couched in multi-syllabic words which may or may not mean a thing to the reader or the hearer. In the field of phi losophy alone, history is filled with the accounts of the dismal failure of men who enjoyed their academic freedom. They constructed their own elaborate systems of philos ophy only to have the philosophers of succeeding genera tions knock their systems down to build their own systems of philosophy upon the ruins of those who preceded them. For untold centuries mankind has been engaging in intel lectual pursuits with all the academic freedom he could possibly desire. And where has it led him? The answer is quite obvious. Of course it is true that through the centuries there has been accumulated a great mass of facts which in many ways has made life easier and more comfort able. But mankind's academic freedom has not led him in the slightest to an understanding and application of those facts for his moral and spiritual betterment and real peace of mind! An immature and emotionally unstable generation still cries out for academic freedom in order to find out truth. But truth has already come in the Person of Jesus Christ, and the self-styled intellectuals whc are con tinually craving academic freedom would do well to dis cover Him and let Him reveal to them what freedom really is. Academic freedom is to be commended in areas of re search where ultimate truth as found in the revealed Word of God does not pertain. But it is dangerous indeed for one, especially one who is a professing Christian, to tam per with the truth of God's Word under the guise of aca demic freedom. It is almost as though such a one were putting his own puny little mind up against the infinite mind of Almighty God and boasting that his own intellectual prowess were greater than His. We would do well to hear more of our moral and spiritual responsibilities to God and to the Word of God and to hear less of man's pusilani- mous efforts to achieve academic freedom. Christians everywhere would do well to consider care fully before they place their dedicated funds into the hands of institutions of higher learning whose faculy members are always sounding out the cry for academic free dom, placing it in contradistinction to the Scriptural convictions of their fellow faculty members or of the school as a whole.
W IL L IAM CULBERTSON P resid en t, M o o d y B ib le in stitu te speaks on the fundamentals of the faith THE F U T U R E - PROPHECY “ How little we hear of the sure word of prophecy. An unbelieving generation questions the possibility of such a word. A church tinctured with or largely given over to unbelief turns away from this sure word as either impossible or too diffi cult to understand. Doubt, dislike of the doctrine and its demands for holy living, indifference to this word—all these and many more add up to the careless, world ly, unthinking, convictionless religion of many who profess to be Christians. “ Prophecy thunders its message to the ear that will hear. The voice of prophecy already fulfilled— some in process of ful fillment right now—calls us from our spir itual sleep of death. ‘That they may see, and know’ (Isaiah 41:20) is God’s purpose in giving men to understand what shall occur. His challenge of old was, ‘Declare unto us what shall happen . . . show us things to come’ (Isaiah 41:22). “ He who knows anything of the history of Egypt through the centuries, he who has walked through the still ruins of Baby lon and Nineveh, he who has felt the eerie quietness of ancient Petra, he who has walked in the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon or who has looked across the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee knows the ac curacy and, in many instances, the terrify ing fulfillment of God’s prophecies. “ Apostasy abroad in Christendom (II Thessalonians 2:3), moral breakdown (II Timothy 3:1-5), activity in the Near and Middle East (Amos 9:15, Acts 15:16-18) are but a few of the more general prophe cies that may well relate to our own day. “ Prophecy gives hope to the believer, but it also says very plainly, ‘Prepare to meet thy God.’ ” Every Christian should have a copy of William Culbertson’s book God's Provision for Holy Living, a happy blending of Bible study and practical exhortation. 112 pages, paper bound. For your free copy, write Moody Bible Institute, Dept. K-0-870, 820 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago 10, Illinois.
President, The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc.
*Dr. Bernard Ramm, Author. Article titled, "Can Chris tian Schools Find Their Way Out?" First published in "Gordon Review" and reprinted by permission in Eternity Magazine, Sept., 1960.
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NOVEMBER, 1960
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