"Upon this rock will I build My Church; and the gates of Hell [Hades, the grave] shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matt. 16:18, 19)
For some unaccountab1e reason numerous Catholics have gotten the thought that we are their foe, just as Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, etc., have gotten the impression that we are their foe. We are a foe to no human being, and especially to no Christian. We believe more fully than do Methodists in Free Grace-which ultimately God's grace will reach every human being. We believe more emphatically than do most Presbyterians that the Church is an especially elect class, and is now being gathered out of the world to be God's agents in the ultimate blessing of all the non-elect. We believe with Baptists that only the Elect, the immersed, will constitute the Kingdom of God, although we deny their claim that baptism in water is the real immersion. We hold, with the Apostle, that it is baptism into Christ's death. Similarly we hold to the great Catholic doctrine that there is only one true Church, founded by the Lord Jesus Christ through His Apostles, nearly nineteen centuries ago. We are aware that several churches claim to be Catholic -the Anglican Catholic, the Syrian Catholic, the Greek Catholic, and the Roman Catholic. Each claims to be the true Church and reprobates the others as heretical.
But we take the still broader, catholic ground. We hold that the word catholic means general; and that any limitation, such as Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, etc., to that extent denies their catholicity. Perhaps, therefore, we are really saying that we are more catholic than any of these brethren. We must prove our point or be misunderstood. We hold, and few, if any, will dispute it, that the one catholic or universal or general Church of Christ is the one mentioned in the Bible -"the Church of the First-borns, written in Heaven." If this be admitted, our next proposition is that the Lord in Heaven records as members of His true Church the saintly only-whether Roman Catholics, Anglican Catholics, Greek Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc.
Have we not here the one Church, the Catholic Church, the universal, the only Church which the Bible recognizes? In the past we have been too narrow and have supposed that God was as narrow as ourselves. It was on this account that in the past Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Baptist and Methodists persecuted and were persecuted, because each thought itself the true Church. Are we not all getting broader conceptions of our God and of His Church? Do we not see that a part of our mistake was in calling the outward organization the Church of Christ, instead of remembering that the Lord alone writes the names of the Church, that He alone reads the hearts, that He alone is the Judge, and that He alone has the right to blot out the names of those who become reprobates? St. Paul wrote against the spirit of sectarianism, already manifest in his day -some saying, “I am of Paul"; others, "I am of Peter," etc. The Apostle asks, "Is Christ divided?" (1 Cor. 1:10-13) So, today, if with us, he would ask, "Why Romanists, Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, etc.? Is not the name of Christ enough?" He explains that these different names of old signified a sectarian spirit, the spirit of division, that failed to recognize the true Head of the Church, His true representatives and His true members. The trouble is the same today. The entire foundation of divided Christianity would disappear and all the true Church of Christ -all real saints -would be speedily manifest, if true catholicity were acknowledged.
The one great obstacle to unity is the erroneous doctrine respecting the eternal torture of all not members of the Church. We must open our eyes wider and see that many of our theories were not taught by Jesus and the Apostles. We must see that the Church is a comparatively small company of saintly footstep followers of Jesus, irrespective of sectarian lines; that the Bible teaches not that these are to look over the battlements of Heaven to all eternity and see all others in torment, but that they are to demonstrate their loyalty unto death and in due time be associated with Messiah in His great Millennial Kingdom, which will bring knowledge and opportunity to all the families of the earth-the living and the dead (Rev. 20:11-13).
St. Paul declared that the saints of God, the true catholic Church, "are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Corner Stone." (Eph. 2: 20) The Twelve Apostles are here referred to in their double office - Apostles especially commissioned by the Lord as His representatives and prophets, mouthpieces, for the proclamation of the Message of the Church. Jesus, referring to these same foundation stones, pictures the Church of Glory as the New Jerusalem, and its twelve foundations as twelve precious stones, in which are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb -no more, no less -St. Paul being God's choice to take the place of Judas, the betrayer of his Lord and Master. To think of St. Peter as the only foundation for the Church would be to deny Christ’s teaching and St. Peter's own statement -that the entire Church is symbolically represented as living stones built together by the Lord through the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 2:4-6). It was a costly mistake when our forefathers, overlooking this well-established point of Scripture, thought of the bishops of the Church as Apostolic Bishops, and took their decisions in councils assembled as the voice of God to and through the Church. The voice of God to and through the Church came only through "the twelve Apostles of the Lamb." All others so claiming are denounced by Jesus Himself as false Apostles (Rev. 2:2). God's true saints of all denominations should ignore all human creeds and return to the Bible and its declaration of "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." (Eph. 4: 5, 6) Are we more loyal to human organizations than to God, His Truth, His Church -all saints and one people, imbued with one spirit, the world around -the real catholic Church?
As St. Peter was only one of the twelve foundation stones of the Church, so, likewise, he was only one of The Twelve to whom the Lord declared, "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven" (Matt. 18:18) -the same statement exactly that on another occasion He made to St. Peter only. But He gave the keys to St. Peter alone. Would it seem reasonable that Jesus should tell the twelve Apostles that God would do anything that they bade Him do -taking to Heaven whom they pleased and excluding whom they chose? Would it be wise or safe to entrust to poor humanity such dictatorial powers respecting the eternal interest of even one individual? Assuredly not!
When we remember that these Apostles declared that they were men of like passions with others, that St. Peter himself dissembled on one occasion and on another denied his Master, we are the more convinced that Jesus did not mean that God would abdicate His authority and wisdom in favor of any twelve men. What, then, does this passage mean? We answer, It implies that the Lord would so overrule the utterances and writings of His twelve Apostles as to make them safe guides for His Church. To these Apostles would be given through the Holy Spirit at Pentecost wisdom enabling them to understand which things of the Jewish Law were binding upon the Church and which not binding. Their decision would be absolutely right, and the entire Church might have confidence that what the Apostles bound or loosed on earth was equally bound or loosed in Heaven.
As an illustration of this binding and loosing, see Acts 15:28, 29. To get back into proper relationship with each other and rid of all sectarian systems, God's people must recognize that only the words of the New Testament Apostles and Prophets are authoritative, properly representing the Divine mind. Other things men have bound and loosed on earth, without recognition in Heaven. The things necessary to the Church are found only in the Bible, as St. Paul declares (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).
THE CHURCH UPON THE ROCK
"Other Foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 3:11) In the Divine arrangement Jesus Christ is the Foundation, the Rock, upon which is built the entire superstructure of His Church -the one Catholic, world-wide Church. On this Rock, Christ Jesus, as St. Peter declares, all the Church is being built as a Temple of God (1 Peter 2:4-10). The New Jerusalem, the Church in glory, had twelve foundation stones, built upon the one Foundation Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. It would manifestly be erroneous, therefore, to suppose that our Lord abdicated His own place in the Church in favor of St. Peter, much as He loved His impulsive disciple. What, then, did Jesus mean when He called St. Peter a stone, spoke of building His Church upon "this rock," and declared that the gates of Hell (Hades, the grave) would not prevail against it? We reply, Jesus went down into the prison-house of death, Sheol, Hades, the tomb; but on the third day the gates of Sheol, Hades, were opened, and He came forth. These gates will not prevail against the Church, as they did not prevail against her Lord. This is an assurance of the resurrection of the dead.
To understand St. Peter's connection with the Rock Foundation of the Church, we should read the preceding context. The disciples had told Jesus the common talk respecting Himself. He then asked them, "Whom say ye that I am?" St. Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." This was the first public declaration of Jesus' Messiahship. Even the disciples had only now come to recognize their Teacher as the long-promised Messiah. Jesus answered, "Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonas; for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but My Father in Heaven. Thou art Peter [a stone, ready for the spiritual Temple, the first one to publicly acknowledge Jesus], and upon this rock [the Truth just declared, that I am Messiah] I will build My Church." In the Greek the word Peter Signifies a stone of moderate size, while the word here rendered rock signifies a mass of stone -a foundation. Our Lord Jesus Christ evidently meant that St. Peter's statement was a recognition of Himself as the great Foundation of the Divine Plan -Messiah. Upon that foundation truth, that Jesus is Christ, the Church would be built; and St. Peter was the first living stone to build himself upon that foundation by believing and confessing Christ. St. Peter himself gives us the same thought -that he and all others of the Church, are living stones, being builded together as a Holy Temple of God. This entire Gospel Age has been devoted to the building of these stones upon that great Foundation Rock, Christ Jesus. As soon as the great Temple of God shall be completed, this Gospel Age will end and the New Dispensation be inaugurated, for the blessing of all the families of the earth.
To St. Peter our Lord said, "I will give thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven." What did He mean? We shall not suppose that any who are sufficiently intelligent to read this article are stupid enough to think Jesus meant that Heaven is locked up, and that nobody could get in except as St. Peter would open the door or gate. True, some have voiced such fantastic notions. But we refuse to believe that intelligent people could be in earnest in any such view, the absurdity of which is apparent. What the Lord meant is very simple, very beautiful; and we see exactly how it was fulfilled. He indicated that St. Peter, the first to confess Him, was to have a special honor in connection with the inauguration of the Church on earth. By the expression, "Kingdom of Heaven," is meant the Church, a class being called out of the world to become with Christ the ruling power of the world during the Millennium, through the great resurrection "change." (1 Cor.15:42, 54)
Jesus meant that St. Peter would be honored in being permitted to do an opening work in connection with the Church. The Bible shows us two different opening works and two different keys. The key is a symbol of power or authority or an initiative. St. Peter used his first key of privilege on the day of Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came upon the early waiting Church, it was St. Peter that used this key. Standing up with the other Apostles, he lifted up his voice, explained the situation and opened the door to the Church of Christ for the Jews, admonishing them of their opportunity to enter. He told of the merit of Christ's death and how He had risen and had ascended on High, and how forgiveness of sins was, therefore, preached in His name (Acts 2:14-36).
The second key to the Kingdom of Heaven -the Church, the embryo Kingdom preparing for glory -St. Peter used three and a half years later. Then the seventieth week of Divine favor prophetically appointed to the Jews expired, and the time that "Gentiles might be fellow-heirs with the Jews of the same Promise" came. The opening work was with the household of Cornelius, to whom St. Peter preached Christ. The Lord blessed the preaching and granted the Holy Spirit to Cornelius and his family. Thus the Gentile door into the Kingdom was thrown wide open (Acts 10). "That repentance and remission of sins might be preached in His name to all people." (Luke 24:47) God never gave power to bishops, priests or ministers of any denomination to forgive sins. "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Nor did Jesus give authority to His Apostles to forgive sins. They might preach repentance and forgiveness, but only in His name. Any child of God is Scripturally authorized to declare that Christ died for human sin, and has thus made arrangement by which all repentant sinners may be forgiven. It is an honor to be the bearer of such a Message from God to men; and every child of God is fully commissioned to tell the Divine Message to all who will hear. In proportion as God's people throwaway their sectarian spectacles they can read God's Message in the words of Jesus and the Apostles.
Let us hold fast the precious Word which Jesus exhorted us to search and which is sufficient that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished. Let us remember that there is only one true Church, each member of which is a saint, related to God and the Lord Jesus Christ through faith, repentance and remission of sin and the begetting of the Holy Spirit; that it is the only Church that is catholic, universal; and that a member of the Body of Christ is a member of that Body anywhere. "Ye are the Body of Christ and members in particular." (1 Cor. 12:27)
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love!
(Herald of the Epiphany, July 15, 1943, pp. 25-26)
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WEIZMANN'S RESIDENCE RE-OPENS
One of Israel's most historic homes -designed by Erich Mendelsohn, one of the most important architects of the century -is once again open to the public. Its grace and innovative styling is as vibrant today as when it was first completed. The private Rehovot home of Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, and his wife, Dr. Vera Weizmann, has not only been restored to its original beauty, but has been elevated to museum level.
"This combination of legacies is of rich importance in both Jewish and universal terms," says Hanan Alon, the Weizmann Institute's vice president for international affairs and public relations. "Dr. Weizmann's importance and contribution both as an architect of the Jewish state and a pioneering scientist are expressed in all facets of the Weizmann Institute of Science, so we find it fitting to be entrusted, now, with administering his home as well."
Chaim Weizmann bequeathed his home and its l1-acre estate to the State of Israel upon his death in 1952, at age 78. Consequently, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the State of Israel instituted Yad Weizmann to promote his contributions to the Jewish people and administer the property. Vera Weizmann continued to live in the family home until her death in 1968, and was buried next to her husband on its grounds. A few years later, the house was opened to the public, enabling Israeli school children and visitors from around the world to experience history where it was made. Twenty years of continuous activity, however, had taken a toll on the house, and it had to be closed. In time, Yad Weizmann decided to empower the Weizmann Institute to seek funding for restoration of the estate, which borders the campus of the institute.
The challenge was great, because the decision was taken not only to refurbish the house, but also to restore it to its original condition. Architect Mendelsohn designed the house long before establishing his international reputation; his first project in the future State of Israel.
The building's design is as modern as anything being built today, bearing testimony to Mendelsohn's reputation as a Modernist and Expressionist. It bears the architect's signature of sweeping curves, which seem to defy being executed in cement. Structurally, the house comprises a concrete frame and silicate bricks, two layers of insulation, and a stucco exterior. Equally characteristic is the use of a staircase connecting the two floors. From the outside, the windows serve as a visual "spine" from which the rest flows in symmetry. Internally, the spiral staircase and the natural light bathing it contribute to a soothing ambiance. Impressive as the structure is in position and size, it does not belie the fact that it contains 22 rooms, along with wide verandas on the second floor, overlooking the gardens and with a view to the Judean Hills.
The restoration work brought together a microcosm of what Chaim Weizmann had worked for as a Zionist; expert restorers, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, an Israeli born curator; the grandson of Mendelsohn's largest private client; and immigrant construction supervisor from Kiev and a furniture restorer from St. Petersburg.
"It's our luck, that we had this. wave of immigration from Russia in the 1990s," said Merav Segal, Weizmann House curator and archivist. "All of our restorers except two are experts in their specialties."
Working under the supervision of curators from the Israel Museum and Prof. Anita Shapira, a historian and the chair of Yad Weizmann, the home's original form and interiors were faithfully restored. In fact, Mrs. Weizmann's meticulous records served as a guide to the restorers, who thoroughly researched her notes and documents.
Similarly, project architect Hillel Schocken approached the effort differently from ordinary projects. "This was not typical architectural work,” he explains. "My goal was that no one should know I had been there; that if Mendelsohn entered it, he would see it as something he had designed and which had been kept well. This was not easy, since we had to install some modern features, such as an air-conditioning system, then find a way to conceal it."
Mendelsohn took a holistic approach to his work, designing not only the house, but also the garden and its paths. Mendelsohn lost a battle of wills with Dr. Vera Weizmann, however. Dr. Weizmann insisted on her own preferences in furnishings. This brought a certain British flavor to what Mendelsohn had hoped would be a total statement of new Hebrew architecture, expressed in both design and materials.
One can imagine that he would have approved of the additions eventually made to the estate. Among the additions include a monument to the Holocaust and a sculpted entrance gate, both by Israeli artist Danny Karavan.
Visiting the home prior to its rededication on the anniversary of Chaim Weizmann's death, the country's current president, Ezer Weizman (who has dropped one 'n' from the family name), expressed his great satisfaction with the faithful restoration of his uncle's residence.
(Jewish Journal, L'Chaim, January 11, 2000)
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POPE APOLOGIZES FOR CATHOLICS' SINS
The pontiff asked God's forgiveness for wrongs committed by the church throughout the centuries. VATICAN CITY -In an unprecedented moment in the history of the church, Pope John Paul II asked God's forgiveness Sunday for the sins of Roman Catholics through the ages, including wrongs inflicted on Jews, women and minorities. The apology was a personal landmark for a frail, ailing pope who vowed to cleanse and reinvigorate Catholicism for its third millennium.
"We forgive and we ask forgiveness," he said at several points during the solemn Day of Pardon Mass at St. Peter's Basilica.
The church burned heretics at the stake during the Inquisition. Armies of the faithful slaughtered Muslims during the Crusades. And during the Holocaust, some Catholics stood silent in the face of Nazi genocide.
The pontiff did not specifically mention such infamous wrongs during the service. Few specific groups were mentioned, and no names were given.
Still, the references were clear, both in John Paul's words and those of the five Vatican cardinals and two bishops who confessed sins on behalf of the church.
Cardinal Edward Cassidy recalled the "sufferings of the people of Israel" and asked divine pardon for "the sins committed by not a few [Catholics] against the people of the Covenant."
After a moment of silent prayer, the pope responded: "We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood."
Several Jewish leaders praised his penitential words but said they expect more during the pope's March 20 through 26 visit to the Holy Land. During his trip the pontiff will visit Israel's Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, and the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism.
The director of Yad Vashem, Avner Sha1ev, called Sunday's Day of Pardon both "significant" and "historic."
Israelis want papal mention of Holocaust. JERUSALEM -Israel's chief rabbi said Sunday that he is "deeply frustrated" by Pope John Paul II's failure to mention the Holocaust in his appeal for forgiveness for the sins of Roman Catholics.
Rabbi Israel Meir Lau joined other Israelis in expressing hope that the pope omitted the Holocaust from Sunday's service only because he is planning a specific apology during his Holy Land pilgrimage next week.
"To mention The Inquisition from the year 1492 and to exclude the Wannsee conference from 1942 demonstrates a severely warped view of history," Lau said in a statement. Wannsee Lake in Berlin is where the Nazis planned the elimination of the Jewish people.
Israeli and Jewish leaders do not directly blame the church for the Holocaust, the systematic murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis and their allies during the 1939-45 German occupation of Europe.
Still, the role some Catholics played in helping to carry out the genocide, the church's silence and the ideological succor the Nazis drew from the church's voluminous anti-Jewish doctrines -most repudiated only in the years after the Holocaust -have led to deep-seated skepticism of Vatican statements among Jews.
During the service at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the pope referred to the Jews in a prayer: "We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood."
Lau said he hoped that the pope was reserving his Holocaust apology for his visit to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial.
I hope deeply that the pope of today, whom I appreciate very much for his doings and for his condemning anti-Semitism, will complete the asking of forgiveness next week in Yad Vashem in Jerusalem," Lau told Associated Press Television News.
(Associated Press, March 13, 2000)
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QUESTIONS OF GENERAL INTEREST
QUESTION -Did the Lord make the earth habitable for man and beast in six literal days?
ANSWER -No. There are several "days" mentioned in the Bible -some of 40 years, and a 1,000 years is a day with the Lord. Psa. 90: 4 tells us "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." And 2 Peter 3:8 tells us: "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.'"
But let us not reason that the earth, beasts and man were created in 6,000 years. That, too, is far too short a time for this great work. Then how can we figure it? Each day was the same length, so That Servant gave us the Truth on the matter in Volume 6, Chapter One. For details we can look it up. For now, the answer is that each day with the Lord in this instance was 7,000 years long.
So we don't want to make a case for Science by contending that the earth was made habitable in Six Literal Days. We agree with scientists that six literal days is a ridiculous assumption. Another reason for not believing it was six literal sun days, the Sun, Moon and Stars were not made until the 4th day (Gen. 1:14-19).
The Lord calls as a Day many periods of different lengths of years. The 40 years in the wilderness is called a day by God; the Day of Vengeance (which is many years), Jer. 46:10; the Day of Calamity, Jer. 46:21; the Day of Trouble, which is upon us now, Jer. 51:2. We do not know how long this Day of Trouble will be and probably will not know until its end.
QUESTION -Do you believe That Servant's chronology?
ANSWER -We believe all his Bible Chronology that is verified by the signs of the times. Many Bible Students believe Brother Russell was That Servant, but don't believe all he taught. We believe what he taught when it is supported by the Bible. His Bible Chronology for 1874, 1914, etc., was supported by the signs of the time. However, there is one event for 1874 that hasn't been fulfilled, and that is the Jubilee. The completion of the Jubilee period is still future, and we will have to wait and see if his chronology of that is correct. Some speculate on that, which is all right, but we will know only when it is fulfilled if his prediction is correct.
He announced that the Kingdom was set up September 21, 1914 in Reprint 5632. This was in harmony with his teaching that the Harvest was a 40-year period. We find this in his book What Pastor Russell Said, as well as the six volumes. He gives this in The Time is at Hand and others of the six volumes. Do the Lord's people believe he gave that date from his own ideas or from Bible chronology? We do not believe That Servant would treat God's people in such a way.
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IN MEMORY OF HERMANN BEZNER
Hermann Bezner, Emek Ha Shalom, Yokneam, Israel, died January 8th, 2000; he was 99 years old. He was born in Besigheim, Germany, and was already as a young man interested in the teachings of Charles T. Russell, an Early American Christian Zionist. Pastor Russell then was the leader of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. This was before the Society changed his teachings under a new leader, J. F. Rutherford, who founded Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931.
Hermann followed Romans 12: 1 and consecrated himself unto death with Christ. He knew that we now live in the seventh Millennium after Adam was created and that during this Millennium Christ's Kingdom shall be established beginning with Israel in Palestine.
Pastor Russell and his followers criticized the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, who supported Adolf Hitler and the National-socialists. Particularly they criticized the Doctrine of transubstantiation. Hermann and his twin brother as followers of Charles Russell had to flee. Hermann fled to Austria, where he hid himself for seven years at a small mountain farm. His brother stayed behind and was killed by the National socialists. Hermann started a supermarket in Vienna after the war.
Hermann, who had dedicated his life to Christ and Christ's Kingdom beginning with Israel, bought in 1962 land just south of Mount Carmel, where he believed the hills of Ephraim lay. There he and his helper, Joseph Elisha, laid out the beautiful farm, Emek Ha Shalom. He and Joseph wanted to show how beautiful Israel could be, when cultivated with love and care.
People in thousands came to Emek Ha Shalom to listen to Hermann who spoke of Daniel 12: 1: "and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was ... " He knew that Christ has given His perfect human vital energy to mankind, and therefore will not be a human being any more. He also spoke of the future Israel. All his listeners will remember his nice big painting, where beasts of prey dwelt with the lamb, which means that in the future men of wolf-like disposition shall not any more be allowed to live on people of lamb-like disposition as now usually is the case in churches and sects.
Everyone passing the main gate of the farm was met by a picture which reminded of Isaiah 2:4: "and they shall beat their swords into plowshares ... " Hermann was indeed a founder of a Valley of Peace.
We his friends in Sweden shall remember Hermann with gratitude and honour the memory of him.
(Anders Karlen and Leif Malmkvist)
Stockholm, January 15, 2000.
We join with Anders Karlen and Leif Malmkvist in their love and appreciation of Hermann Bezner. We are sure that God in His tender mercy for Hermann will reward him according to his faithfulness.
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"IN THE VALLEY OF 'THE SHADOW"
BROTHER EDWARD M. BURKE, Sr. finished his course Friday, February 4, 2000, born March 28, 1922. He was with the U.S. Naval Intelligence in World War Two: attended Dartmouth Co11ege in Office and Training Program: attended the Rollins College class of '49 as Captain of the Tennis Team: attended University of Miami '49, '51 (law). Ed Burke, after a previous stint, returned as Vice President and General Manager of the Forsgate Country Club. His career for the past few years before he came to his home in Eustis, was as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Deer Creek Country Club.
Survivors are Sister Betty and their son, Edward M. Burke, Jr., and brothers, Robert Burke and Thomas Burke of New York, and sisters, Marie Penicko and Eileen Schmidt, of New York.
Brother Burke was coming to the Bible Study of Epiphany Bible Student Ass'n for some time before he became ill, and even after he became too ill to attend he kept up with the lessons. Such brethren cannot be replaced. After he learned there was no cure for his illness he said, "I don't know how much time I have, but I want to do good as long as I live." He often said he was happier than he had ever been. We loved him and mourn with his family. Everybody loved him that knew him well.
He is now "asleep in Jesus" awaiting the resurrection of the Just (Acts 24:15), and will be one of the "princes in all the earth" (Psa. 45:16) in the Kingdom.