of all too many church leaders concerning the real function of the Protestant church in the world today. The tragedy is that nowhere in the article does the author reveal any con— t cern whatever over the fact that such is the case. This is exactly the difficulty with Protestantism. Vastly greater emphasis is placed upon the importance of individual con gregations following the official church program than the leaders' proclamation of the great doctrines of the church. A minister can deny all of the great doctrines of the Word of God, and if anyone dares criticize him for his unbelief he will have any number of his colleagues leaping to his de fense. But if a minister presumes to criticize the official boards, agencies and programs of his denomination, immedi ate steps are taken either to rebuke him, censure him or even to decapitate him ecclesiastically. It is quite generally agreed that earlier generations did have a better knowledge of the catchism, theology, prin ciples and the contents of the Holy Bible, and herein lay the vitality and strength of the Protestant movement in those generations. It was this very fact that fed and bred spirit ual giants among the clergy and laity alike. They learned these truths, they believed these truths and they made these truths a vital part of their every-day lives. That is the reason the church made a vital impact upon the lives of in dividuals. Indeed, that is a very significant reason for the comparatively small church membership during those gen erations. The world recognized that there was a vast dif ference between it and the church. Unless a person was really born-again through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, in those days he would not have con sidered uniting with the church. Then church membership did not enhance one's social prestige or further his politi cal career, nor did church membership increase his business connections. In fact, church membership often had the exact opposite effect. Nowadays very little mention is made of being born- again, of accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as one's own per sonal Saviour, or of living a separated life-separated from the world and separated unto the Lord. Instead, it has become a popular thing to belong to a church. It has been made so easy that anyone can join regardless of what he believes or what he does not believe. In times past the world hated the church and would have nothing to do with it.; Although this was true, at times, because of the evident hypocrisy of church members and clergy alike, yet in the main the world hated the church because it was the church that spoke the Word of God which pointed out the fact of sin in the hearts and lives of the unregenerate. It is quite understandable that men who love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil, will hate that which reveals their iniquity. Church history is replete with instances whereof the church's spiritual strength flourished because it was at variance with the world and only those who were real born- again believers joined it even though it was a most unpopu lar thing to do. Church history is also replete with in stances of the church's becoming worldly so that there was little distinction between it and social organizations. During those times of fraternization, the church grew popu lar with the world, waxed wealthy— and lost its message al most completely. Today, history is repeating itself in this very regard. In many areas much is being made of the fact that thirty-five percent of the population of the United States belong to churches. To the student of church history (Continued on page 34)
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AUGUST, 1961
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