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No. 7
VOL . X V
fc) JULY, 1924 6 )
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LEADING ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE The New T h e o l o g y . . . ......... ......Rev. G. W. Ridout The Authority of the Bible...-..;......Rev. G. T. Manley The Final Anti-Christ.....................Rev, Fred E. Hagin His Coming and His Appearing....Dr. James H. Brookes Building on the Sides of a Volcano..Dr. Cortland Myers
LOOKING AHEAD TO AUGUST
The Beauty and Reasonableness o f Christian Faith................... .......... .................. .......... .............................Dr. Leander S. Keyser The Empty Seat....................—..................... Dr. John Roach Straton The Virgin Birth of Christ............................................. Dr. I. R. Dean The Positive Product o f Prayer............................Dr. Howard Taylor The Modern Movement in Religion............ Dr. Geo. W. McPherson
The Written Word Q Inseparable Q The Living W ord THY WORD IS TRUTH john - 17-17 I AM THE TRUTH jo h n - w - s D B
North and South and East and West The Whole World Needs Your Very Best! What does GOD need and what does the WORLD need most today? Do They Not
need MEN and WOMEN, trained for Christian service, as Preachers, Teachers, Evangelists, Per sonal Workers?
Where Can They Be Trained?
In the Bible Institute, designed for this very pur pose. Years of practical experience; have demon strated this. The students of the BIBLE INSTITUTE of LOS ANGELES are at work the world over, and those in the school receive practical training in Christian work, while pursuing their studies. and the expense of conducting such and institution is very large, THEREFORE
We Make No Charge for Tuition
We Must Look to God's Children
to help us in this Much Needed Work. We are Giving Ourselves to it. Will You Share the Bur den with us?
Write for Full Information to T. C. H O R T O N
Superintendent Bible Institute of Los Angeles 536-558 S. Hope Street, Los Angeles, Cal.
T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s M otto: “ I, the Lord, do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." Isaiah 27:3. PI JRI ISHEn MONTHLY BY AND REPRESENTING THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES
R. H. RICHARDS, Business Manager
T. G. HORTON. Editor-in-Chief
CONTRIBUTORS DR. J. FRANK NORRIS DR. L. W . MUNHALL
WM . JENNINGS BRYAN DR. CHARLES R. ROADS
DR. JOHN MacINNIS DR. F. W . FARR
DR. LEANDER S. KEYSER DR. CORTLAND MYERS
DR R. A. TORREY DR. A . C. DIXON
THIS MAGAZINE stands for the Infallible W ord o f God, and for its great, fundamental doctrines. ITS PURPOSE is to strengthen the faith o f all believers, in all the w orld; to stir, their hearts to engage in definite Christian w ork; to acquaint them with the varied work of the Bible Institute of Los A ngeles; and to work in harmony and fellowship with them in m agnifying the person and work o f our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus hasten His com ing. __________ _ __________ Volume XV July, 1924 Number 7 Table of Contents Editorials Page
Consider Christ Jesus!............................................................................... 403 The Best Bequest....... ............................-...... -....................-----................ 404 Our Attitude Toward Our Antagonists.......................................... ...... 404 A Pathetic Appeal For Prayer From a Secular Paper....... ................. 405 The Professor Punches aBody Blow......................................................... 406 Catechism or “ Kittychism” ................. -...................................................406 Contributed Articles Who Can Tell us any Use for Modernism?—-Dr. Charles Roads........ 407 The New Theology— Rev. G.W.Ridout.............. ...................................408 From Preaching to Plastering— Earle B. Gardner................ :............... 409 How to be Fishers of Men— Reprint from Sunday School Times........ 410 The Authority of the Bible— Rev. G. T. Manley, M. A .,— ..............412 The Final Anti-Christ— Rev. Fred Eugene Hagin................................. 4 4 His Coming and His Appearing— Dr. James H. Brookes....................415 Building on tHe Sides of a Volcano— Rev. Cortland Myers, D. D.....41 o A Methodist Minister’s Appeal— Rev. Henry J. Zelley, D. D....... -4 j 7 Reconciling Religion and Science— Rev. A. S. Hunter........................ 41 8 Jeremiah of the Ozarks Attends the P. M. F. Conference............ — Rev. Ira N. Faurot.......................................................-........... 462 The Euodia Conference............... - ................................................. ..............419 Our Bible Institute in Hunan Province, China.................—............................^2U Evangelistic Department (Interesting Stories from Real Experience)...... 421 Current Comment ......................................... • .y ;"'v ;TV '''V ........................... A i t Pointers for Preachers and Teachers (Homiletical Helps),......................... 425 The Family Circle (For Fellowship and Intercession)........-.--.-..............426 Practical Methods of Personal Work for "Defenders of the Faith .............427 Comments on the Christian Endeavor Topics....... ........................ . The Children’ s Garden........ ....... -....................- ......... ....... ........................... Bible Institute Happenings...... ......................................... ...................... International Sunday School Lesson Helps.............. ............— ................... 431 The Whole Bible (Fundamental) S. S. Lessons.............................................440 Best Books - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .............. 1............................45Z
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BOOK ORDERS tended for the King’s Business.
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES
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Listen to Two Laymen One A Lawyer One A Salesman Both Standing Four-Square on the Fundamentals
A WORD OF WITNESS A salesman, writing to The King’s Business recently says: “ I am writing this to give my personal testimony as to my appreciation of The King’s Business, and the value I place upon it as a Christian layman and a business man. My wife, while on a visit to her mother in Los Angeles in 1920, subscribed to The King’s Business for me. At that time I was taking several religious magazines, but when I received the first copy of The King’s Business 1 became so absorbed in it that 1 sat up until eleven and twelve o'clock at night reading it through. The more 1 read the more enthusiastic I became, and considered it the best magazine teaching the Word of God I had been able to get hold of. I immediately sent in 24 subscriptions for friends— Christian people— who I knew would appreciate it. I am a travelling salesman, and have introduced this magazine to my friends in different towns where my business called me. I gave a copy to Prof. B., a professor in a Southern College, and teacher of a Men’s Bible Class. He came to me a short time afterwards and stated that he had been subscribing to a large number of religious magazines, but felt that The King’s Business would now supply all his wants and needs. I could add several testimonies of this nature from among my friends,— bankers, business men, etc. I have induced quite a number to subscribe for three months, and a number have told me it was the best religious magazine published. .1 am writing this to let you know how much your efforts are appreciated by Christian business men.*'
A WORD OF WARNING A prominent Binghamton (N. Y.) attorney, replying to a request for funds to endow a Chair of Church His tory in Auburn Theological Seminary, after a lengthy discussion concerning the standard set up for the ordi nation of Presbyterian ministers, said: “ If belief in the accuracy of the Scriptures; in the possession and exhibition by Jesus of miraculous and supernatural powers; in His crucifixion, death, burial and bodily resurrection, is not necessary to be believed in order to become a minister or member in the Presby terian church, why establish or ask for any declaration of faith or belief in anything? ***If any of the material facts asserted by. the writers of the New Testament, concerning the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus are untrue, why is not the principle ‘falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus* applicable to their entire writings? Having spent some time bn these and similar ques tions, we have concluded not to contribute anything more to an endowment of the chair of Church History in memory of a great and good man, whose preaching was so different from the sentiments expressed in the ‘Affirma tion,* and to whom the preachings and practices of the Clarkes, Guthries and others like them would have been as disturbing and distasteful, as it is to some of us old- fashioned folk.**
These Two Testimonies are Exceedingly Suggestive The Binghamton lawyer is wise. Why should any one endow a chair or an institution in these days when schools and colleges are manifesting such disregard for and denial of the Word of God, without which, as a foundation, our country is helplessly drifting to an early doom. Place your money where you can be assured it will produce definite results for God’s glory. We will gladly advise you. The testimony of the salesman shows what it is possible for one man, who really appreciates The King’s Business and its defence of the Fundamentals, to do in extending its circulation. What HE has done, YOU can do. We must double our subscription list, and this can soon be done if all the members of the K. B. Family will follow his example— introduce it to their friends, and thus help put it on a paying basis. “The King's Business Requireth Haste!" -1 s o m m i 21.8
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and woman, appealed to Him—rich and poor, old and young. He was God, moving among His creatures, Himself hungry and homeless, touched with the feeling o£ their infirmities, winning to Himself the wicked sin ners, the weak and afflicted, and saying to the fallen woman, “ Thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace.” Follow Him in your heart life, and every day consider Him—your Christ! Consider Him on the Cross. Stop, now ! Bow your head and your heart! You are to look upon the
CONSIDER CHRIST JESUS! We find in the Book of Hebrews a three-fold appeal to “ consider” Jesus Christ,—first, as “ Apostle and High Priest” (Hebrews 3:1); second, as the “ Receiver of gifts from Abraham” (Hebrews 7:4) ; third, as the “ Endurer of suffering” (Hebrews 12:3). Now, the word “ consider” as used here means to contemplate, to seriously view ; not a hasty glance, but a definite, deliberate, daily look. We once had the privilege of seeing Munkaczy’s marvelous painting
world’s greatest tragedy—God subjecting Himself, in the form of man, to His own law of sin and death. There can be no annulment of that law; there must be execution. If there is to be any surcease of earth’s sorrow, God must provide a way. “ The soul that sinneth it must die.” Death has passed upon all men because all men have sinned. God cannot vio late His own law. He must be the victim, and fulfill the law. The law pf sin and death cov ers, like a canopy, the whole race. Heaven’s victim is held by cruel nails. Drop by drop the life blood is poured out. Death claims Him. But that is not all. Sin means separation from God. He bears the sin of the world and He must therefore bear the wrath of God. Daylight disap pears. Darkness, like a great cloud, covers the earth. From the anguished heart of the suf
of “ Christ Before Pilate” and we tarried for more than an hour before it. It fascinated us. It held us. So let us learn to look upon Him who is our heart’s fond hope that, as we gaze, we may be changed into His likeness. Consider Jesus Christ as Creator. The Bible so declares Him. “ All things were cre ated by Him.” “ He is before all things and by Him all things consist.” He “ laid the founda tions of the e a r t h . ” “ The heavens are the work of His hands.” He is “ the Alpha and the Omega, which is, which was and which is to come, the Al mighty,” “ the same yesterday, today and forever.”
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IJAIL, Thou once despised Jesus! n Hail, Thou Galilean King! Thou dist suffer to release us; Thou didst free salvation bring. Hail, Thou agonizing Saviour, Bearer of our sin and shame! By Thy merit we find favour; Life is given through Thy Name. Paschal Lamb, by God appointed, All our sins on Thee were laid; By almighty love anointed, Thou hast full atonement made. All Thy people are forgiven Through the virtue of Thy blood; Opened is the gate of heaven. Peace is made ’twist man and God. Jesus, hail! enthroned in glory, There forever to abide; All the heavenly hosts adore Thee, Seated at the Father’s side.
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There for1sinners Thou are pleading; There Thou dost our place prepare; Ever for us interceding. Till in glory Thou appear. — J. Bakewell (1757). ÎX1®©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©®©©©®©©©©©©©?
If this is true, why not think of Him as such? Can you visu alize Him as existing before all things, before any thing? Can you see Him in the creation of the heavens ? Can you see Him laying the foundations of the earth? Make your own picture gallery of your Lord and look upon it day by day! Consider Him as a Creature, “ The image of the invis ible God, the first born of every creature.” View Him as a Man in the midst of men. See Him in the cradle, cooing to the mother. See Him playing with the other children. See him in the school. See Him working at the carpenter’s bench with Joseph, the husband of Mary. How patient through all the thirty years of preparation for His ministry for the children of men! Follow His footsteps, walking in the King’s highway! Consider Him as Christ —the Anointed One. Thou sands of years have passed since the first promise was recorded concerning Him. Hundreds of prophecies center in Him. Now He is here, the Wonderful One, with a great heart of love pulsing with pity for a lost world; going about among the common people; teach ing them the Word; touching them with healing hands; sympathizing with all; seeking their best interests; making no distinctions. Every boy and girl, and man
fering Saviour there issues the cry of the lost soul. “ My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?” and Death’s dagger takes the last drop of blood. As a man, He lived, He labored, He loved, He died. But He left His testimony that “ by the shedding of blood there is remission for sin.” A new law has been brought into operation—the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus—which makes men free from the law of sin and death. Consider Him as Conqueror. He died, but death could not hold Him. His body was borne to the tomb, but He ascended to His home in heaven. Death had met its destroyer. He dealt the death blow to death. He signaled the dawn of the new day with a shout of victory. “ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to God which.giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!’ ’ .; All heaven is aglow over the triumph! All the saints shout for joy ! And to us it is given to be more than conquerors through Him that loveth: us. Do you not
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want to contemplate Him today at thè right hand of the glory of God, the glorified Man? See Him in the Holy of holies, where His blood offering is making intercession for us! “ Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Consider Him as the Coming King. The story is not ended. The climax is coming. All heaven thrills with expectation. And, in the midst of the sorrows and sufferings, the pains and partings, the dead and dying, hope holds our steadfast gaze. The Day is coming—the Day of all days. It may be at morn; it may be at midday ; it may be at twilight or at midnight ; but it is promised, and never a promise of His has been broken. Contemplate Him, coming with a glad shout; the departed believing ones,' clothed in new vestures,; we ourselves caught up with glorified bodies like unto His own ; all the saints of all the ages ; to be with Him and like Him ; then, scepter in hand, to descend with Him, and the poor old sin-cursed earth to be rejuvenated; sin to be banished ; sorrow to cease. Who has made it all possible ? Himself, our adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Keep your eyes on Him ; put your heart up against His heart ; make much of Him; do much for Him, and pray for the glorious consummation. THE BEST BEQUEST The following item is taken from a daily paper: “ In Washington, Pa., an old will, dated 100 years ago, has been discovered in which the testator wrote: ; Item : I give and bequeath to each of my beloved chil dren a Bible, to be paid for out of my personal estate, and by so doing mean to intimate to them that it is 10,000 times more my will and desire that they should find and possess the pearl of great price hid in ye field of ye scrip tures than enjoy anything else that I can bequeath to them, or even 10,000 worlds, were they all composed of purest gold and all brim full of richest jewels, and yet be ignorant of the precious treasures in God’s work that are hid even from the most eagle-eyed and quick-sighted men that are properly of the present world. No need to inquire whether that testator was a funda mentalist or a modernist." Wbat higher tribute could be paid to this father than to commend his exalted estimate of God’s Word? A hundred years have passed since he made this will, but the years have not changed the value of the Book. Millions have lived to test it, have found it true and have left behind them their unquestioned faith in its integrity. Tens of thousands of fathers and mothers are living today who would gladly give all that they possess were their children confidently holding it in their hearts as the foundation of their faith. In what better business can any saint; engage than that of loyally magnifying this Book as the “ Book of books” and bestowing his time and talents in tiie endeavor to broadcast it throughout the world, bequeathing his riches for the same purpose ? Does any one think that this loyal lover of God’s Word will ever regret this testimonial? Throughout the eternal years will he not rejoice in the fact that after a hundred years his simple gift and exhortation have been flashed by wire across this land to find a place in the hearts and minds of multitudes? God bless his memory !
OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD OUR ANTAGONISTS
The evangelical church is divided in this land and in :other lands. It is so definitely divided that it is impossible to heal the breach. We know that this is so because the Bible says it will be so. We believe the Bible is God’s Word, and our antagonists deny that it is. Our life and our hope is built upon the Bible., The life and hope of our opponents is built upon their own opinions. They themselves differ about a hundred things, and the only rallying place for them is the denial of the infallibility and authority of the Bible. Upon this common ground they come together as did the Scribes and Pharisees when it was a question of putting our Lord to death. Can we have fellowship with them? “ Our fellow ship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” We believe that God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all those who are born into the family of God by faith in the atoning blood of Christ. They believe in the Fatherhood of God, (including all men), and the brotherhood of all men, without any reference to regeneration. .How can two walk together except they be agreed? We can be sorry for these men who deny the Bible and its Christ, for we know we have something which they can never have “ the peace of God which passeth all understanding.” We can love them as men, many of them living clean, upright lives, so far as their relation with their fellowmen is concerned. We can pray for them,:—but they are the enemies of Christ and there fore our enemies. We grieve for them for we know that they are hopelessly lost. We would help them if they would let us. We can throw them the life-line* but if they will not take it, we are sorrowful. Is there anything else we! can do ? Yes, something very solemn. We cannot sit still for we are under orders from our Commander-in-chief. Their propa ganda is perilous. It is destructive. It means ruin for a wretched world. We must contend for the faith. We are ordered to fight. It is no easy task. It was not easy for our Lord, nor for His followers. We cannot shut our eyes and be content to allow the poisoning process, which is being used to damn the souls of people, to go on. We may have to carry broken hearts, but we cannot hear His loving voice of appeal and desert Him. They are the enemies of Christ and so must be our enemies. They crucify Him afresh. They are lighting the fires of persecution and massing world forces against the forces of Heaven. What must we do? Put on the armor! Take the shield! Grip the sword! Follow our Leader! Vic tory is His—finally—and we will be with Him in the shout of triumph. ¿Wi, as a » as 'When a man surrenders his will to his Lord, it is easy to lay his wealth at His feet. . If you are TIED up with some things you can never take the “ time at the TIDE which leads to fortune." To the widow’s mite the Lord added a “ g” and made it mighty.
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If they would have their prayers answered let them petition for the grace to enable us to become a more jus tice-loving, law-abiding community. Miracles are not per formed in the material world about us, but in the human heart. Divine impulses come from within. If the American city becomes a terrestrial paradise it will not he as a celes tial city transplanted from above, with halos about its sanctuaries and divine fires glowing on its altars; it will be the material expression of the labor, the courage, the faith and the love of peace and justice of our citizens. There is a modicum of truth in the charge made by Europeans that America is money-mad. Nine-tenths of
A PATHETIC APPEAL FOR PRAYER FROM A SECULAR PAPER No one is better prepared to comment on conditions in civil affairs than the editor of a great daily news paper. His finger is on the pulse of the throbbing arteries of humanity. His cohorts know the ebb and flow of human passions as manifested in city af fairs, national affairs, in business affairs, in club life and in church life. He is entirely conscious of the tide of affairs in matters that relate to the politician or the pulpiteer
the crimes committed in this country last year were for the pur pose of plunder. The criminals were actu ated by the resolve to take from another his own. They lusted for pdssession, not caring whether that which they possessed was h o n e s t l y acquired.' Too many sought to live by their wits and too few by their in dustry. We speak of the Apaches of Paris. Yet they did not commit one crime last year for every twenty commit ted by similar lawless bands in the average American large city. Is the West still wild and woolly? Consider the evidence before you give a hasty and indignant a n s w e r . Does a higher code of honor prevail among the oil-stock gamblers in 1924 than prevailed among the card, rou lette and faro gam blers in 1854? Many among us sin cerely believed w e
and of the influence exerted by them on their fellows. While it is true that often- t i me s the news papers are guided by political preju dice and a desire for financial prosperity, yet it remains true that from the daily press comes more frequently than ever before the solemn words of warning concerning the ris ing tide of criminal tendencies in young and old, in black and white, in law makers a n d law breakers, in pulpit and pew, in learned and i g n o r a n t,— everywhere and all the time. While it is also true that the news papers often contri bute to the sowing of the seed which produces evil results yet they are cogni zant of the facts, and many of these publications a r e striving to help stem the tide of evil con
Whither Are We Driftingt l^O H r
- T O D A Y — J O I N T D E B A T E , FbwDA^EMTALISiTS VS • MODERNISTA. M ovin A P i ¿TORES TOMIÄHT P a wie we * t T oesmsay
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sequences which is resulting from the present depart ure from the old standards. We are glad when they sound the alarm as does the following editorial from the Los Angeles Times, one of the leading daily papers of the country, which we commend to our readers for their prayerful and thoughtful perusal. THE BETTER CITY “ Dismayed by the number of crimes of violence com mitted in Los Angeles last year, reported to have outnum bered those in the whole of France, many of our citizens pray piously to God for a better city. They ask it as a boon which shall descend to us from the skies. They would have a troop of angels with flaming swords come down from heaven at night to patrol the streets. Citizens of nearly all American cities are in a similar position.
were abolishing crime when we closed the saloons. Yet the number of hold-ups last year was double that of the years when the saloons were open. This is not offered as an argument against prohibition. We have no proof that, if the saloons had been open, the number would not have been greatly increased. It is simply offered as evidence that we have not yet found the root of the evil. During the last three or four years the spirit of specula tion has surpassed all reasonable limits. We cannot clear ourselves wholly of the charge that we are as a nation ad dicted to stock gambling and real-estate gambling. We lust for quick turnovers, for easy profits. Speculation has struck us since the war like a malady; and it has found more victims than did the influenza. It is much easier to heal a sick body than a fevered mind. We deplore the excesses of the rising generation; but it is not the fault of youth that it is victimized by evil
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July 1924
example. Crime Is increasingly prevalent. The country thirsts for justice; yet we have in Washington the baneful example of an opposition in the Senate that thirsts only for a political triumph. Let each who prays for a better city pray for the power to take an active part in the betterment. Let each make a searching investigation of his own conscience. Let him not ask, What are they doing? but What am I doing? So long as the lust for money, regardless of how it is acquired, prevails in our hearts violence and plunder will prevail in the city. If the respect for the dollar super sedes that for the Ten Commandments no higher power will intervene to preserve us from our folly. A better city does not make itself. It does not come as a special dispensation from heaven. It is the fruit of the spirit, of collective unity, of the personal sacrifices made We do not know what the disagreement was between the professor who is quoted below and his fellow pro fessors, hut no doubt it was purely an intellectual one; and, while we may not be sufficiently educated to properly comprehend it, yet we feel it is our duty to help our fellow pilgrims, if possible, to ascend the heights and sit in the citadel of learning from whence can emanate such words of wisdom, as the following clipped from the “ New York World” : “ College professors have only third-rate minds, hut, at that, they own the most powerful intellects in America. Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn, formerly president of Am herst, who resigned after disagreement with the faculty, said that recently. He described the college as one big football team, a lot of glee clubs, fraternities, sentimental alumni or other silly things. Dr. Meiklejohn charged that college graduates do not read books and have to go to others for information and that the students associate with the third-rate minds when they might easily keep in touch with those of the first class, such as Aristotle, Darwin, Kant and Shakespeare. He explained minds of the second class by saying they belong to those who dominate the intellectual life of their period such as Einstein, Michelson and Dewey. “ The third are ourselves,” he went on. “ The colleges are full of us. This group is the best in America today. Teach ers may be described as third-rate minds, hut that does not say they are second to plumbers and brokers.” Now, we do enjoy the honesty of Professor Meikle john in his admission that he has only a third-rate mind, and that the colleges are full of the same sort. This is the most candid confession we have yet heard from the college people. It follows, logically, that there must be some fourth- rate minds and most of us are compelled to take our places in that category and bow our heads in humility, but it is encouraging that we may put out our fingers and touch the hem of the garments of these gentlemen, with a consciousness that there is something of a fel low-feeling between us. We have been so depressed of late by the attitude of superiority assumed by some of these college pro fessors, hut now to know that at least one of them is conscious that he has only a third-rate mind greatly encourages us. Of course, we have had inklings that this might be a possibility, although we did not dare give expression to such an idea; but now,, thanks to the good professor, we can breathe more freely and state our opinions openly. Evidently, there has been no evolution of the minds of college professors for a few decades. by the individual for the public welfare.” THE PROFESSOR PUNCHES" A BODY BLOW
“ First class, stand up! Aristotle, Darwin, Kant, Shakespeare! Thank you, gentlemen. ’ ’ “ Second class, stand up! Einstein, Michelson, Dewey! Thank you, gentlemen.” ; “ Third class, stand up! Meiklejohn and the other college professors! Thank you gentlemen. I see many of you did not stand up. You object to being called ‘ third-rate.’ Well, that’s first-rate, for we know where we are.’ ’ , In this statement Professor Meiklejohn has hit evo lution a body blow, for, according to him, the mind of man is rapidly deteriorating. We heartily agree with him. Shakespeare can shake his bony finger at us and say, “ You Kant find any minds like ours today,” and Darwin blushes as he admits that his theory has not worked out even in the minds of those who accepted his hypothesis. Shades of Shakespeare and Darwin, what a condi tion of affairs is this! Professor, you have hurt the heart of your fellow-professors. Your announcement will stagger the scholars who have been thinking that they were slowly ascending the scale of perfect knowl edge and broadened minds. You have driven them back to association with us—the common people who form the fourth class. Some of your fellows may even think you should have been discreet enough not to reveal the true facts to the people at large who have always had such high ideals of the professors. Professor Meiklejohn, we have a thought! We do not presume, of course, to say that we have an intel lect (being of the fourth class), but your name is sug gestive of two other names—good Scriptural names— Michael and John. If you will read what Michael said and did (Daniel 12:1; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7) and then read what John wrote in his Gospel, Epistles and the Book of Revelation, who knows hut that your soul will be revived and your mind quickened and you will be able to see, no longer through a glass darkly, but face to face with the Glorious Mind! Take courage, brethren! There are some scholars left who will not fall for the fancies and flatteries and fakes of the professors, and who will still strive to stir up our hearts, quicken our minds and aid us as we struggle up the heights, with a consciousness that Glancing at the column devoted to humor in “ The Western Recorder” recently, our eye fell on the fol lowing suggestive witticism: “ Mamma,” said little Fred, “ this catechism is aw fully hard. Can’t you get me a kitty-ehism?” Now, the old-fashioned Presbyterians were nour ished and nurtured on a robust catechism, Bible-built on an adamant foundation, buttressed with Scripture, from the fall of Adam to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and on to the vision of the new heaven and the new, earth. The shot and shell of Satanic enemies never caused a break in its breastworks, and through the telescope of faith in the turret the saints could always see through the opened heavens Jesus sitting on the right hand of the glory of God. Settled in conviction, strong in faith, sturdy in char acter, separate from the worldly wisdom and worldly ways, they stood their ground, maintained their posi- there is plenty of room at the top. CATECHISM OR KITTYCHISM
July 1924
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tion and produced an atmosphere of reverence and respect for spiritual things, even from those who dif fered from them in belief. Their religion was real although it may sometimes have been rigorously rigid. There was no professed perfection, but a steadfastness of faith in the Bible as the Word of God, and they could give a reason for the hope within them, based upon the Book. Our country owes more than it realizes to the churches which were founded and maintained by such men and women. Now, sad to say, in many churches it is no more the catechism but just a “ kitty-chism.” Not faith in the one God, but faith in one’s goodness. Not belief in God’s Word, but belief in good works. Not “ What It is a. wholesale attack upon every precious article of the Christian faith; it has not a helpful thing to substitute in spite of its pretense to be “ constructive criticism;” it utterly ignores all the evidences gathered in centuries and today for the Christian faith; it goes to the grave of the oft-defeated and many times buried Arianism, Pelagianism, Gnosticism and Pantheism and Deism, a conglomeration of notions, and attempts their reviving; it abandons the Heav enly Father for a naturalistic Pantheism; the Deity of Christ for the mythical and wholly human Rabbi; it scouts regeneration and answered prayer, fellowship with God, and the conscious experience of the Holy Spirit, with doubts and thick clouds of doubts, and more doubts, denials, nega tions, tearings down and scatterings. Who can find any use for it in such a world of misery and sin as ours? Any use for it when souls are hungering for comfort and light and deliverance? When moral character is to be founded and built? Any use for it for men with a dark and fearful past, a crushing present, a hopeless future? There is no use for it as a religion. It multiplies doubts, denies the supernatural, explains away sin instead of saving from it, and knows no indwelling Spirit of God. Its God is in the Universe only, may hear but cannot answer prayer. Every element of a real religion, faith, spiritual conscious ness and Divine help is minimized or lost. What semblance of religion there is in Modernism is none of Christianity but an anti-supernatural and indefinite idealism. Humanity needs a loftier and better spirit but there is everything in Modernism that makes its spirit worse. He is made hypocritical, camouflaging in the presence of ortho dox congregations to hold his pulpit or other office; he is cowardly as might be expected from a religion of doubts, negations and emptiness. For no man is a martyr for his doubts; men do not give their lives for negations and empti ness. Modernism has yet to enroll its first man that volun tarily suffered for it. ’ Its spirit is detestable, boastful, un- brotherly, destructive. What use is it as a foundation for morals? Its ablest advocates lament that it has not yet found a substitute for the orthodox creed as a moral sanction. Moses broke both tables of the law in anger but God restored both. Modern ism destroys the first table but it cannot then save the sec ond. The ethics of Modernism justifies broken ordination vows, secret Modernist propaganda in Missions by the con tributions of orthodox people deceived by them, holding on to salaries while unfaithful to trusts, using orthodox term inology with emptied meanings and secret mental reserva tions and bold bluffing as to general scholarship and facts WHO CAN TELL US ANY USE FOR MODERNSM?
does the Scripture teach?” hut “ What does society think?” Not “ What is the ideal church life?” but “ What is the ideal club life?” Not faithful service for Christ, but fault-finding with fundamental Chris tians. Much desire for moving pictures, but little demand for meetings for prayer. But, thank God, there are some churches which still believe in the catechism. A careful study of individ ual churches in this country demonstrates the fact that those which are manifesting real love for the lost and áre securing the largest results in soul-stirring and soul-saving work, and have the greatest number of accessions, are those churches which believe in and battle for the fundamentals. Who can find any value in it as advancing our knowl edge, or oui_happiness, or the church, the family, or civilza- tion? It falsely calls itself Modern, for it is simply a re crudescence of most ancient notions with not a new idea anywhere in it. If there is a new idea the most insistent challenge to produce it has not been responded to. Has it made its devotees happy? They formerly said it gave a new peace and trust in their views of the Bible, but no such testimonies come now as their radical destructiveness with the Bible leaves little of it of any kind to feed trust or peace. And there are no Hallelujahs nor jubilant Psalms nor new hymns in that camp. It has not organized ev.en one new church directly on Modernism but squats dishon orably on what orthodoxy has builded. And where are the young people made better sons and daughters by being taught that the Bible is not inspired and Christ’s claims to be God and Saviour are false and that sin is a fall up ward, and so on? Has the increase of crime in the State and the demon izing of it had no relation of sequence to this loosening of morals and this denial of the supernatural? Prevalence of such views about the Bible and denials of God’s rule and intervention in humanity has always led to excessive vice, immorality, and crime. We charge Modernism, which in its outstanding advocates exhibits distressing lack of honor and honesty, with at least accelerating the fearful waves of crime. It is, to say the least, absolutely of no use in staying the flood of crime. It presents not a motive that is new or stronger than the effective old motives of orthodoxy for giving up sin. And it excuses sin as a fall upward. So that as its wild teachings percolate to the common people it simply promotes license to sin and evil. Modernism in all things is not only of no good use, it is a curse and blight upon humanity.—Dr. Charles Roads, in “ Eastern Meth odist.” of history on these issues. It is producing character and actions universally denounced by the man on the street as wrong.
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A TRACT A DAY Put a tract a day in the devil’s way, You’ll trip him every time. Don’t be afraid, or slow to upbraid His work in every clime. Preach God’s Word where it can be heard, With the Spirit’s earnest aid. Our work is to tell how to save, men from hell; And we must not let our witness fade. (B. I. Student) —-B. Wayne Travis.
July 1924
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j W ■ I Dag5;5B5H5g5g5gSZ5H5g5g5g5S5g5mW Ç !^gS?q?g^S?q?m ?q?qpq?q?TO^q?i?TOS?q?CTR?q7q?qpq?q?q?q?q?^q?'?q?q?W S?‘? t? i?T O T O 1i?.|gg.5g5a5H52SB5B5BE5g5Z5i Trie New Theology Rev., G. W . Ridout A chapter from a booklet bearing the title “What Is the Matter With Protestantism?” being an address delivered by Dr. Ridout at Asbury College Commencement, Wilmore, Kentucky, in the summer of 1923. Dr. Ridout is also the author of “ Present Crisis in Methodism,’| abandonment of faith in the Divine facts which have given birth to the Church, sustained it and always reanimated it after crises.” . . . “ The thing most to be feared in theol ogy is pure intellectualism. The entire man ought to be present in the search, the conquest of eternal truth, of the truth which ought to be the base of personal life.” I. In the Methodist Church the growth of Modernism is alarming. Referring again to a certain pulpit in New York State occupied by a “ Methodist Unitarian” we quote from a letter from a Methodist who attended the recent Annual Conference. He says: “ I have just returned’Yrom Annual Conference sick at heart and quite pessimistic concerning Methodism. Coue’s formula would have to be somewhat reversed to express the condition spiritually-^'Day by day in every way it is getting worser and worser.’ The conference put their whole hearted stamp of approval upon modern theology that rules out the Christ, the supernatural, the work of the Holy Ghost, everything that is near and dear to the heart of one who has been in contact with the only begotten Son of God.” Surely the time is ripe for a change in our Methodism. A voice is needed— a strong, powerful, prophetic voice to cry out against these things and to rouse the Methodists to the tragic fact that Methodism is being destroyed by men who are eating at her table, occupying her pulpits, living in her parsonages and enjoying her highest honors. Dr. Tittle, of Evanston, 111., the seat of a Theological In stitution, said recently: “The Church must discover a moral substitute for the old fear o f hell and the hope of heaven; both appealed to selfish ness. Such a substitute the church has ready to hand In Its recovered vision of the kingdom of God.” Now we know that the vision of the kingdom of God by means of Modernism is not Repentance, Regeneration and Holiness, but by means of hygiene reformation and the new world order of soup, soap and sunshine. They would substitute “ immanence” for incarnation, reformation for re generation, “ suppressed evolution” for “ the sin that lieth in us,” “ unripe goodness” for human depravity, sociology for salvation, hygiene for holiness and moral influence for the atonement. These men delete every distinctive Methodist doctrine, they denude the gospel of its apostolic power, the Bible of its Divine Inspiration and they hand us back instead— “W e have no wish to appear as a Rip Van W inkle in th eol ogy; and we would be the last to begin tying bandages over the eyes of research in the long pathway to truth. Do we therefore belie such, a profession if we express some surprise that when in a lecture before the Y. M. C. A. a well-known teacher was asked as to his views of the Atonement, and he answered T do not believe there is any atoning value in the blood o f Jesus Christ/ and when he was asked as to the V irgin Birth and he answered T personally believe that Joseph was the father o f Jesus/ and when he was asked as to the pre-existence of Jesus and his reply was T would accept it as a w orking hypothesis’-rÿthat same evening he should be w el comed in the leading Methodist Episcopal, pulpit of the city. “What is left when the foundations are blasted away? What is left of saving power to preach? What in fact do our churches then become except altruistic coteries, and our ser mons soothing anodynes, the very lethal chambers of Christian faith? Did that professor that night build or tear down our Methodist faith ?” II. Modernism has invaded our schools and the New Theology is rampant in the teachings of the ;great Protest ant Colleges and Seminaries. The Baptists are reaping a fearful harvest from the teachings of their big men at Chi cago University, Rochester, Crozier and other institutions. Professor Drake (Baptist) says: "The traditional conception of. Christianity as the only true faith and all others false, was a presumptuous and narrow conceit. . . . Jesus shared the ignorance of men. He knew no science, was possessed in the last months o f his years by a pathetic conviction which can only be called a pathetic delu sion.............In the Buddhist scriptures are many passages more truly inspired than the less inspired parts of the Bible.” Professor Vedder, of Crozier, in one of his lay sermons says: “Most theologians and preachers, declare very positively that there is a place called Heaven, where the ‘saved’ w ill forever be happy in the presence of God. There may be such a place; nobody can prove that there is not. But neither can the preachers prove that there is such a place. There is no ade quate ground for their confident assertions. When they tell us that there is a Heaven, and all about its conditions and life, as if they had actually been there and had brought back plans drawn to scale and complete specifications, they are just ‘push ing wind.’ They know no more about it than you or I know, and that is just nothing at all.” This same gentleman says, regarding the Blood Atone ment: “ Especially repugnant to our best ethics is the idea of sacri ficial expiation. Of all the slanders men have perpetrated against the Most H igh this is possibly the grossest, the most impudent, the most insulting.” Union Theological Seminary of New York, is notoriously liberal. Dr. McGiffert, the President, for example, in his book on “ The Rise of Modern Religious Ideas” says (on Page 206) that the changes in theological thought today mean, as he puts it, “ a revolution in the old conception of salvation;” and just what this “ revolution” is he makes plain when he says further: “What man requires is not regeneration in the old sense or a change of nature, but (Continued on page 467) A Pentateuch without Moses. , A Theology without Wesley. A Christ without Deity. A Creed without dogma. A Faith without Divinity. 409 T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S July 1924 From Preaching to Plastering Earle B. Gardner (Minnesota) Here is an article from the standpoint of the pew, well worthy consideration. The writer proves clearly that there is a weakness in the attitude of a minister who will forsake his pulpit for secular work, because of financial lack. If a man is called of God to be a minister, WOE TO HIM! if he is a deserter. If a man is not called to the ministry, he is a deceiver, and the sooner he gets into some other work the better. The test for any true man is one of faith in God’s unfailing promise. that his words come directly as from my God. Such men there are to be sure, but they are not sufficient in number to feed all the hungering flock; and we who are not fortunate enough to always be near these mighty men of God must at times go thirsting for messages from His Holy word. opening sentence of recent magazine ar- :le reads like this: le spread the gospel until he was tired and hungry, and then left the pulpit to spread plaster at $500 a month.” Its object was to make known the fact that God’s ministers are paid less than tradesmen, and that many of them are forced to abandon the pastoral call ing for more profitable lines of work. As I intently studied the article, one word assumed large proportions and stood out distinctly in my vision as though I were staring directly at an illumined billboard. That word was “ Faith.” “ Could it be possible,” I asked myself, "that any true believer with a Bible full of promises and an abundance of faith would be compelled to turn from the Lord’s service to seek existence through material pursuits?” I condemn no man, but when I read that men leave the ministry daily out of necessity, I shiver; for I think of the warning words of Christ: “ No man having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” At best our faith is but feeble. At best the weak ness of the flesh will limit our reward in eternity. At best God will disappointingly be forced to give us far less than He originally intended we should have. Is it well then that any should turn aside, to diminish, even lose, a portion that already may be none too large? Again I think of the words of Christ: ' “ Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?” Also, “ If then God so clothe the grass which today is in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, 0 ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” And as I read these promises, 1 wonder how any man can be so weak in faith that he will endanger his soul by turning back. It is not with the article that I am so much concerned, for the article is a recounting of existing facts; and exist ing facts can justly be published only as they are. It is rather upon the grievous condition portrayed through this publishing of facts that my concern is mainly centered. Though I am stirred by reading that many men leave the ministry, yet I am not altogether surprised, for, oh, how few men who stand in the pulpit can make you feel the power of God working through them. I believe that a true Christian goes to church feeling that he is facing one of God’s messengers, that he is to follow carefully as the sermon proceeds and retain a good part of the context. I go to church feeling this to be my duty; and yet, I often find myself growing restless, or tending to drift into con trary channels of thought. If then, there are clergymen with no power to hold, is it any wonder that they must give up their pulpits? I long to sit ever at the feet of a man who makes me feel Does God intend it so? Does God favor one minister more than another, and thereby seem to dwell more cer tainly within one fold than within another? To an extent yes, but only to an extent. He is no respecter of persons and His power will be given as much to one of His min isters as to another. They, however, .must surrender com pletely to Him, and those who fail to do so will be lacking of a power to draw. True, all persons are not alike. Some are more talented, some are physically stronger, and some labor under more favorable conditions than others. This might seem to prove that God selects a certain few to be outstanding soldiers for His cause, but I do not believe that He does. Some of the most brilliant of spiritual lights have been men who have seen the light of glory when well along life’s way; who have had little or no education; and who, having failed to gain any headway on the strength of material ability, have floundered in despair; yet, who have, none theless, risen from a life of darkness and failure to lead many souls aright. I know of two great men who are holding forth for God. One has university training, while the other has little or none, and yet I would not venture to say which man has been more blest of God. One is more nationally known than the other, and of marked executive ability; yet it would be difficult to say which had the more spiritual power. Both have large churches. Both have a filled house whenever they are to preach. As I compare these two men in my mind, I speak to myself and say, “ God can make up the difference.” Yes, He can make up the diff erence for any one who will let Him. Only believe that He can, and trust that He will do so. My heart is full of sympathy for the many struggling men in pastoral work who are making no headway. I realize that in these latter times the struggle is a hard one; that the devil is getting in his best work, and that only when the Lord of Glory returns with His church, will there be success along the whole front and the reign of Satan be over. But even though hard times exist, we must not be discouraged, in fact, we have no reason to be. The worse conditions grow, the more certain is His coming. Besides, we have a Bible abounding in promises, and all who trust in them will never be in want. God sends hard times to test us. We have but to bravely hold out, believing and seeing ever a radiant light shining through dark clouds. So for all those who would be in the Lord’s service I say, “ Read His word, believe, and pray.” In no sense can the Christian ministry be regarded as a profession, as we speak of professions, nor can it be chosen as such like any other profession is chosen. He who enters the Lord’s service must be called of God. He must have experienced salvation, have conviction, and be stirred to
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