September 1925
TH E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
391
Shall We Part W ith John Three Sixteen? Hugh It. Mtonro, V ice-President of th e N iagara L ithograph Company, and T reasu rer of th e National B ible In stitu te, New York City
Moreover it is a strange misconcep tion which holds th a t th e Gospels are mere duplicate n arrativ es; on the con tra ry it is perfectly clear from th e ir varied treatm en t, even of th e same subject m atter, th a t th e aim and .audi ence was different in each case. Hence it is perfectly n atu ra l th a t the last narrativ e should rep resen t a new line of approach as well as present added facts to meet the force of hostile opin ion, which had taken form even in th a t early day. Second Objection The second objection .is based on plain perversion of th e text. I t runs this w ay:' “ God so loved the world,!’ hence His grace extends to all man kind and all will be finally included in His saving purpose. The fact th a t a personal faith in Christ is the under lying condition of the entire passage is in some strange way overlooked. Thus this succinct and symmetrical definition of th e Way of Life is ru th lessly b attered into an argum en t for Universalism. (Continued on page 410) Mr. J. M. Dunkerton, Conference Secretary, 915 40 th Place, Des Moines, announces th a t Dr. J. A. Sutherland, of the Moody Bible In stitu te Extension D epartment, will be available for Bible Conference work in Iowa during the month of September. Pastors desiring his services please w rite Mr. Dunker ton a t once. Mr. H arry A. Ironside, well-known and gifted Bible teacher, and au tho r of many helpful books and pamphlets, will also be in Iowa for Bible Confer ence work, tog ether w ith J. A. Suther land, in January , 1926. It is also a g reat pleasure to inform our Iowa readers th a t Mr. Leon Tucker and his “Musical Messengers” while enroute to the Pacific coast will fill an eight day engagem ent w ith Pas to r David Alexander at Grundy Cen ter, Iowa, during the month of Ja n uary, 1926. O ther pastors wishing th e m inistry of Mr. Tucker and his able co-workers should lose no tim e in getting in touch w ith our Conference Secretary, Mr. Dunkerton. ♦ * * # * We are glad to announce to all our friends in Iowa th a t The K ing’s Busi ness is to be our medium of inform a tion regarding Iowa Fundam entals Association news, and tru st th a t it will prove m utually helpful to both, our Association and The K ing’s Business. One of the best ways we know of to advance th e cause of our blessed Lord is to do what we can to increase the circulation of magazines th a t are standing for th e tru th . ASSOCIATION, NEWS ITEMS
H srjT is said th a t Thomas Jeffer- ||! j son once took his pen in hand and going over those Bible passages which speak of Christ as God, or tell of His m irac ulous works, deleted them , un til he had succeeded in elim inating every mention of the supernatural. This process involves the destruction of a large p a rt of the New Testament, it is true, bu t th ere are many of th e Mod ern ist school who would almost liter ally follow th e g reat statesm an ’s example. Their procedure is ju st -a trifle more subtle, since instead of expunging th e actual language of the record they p refer to dispense w ith its literal meaning and sub stitu te some so rt of fan tastic sp iritual idea. This is known as the “spiritualizing process” and most of th e important- events and tru th s recorded in th e New Testament have been subject to such treatm en t. To many of us this practice of defac ing and deform ing a record of inex pressibly precious and vital spiritual tru th , seems little sho rt of vandalism . It is casting down the golden ladder by which m ultitudes of seeking souls have reached th e heavenly heights. Indeed all who have entered the heav enly realm , since tim e began, have reached it by way of these same recorded facts w ith all of th e ir m ir acle and mystery. And these vandals, if we may so call them , grow bolder and bolder un til little rem ains of th a t which is most sacred and precious to the Christian heart. Even th a t price less pearl in the diadem of revelation, th a t surpassing gem in th e setting of the Gospel, Jo h n 3:16, is not spared. It is so wrenched from its proper place, m arred and disfigured, th a t the celestial sparkle is gone and. what remains .suggests only th e tawdry finery of the cheap im itation. Can we afford to p a rt w ith this g reat sp iritual asset, this most widely known and most marvelously blessed passage of the Bible? Before making such an enormous sacrifice we should a t least carefully weigh th e objections which are offered tô its continued lit eral acceptance and use. F irs t Objection The first objection is th e fam iliar one which applies to th e entire fourth Gospel, namely, its late origin and its inclusion of events which are unknown to the other Gospel writers.- But this argum en t has been worn th readbare and so often refuted th a t it has ceased
“Shall we, then, for the meas ureless love, grace and assur ance of John 3:16 substitute the creed of Naturalism which d e ma n d s no supernatural birth, no redeeming Saviour, no gift of eternal life? Let the voice which speaks from Heaven answer; ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my Word shall not pass away.’ ” to be respectable. The discovery of T atians D iatessaron some years ago, has proved conclusively th a t the four Gospels were in existence, were re ceived by th e Church on equal termSjl' and were in general use early in the second century, less th a n fifty years afte r th e death of the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. A splendid Bible Conference was held Jun e 14-21 in the Women’s Building at th e S tate F a ir Grounds, Des Moines, Iowa. The Conference was sponsored jo in tly by th e Des Moines Bible Association and The Iowa Fundam entals Association, and was pu t on by the Extension D epart m ent of th e Moody Bible In stitu te of Chicago. The sessions were all well attended, and on the closing night fully a thousand people listened to a convincing address by Dr. Jam es M. Gray, on “Why a Christian Cannot be an Evolutionist.” 4 c $ Hi 4* 4* At th e business session of the Iowa State Fundam entals Association, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President, Rev. David Alexander, Grundy Center; F irs t Vice President, Rev. W. P. Fink, Earlham ; Second Vice P resident, Mr. Benj. Woodrow, Newton; General Secretary, Mr. A.’ G. Huston, Des Moines; Bible Study Secretary, Miss E llen F alk, Des Moines; Conference Secretary,! Mr. John M. Dunkerton, 915 40th: lPlace, Des Moines; Young People’s Secretary, Mr. Carlton Null, W interset; T reas urer, Mr. Edgar M. Pyle, Marion; Editor, Dr. T. F. Cooke, Ames, Iowa. The following were named as an Executive Committee: Rev. C. W. Hempstead, Muscatine; Rev. Robert Kinney, E ldora; Rev. F ra n k A. Case, Des Moines; Mrs. B. F. Carroll, Des Moines; Rev. J. W. Davis, LeMars; Rev. J. S. Caldwell, Marne; Mr. John Jongerw aard, Orange City. IOWA FUNDAMENTALS
Office of th e Ed ito r, T. F . Cooke, 704 Kellogg Ave., Ames, la.
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