Arizona sentinel and Yuma weekly examiner., 1913-06-19


 PASI0R RUSSELD evening here. giv-
 ing Friday and Saturday to San Diego and Los An geles. Pastor Russell addressed q thor oughly representative audience. Ills afternoon topic was. Beyond the Grave" His evening topic we report. His text was God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son. that whatsoever believeth in Him should not perish. but have everlasting life" John 3:16
 Forcefully the Pastor pointed out that once Christian people. even Bible students. misunderstood this text an1 read into it conflicting thought, dis honoring to God--read it as though it said that God so loved the world as to keep them from perishing. in order that the few. the saintly Elect might attain to glory and look over the bat dement's of Heaven and see all the re- mainder-Jews. heather and the mass es of Christendom-writhin in tor ment to all eternity to perish forced to live. in order that they might,
 
 by their sufferings. entertain the more fortunate, who were guaranteed bliss to the full.
 What right did we ever have. said the Pastor. to thus put into the mouth of our Savior as our creeds have done. words which He never uttered-wOrds which are very untrue-indeed, blaS- phemy against our Maker!
 Light Shines Through the Fog.
 We are not faulting our forefathers. Had we been in their place. doubtless we would have been as confused as were they, and we might have indulged in heretic burning. etc And had they lived in our wonderful day of great light. knowledge. privilege, opportuni ty, education. Bibles. etc. doubtless they would have had as noble ideas as ourselves respecting the proprieties of Christian conduct and Divine conduct and Love and Justice The Bible tells us that Satan and his fallen angels are responsible for those terrible doc trines of demons which have given
  mares. and driven so many of them away from God aud the Bible into un- belief. agnosticism. and even atheism.
 Let us rejoice in the light of the bet ter Day which has dawned Let us be come Bible students in the highest sense of the term. Never before has there been such an opportunity for knowing the real teaching of Gods Book-what it does contain and what it does not contain. We have the Bi- ble. concordances and helps. and We have the general education which per mits us to study them. Our forefa thers labored against lack of education, time. lack of Bibles. and lack of good artificial light.
 What the Word Perish Means.
 When we come to think of it. the word perish contains not the remoteSt suggestion of fire or torture. In our ignorance we read all that into the text and into other texts of similar import; for instance. the statement that God is not willing that any should perish, but would that all should come unto Him and live; and the statement of St Peter that the wilfully ignorant shall perish like brute beasts. made to be taken and destroyed; and the state 'ment through the PsalmiSt. All the wicked will God destroy" How lurid these simple words became before our infiamed and perverted imaginations! How some of us rang the changes on these Bible terms in vain attempt to drive men toward God through fear. l when God declares that He does not want such 10 come and has no pleasure whatever in their worship or service! Did not Jesus tell us that the Father seeketh such to worship Him as wOr- ship Him in spirit and in truth? John | 4:23) And our perverSions of the | Divine Word and Plan only helped | men away from God to such misun- derstanding of Him that they could | not worship Him in spirit and in truth | and. at most. could worship only in | form and ceremony.
 The Pastor told of an experience he i had in India. Some of the higher | caste Hindoos. wholly unapproachable | by the missionaries. heard that he was preaching more reasonable message | They came. entreating him for further 1 meetings. declaring their respect for | the intelligence of Christians. but that | they could not believe the doctrines l usually preached. They could not be