T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
689
In the din of self-interest and m ater ialism , which so largely characterizes the sp irit of th e present age, it is to be feared th e re are b u t few who bear the accents of the voice of God. Yet to th a t devoted company of humble, in quiring disciples who ta rry a t th e secret place for th e full disclosure of His deepest thought and will, th ere comes th e holy strain , as of an ancient hymn, the words, “Not yours, bu t you.”
as n atu rally as night follows day. Money which is not th u s dedicated has small purchasing power in the spiritual sphere, while no lim it may be placed on th e po tentiality of a life even mod erately .endowed b u t completely under the sway of th e Divine Spirit. I t is tru e th a t stew ardship of money involves one of th e most decisive tests of Christian character; b u t th e stew ardship of life is not alone th e most vital, it is th e all-inclusive test.
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Progressive Révélation
By John Maclnnis, D. D., Bible Institute of Los Angeles HARRY E. FOSDICK in his ¡cent book, “Christianity and rogress,” says: “Underneath 1 other problems which the
ultim ate issues are never left to chance. The Bible is quite clear on th is sub ject, and also strikingly unique. Bishop Gore in his book, “Belief in Christ,” says: “Thus it is. th a t Israel was the p aren t of w hat th e Italian philosopher Benedetto Groce proclaims to be the only tru e history, th e history which is also philosophy, which sees th e past as alive in the present and pressing on towards a goal, and consummation in th e future. . . Of th is conception of divine purpose runn ing th rough all things and destined to final effectiveness in spite of all failure and catastrophe, by th e way— for which th e rebellion of free spirits is responsible—a divine pu r pose w ith which it is man’s highest joy to co-operate— of th is infinitely fru itfu l belief in a divine purpose by progress the religion of Israel is th e ef fective source.” (Pages 13-14). To in te rp re t the Bible picture of the consummation of these age processes as “history catastrophically stopped in th e m idst of its course” is to tragically miss th e whole point of th e New Testa m ent story. I t is not th e story of “God breaking in on histo ry” b u t th e story of God through a new and forward action bringing to a consummation th e v ital
Christian Gospel forces is th e task of choosing w hat h er attitu d e shall be to ward th is new and powerful force, th e idea of progress, which in every realm is rem aking m an’s th ink ing .” A certain theory of progress may be comparatively new bu t th e idea of prog ress is certainly not new. The whole a ttitu d e and atmosphere of th e Bible and Christianity is th a t of development and progress. To miss th is is to fatally miss the key to th e in terp retation of the Bible and Christianity. The moment we open the Bible we are face to face w ith a dynamic movement which is a progressive becoming through th e cre ative activity, a divine and therefo re a dynamic personality. This conception dom inates th e th ink ing of the Book all th e way through to th e sublime clos ing, which is the most dynamic picture of consummating processes to be found anywhere in the lite ra tu re of th e world. The Bible world is centered in a liv ing personality. God made it, God sus tains its processes, and Jesus Christ is th e soul and goal of its movements. Its
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