King's Business - 1921-05

THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S 423 “The recently published year book of th e Federal Council of Churches has given us th e names of a number of obscure new sects. In most cases these little sects are largely local, having arisen out of particu lar church difficulties. I t would seem, however, th a t a new denom ination of more p retentious size is about to be born. In recent years th e Moody Church of Chicago, forsaking th e evangelical orthodoxy of its g rea t founder, has tu rned largely to apocalyptic propaganda, giving strong emphasis to the idea of an early, literal and physical re tu rn of Jesus. Short course in­ struction in proof texts of ¡the Bible is being furnished studen ts to go out and preach these doctrines. “ In Los Angeles a sim ilar In stitu tio n has been founded w ith a million dollars worth of property. There the teaching, iike th a t in Chicago, claims to be ‘ju st the Bible’, b u t it is literalistic and legalistic. The Congresses on ‘Fund am en tals’ held in connection w ith several denom ina­ tional conventions, and in a- number of cities, indicate a movement of n ational scope. It might, seem th a t an u ltra-literalistic elem ent is about to slough off from th e evangelical denom inations and form a new denom­ ination, one th a t will have much in common w ith th e Adventists and th e Plymouth B reth ren .” Where do you suppose this editor has been reposing for so many years 1 These Bible Institutes have not been forsaking “ evangelical orthodoxy.” Mr. Moody was a premillennialist. Neither the Moody Church nor -the Moody Institute have changed any of their doctrinal standards, but are giving just the old evangelical teaching. The Bible Institute of Los Angeles has not changed its standards, but confesses with real satisfaction that it does teach “ just the Bible.” It pleads guilty to this fact. But you need not fear, dear editor of the Chris­ tian Century, that we are going to slough off from the evangelical faith; and we are not going to found a new denomination. There are nearly two hundred ministers—good men and true—in evan­ gelical churches in Southern California, that are like-minded concerning their faith in the living Word; and there are thousands of them through­ out this land and Europe standing for what your good leader, Alexander Campbell, stood for,—“ just the Bible.” Not a Shorter Bible either; just the old-fashioned Bible—the Word of God. Neither do these Institutes give merely “ short courses in proof texts,” but a two or three years’ course in the Bible only. And it is a joy to know that when their students are’ examined by staid old church fathers for ordination to the ministry, the fathers have to confess that these students do know their Bibles. Graduates from these Institutes are filling pulpits all over the land, and evangelists who give this type of teaching are in demand everywhere. The Christian Century seems to be about a century behind the times. Wake up, and hear the news, and don’t allow fear to possess you. You need not fear the kind of preaching that preaches “ just

the Bible!”

T. C. H.

A CHALLENGE—

We hear much from some of our brethren concerning the dangerous, premillennial doctrine and its awful deadening influence upon the indi­ vidual life of the Christian, and upon any church where this doctrine is taught. We have been trying to find some church which has been put to death

Made with FlippingBook HTML5