TJ<7F HI5T^Ry - PRESIDENT VUILSUN Class _JlSMl Book. HZi' CopightN"_ CDPXRIGHT DEPOSIT. A World in Perplexity CHRIST THE BREAD OF LIFE The Only One Who Can Feed the Starving Millions of the World A WORLD IN PERPLEXITY ,.-^ By ARTHUR G.' DANIELLS Author of " The World War " REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSN, Washington, D. C. south bend, ind. new york city ■ \ CONTENTS The Nations at War .... 7 Obstacles to Peace .... 25 Vain Efforts for Peace .... 55 The Bible Man's Only Guide . . 69 The Coming of the Prince of Peace . . 75 World Problems in the Light of Prophecy 83 The Eastern Question .... 93 Signs of Christ's Coming . . . . ip3 Distress of Nations, with Perplexity . 107 The Gospel to All Nations . . . 113 The Climax 123 Copyright, 191? Review and Herald Pub. Assn. Washington. D. C. •APR 30 1918 ©C'A494909 "Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ve not discern the signs of the times?" Matt. 16: 3. FOREWORD NINETEEN centuries ago the Prophet of Nazareth foretold a time when there would be "distress o; nations, with perplexity," when men's hearts would fail them *' for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." Today we see His words signally and strikingly fulfilled. The greatest war ever known to mankind has gripped the nations. Kings, statesmen, and whole peoples, seeing its horrors and confronted by its unsolved problems, are perplexed beyond measure. And not only so, but seeing no certain hope for the future of the world, no pilot to deliver them from the angry cross-currents of national ambi- tions, no way out of the dark and hopeless labyrinth in which they wan- der, the hearts of sober, thinking men everywhere are " failing them for fear." From thousands of trembling lips fall the questions: "What is the meaning of this breakdown of modern civilization?" "Must the world live on forever either deluged in blood or under the dark shadow of impending war •* " "Is there no deliverance, no hope ? " To a candid consideration of this terrible situation, and to a faithful answer to the supreme question of the hour, these pages are devoted. The author is neither an alarmist nor a political propagandist, but a sober, serious thinker, who in this little volume offers to his fellow men the only possible solution of the great problem that confronts the whole world. That men everywhere may find the guiding thread of divine truth to which they are directed in this book, is the earnest prayer and hope of THE PUBLISHERS. Harris & Ewing WOODROW WILSON President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Forces of the Army and Navy Photo by Paul Thompson Field Artillery Camp, Fort Bliss, Tex. THE NATIONS AT WAR The wild onrush of events in a world at war; the sudden and startling changes in finance, in commerce, in industry; the quick movement of armies and of navies by which the hopes and ambitions of two generations are grat- ified; the dazed perplexity of the world's most trusted lead- ers, — all these are characteristic of the days through which we are living.'' — Nicholas Murray Butler, President Co- lumbia University, in *'A World in Ferment^** p. 88. The world is in perplexity. To all the sufferings incident to human experience in normal times has been added, by the most terrible of all wars, " distress of nations, with perplexity." Austria's declaration of war upon Serbia the 28th day of July, 1914, seemed a small event in this world of many and widely scattered nations, each bent upon the pursuit of its own interests. But that act set the world on fire. 7 NEWTON D. BAKER United States Secretary of War The Nations at War 9 The year 1918 opened with twenty-three nations at war, and ten more had severed diplomatic relations. The population of these nations is fifteen hundred mil- hon, — more than seven eighths of the human race. " Engulfed in war, nation after nation has been swept by the terrible tide of destruction. Neither hemisphere has escaped. Armies march in Europe, Asia, and Africa. No seas are without their mines, their battle- © Harris & Ewing Bird's-Eye View of the Cantonment under Construction at Quantico, Va. ships, and their submarines. All skies are speckled with armored craft." The Price We Pay The fourth year of the war found fifty million men under arms, notwithstanding the loss of thirty million by death, wounds, and capture, during the first three years of the conflict. And w^hile this appalling wastage of man- power has been going on, the money loss has likewise been enormous. Conservative estimates place the cost of the war for the first three and a half years at one Harris & Ewing 10 JOSEPHUS DANIELS Secretary of the Navy of the United States The Nations at War 11 hundred twenty-five billion dollars. These figures stag- ger the human mind. A billion ! There are fewer than a billion minutes in nineteen hundred years. The ex- penditure of a billion dollars for this war represents a dollar for every minute that has passed since the birth of Christ to the close of 1900. But this war has cost one hundred twenty-five times that sum, which means that in three and a half years these nations have spent a sum equal to one hundred twenty-five dollars for every ' minute of the Christian era. During the first ten months the United States has been in the war it has cost the Government seven billion dollars. This is an average expenditure of twenty-four million dollars a day, one million an hour, or $277 a second, day and night. What might not have been ac- complished had this money been used for the saving of life and the betterment of living conditions! When and how this amazing tragedy will end seems as uncertain after nearly four years of fighting as at anj^ time since the war began. The whole affair has proved to be so fraught with grave consequences that it has filled the minds of men everywhere with the most serious apprehension. "A Supreme Moment of History " The gravity of the present world situation was rec- ognized by President Wilson in his message to the Con- gress, December 4, 1917. His closing words were: "A supreme moment of history has come. The eyes of the people have been opened, and they see. The hand of God is laid upon the nations. He will show them favor, I devoutly believe, only if they rise to the clear heights of His own justice and mercy.'' These statements are pregnant with meaning. De- claring that we tace a supreme crisis, our chief magis- trate directs our minds to man's relationship and respon- © Press Illustrating Service, Inc.. N. Y. UNITED STATES TROOPS MARCHING THROUGH LONDON 12 © Harris & Ewing MAJOR GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING Commander of the American Forces in France 13 © Harris & Ewing 14 ADMIRAL W. S. SIMMS Commander of the American Fleet Abroad Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. UNITED STATES BATTLESHIP "ARKANSAS Photographed from Brooklyn Bridge 15 16 A World in Perplexity sibility to God, the great Sovereign of the universe. His earnest words suggest that the real cause of this world-tragedy lies back in the departure of the nations from God's standard of justice and mercy, and that the only true hope of deliverance rests in a return to that standard. While this view may seem irrational and superstitious to the materialistic mind, it will, in Photo, Boston Photo News Co. Guns of the Coast Defense " Somewhere in America this hour of dark uncertainty, appeal to the distressed millions of men and women throughout the world. Why this conclusion that '' a supreme moment of history has come " ? What is taking place that makes this moment supreme in the annals of the human race? A Portentous Hour Of the great events now being staged, Dr. Butler says : " The clock of time is about to strike the most portentous hour in all history." In his " Challenpre of the The Nations at War 17 Future," Professor Usher declares : " Upon this moment of time hangs all eternity." These are not the words of glib orators, nor excited agitators, nor wild alarm- ists. They are given to the world in all seriousness, by sober men, facing the darkest crisis that has ever come to this hard-hit world. Why is this hour said to be " the most portentous " of all history? Why the declaration that "upon this Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. Shells Being Shipped to the Front moment of time hangs all eternity " ? The times are unusual; the situation i3 abnormal; the complications between nations are full of peril. The whole world seems surcharged with the spirit of revolt against the existing order. As Dr. Butler says : '* It is more than a world at war; it is a world in fsrment." This means a world in unrest, agitation, uprising, tumult. It sug- gests the language of an ancient seer, who said : " The 18 A World in Perplexity wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." Isa. 57 : 20. While it is true that the experience of the human race has always been one of unrest, of change, and of conflict, never in all that long history has this spirit been so nearly universal as at the present moment. Great Empires Swept by Revolution Russia, with a territory comprising one seventh of all the land in the world and a population close to one eighth of all the inhabitants of the earth, is in utter chaos. Tumult and revolution have swept that great empire as with the besom of destruction. The editor of the Washington Herald, in the issue of January 26, 1918, says: "A war-crazed world may be a convert to chaos before it finishes its madness. Why not? The unbe- lievable has ceased to be merely possible. The Bolshe- vist germ is abroad in the world. It is contagious. Russia has become the political insane asylum of the world. It is the maddest thing in a mad, mad universe." And China, with its four hundred millions of people, nearly one fourth of the human race, has been in the throes of revolution for years. It is being torn by one uprising after another. I "A Fit of Political Alcoholism " Referring to these unsettled conditions, the editor of the North American Review says that " in these last ten years a strange breath has passed over " the world. The British Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey, de- clared in the House of Commons: " It is really as if, in the atmosphere of the world, there were some mischievous influence at work which troubles and excites every part of it. We are passing, this year, through a period of excitement; it is so still. Some countries are in revolution, others are at war; Photo by Paul Thompson ONE OF " OUR BOYS " Training for the European Battle Field 19 20 A World m Pe7'plexity and in several countries which are neither in revolution nor at war, there are people who seem to delight in discussing how near they have been, or are, or are likely to be, either to revolution or to war in the past, the present, or the future. Really it is as if the world were indulging in a fit of political alcoholism, and the best that can be done by those of us who are in posi- tions of responsibility is to keep cool and sober/' The World's Maelstrom Soon after these graphic statements were made, the explosion came, and now '* peace, freedom, and repre- sentative government; constructive work and wealth; education, science, and art; fraternity, charity, and mis- sions; spiritual religion, civilization, life itself! all are in the world's maelstrom/' — " The World Crisis and the Way to Peace/' p. 7. Yes, all that appeared to be great, and good, and abiding, and of real worth in the world, collapsed like a house of cards with the first blast of the war-storm. " The whole world order was changed in a night ! " ** It is this alarming violence," says one writer, " this remorseless haste, as of a tornado tearing its way with resistless force across peaceful lands, which takes away our breath and paralyzes our thoughts. Before we have had time to guess whither events are leading us, we find ourselves in the center of the storm. . . . Human imagination is stunned by so sudden, so tre- mendous, and so unexpected a catastrophe." When men of long and clear vision take a sober look at the situation as it exists today, they are forced to pronounce this a " distempered world," and to say that " if ever the world saw a day of need, this is the day." We stand, says one, " in the presence of a world-tragedy." And the editor of the New York Evening Sun (Aug. 8, 1914) asks, " Did such strange The Nations at War 21 cross-currents ever before flow across a page of his- tory?" These alarming conditions have not sprung up dur- ing a night. They are of long standing, and have been gradually growing worse. Their existence has not been clearly seen nor fully realized. A false se- curity has blinded our eyes. Implicit trust in a civili- zation that seemed deep and broad and high, led us to © Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. American Soldiers Learning French Words and Phrases imagine that it was slowly but surely triumphing over the forces of evil. But the tragic war now devastating the world has awakened us to truer conceptions. What appeared to be a great, abiding, protecting civilization, proved to be but a thin veneer over the worst passions of the natural man. Mankind Back in the Primeval Forest The utter failure of science, philosophy, interna- tional treaties and alliances, and also the religions of 22 A World in Perplexity the world, to prevent the ** ghastly crisis " through which the world is now passing, is forcibly stated by Dr. Butler as follows: ** The words that oftenest come to our lips, the ideals that we cherish and pursue, the progress that we fan- cied we were making, seem not to exist. Mankind is back in the primeval forest, with the elemental brute passions finding a truly fiendish expression. The only 1 1 i^K Hi ■M 1 ■ ^^^^^^^j^ ^ H \ ^^^p ^ .^ /' j •^ LIS mm-'.£. p *\ * "Sslii y^«-„ |pl|r':::;%>.a 1 i 4. . ^\.'^m lisi^^B* La h ~ '^' 1 £pi l^«:,,:fs iilllli ill i mm^:^- --m,,,,j^. »- piip:"Q: lis © Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. A British Big Gun In dealing with the question of peace we must go back to the causes of the conflict. The paramount issues that precipitated the mighty war now rocking the world must be reckoned with in any attempt to reach safe conclusions regarding the outcome. It is not reasonable, from a human point of view, to suppose that the war can be terminated and an enduring peace be established, without a settlement of the great issues involved. 28 A World in Perplexity What were those issues? What were the primary causes of the war? Do those causes still exist? Are the nations finding a basis for the settlement of their fundamental differences? From the political, commer- cial, and military viewpoints, the true answers to Photo. Press Illustrating Service, Inc., N. Y. An Aeroplane with Quick-Firing Gun these questions must be the basis of reliable con- clusions concerning the future. The Primary Cause of the World War While it is true, as Dr. Morris Jastrow, Jr., of the University of Pennsylvania, says, " A war like the pr^s- ent one cannot ... be carried back to any one issue, isolated from all others," yet it is evident that the is- sues are so closely connected that they may be bound together and set down as the one great primary cause. Obstacles to Peace 29 That chief cause, it may fairly and safely \)e said, was the attempt to control world highways. Center- ing in this were a number of closely aUied issues, such as territorial possessions, access to the world's Photo, Press Illustrating Service, Inc., N. Y. A German Aeroplane Brouent Down on French Soil markets, commercial advantages, political and military supremacy, and the rights and freedom of small na- tions. As the war has progressed, and especially since our own nation became involved, the question of mak- ing the world safe for democracy has become a leading issue, but underneath this lies the original cause al- ready mentioned. r ' ''^BHIHHBHM S^H ''-■;-- -<.-f-n^„^^HWil^B ^^1 -^:^^^H^K ll^^ ^S^JBmBE^MiM^ "m ilnH|^ ^■^■'^ >''1^^Ma||Ki ^■mi^y 'm^- ff^^E^H K^Ej H^l Sh^ , ^^^^Hm^^^K|nH ^^S^Wm .^'^^M^l^M^m^^^B 1^^^^^ u^^^^^^S^^^in ^^^H ^^9 K- ^^H ■^-'-^^^^^^^is^^^^^^^S^^^^^m^^m^KB^ Hh^^H ""'-s^ r^^-s^ ,] '^l /^^^Si^K^^'^H HB^m ■■-^S^ ^^M^^^^^M^^M ^^^HBh ^^^f%t K^IJI^^^^Hi "J^HmHEs^iH^^^^^h^HH BhH tt-^fHE^HH ■HhH -'^^^^■l mi 05 < Obstacles to Peace 31 A Struggle for World Highways Regarding the real cause of the war, Maynard Owen Williams, writing from the Near East, where he had gone to give the question careful study, says : *' The war is being fought, not for a European capital, but for a world highway." He then shows how Russia began fighting to secure control of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles in order that she might have an open road to the Mediterranean and the oceans, and thus to the world's markets. England, he shows, is fighting to maintain her control of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, and the Suez Canal, that she may have an open, safe highway to the Far East. Ger- many, he makes clear, is fighting to establish a perma- nent overland highway from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf, and thence to the markets of the world. Austria, Bulgaria, and Turkey are fighting as al- lies of Germany because they believe their national interests will be best served if Germany's road to the gulf is established. France and Italy are fighting as allies of England because they are persuaded that their interests and advantages are bound up with those of the United Kingdom. The roads of these two groups cross; their interests conflict; their policies clash. To the rulers and people .of the several nations the interests of each seem vital to its very existence. It is because these vital in- terests and national aims conflict so seriously that these nations are at one another's throats. Asiatic Turkey the Storm-Center Further evidence that these nations are fighting primarily for highways to the world's markets, is found in the fact that the actual storm-center of this war is not in Europe, but in Asiatic Turkey. This is a most important factor in the whole question of war and peace, 32 A World in Perplexity " The war comes from the East ; the war is waged for the East; the war will be decided in the East." So writes Ernst Jackh in the Deutsche Politik, Decem- ber, 1916. Why this war comes from the East, why it is be- ing waged for the East, and how vital are the issues at stake, is set forth by Frederic C. Howe, who says: Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. Bomb-Proof Shelter in London " Access to, free passage through, or control of the Mediterranean is the permanent objective behind the foreign policy of all the greater European powers. It is an objective by its very nature so diffused and covering such a wide geographical area that it can- not be expressed in state papers, even had the n:i- tions in conflict dared to declare their ultimate poli- cies. It is an objective, however, that lies at the very Obstacles to Peace 33 industrial and commercial life of Great Britain and Russia, that is bound up with all the ambitions of Germany, and that underlies the industrial and finan- cial aspirations of Italy and the Balkan States." — Scrihner's Magazine, May, 1916, p. 621. This claim is ably supported by a great array of the most reliable authorities. In his book, *' Obstacles Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. The Work of One Bomb Dropped from an Aeroplane in a Raid on London to Peace," issued in the early part of 1917, Mr. S. S. McClure says (page 5) : " The real problem of this war is Asiatic Turkey. The settlement of this question may involve a continu- ous series of devastating wars at longer or shorter intervals for generations. ... If there can be found no other alternative than the control of this territory, either by Germany and her allies, or by England and 34 A World in Perplexity her allies, resulting in the one case in threatening the safety of the British Empire, and in the other in pre- venting German expansion, — wars and rumors of wars will dominate the twentieth century." Russia and Germany He then proceeds to give reasons for his conclusion: " The interests of Russia in regard to the Bosporus and Asia Minor are antagonistic to those of Germany (Q Press Illustrating St-rvice, Inc.. N. Y. Alpine Fighters on the Italian Front and Turkey. Germany's splendid dream of an Eastern Empire demands the control of the route from Berlin through Constantinople to Basra [on the Persian Gulf]. With the development of the wheat fields in the Black Sea region it is a vital necessity for Russia to control Constantinople and the Bosporus. I asked Professor Rohrbach, who is the great authority on matters in- volving Russia and Germany, how it would be possi- ble to safeguard Russia's interests with Germany in Obstacles to Peace 35 control of the Bosporus. He replied very clearly that the interests of Germany and Russia were so opposed to each other that it was impossible to meet the needs of both, and that inasmuch as German civilization was superior to Russian civilization, Russia's interests must be sacrificed, rather than Germany's." — " Ob- stacles to Peace/' p. 18. This conflict of the interests and policies of Russia and Germany is clearly outlined by Professor Seymour, Photo, Press Illustrating Service, Inc., N. Y. Sharpshooting Scouts in the Snowy Alps, Dressed in White to Avoid Detection of Yale University : '' The activity of Russia, checked in the Far East, must inevitably be turned towards the Balkans and Constantinople, and in this quarter Russian ambitions conflicted with Germany's purpose of controlling a sweep of teri'itory extending from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf. It was unthinkable that the interests of Pan-Germanism and Pan-Slavism should not clash in the Near East." — '' The Diplomatic Background of the War," p, 160. 36 A World in Perplexity ' England and Germany England and Germany, it is well known, are the chief antagonists in this struggle that has involved the world. Like mighty wrestlers, these nations are " locked in clutch unto death." This is because they have interests which they are unable to adjust, and which seem vital to the future of each. Again Pro- fessor Seymour says: *' With the development of Germany's world policy and the beginning of the Bagdad Railway, British statesmen perceived that Teutonic control in the Bal- kans and on the Dardanelles threatened India and the route to India far more seriously than did the aspira- tions of Russia." — Id., jj. 159. Why England had reason to fear the consumma- tion of Germany's world policy, as indicated by the Bagdad Railway enterprise, may be easily seen in a comprehensive statement made by a prominent and authoritative German writer, Professor Rohrbach: " A direct attack upon England across the North Sea is out of the question; the prospect of a German invasion of England is a fantastic dream. It is nec- essary to discover another combination in order to hit England in a vulnerable spot — and here we come to the point where the relationship of Germany to Turkey, and the conditions prevailing in Turkey, become of de- cisive importance for German foreign policy, based as it now is upon watchfulness in the direction of England. . . . England can be attacked and mortally wounded by land from Europe only in one place — Egypt. '' The loss of Egypt would mean for England not only the end of her dominion over the Suez Canal and of her connections with India and the Far East, but would probably entail the loss also of her possessions in Central and East Africa. The conquest of Egypt by a Mohammedan power like Turkey would also im- t'hcto, Press lllustratin!? Service, Inc., N. Y. SHELTERS CUT IN THE ALPS 6,000 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL 37 Obstaclen to Peace 39 peril England's hold over her sixty million Mohamme- dan subjects in India, besides prejudicing her relations with Afghanistan and Persia. . . . Egypt is a prize for which Turkey would be well worth the risk of taking sides with Germany in a war with England. The policy of protecting Turkey, which is now pur- sued by Germany, has no other object but the desire to effect an insurance against the danger of a war with England." — " The Bagdad Railway," by Professor Rohrbach (Berlin, 1911) ; reproduced in " Obstacles to Peace," p. 19. Germany's Expectations After this war had been in progress some months, when the outlook appeared favorable for Germany, Herr Trampe, a German writer, gave the following bold outline of Germany's expectations: " When England . . . loses India, then her world- power will be broken. The ancient highroad of the world is the one which leads from Europe to India — the road used by Alexander — the highway w^hich leads from the Danube via Constantinople to the valley of the Euphrates, and by northern Persia, Herat, and Kabul to the Ganges. Every yard of the Bagdad Rail- way which is laid brings the owner of the railway nearer to India. What Alexander performed and Na- poleon undoubtedly planned, can be achieved by a third treading in their footsteps." — " The Fight for the Dardaiielles," by Herr Trampe (Stuttgart, 1915); reproduced ifi " Obstacles to Peace," p. 453. In 1916 Hans Rohde gave the climax of the pro- gram: '' The sword had to decide the fate of Near Asia, and a decision has fallen, unless- unforeseen events intervene. Germany will not be limited to the sphere of influence formerly allotted to her, but in future she will devote her energies to Armenia, Syria, and 40 A World in Perplexity Mesopotamia in the interests of German capitalists and merchants. In this manner the way will be kept open which the war indicated and which, together with our allies, we have fought for and won, — the way that leads from Berlin via Vienna — Sofia — Constantinople — Bagdad, to the Persian Gulf, and Committee on Public Information American Boys in France Being Taught the Use of Liquid Fire has become the vital nerve in our economic life and our policy." — " Deutschland in Vorderasien '* (Berlin, 1916) ; reprinted in " Obstacles to Peace,'' p. 456. The Bagdad Railway Project In the quotations given in the preceding pages frequent mention is made of the Bagdad Railway, and the inference is plainly given that this enterprise is one of the prominent factors or causes of this con- Obstacles to Peace 41 flict between the nations. It is worth while to give this project careful study. Dr. Jastrow, Jr., who has devoted years to archaeological work in Asiatic Turkey, has published an excellent book entitled, '' The War and the Bagdad Railway." In his preface he says: *' The purpose of this volume is to elucidate an © Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. The Invader Burning: a Serbian Village aspect of the war which . . . was the most significant single factor contributing to the outbreak of the long- foreseen war in 1914, and will form one of the most momentous problems when the time for the peace negotiations arrives. Ever since the announcement was made towards the close of the year 1899 that the Turkish government had conceded to a German syn- dicate the privilege of building a railway to connect Constantinople with Bagdad through a transverse route A ¥/orUl in Perplexity 43 across Asia Minor, the Bagdad Railway has been the core of the Eastern Question." In the body of the volume (page 28) we read: " In our own days we are witnessing what prom- ised to be the reopening of the old historic highway — the bridge uniting Europe to Asia — to Western control, through the project of a great railway stretch- ing along a distance of nearly 2,000 miles from a point opposite Constantinople to Bagdad, and thence to Basra and to the Persian Gulf. That project, which was well under way at the time of the outbreak of the war, is thus marked through its historical background as one of the most momentous enterprises of our age — more momentous because of the issue involved than the opening up of the two other world highways, the Suez and Panama Canals. A Symptom of the Dissolution of the Turkish Empire '' The creation of a railway from Constantinople to Bagdad under European control is at once a symp- tom of the dissolution of the Turkish Empire." '' The railway has been a nightmare resting heavily on all Europe for eighteen years — ever since the an- nouncement in 1899 of the concession granted to the Anatolian Railway Company. No step ever taken by any European power anywhere has caused so much trouble, given rise to so many complications, and has been such a constant menace to the peace of the world. No European statesman to whom the destinies of his country have been committed has rested easily in the presence of this specter of the twentieth century. In the last analysis the Bagdad Railway will be found to be the largest single contributing factor in bring- ing on the war, because through it more than through any other cause, the mutual distrust among European powers has been nurtured, until the entire atmosphere of international diplomacy became vitiated. The ex- 44 A World in Perplexity Keystone View Co Bread Baking in Syria planation for this remarkable phenomenon, transform- ing what appeared on the surface to be a magnificent commercial enterprise, with untold possibilities for use- fulness, into a veritable curse, an excrescence on the body politic of Europe, is to be sought in the history of the highway through which the railway passes. The control of this highway is the key to the East the Near East and the Farther East as well. Such has been its role in the past — such is its significance today/'— M., pp. U4, 115. Obstacles to Peace 45 Q Keystone View Co. Native Girl of Lebanon, Syria, at the Linen Loom The Greatest Single Factor Summarizing these remarkable statements, we have the following: 1. The Bagdad Railway project was '' the most sig- nificant single factor contributing to the outbreak of the long-foreseen war in 1914." 2. It will form " one of the most momentous prob- lems when the time for the peace negotiations arrives." 3. From its inception it "has been the core of the Eastern Question." CJEJ m M Ul CO ]^t 03 ^> < CQ .<=>, Obsiacies to Peace 47 4. It has been " a nightmare resting heavily on all Europe for eighteen years." 5. " No step ever taken by any European power anywhere has caused so much trouble, given rise to so many complications, and has been such a constant menace to the peace of the world." 6. It has been " a veritable curse, an excrescence on the body politic of Europe." 7. '' The control of this highway is the key to the East — the Near East and the Farther East as well." The Life-Cord of Nations Threatened Why the storm-center of this world war should be in Asiatic Turkey; why the control of the Mediterra- nean Sea should lead to such a war; and why the Bagdad Railway project should be such a significant factor in precipitating this mighty struggle of the nations, is forcibly presented by Frederic C. Howe in his book, " Why War." His statement is worthy of most careful study: " The nations whose interests are most in conflict are Great Britain, Germany, and Russia. The economic clash is primarily between Germany and Great Britain. And the interests of these two countries seem irrecon- cilable. They go to the very heart of their position and power. They are deep rooted in the commercial and financial life of these nations. . . . " The Mediterranean is in effect a British sea, com- manded at Gibraltar and Egypt by England's posses- sion of these two strategic points. The building of the Bagdad Railway is a menace to this control as well as the shipping and overseas trade of the British Empire. This new rail route thi^eatens not only the life-cord of the British Empire; it strikes at the underpinning of the entire British financial world [italics ours]." — " Why War," p. 334. 48 A Wo7id in Perplexity "A similar impasse exists between Russia and whichever power controls Constantinople and the Bos- porus. The industrial life of Russia is dependent on the marketing of her surplus wheat. Her wheat ex- ports pay the interest on her debt. They finance her imports. Her only open outlet is to the arctic seas, where her ports are closed for a part of the year. (0 International Film Service, Inc., N. Y. British Forces on the Way to Jerusalem " Russia like Germany has dreams of empire to the south. They come into conflict with Great Britain in Persia and with Turkey at Constantinople. Here again is another seemingly irreconcilable warfare of interest which a solution of the conflicts of the finan- ciers does not remove. " And these conflicts of Germany, England, and Rus- sia are all so identified ivith the life [italics ours] of these countries that any concession by either power in- volves the abandonment of imperial pretensions as well as industrial and commercial advantages. Claims aris- ing over these conflicts are not justiciable. They cannot be submitted to Hague tribunals. Obstacles to Peace 49 " These conflicts about the Mediterranean are among the most difficult problems which the war presents. It would seem that they will only be settled by occu- pation and force. They may delay the duration of the war far longer than would the purely European ques- tions. For only exhaustion will induce Germany to abandon the contest for which she has so long been 1 J^ w ,^ ^<«- -■■ ^"^--^.-^^ * ^p|T^^ ^StsS^S^^^^Bs^^^MSB iiillWffWillHpl^ffl'llli' 1^ i^^ s ^^^ ^j^^^^,,^^^^^^ ^::i ^l^'- ^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ~'" - ^ V °^.v-=^ ■^3 © International Film Service, Inc., N. Y. British Artillery Crossing the Desert South of Jerusalem preparing, while Great Britain and Russia can only permit German supremacy in Turkey and Asia Minor as an admission of the beginning of the end of empire or the final defeat of the ambitions of centuries." — Id., pp. 336, 337. A Summary of Causes In the following brief statements are set forth the greatest causes of the war, and the greatest obstacles to peace, as Mr. Howe sees them: 1. The vital interests of these warring nations are at stake. These interests are identified with the life and ambitions of these nations. *' They go to the very O Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. THE FALL OF JERUSALEM General Allenby at the Head of the British Forces Entering Jerusalem by the Jaffa Gate Ob.stacles to Peace 51 heart of their position and power." They seem to them essential to their existence. 2. These interests are in violent conflict. They cross at vital points. The interests of the nations on one side of the struggle threaten the " life-cord/' the " under- pinning," the purposes and ambitions, of the nations on the other side. The triumph of one group of interests means the destruction of the other group of interests. 3. These interests seem irreconcilable. They are ''so identified with the life of these countries that any con- cession by either power involves the abandonment of imperial pretensions as well as industrial and commer- cial advantages. Claims arising over these conflicts are not justiciable." 4. These interests have taken root and grown up through years of emigration, territorial expansion, and industrial and commercial development. They are the warp and woof of the ambitions and policies of these nations. They have been established by the ablest di- plomacy and statesmanship these nations could pro- duce, and they are interwoven with the treaties and alliances of centuries. Grave Questions Involved Are these statements true? If so, they involve ques- tions of the gravest possible character. What prize can be offered to Great Britain that will tempt her to aban- don the ambitions and policies of centuries that have builded for her a mighty empire? There is nothing to offer England that is as great to her as her empire. And what will induce Germany to abandon her cherished ambitions, her long, careful preparations, and her enormous expenditures for an empire stretch- ing from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf? All that is here said of Great Britain and Germany is equally true of the Russian people. In case Russia Obstacles to Peace 53 should be reconstructed, what could the powers offer that would induce her to surrender her century-old claim to the free passage of the Dardanelles and the Mediterranean to the open sea and the markets of the world ? From the standpoint of national interests and hu- man ambition, it surely seems that the only way these vital, conflicting interests can be adjudicated is by the sword. That is unquestionably the conviction of the nations at war. For that reason little, if any, ap- proach to peace has yet been made by any of the terms that have been proposed. Is there, then, to be no peace for the world? no deliverance from this hate, this killing, this mourning? Must this slaughter of men go on as long as there are men in the world? What is the truth, the absolute, reliable truth, concerning this great, increasingly se- rious situation? Photo, Boston Photo News Co. A " Ship of the Desert " Carrying Water to the British Soldiers An American Armored Truck VAIN EFFORTS FOR PEACE "// is true peace the rvortd noTv Tvanis. Of false peace rve have had hitter trial. 'Armed peace ' is an inner contra- diction. * Peace through preparation for Tvar ' is psycho- logical stupidity. Peace through the spirit of peace, and through preparation for peace, is the only truth and the only wisdom, whether in individuals or nations. If the world is not learning this now, we almost despair of the human race. . . . A righteous, merciful peace must come to Europe, or it will not be enduring. The peace of humiliating conquest can breed only new war.'' — E. Ellsworth Shumaker, Ph. D., in '' The World Crisis and the Way to Peace,'' pp. 55, 56. The world wants peace, but does not know how to get it. " Our best thoughts," says one, '' are directed toward that peace we climb so painfully to reach. . . . A stable peace between the great nations has been the hope of the ablest and best men for generations. 55 crwood, N. Y. THE RED CROSS AT WORK junded from the Front Trenches to the First Dressing Stations 56 Vain Efforts for Peace 57 They have urged many plans. And obviously, up to the present moment, all their plans have failed. War is a knot that has defied all fingers." Peace Societies Organizations for the establishment and mainte- nance of peace have been formed in all the great nations of the world. A half dozen or more of these are in- ternational, such as the International Bureau of Peace, the Conference of Societies of Allied Nations, the Union of International Associations, etc. In the United States there are the World Peace Foundation, the League to Enforce Peace, the American School Peace League, the Women's Peace Society, the Socialist Party of Peace, and many other smaller and less influential organizations. Great Britain has her National Peace Council, her Fabian Society, and her Women's Movement for Con- structive Peace; Australia has her Peace Alliance; France her General Confederation of Labor; Switzer- land her Swiss Committee for the Study of Principles of Durable Peace; Germany her German Socialists* So- ciety, and Holland her Dutch Anti-War Council. " Prattled on the Edge of a Volcano " One of these large, influential peace societies was in session in Europe when the war of 1914 broke upon the world so suddenly. In an hour their philosophy was torn to shreds. Here is a statement of the case by one of the American members of the society: " We began our sessions early in July, and for a month offered free advice to Europe on the subject of war's futility. At the end of the month Europe plunged into the greatest war of all history. " Our peace conference came to an abrupt end. Some of us felt very much chastened in spirit. For during that idyllic month when we prattled on the 58 A World in Perplexity edge of a volcano, our discussions frequently turned on the ' impossibility ' of a general European war. We pointed out that modern methods of transportation and communication had knit the world into one vast community; that modern inventions in the instruments of destruction had made its losses too appalling to be faced: and that the interlacings of commerce and finance were so complex that the nations could not "Si^Htef "S^^r :9^ t^<,£Mff*fMtj^m^ ^li^S#Bi f 1 © Boston Ph< t N Co A Corps of Japan's Well-Trained Nurses Leaving for the Battl« Front afford to sever them. A great war, a world war, was absurd. It was unthinkable. It was impossible. And in this view we were merely voicing again what had been asserted in peace circles for a number of years. ... Hope Vitiates Judgment " Here is an instance where pacifists allowed their hope to vitiate their judgment. They proclaimed their ability to gauge contemporary history, and they made a total miscalculation. The impossible war came. Arma- Vai7i Efforts for Peace 59 geddon confounded the prophets. The war took most of us in America by surprise. . . . Many of us held a comfortable philosophy of social evolution — something to the effect that mankind was moving from a past state of predatory struggle, through a present state of com- mercial rivalry, to a future state of world co-operation. '* Then a preposterous thing happened." — '* The Pos- sible Peace," by Roland Hugins, pp. 3-6, © Keystone View Co. United States Marines Drilling at a Southern Cantonment Peace Leagues Not of Modern Origin Peace societies are not altogether of modern origin. Similar organizations were formed centuries ago. " The Peace of Westphalia," drawn up in 1648 by the nations that had been exhausted by the Thirty Years' War, made a bold stand for a lasting peace. Article I of the Osnabriick document declares : " There shall be a Christian, universal, and perpetual peace and a real and sincere friendship between " the nations entering into the treaty. But devastating wars continued. Vain Efforts for Peace 61 Nearly two centuries later, nine days before the battle of Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna concluded a treaty, the sixty-third article of which reads : '' The confederated states engage in the same manner not to make war against each other, on any pretext, nor to pursue their differences by force of arms, but to submit them to the diet, which will attempt a media- tion by means of a commission. If this should not succeed, and a juridical sentence becomes necessary, recourse shall be had to a well-organized Austregal (Aiistrdgalinstanz) Court, to the decisions of which the contending parties are to submit without any appeal." — " The Map of Europe by Treaty," by Edward Herts- let, C, B., Vol. /, p. 248. This treaty was drawn up and agreed to by the kings of Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Denmark, and by such world-famed diplomats as Talleyrand, Met- ternich, Castlereagh, von Humboldt, and von Nessel- rode. This congress concluded its work the ninth day of June, 1815, and these illustrious sovereigns and statesmen returned to their several kingdoms to con- tinue fighting as nations have always fought, and as they are still fighting today. How strange, how sad, how humiliating it is that the efforts of the thousands of noble men and women who have given their best and highest endeavors to prevent war and to promote peace, have met with so little success! '* If Europe could exhibit so broad and liberal a statesmanship a century ago, why should not the in- tervening century, so full of progress in all the other essentials of civilization, have produced a statesman- ship that would have bound the nations of Europe, through their mutual interests, so closely together that the war of 1914 would not have been possible? This question may be pondered long, but in vain. The guns of 1914, 1915, 1916 have given a frightful demonstra- Vai7i Efforts for Peace 63 tion that statesmanship and diplomacy were impotent in 1914. That impotence was a result of separate and selfish national development." — '' A Conclusive Peace/' by Chaiies Fremont Taylor, pp. 36, 37. Conflicting Peace Terms One of the great difficulties in maintaining peace among the nations is that they want peace on terms upon which they cannot agree — terms that will se- cure to each nation the advantages for which each is fighting. " Germany wants a ' lasting peace/ says the Reichs- tag; France, a 'beneficent peace,' says Poincare; Brit- ain, a * peace that will secure . . . liberty and inde- pendence, unthreatened by militarism,' and that ' will redress the cruel wrong done Belgium,' says Sir Ed- ward Grey. Thus they all seek true peace. " So they fight for peace. They will fight, they declare, until true peace comes. ... Is there one page in all history that can show that real peace among developed freemen has been reached in that way? Is there any rational analysis of human motive and life that can promise such a result? Is there any light from above that can justify such an expectation? In a word, is there any leaf in human experience, any insight or reasonable prevision that can give ground for the anticipation of true peace through horrible war? " — " The World Crisis and the Way to Peace," pp. 83, 85, 86, No Peace to the Wicked The real truth of the matter is, " there is no peace to the wicked ; " and herein is the secret of the utter failure of men and of nations to achieve enduring peace. The mental unrest and unholy ambitions inci- dent to sinful human nature, the avarice and over- reaching of the natural man, are the underlying causes Vai7i Efforts for Peace 65 of the strife that sooner or later eventuates in open war between states. There is no nation, no state, no city, on earth today that is able to keep a desirable and an enduring peace within its own borders. Revo- lutionary elements are lurking everywhere, ready to spring into action at any favorable moment. Like dangerous explosives, they go off at the first touch of Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. American Red Cross Ambulance in Long Train to Succor Wounded the match. And no one knows what may prove to be the spark that will cause the explosion. The enduring peace the world needs cannot be se- cured by war nor be maintained by armaments. A complete victory for one combatant and a humiliating defeat for the other does not destroy the spirit of war. Colossal armaments will not make peace, nor will dis- armament. " Men fought when they had no armament except the bow and arrow. They have fought at every stage of advancement up and down the line to the laying of the keel of the latest dreadnaught and the creation of the greatest gun in the world. . , . You 66 A World in Perplexity ean^ never abolish war until you change human nature, and only God Himself can do that." The Vital Factor Lacking In view of the long, relentless wars and bloodshed that have culminated in the most terrible war of all time, Charles Fremont Taylor has been led to say: " The world needs peace as it never has needed peace before. Civilization is threatened as it has never been threatened before. But peace will not save civilization H^^^^^^^^^H ■ ^■1 ■ ^H^^^H l^^^^^u ^^^B B Ii I^HI ^^^lE siiiiifiiif ^111 jii s^m^^^i I^^H ^^^^^^^m W'''''- '■■®^^^B| |:^^^^^^^Ri::: ;-,.|||i| ^BHH i^S^^ft [SS:r^^^^iiiMMX iii^^^^ '■■■r'^'^^C'iM!^^^^ ^:^.£:^^iiSi Si %i ■ &Mi^^^^^^"''''''^'^^^'^'^' ■'■" ' i^^^^j^E ^^!: |j|||;|:S^.<| &m'-'-yr '"'^^^M "^"'SS^^^^^''^^'^'^^^^^m mf:m^ ^^i^ i :: :'p ^^^^^i| : aii^^^^^Mig^ m Wt^ %m^^>^^y*^f^' Wbmm:-mM.. llj) Underwood & L' i wood. N. Y. The Famous " Tank " if it is the kind of peace that we have heretofore had — a truce for greater military preparation. " The existence of this great war tragically demon- strates some great need in our civilization. Some vital factor is absent, the supplying of which may enable the machinery of civilization to run smoothly, without the danger of an occasional ruinous disaster." — " A Conclusive Peace" p. 10. Yes, the vital factor for insuring true, lasting peace on earth is lacking in the natural heart of man. Until Vain Efforts for Peace 67 that is supplied, the world's desire for peace and the aims of world leagues of peace are all doomed to sorest disappointment. Why deceive ourselves longer with false philosophy and vain hope? Why not recog- nize the hard facts that have held sway through all the centuries? Back to the Bible There is a remedy for this terrible malady of war, an answer to the cry of helpless humanity, a deliver- '> 86, 20, 21. Crossing the Watershed of Civilization How serious, how fatal, how utterly ruinous to the whole world, this terrible struggle may prove to be, is suggested by the author of '* A World in Ferment." He says: " No one dares predict just what the end of this world war will be or when that end will come. It is possible, of course, that this cataclysm marks the end of centuries of progress, and it is possible that man in 1914 crossed over the watershed of civilization, and is now to descend on the other side toward stead- ily growing barbarism and the steadily extending rule of force. That, I say, is possible."— Pa(7c 98. Lord Northcliffe, one of England's greatest pub- lishers and most accurate readers of present-day con- ditions, has said: 110 A World in Perplexity " The word ' peace ' has disappeared from the Eng- lish vocabulary. That is a deep, underlying conviction in the very hearts of the people who do not want peace and will not listen to any talk of peace until this war is fought to a finish. " This is no ordinary war which can be brought to an end suddenly by one campaign, or one great victory, or any series of decisive events in any one field. *' Instead of ending soon or suddenly, the war is more likely to go on and on, and then gradually abate by slow processes, here and there, as localities pass through their ordeal and emerge with a wish to take a breath- ing spell." These unparalleled conditions are causing changes everywhere. Inventories of the things of this present world are being revised; values are depreciating. Men are finding that this world does not meet the highest, noblest, innermost longings of the heart. The editor of Leslie's says: "It is a sobered world. Engulfed in war, nation nfter nation has been swept by the terrible tide of destruction. Neither hemisphere has escaped. Armies march in Europe, Asia, and Africa. No seas are with- out their mines, their battleships and submarines. All skies are speckled with armored aircraft. ... Is it surprising that some are inquiring if the end of all things is not approaching? The world may well be sobered by the thought." — Leslie's Illustrated Weekly Newspaper, March 1, 1917. The Washington Post of Jan. 30, 1916, reports Sir David Beatty, admiral of the British fleet, as saying: " Surely, Almighty God does not intend this war to be just a hideous fracas or a blood-drunken orgy. There must be a purpose in it; improvement must come out of it. . . . England still remains to be taken out of the stupor of self-satisfaction and complacency in Distress of Satlons, with Perplexitu 111 which her flourishing condition has steeped her. Until she can be stirred out of this condition, until a re- ligious revival takes place, just so long will the war continue. When she can look on the future with hum- bler ej^es and a prayer on her lips, then we can begin to count the days toward the end.'' A remarkable statement this, concerning his own country. But the admiral gives counsel that not only England, but all the world, will do well to lay seriously to heart. And many are taking the situation seriously, as witnessed by the editor of the Newburg (New^ York) Daily Journal, who says: " The mental condition caused among Americans by the w^ar in Europe is interesting. One finds many persons in all places who believe the world is nearing its end. Such persons are by no means cranks. Many are careful students of history as well as of the Bible, and some of them have figured the prophecies of Daniel down to a point v^here they feel sure, not only of the approach of the grand collapse, but of the identity of the principal characters who are to be conspicuous in the last days. One meets persons holding such views on the trains, in the banks, everywhere; and if one considers them sensible in all other things, they can hardly be regarded as lunatics in this. The religious faith of many persons calls for a grand breakdown of the world." And why may not men expect " a grand breakdown of the world," or as it is generally called, the " end of the world " ? The Scriptures plainly and positively teach it. Practically every Christian creed either af- firms or at least recognizes it; and in the Scriptures, in religious literature, in the newspapers, and in the minds of people generally, the second coming of Christ and " the end of the world " are associated as inti- mately and necessarily related the one .to the other. THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14 : 12. ■ 112 INTO THE HEART OF AFRICA The Victoria Falls Railroad Bridge over the Zambesi THE GOSPEL TO ALL NATIONS One of the prominent, positive, and universal signs of the approaching end of this age, '' the great break- down of the world," — the second advent, — is the world- wide proclamation of the gospel. Answering still the question of his disciples, " What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matt. 24:3), Jesus said : " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all na- tions; and then shall the end come" (verse 14). There is no ambiguity nor uncertainty in this an- swer. The whole problem is clear. Christ is coming the second time, and His coming will be heralded to all the world by the proclamation of the gospel to every nation. The Threefold Message of Revelation 14 This same world-wide gospel movement was re- vealed in greater detail to St. John on the isle of Patmos, sixty years or more after the ascension of 8 113 114 A World in Perplexity Jesus. His outline of that great movement is as follows : " I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice. Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judg- ment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. " And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her forni- cation. " And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice. If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. . . . *' Here is the patience of the saints : here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. . . . " And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle." Rev. 14 : 6-14. The Gospel Message Outlined Summarizing the prominent features of this out- line, we have the following: First, this is a gospel movement. Verse 6. It is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is " the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Rom. 1 : 16. It is the " everlasting gospel " in the setting for the hour. Emphasis is placed upon those features of the gospel that are of special mean- ing and value at the time the message is duo. The Gospel to All Nations 115 Second, this is a world-wide movement. It is to reach '* every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people " on the earth. All classes in all the world — Christian and heathen, civilized and barbarous, rich and poor, cultured and untrained — are to be warned of the coming perils, and invited to the only sure place of refuge. By land and by sea the message is to be carried, to the busy throngs in the centers of popula tion, and to the remote, isolated, scattered peoples in partially explored lands and in the islands of the sea. And this will be done. John not only saw the work in progress, but he saw its glorious consummation in a company of people standing around God's throne, who had been gathered out of every nation by this message. Third, the message to be announced is a threefold proclamation. The messages of the three angels blend into one great movement, achieving one great end. Fourth, this threefold message is a last-day message. It proclaims to all men the startling truth that the judgment is at hand. The judgment day is a promi- nent event in the great program of the gospel. It is a last-day event. It comes in connection with the closing part of Christ's ministry. His mediatorial work for the world. Fifth, this message is reformatory. It tells pro- fessed Christians of their departure from the true standard, of their fall from the high spiritual ground they once occupied, and therefore of their unprepared- ness to meet God in the judgment. Furthermore, this message utters a most solemn warning against some of the most conspicuous errors and dangers of the time. Sixth, the result of the proclamation of this three- fold message in all the world is the gathering out from the nations of a people of whom it is said, " Here are 116 A World i7i Perplexity they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14 : 12. These persons are pre- pared for the judgment; they are ready to meet their Lord. No Christian ever did more than to " keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." This meets every requirement of the gospel. Seventh, this threefold message ushers in the second coming of Christ. " I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle." Rev. 14: 14. This is a description of the return of Christ to His people. When He left His disciples on the Mount of Olives, " a cloud received Him out of their sight." Angels who stood by the disciples said to them, " This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1:9, 11. His departure was personal and visible; His return will be personal and visible. A cloud received Him out of their sight; a cloud will bring Him in sight again, and all *' shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matt. 24 : 30. Christ returns a king. He has " on His head a golden crown" (Rev. 14: 14), signifying that He is no longer a priest. He has received a kingdom, and now comes to begin His reign. He has in " His hand a sharp sickle." He is ready to reap the harvest of the earth. In His parable of the sower, Jesus long before declared that " the harvest is the end of the world." Matt. 13 : 39. Thus it is clear that the return of Christ will be heralded to all the world by a gospel message shaped for the hour. When that message has accomplished its purpose, Christ will come, according to His promise. The Gospel to All Nations 117 He will then bring to an end the reign of sin and death. This will forever banish all the pain, the sorrow, and the suffering of this sin-cursed earth. Hail, glad day! This Prophecy Fulfilled Passing from the interpretation of the prophecy to its fulfilment, it can be affirmed with all sincerity and with great joy that this message (Rev. 14:6-14) is now being proclaimed to the world. According to the prophecy of Daniel, it was due in 1844, and true to all His ways of working, the Lord launched the movement on exact time. " When the hour struck, the work began." The movement John saw in vision and described nearly two thousand years ago, we see in active operation today. The statements used by Bible writers in foretelling the rise, progress, and culmination of the Advent Movement, and what we see taking place, assure us that this message is now being given to the world. The gospel is being preached for a witness unto all nations. A movement is on foot that meets every specification of the prophecy. And the message is being given in the very lan- guage of prophecy. Sincere men and women are turn- ing to the commandments of God as the true standard of the Christian life. At the same time they are look- ing to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only source of power to enable them to keep the law of God. In His name and strength they are achieving victories. The Way Prepared For nineteen hundred years the long-suffering of God has waited even as it waited in the days of Noah, *' while the ark was a preparing." But God cannot always wait. His purpose must be fulfilled. His will must be accomplished ; and in these last days His prov- idence has wrought marvelous changes in long-standing TJie Goaijel to All Nations 119 conditions throughout the earth, to prepare the way for the proclamation of " this gospel of the kingdom," — the world-wide message of the end of the age and the fulfilment of His eternal purpose concerning the earth and its peoples. A century ago conditions in all non-Christian lands were in every w^ay opposed to the evangelization of the people, and these forbidding con- ditions seemed altogether immovable. But during the last century these conditions have changed. A mighty power has swept the barriers away. They no longer exist. One of the great barriers was exclusion. Great '' walls of adamant and gates of steel " shut out West- ern nations and Christian missionaries. And they shut these heathen people in, thus cutting off effective communication. But today these walls are gone. Of the wonderful change that has been effected in this one particular, the late Dr. Arthur T. Pierson, one of the greatest champions of the cause of foreign mis- sions, once said: " The twentieth century finds the world-field with fences down, inviting tillage. When the ' Haystack band,* at Williamstown, a century ago, was praying and planning about missions, so fevv^ were the open- ings that it took large faith to see any prospect of suc- cess. Africa was the unexplored continent; Asia was the walled continent, shutting out the gospel herald with walls of adamant and gates of steel; Europe was the papal continent, as forbidding to Protestant work- ers as pagan isles in the South Seas. Over the Moslem territory the green flag floated in defiance, and no evangelical worker dared hope for any toleration; South America was half papal and half pagan, wrapt m a pall of impenetrable night. Whichever way one looked, impassable obstacles seemed to make impossible a path for the Christian missionary. 120 A World in Perplexity " Since then the iron gates have opened as of their own accord, in every direction, and during a single decade about the middle of the last century, access was given to about three fourths of the world, hitherto more or less rigidly exclusive/* About the beginning of the nineteenth century the Christian church in a definite, determined way began the work that has culminated in a great movement for the evangelization of the world. At first, and for a long time, this effort encountered great opposition. But the church gained ground, making steady prog- ress in all parts of the world. At last the barriers began to fall. In 1842 a treaty was made between Great Britain and China which has resulted in opening the latter country to all Christian workers. In 1844-47 Persia was thrown open to gospel mis- sionaries. From 1835-86 changes took place in Korea which resulted in throwing her gates wide open to Christian workers. In 1851 Siam was opened to the gospel. From 1854-58 treaties were entered into between Japan and the United States, which opened Japan to the gospel. In 1858 India and Burma passed under British rule, thus assuring the fullest liberty and protection to Christian missionaries. And in 1898 the American occupation of the Philip- pines opened those islands to Protestant missionaries. Gospel Forces at Work As these gates have swung open. Christian mis^ sionaries have promptly passed through to give the gospel of light and life and salvation to the people. The growth, the power, and the achievements of the The Gospel to All Nations 121 foreign missions movement during the past century have been truly marvelous. One hundred years ago there were less than one hundred Protestant mission- aries at work in non-Christian lands, and these were confined to a very few places. Today there are twenty-five thousand foreign mis- sionaries at work in non-Christian and non-Protestant lands. These workers are being assisted by one hun- dred twenty-five thousand native Christian workers who have been won to the cross of Christ. Thus by preaching and teaching, by circulating the Scriptures and Christian literature, and by living Christian lives, the gospel is being revealed to multiplied millions who had never heard of it a few decades ago. It is with profound gratitude that Christian people everywhere behold in active, vigorous progress the glorious work for which the providence of God has created such marvelous changes throughout the world. In the midst of the greatest world conflict of all ^(i;.the ages the gospel of peace and good will to men is« going as never before. As earthly kingdoms are fall- ing to pieces and every human refuge fails, a voice is heard everywhere saying, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." And the preaching of this gospel of the kingdom in all the world is in itself, as we have seen, a sign of the end, of the coming of the King, and the establishing of His everlasting kingdom. CHRIST COMING IN GLORY The Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him." Matt. 25: 31. 122 I__ — . jj_ — r-^--— ;■.-* ?;>1 m-' m ■H^^pC^ w '^' -4 '^^^1 's^SI^^^^P^ 'If^* '^^ \ 1 i HH^^P%^rz<^ & - «ii^ j^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^i ^^ '; ^^ r ^^pi«|. 4 F ^m^s :i /I ^ ^^^^^^'Z^mg^^ THE TR\N3PIGITRATI0N A TYPE OF HIS COMING *"llehoId, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him." Matt. 17:3. THE CLIMAX God's last-day, world-wide message culminates in the second coming of Christ. St. John saw this mes- sage extend until it penetrated everj^ nation. He saw it gathering from every " nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people " a great company of whom he said, " Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'' Then he beheld " a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having: on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle." Rev. 14 : 6, 12, 14. Let us emphasize the thought that this is the return of Christ in fulfilment of His own promise to come again, and the promise of the angels that He will so come in like manner as He went avv^ay. Now, however, He comes, not as the humble Carpenter of Nazareth, but as King. He has closed His work as priest, and has 123 THE DYING SOLDIER'S VISION Painted in a prison camp in Siberia by a student of the Vienna Academy 124 The Climax 125 received from His Father a iJingdom. The prophet Daniel says: '' I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an ever- lasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Dan. 7:13, 14. The gift of this kingdom to Christ is in fulfilment of the promise recorded by Luke : " He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for- ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." Luke 1 : 32, 33. St. John, to whom this great event was revealed, wrote : " The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever." Rev. 11 : 15. This fulfils the promise made to Christ and re- corded in the Psalms : " Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the utter- most parts of the earth for Thy possession." Ps. 2 : 8. When this is fulfilled, Christ will " come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him ; " and " then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory." Matt. 25: 31. "And He shall send His angels, ... and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt. 24:31. It is then that "many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Matt. ^:11, THE KINGDOM OF PEACE Thy kimrdom come. Thy will he done in earth, as it is in heaven." Matt. 6: 10. Tlie Climax 127 Thus ''the kingdom and dominion, and the great- ness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all do- minions shall serve and obey Him." Dan. 7 : 27. Then will be fulfilled this scripture : '* Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying. Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Rev. 5 : 13. This is the climax, the great objective in God's plan for the human race. Sin — that hateful thing which has brought all the evil this world has known — is destroyed and banished forever. The ills of the human race are cured. The cause of sorrow, suffering, and tears is removed. No longer are there disappoint- ments, unrest, strife, and revolution. Distress, ac- companied by torturing perplexity, is ended. No longer do men's hearts fail them " for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming." *' The Lord shall comfort Zion : he will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." Isa. 51 : 3. This is God's answer to the cry of this groaning creation. And this is the only true answer there is. All other plans and schemes for the regeneration of the race have failed, and will continue to fail. The best of them are but weak crutches that only help us to hobble on a little longer. But God's remedy is effective, and it is complete. It sounds the depths of human needs; it lifts every redeemed soul to the high- est pinnacle of true greatness and unalloyed happiness. 128 A World in. Perplexity Every human being is embraced in this great plan of redemption, and may share in its consummation, if he so decides. In these closing moments of probation, " the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say. Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." " He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly." And God's waiting church responds, " Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22 : 17, 20. The Prince of Peace Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proce; Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: n^^y 20O PreservationTechnologJG A WORLD LEADER IN PAPEIl PRESERVATIC 111 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township. PA 16066 (724) 779-2111