M
April, 1936
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
128
1933 — A PROPHETIC REVIEW B y LOUIS S. BAUMAN Long Beach, California
T he S ad F ailure of “ C hristian L iberalism ” Not so long ago, an ultramodernist stood in his own pulpit in Los Angeles and bewailed the failure of his own religious philosophies. He said: I propose that all the energy of religious institutions be devoted to the development of a true faith and love in the lives o f those who are within the fold. There is an insidious and destructive atheism. •It fills the land with the blackness of despair. But it is not among the organ ized “Angels of Satan” nor in bands of self-conscious sophomores. Neither is ‘ it in the lives of the avowedly materialistic nor the frankly indifferent. Thef atheism which is wrecking civilization is rampant in the halls of religion. It is we who have let midnight fall upon our people. God sometimes compels the devil to speak the truth about himself! What a sad commentary it is upon so- called “ ‘Christian’ Liberalism” that, right in the heyday o f its sweetest triumphs, its. greatest advancement,' its popular acceptance by the masses, and its most vaunted doctrine of “ the Fatherhood o f God and the brotherhood of man,” fructifying supposedly in the spirit of brotherly love, good will, peace, and civic and moral righteousness-— what a sad commentary it is that in such a time, the vile serpents of human hate glide forth as never before from their filthy dens,;, and entwine themselves about the bodies and souls o f men! Socialists, Altruists, Utopians, ethical culturists, humanists, O x f o r d G roup ists, be- haviorists, nudists, and every other sort of an amicus ■humani generis that can be classified under the term “mod ernist,” have peddled their highly advertised wares from house to house and school to school the wide world around. Their boasted “ leaven” has certainly had its chance to prove its working power. Yet, whereunto have we come? A desperately sick world— little wonder!— is frantically looking for some dictator who is strong enough to keep the “ leavened” masses from butchering each other in cold blood ! Sincere though many adherents o f some of these groups undoubtedly are, they nevertheless are tragically deluded when they seek the improvement o f mankind by any other means than the blood o f Christ. Philanthropic, civic, and religious organizations almost without number, secret and open, with almost unlimited funds, backed even by the might and billions o f the govern ment, have been springing up all around us, with the osten sible purpose .of human betterment, only to see the objects of their love and care about to wade into the. greatest wallow o f human blood the ages have ever known. It only awaits the coming o f some daring soul with sufficient courage to meet the challenge o f the sword-rattler that is in Rome, or that is in Berlin, or that is in Moscow, or that is in Tokyo, and the red torrents will begin to spurt. Representative of the great trend in modern churches, the Los Angeles modernist was right: “ The atheism which is wrecking civilization is rampant in the halls of religion. It is we who have let midnight fall upon our people” ! Humanitarian agencies seem not to have learned as yet that you cannot substitute the Golden Rule for the Gospel of the Grace o f God. These “ Fatherhood-of-God” -
The Increasing Intensity of Class Hatreds I N reviewing world conditions as they presented them- -,¡selves.to us in the year 1935, and also as they still are in evidence in the early days of 1936, and interpreting them in the light of the “ sure word of prophecy ; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn” (2 Pet. 1 :19), outstand ingly significant is the ever-increasing intensity of the roar of class hatreds. And the appallingly ominous thing is, not. that these class hatreds should exist, but that the men that should suppress them, and must suppress them if they are to be suppressed, seem to be bent on inciting them. However, the careful reader of the Word that unfailingly forecasts what thè world o f unregenerate men is set to do, is not surprised at the tidal waves of class hatred now roll ing in upon all mankind. T he “ S ure W ord of P rophecy ” And as Jesus “ sat upon the mount o f Olives, the dis ciples came unto him privately; saying, . . . What shall be the sign of thy coming, and o f the end of the world [R.V. margin, “ the consummation of the age” ] ? And Jesus an swered and said . . . Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of ¿all nations fo r my name’s sake. And then shall many be o f fended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another” (Matt. 24:3, 4, 9, 10) :: “ Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death” (Mk. 13:12 ). It is evident from these words of the Master that our age is to end at a time when not only shall a universal hatred be manifested toward the Jews, but also the whole world will be seething with hatred—man against man of whatever nationality-Bbetraying one another, hating one another. As for children’s rising up against their parents, and causing them to be put to death, the whole world is familiar with the fact that within the last score o f years, thousands of father's and mothers in Soviet Russia have been led out and shot to death upon the testimony of their own children, who rose up against them. Our Lord said : “ As it was in the days o f Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Lk. 17:26). And how was it in the days of Noah? W e read: “ The earth also was corrupt before God ; and the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6 :11 ). Now, violence is ever, and only, and always the fruit o f hatred- Our age is to end in a world-wide orgy of hatred, which in turn will bring forth a reign of làwlessness and violence, the like o f which was not known even in the days before the flood, for “ great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning o f the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:21) cannot come except under the direct impulses of hearts filled with hate. [The prophetic review given this month is one o f a series by Dr, Bauman, pastor o f the First Brethren Church, Long Beach, Calif .= | E ditor . ]
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