Basic HTML Version
ATaleof
Two
Birthdays
by
J.
G.
Catander
As
the world celebrates tbe birthday
of Jesus Christ (on the wrong day), the
city of Oaldand, California, will be bus–
ily planning the centennial of the birth
of tbei.r natíve son Jaclc London (on the
nght
day!) this January
12.
The fact thal
either one of these men survived
b.is
controversia! gestation period is a mir–
acle in itself, and a powerful case in
point for one of conternporary Amer–
ica's rnost virulent debates - the "right
to life."
Let's rehearse the story of these two
remarkable births.
Londoo's Narrow Escape
lrving Stooe, in bis biography,
Jack
London: Sai/or on Horseback,
in–
troduces
bis
subject in tbe following
way:
"On a momi(lg in early June of the
year 1875 the people of San Francisco
awakened to read a horrifying story in
the
Chronicle.
A wornan had shot berself
m
the temple because ber busband had
'driven ber from borne for refusing
to
destroy ber unbom infant - a cbapter of
heanlessness aod domestic misery: The
woman was Flora Wellman ... the man
was Professor W. H. Chaney, itfnerant
lrish astrologer; the unbom child was to
become known to millions the world
over as Jack London."
What if Flora WeUman had suc–
ceeded in destroying herself, or Dr.
Chaney had succeeded in destroying the
cbild? The world would never have read
The
Ca/1
of the Wifd, Sea Wot¡; Marrin
Eden, Burning Dayfight
or those mar–
velous short stories set in the Yukon.
served for God's people,
the seventh·day
rtst...'
Today's English Version:
~As
it · is,
however, tbere stíU rernains for God's
people a rest
fike
God's
resting on the
seventh day."
The vital meaning of this verse has
been obscured by the King James trans–
lators. Everywbere else in chapters three
and four of Hebrews the English word
"rest" is translated from the Greek word
katapawin,
sirnply meaning "rest" or "a
place of rest." However, in verse 9 the
original Greek word for "rest" is
sabba–
tismos
whicb refers
to
the seventh-day
sabbath. Most other translations correct
this King James error in tbe Engtish.
Verses 10 and
11:
"For wboever en·
ters God's rest [tbe kingdom of God]
also ceases from his labors as God did
from his [on tbe seventh day following
the si:X working days of creation ]. Let us
therefore strive toenter lbat rest, that no
one fall by the same sort of disobedi–
eoce" (RSV).
God's seventh-day sabbath is not
"just any other day."
1t
prefigures the
eterna! rest burnanity will have witb
God in his etemal, never-ending king–
dom. o
JANUARY 1976
Jf you're not a Jack London fan, you
still must adrnit that the world would be
a far different spectacle without the
birth of the foUowing men. approxi–
mately 100 years ago: Winston Church–
ill.
Albert Einstein, Mobandas Gandhi,
and, earlier, Lincolo, Washington,
Shakespeare, Joan of
Are,
Moharnrned,
Peter, Paul, Moses, aod even Jesus
Christ.
The True Chrbtmas
Story
The exarnple set by the parents of
J esus Christ is perhaps tbe rnost
"Joseph her husband, belng a
just man ... was minded to put
her away prlvlly" - Matthew 1:19
profound argument for a baby's "right
to life." Matthew records that
"when ... Mary was espoused to Joseph,
before they carne together, she was
found with child of the Holy Gbost.
Then Joseph her busband, being a just
man, and not wiUing
to
malee ber
a
pub–
tic example,
was
mioded
to
put her
away privily" (Matt. 1:18-19).
At the time tbis took place, Joseph
bad every legal right to "put her away,"
either by divorce or by stoning ber to
death for her presumed adultery (which
was then a capital offense).
What
if
Josepb bad caused Mary and
the cl!ild to die? Wbat if he had prac–
ticed the cornmon cruelty called "in–
fanticide," tbe murder of the oewborn
child? Or what if Joseph had used the
crude methods of abortíon available in
bis
day?
ThankfuUy for all mankind, Joseph
was a more cornpassionate and respon–
sible father t
1
Uln "Professor" W. H.
Chaney, tbe father that Jack Loodoo
nevermet.
As
the world celebrates tbe 1975tb (or
J980tb?) birthday of Jesus Christ and
the JOOth birthday of Jaclc Loodon, pro–
spective parents sbould contras! the ex–
ample of tbese two controversia!
pregnancies before considering the
abortion of their unplaoned cbild. While
the pro-abortionists malee sorne cold
logical sense out of the need for planned
parenthood, populatíon control, and the
dignity of rnotherhood, the final decision
lies between the parents of the em–
bryonic life they have created..
O
pRain
lfUth
Pasadena , Catiforma
91123
P1ease send me a copy of the booktet,
Whích day ís
the Sabbath of ttre New Testamant?
'
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---------------------------
Person~
(Contínutd from pa¡:t 1
J
Tbe Ac:ademic Freedom
to
Reject
Basic
Knowledge!
In this feverish developmcnt of
lmowledge production, scholars in uni–
versitíes have been placing great ernpha–
sis on
academic frudom.
Academic
frcedom
is
defined as the indepeodent
judgment allowed teacbers, scbolars,
sci–
entists, and students in the pursuit o(
knowledge.
Science as a wbole and higher educa–
tion bave. exercised the academic free–
dom to postulate a creation without a
Creator. They have engaged in tbe ac–
tivity of knowledge production with to–
tal rejection of any possibility of the
miraculous, the supernatural, the exis–
tence of God - or anything outside the
realm of the material. They have re–
jected utterly revelation as a source of
basic knowledge!
-
When 1 engaged in research oo tbe
theory of evolution,
1
studied Darwin,
Haeckel, Huxley, Vogt, Chamberlain,
and other exponents of the theory. But
also 1 looked at the other side of tbe
questíon. But 1would venture to say tbat
most of those wbose higher education
has been acquired during the past half
century have been taugbt and have ac–
cepted
withou~· t},ueStiob
the; evolutió!'l ·
ary theory,
not having examined with any
scriousness
tbe bíblica! evidences of spe–
cial creation. The world's "best seUer''
has been dismissed
without a hearing.
ls
it not human to err?
Could it be
possible
for the most
highly educated minds to bave been in–
tellectuaUy misled or deceived? Could
they, viewing only
one side
of the ques–
tion , be infallible, entirely above making
mistakes? For many years now,
1
have
observed tbat errors almost always come
when
a
person starts with
a
false basic
premise - carelessly assumed as self–
evident and taken for granted without
question - and then builds on tbat false .
basic hypothesis.
Suppose we oow appropriate the aca–
dernic freedom
to
question that whicb
educators bave disrnissed without
examination.
Js it possible for us to find the
~x
PLANATION ofwhy MANis as he
ÍS,
WHY
the world is filled with evils? Js it pos–
sible for us to discover the CAUSE of all
human suffering, anguish, unhappiness,
and inequality?
Js
it possible to find the
CAUSe that would produce peace, bappi–
ness, ab6ndance, and prosperity - the
CAUSE wbicb world leaders have appar–
en tly overlooked?
Js
it possible to find
the key to human survival?
The answer to the preceding
ques~ons
is
"VES!"
Yes, it
is
possible to answer
these basic questions that have baunted
rnan as long as he has existed. Yes, there
is ao answer to these questions tbat deal
with man's very survival. Jf you want
ANSWEilS
to
these questions, write for
our booklet
Why
Were You Born.
It's
free for the asking. Also be sure to read
Plafn Truth's
new feature series dedi–
cated to human survival which begins
on page 7 ofthis issue.
O
13
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