When Thoughts Take Wings

“Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?”—Job 38:35

AS A RESULT of the prophetic “increase of knowledge” in these last days—“the time of the end”—thought has almost literally been given wings; wings so swift that in a matter of seconds human beings in any part of the earth can let their fellows in any other part of the earth know what they are thinking about. Samuel F.B. Morse, inventor of the electric telegraph, said, “If the presence of electricity can be made visible in any part of a circuit, I see no reason why intelligence cannot be transmitted by electricity.” Morse went to work on this idea, and in 1837 applied for his first patent on the electric telegraph. That was just a little over a hundred years ago. Now the electric wings of thought are bearing the ideas of the human race hither and yon over the globe to a degree that staggers the imagination. A recent advertisement of the Western Union Telegraph Company announces “new radio wings,” which, it is stated, “can speed two thousand telegrams at once”—this on a single circuit, or beam.

The word telegraph is from two Greek words meaning “to write at a distance.” While the ancients, in their fiction and fables may have imagined the possibility of transmitting thoughts to distant points, it remained until the “time of the end” for these imaginations to be translated into reality, for now the Creator has permitted man to unlock the secrets of nature which make it possible, so we have the telegraph, both wired and wireless; the telephone, wired and wireless; the radio and television—and the end is not yet.

The importance of some method of conveying intelligence to distant points was early recognized. Many centuries before Christ, Aeneas Tacitus proposed and perfected a method of signaling by which words could be spelled. The signal codes of the ancients are believed to have been elaborate. Generally some kind of flag was used. Shields were also displayed, and it is believed that the reflected rays of the sun were in some way flashed as signals through the use of shields.

As we have noted in previous articles with respect to other inventions, it appears that military necessity was the chief motive which has caused men to seek out ways and means of communicating with one another at distances which could not be spanned by the sound of the human voice. In the Middle Ages, flags, banners, and lanterns were used to distinguish particular squadrons, and as marks of rank. The invention of cannon made an important addition to the means of signaling. In the instructions issued by Don Martin de Padilla in 1597 the use of guns, lights, and fires is mentioned.

But not until the application of electricity as wings for conveying thought was man able to communicate with his fellows over distances greater than could be spanned by the eye or ear. The deafening roar of the cannon could be heard a little farther than the human voice. Fire signals and reflected sun rays could be seen at a greater distance than a mere flag or hand waving. Nevertheless the limit of distance in communication was still the range of the eye and ear. It remained thus until the “time of the end,” when the mighty, invisible force we call electricity was put to work on the problem; and now, for pleasure, for business, or for war, men and women can converse with one another at will though separated by distances of thousands of miles. Today it would be considered just about impossible to conduct a business without a telephone; while armies and navies not equipped with the latest methods of electrical communication would be utterly helpless before’ an enemy that was so equipped.

Although the history of practical transmission of thought on the wings of electricity does not encompass more than a hundred years, the idea of using electricity for this purpose is much older. It was suggested over and over again as each new discovery in electricity and magnetism seemed to make it more feasible. The discovery of Stephen Gray and others that the electrical influence of a Leyden Jar could be conveyed to a distance by means of an insulated wire gave rise to a suggestion which, in 1753, was sent to Scots Magazine in an anonymous letter, in which was visualized the use of as many wires as there are letters in the alphabet. Each wire was to be used for the transmission of one letter only. Messages were to be sent by charging one wire at a time, according to the letter desired, and words thus spelled out by noting the movement of small pieces of paper marked with the letters of the alphabet and placed under the ends of the wires. A modification of this idea was contained in the same letter which suggested attaching a small piece of metal to the end of each alphabetical wire, which when charged would be attracted to an adjacent bell and ring it. Compare this original idea—and that’s all it was—with the actual practice now of sending two thousand messages over the same circuit at one time! Truly, knowledge has been increased!

While history gives most credit to Mr. Morse for the invention of the telegraph, he was not the only inventor in this field. Other prominent names are those of Wheatstone, Cooke, and Highton, of England. The telegraphic systems developed by these inventors were used on some of the British railways in the early days. They were, however, much more complicated than the method developed by Morse, so soon became obsolete. The remarkable fact in connection with all of these developments is that they have matured within the prophetic “time of the end, which as the Scriptures clearly show, began in 1799. The seed thoughts which matured in the time of the end may have been, and in many instances were, planted centuries before, but not until the Lord’s “due time” did they, or could they, develop into reality.

Telephone, Wireless, Radio, Television

The telephone soon followed the electric telegraph. Telephony is the art of reproducing sounds at a distance from their source. The term was first used by Philip Reis of Friedrichsdorf, in a lecture delivered before the Physical Society of Frankfurt in 1861. Although this lecture and Reis’s subsequent work received considerable notice, little progress was made in this field of science until it was taken up in 1874 by Alexander Graham Bell, a native of Edinburgh, but then a resident of Boston. In 1875 Bell succeeded in making his first telephone work. He continued to improve it and met with so much success that his name, more than that of any other, is associated with the telephone.

While the telegraph is still widely used, the telephone presented a new and more universal avenue of communication. The telegraph required the services of trained operators, for example, while anyone, even without previous experience, could use the telephone. At first it was quite local in use, linking the social and business life of communities, but soon its lines of communication began to reach out, until now continents and hemispheres, yes, even the whole world, is tied together by this magic transmitter of thought. It is no longer a novel thing for people to converse with others thousands of miles distant.

Following the telephone came the “wireless telegraph.” The name most prominently associated with this further advance in science is that of Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor who was born in 1874. Marconi obtained his first wireless patent in June, 1896. A year later a wireless communication company was organized in London, subsequently known as the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, Ltd. The first trans-English Channel message by wireless was sent in 1898, and the first transatlantic in 1901. The first wireless message from England to Australia was sent in 1913. Since the ablest of our scientists do not know the exact nature of electricity sufficiently to define it, it is a little easier for the lay mind to grasp the idea of impulses and sound waves being transmitted over or through wires than it is to understand how these impulses and sound waves can traverse the earth in split seconds with seemingly nothing at all on which to travel. We know, however, that it is happening, and we accept it as one of the miracles of this time of the end.

It was not a long step from the wireless telegraph to the wireless telephone and radio. Voice and music broadcasting took place sporadically from about 1916 on, but the pre-announced programs on regular schedule are credited to the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co., operating KDKA at East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These began on November 2, 1920, with the broadcasting of the Harding-Cox presidential election returns. However, the first experiments which led directly to the art of radio communication were performed by Heinrich Hertz in 1888. These experiments were the direct results of theories published by the English physicist, J. Clerk Maxwell, in 1865.

One of the great marvels of radio communication has been its application to transoceanic telephony. It is now possible for one to pick up the ordinary telephone, anywhere, in home or office, and converse with another person over his own telephone system no matter in what part of the civilized world he may live. Truly, radio in its various applications has greatly stepped up the transmission of intelligence.

It enables the people in every part of the earth to know, with practically no delay at all, what is happening in all other parts of the earth.

And now television has been added to radio, making possible the transmission of thought through the ether by sight as well as by sound. In Washington, D.C., when the new Congress convened at the first of this year, the President of the United States sat in his own study and saw as well as heard the ceremonies at that opening session. Television is far from being perfected, but it is already in daily use in many parts of the world.

Television, when it does come into practical use, will make possible the dissemination of knowledge on a vaster scale even than the radio. It will not be limited to what can be seen and heard at the moment, for news bulletins, lectures, dialogs, advertising—in fact anything which can be printed, or recorded by typewriter, can and will be televised and thus sent into millions of homes in permanent form, rolling out of receiving sets as the ticker tape turns out stock market quotations today. It is difficult to visualize in advance what tremendous changes this will bring about in our present methods of thought transmission. And all of this has come to the world in one generation. There are people still living who can remember the time when there was no telegraph, no telephone, no wireless, no radio; and many of these will still be living when television has reached the same universal use as the radio of today.

It would be folly to say that this phenomenal increase of knowledge within the lifetime of the present generation has come about because the people of our day are more intelligent than those of previous generations, for in reality they are not. As a matter of fact, the general public does not need to be particularly intelligent to use and enjoy our modern advantages. The number of people engaged as scientists to produce the marvels of our day is small when compared to the total population, and many of their inventions have been stumbled upon, rather than thought out step by step in advance.

The printing press, the electric light, rapid means of travel, the telegraph, telephone, and radio, have speeded up life on this planet to such an abnormal degree that the whole race—particularly in so-called civilized lands—is fast becoming neurotic. Man today is not wise enough to use properly the great inventions which divine providence has put into his hands. He allows selfish polices to dominate his thinking, with the result that the whole world has been brought to the brink of ruin by the very inventions which could have lifted the entire race to the greatest height of prosperity it has ever experienced.

The Bright Shining

It is only as we view the fast-moving events and developments of these “last days” from the standpoint of biblical prophecies that we are able to see their real meaning. Jesus gives us a clue to it when, in speaking of his second advent, he said that his presence (parousia, in the Greek text) would be as the bright shining which cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west. (Matt. 24:27) Our Common Version translation hides the meaning of Jesus’ words to some extent by using the word “coming” to translate the Greek word parousia, and “lightning” to translate the Greek word astrape. Parousia means presence. Astrape means bright shining; it can be the bright shining of a candle, and sometimes in the Scriptures refers to the bright shining of lightning, but not always. Lightning does not customarily come out of the east and shine even unto the west, so we know that Jesus was referring to a type of bright shining which did, and that is the sun.

Taking these facts into consideration, it is apparent that Jesus in this prophecy is explaining that his second presence will result in a worldwide diffusion of light; and light is used in the Scriptures to symbolize knowledge. Jesus’ coming, then, and presence, was to be associated with and to be the cause of an unprecedented increase of knowledge; not merely in the way of inventions as such, but through the instrumentality of the inventions, an enlightenment of the world along lines which, because of ingrained human selfishness, would have as its first effect the uprising of the masses to overthrow the existing order of things.

And how potent along this line have been our modern systems of communication! Suddenly the whole world finds itself able to converse with one another. The government of one nation can now talk to the people of another nation—something which was utterly impossible until the time of the end. Because of human selfishness, class and race hatred fills the air waves. The people are stirred up to demand their real and fancied rights. The chaos resulting from this has already reached a point where more and more of the world’s statesmen are reluctantly coming to believe that the only method of keeping the people under control at all is through more or less ruthless dictatorship.

Nations of the whole earth have been brought together into one world, and they are proving more and more as the days go by that the task of running that world is quite beyond their ability. Labor-saving machinery has made it possible to produce more food in America than America needs, but the remainder of the world is on a starvation diet, and the best we can do about it is to convert millions of bushels of potatoes into fertilizer and forbid the farmers to raise so much.

The world talks peace, peace, and wants peace, but keeps on making atomic bombs. When the use of atomic energy first became possible we heard much of the wonderful things it would do along peaceful lines; but now our government officials tell us there is no time to bother about that, that all further development of atomic energy must be directed to producing more deadly instruments of destruction. In keeping with this, they already have an atomic bomb a hundred times more destructive than the one which was dropped on Hiroshima. It is powerful enough—this one bomb—to completely destroy a city of a hundred million population, if there were a city that large.

Yes, the electric wings of thought have brought the nations of the world face to face with one another, and in the babel of tongues they are fast going mad. Those responsible for the welfare of the world have lost all sense of direction and seem to be scurrying around aimlessly, thus adding to the general chaos. Out of the confusion of tongues, however, come a few positive ideas and demands. Some of the people are beginning to identify the underlying causes of oppression and superstition, and they are insisting that those causes be removed. In Europe, for example, amidst all the confusion there is a consistent overtone of demand that the people be freed from priestcraft and religious intrigue which have so long emanated from Rome.

And Paul explained that this would be one of the results of the bright shining of Jesus’ second presence. He identifies that powerful church-state system which sprang up in Rome and spread itself over the old Roman world, as the Antichrist, and said that this system of iniquity would be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s presence. (II Thess. 2:8) Here again, however, the real meaning of the prophecy is hidden by a mistranslation. In this prophecy also the Greek word parousia is used. The brightness (Greek epiphaneia meaning “to reveal by light.” or “to shine upon”) refers to much the same manifestation of Christ’s presence as is mentioned in his own prophecy in which he calls it a bright shining. In both cases it has reference to what Daniel describes in plain language as the “increase of knowledge.”

This increase of knowledge is gradually leading to the overthrow of all systems of iniquity and superstition, because they are unable to stand up under investigation. As the masses which have supported them learn to know their real character, they withdraw their support, and eventually demand their destruction. Thus all the selfish and oppressive institutions of this present evil world are being shaken by the impact of knowledge, and the electric wings of thought are carrying knowledge into every nook and corner of the earth with the speed of lightning, and in overwhelming volume.

This knowledge is along all lines of human endeavor. In most instances thus far it is blended with selfishness, and sometimes hate; and because of this the world is being divided into opposing camps which ultimately will destroy one another in a time of trouble which is fast developing into a severity such as never was since there was a nation. Jesus referred to this time of “great tribulation,” and assured us that it would never be permitted to occur again. (Matt. 24:21) The reason is that the final solution of the problems posed by the increase of knowledge will be the coming in of the kingdom of Christ, that glorious kingdom of righteousness and peace and everlasting life.

The Lord’s people have a special opportunity and responsibility in this tragic, yet wonderful time, of disseminating the knowledge of Christ’s coming kingdom, and to bear witness to every phase of the divine plan for bringing order out of chaos, and peace out of strife. Wherever and whenever possible the clarion notes of the truth, sounded in the spirit of love and tolerance, should be heard. In America the radio can and is being used for this. This is also true in Australia. It may yet be possible in other parts of the earth to use the radio for dissemination of the kingdom message. It is well to watch for these opportunities and to be ready to use them as they become available.

We know that the time will finally come when all our modern means of communication will be used only for information which the people will need to know in order to come into harmony with the new kingdom which then will be in control. And then, thank God, the knowledge of his love and glory will quickly fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. Think of the time it would take to apprise the whole world of the fact that the new kingdom is established if there were no better means of communication than those in use in the days of Abraham!

Before the kingdom is actually in operation, doubtless transmission of thought will have become still more rapid and universal than it is even today. How quickly then will the knowledge of that kingdom be communicated to all people! What we see today is miraculous: and it is not difficult to believe that the God who foretold these things through his prophets will be able to fulfill all his promises on behalf of the people, even to the raising of the dead, when the time comes for that. Let us claim those promises, and continue to pray, “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”—Matt. 6:10

Not too peaceful

The First Peace Treaties

EARLY in February the first peace treaties following World War II were signed in Paris; and there has been a stormy time ever since on the part of the German satellite nations to which they apply. These nations do not feel very peaceful over the peace treaties, and four out of the five have served notice that they will endeavor to have them revised. Soon after the signing, riots broke out in Italy, and a British general there was shot and killed. This certainly doesn’t sound encouraging. We remember that it was dissatisfaction over the treaties imposed upon the defeated nations following the first World War which had much to do with the agitation that finally culminated in the second war. The Christian Century, speaking of this, says, “One has only to recall the use that Hitler and Mussolini made of popular resentment against the dictates of Versailles to know what will happen again.”

As we review world developments from month to month, there is one point which needs continually to be impressed upon our minds, and that is, that human wisdom has failed and will continue to fail to usher in a utopia of peace and good will. The church-state governments of the Dark Ages couldn’t do it. Democracy has failed to give the world peace. The League of Nations failed; and it is only wishful thinking to suppose that now, suddenly, the hearts of men will change. The lessons of history teach us that this will not happen. But more important than this is the fact that the prophecies of the Bible reveal most clearly that the only solution to the world’s problems—the only thing which will save the entire race from destruction through the misuse of God-given blessings—is that Christ will establish his kingdom and take over the rulership of earth.

There never has been a time in the history of the world when there was such a great desire for peace on the part of the masses of the people, as there is now. Neither has there ever been a time when there was so much planning for peace, and so many efforts and schemes to keep the peace; but the Bible sums it all up in a few words declaring that the people would say, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace”; and also that when they shall say, “Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child.”—I Thess. 5:3

These prophecies have been in course of fulfillment beginning with the first World War. We have heard the cries of peace. We have heard it through the League of Nations; we have heard it through peace societies and pacifist leagues; we have heard, it through our rulers and our statesmen; we have heard it nationally and internationally; but there has been no lasting peace. Instead, like travail upon a woman with child, there have been recurring spasms of trouble which continue to weaken the structure of the old order of things. These will continue, the prophecies show us, until out of the death throes of manmade institutions will come the birth of God’s new order, even the kingdom of Christ. Should we not, then, turn to God and to his Word to find out more about his plan for world peace—the covenant of peace and good will which he will make with the people, through Christ?

Protestants fearful

Parochial Schools Favored

THE Supreme Court of the United States has handed down a ruling—a five to four decision—that public funds can be used to transport children to parochial schools. This is undoubtedly a victory for the church under whose control these schools operate. Justice Jackson, in opposing the majority decision, charged that this ruling of the court was like “giving the clock’s hands a backward turn.” Millions in America will feel much the same way about it.

The controversy hinges on that part of the Constitution which endeavors to safeguard the country against any tendency toward church-state union. For government funds to be used to support denominational religious schools appears too many to be taking a step toward giving official recognition to the church sponsoring parochial schools. If one or more Protestant churches made a practice of conducting parochial schools, and public funds were equally available for them, perhaps it would not seem quite such a dangerous step to take.

Arminianism strengthened

Brethren Churches Unite

RECENTLY, at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, two Protestant groups affected an organic union. The new group thus formed will be known as the “Evangelical United Brethren Church.” It is composed of the former Evangelical and United Brethren Churches. Its combined total membership will be more than 700,000. In belief, both of these groups were very much akin to the Methodist Church. The original cause for their not being Methodists was largely in the fact that in the main their early memberships were from among German emigrants, and their services were held in the German language. The Christian Century, commenting on the union of these two groups, tells us that originally they were both rooted in the Arminian theology derived from the Wesleyan revival.

In the changing scenes of time, many old and heated controversies are lost sight of, hence a new generation hears and knows little of them. Probably the average church member of any denomination has never heard of Arminianism, and does not know that this particular understanding of the Bible was sponsored and vigorously promoted by John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Chinch. Nor does the generation of today know much about the contrary view which was upheld by John Calvin, and adopted by the Presbyterian Church.

In brief, the Arminian theory is what was in the old days called “Free Grace.” Free grace meant that God in his love provided an opportunity for all to be saved. Among the texts Mr. Wesley was fond of quoting to substantiate his understanding of God’s free grace was John 3:16, which states that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that “whosoever” believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting life. Also Revelation 22:17, which says the Spirit and the “bride” will bid all—“whosoever will”—to partake of the water of life freely. Mr. Wesley’s heart, broad and loving, rejoiced in this understanding of the provisions of God’s grace.

But John Calvin didn’t agree with Mr. Wesley. He taught that God makes a choice of those whom he wishes to be saved, and that all the non-elect are foredoomed to be lost—and to John Calvin, being lost meant to suffer forever in a burning hell of fire and brimstone. This was called the doctrine of election. So the controversy raged over these two viewpoints, and it was a veritable battle between the proponents of election on the one hand, and free grace on the other. One of the best treatises on this controversy is found in The Divine Plan of the Ages. This book shows that the two viewpoints really are harmonious when understood in the light of the Bible’s own interpretation. We learn, for example, that God’s program of election is designed merely to gather and prepare his representatives for the future worldwide work of Christ’s kingdom, which will be that of offering free grace to the people of all nations—the elect being the blessers of the non-elect.

It will be then that Mr. Wesley’s favorite text, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come,” will have its fulfillment; for until then there is no bride. The bride, the Bible teaches, is the church of Christ. The word church (Greek, ekklesia) means a “called out” class. Not until this class has all been called out from the world and associated with the heavenly Bridegroom, Christ, will there be a bride to offer free grace to the world. So Calvin and Wesley were in a measure both right, but they were too busy promoting their own views to see the harmony between them.

—But look at the world now!

Just a Few Growing Pains

The following is reprinted from a Woman’s World editorial of the year 1912. It makes interesting reading now in the light of what has occurred since. The world is “progressing,” but apart from divine intervention, it is now clear that the end of the road of progress would be the destruction of the race:

Coal strikes in England and America—revolution in Mexico—anarchy in China—Italy at the throat of Turkey—woman clamoring for the vote!

What of it? There’s no cause to be pessimistic—nothing’s really the matter with the world—just growing pains!

Progress has set herself a sudden and terrific pace. The earth has been spinning faster in the last twenty years than it ever before whirled. Naturally, there’s a bit of displacement in spots, but nothing hurt.

We can’t very well apply electricity to a thousand uses, go snooping among the clouds, universalize education, introduce penny journalism, and give science a free rein without some trivial consequences.

Old viewpoints are sure to shift, old creeds must give way to new ideals, society is bound to readjust its divisions.

The ancient molds of thought and economics, religion and government, are splitting. Our eyes see truths which our ancestors could not behold and by their light we perceive their errors and their inadequacies.

The greatest revolutions that have ever swept the universe will break within the coming hundred years.

Before this century is closed, the last king shall have lost his throne, the last battleship shall be scrapped, the last army shall have junked its guns. East and West shall meet in a thousand common causes and the Five Races join hands in brotherhood.

Perfected wireless telephony and telephotography, mile-a-second trains and airships will condense the seas and continents into ponds and back lots.

Africa will become a weekend resort for the New Yorkers, and the Canadian farmer will press a button, lift his receiver and exchange crop gossip with his son in Siberia.

Pain will be banished. Surgery will have accomplished the relief of insanity and blindness. Cancer, tuberculosis, paralysis, will be as easily cured as sprains and lumbago.

There will be no waste in food nor in land. The air will yield its wealth of nitrates to the condensers and every arable acre will luxuriate with vegetation.

The stored heat of the sun will furnish power and warmth for all humanity. Plagues and pests will disappear.

A dream? Not a bit of it!

A far-fetched vision? You are wrong!

No imagination can pierce the horizons that cloak the tomorrow from our sight.

The farthest-flung optimism can only estimate a fragment of man’s coming glories. How can you sneer!

Turn back and view the fifty years behind you. What prophet in your father’s youth would have dared proclaim the many magics of today?

Strikes, revolts, and wars are but chips that fly beneath the chisel of progress.

There will be many wars, mobs will rage, battles will wage, tyranny will clutch with strangling fingers, bigotry will plot, avarice will scheme—but to what will these avail?

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