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T h e
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THE AUDACITY OF UNBELIEF ( Continued from page 300)
ported. Of course Lincoln would have said that be cause he was a large soul, not a little one. “Can one doubt then, wfaft Jesus’ attitude would be?” We repeat that this has nothing whatever to do with the subject. It is not a question of what Lincoln wanted. It is a question of what Lincoln was. Congress may have “scuttled his policies” and “denied his magnanimity,” but did that affect his person? If he came “as near being worshiped as any American,” did the failure of Congress to put his policies into effect denude him of that merit? And may not the same question be put concerning Jesus Christ ?. Granted that He does not see His teach ings understood or His will executed by all His professed followers, does that affect the question, “What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?” (Matt. 22:42). Or take the other illustration of Beethoven. We are told that when Beethoven wrote a symphony, he did not write it merely to be admired but to) be reproduced. Granted. But if not a soul was willing or able to. repro duce it, was Beethoven other than Beethoven ? “A C rash ing M iracle ” We read over this sermon once or twice, and involun tarily there came into mind an utterance in the Western Recorder (Louisville) some time ago. Said the editor: “It is a queer thing about human civilization, that its attainments in culture and in the harnessing of natural forces do not give it an ounce of. added ability to com prehend the real inner' Significance of Christianity. No amount bf ‘progress’ enables a man to apprehend it bet ter than , an unlettered backwoodsman.” Or as John Ruskin said, “I find numbers, even of the most intelligent and amiable people, not knowing what the word Christianity • means. They are always asking how much is true, and how much they like, and never asking first, what was the total meaning of it, whether they like it or nbt.” That seems to be the case with Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick and his clientele. At one point in his sermon he says, “Divinity is not something supernatural that ever and again invades the natural order with a crashing mir acle.” Yes it is, Dr. Fosdick, precisely that. If by divinity you mean, deity, as do we, then it is supernatural, and ever and agairi it, does invade “the natural order with a crash ing miracle.” ' Forthcoming Articles W hy Do T h e W icked P rosper ? What child of God has not asked this question? It will be ably discussed in an early issue of T h e K ing ’ s B usiness by Dr. W. L. Petiingill, a Bible teacher of wide reputation. S cience and th e S criptures . This will be the theme of a rousing message from the pen of the ver satile evangelist, Harry Rimmer. T h e P ower of th e G ospel in B elg ium . An, exceptional article, which will be published soon, has been furnished by Mrs. Edith F. Norton, of the Bel gian Gospel Mission. 'These are only a few of the good things in store fo r readers of T h e K ing ’ s B u siness .
tongue-lashing Dr. Fosdick gives us. And more is coming for such false professors, if that is what they are. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:13, “The day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire.” And in 2 Corinth ians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” , But that is not the point before us. It is not the point of the sermon. It is not the pivot on which its thought revolves. That point or pivot is the far more important and more serious one of the person of Christ. It is not what Jesus wants, but primarily, what Jesus is. “Whom say ye that I aw?” (Matt. 16:15). Dr. Fosdick says Jesus is a “transcendent character,” “supremely great.” Divine? Yes, if we can come to an understanding about what we mean by divinity. “Wher ever goodness, beauty, truth, love are—there is the di vine.” “We all have some goodness, truth, love, and there fore on that basis the divinity of Jesus differs from ours in degree, but not in kind.” . But that is not what Jesus Himself says about it, and Dr. Fosdick must know that it is not. And hence, what right in logic has Dr. Fosdick, or any other man, to use certain utterances of Jesus such as those in Luke 11:27 or Matthew 19:16, 17, on which to base an estimate of His person, and then ignore scores of other utterances equally authentic and equally plain, which in comparison would radically change that estimate? To illustrate: There was an occasion when Jesus’ countrymen were about to slay Him for “making himself equal with God.” Did Jesus deny that claim? Assuredly not, but on the contrary, He framed a threefold argument to sustain it. And then like a lawyer in court, He pro duced His witnesses—four of them, to substantiate His argument. All this is revealed in the fifth chapter of John’s Gospel, if Dr. Fosdick cares to look at it. On another occasion Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). And again, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). How would Dr. Fos dick interpret these utterances of One whom he confesses to be a “transcendent character” and “supremely great” ? Would he charge Him with blasphemy, or possibly, would he call. Him insane? A braham L incoln A s A n E xample He recurs to his pet idea by using Lincoln as an ex ample : - “Take the truth into a realm quite different from re ligion and consider Abraham Lincoln,” he exclaims. “He, if you 'use the word ‘worship’ as we are using it this morning, in its general and human sense, comes as near being worshiped as any American. That began when he died. While he lived men tried to crush him by opposi tion, but he was too strong to be overcome. When he died, however, they began using the other method to dispose of him. They adored him. Nothing too marvelous could be said) of him. But in the ten years after he died, Congress put into effect a policy towards the South that denied everything Lincoln had stood for and wanted. They praised his name and they scuttled his policies. ' They flattered his memory and denied his magnanimity. They alike adored Lincoln and refused to follow him, so that they made the reconstruction era in the South one of the horrors of our history. “What would Lincoln have said? We know. Stop this evading of my spirit by praising me! What do I care about the idolizing of my ego? I want my cause sup
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