366 T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S E D I T O R I A L L Y S P E A K I N G
i Those who know their Bibles are well aware that civilization, with its patriotism, political beliefs, and even love of family, is but a thin veneer. The Word of God makes it clear that the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Cul ture, has placed over a sinful heart a protective covering which is soon torn off when men get down to ele mental things. Only those who have come into contact with the Prince of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ, have a new nature which enables them to stand fast and be victorious under severe testing. Wh e t h e r in life or death, God keeps His own. ★ ★ A Trillion World War II, which has just been brought to a merciful close, is esti mated to have cost the nations in volved one trillion dollars. Just how much money this is, nobody has the remotest idea. We are aware that a billion is a thousand million, and a trillion is a thousand billion, but our minds cannot grasp these figures translated into money. Most of us work in the hundred-dollar brackets. Contrasted with this stupendous sum spent for warfare is the a m o u n t raised for all religious purposes of all Protestant, C a t h o l i c , and Jewish churches—nine million dollars. This seems a respectable sum until com pared to the war figures, which make it look like "chicken feed.” Would to God the purse strings of professing Christians might be loosen ed! A stream of dollars should flow into the treasuries of the Christian en terprises of the world. This would not only accomplish the work and will of God, but is the only thing that will prevent Gargantuan expenditures of a World War III. The disparity between Christian giving and expenditures for selfish purposes always results in God’s allowing the wealth of the world to be expended in useless conflict. Oh, that the sons of m en were wise enough to realize this! ★ ★ The Defeat o f A God While the religious aspect of the Japanese War has been hinted at by the public press, the actual conflict which has been taking place is not clear in the minds of our people. In a very definite way, the struggle be
Welcome to the New Students Again we pause to thank God for the honor of opening the doors of Biola to another large group of fine, earnest young people, seeking training for the service of Christ in all parts of the èarth. This student body understands in’ greater measure than have some classes in the past the tremendous re sponsibility that falls upon the Chris tian young people of a generation struggling to recover from the ravages of total war. The faculty and adminis trative leaders of Biola feel the obliga tion as well to furnish the best train ing possible that they, under God, might make of these consecrated young men and women flaming evan gels to carry the Gospel to the ends of earth. However, we cannot do it alone, so we. appeal to all of our friends scattered throughout the world to re member us without ceasing before the Throne of Grace. Ask God'that He may have His complete way in the work He has committed to our hands.. ★ ★ Total Depravity Writing in the September issue of Thè Ladies’ H o m e Journal, Miss Dorothy Thompson, perhaps unknow ingly to herself, comments very lucidly on an ancient doctrine of the Scrip tures. She rather fearfully endeavors to explain the monstrous crimes of the concentration camps in the light Of the a d m i t t e d l y high scientific achievements, artistic abilities, and general good-neighborliness of the German people. She finds no answer to the question of how the civilized white world of the twentieth century could have produced such savagery. i Miss Thompson minutely examines the breakdown in these camps of fam ily ties, patriotism, love of country, and e v e n of common decency and honesty on the part of the hard- pressed inmates. She calls attention to the fact that some of the worst crimes were committed not by the guards, but by the prisoners themselves, upon other prisoners, even upon their fel low-countrymen and “ buddies.” Under the excruciating pressure of imprison ment, when one more day or week of life meant e v e r y t h i n g to a man, nothing seemed to endure except in those with a “spark in the breast,” an admonition in the heart, which we call conscience. Miss Thompson seems amazed that man could have fallen so low as to forget every decent thing he had ever been taught.
tween the United States and Japan was a “showdown” of deities. Again and again, the Japanese have claimed that their emperor was a favorite of Heaven and their people the chosen of God. Investigation has disclosed that the god of the Japanese is in no wise the God of the Bible. The Name of God’s only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, has not been recognized by the Japanese nation. On the other hand, the pray ing people of the United States ear nestly and persistently besought, for the duration, the favor of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob . .. the God of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Those of us who know some thing of the ineffable character of our Heavenly Father can understand why, in spite of our national sins, the bat tle had to be decided in favor of the United Nations. Japan’s pseudo-god had to be revealed for what he really wasL and the true God disclosed as the only omnipotent One. An illustration of this principle of God’s dealings with national deities is the victory of Jehovah over the gods of ancient Egypt as recounted in the Old T e s t a me n t . Each of the ten plagues was a personal attack upon a deity of Egypt; each portrayed vividly the immeasurable superiority of the God of Israel. To an even greater de gree, perhaps, the war against Japan, with victory resulting for the Allies, is a vindication of the God of the Bible, and the God of the United States of America. ★ ★ Good Reading The Apostle Paul, writing lovingly and tenderly to Timothy,, his son in
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