The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1915-03-11

tian is depicted.
Pastor Russell preached today from
the text, Woe unto you. lawyers, for
We have taken away the Key of Knowl-
edge: We entered not in yourselves, and
them that were entering in We hinder
ed."-Luke l1:52
The word lawyer in New Testament
usage. the Pastor began has very
different meaning from our usage. 1t
applied TO those religious teachers OF
die Jews VITO made special professions
Of sanctity of heart and earnest desire
to know Gods will and to teach it.
Today the corresponding class are deS-
i@natcd Doctors Of Divinity.
1t WAS customary amongst the Jews.
the speaker continued. that lessons
from the Law and the Prophets should
be read daily in the synagogueS. The
people were ,lus familiar with the let
ter Of the Scriptures. The majority
OF them were illiterate: for educa
tional facilities then were not what
they are HOW. Consequently only IL
few claimed to have knowledge of the
spiritual part of the Law ana Prophets
These We're chiefly Of the literary and
wealthy classes. To these the com
mon people looked for guidance.
The people were hungry for the Mes
sage which Jesus brought The ma
ton would have gone over promptly
20 Jesus if the Doctors Of the Law had
given the word. Moreover. Jesus
teachings harmoni2cd the Law and the
Prophets, over which the Scribes and
Pharisees and the Sadducees long had
disputed. Had these Doctors of the
the people, undoubtedly their differ
enceS of Interpretation of Scripture
would have speedily disappeared in the
light then shining upon the Bible
through the Holy Spirit Jesus and His
Apostles being JehOvah's mOuthpieces
The Pastor then drew a parallel be
tween the Jewish Age and its Harvest
and the Gospel Age and its Harvest
Now. as then. Gods people are perish
ing for lack of knowledge. Now. as
then. the Doctors Of Divinity viii not
use the Key Of knowledge themselves:
and have buried it from the people I'M
der mass Of forms and ceremonies
But Is Knowledge Necessary?
1t was then shown that in our Lords
day the Jewish Doctors of Divinity
cOntented themselves with telling the
people what to do and what not to do.
but did not help them to understand
the deep meaning of the Law and the
Prophets. SO it is today. the speaker
declared; a minister stands us rep
resentative and mouthpiece of the
Church creed. which in roundabout
terms declares that whoever does not
live a sanity life will suffer an eter-
nifty of torment, Is not this a griev-
Gus burden TO put upon any conscien
tious soul? he asked Has it not cans
ed UNRELIABLE anguish to many of God 5
true people? Has ii not driven from
God and tn" Bible thousands of the
most intelligent minds in the world?
As the Jewish Doctors of Divinity
carried no such burdens. neither do
ChriStendom Doctors of Divinity. In
carry no such burdens. In public they
give the inference that they dO-not
so much by positive terms as by i'm
plicatiOn. tone. infection of the voice
and by the fact that they repreSen.
creeds which So teach. These in
fluential teachers are not to be excused
because of the claim that in their
official capacity they lose their per
sonal responsibility and shift it upon
those who made the creeds and those
who adopted them. The people no
longer trust the creeds. They realize
that greater light shines today than
when those creedS were formulated
The people trust the Bible. the Pas
tor declared. They understand our
modern Scribes and Pharisees to give
assurance that the creeds of ChriSteD-
dom properly represent the teachings
of Scripture. The creedal chains would
become ropes OF sand if the prominent
Doctors of Divinity would publicly re
nounce the creeds. as nearly all OF
them do in private conversation.
Systematic Key Hiding.
Next it was pointed out that ouI
modern Scribes and Pharisees are
proving themselves to be the antitypes
of those addressed by Jesus. Taking
away the Key of knowledge, they
urge the people not to bother theil
heads about doctrines. but to leave
these subjects to the clergy. Bible
study has degenerated into a study OF
geography, customs, etc, rather than
an effort to understand the prophecies
or the Interpretation of them given by
Jesus and His Apostles.