Volume 63, Number 31 prjc Warburton, Victoria, August 2, 1048

Marine Parade, Napier, N.Z.

A LUCID DISCUSSION OF THE NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL IN THE LIGHT OF GOD'S WORD
a curious quirk of the mind some theologians of a former day used to insist on a distinction between the natural and the supernatural. All the processes of nature with which we are familiarwhich it was supposed we can readily "explain" in terms of other things still more familiarwere called natural. But strange events for which no one could account in a "scientific" way were supernatural. Miracles belong in the latter class, and were assigned to the direct working of God, but all "natural" processes were supposed to be done by "nature" in accord with fixed laws, God having little or nothing to do with them except to regulate them in a vague, general way. Then, as the world's knowledge of natural science progressed from year to year and from century to century, the field of the natural enlarged, and the

George McCready Price

field of the supernatural became correspondingly diminished. Sceptics and ununbelievers boasted that soon the supernatural would be banished from the thinking of all intelligent men and that nothing but natural events and processes would remain. Discussions along these lines became loud and long during the last quarter of the nineteenth century; but when "Darwin's watchdog," as T. H. Huxley called himself, tried to maintain this distinction between the natural and the supernatural, the Duke of Argyll demolished this supposed distinction completely. In a letter to the London Times under date of February 8, 1892, he wrote: "This antithesis [between the natural and the supernatural] is absolutely un-

known to the literature both of the Old Testament and the New. It is equally unknown to science and also to philosophy. The Bible knows nothing of what men now call 'the supernatural.' It regards all 'natural processes' as the work of a divine Being. ... The sacred writers have dealt with this aspect of nature [design, purpose, and adaptation] almost exclusively. But they have never even tried to eliminate the idea of physical processes. Both are to them equally 'natural.' The vicious and unphilosopbical distinction between 'natural' and 'supernatural' is absolutely unknown to them." I believe that the Duke of Argyll was right. We find that the same artificial distinction between the natural and the supernatural is being maintained today by some who seek to discredit such events as the great Lisbon earthquake of
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{Registered at the G.P.O., Meliourn*, for tranvmisfitnt by pott a* a

furmit Tonics litniciucd

LAMBETH CONFERENCE
JOI THE presence of several leaders of 2="i the Greek Orthodox and other eastern branches of the Christian church at the Lambeth Conference is significant of a number of things. One which impresses us is the fact that still today there are large sections of the church holding doctrines more apostolic than those held by the bishop of Rome and his following. When this important historical legacy shall be more generally examined and truly evaluated, a great amount of misconception will be cleared up. Never having owned allegiance to Rome, these churches are now represented at a conference of the Anglican Church, which itself has its origin in the purity of first-century Christianity. Although her history is sadly tarnished by a thousand years of popish associations, her truest glory is seen as she holds fast that measure of apostolic faith with which she emerged from Babylonian bondage. Sad to relate, only a comparatively few nonconformists today hold the full measure of faith once held by the Anglican and Eastern communions. To become specific we have only to cite one of the most outstanding points of difference in modern Christendom. For six centuries the English church observed Saturday as the Lord's day. Twelve centuries of the Christian era passed before the Scottish and Irish churches switched the day to the first day of the week. Likewise the Eastern churches, which mainly originated with the Antioch centre, later spreading into India and China, observed the seventhday Sabbathand this for the larger part of fifteen hundred years. In view of their much more numerous membership it has been considered likely by scholars that for the larger part of the Christian era there were more observing Saturday as the Lord's day than otherwise. The editor of The New Zealand Methodist Times in a recent defence of Sunday observance, rehashes the arguments put forth by the Roman apostasy in justification of its antisemitic measure in substituting the heathen festival of Sunday observance for the Christian practice of Sabbath-keeping. Those who still adhere to apostolic usage the editor dismisses scornfully as having "no historical sense." In view of what has just been summarized, intelligent people must
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be wondering if the Methodist Times' editor is merely not aware of historical fact, or is grasping at the Roman straw to save a drowning cause. Who is to judge? God knows. To all who would like to consider the historical evidence we recommend the book "Truth Triumphant," by B. G. Wilkinson, Ph.D. (i8s. posted), from this house or agencies listed on page 7. R. P. B.

THE DEVIL UNDERGROUND

jjQS AT times in the secular press, and 2=* written for the general reader, one finds an article based on a Bible doctrine and presented with such force and truthfulness that it cannot but make a deep impression on the thinking of its readers. One such article was written by Whittaker Chambers and published in Life for February 2, 1947. In it he presents his understanding of how the devil with his master mind is responsible for all the sin and misery that blight the world. Mr. Chambers pictures the devil as "a massive and immaculate stranger" who enters into conversation with a pessimist at a New Year's party. After claiming a leading part in all the sin of the world, the devil attributes his overwhelming success to the fact that he does not work in the open. 11 'For the last 250 years all hell has been underground. And I don't mean underground in any narrowly geographic or doctrinal sense. Hell is a conspiracy. Like all good conspiracies, its first requirement is that nobody shall believe in it. Well, we have succeeded so well that for centuries there has been no hell, and there is scarcely a rational man in the world today who despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, believes that the devil exists.' " In citing proofs of his existence, the devil mentions the "incontrovertible evidence of revealed truth in the Bible," and quotes Rev. 12: 7-9. It is interesting to note that the devil is shown as being particularly proud of the idea of evolution, and the use he has made of it: "Shall I ever forget the day when the prodigious thought of evolution popped into my head? I was lying at full length on a pleasant height watching the armies of the most civilized nations exterminate one another with a ferocity worthy of

Comanches but with weapons which were, as weapons always are, at the forefront of the technology of their time. 'Evolution,' I thought. It was but the work of a moment to transmit the idea to a human brain. Of course if I had called it adjustment or adaptation, nobody would have bought it. But evolution man with his incurable, divinely inspired obsession with perfection could not fail to snap it upone of my sublimest strokes, for the only trouble with it is that, as far as the human race is concerned, it simply ain't so.'" His success in corrupting and ruining men and women through the complex civilization of our day is a cause of great satisfaction to Satan: " 'The rest followed as a matter of course: the growth of factories to supply the huge demand for material goods which were the only values secular man could really feel; the growth of cities and slums; the corruption by the cities of the countryside which in other times had been the reservoir from which exhausted cultures replenished their faith and forces; the inhuman industrial oppression of men, women, and children whose desperation found expression in the inhuman horrors of communism, socialism, and anarchism; the debasement of all standards of conduct and taste as God was forgotten and with Him the only absolute standard; finally, the world wars with millions of men dying by all the horrors contrived by secular genius. Consider for a moment the miracle of the flame thrower; or the spectacle of a government physically destroying millions of the people in whose interests it was created to govern. Do you doubt my triumph when you stop to think that the mind of man conceived the concentration camps? Then came the atomic bombmy ultimate perversion of the highest powers of the human brain and scientific good for the purpose of total destruction.'" The ambition, the bitter malice, and the limitations that dictate and control the devil's constant activities are thus outlined: " 'I possess the will to create (hence my pride), but I am incapable of creating (hence my envy). And with an envy raised to such power as immortal minds can feel, I hate the Creator and His creation. My greatest masterpiece is never more than a perversionan ingenious disordering of Another's grand design, a perversion of order into chaos, of life into death.' " In going "underground" and working unseen and unsuspected, the enemy has gained one of his greatest victories. He is ever a deceiver, working under camouflage.
Augiut 2. 1949 SIGHS OF THE TIMES

But no one need be deceived. The Bible reveals Satan as a fallen angel, a malignant personality Paul warned against his "wiles." Eph. 6: n. Peter counselled us to be watchful, "because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." i Peter 5: 8. And Jesus Himself issued a warning that holds for all time when He exposed the malice and treachery of the devil in these words: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." John 8: 44. If we cherish the one desire to please God we may have our minds enlightened to discern every approach of the enemy, and by the strength of our indwelling Saviour may repel his every attack. And having overcome all by the grace gf God, we may at last share the overcomers' reward. M. M. H.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES August 2, 1948

objecting because nothing supernatural was involved. What about all these? Were they not genuine fulfilments? In one of the prophecies of Daniel it was foretold that Greece would conquer Medo-Persia, and that after the first king of Greece should die four separate kingdoms would arise. Does anyone object because nothing particularly "supernatural" seems to have been involved in the way all these events came to pass? Then why should anyone object to the Lisbon earthquake, the dark day, or the falling stars as genuine fulfilments of our Saviour's prediction, merely because some modern critics think that they can be "explained" as having been due to "natural" causes? When each of these events did take place it impressed the people who saw it as an event due to God Himself, didn't it? And they still impress many thousands of good sensible persons all over the world as genuine fulfilments of the prophecy. Isn't that enough? What more is required? Let us consider each of these signs of the second advent. The great prophecy of our Saviour, as recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, is often called the "little Apocalypse" ; because in many respects the Apocalypse of John, or the Book of Revelation, is an expanded edition of our Lord's great prophecy. Since the great earthquake is not mentioned in the series of signs as given jn the Gospels, we shall use the expanded list found in Rev. 6: 12, 14, which reads as follows: "I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind." Here we have a series of four spectacular prophecies predicted as occurring in definite sequence. The events which seem to correspond to them follow along in the correct order, and were spread out (Continued front page 1) over nearly a century. Any one of them might be looked upon as merely a coinci1755, tne dark day * : 7 8 ' or tne stars of 1833. These events have long dence, but four astonishing occurrences been regarded by many Bible students in the correct sequence make a combinaas the literal fulfilment of the signs tion which unbelief has always had much of the second advent, as given in Matt. difficulty in denying or laughing'off. 24: 29, and other parallel passages. But The great Lisbon earthquake, as it is the modern critics take the ground that often called, occurred November i, 1755. all these events can be accounted for It did not occasion so great loss of life reasonably in a scientific way; hence as some others, but the circumstances atthey cannot properly be regarded as di- tending it caused it to make a greater imvine signs of the second advent. Such pression on the mind of most of the is the argument. people of the civilized world than any There are plenty of other prophecies like occurrence before or since. It was which were fulfilled in literal and natural before the days of the telegraph and ways, without anyone's rising up and other means of quick communication,

What Are Miracles?

P*ge Three

hence some time elapsed before its very widespread extent became known. But throughout most of the Occidental world thousands of communities which had never had such an experience felt the very earth itself convulsed beneath their feet. The famous sceptic Voltaire, who was then living, tells that for many weeks thereafter, the people in distant parts of Europe kept writing to their friends that they went to bed at night with apprehension, and in the morning felt relief that they had escaped the fate of Lisbon one night more. This earthquake sobered the world of that day in much the same way that the atomic bomb has hushed the Pollyanna nonsense on many a modern lip. The dark day of May 19, 1780, made a similar impression on those who witnessed it. Some modern men of science have tried to discredit it as not having been of any religious significance by pointing out there have been other dark days both before and since, and these have been quite satisfactorily accounted for by natural causes, chiefly by a combination of extensive forest fires and heavy clouds. But all these things have nothing to do with the evidential value of such an occurrence, except to confuse and befuddle those who do not have any clear ideas about the relationship between the natural and the supernatural, and who know nothing about the methods by which the God of the universe chooses to send His warnings to the children of men. The people of that time who lived through it understood its significance. Concerning that event the poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote:
'Twas on a May day of the far old year Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring, Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon, A horror of great darkness. . . . Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp To hear the doom blast of the trumpet shatter * The black sky.

the dark day fits the specification. The moon was at its full, which incidentally proves that it could not have been an eclipse of the sun which caused the dark day; for eclipses of the sun occur only at the opposite phases of the moon, and solar eclipses never last more than a few minutes at the most. This night of May 19, 1780, was probably the darkest ever recorded, though later in the night, when the moon did appear, it had the appearance of blood. "The stars of heaven fell unto the earth." On the evening of November *3> l &33, occurred the most amazing meteoric shower of which we have any record. Most works of astronomy make mention of it. Some of them try to account for it on scientific grounds by showing that other meteoric displays have taken place at this period in November at intervals of about thirty-three years. The meteors which appear at this season are called Leonids, because they seem to emanate from a point in the direction of the constellation Leo. In 1866 another shower was seen in Europe, though inferior to that of 1833. But what difference would it make if the scientists could "explain" all these four eventsthe Lisbon earthquake, the dark day, the moon like blood, and the falling starsas having been occasioned by what are termed "natural" causes? Are we all sufficiently paganized to think that the things of nature are self-acting, and operate as they do independently of any divine control? Does the universe run itself, without any God? The Bible often gives some secondary cause as the agency used by God even in carrying out His miracles. When He planned to open up a dry path through the Red Sea for the children of Israel, the record is that He provided for it by means of "a strong east wind." Ex. 14: 21. Was it any less a direct work of the great Jehovah because He used this "natural" cause to assist in what needed to be done? Everyone who

There is a profusion of records testifying to the profound impression made at the time upon the majority of the people of all the eastern part of America. Hence we may be permitted to apply the well-known lines of Rudyard Kipling, with a slight adaptation:
Ah, what avails the sceptic bent, And what the doubting word, Against the undoubted incident That actually occurred?

The third of the signs as given in the Apocalypse deals with the moon. The Revised Version reads: "The whole moon became as blood." The original evidently means the "full moon," or the moon when at the full. The night following

faces all the facts must acknowledge that when the God of heaven announces a series of signs preceding the second advent, it cannot make the slightest difference whether or not what we call "natural" causes are employed in the fulfilment of the prediction. As we look back at this series of events, it is the total of them which should impress us. It is not fair to separate them, and then think we can discredit them one at a time, because we can "explain" them by natural causes. Of course, each separately is indeed exceptional, and at least difficult to account for on scientific grounds. And each of them strongly impressed the people witnessing it as showing the direct agency of the God of nature. But it is the total series which rightly constitutes the sign of the approaching second advent, with of course the further fact that they occurred in the exact sequence loretold. Here is something which cannot be "explained" away. Two other specifications connected with this series of warning signs need to be considered here. In the Gospel of Matthew the series is introduced as beginning "immediately after the tribulation of those days." Matt. 24: 29. A study of the entire chapter shows that "the tribulation" here mentioned refers to the long period of persecution for the wilderness church of the Middle Ages, a period which ended in 1798, though the actual persecution ended nearly half a century earlier. Thus the dark day, which is the first of the series here mentioned, occurred in 1780, which Was indeed "immediately after the tribulation" had ended. And the account given in Mark's Gospel is even more specific in assigning the date for this dark day; for it reads: "In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened." Mark 13: 24. This language specifically locates this dark day as within the general period of the papal supremacy, which ended in 1798, but after active persecution had ended, or after about 1750. As we have seen, the dark day did actually occur within this half century, as specified. In view of all the facts as set forth above, we have every right to say that the God of heaven long ago graciously gave the world a series of definite events which should be taken as warning signs closely preceding the end of all earthly affairs. We see that these signs have occurred as foretold, and in the exact sequence as specified. Now it is time for us to heed the accompanying admonition of our Lord and Saviour: "When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21: 28.
August 2, 1949 SIGNS OF THE TIUES

NOAHS
ALLOCATION

ARK
COMPARTMENTS.

OF

"Clyde-Built" NOAH'S ARK

T. STEWART BRASH, Glasgow, Scotland

LYDE -BUILT" is Scotland's hall-mark of perfection in ship construction. From the rich Clyde valley, coal and finished steel products pour into this engineering centre. Stocky, cheery Scotsmen, proud of their nation's feats in engineering, combine their skill with materials to hand, and construct on the slipways of the Clyde ships that sail the seven seas, ships that bear testimony to the current saying hereabouts: "When better ships are made, the Clyde will make them." Recently, 25,000 people, at the yard of Messrs. John Brown and Company, Clydebank, cheered the slipway run of the Portuguese passenger vessel Patria as she raced to meet the river and begin her career as one of the finest and fastest Clyde-built ships afloat. Nearby, I witnessed also the launching of the giant Cunarder Coronia by Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh. It was a thrilling sight to watch this magnificent vessel glide gracefully into the Clyde to the accompaniment of cheering thousands and . the clanging of drag-chains, that steadied her into the water before waiting tugboats took her in tow and brought her round to the fitting-up basin still farther west. These launchings are counted as two of the memorable events of the year. To me, however, the event and discovery of the year was the finding of a "Clyde-built" Noah's ark housed safely in the Corporation of Glasgow Art Galleries. I was drawn from scows and dhows, from liners and lighters, from cutters and luggers to the imposing "Ark of Noah," illustrated on this page. "Built at the command of Jehovah by the family of Noah as a refuge from the
SIGNS OF THE TIMES August 2. 1948

Great Flood" is how ship's architect and designer Mr. A. Browning wrote of his prize-winning model. In a personal letter Mr. Browning briefly explains that "The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, a livery company of the City of London, whose fitting motto is 'Within the Ship Safe For Ever,' offered during 1947 several prizes for the best models of Noah's ark. These prizes were to help 'further the encouragement of arts and crafts within the industry.' The competition was open to employees and groups of employees of British shipyards." Thirty-nine entrants competed and submitted their work to the judges of the Shipwright's Company. The only Scottish entry, that illustrated here, won the second prize of 50. It was gifted to the Corporation of Glas-

gow by the three men concerned in its building, Messrs. Browning, Hart, and Mowat, all of Glasgow. Judge my surprise when aside from the busy streets and away from the clangour of pneumatic drills and riveting hammers I discovered this true-to-scale model of a "Clyde-built" Noah's ark! From the showcase of the Art Gallery let me take you back through centuries to the world of Noah's daya corrupt world, a violent world, a polygamous world, a world about to be judged by Jehovah. Beside that "Clyde-built" Noah's ark I repeated positively the divine commentary of Heb. n: 7, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the

Page Fivt

world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." The righteous preacher Noah, preaching righteousness, saw two worlds: the world before the Flood as human corruptness had degraded it, and the world after the Flood as God had cleansed and purified it. This preaching of world catastrophe, backed by the immutable word of God, was the assertion of one man alone against the wisdom of thousands. Throughout 120 years the solemn voice of the patriarch was raised in warning and entreaty, "Flee from the wrath to come." Humanly speaking everyone and everything was against Noah. "He had many listeners, but few followers." Eight souls, and eight only, were saved out of the world God had sworn to destroy. "All that Noah possessed he invested in the ark of God." Then angel hands closed the door, a door sealed as surely as the blood-sealed doors of Egypt centuries later. By that act was the world shut out to judgment, while the remnant was shut in to salvation. Noah's ark outrode the storm of God's indignation, and thus carried the seed of a new generation on right through to the. cleansed earth with its prospects of a new beginning 'for all by the grace of God. "Nothing equal to the size of the ark was seen until the use of iron and steel in the nineteenth century." It is this fact that causes many to wonder at its construction and preservation. Why should men wonder, at this? Was not "God its designer and Noah its masterbuilder"? The faith that saved Noah by building an ark was the faith that led him to set up his altar once the Flood waters had subsided. Mark it well, the man of faith is never in the long course of events a loser, the pledged word of God hi his, "God having provided some better thing for us." Faith's title-deeds are his; he can claim the right to "a better country," an inheritance that_fadeth not away. Beside that "Clyde-built" Noah's ark I was asked a question, hoary with age, "Do you believe the story of Noah's Flood?" And my reply? "The Old Testament has the same value for me that it had for Jesus Christ. He accepted as historically true the great Flood account of Genesis, and moreover, He took Noachic conditions as a type of latterday conditions in the world." The "as" and "so" of the prophecy of Jesus Christ ought to be heeded by this sceptical age. After making it clear that His advent would be on a day known only to the Father in heaven, our Saviour went on to describe in general terms the days of Noah: and how like
Page Six

our own modern age! "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the Flood; . . . so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." "As" and "so" are more than prepositional, they are words which Christ took as dispensational and are fully descriptive of their respective periods; one before and after the great Flood, the other before and after the glorious advent of Jesus Christ. The "as" and "so" of the prophecy of

our Lord Jesus has a decided application to our own time and our own lives. The summary by Jesus of conditions just prior to His advent could be written only by One infinite in wisdom and in possession of the secret of the ages. When He uttered "as it was," "so shall it be," He scanned the history of the ages and gave meaning to the "riddles of history." Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega, and the word of His prophecy in Matthew 24 contains the Alpha and the Omega of knowledge.

Children
IN FAVOUR WITH MAN
TESUS gained favour with people beJ cause He was helpful and kind. He was never rude or discourteous. He was willing and obedient, happy and cheerful in the tasks He had to do. Whether in the carpenter's shop with Joseph, helping His mother in the home, or as a boy talking to the learned men in the temple, He was pleasant in His service to others. A boy or girl today can gain favour with others by always having a cheerful smile and a willing spirit. Billy had a magic key. He carried it in his face. There was a secret about this keyit always opened doors into pleasant things. His mother had taught him that. Billy was playing in the yard one day when his mother came to the door. "Billy, Billy!" she called. "I want you to do some errand^ for me!" When Billy hurried up the steps, his mother handed him two baskets. "One is to carry the groceries I've ordered," she said; "and there's a cake for Mrs. Thomas in the other. You can leave it on the way to the store." Billy's face clouded, "I I'd rather not go there, mother," he said. "Mrs. Thomas is so cross. That's what the boys say." "That's because they tease her cat. Remember about the key, and you'll be all right." Billy picked up his baskets and marched off. Pretty soon, thump, thump, went Mrs. Thomas's brass knocker. The door flew open. "No," said Mrs. Thomas's loud voice, "I don't wan't ." Then she stopped. Billy was using his magic key. "I'm Mrs. Sheldon's boy," explained Billy, pulling off his hat. "Mother sent you a cake." Mrs. Thomas could not resist that key. "Thank" you, child," she said, smiling as she lifted out the cake. Then as Billy started down the steps, she called, "Wait a minute." She plunged her hand deep down in her pocket and drew out a bright new sixpence. "Here," she said, "this is for you." The sixpence was clutched tightly in Billy's hand when he reached home. "Look what she gave me!" he cried. "And she wasn't a bit cross. It must have been 'count of the key." And the magic key? Why, it was Billy's own sunny smile, to be sure!
August 2, 1948 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

^ ATOMIC experiments have revealed that if atomic warfare could wipe mankind off the earth, insects would still remain, for they are able to survive thirty or forty times the amount of radiation that is sufficient to kill a man. ^ CATERPILLARS have nearly four times as many muscles as a man. ^ APPROXIMATELY 1,000,000 of the world's estimated 5,000,000 lepers are in India. > MOUNT LASSEN in California is the only active volcano in the United States. ^ ITALY has an army of unemployed which numbers approximately 1,950,000. ^ COAL is four and one-half times more powerful than an equal amount of gunpowder. ^SoY BEANS are America's fourth largest cash grain crop, next to corn, wheat, and oats. * EACH year the United States uses as much oil as the whole world used annually ten years ago. > BEFORE the war Germans perfected a 210degree camera lens which was capable of photographing the entire sky from horizon to horizon. ^ IN Germany, dyes are being injected into growing trees in the Spessart Forest to produce coloured wood from which novelties are made. ^ FRANCE has a standing army of 6,000,000 men, now that the period of military service has been extended from one year to eighteen months. > THERE are no "old maids" in Tibet, since all marriages are arranged by family contract, and sometimes a man marries all the daughters of a household. * United States Government is laying plans for a development programme in Alaska which they hope will increase the population by at least 2,000,000, and add greatly to the commercial importance of the territory. ^ ENTERTAINERS find it easy to change their voices to a high falsetto by talking with heliumfilled lungs. The gas has a density one-seventh that of air and changes the resonance frequencies of the vocal cords to a comical pitch. ^ RECORD crowds preventing sightseers from getting into football games aren't so modern: near the Roman amphitheatre of Richborough, Kent, a skeleton was discovered still waiting with the price of entrance in its hand. ^A FIRE-RESISTING white paint called Albi-R has recently been developed. It is used as a first coat. Regular paint can be applied over it. When fire hits Albi-R it puffs up forming an insulating blanket that protects the structure. In a test made in a small cottage which was set on fire, the part painted with Albi-R was not badly damaged, while the rest was consumed. .Developed at Harvard University, the paint has recently gone on sale in the U-S.A. > THE Jala Vsha, launched recently in Vizagapatam, India, is the first Indian-built oceangoing steamer ever produced. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian Prune Minister, christened the ship by breaking a coconut on her hull instead of the usual champagne bottle, while Hindu priests chanted hymns invoking the aid of the Almighty and the elements for a long and prosperous 'career. The vessel is 415 feet in length, has a beam of 53 feet, a draft of 32 feet, and a 2,6oo-horsepower engine which gives her a maximum speed of ten-and-a-half knots. ^ PANAMA may have its canal all to itself one day in the not-too-distant future, if present plans materialize for the digging of a new channel across the narrowest portion of Mexico. Tbe site of the new waterway was surveyed for the late President Roosevelt in 1045, and approved as entirely practical. The route would follow the Coastzacoalcos River for some forty miles, and a canal cut through approximately 143 miles of level jungle would eliminate the need for locks. Under pressure, the project could be completed in five years at a cost of three thousand million dollars. It would cut off 3,000 miles in a round trip between San Francisco and New York.
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^ AUSTRALIAN aborigines' cures for warts and ulcers by the use of medicines made from tree bark, shrubs, and grasses are being studied by United States chemists. Experiments have proved that the natives have made several important discoveries; one is a resin that appears to have an antitumour effect. If the "SIGNS" Should Come to You Unexpectedly
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BR2A-6170 SIGNS OF THE T/MfiS ;: August 2. J948 Page Seven

Crane
Choosing Between Snails and Heaven
*EDNAATKIN PEPPER
might have given us minute particulars regarding our future lives. Instead, He has called to us from His great heart of love, assuring us that we shall have the desires of our hearts. (Ps. 37: 4.) Even today, happiness "consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he [man] possesseth." Luke 12: 15. True happiness is found only as we spend ourselves in loving service for others. We are not to be satisfied with the fleeting pleasures of this mundane existence. Suppose a crane followed the curve of the seashore and applied himself with diligence to the pleasant task of eating snails. And suppose a swan flew down from heaven and began describing the beauties and attractions of paradise. And what if the crane was so occupied with his snails that he paid scant attention to the swan, and went right on with his meal, but that the swan, full of enthusiasm, and out of his personal experience waxed eloquent on the joys of the celestial city, until at last the crane paused long enough to inquire briefly: "Any snails in heaven?" "No," we will suppose the swan replied. "But who would want snails in heaven?" To which the crane might have given the tranquil and terse reply: "Then keep your heaven, and I will keep my snails." Will you, also, refuse unending happiness because you cannot comprehend that your Father has prepared delights far surpassing the modest joys of earth? Were you able to understand, you would not be finite, but infinite as God Himself. But^do not come to Him for the pleasures He waits to shower upon you; do not come to escape the judgments to be meted out to the wicked. There is but one way to come. Respond to the warmth of love that surrounds you now, giving you every good thing you possess, protecting your life from the evil one and hastening to empty heaven to come to your rescue at your weakest call for help! "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Jer. 31:3. Then you will never care to stray, and in the gratitude of your heart you will be led to exclaim: "Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Ps. 16: 11.

SMALL boy sat wriggling on a church bench. From time to time a few words of the sermon penetrated his dream of freedom, and he made angry, mental retorts to the speaker. "Don't want to go to heaven. Too much sitting in church here on earth to. suit me. Don't want to rest. Don't want to sit on a pink cloud and play a harp. Don't want to play a harp. Want to play ball." Do you share with this small boy this out-of-date conception of the future life of the saved? Surely he would have been interested had the clergyman read to him from Zech. 8:5: "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof." Does your boy know that he may look forward to a happy life of activity, of joyous play in the earth made new? Does that studious daughter realize the attractions in store for her? "Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies.""The Great Controversy," page 677. Do you fear the time will come when you will become satiated with the pleasures of that beautiful existence? Do you imagine there must be a dearth of interest where all things are already perfect? Listen: "There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized."Ibid. Alexander the Great sat down and wept because there were no more worlds to conquer, but you need not fear a similar calamity. "And still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body."Ibid. Our Father has foreseen that it would be for our best good to omit a wealth of detail about our activities in the earth restored to its original beauty and perfection. He

f-age Eight

August 2, 1948

SIGHS OF THE TIMES