T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S 457 Let us advance, by all means, bu t let it be a healthy progress along th e lines of revealed tru th and w ithin th e lines. • —K. L. B. BITTERNESS IN THE BLOOD “The servant of th e Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those th a t oppose them selves.”— 2 Tim. k 2:24, 25.- I Some one has said th a t th e re is a power in gentleness to subdue th e w ildest opposition. There are higher critics' who are w inning a following because of th e ir gentle spirit. There are orthodox men who are losing th e ir hold upon many because of th e ir harshness tow ard th e critics. Then again, th e re ig Dr. Fosdick, who th ink s th e Fundam entalists are so fierce, yet in a recent sermon he said of them, th a t they were medievalists, obscurantists, destructionists, reaction- ' aries, non-progressives, narrow-m inded, unscholarly, unscientific, uneducated, un cultured, ignoramuses, back numbers, mossbacks, one hundred per cent bigots, v,; trad itionalists, cranks, crass literalists, hopelessly benighted, and o ther little things too numerous to mention. Then th e re is Professor Vedder, th e higher critic, who so often has called atten tion to th e bad sp irit of th e Fundam entalists, and he has w ritten a book against orthodoxy, of which a reviewer says: “ If conservative scholars be tru ly so benighted as th e au tho r th ink s, they should be regarded w ith pity, Calumny and invective are no proof of fine artistry . Can th e re be genuine critical insight when th e re is b itterness in th e blood? This book seems to plan wholesale slaughter, seizes opponents by th e h air and drags them cruelly to th e ir fate. We say oi such books, They shall not persuade us even though we be w illing to be persuaded. When an au tho r reso rts to abusive invective we begin to d istru st him .” W hether in book, sermon, or conversation, th ere is one th ing th e world has a rig h t to insist u p o n # -th at men sh all be fair and courteous w ith th e ir opponents. P rofessor Leander S. Keyser, of th e L u th eran D ivinity School, Springfield, Ohio, said recently of his experience w ith evolutionists th a t “ they out-dogmatize • all the theological dogmatists of th e Middle Ages. I have read many of th e works of those g reat theologians, as well as those of earlier and la ter ages, bu t I must say th a t in dogmatism ,- arrog an t superiority and contemptuous ex pression, they cannot hold a candle to th e evolutionists w ith whom I have come in contact. They are cocksure of everything. An air of superiority, a haughty mien and an in to leran t spirit-y-these seem to be th e ir chief characteristics.” c No doubt the cause of orthodoxy loses out in many cases for th e want of a Christian courtesy and gentleness on th e p a rt of a preacher. Let us come back to P au l’s rule given Timothy. The offense of th e Cross, has not ceased, There is no b etter method for dealing w ith modern opposition to th e Gospel. T rue gentleness is not weakness. No am ount of scholastic attainm en t, b rillian t elo quence or sharp w it can tak e th e place of it. “I have always been afraid ,” said an old preacher, “ of driving men away from th e Savior. I would ra th e r e rr on th e o th er side.” There is a story about a bumptieus fellow who was gotten forw ard in a Methodist camp meeting. A good b ro th er who prayed w ith him said, “O Lord, tak e th e ungodly s tru t out of Ned Ingram .” If we have any of th is in our method of defending th e faith , we may well pray to have it ta k en out of us. Let us be strong, courageous, dogmatic—bu t not b itter, harsh and unchristian. —-K. L. B. LIFE, SERVICE, MEANS (Inside Front Cover)
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