May 1924
T H E
K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
275
and the priests bear rule by their means and my people love to have it so; and what will ye do in the end thereof?” (Jer. 5:30-31). The history of Israel is repeated in that of the church. The church should demand of its ministers that they preach sound, Scriptural and spiritual doctrine. The ministers should preach that kind of doctrine whether the people demand it or not. Better preach the truth in an empty church and feed a few hungry saints than preach error to an applauding multitude. What is Orthodoxy? Orthodoxy comes from two Greek words which mean straight thinking. A man has no more right to think crooked than to live crooked. He is bound to think that which is true as he is to do that which is right and to love that which is good. A heretic is a theological crook. The word “ canon” meant, originally, a straight rod or carpenter’s rule. Then it came to be applied to whatever was correct in morals and religion. The straight-edge and spirit level of the carpenter are indispensable to his work. He must test his work constantly by these perfect stan dards. The Bible is our straight edge and plumb line which judges every slant wall. It discovers and judges what is erroneous in our creeds and what is faulty in our lives. The W e deeply appreciate the perm ission given us by Dr. Thomas to reprint this chapter from his excellent booklet, entitled “ Old Testament Criticism and New Testament Christianity.” HE Christian Church approaches the Old Testa ment mainly and predominantly from the stand point of the resurrection of Christ, and the claim involved in that resurrection. We naturally in quire what our Master thought of the Old Testament, for if it comes to us with His authority, and we can discover His view of it, we ought to be satisfied. In the days of our Lord’s life on earth one pressing ques tion was: “ What think ye of the Christ?” Another was: “ What is written in the Law? How readest Thou?” These questions are still being raised in one form or another, and today, as of old, the two great problems—-two “ storm- centres,” as they have well been called— are Christ and the Bible. The two problems really resolve themselves into one, for Christ and the Bible are inseparable. If we follow Christ, He will teach us of the Bible; and if we study our Bible, it will point us to Christ. Each is called the Word of God. Let us, first of all, be quite clear as to our meaning of our Lord as “ The Word of God.” “ In the beginning was the Word.” A word is an oral or visible expression of an in visible thought. The thought needs the word for its ex pression, and the word is intended to represent the thought accurately, even if not completely. We cannot in any de gree be sure of the thought unless we can be sure of the word. -Our Lord as the Word, therefore, is the personal and visible expression of the invisible God (John 14:9; Heb. 1 :3). We believe that He is’an accurate “ expression” of God, and that as the Word He reveals God and conveys God’s will to us in such a way as to be inerrant and infall ible. As the Incarnate Word He is infallible. We hold this on five grounds. ate
thoughts of God are high and straight and true, as far above the thoughts of man as the heavens are above the earth. “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this rule it is because they are not of the morning.” The Saviour’s reference in Luke 18:8 to finding the faith on earth at His second comiiig does not refer to personal faith in Him but belief in the whole body of revealed truth. Was He thinking of the ravages of Modernism in the twen tieth century? (2 Thess. 2: 1-12), (2 Tim. 3:1-3). Error may exist through ignorance, (Acts 19:1-6,) and heresy may be due to a snare of the devil, (2 Tim. 2:25-26) and both may consist with real faith. Apostasy however is hopeless and can only meet with judgment. (Jude 11-15. Rev. 3:14-16). False teaching is poison. What a horrible thing it is to put poison into a well so that they who draw water and drink may die? Is it not far worse to adulterate the living water in the wells of salva tion? In the former case the physical life is destroyed, in the latter the spiritual. The very possibility of such a thing helps us to appreciate the terrific anathema with which Paul introduces his Galatian Epistle. “ Though any man or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed!” His Personal Character as Man.—No flaw can be found in Him. He is the one sinless Man of the ages, and as such was a perfect medium through whom God could reveal Him self to man. He Had a Special Anointing of the Holy Spirit.—The gift of the Spirit at the incarnation and the renewal after His baptism formed a special and unique endowment for His work. His Divine Personality.— The incarnation was the en trance of a Divine Person into union with human nature, and in a unique sense Jesus of Nazareth was “ the Son of God.” “ That holy thing” was afterwards revealed as “ the Son,” a Divine Person, one with the Father, and possessing all authority and power. His Redemptive Purpose.—He came, among other things, to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37), and it is a neces sary outcome of this purpose that He should bear infallible witness. He came to reveal God and God’s will, and this implies and requires special knowledge. It demands that every assertion of His be true. The Divine knowledge did not, because it could not, undergo any change by the Incar nation. He continued to subsist in the form of God even while he existed in the form of man (Phil. 2:6; see Dr. Gifford on the Incarnation.) In view of this position, we believe that, as Bishop Elli- cott says (Christus Comprobator), we have a right to make this appeal to the testimony of Christ to the Old Testa ment. The position it occupied in His life and ministry is sufficient warrant for referring to His use of it. It is well known that, as far as the Old Testament canon is con cerned, our highest authority is that of our Lord Himself; and what is true of the Old Testament as a whole, is surely true of those parts to which our Lord specifically referred. As Sir G. A. Smith himself states: ate
ate
Is It Christ or the Critics? Are the Views of Modern Criticism Consistent with Our Lord’s own Testimony to the Old Testament? Rev. W. H. Griffith Thomas, D. D.
Soul-winning incidents from real life (Pages 288-292)
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker