Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-14

we perish not
mean to be out in arms against the so
called free Bible critics." who maintain
that the Book Of Jonah is mere allegory.
1t matters not. one way or another. the
moral is of equal Importance, and is APP
plicable to every class and age 1t is my
intention only to point out the vain pre-
sumption of those who lull themselves into
the fancied security that today we live in a
different world; that now it would be sim
ply folly to act like that old nation that
repented, forsook the evil of its ways, and
was saved from an approaching calamity.
Today, they claim, no such thing should
ever enter the mind of our progressive age,
as we have now license to do as we
please and act as we choose without re-
gard to moral duty or ethical law. The
elements of nature cannot threaten us in
the least. In any emergency We would
take recourse to science. and science Will
solve all problems But science owns up
it's insignificance in the presence of such
awful manifestations and public calamities
as the past twelve months have witnessed,
and before nature, unconquerable ard in
searchable, even the wisest of men will
gaze in wonderment and confess in the
the vindication of eternal justice.
The question now suggests itself: Is the
Nineveh of today anything other than that
large and teeming city described by the
prophet? Is this warning voice of the
prophet not a warning to all of the powers
to be, and who in the height of their pros
perity would disregard all moral principle
and ethical law, and would run riot in vio-
lence and corruption, so as provoke the
pentance would follow in due season their
fate would be doomed? And is this not all
correct illustration of present conditions
and the status of many a nation today? 1t
appears that people are too busy nowadays
to perceive the thickening clouds arising
out Of human misdeeds, and the heaven
that is frowning upon the degeneracy Of
the age: an age glorying in its contriv-
ances, and holding aloof from everything
that whispers caution or care for moral
improvement; an age that regards itself
all-important, and it's civilization all-per-
feet
Pogroms, race prejudice. hatred, perse-
cution. selhshness. deception, vandalism,
growing armies and endless revolutions;
tyrants, despots on one side and lot of
monstrous. man-eating trusts and COM
bines on the other. Amid such babel were
1t not time for Nineveh to repent? And 10!
There stands alone, out of all nations, that
unwilling, ever-murmuring Jonah, who is
bid by divine behest to sound the alarm
to the existing nations for their timely
regeneration. There is still that old
Jonah, the man swallowed by the big
leviathans of all ages; swallowed, and yet
as quickly vomited out. Can you tell the
man? What is his labor? Whence comes
he? And what is his country"
1t is Israel, who still has his mission on
still bid to advance among the nations,
even amid the furious storms of the high
winds, and at the risk Of life, in order to
propagate his mission Of universal love and
peace. In truth the wandering Jew. in his
good as well as in his bad aspect, is still
a warning to the nations, re-echoing the
divine call, "Whosoever knoweth let him
repent" Whoever is conscious of human
imperfections, let him strive for real Gull
ture, for true education, which is the Gull
tivation of the soul. the elevation Of moral
character. And as with the individual,
so with the whole of human So
ciety. What should be the acme
of civilization, the improvement which
the human race should value above
all? Certainly not the augmentation of
brutal force; nor the better display of
arms; nor the Idle boasting and vain glory
of every manner of Chauvenism; but it is
the acknowledgment Of the all-ruling Prov
idence of the one God that created us all;
the recognition of the image of God in all
Of His creatures. and the final equalization
Of mankind under the broad standard Of a
universal brotherhood.
The fear of heaven is and should always
be, regarded first and foremost of all hui
man knowledge The idea of repentance
of reconciliation with the facts and rules
of life that we may have overstepped
should be cherished as the highest and
noblest principle of civilization.
IN MEMORY OF LATE