| News and Views | September 1940 |
The Increase of Knowledge
THE end of this “present evil world” is prophetically marked as being a time in which “knowledge shall be increased.” (Dan. 12:3) The same thought is couched in symbolic language by the Prophet David, saying, “His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.” (Psa. 94:4,5) Here we see that lightning is used as a symbol of enlightenment—the spread of knowledge—and these words of the Psalmist may have been the inspiration of the Master’s prophecy in which He declares that His second presence (parousia) will be like the “lightning”—Greek, astrape, brightshining—that “cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west.”—Matt. 24:27
This increase of knowledge is along all lines that ultimately work for the lasting blessing of mankind. It has made possible a better understanding of the Bible, to the great blessing of those who have accepted the truth thus revealed. It has been along mechanical and scientific lines, to the great blessing of millions who have been privileged to enjoy the advantages of this era of “modern improvements.”
But knowledge is oft-times destructive as well as constructive. In the field of religion, for example “coming into the truth” disrupts many of one’s former concepts and practices; and may even dislodge one from life-long church associations. Indeed, the real truth of God’s Word, if allowed free access into the denominations, would cause havoc to all manmade organizations. It is only as one is able to properly appraise the value of the lasting advantages of knowing and believing the truth that he can be reconciled to the havoc it causes to “orthodoxy” in thought and practice.
The same is true with respect to the increase of knowledge along all other lines. The coming of the electric light destroyed the oil lamp industry. The “horse and buggy” was set aside to make room for the automobile. There has hardly been a single phase of human thought, habit, or endeavor that has not been invaded with the destructive forces of the “increase of knowledge” which was due in this “time of the end.” World government and economics are no exception, with the result that the Lord’s ‘”lightnings” are causing the symbolic hills and mountains (governments, large and small) to “melt like wax” because of His presence.
It was less than a hundred years ago that a pious school board of Lancaster, Ohio, branded the then incoming railroad as an “invention of the devil, to carry immortal souls down to hell.” It. was about the same time that those who attempted to sell coal in Philadelphia were either arrested or driven out of the city. Now, because of the unprecedented and rapid increase of knowledge, the railroads are far from the most modern means of travel, and coal is fast being replaced by other methods of heating and of producing power.
As already noted, invention and progress has invaded all lines of human endeavor. In almost every instance this progress has resulted in the saving of labor, which, in turn, has, over the years, thrown countless millions of men and women out of profitable employment. While it is true that the manufacture of labor-saving equipment has partially taken up the slack in unemployment caused by machinery, yet unemployment continues to increase. At the same time, inasmuch as machinery has almost always been under the control of Capitalists, its use has tended to make the rich, richer, and the poor, poorer. It is true that quite a number of the so-called middle class have had their standard of living raised by the increased knowledge of the Last Days, yet even among these the taste of better things, and the vision of still greater blessings which they cannot obtain, has produced a condition of unrest and dissatisfaction generally.
And now, just as economic experts are grappling with the problem already produced by the increase of knowledge, comes an announcement of the probability that the entire industrial world, as we know it, will be overthrown by the advent of what is called “Atom Age.”
The Atom Age, it is now prophesied, may become a reality within the next decade. Simply stated, it is to be made possible by the release of what is claimed to be the almost limitless power contained within the atom. That this power is a reality has already been demonstrated. It only remains to discover a practical method of releasing it by “smashing the atom.” Writing on this subject in the Herald Tribune, Sunday magazine, “This Week,” under date of August 25, J.D. Ratcliff says:
“Power possibilities of this element are difficult to comprehend. An average house with a furnace that burns ten tons of coal per winter could get all the heat necessary for a thirty-year period from a two-ounce piece of U-235. A similarly small piece might be sealed into the power plant of an automobile to provide energy as long as the car lasted. A two-pound piece would drive a submarine, and five pounds would propel an ocean liner.
“Successful application of the power within this uranium isotope will almost surely necessitate redesigning of every navy in the world. Space and weight now devoted to fuel supplies will be given to heavier armor and more guns. Naval fueling stations, hitherto a necessity for any nation with pretentions to empire, will no longer be necessary. Fleets will have unlimited range.”
This incredible power which is obtainable by the smashing of the atom, is wrapped up in a silvery metallic element now designated by the Scientists as U-234. From one pound of this element there has actually been produced energy equal to that produced by five million pounds of coal. Uranium ore is the substance from which these power-filled atoms are extracted, so that uranium has become synonymous with power. Uranium ore is plentiful in the world. There are large deposits in Canada, Colorado, Belgian Congo, Germany, and elsewhere. U-235 is present in the ratio of one part for every 139 parts of common uranium.
The chief obstacle that stands in the way of the practical use of this new unit of power, which is destined to supplant the use of all present means of light, heat and power, is the enormous cost of extracting it from uranium ore; but, according to Mr. Radcliff, this and other obstacles will not for long prevent this phenomenal boon from coming to humanity. He says:
“Such obstacles will not, however, deter the search for cheaper extraction methods. Already an army of men are at work on this job. The United States Navy, General Electric, and a dozen other research groups are working on it. Even though only a short time has elapsed since the inauguration of this effort, it is beginning to give results. From Stockholm, Professor Wilhelm Krasny-Ergen, worker at the Wenner-Grens Institute, reports that he has speeded up production 10,000 times by using a thermal diffusion tube. This improvement puts U-235 as a power producer just barely outside the limits of feasibility.
“Investigators in this country are looking to the possibilities of the centrifuge. This machine sorts atoms as to weight by whirling them at high speeds, just as a cream separator whirls milk into component parts. Most scientists feel that efforts in various directions will end successfully within a decade.”
This discovery, unlike what has happened to many worthwhile inventions, cannot be shelved by the industrialists for fear it will upset present business and economic methods, because already many of the great nations of the earth are officially engaged in discovering and exploiting its possibilities. Adolph Hitler, for example, took time out to set the staff of Berlin’s “Kaiser Wilhelm Institute” on the job of investigating it. Who knows but what this particular order of the dictator may have a more important bearing on the final destiny of nations than anything that has happened on the battlefields of Europe.
Only through the prophetic vision afforded by God’s Word are we able to visualize the wonderful blessings which will finally accrue to mankind as a result of this discovery, and knowledge will be still further increased as time goes on.
However, we can see its first effect will be to speed up the melting process of the present order of things. This particular “discovery” may well be one of the flashes of Jehovah’s lightnings which are enlightening the earth and causing the overthrow of the kingdoms of this world. Those who know the ultimate outcome can rejoice in the hope that when the increase of knowledge has dispelled the darkness of the present evil world and caused the downfall of all the institutions of selfishness, it will then bring about, in the Divine Providence, the establishment of a complete new order of things which the Bible calls the Kingdom of God. As a result of this Kingdom, the divine will is to be done on earth as it is now done in Heaven.
Knowledge will continue to increase, until all ignorance and superstition is dispelled, and all will know the Lord, whom to know is life eternal.