King's Business - 1936-06

T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S

216

June, 1936

Youth of high school and university age who are at­ tending public institutions where they are being steep­ ed in materialistic philosophy can be easily led on to extreme measures. The great majority have aban­ doned all belief in divine authority, and are being sat­ urated with teachings exalting man's power. The group pictured at the left, at the entrance of a state univer­ sity, is typical of many similar college gatherings that assume the proportions and tactics of a mob. With zeal at white heat, these young people have set out to find a solution of human problems— but the only answer they know is one that leaves God out. These young en­ thusiasts are not ready to stop with even the "liberal­ ism" of some of their instructors. Atheists are right when they claim that all rejectors of Calvary-bought salvation can be welcomed into the ranks of infidelity.

International News Photo How Can THE NEW ATHEISM BeMet? B y M A U D H O W E * Toronto, Cäfiada

I have lost my own faith, but I really want to help save the faith of others,” was the message recently sent to our office. Such pleas as this one are far from rare: “ I am one o f the many troubled mothers you have the God-given privilege o f helping. My boy came home from college no longer accepting the Bible. He hoped to work his way through and then take up medicine and prepare himself to follow his late father as a medical missionary. If you can help . . .” Another mother writes: “ I want to ask earnest prayer for my two sons who lost their faith through the evolution­ ary teaching in universities . . . they live an exemplary life but with no belief in the Bible or a future life . . . They were Christian boys, sons o f a saintly minister . . . I have prayed . . . and surely God will answer soon.” In one year the International Christian Crusade re­ ceived over 5,000 letters from those losing out in faith or concerned about the lack of faith in dear ones, and in one month twenty-two people, professional and other­ wise, came into the office making personal contacts with us. A fine young student brought me a copy o f H. G. Wells’ Outline o f History. This book, I understand, has reached a circulation o f two million copies, and is to be found in practically every school library. An illuminating quotation from this volume follows: Jesus was some fine sort of man perhaps, but our Saviour o f the Trinity is a dressed-up inconsistent effigy of amiability, a monstrous hybrid of men, an infinity making significant promises of helpful miracles for the cheating of simple souls, an ever ABSENT help in times of trouble . . .” (Caps ours). In his chapter, “ School Boy,” Mr. Wells writes: “ He *General Secretary, International Christian Crusade.

thought Abraham, Isaac, Moses and David loathsome creatures and fit associates for Our Father.” ' ;* C haracteristics of the N ew A theism Although a frank and open unbelief such as that ex­ pressed by Mr. Wells is harmful to many young people, there are other and perhaps more dangerous forms o f denial o f the Lord Jesus Christ. Christian parents, Chris­ tian young people, and leaders in evangelical churches too' often regard as “ alarmists” those who warn o f the deadly peril o f an aggressive “ under-cover” atheism. W e o f the International Christian Crusade (formerly the Canadian Christian Crusade) would call attention to the fact that in this day there is a “ New Atheism,” a world apostasy that embraces far more followers than do merely the com­ munistic groups or the visible organizations such as the “ 4 A ’s” (American Association for the Advancement o f Atheism). This new atheism already claims a membership of over seventeen million members, placed in sixty-four countries of the world, working, as many atheists have told me personally, “ night and day” to bring about world revolution. The “ new atheism” ,is not the classical free thought o f the seventeenth century in any sense o f the world; it is a far more subtle and dangerous thing. The new atheism invites into its membership every cult and ism under the sun, except the teaching o f salvation through the cross o f Calvary. Its elasticity reaches out to Evolution, Human­ ism, Pantheism, Iscariotism, Spiritism, and the like. A universal religion is more than welcome, as it opens the way to ultimate acceptance o f the tenets o f the new atheism, which is based on human effort to attain human ideals. The new atheists boast that those who deny the Calvary atonement will soon, under the tuition o f versed atheists and radicals, lose any faith they still possess.

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