The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-08-26

tEledI-CuI on the WallS DIS WheH their
sightless eyes were turned upon the
process ions of captives-and the blue
enameled lions and walls. and the as
phalt pavements. all meant little to the
disconsolate company of Hebrews
whose broken hearts sobbed the re-
/ Only the friends Of the earlier captives
waiting to comfort them. gave them
any light in their gloom.
Learning the Great Lesson.
Not at once, even in this severe
school, did the Jews learn the great
I lesson of loyalty to the one God. They
were caught up in the wbirl of popular
idOlatry for time and the German
Psychologists at Babylon told me that
the only traces of the Hebrews they
have found are incarnation bowls. dug
from graves, and covered with Hebrew
inscriptions; such as I have al the
present m Oment in my possession. But
TWO-R ELIGIOUS ... $500.
eventually, the exile taught the Jews
what they had failed to learn from a
succession of gracious providences and
clear voiced prophets. that Jehovah is
a king who demands single allegiance;
and that righteousness exalteth a ma
ton but sin is a, reproach to any peo-
pie" They were to spend seventy
years in this severe school of exile;
henceforth they would wander no
more after false gods. To this day the
Jews of MesopOtamia remain true to
the God of their fathers.
History is the best homily. The fate
of nations dead is the t-uest warning
to nations living. The tragedy of the
blotting out of Judah's life Will have
been studied in vain if it does not set
men and women. boys and girls, to
vigorous heart-searching with respect
to their own nations. Are the seeds of
destruction, which grew so beautifully
in the life of the ancient Hebrews, still
in our midst? Are we turning from
single-hearted allegiance to the one
true God to the popular idols Of our
time2
Judge of the nations spare US yet,
Lest we forget. Lest We fOrget!'
New Leaves in Ancient Lands.
Terse Comments for August 81, "A
Missionary Journey Around the
World: VIII Missions in Persia and
Turkey" Acts 4:13-31.
CBY WILLIAM T. EILIS.)
All the Bible history from Abrams
departure out of Ur of the Chaldees to
Johns vision on Patmos is laid within
the bounds of the present empires of
Turkey and Persia, excepting only
Paul's visit to Greece. Egypt, be it re-
m en- bered. is nominally q part of Tur-
key. Persia's part is slight, being con-
fined to the exile of the Jews therein,
notably the experiences of Daniel and
Esther Both Persia and Turkey are
MOhammed lands, ana the crescent
now flies where the star of Judaism
once shone, and the cross was first
erected.
historic connection with early
Christianity insures nothing for there
is no more religiously benighted land
on earth today than Turkey, the home
of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles
and martyrs: the scene of revelation
and of the life and death of Jesus
Christ
Certain big facts cannot he blinked
even by the persons who are more
keen to prove the purity Of all reli-
gions than they are to practice any. A
few such Dersons-at a safe distance
from Islamic countries, and amid the
tolerant atmosphere of Christianity
are fond of clarifying Mohamm edan-
ism All of which may pass only with
those who have not seen or heard or
smelt Moselem society. The incon-
ltroversible fact is that civilization has
been decadent for a thousand years
past in the lands that are under the
sway Of the Prophet. I have been
there and know and could write a long
article upon this subject. The nearest
approach to sheer, stark naked saw
agery, I have ever seen anywhere, was
! in the region of the lower Tigris,
where the Arab found a high order of
civilization and has turned it into a
/ dangerous desert.
/ The Crusaders had a great. though
| inadequate ideal; had it been great
enough to save them from personal
/ jealousies and rivals they would have