IS THE KAISER ANTI-CHRIST?

Taranaki Daily News, 16 November 1916, Page 10

IS THE KAISER ANTI-CHRIST?

the question debated. An interesting debate tool: place in the Foresters' Hall last evening upon the question, "Is the Kaiser the/ antiChrist ' The debate was arranged as tlie result of Mr. John Ellis, of New Plymouth, challenging Mr. John, Kelland, a. travelling lecturer, in the columns of the News, to .prove an assertion he recently made to the effoct that the Kaiser was the anti-Christ. Mr. Kelland opened /the debate, and reiterated the argument that he had previously put forward; In Bev. of St. John, 13 eh., 18th verse, were the words: "Let him that hath understanding count the number;" and following them was the reference to the beast coming out of the sea and ,e:igaging in conversation with a man. beast, averred Mr. Kelland, was the Kaiser. The number, of the beast was 630, and this he would 'endeavor prove was the number of the Kaiser. The verse he quoted implied a mystery, and to fathom the mystery it was necessary to be acquainted with the Kabbala, an ancient Jewish system of religious philosophy and theosophy. To identify the Kaiser as the beast referred to, or the anti-Christ, it was necessary to employ the Ivabbalistie form of calculation. The Kaiser's numbc? was six. Taking the letters comprising the word "Kaiser," Mr. Kelland gave the number of each letter according to its alphabetical position, namely, K—ll, I—o, A—l, 'S—l9, E—s, R—IS. Adding these, lie made 63, which, with the Kaiser's number, 6, joined," made 030. Proceeding, he asserted that in the Kabbalistie system 16 stood for lib Satanic Majesty the Devil. He then demonstrated tljat the number 15 also represented the Kaiser. On this line of reasoning, he had not the slightest doubt about the identification of the Kaiser as the anti-Christ.

Mr. Ellis contended that the facts would prove that Mr. Kelland's assertions would not dovetail, and that he would demonstrate the fallacy of his opponent's arguments. Mr." Kelland had asserted in a recent address, in a:i effort to prove an argument, that there were 27 Germanic States. Reference to any Gazetteer would show definitely that there were not, and never had been, more than 20 States in Germany. The speaker said he knew something about Kabbala, and 'lie knew that in the ancient form of this philosophy the number 15 .stood for God, and not for the Devil, as Mr. Kelland had tried to show. In. the Kabbala 15 was the perfect number, representing the Almighty. According to Mr. Kelland's method of deduction, God's number was .8 In the Kabbala 8 represented change and death, annihilation, and destruction. Referring to the bible, Mr. Ellis said John had clearly shown that the beast's number was -000, three score and six, or 000. Mr. Kelland had asked i;hat no notice should be taken of the word "score." Mr. Kelland had prophesied the war would end in, February, IBIS. In March, 1915, he had given the date of the termination of the war ns the end of October, 101 j. The debater said he fervently hoped the Kaiser would not win the .war, but, according to the Bible, the beast referred to by .Mr. Kelland would overcome his enemies. According to Mr. Kelland, there were three alternatives: The Kaiser would win the war; John was a false prophet; or the Kaiser was not tiie beast referred to. Mr. Ellis did not think John was wrong. He asked what authority had Mr. Kelland in -fixing the present Kaiser of Germany as tile one upon tile letters of whose title lie based his calculations. The term "Kaiser" was a corruption of the title of the Roman Caesar. The Czar of Rrussia was known as the Kaiser in his own land, as was King George in India. It 'was clear, argued Mr. Ellis, that Mr. Kelland was very ignorant, or had tried to mislead his hearers. During the debate Mr. Ellis quoted copiously from Greek and Hebrew versions of the Bible. Mr. Kelland replied, and said Horatio Bottomley was his authority for asserting there were 27 States in Germany. lie quoted Scripture in order to show that the fall of the Central Powers had been prophesied. The Emperor of Germany was universally known as tiie Kaiser, and there was no doubt he was the person meant in the Bible. In a few words Mr. Ellis made reply, after which Mr. Kelland again took the floor, and held it for a considerable time.