The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-06-16

ing Friday and
Saturday to San Diego and Los An
geles. Pastor Russell addressed a thor
ough1y representative audience. His
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 whosoever believeth In Him
should not perish. but have everlasting
li~fe."-John 3:16.
Forcefully the Pastor pointed out
that once Christian people, rel Bible
students, misunderstood this text and
read into 1t a conflicting thought, dis
honoring to God-read 1t as though 1t
said that God so loved the world as to
keep them from perishing, in order
that the few, the sanity Elect, might
attain to glory and look over the bat
Elements of Heaven and see all the re-
mainder-Jews, heather and the mass
es Of Christendom-writhing in tor
ment to ali eternity-unable 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, a bias
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 INDUCED
in hereto 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
tines of demons which have given
thinking people such horrible night
mares, and driven so many Of them
eway from God and the Bible into IN
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 1t does contain and what
lit does not contain. We have the BIZ
BILE, concordances and helps, and we
have the general education which per-
mits us to study them. Our forefa-
theirs 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 1t, 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 wilfulIy ignorant
shall perish like brute beasts, made to
be taken and destroyed; and the state
ment through the Psalmist, "Ail the
wicked will God Destroy How lurid
these simple words became before u
infiamed and perverted imagfnationsi
How some Of us rang the changes on
these Bible terms In a vain attempt to
drive men toward God through fear,
when God declares that He does not
want such to 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? fJohr
4::23l And our perversions OF the
Divine Word and Plan only helped
men away from God to such misun-
Outstanding 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
had in India. Some Of the higher
caste Hindoos, wholly unapproachable
BY the missionaries. heard that he was
preaching a more reasonable message.
They came. enfreating him for further
meetings. declaring their respect for
the intelligence OF Christians. but that
they could not believe the doctrines
usually praaehad. They could not ba-
iilTe ia d God so unjust so trIaerc1-
ful. 80 wicked that He would torment
them and their forefathers through all
eternity because they did not believe
on Jesus, when they had not no much
as heard of Elm. They said TINT their
gods were not 80 unjust; Tor they for
babe men I'd torture ever dumb brutes
They preferred to hold D To the rea
sonabie gods of their fathers rather
than to believe I'D the unjust one
preached by the missionaries.
Can I'VE blame them? asked the PAS
for. On the contrary. be admitted that
in the past himself and other Chris
tians had seriously uiginfefpreted the
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