Phineas F. Bresee - A Prince In Israel - Media Sabda Org

A Pure Atmosphere
We seek to make an atmosphere, pure, unselfish, full of divine love and holy thought, which shall
be a spiritual and intellectual tonic to every one who is so fortunate as to draw breath in it. To this
end, in the name of the Board of Trustees, I ask all who come in touch with this institution, to help
us.
But we do not live on atmosphere alone, vital as it is. In this atmosphere we have arrangements
for intellectual nourishment. First, there is the Word of Life. Here the standard is the Word of God.
It is appealed to, honored, studied. It is the standard of experience, morals, life.
We have not forsaken the old classics. We do not fear philosophy. We delight in mathematics.
We cultivate the sciences. We undertake to know what we may of the word of Life, to learn here to
be learners, that God may teach us what is best for us to know.
His Last Editorial
Dr. Bresee's last editorial -- and which was never published -- was written by him in the month
of September, 1915, and was as follows:
Loyalty. Love, reverence, and devotion enter into loyalty. There are some things, such as country
and church, which demand loyalty. Any one who can be easily turned aside, is not likely to be of
much value, and any one who has not the spirit of loyalty is likely to be of as little value elsewhere,
as where he now is, and to have as low a rating.
A true patriot can not easily change his fealty to the flag which to him has meant so much in
emblems and ideals. But, when the way is made clear, and he is providentially led in conviction and
sense of duty to do so, and writes his name under a new flag, all the possibilities of his being go with
him in loyalty to the country whose protection he seeks, and of which he becomes a part.
Those foreigners who sought privilege, protection, and home under the Stars and Stripes, who in
the days of this country's trial, turned back in their loyalty to the country from which they decamped,
and against the home of their adoption, were never worthy to be American citizens. They should
return to the land from whence they came, take upon themselves anew the vows of the old land, and
there abide. Naught but selfishness had led them in the past; if possible, something better should be
sought in the future. None among whom they now dwell can have any respect for them in their
present relations. Their room is necessarily more desirable than their presence.
In the church, where the relation is still more sacred and delicate, where men, of their own
volition, have taken on connections which embrace relations to each other of fellowship, friendship,
and common duties and obligations, those who can treat it lightly, or sever the relation easily, are
evidently where they are only for what they can get out of it, and are a weakness to the body of which
they claim to be a part. A church of such persons would have no reliability or strength.