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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
December, 1938
national peculiarities, but to the common need of men of every race and age. Deep down beneath all distinctions_ of race, and color, and tongue, and social status, and custom, and creed, all men have a longing which is, in the last analysis, for God; and it is because Christianity appeals to this longing, and undertakes to satisfy it, that Christianity alone is a universal religion. It was the love of God for the world that motived the sacrifice on Calvary. Christ Jesus came into the world to save, not the Jewish race, but sinners, and the message of the cross is as wide as the need. What we call “Foreign Missions” is evi dence of the church’s belief that Christianity is for all men, and the history of this enter prise justifies this belief. From the begin ning, Christianity has been self-propagat ing. Within the apostolic age it spread from Jerusalem to the capital of the Roman Empire, and beyond, and during the first three centuries it won its way through all strata of society. Since then, it has covered the globe, as Lecky says, “with countless institutions of mercy, absolutely unknown in the whole pagan world.” By bringing to a corrupting world a totally new idea of man as being of infinite dignity and immortal worth, the gospel has been paramount in all the great advances that have been made in the moral and social amelioration of the state of mankind. Chris tianity has been in the world the greatest civilizing agency for nineteen hundred years; and- yet, we may say, all this is but a by-product. Its supreme work has been and is to bring to human souls deliverance from the guilt and power of sin, and to lead them into an experience of God in Christ which the New Testament speaks of as "eternal life.” To deliver this message to all the world is the church’s first task; and for the per formance of it, she has at her disposal all the promises of God, and all the re sources of heaven. Christianity, then, we have described as a Fact, a Revelation, an Experience, a Life, a Creed, a Fellowship, a Gospel, and an Enterprise. It is all this, and much more, and the utmost that can be said of it is that . . . CHRISTIANITY IS CHRIST.
What Is Christianity? By W . G R A H A M S C R O G G IE * London, England
[In th e N ovem ber issu e o f T he K ing ’ s B usiness , Dr. S cr o g g ie dealt w ith his sub je c t in th e fo llo w in g a sp ects: 1. Christianity is a fact-— a fa ct originat in g w ith th e fa ct o f Christ. 2. Christianity is a revelation— som e thin g sta rtlin gly n ew—an em erg en ce into th e w orld o f G od H imself, at o n ce consum m ating and tra n scen din g all p revio u s r e v e lations as fou n d in Judaism. 3. Christianity is an experience of salva tion in th e cru cified, risen Christ. 4. Christianity is a life— fo r th e indw ell in g Christ is th e life o f th e Christian, the life o f G od in the soul. 5. Christianity is a creed— restin g upon . th e fa ct and truth o f Christ’s p erson and w ork : His D eity, His A toning Death, and His Triumphant R esurrection. 6. Christianity is a fellowship— o f all w h o b y co n v ersio n h a v e b een united to Christ and thus to o n e another. Dr. S cr o g g ie p oin ted ou t that in o n ly the first o f th ese points—in th e fa ct o f its foun d er s h istoric ex isten ce—d o e s C hristianity find comm on grou n d w ith oth er religion s su ch as M ohamm edanism o r Buddhism. In th e p resen t discu ssion th e author sh o w s the culm ination o f th e definition o f Christianity. —E ditor .] PART II I ET IT be said that C hristianity is a g o sp el. It is the only religion which brings to a sin-stricken world a "gospel” in its literal meaning of “Good News." Mohammedanism inspires fear, and begets a misery in its followers; and Buddhism is a religion of despair, though its followers come to it in hope. But Christianity promises to men freedom from bondage; peace for their sense of guilt; joy for their misery;' hope for their despair; strength for their weakness; forgiveness for their sins; love for their hate; and a thou sand other blessings; and it fulfills its promises to all who believe. Christianity, as no other religion, tells man what he is but should not be; and then it tells him what he should be, and may become through grace. It does not call us to amendment of the old life, but offers to make us a “new creation" in Christ Jesus. Christianity is a religion, but not all religion is Christianity. Christianity is the religion which tells of the stooping, suffer ing, saving grace of God, whereby a world of rebels may be reconciled to Him. It is th e o n ly religion w hich is a go sp el. The Christian gospel is all true, but not all truth is the Christian gospel. I could believe that a man might preach the truth for a generation, and yet never preach the gospel—the “Good News.” The Good News is a certain deposit of truth at the heart of tjre divine revelation, and when
Paul would summarize it, he says: “I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3, 4)., In the view of the New Testament, the incarnation is not the central fact and feature of Christianity; neither is the per fect life of Jesus; neither is the sublime teaching of Jesus. The central fact and feature of the Christian gospel is the cross of Christ and His resurrection, and these as making possible the redemption of man, and his reconciliation to God. It has been truly said, “Christianity without a Saviour is a face without an eye, a body without a soul.” The fact of the incarnation does not bring salvation; it but makes Christ’s sacrifice possible. And the perfect life of Jesus does not bring salvation; it but makes His sacrifice worthy. It is in and by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that redemption is accom plished, and salvation from sin made pos sible; for "without shedding of blood is no remission.” The Pauline theology is not based on Christ’s ethical example, but on His atoning sacrifice. The gospel is not that Christ is the Ideal whom all men should follow, but that He is “the Lamb of God” who (by His death) bore (and bears away) "the sin of the world.” A Religion of Universal Application One other thing must be said—namely, that C hristianity is an en terprise. This fact follows from all that has gone before. If Christianity is a gospel and a life, it will, of course, be universal and not local; it will appeal, not to racial characteristics and
Pictured above is just one of many groups which might be shown of truly happy lepers, to whom the American Mission to Lepers has brought relief and comfort for body and soul. The above company of believers are gathered in Chiengmai, Siam, to "remember the Lord's death" in the communion service. See page 430 for further details of tlye worthy work of the American Mission to Lepers.
’ P astor, M etropolitan Tabernacle.
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