September 1924
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
553
Peace or W ar? Ohristabel Pankhurst
Those of the lo rd ’s people who have rejoiced in the accession to the ranks of “Defenders of the Faith” of Miss Ohristabel Pankhurst, formerly leader of the “Militant Suffragettes” of Great Britain, will greatly enjoy this stenographic report of an address delivered by her in the course of a two weeks’ series of meetings in the Bible Insti tute Auditorium in the early summer of this year.
0 one can have a greater horror of war than I have. As I left my hotel this evening I looked into the sky and saw a great searchlight which reminded me of the days in London during the w*ar when they used the searchlight to find the enemy airplanes. Every now and then we would hear the alarm given and many of the people would rush for shelter to the under ground railways or the basements of buildings, and some times even there they were not safe. On one terribly tragic occasion an enemy bomb came down through the roof of a printing plant, went right through to the basement and most of the printing presses went too and a great many peo ple were killed and injured. Not many of these things were reported in the papers, as the policy was not to adver tise the results of the air raids. But we did get a fore taste of what we may expect in the next war. I was in Paris during its bombardment by “ Big Bertha” that gun which from an incredible distance used to throw shells into the French capital. But even in Paris the dam age was not so great as it will be in the next war for, according to the scientists, much worse things are in store for us. They make no secret that it will be practically a war of extermination— armed forces and non-combatants alike. The Futility of Self-Deception It is no good living in a Fool’s Paradise. It is no good saying things are not going to happen, when they are. That is where we were deceived in the last war. Ninety- nine per cent of the people in this country and in Great Britain imagined there would never be another great war. We were told that if any nation seemed to be a little busy along the line of war-like preparations that it was only from motives of self-defense. One man wrote a lot of books saying that war didn’t pay;, that human nature had evolved too high. In fact, he had a thousand and one reasons for believing that another war would not and could not come. But it came. Were we any better off for think ing it would not come? No, it is better to face facts, how ever disagreeable. There have been other efforts in the past to prevent war. Some people seem to be under the strange delusion that it is only since 1914 that any serious efforts have been made towards world peace. But the Czar of Russia called a coun cil to consider measures to insure peace, and a Peace Palace was even erected at the Hague. I wonder whatever has happened to it? Has it been turned into a munition factory, been torn down, or what? Even the League of Nations does not think of meeting there. Those who have grown up since 1914 do not know that there ever was a Peace Palace. It is as dead as Queen Anne. I was brought up in an atmosphere of peace and arbitra tion. My family and all my friends were heart and soul for anything that promised peace. And here we are today trembling at the thought of when and where the next war will be, and are surprised that it has not broken out before now. There is not a nation in Christendom that really wants war. I am sure America does not, nor Britain, nor France, nor even the Turk (if he can get what he wants without it; and Kemal Pasha did get away with a great many spoils at
Lausanne without even striking a blow.) I Can give you a splendid peace plan— “Let every nation take what they want;f’;i' If that were followed, there would certainly never be another war. Some are looking to the Church to settle the problem, having some sort of an idea that after all, the question of war is a question which has to do with the human heart rather than with institutions. But I do not quite see how the Church is going to do what the State has failed to do. Supposing the Church should pass a resolution saying, “ There must be no more war; if a war breaks out no church member shall take any part in it,” what effect would such a resolution have upon the non-Christian nations? Would they pay a scrap of attention to it? What Saith the Scriptures? But what does the Bible have to say about all these plans, and resolutions and hopes and promises? That is the court of last resort in everything, including the prob lem of peace. The Bible gives us a picture of wars and rumors of wars; war first and peace afterward. What does Jesus say? He never left anyone in doubt as to the meaning of His utter ances. As when He told us that unless a man was born again he could not see the kingdom of God. There was nothing symbolical about that. It was a plain statement of fact. So when He is speaking of these present days in which we are living, He tells us in no uncertain terms that there will be wars and rumors of wars until the end. Are we then to believe the people who are writing peace platforms; the church leaders— however well intentioned— who are hold ing out the hope that they can insure peace; or are we to believe the Lord Jesus Christ? It would be well if all public men would betake them selves to the Bible for guidance in these perplexing days. Without it, they are blind leaders of the blind. The Bible gives us the assurance that although the sin which is in the world and in the nations will bring a great deal of war, yet through it all God will bring His purposes to pass. He does not deceive us. ■ The Coming World Ruler We have in the Bible the forecast of one who Is coming who will be the last of the Caesars, who will be manifested on the stage of world affairs in such a way that no one will be able to mistake him for any one but who he is— the Antichrist— who will out-Napoleon Napoleon, and out- Kaiser the Kaiser. He will have the same ambition which they had— world supremacy or downfall. This world ruler (who we may be sure is living in the world at this present time) is described in the Bible in such detail that he seems to live before our eyes. He will be responsible for a great deal of war. He will rise in a small way and will go rapidly to the top in his own country and will then overthrow three other nations as Daniel describes in some detail. Some people think they see him on the world’s stage now. He will be for peace when he wants peace. No doubt the time will come when he will impose a peace upon the (Continued on page 597)
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter