T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
276
May 1928
Peddling the Devil’s Lies A Statement by the Dean o f the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles
f N the beginning o f things when the devil wanted to spoil God’s purpose and ideal concerning men, he suggested a doubt and led Adam and Eve to believe a lie concerning God. The moment they accepted his lie trouble began, and ever since that day the devil has consistently used this method to defeat the purpose o f God among the children of men. When Jesus Christ came in the flesh to redeem men, the devil suggested a doubt regarding Him. On the human side, these lies led the people.to clamor for His. crucifixion. As far as men could thwart the purpose of God they endeavored to do so, because they believed the devil’s lie. Ever since that day every person and institution called of God to a great work has .been lied about by the. devil. That is the method he uses and he is still endeavoring to defeat the purpose of God by pursuing it. He has started lies about the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles. Among others he is succeeding in reporting all over this country that the Institute is departing from its doctrinal statement. I am in a position to know the facts concerning that. N o one in the world is in a better position to know them, and I want to say without reserva tion or equivocation that the Bible Institute of Los Angeles is as definitely loyal to the doctrinal statement as it ever has been in all of its history. I know this to be an absolute fact, and anybody that says to the contrary is simply, inno cently or maliciously, repeating the devil’s lie. Some peo ple thousands of miles away, or nearer, may think they know and may feel absolutely honest in saying it has, but I am in a position to know absolutely, and I affirm most emphatically that it has not. Another lie the devil has started in some way. is that the Dean is modernistic, and by that people mean that he is denying the fundamental truths included in our statement of doctrine. Some are reciting the recent book “ Peter the Fisherman Philosopher” as evidence of this fact. I am in a better position than any other man in the world to know what the Dean believes and what he meant when he wrote that book and, as long as his words can carry the inter pretation that is given to it, there is no one else in the world who has a right to contradict this interpretation. I know he is not modernistic. I have positive information to the fact that he believes in the Bible as the very Word of God, in Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh, in His sinlessness, in His substitutionary and vicarious death, in the Holy Spirit and His ministry in regeneration as the only means by which men can be saved and made a part of the Church o f Jesus Christ, in the resurrection of the
dead and the personal, visible return of our Lord in glory. I also know as a positive fact that there is not a single line in his recent book that contradicts any one o f these funda mental doctrines. I am in a position to tell you just exactly what the fundamental doctrines back o f the simple chapters written in that book are. They are that Peter was a great teacher because he experienced God in a vital and living experience and because God showed him things he could never find out apart from God. Therefore, he knew this world was made by God and sustained by Him and, there fore, is a world with a definite purpose in which God is making men and women in His own image. Things are wrong in this world because men with free wills have rebelled against God and,- therefore, are sinners. God has revealed this to men and, therefore, we know it to be true. The reason that men seem to find it easier to do wrong than to do right is because of sin as it is handed down from our father^- This involves the fact of original sin. God Himself saves men through the incarnation and His death upon Calvary’s tree. Men are made members of the new royalty through the new birth, and this new royalty, which is the Church of the living God, is a practical thing. In all o f the trials that come to God’s children, He is work ing out a purpose for their highest good, and death itself is only an emancipation or exodus. The goal o f history is the coming again of Jesus Christ in person, and we believe that thought of the sudden coming o f Jesus as taught in the Scriptures is consistent with a sound interpretation of our world. This doctrine was cast into philosophical molds in order to meet certain difficulties that young people are meeting in schools, colleges and universities, and is not an exhaus tive exposition o f God and the world either from the point o f view of theology or philosophy, but simply an illustra tion o f the fact that the things Peter believed and stated are in line with some o f the best conclusions reached by science and philosophy. I know positively this is what he had in mind and I again repeat that I am absolutely sure that he never meant to contradict a single doctrine o f the evangelical faith. As I am the only one that is able to speak for him from the point o f view o f absolutely know ing what he meant, I think my word should be accepted as long as the words of the book or any other statement he made are capable of carrying this interpretation. I hold that they very easily carry this interpretation if we read the book intelligently and sympathetically. Any other in terpretation o f the book is a misunderstanding or a repeat ing of the devil’s lie. J ohn M. M ac I nnis .
Said John Wesley: “ I’m determined to run nobody down but the devil and nobody up but Christ” £P'a pretty safe policy for all.
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker