historic truths of our Christian faith. I am glad to state publicly and to put in writing whenever I am called upon to do so, my complete adher ence to these magnificent truths of our faith. We believe the Bible to be the Word of God, and because the great fundamentals of our Christian faith are recorded in the Word of God, we take our stand upon these doctrinal truths such as the virgin birth of •Christ; the miracles as re corded in the Word; the vicarious atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ; the bodily resurrection of the Lord; and the doctrine that is spoken of as that “ blessed hope,” that “purifying hope,” and that “ comforting hope,” namely the imminent, visible, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ who will set up His own kingdom upon the earth and who will establish righteousness so that it covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. Premillennial and Dispen sational We are definitely premillennial in our eschatological position here at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and its related schools. It used to be recog nized that when one stated he was premillennial, it included the fact that he was likewise dispensational in his theological position. But re cently there has arisen a school of so-called premillennial believers who say they are premillennial but not dispensational. Without going into the merits of this rather peculiar doc trinal position, we state that we are not in the least sympathetic with that view, but that we are both pre millennial and dispensational. The Word of God not only de scribes for us these and other glorious doctrines, but it also describes very vividly a horrible fact which is every where evident; it is the fact of sin. Sin is the root cause of all the de plorable conditions in which we find ourselves at this time, both nationally and internationally. Sin- is not merely a psychological influence in the minds of individuals, but it is an objective reality, origi nated and propagated by that super natural being which the Word of God calls Satan. He is loose in the world today, directing the affairs of evil men, guiding their minds and hearts and leading them into all manner of wickedness. For example, we are hearing a great deal these days about a certain ideology known as Com munism. Truly it is one of the most hellish influences which has ever en tered the hearts of men. But Com munism is simply a program of continued on page 32 THE KING'S BUSINESS
where the principles of Christian Hy ing as taught in Scripture are not practiced and, instead, where almost everything to which we are opposed is taught and practiced. I say it is utterly unfair for us to throw our Christian young people into such an environment and at the same time expect them to come out with their mental and spiritual garments un harmed and without even the smell of the smoke of unbelief upon them. This'would be a most discouraging outlook were it not for the develop ment of the Bible school movement during the past number of years. Whereas the Bible institutes were be gun to train merely lay leaders, there has been a forced development of the Bible school program so that the training offered might be adequate for full-time Christian leaders, be cause such Christian leaders of our doctrinal beliefs and practices are not being trained anywhere else in suf ficient numbers. It is the conviction of the vast majority of Bible school administrators that we must meet this challenge today if we are to render the service to our generation which the founders of the Bible school movement rendered to their gener ations. A Christian Education We have mentioned the educational emphasis which must be placed upon our schools today merely because we believe it points up the significance of the development of this move ment. However, there are vastly more important reasons as to why we must develop the Bible school program as rapidly and thoroughly as possible in this day in which we live. The world has become so educa tionally conscious that it is almost a necessity for a person to have a college education in order to achieve any degree of success whatsoever. However, we are dedicated to the task not merely of providing an acceptable education, but also of pro viding a Christian education. The Bible Institute of Los Angeles was founded upon the Word of God. The doctrinal statement which serves as a basis for the theological position of this institution embodies the great historic truths of the Christian faith as they have been defined and re defined by the Christian Church throughout the centuries. This doc trinal statement must be signed an nually by each board member and each faculty member. It is under stood that the statement be signed without mental reservation. Personally, I am delighted every time the opportunity is presented for me to reaffirm my faith in these great
time provided the training in the great historic doctrines of our Chris tian faith and in the development of the spiritual life of young people. But comparatively few young people were financially able to avail them selves of the opportunity of attend ing these liberal arts colleges. And so the Bible institute movement was developed in order that young peo ple might receive thorough training in the Word of God and go back to their home communities and churches on fire for Jesus Christ to serve as lay leaders. It was the purpose of the Bible Institute founders to provide this training at a minimum of cost to these students. In this way the move ment became a distinctive factor in the spiritual life of those areas in which such schools were to be found. Hand In Hand Incidentally, it is interesting to note that education and thorough going Christianity have always gone hand in hand. Perhaps it is not well known that what, is now Columbia University was once called “ King’s College,” and that it was established as a thoroughly Christian institution. When the New York papers an nounced its establishment in 1754, they said concerning this school, “ the chief thing that is aimed at in this college is to teach and engage the children to know God in Jesus Christ and to love and serve Him in all sobriety, godliness, and richness of life, with a perfect heart and with a willing mind.” This is but characteristic of the founding of many of the great in stitutions of higher learning. In fact, practically every private institution of higher learning in the country today was established by denomina tional or independent groups on a thoroughly evangelical basis, and with a firm desire on the part of the founding fathers to train young peo ple first of all in the things of the Spirit. Unfortunately, the establishment and maintenance of thorough-going Christian colleges has not kept pace with the demand for thorough-going Christian higher education. It is esti mated that there are approximately 250,000 Bible-believing people of col lege age in the country today. How ever, there are not nearly enough Christian institutions of higher learn ing to provide training for this great company of young people who desire such training. The only alternative is for them to attend institutions of higher learn ing where the Bible is not believed, 14
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