53
February 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
I
ßditoried Qomment
ligion is to bring all truth into question, to throw morals into confusion, and to bring about a naturalistic philoso phy of life, reducing man to the level of the beasts. But the Christian faith, said Dr. Johnson, with its confident trust in the revealing activity of God, can speak with authority to the modern world.
Crisis in Venezuela f CRISIS has arisen in Venezuela, which threatens to seriously interrupt all missionary effort. Some months ago, the government took umbrage at an article in a parochial paper written by the bishop of Valentia, stating that civil marriage was noth ing but recognized concubinage. The bishop was obliged to write another article retracting his statement and taking oath that he would uphold the constitution of Venezuela. He refused to meet this demand of govern ment and was deported. The archbishops and remain ing bishops tried to force his reinstatement under threats of trouble. But the government quite properly insisted upon the conditions it had laid down. What began as practically a political fight with the Roman Catholic Church was broadened at once by a ban being put upon all foreign priests entering the coun try. The Roman Church, too, protested that if the law was to be put into effect with relation to her priests, the same ban must also be put on Protestants. Guided by a sense of fairness, the government accepted this inter pretation. The law now says that any one connected with a religious society which has as its business to evangelize or pastor the people in Venezuela can in no wise enter the land. When foreign missionaries engaged in work made inquiry as to the method of enforcing this law, they were immediately told' there would be no exceptions. In a way, it is quite possible to have a measure of sym pathy with the government of Venezuela in its fear of the possible political intrigues by foreign priests. It is most unfortunate that the action which was taken works a hardship upon those consecrated foreign missionaries who have never had any thought of personal or political advantage, and whose one aim is to bring the true gospel to a people who very much need it. The situation calls for most earnest prayer on the part of the church of Christ that the ban may soon be lifted. —o— Supernatural Faith and Sound Morals C AN sound morals be found where supernatural faith is denied? Dr. William Halloek Johnson, President of Lincoln University, in recent lectures on “Humanism and Theism” at Princeton Seminary, answers the ques tion in the negative. He argues that, when supernatural faith is cast overboard, sooner or later morals will also be discarded. He does not hesitate to severely arraign his fellow citizens, saying that “prosperity and power have made Americans forget God.” In the lecture concerning morals, Dr. Johnson dealt thoroughly with Walter Lippmann’s “Preface to Morals.” Commenting on this, the Presbyterian remarks: Mr. Lippmann, in “de-coding” Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick’s non-supernatural religion, has shown that with out revelation there can be no authoritative morals. La ter writers, in “de-coding” Mr. Lippmann, have shown that humanistic morals are no morals at all, and that the ultimate result of discarding the truth of a revealed re
More Confirmation of the Bible from Archaeology
I T IS not so many years ago that destructive critics took advantage of the fact that a large part of Bible history before 550 B. C. could not be confirmed by any contemporary literature. Its own witness was not con sidered sufficient. Indeed, the critics thought they had good ground for discrediting all the history of the Old Testament before the date named. Sometimes they spoke of it as a “tale of oriental fiction.” They seemed very certain that many of the people and places of which the Scriptures speak had no real existence. The answer of God to all this denial of His Word has been coming from the buried civilizations of Bible lands now being uncovered by the archaeologists. The con firmations of Biblical history have been so numerous as to stagger the critics, and it is safe to say that no discov ery has in the slightest degree cast reflection upon the Bible record. Nearly every day brings some new con firmation. Two bits of news, appearing recently in the daily press, the one relating to the story of Belshazzar and the other to the conquest of Jericho, are of sufficient in terest to repeat. Sir Charles Marston, writing concerning the discover ies made by Dr. C. Leonard Wooley, of the University of Pennsylvania, at Ur of the Chaldees, states that there is definite confirmation that the book of Daniel was writ ten at the time of the events recorded. This is by no means the only confirmation that has appeared in recent years, but it is interesting because it deals with a new angle of the case. Sir Charles Marston says: Mr. Woofey has discovered the palace of'Pricess Bel Shalti Nanna . . . This princess is believed to have been the sister of King Belshazzar of Babylon, whose great feast was interrupted by the writing on the wall . . . Archaeology has proved that this sacking of the Holy City did take place, and it was quite possible for the cap tive Daniel to have seen Belshazzar’s palace. Many Biblical critics have doubted the authenticity of the book of Daniel, but this discovery does much to confirm the historical accuracy of the story of Belshazzar . . . I believe the fifth chapter of the book of Daniel ranks next to cuneiform literature in accuracy, so far as out standing events are concerned. J. Garstang, of the University of Liverpool, gives in teresting information concerning recent research on the site of Jericho. He states: Researches conducted last year on the walls of Jericho have established that these walls were constructed about 1,400 years before Christ . . . The date has been set through comparison of certain ceramics and methods of construction. It is of especial importance in enabling historians more accurately to estimate the date when the Israelites entered the Holy Land.
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