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THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
August 1925
It is nothing less th an amazing th a t any intelligent man. facing a declaration like th is should argue fu rth e r for com prom ise w ith this apostasy, or should ta lk of peace between faith and unbelief. How Shall it be Met? The W orld’s Christian Fundam entals Association, com posed of men and women who believe in the au tho rity of an infallible Bible, hereby declares a truceless w ar on the worst and most destructive form of infidelity th a t tim e has ever w itnessed since Satan first questioned the Divine Word in the Garden of Eden. We call upon our fellow Christians, our fellow ■ pastors— m inisters of Jesus Christ, and upon all teachers of the Holy Scriptures, to join w ith us not only in contending for th e faith, b u t in proclaim ing it in no uncertain sound. “Wherefore take unto you th e whole armor of God, th a t ye may be able to w ithstand in th e evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, hav ing your loins g irt about w ith tru th and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod w ith the p reparation of the Gospel of peaces above all tak ing the shield of faith, wherew ith ye shall be able to quench all th e fiery d arts of the wicked, and ta k e the helm et of sal vation and the sword of th e Spirit, which is' th e word of God” (Eph. 6:13-17). On the very points of difference mentioned by these opponents of Christianity dwelling w ithin her camp, whose rationalistic conceptions deny the inspiration of the Bible, th e personality of God, the V irgin B irth and Deity of Jesus, th e efficacy of His atoning blood, the necessity of regenera tion and th e certain ty of the resurrection and re tu rn of our Lord, F undam entalists hold: Of the Scriptures, th a t the Holy Bible was w ritten by men supern atu rally inspired; th a t it has tru th w ithout any adm ixture of erro r for its m a tte r; th a t as originally w rit ten it is both historically and scientifically tru e and correct; and therefo re is, and shall rem ain to th e end of th e age, the only complete and final revelation of th e will of God to m an; th e tru e center of Christian union and th e supreme stand ard by which all hum an conduct, creeds and opinions should be tried. Of th e tru e God, th a t th e re is one and only one living and tru e God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, th e maker and supreme ru ler of heaven and earth ; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; th a t in the unity of th e Godhead th e re are thr.ee per sons, th e F ath er, th e Son and the Holy Ghost, equal in every divine perfection and executing d istin c t bu t harm on ious offices in the g reat work of redemption. Of the creation, th a t th e Genesis account of creation is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively; th a t man was created directly in God’s own image and after His own likeness; th a t m an’s creation was not a m a tte r of evolution or evolutionary change of species, or development th rough interm inable periods of tim e from lower to higher form s; th a t all animal and vegetable life was made directly, and God’s established law was they should bring fo rth only “ afte r th e ir kind." Of the fall of man, th a t man was created in the image of God, th a t he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death b u t also th a t sp iritu al death which is separation from God; and th a t all hum an beings are born with- a sinful n atu re, and in th e case of those who reach moral respon sibility, become sinners in thought, word and deed. Of the V irgin B irth, th a t Jesus Christ was begotten of th e Holy Ghost in a m iraculous m anner; born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born, and th a t He is both the Son of God, and God the Son. Of th e atonem ent for sin, th a t the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace through the m ediatorial offices of the Son of God, who by the appointm ent of th e F ath e r, freely took upon Him our natu re, yet w ithout sin, honored th e divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonem ent for our sins; th a t His atonem ent consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a m artyr, bu t was th e voluntary substitu tion of H imself in the sinner’s place, th e Ju s t dying for the un ju st, Christ the
the views of the few people who control these g reat in te r ests. And as th e sp irit is g reater th an the body, so is rig h t education g reater th an m aterial prosperity.” Tlie H arvest of Rationalism F irs t of all, it strikes a t the tap-root of authority. It denies au tho rity in government; it denies au tho rity in reli gion; ■ it denies au tho rity in morals; it denies au tho rity in the home. W hat Bolshevism is in government, even so is present day modernism or rationalism in religion. The moment a personal God is denied, the sense of m an’s accountability to any being higher th an himself is abolished and imm orality and iniquities of all kinds are the sure result. When the au tho rity and inspired in teg rity of the Bible is disputed, th e basis of morals dissolves and society and government alike are no t menaced only-—they are on the way to ruin. Some tim e ago a g reat P aris paper, “L ’TJniverse,” sanely said: “The spirit of peace has fled the earth because evolution has taken possession of it. The plea for peace in past years has been inspired by faith in the Divine, n atu re and in the Divine origin of man. Men were then looked upon as chil dren of one F a th e r and war, therefore, was fratricide. But now th a t men are looked upon as children of apes, w hat m atters it w hether they be slaughtered or n o t?” If th e doctrine, “th e survival of th e fittest,” be true, slaugh ter of weaklings only aids th e race. H istory records how kindred relations once wrecked F rance and brought on the “Reign of T erro r.” It is impossible to suppose th a t the biological theory now being advocated in the schools of America in the name of Science can produce other or less harm ful results. “ Survival of th e fittest” is a soft sound ing phrase, bu t when in terp reted in th e ligh t of th e “stru g gle for existence” it results in a code of individual and of, in ternational ruffianism and presages an Armageddon. In th e beginnings of this b itter contest, even Fundam en talists believed th a t liberal preachers and teachers did not comprehend either th e definite direction of th e ir theories or th e final conclusions of the same, bu t the controversy itself has eventuated in a clear declaration on th e ir p art th a t they now fully understand both and yet are ready t o , p-ush th e ir contention of rationalism to th e point of enforc ing a cleavage. Beyond debate, “The Christian Century” is th e outstand ing jou rn al of modernism in America. In an editorial of Ja n u ary 3, 1924, this jou rn al says: “ Christianity, according to Fundam entalism , is one reli gion. Christianity according to Modernism, is ano th er reli gion. Which is the tru e religion is the question th a t is to be settled in all probability by our generation for fu tu re gen erations. There is a clash here as profound and as grim as between Christianity and Confucianism. Amiable words cannot hide the differences. ‘Blest be th e tie ’ may be sung till doomsday, bu t it cannot bind these worlds together. The God of th e F undam en talist is one God; th e God of th e Modernist is another. The Christ of the Fundam ental ist is one Christ; the Christ of the Modernist is another. The Bible of Fundam entalism is one Bible; the Bible of Modernism is another. The church,, the kingdom, the salva tion, th e consummation of all things— these are one thing to F undam entalists and ano ther thing to Modernists. Which God is the Christian God, which Christ is the Christian Christ, which Bible is th e Christian Bible, which church, which kingdom, which salvation, which consummation are th e Christian church, the Christian kingdom , the Christian salvation, the Christian consummation? The fu tu re will tell.”
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