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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
February, 1933
I N Q U I R Y B y W . J. MOSIER, Demarest, N. J.
T C he Laymen’s Foreign Missionary Movement was con- ceived, born, nursed, and trained in modernism. It is a child of the modernistic element o f the church. A millionaire modernist called its first meeting. The modernists of seven denominations and o f seven denominational missionary boards selected the fifteen mod Is this fair play? Is it fair to the God o f the Bible, the Christ o f the Great .Commission,- the early church, the pioneer missionaries, or the church as a whole? Is it fair to the fundamentalists, the humble, devoted, and most efficient members o f the church who have remained true to “ the faith once for all delivered unto the saints,” and who are the- only conserving elements in these times when rationalism and unbe lief and worldliness are shaking the church to its very foundations ? ernists to make the missionary survey. . Their report is purely modernistic.
The laymen’s report is a sad example o f compromise. It makes Christianity one o f many religions. It sees “ good” in all of them. The practical ideal is to combine the best from all faiths. The heathen are quite comfortable and happy in their age-long religions. They must not be unduly disturbed in their customs and beliefs. The gospel" of “ good will” and Christ as an example, “ a way of life,” is sufficient. Nothing must be taught so definite and dogmatic as “ I am the way, the truth, and the life” ; “ I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” ; and “ if the Son therefore shall make you free, -ye shall be free indeed” ; nor this, “ and this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life”— not that, but a diluted gospel message that does not hurt nor heal, that does not convict nor convert, that does not smite nor saye. The report o f the fifteen ap
A R ationalistic O utbreathing This modernistic report is sim ply the outbreathing o f the ration alistic party o f the church. It is the best planned, best organized, most united, most subtle, the.strongest, boldest, and most violent attack ever made against the true church. It virtually denies the inspiration o f : the Scriptures, the absolute authority, headship, and deity of Jesus Christ, the universality and curse ’ o f sin, salvation only by faiith in the •atoning sacrifice of Christ, eternal punishment, the sec ond coming of Christ, and the call o f all believers to evangelize the world by the simple preaching of the gospel. It exalts the natural man, minimizes his sin, and mag nifies good works and growth into grace without conviction and con version. It is silent on the subjects o f consecration, separation, sur render, and the filling and anoint ing of the Holy Spirit. It substi tutes education, reformation, social and institutional work, and reli gious form and outward profession for the inward work o f grace. Modernism is not Christianity, but a libel upon it. It is a counterfeit religion—a false religion and far more dangerous than any other false religion.
praisers is rationalistic, materialis tic, and naturalistic. It is unscrip- tural, unspiritual, 'unevangelical, and unevangelistic. It has no living message, no burning zeal for God or for mankind, no mandate from heaven, no supernatural motive power, no worthy objective. It practically annuls the force of the Great Commission, hints that the gospel can now propagate itself, and dimly sees all mission work committed to the religionized heathen. This report will be accepted only by modernists and the undis- cerning. Is not the spirit and method and work o f modernism, as exhibited in this missionary inquiry, religious racketeering? Is it not underworld tactics in high places ? It is founded on a false philosophy o f the Chris tian religion and its divinely ap pointed mission. Its origin, its spirit, its operation, and its conclu sions must therefore be out o f har mony with the will and the Word o f God. A H ome S urvey What therefore should be the true course o f the churches at this juncture? Most clearly, they should disapprove o f the whole action of
[ ru in g in the Watchman-Examiner, Mr. Mosier says: A- newspaper writer has sum marized the work of the commission [Lay men’s Foreign Missionary Inquiry] -as follows: In general, the inquiry is attempting to ascer tain what changes must be made in foreign mission planning to meet the three great changes' that the last century has brought in civilization—an altered theological outlook, the emergence o f a world culture, and the rise of. nationalism in the East. As though the great Head of the church did not foresee al.l.changes, or, seeing them, did not make provision to meet them® Trifling with. His marching orders is serious business. This committee o f fifteen laymen seems critical of -’ the motives, the spirit, the methods,-the per sonnel, and the results of modern missions. A few quotations from their report .will give a general impression of the whole: The pioneers o f Protestant missions were moved by the disturbing sense that many in Asia had not so much as heard the gospel, that mil lions o f souls, believed to be in danger of eternal ■death, might be given the opportunity of life; there was but one way, the way ■ of Christ. There was need of haste. This is a veiled indictment against all who sincerely believe that men are really and eter nally lost without Christ, that there is no other way but “the way of Christ,” that the speedy evangelization of the whole world is the most urgent, commanding call of the great Head of the church, and that the cause of Christian mis sions is the greatest, the most important, and most promising movement in the world today. Here is my concluding quotation from this daring and strange report: Whatever its present conception o f future life, there is little disposition to believe that sin-
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