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March, 1938
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
able to safeguard its interests against the deadly perils of the hour. And to this proposal there is but little serious dissent. Even thoughtful advocates of peace through international cooperation are soberly recog nizing the futility of such ideals in the face of present stern realities. Expansion in the Mediterranean II. The world’s small remnant of po litical equilibrium having been unsettled by the policy of Force, there will come a rapid
ter and sympathies, its Premier in today’s news threatening a complete dictatorship. Very recently two of the trusted allies of France, Yugoslavia and Roumania, have virtually abandoned the Little Entente and switched to the Fascist camp. In spite of Russian and French sympathy, Spain seems likely to join the same camp under the in surgent Franco sooner or later. Even in France, Fascist tendencies and movements have caused the government much alarm and uneasiness as to the future. Fourth, it is this philosophy of the su
yielding allegiance to none, but at the same time will worship the abstraction of Force as incarnated in himself. It is the philosophy of Satan. The Philosophy of Force Manifest in Fascism Now this is precisely the tendency which dominates the Fascist philosophy of the ris ing modern Roman'Empire. And the phe nomenon is unique. Even in Communist Russia, arming feverishly against the world,
and tremendous expansion of the power of the Willful King. Daniel 11:39 declares that “ he shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign [strange] god: whosoever acknowledg e d him he will increase with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for a price” (R. V .). In general, the methods here described seem to sug gest military conquest, per sonal influence and diplomacy, mutually protective alliances, the support of dictatorial rulers in other countries, and commercial exploitation of these lands. While I am not even suggesting that Musso lini is the W illful King in person, surely it ought to be clear that in his Fascist methods and policies we have a remarkable correspondence with the things mentioned in Daniel 11:39.
war is only a means to an end—the supremacy of the proletariat. But to Musso lini, Fascist philosopher and dictator, war is good as an end in itself. In his philos ophy there is no fixed code of ethics which must be served by the might of the State, but the armed State makes its own ethics. In ac tual practice, of course, other political leaders have done the same thing, but they have tried to justify their actions on the ground of ethics. The Roman dictator scorns all such attempts as an indica tion of weakness. T o him the will of the State is supreme, and he is the State. This is the Fascist philosophy. And just as Buddhism began as a philosophy and ended as a religion, so I think the Fas cist scheme also will end at last as a religion, with the strangest god in all the checkered history of religion .—a god of forces. Thus the present Fascist empire pre pares the soil for that final “ king” who “ shall do accord ing to his w ill” (Dan. 11:36), recognizing no god except the power embodied in him self and in his control. This Fascist philosophy of the absolute supremacy of physical Force, in several different ways, is hastening the world toward what may prove to be its last great baptism of war and blood shed. First, transforming its
Dr. Bauman's Comment
Alva J. McClain
P RESIDENT McCLAIN of Grace Theological Seminary, Akron, Ohio, is submitting to the readers of the Prophetic Symposium of “ The King’s Business” one of the most timely, one of the most clear-cut, one of the most remarkable interpretations of Daniel’s great prophecy concerning the “ Willful King” (cf. Dan. 11:36),^ in the light of present-day events, ever published as a magazine article. The prophetic content of this passage in Daniel 11 is more and more outstanding as “ the day” approaches. For more than ten years past, at the risk of being condemned as seeking an excitant for pulpit purposes, the writer of this column has been telling people to “ keep an eye on Mussolini!” The Italian dictator still occupies the center of the stage as a great possibility. In the light of President McClain’s article, it is interesting to recall that in a speech before the Italian Parliament in November, 1925, Mussolini said: “ I affirm that in Fascism there are principles of life and universal character which cannot be stopped. All the world feels that the Parliamentary system, although necessary during the last century, is inadequate for mod ern life. This principle is not confined to Italy, but exists for all other countries. . . I will not menace any country, but in my capacity as chief of this government, I warn the entire world. You know me as a man who does not speak, but acts!” The world may have laughed at what it called blow and bluster” in 1925. It is not calling it “ blow and bluster” in 1938, as President McClain’ s article testifies. What about the future? — LOUIS S. BAUMAN.
It is further clear that unless some unforeseen ob stacle arises to delay its ad vance, the Fascist empire is on the eve of a great ex pansion' of influence and power in the region of the Mediterranean. In fact, its beginning is already a mat ter of history. And until one of the major world powers is ready to risk precipitating another world war by taking a strong stand, there will be no interruption of the Fas cist march. The "K ing of the South" to Resort to Force III. Evidently threatened and at last aroused by the dangerous expansion of the Roman power, the King of the South will enter the military arena against him. T o quote the exact language of Daniel, “ And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him” (11:40). Apparently the King of the South will be the first seri ous opponent to the political ambitions of revived Rome. Now if, as I suggested in the former article, the southern power is the British Empire, the present situation exactly fits into this detail of the prophecy. For there is no world power that stands to lose so tremendously by the expansion of [ Continued on page 100]
premacy of Force, put into practice by .the Fascist State, that has upset all the grand schemes of international organization. It has practically destroyed the League of Nations as an effective instrument, nulli fied the value of treaties, undermined con fidence in the method of diplomacy, broken down many of the remaining feeble agencies of peace, and started the whole world in its maddest and most gigantic race for su premacy in the munitions of warfare. Even as I write, the President of the United States reports to Congress “ with deepest regret” that more than one-fourth of the world’s population is involved in “merci less, devastating conflict,” and asks for the adoption of the greatest peace-time budget for military equipment in the nation’s his tory in order that our country may be
ideology into action, Fascism has taken to the path of open and deliberate conquest for the avowed purpose of restoring the ancient glory and might of Rome. Ethiopia has been made the first of the modern provinces. Spain may be the next. Second, the immediate temporal success of Fascism has encouraged other nations to adopt and imitate the methods of Rome. The outstanding illustrations are Germany and Japan, the latter already in possession of vast areas of conquered territory, the former preparing madly to strike either to the west or to the east. Third, the political theory of Fascism is spreading like a disease, especially in the region of the Mediterranean. It has been embraced'in Portugal. Greece for several months has been openly Fascist in charac-
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