deny that a great super church that will regiment the entire religious world, is the goal that these ambitious ecclesiastics seek, we might say that it would seem that the thinking of the men chosen to head up the World Council of Christian Churches, ought best to reveal the purpose of the in stitution they head. Bishop G. Brom ley Oxnam, President of The World Council for America, says: “Union can and must be established in Christ’s churches in the world.” He advocates the union of all Protestant Churches in America, and has de clared that such a union would “ elec trify the world and accelerate the trend toward union in every conti nent.” (Ecumenical Press Service, June 6, 1947). Speaking to the Methodist General Conference (Watchman - Examiner, Nov. 18, 1948), Bishop Oxnam proph esied a day when there would be “ only two groups, the Protestant and Catholic, and that they would unite to form the Holy Catholic Church,”— the Church . universal. “ One Church for one world”—such is the slogan of this great World Council. Such an or ganization, of course, could only* be apostate; believing everything, it would believe nothing. The fact of the matter is, that noth ing could more eloquently reveal the purpose of the World Council of Churches as apostate, than the ele vation of Bishop Oxnam to the Presi dency of the American wing of the council, for the American council is the dominating wing, providing for 85 per cent of the entire budget of the whole council. The writer was thrown into close contact with Bishop Oxnam many years ago in Los An geles, at which time Dr. Oxnam was the pastor of The Church of All Na tions (Methodist Episcopal) of that city. In our conversation, he asked: “ Dr. Bauman, just what do you regard as ‘the fundamentals of the faith’ ?” In reply, I said: “ The Bible is fully in spired of the Holy Ghost; the virgin birth of Christ, who was God incar nate in the flesh; the substitutional death of Christ on the cross; and, the resurrection of Christ from the dead in the body in which He died.” Dr. Oxnam flashed back the reply: “ Not one of which the Methodist Episcopal Church any longer believes!” “ No longer believes!” I exclaimed. “ Then the Methodist Episcopal Church, hav ing once believed them, is apostate!” I questioned the truth of his state ment, and said that I was once a Meth odist, and knew that at least some Methodists still believed all four of Page Seven
enough of Christendom that, if it can be shown to be apostate, then the greatest apostasy that the church has ever known, is on! And such an apos tasy can readily be recognized as the most significant fact of our day—a crystal-clear sign of the near return of our Lord. Dr. Chester E. Tulga, in a careful summing up of The Case Against the World Council of Churches (published by the Conservative Baptist Fellow ship, of Chicago) declares that “ the mixed multitude which met at Amster dam has now become THE CHURCH.” And, he further states that “many | | | God swings the censor of the sun Across the sky. When day is done, And sunset cools the heat of noon, He sets in place the silver moon Which, silent, slips from rim to rim Of the horizon, back to Him. The hosts of stars burn steadily, And all of heaven’ s pageantry Declares the glory of His name, And sings His praise in glad acclaim Which echoes to the farthest star . . . But down below, too busy far, Men look not up, but back to earth, And busy them with lust and mirth And war and greed. No thought at all Of God . . . But there shall come a call, As they behold with frightened eyes, The Lord descend through opening skies, “ I am the Lord, yea, I am He. Too late ye have looked up to Me!” Martha Snell Nicholson 0=9 agencies, interdenominational in char acter, are already at work, such as The World Day of Prayer, Prayer Communion Sunday, and numerous other days, weeks, and periods so dear to the heart of ecclesiasticism, will be used.” Likewise, he affirms “ that the World Council of Churches is being given the prestige of a world-wide church, whether it is that or not.” Dr. Tulga expresses his agreement with Bosley ( Main Issues Confront ing Christendom, Page 173) whom he quotes as saying: “ I do not see how any fair-minded person can study the rapid growth of the ecumenical move ment in contemporary Christian thought and life and doubt that ‘the great Church’ is coming.” And, says Dr. Tulga, “ It is the intention of the World Council leadership to bring into being the super-church.” Should any of these modernists
away from the doctrine first believed and taught in the Christian world for a thousand years! Thus we have the amazing spectacle of a great scholar, the head of one of the greatest “ Christian universities” in the world built by Baptist money, candidly acknowledging that this doc trine setting forth the meaning of the death of Chris^ was first taught by the men who were eye and ear witnesses to the sayings, deeds, and sufferings of Jesus, by men who themselves were instructed by the Christ Himself, and admitting further that that doctrine was almost universally accepted and taught by the Church for at least its first thousand years — we have the amazing spectacle, I say, of this gran diloquent modernist arising to pro claim to the world that that doctrine “ seems grotesque, if not immoral.” If that is not apostasy to the nth degree, then what can constitute apostasy? The unblushing conceit of these meg alomaniacs that we call “modernists” knows no bounds. It matters not to them that “God . . . hath . . . spoken” (Heb. 1:1,2). My idea of something “ grotesque, if not immoral” would be an inflated gentleman with a mon ocle over a glass eye peering through a keyhole—hoping! He would scarcely be able to see what he would like to see! And, these sons of “ the wisdom of this world” (1 Cor. 1:20) seem un able to see in the Scripture what they want to see, so they “prophesy out of their own hearts” (Ezek. 13:2). A glass eye is a poor substitute for the eye of faith! If Dr. Shailer Mathews alone had assumed such a position, these words would not be written. His utterance would have remained between himself and his God. But Dr. Shailer Mathews was and is representative of the bell wethers in Christendom today. These domineering lords of “ 135 denomina tions” of supposedly evangelical Chris tians, professing to represent at least twenty-five million church members, recently called into session a World Council of Churches in Amsterdam. At the opening business session of this assemblage, on August 23, 1948, a formal resolution was passed declar ing “ The World Council of Churches . . . is hereby officially constituted.” Presbyterian Life (Sept. 18, 1948), refers to this council as “ the most concentrated and powerful religious organization the world has ever seen.” In view of the strength of another apostate organization with its head quarters in Rome, that statement may be open to challenge. Nevertheless this World Council of Churches has al ready gathered into its great maw J U L Y , 1 9 5 0
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