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THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
August 1925
ent. A portion of the Old T estam ent w ritten nearly th ir teen centuries ago states th is tru th : “I said in mine h ea rt concerning the estate of th e sons of men, th a t God m ight m anifest them , and th a t they m ight see th a t they them selves are beasts” (Eccl. 3 :1 8 ). In verse twenty-one of th is same chapter, the question is asked: “Who knoweth the sp irit of man th a t goeth upward, and th e sp irit of th e beast th a t goeth downward to th e e a rth ? ” This question as to w hether or n o t death ends all; whether or not the soul of man is immortal, is answered in a la ter chapter in these words: “Then shall the dust re tu rn to the earth as it was: and th e sp irit shall retu rn unto God who gave it ” (Eccl. 12 :7 ). Abraham , Isaac, and Jacob believed in the imm ortality of th e soul. Socrates, a native of pagan Athens, d rank the cup of poison hem lock firm in his belief in a life beyond the grave. The Pythagoreans ta u g h t th a t th e soul is during life imprisoned in th e body and at death takes its “flight into ano th er dwelling place.” Cicero, who died forty-three years before Christ was born, gives us his views of imm ortality in his dream of Scipio:
“Regard your body only and not yourself, as m ortal. F o r th a t outward form is only the m anifestation of your Self. The Self in every man is simply his Soul; not th a t mere figure which may be pointed at. Know yourself, therefore, to be divine; if by divine we mean th a t in us which lives, and feels, and remembers, and looks before hand; which in sh o rt as thoroughly dom inates, governs, and actuates the body of which it is made president, as th e Supreme God does th is world. F o r ju st in the same way as th e E tern al God actuates the changing phenomena of th is world, so does the imm ortal soul actuate th e m ortal body.” I read today th is statem en t by a somewhat prom inent educator: “Anti-vivisectionists, anti-evolutionists, funda mentalists and th e Ku Klux K lan, all evidences of th e fail ure of education, are still ram p an t among us” (The Phi Delta Kappan, June, 1925, p. 2). If these modern, m aterialistic scholars would seriously study th e Old Greeks, they wouldn’t be so sure about some of th e ir snap judgments. M aterialistic philosophy, evo lution, and destructive biblical criticisin have caused these students to lose th e ir belief in immortality. The A theist, Agnostic, and P an th eist p refer to accept a b ru te ancestry and to let death end all. (To be continued) «¿ 14 ,
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The Scriptures are IPeculiar in their Adaptation, Interesting m their Numbers, and Practical in their Working Dr. F . E. Marsh, London, England Every one of these articles by Dr. Marsh (of which th is is th e eighth,) h as been filled w ith fresh an d in sp iring though ts about th e Word of God, b u t we feel su re “Our F am ily” will agree w ith ns th a t th e one before us is especially rich in suggestive and helpful tru th s. The Scriptures a re P ecu liar in Their Adaptation H OHN WILLIAMS, the M artyr of E rran anga, relates how a number of th e natives of th e South Sea Islands were questioned on one occasion by the officers of a B ritish w ar ship why they believed the Bible to be th e Word of God. The following questions were pu t and different natives gave th e replies. exactly fits w ith the wisdom which made my body. Conse quently I believe the Bible to be the Word of God.” F o r the sake of concentration and illu stration let us take seven chapters of th e Bible, each of them a th ird chapter, as dem onstrating the adaptability of grace in meeting m an’s necessity. Genesis 3 reveals m an’s innocence, tem ptation, fall, sen tence, expulsion, separation, and atonem ent for him.
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“Do you believe the Bible to h e th e Word of God?” S tartled by th e question, for they had never doubted it, one replied, “Most certainly we do.” “Why do you believe it? ” “Look a t th e power w ith which it has been attended in th e u tte r overthrow of all we have been addicted to from tim e immemorial. W hat else could have demolished th a t system of ido latry which had so long prevailed amongst us? No hum an argum ents could have induced us to abandon th a t false system .” Another replied, “I believe th e Bible to be the Word of God on account of the pure system of religion it contains. W e had a system of religion before; b u t look how dark a n d black a system th a t was compared w ith th e b righ t sys tem of salvation revealed in the Word of God! Here we learn we are sinners, and th a t God gave Jesus Christ to die for us, and by th a t goodness Salvation is given to us, and its doctrines lead to pu rity of life.” Another said, “ I believe it to be th e Word of God on account of the prophecies it contains and th e ir fulfillm ent.” Yet ano ther said, “When I look a t myself, I find I have hinges all over my body. I have hinges to my legs, hinges to my jaws, and hinges to my feet. If I w ant to ta k e hold of anything, th e re are hinges in my hands to do it with. Here is wisdom in adapting my body to tb q v a rio u s func tion s it has to discharge. The wisdom whieh^piade th e Bible
Remans 3 gives God’s verdict of man universally, w hether barbarian, cultured or religious, as being lost, astray, polluted, m astered and condemned. M atthew 3 shows God’s Son and Servant appearing on behalf of man going down beneath the w aters of judgm ent and procuring an opened Heaven thereby. Jo h n 3 proclaims God’s love for a lost world in the sub stitu tio n ary sacrifice of Christ and in th e comprehensive ness of all th a t is wrapped up in th e blessing of “ eternal life.” Ephesians 3 emphasizes th e S p irit’s work in making Christ to be a liv ing ’reality in th e h eart, th a t the Christ may be seen in th e life. 1 Jo h n 3 unfolds the practical evidence of. relationship w ith God, in not sinning, in obedience to th e Lord, and practical love to th e breth ren . 1 John 3:16 is th e counter p art of John 3:16. Phil. 3 manifests the ardou r of a Christ-possessed and fas cinated man who ignores the flesh, self and th e past th a t he may win th e prize of the upward calling and find eternal satisfaction in the body of glory w ith the Saviour. W ithout detailization, th e comprehensiveness of the tru th s in th e above chapters proves beyond question how m an’s need is met for tim e and eternity.
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