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THE KING ' S BUSINESS
my Lord and cannot do otherwise, God helping me. We have been forced to fight. H we did not come to the battle of our Lord, we should hear the tragic cry, 11 Curse ye Meroz; because they came not to the help of the Lord against the mighty." A few years ago the Higher Critics -(though the more I know of them the less I think that is a suitable title for them. They ought to be called "Skeptical Critics" because that exactly describes their attitude In philosophi– cal terms; "Higher Critics" has no meaning at all other than to mislead people to think that there Is something "high" about their performance, and certainly there is nothing high or lovely about their propaganda, and I speak with assurance for I have studied it from center to circumference),-at any rate those who call themselves "Higher Critics" were declaring that the battle had been won. Dr. George Adam Smith -a name which is no doubt well known over here-told us in somewhat stri– dent tones that "the battle was all over and all they had to do was to assess the damages." Well, they may assess them as much as they like but we are not going to pay them for the simple reason that the battle Is not yet won by a very long way, and Dr. George Adam Smith has not repeated that re– mark now for some years. In fact, a very different tone now prevails In their ranks, and they are on the defensive and trying their hard– est to maintain their ground and not be compelled to retreat. They were mis– led at first by our inertness for the church did not realize what was coming. Men remained silent for the sake of peace, and so-little by little-the poison did its work until the skeptical critic had It all his own way. But suddenly voices began to be heard crying, "Halt! You have not all the scholarship, all the logic, all the
ability. The time has come for you to be examined and criticized and you must stand on the defensive." Although they have not surrendered by any means -they are on the defensive and talk much more modestly than was the case a few years ago. The battle in England Is centering more and more around the person and authority and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The skeptical critics would like to get us away from that, but we are determined to hold them there. "He that falleth upon this Rock shall be broken; but upon whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." If there is one thing more fundamental than another in the revealed religion of Jesus Christ, it is His sovereign and Divine authority. If that goes, every– thing goes. If that rock Is removed, tJiere is nothing else upon which we can build. And so they have tried In every way to get rid of it. Some years ago one of the best known leaders of these skeptical crit– ics wrote words to this effect: "The defenders of the traditional view are ceasing to quote Jesus against the Higher Critics. They feel that to do that is to gamble with stakes that are too high." I replied: "We do not gam– ble at all. We are certain of our posi– tion. It is the Higher Critics who are the gamblers. And the stakes are high. If they lose, they lose everything. Their Christian faith and life and love all vanish together." And from that mo– ment I said to myself, "They shall not escape so easily. They shall not be al– lowed to evade the authority of the Son of God. This is the crucial point. They can skip and jump all over the Old Testament, but when they come to the Lord Jesus Christ we will hold them there." And that is just what has hap– pened. Again and again I have point– ed out to them, "The greatest antagon– ist you have is Jesus Christ. You m ust settle the matter with Him. What will GO TO IT WITH ALL YOUR
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