573
THE KING’S BUSINESS
Gospel, instead of the Atonement and the Fear of God. Fear has been driv en out of our homes, our schools, our churches, and is scarcely found today as a motive either in education or in Christianity. But the reaction has gone too far and the modern idea of the “love of God,” as something mere ly sentimental and not too particular, is a travesty of the Gospel of Right eousness. It has been acutely and rightly said that Mr. Moddy’s preach ing had wonderful and deep -influence in altering the whole tempef and char acter of evangelistic work by demon strating the practical power of a the ology which began, not with sin but with God. And yet while this is true no one was more insistent upon the awfulness of sin and the blessedness of the Atonement than Moody. It is, therefore, impossible to omit fear. And it is essential to proclaim the truth about the Divine judgment on sin in suelva way as shall convict the minds and consciences of men. A thoughtful English writer, who was an undergraduate at Cambridge ¿and a worker in one of Moody s missions, although now definitely removed from what would be called an Evangelical- position, has well said: “We dare not imagine that all dif ficulties can be made to disappear when we have substituted the -jword ‘aeonian’ for the word ‘eternal’; nor can be feel certain that the original term had no connection with the idea of time. The theory of Conditional Immortality raises more difficulties than it removes, while a bold Univer- salism is as prejudicial to_ religious life as it certainly does violence to Scripture.”—A. W. Robinson, "Are We Making Progress?” p. 14.) Reviewing the whole situation, it must be said with all possible empha sis that no line of Scriptural teaching can be omitted from our view. It is of course possible and easy to take the line that starts from God to show
feel their need of it. But we must not live in any delusion in regard to the fact and awfulness- of sin even though there are tendencies which make men think lightly of it. It has been pointed out that there are three causes beyond all others that combine to make men think superficially of sin and therefore to disregard the Atonement. FACT OF ATONEMENT. (1) The comparative study of re ligions with its evidence of atoning rites in all systems often tends to make people disregard the uniqueness of our Lord’s Sacrifice. And yet not withstanding all these results of study the unique efficacy of Calvary is as essential as ever, and no teaching worthy of the name of Biblical can omit the fact that “He died the Just for the unjust to bring us to God.” (2) Then, too, the general accept ance of a theory of evolution has made its influence felt -in the realm of morals and has suggested to men that the child or the man in a low stage of moral evolution is only act ing in accordance with animal in stincts, doing what is natural and' not at all *wrong. But such a view of human nature is wholly inconsistent with any Biblical doctrine of sin and Atonement, for if there is one thing more than another that stands out in the Word of God it is the personal responsibility for wrong-doing. So that no view of biology, and certainly no theory of the necessity of evil in order to full development, tan set aside the old doctrine of the “exceed ing sinfulness of sin.” ) (3) Another cause of much trou ble today is the almost entire absence from Christian teaching of what has been called “The Gospel of Fear.” A thoughtful scholar has said that “we have quietly dropped the word ‘damned? altogether ” and a school of modern theology has made the In carnation and the Love of God the
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker