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The Fundamentals things are not true to fact or to life, then God has been an arch-deceiver and acts on the Jesuit maxim, “The end justifies the means.” This would apply to the finding of the Law in Josiah’s time, and the giving of the law under Ezra. That such a lot of spurious history, deceptive inventions and falsi fying history should achieve such a success is most astonish ing. Is it possible that a holy God should be behind all this and promote righteousness thereby ? This surely is conniving at evil and using methods unworthy of the name of God. To say that God was shut up to such a method is preposterous. Such a conception of God as is implied in the critical position is abhorrent to one who believes in a God of truth. Perhaps the Book of Daniel at the hands of the critic best illustrates this point. No one can deny the religious qual ity of the book. It has sublime heights and depths and has had a mighty influence in the world. No one can read the book carefully and reverently without feeling its power. Yet according to the modern view the first six or seven chapters have but a grain of truth in them. They picture in a wonder fully vivid manner the supernatural help of God in giving Daniel power to interpret dreams, in delivering from the fiery furnace, in saving from the lion’s mouth, smiting King Nebuchadnezzar, etc. All this is high religious teaching, has had a great influence for good and was intended for a mes sage from God to encourage faith. Yet, according to the critics these events had no foundation in fact, the supernat ural did not take place, the supposed facts upon which these sublime religious lessons are based could never have occurred. Yet the God of truth has used such a book with such teach ing to do great good in the world. He thus made abundant use of fiction and falsehood. According to this view He has also been deceiving the best people of the world for millennium«: using the false and palming it off as true. Such a God may be believed in by a critic, but the Christian consciousness revolts at it. It is worthy of a Zeus, or perhaps the Demiurge
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