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February, 1941
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S *
gested that Moses in Genesis made use of older documents. By way of evi dence, he suggested Moses’ use of differ ent divine names, such as “God” (1:1 to 2:3), “Lord God” (2:4 to 3:24), and “Lord” (4:1 to 7:24). During the next century, increased liberty was taken with Scripture, cul minating in Wellhausen’s Prolegomena to the History of Israel, which appeared in 1878. This work consistently applied the principle of literary and historical development to the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi. The same principle was also applied to the New Testament by Baur of Tubingen University. There was a growing belief that the books of the Bible were of human rather than divine origin. At first, such ideas were promulgated only by those occupying academic chairs, but shortly those trained in the German schools carried them into the pulpits of the land. The result was twofold: First, increased liberty was taken in reconstructing Scripture, with the dele tion or rationalization of all marks of divine origin, such as miracles and prophecy. Second, extreme liberty was taken with books of sacred Scripture by the higher critics of Germany, and then by those of other countries, all of whom automatically removed the Bible from its place of authority in faith and practice, which place it had occupied in Protestant ecclesiastical circles subse quent to the days of the Reformation. * When ministers preached to the people of Germany what they them selves had been taught, their hearers readily deducted that two plus two equaled four. By this we mean that when Biblical books are considered to be only the product of the human mind, the “thus saith the Lord” of Scripture vaporizes. Why should modem thought life, which is behind all action, be guided by the thought life of one or more mere men who lived two or three thousand years ago? The people im mediately saw what the German clergy failed' to see, “If that'is all there is to the Bible, there is nothing to it, as far as we are concerned.” Gradually, the one who used the ser pent in Eden of old applied his age-old question to more and more of Scripture. That question expressed in Genesis 3:1 was the root of the German liberal movement: “Yea, hath God said . . . ?” So-called scholars of Old and New Tes tament languages and literature an swered in the negative. Reason took the place of revelation. The scalpel of crit icism thus either deleted or rationalized all marks of divine origin. To cover this great betrayal, the critics endea vored to magnify the Bible as a beauti
High His natural gubernatorial prerog ative in opposition to the Stoical fate and Epicurean chance. 5. Romans 13:1, R. V., advises “sub jection to the higher powers’’ that exer cise the reins of government over man, “for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God.” “There is no power but of God”— this is a very comprehensive proposi tion. Evidently, God delegates all hu man power; and therefore, of course, rulers of every age and every land have only been invested with their power. It would seem proper to conclude that God has given two things to every nation: revelation and opportunity. And also, the continued existence of that nation, under His blessing, has been measured by the degree of obedience to the dictates of His revelation. Of course, there is an outstanding excep tion to this. Prosperity is often given to a nation, even to the wicked, to the end that it may be an instrument of judgment in divine hands. In turn, it suffers what might be called a post poned judgment. The Book of Habak- kuk is the best commentary,.of those with which we are acquainted, on this consideration. At times, evil men be come servants through whom God car ries out His purposes. An example of a man and nation that God has used to execute judgment was Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, of whom the Lord’s prophet said “concerning all the people of Judah” : “Therefore thus saith the .Lord of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar 1 the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them, against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these na tions round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make .them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations” (Jer. 25:8, 9). A similar leader raised to power was Cyrus, of whom the prophet brought word from the Lord as recorded in Isaiah 44:28 to 45:1. Rationalistic Roots of Defeat The defeat of Germany has been gradual and, obviously, has not yet been consummated. It began in her theolog ical seminaries and her universities and has subsequently spread throughout her entire structure. Johann G. Eichhorn, Professor at Got tingen, Germany, has been well named “the father of Higher Criticism.” In 1782 he published his Introduction to the Old Testament, in which he sug
ful and wholesome' piece of literature. More recently the Nazi New Testa ment has been put in circulation. The Gospels are so Written as to suggest that Jesus lived in Germany. There are flattering allusions to Hitler’s Mein Kampf. One reviewer summarizes the work thus: “The chief ’ purpose of the book is to dilute the message of JesuS, but a second purpose is to delete every reference to the Jews. All reference to Jesus’ ancestry and all mention of the Jews are omit ted. Jesus is represehted as en tirely human. AH reference to His divine origin and nature is sup pressed.” Philosophies That Deny the Creator The ideology of modern Germany has its roots not only in higher criticism as applied to the Bible, but also in the philosophic skepticism of Schleiermach- er, the pessimism of Schopenhauer, and the animalism of Nietzsche. The lat ter’s superman philosophy, with a “might is right” attitude toward life, laid the psychological foundation for the World War. It was Nietzsche who remarked that man, that is, his super man, had three great curses: “Civiliza tion, woman, and Christianity.” It seems that I can hear a feminine voice observe, “No wonder he was insane the last decade of his life.” The mind of- the -Bible student is carried back to Nebuchadnezzar’s experience recorded in Daniel 4. A coiitemporary missionary of inter national reputation keenly observes: “Study history and learn one thing: He who thinks he can cheat a moral God in a moral universe is a moral imbecile. It simply cannot be done. Evil carries the seeds of its own destruction within it. The uni verse is not built for the success of lies. They break themselves on the moral facts of the universe. The Lord God reigneth—whether that reign is acknowledged or not. Every wrong breaks itself upon the fact of God.” When the moral Governor of the uni verse is no longer recognized, when man’s ancestry is traced back to brute creation, when national heroes, of whom some are even mythical, are worshiped, when collectivism trans cends individualism, then we may ex pect that over that civilization will be written, “God also gave them up” (Rom. 1:24). Then, though the nation may linger with a semblance of power and glory, the end is clear and certain. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psa. 9:17). [T o be concluded ]
"T h e r e is no power but o f God 93
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