dom for the blessing of all the fami lies of the earth! Now we are seeing thnt the salvation provided Is a resur rection of the dead not merely an awakening from the tomb, but a com plete uplift out of sin and degradation to the full perfection of human na ture In the earthly likeness of the Cre ator. Now we are seeing that this great blessing has been set apart by the Al mighty as the work of the great Sab bath Day of a thousand years, In which "the last enemy to be destroyed Is death." Now we are seeing that the whole earth Is to be reclaimed from the curse and made to blossom as Eden that the place of Jehovah's feet. Ills footstool, will be made glo rious and In every way happyfjing to all the willing and obedient, whom the great Messiah shall recover fully from sin and death. Now we are seeing that the Intelligent rejectors of Divlue Grace will not be tormented but, as It is written, "All the wicked will God destroy." The Churoh Being Selected. Now we see that the free grace and glorious opportunity to human restitu tion will be ushered In with the King dom, but that preceding that glorious Epoch God Is making a selection of a saintly class to bo the Bride of Christ "the Lamb's Wife." This explains why the darkness has been so long permitted because God would test the "elect" by obliging them to walk by faith and not by sight He would test them by obliging them to endure hard ness as good soldiers He would test them by requiring that they shall suf fer for righteousness' sake and thus manifest their love of righteousness to a remarkable degree. Now we see that the faithful of these are to ex perience rt change from earthly to heavenly conditions. In the First Res-ui'i-ei t!,n. and tliat this change has Its beirliinfiig in i!ie Divine begetting of the I lolv Spirit. Now we see that Iliese. with Ilie Redeemer, will consti tute the Kingdom class which, In visible to men, will bind Satan for a thousand years aud supplant his reign of darkness and sin by a reign of light j and ritbteousuess, helpful aud uplift ing to mankind. "Holy, Holy. Holy Lord God." We come now to our text: It de clares that the time is coming wheuj the whole earth shall be full of God's glory. Ah! glorious Day! Then the shadows of ignorance, superstition, misuuderstaudiug and misrepresenta tion In respect to the Divlue character will all flee before the light of the kuowledge of the glory of God-the appreti-ttlon of the Divine character as manifested iu the Divine Plan for hu man salvation! Could this Scripture ever be' fulfilled, could the Divlue character ever be appreciated by In telligent, honest, Just and loving, hearts. If In any comer of the Uui verRe there were such orgies and tor tures of Ills creatures as the creeds of the Darker Ages have set forth? Sure ly not! On the contrary, In this glori ous Day will be fulfilled the Scriptural prediction: "All in heaven and in eartb aud under the earth everywhere) heard 1 saying, praise, glory, honor, dominion and might be unto Him that sltteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever!" As we emerge from the darkuess and praise the Lord In thought and word and act, we thus "show forth the praises of nim who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light." "Into the Liberty of Sons of God." The Apostle Paul (Romans Till. 211 declares that the groaning creation shall be delivered from Its bond age to corruption Into the liberty ot the Sons of God. The meaning of this Is clear. The corruption came upon all through Adam, the deliverance from thnt corruption is to come to all through the second Adam. All are to be delivered from such bondage, how ever they may use the deliverance aud the privileges of liberty. Those who use them rightly will come luto har mony with the Redeemer and with the Heavenly Kingdom and will be blessed eventually with the eternal life. Those who reject these liberties after they come to understand fully, and comprehend their lengths aud breadths, will thus be choosing for themselves the Second Death. The liberty of the Sons of God, their freedom from corruption, death, is here distinctly shown. The angels are not subject to. not bound by, such cor ruption, such dying conditions. They, as sons of God, are free from corrup tion, from death. Adam la his origi nal perfection was a son of God. as the Scriptures declare iLuke HI, 38), but he lost his soushlp for himself aud for all of bis race and received In stead degradation and bondage to cor ruption. The hope for Adam aud for his race, then, in Christ, Is deliver ance from the power of sin and death into the liberty proper to them ai sons of God. The entire reign ot Christ on the earth, as the Scriptures show us, will be devoted to this work of setting free the human family from the various bondages ot lguorance, superstition, weakness, heredity and bringing back all who will by restitu tion processes to the original Image and likeness of God. and making them again human sons of God like untu Father Adam before be sinned, plus a largo and valuable experience gained during the 0,000 years of the fall, and also through the 1,000 years of the raising up the Restitution Age, the Resurrection Age (Acts III, 10-21 1. The Light Shining More and Mors. How glad we are that In this dawn Ing time of the New Dispensation the light is shining upon the Divine Word as well as throughout the realm of nature! How glad we are that we nu longer must think of the Church alone as the subject of salvation and tliu world as a whole the subject of con demnation and eternal torture! Dow Just, how reasonable, bow loving are the Divine arrangements! To see them things should draw our hearts near la the Lord lu appreciative love, and wt should worship with the grenter devo tion One whom we thus nee worthy ot praise and adoration. We are not, however, to expect the world to be able to realize these things; it Is not the Divine intention that they should grasp the Plan, as the Mastet said to the faithful disciple of old and still says to us-"To you It Is given to know the mystery of the Kingdom ol God. but to outsiders all these thlngi are spoken In parables aud dark say ings, that hearing they might hear and not understand. They will both heal and understand In due time, but uow Is the time for the calling out of the elect, the perfecting of the saints," etc. Let us whose ears and eyes have been blessed of the Lord respond with all gratitude and humility, not merely with outward praises of our Hps, but alRO with our hearts let us confess nu loving kludness aud tender mercy, and let this nppreclatlou more aud more sanctify our hearts and separate ua from the world. Its alms. Its selfishness, and let us light a good tight against Bin. especially In our owu mortal bodies, because even though the Im perfections of the flesh be not counted against this New Creation, begotten of the Spirit, nevertheless the fact that we possess the Spirit of the Lord should lead us more and more to de sire that perfection which Is most pleasing and acceptable to Him, and to strive, therefore, to the extent of out ability, not trusting to the attainment of that perfect Ion. but relying upon the merit of Unit great atonement sac rifice. All glory to Jcnun lia slvrn. That life and salvation ore frM, And all may be wnnhod mid forgiven; Yes, Jmu has rnived ev-n mo. From the dnrknoxs of uln and derpslr. Out Into the lluht of Ills lovt, He ha tirnucht me and made m an heir To kingdoms and mansions abovo. urn i a less I They are not stylish, but are good servicable Shoes and you will get more value than we ask you to pay for. You will find these Shoes on the grocery side. 'Call and look them over. PLEASANT EVENT FOR MISS REBEKAH HAINES Miscellaneous Shower Given In Honor of the Brlde-to-Be at the O'Donnell Home. At the, hour of 3, On the. 1 51 h of Juno, We'll be looking for u, So don't slop 2 spoon. Your presence we request At a miscellaneous shower. So come, be at your best And don't forget the hour. This shower we are giving In honor of Miss Rebeka Haines, Who is still among (he living, And soon her name will change. So conxi without delay To I he O'Donnell Farm. And do not miss tho day, For there you'll meet no harm. In response to the abovo unique invitation about eighteen lady friends of the bride-to-be, Miss Rebeka Haines of Plaltsmouth, assembled at tho O'Donnell home near Union last Thursday after noon at a pro-nuptial party. The occasion was in the nature of a miscellaneous shower for the bride-to-be, and those fortunate enough to receive one of the abovo invitations to the hospita ble O'Donnell homo, spent an aft ernoon which they will not soon forgot. Tho rooms had boon tastefully decorated with the flowers of the season, the color scheme, being rod and white. The entertain ment provided for the guests was a very interesting contest. Kacli lady was given a piece of white cheese cloth and was required to hem them for dusters, a prize be ing offered for speed. Miss Jessie Todd captured the first prize, while Mrs. L. R. Upton carried off the second. Following this con tost, little while cards with small rod pencils attached, wore dis tributed and each lady wrote a recipe. When all had writ lent their recipes these cards were placed in book to be kept by the bride and pencils being kept by the guests as souvenirs of the oc casion. The bride-to-be was then showered with many miscel laneous articles of utility and .beauty and which will be constant reminders of this particular event. The plosauros of the afternoon wore further augmented when the guests wore invited to the dining room, whore delicious refresh ments wore served. The dining room bad also boon very prettily decorated. From the ceiling above the table was suspended a wed ding boll to which was attached red and while streamers extend ing to each corner of the table. After tho refreshments had been served a short time was spent iu music. SHOE WE ARE SHOWING Men's, Women's and E Those who participated in this most delightful social affair wore: Mesdamos L. J. Hall, W. W. Wolfe, W. 11. U.ross, Nellie Stan ton, Tajlnr Muck. L. 11. Upton; Misses Nellie and l'oarl nramblet, Cleo Applegate, Elsie and Hal lie Taylor, Jessie Todd, Mary Foster, Jda Freeman, Rebeka Haines of IMallsmoulh, Mayino, Rose and -Alien O'Donnell. In County Court. Judge Heesnn was engaged in the trial of a case in which James N. Jordan, J. M. Roberts and W. H. Newell wore palintiffs, and J. Law rence SI till was defendant. The petition alleges, in sub stance, that plaintiffs are tho owners of the southeast quarter and south half of northeast quar is GIVE MORE POWER Least Cost Liid Last Longest r llfcX;' 'minimum" ,' 'T-O- Lilc JXUll MM Why experiment when you can be sure. The I II C line offers engii of proven capacity. It doesn't take an expert to see the many great advai.'ages of I II C construction. You ran readily aee how I II C cylinder constriction gives more power with lesi gasoline - how the I H C style of governing ives steadier power and economizes fuel -how the I II C cooling system pn vents deterioration how in every way I II C construction ia simplest, strongest and beat. CThrough years of service everywhere, under every condition. I. II. C. GASOLINE ENGINES have stood the test. They have demonstrated by actual experience tint tor every u e they are just the kind of engine you want. Teey are made in various styles and sizes from 1 to 45-horse pover for pumping, spraying, sawing, grizding, threshing and operating machines' about the house and diary. Call and let us show you why the I. H. C. engine will give you most service, mosi satisfaction with least attention and at least expense. Tell uf wl ;.t you want your engine to do, and we will help you select the kind of engii-e l-st suited toyour work. Come in the next time you are in town. August Gorder Plattsmouth, A TABLE OF JJ Children's 1 tn ter of section 3, township 12, range 13, in this county, and thai, plaintiff, Jordan, leased the same for agricultural purposes for tho years HMO and 1911. That ho had twenty-seven and one-half acres in fall wheat on said prem ises, as well as alfalfa and other slacks of hay. Defendant allow ed hi eajllo ami horses to tres pass on I ho lands above described and I ho slock destroyed the crops and fed on the hay, damaging the wheat to the amount of $50, de stroying hay of Hie value of $18 and defendant cut ropes belong ing to plaintiff of the value of Sl.fiO. Tho plaintiffs wore rep resented by W. A. Robertson and defendant by A. I,. Tidd. The no tion js being tried to the court. Nebraska