Leaving India the Committee journeyed via Suez, stopping two days at Cairo. A visit was made to the Great Pyramid, whose wonderful Passages tell by their construction so much of the Divine Plan that it has been called the Stone Bible. We need not here give space to an explanation of the meaning of the passages and their wonderful lessons, so in harmony with the prophecies of the Bible, because the majority of our readers already have this as one of the Chapters in the Third Volume of the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES. We do, however, urge all to a fresh reading of this testimony, so helpful to faith.
On the second day an excursion was made to the ruins of Memphis, the ancient Capital of Egypt in Joseph's time, when he was next to Pharaoh in authority. Many of the scenes brought freshly to mind the Scripture narrative respecting Joseph, and later on respecting the finding of Moses in the rushes of the Nile. The land of Goshen, where the Israelites spent two centuries, and from which they were miraculously delivered, the place of their possible crossing the Red Sea, the wells of Moses, and the bitter waters of Marah on the opposite shore, were noticed.
Next we visited Athens, made famous through the visit of St. Paul eighteen centuries ago. There we visited the Stadium, where Socrates and other orators of ancient Greece held large audiences by their eloquence. We thought, too, of the fickleness of public applause, as we viewed the ancient prison in which he died. Other items of interest at Athens were the wonderful Temple and the great Amphitheatre, with a seating capacity of forty thousand, recently remodeled after its original style, in marble.
But the ruins of the greatness of ancient Greece, grand as they were, led our minds still more particularly to the great Apostle St. Paul. We considered that his monuments in the New Testament writings are more eloquent a thousand times than all the achievements of all the philosophers, poets and artists of the whole period of Greece's fame. We climbed to Mars Hill, traversing quite probably the same steps, cut in the natural rocks, by which the Apostle ascended and descended. We went to a platform in the rocks above, and near to the old market house mentioned in the Scriptures, and surmised that St. Paul spoke to the people from that very spot. Our little company while on Mars Hill engaged in a short service of praise and prayer, and Pastor Russell gave a little sermonette re the Gospel which St. Paul preached—Jesus and the Resurrection—Jesus, the Redeemer and Savior; the Resurrection, the method by which a Divine blessing will come through Jesus to all the families of the earth.
We noted that as the doctrine of the Resurrection was scoffed at by the ancient Greeks, so the worldly-wise of today are still inclined to stumble over it and to mock and say, "We will hear thee again of this matter—enough for the present."
Two public meetings were held in one of the principal auditoriums of Athens, addressed by Pastor Russell. On both occasions many were turned away, while others were obliged to stand. Many heard the Gospel of the Two Salvations for the first time:—
(1) The present call and development of the "elect," the consummation of whose hope will be in the glorious change of the First Resurrection.
(2) The Restitution blessing then to be brought to the world in general with full opportunity for all the willing and obedient to return to human perfection and a world-wide Eden and everlasting life—rejectors being destroyed in the Second Death.
Our experiences at Corinth were interesting. We were shown the ruins of ancient Corinth, which have recently been uncovered. We walked about some of the very market places and fountains visited by St. Paul, and probably upon the very stones. St. Paul's Cathedral, a fine, modern structure, is the City's memorial to the great Apostle. The Cathedral is Greek Catholic—or rather Greek Christian, for so the natives prefer to speak of themselves.
Here, at the request of the Mayor and the Ecclesiastics, Pastor Russell gave two addresses of about an hour and a half each. They were well received. The reasonableness of the presentations and deductions and the harmony of the same with the Bible seemed to be the general comment of the people, many of whom seemed hungry for a clearer knowledge of God's Word and a surer foundation for their faith. Here as well as at Athens many addresses were handed in with requests for reading matter.
Brief stops were made at two places in France, where several semi-private conferences were held with Bible Students. The following Sunday brought us to London, where a most interesting and profitable week was spent. Pastor Russell delivered eight addresses in London and nearby—four of these were in the London Tabernacle.