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THE KING’S BUSINESS
of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Bible declares .that He was. in a peculiar sense the Son of God, that He did not have a human father. This statement was accepted for centuries by all peo ple who professed to believe the Bible. Now men are accepting salaries for teaching the Bible who instruct their, students that this fundamental state ment is doubtful or untrue. Take the fact of I lis resurrection. This also was distinctly affirmed by many wit nesses, The church was builded upon this in large measure. Wherever the disciples went they preached Jesus and the. resurrection from the dead. Now men who wish to be considered schol ars and who profess to teach the Bible are informing us that this statement is doubtful or untrue:; Some say they do not believe it. Others say it is, not so, Both classes of men contradict the testimony pf millions of believers through hundreds of years. Take the Question of the immortality of the soul. The .Bible clearly teaches it. Jesus told men that it was better to suffer the loss of all earthly good than to have soul and body destroyed in hell. These alleged scholars now tell us that there is no hell, and some of them go forward to say that the very exist ence of the soul is to be doubted or denied. Gross materialism is a legiti mate inference from the doubts and doctrines which they have been teach ing, Jesus or Sir Oliver Lodge Recently the distinguished scientist whose name I twice coupled with the name of our blessed Lord gave an ad dress before a learned society in Great Britain. It is a beautiful piece of writing, thoughtful and candid and earnest throughout. Toward the close of this address he takes up the ques tion of the immortality of the soul from the standpoint of science and not
at all on the authority of the Bible. He declares that it is impossible to. deny the independent spiritual exist ence of man with the natural infer ence that this independent spiritual ex istence lives after the body has fallen: away. A great shout of approbation goes up from-the world. “Now we can believe in the immortality of the soul. Sir Oliver Lodge says that we may.” . “We could not believe on the testimony of Jesus Christ.” “We could not believe on the testimony of H is: disciples.” “We could not believe bn the testimony of the Bible.” “ Sir Oliver Lodge is a great man.” “He has studied the thing- through.” “He proves to us scientifically that we can believe in the immortality of the soul, in the spiritual existence of mankind therefore, we will believe.” This tragic episode in the life of the church would be less serious but for one fact. The devil knows very well that if the immortality of the soul is not to be believed on the authority of Jesus Christ and His disciples, on the authority of the Bible, in a word, but is to be believed because a certain man has scientifically determinated it, then it will be perfectly possible for him to keep mankind busy doubting and finally believing until they have largely dropped into hell. I do not object to books written to prove the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. At' the same time, I have never read such a book, and I do not care to read such a book. I have never read Dr. Orr on this subject, not because I think I should dissent from any of his arguments or conclusions, but because that whole question is settled for me by the word of God. I do not believe that any person who rejects the testi mony of Scripture will be particularly heloed by the testimony of Dr. Orr. I believe that persons who, on the au thority of Jesus Christ and His prophets and apostles, have accepted
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