February; 1941
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
47
ing of the Romans in 63 B. C. under Fompey the Great. For over five hundred years Rome ruled the world, and then, because of seeds of disintegration within, Rome fell before the onslaughts of the wild north ern Gothic tribes. The Romans formed the last world empire, but since their day nations have flared'up like rockets, occupying the attention of the world for an hour and then falling back into the darkness. The Rise and Fall of Nations As soon as ' we open the discussion, one question thrusts itself to the front. Why have powerful and brilliant civil izations, the products of centuries and apparently destined to outlive the mil lenniums, gradually degenerated? Why does dynamic power, the creative energy that builds and maintains for a time colossal empires, dry up? Historical epistemology factually dis cusses the rise, progress, and decline of communities, states, and nations with the utmost"volubility. But it is with evident limitations and considerable dif ference of opinion that it catalogues the causes and the necessary reasons of every fact. When the pure historiog rapher has completed his task of re cording events in their proper relation, the metaphysician can begin to philos ophize, attempting to explain the “why" of the known “what.” Accepting the facts of the historiographer, it Is our purpose to seek out their under lying causes, and, if possible, to con struct a causal master key which not only will unlock the “why’s" of the past but which also may turn the locks of both “what’s” and “why’s” of tomor row. The philosophy of history is our problem, and it is one of no mean di mensions. The providence of God is His govern ment by which He causes all events of the physical and moral universe to ful fill the design with which He created it. His government is both microscopic and telescopic, extending, according to the Scriptures, over even the free acts of man with respect to good and evil deeds. The •providential medium of the Trinity is Christ, who upholds and bears on all things “ by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3). One phase o f God’s providential gov ernment has to do with the affairs of nations. In support of this statement, we submit a brief discussion of five Scripture passages. 1. Psalm 66:7, R. V., reads, “He ruleth by his might for ever; His eyes observe the nations: Let not the rebellious exalt themselves.” The nations of this world constitute the objects of His efficient rule, which con tinues ever the same. His eyes con tinually make a testing survey of the nations, and none are to suppose them selves secure in their egotistical rebel lion against the Almighty.
2. “He changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Dan. 2:21). The second chapter of Daniel records the dream image of Nebuchadnezzar, which symbolizes nations of the times of the Gentiles: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the future nations of the revived Roman Empire. This verse is a portion of Daniel’s prayer of thanksgiving to God for revealing to him the meaning of the .king’s dream, and it also contains a preparatory in timation that the dream is concerned with the succession of kingdoms. The “times” are the phases and periods of duration of these empires, and the “sea sons” designate their consummation, de
the King of heaven; for all his works are truth, and his ways justice; and those that walk in pride he is able to abase” (v. 37, R. V.). 4.' Paul, in revealing to the Hellen istic philosophers their “Unknown God,” says of Him, “He made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17:26, .R. V.). The word “determined” is not to be thought of in its secondary verbal sense, but in reference to both time and space marking the boundaries of nations. “Seasons” are the turning points in a nation’s history, and “ bounds” define extent. Paul only claims' for the Most
cline', and fall. Jamieson, Faus- set, and Brown c o n c l u d e that t h i s v e r s e teaches, “ T h e v icissitu d e s o f states, with their times and seas- o n s , a r e n o t r e g u l a t e d by chance or fate, as the heathen thought, but by God.” 3. “The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will . . . and he doeth accord ing to his will in t h e a r m y o f h e a v e n , a n d among the in habitants of the e a r t h " (Dan. 4:25, 35). T h i s chapter clearly teaches that God sent a malady, thought to be hypochon driacal insanity, upon Nebuehad-' nezzar w h i c h drove him, under fancy that he was a beast, to dwell “with the b e a s t s ” until such a time as he should realize that God in His providence h a d given him the kingdom. When h is understand ing returned to him, he, profit ing by his exper ience, said, “Now I, Nebuchadnez zar, praise and extol and honor
Courtesy, The American Bible Society, N , T.
MARTIN LUTHER’S GERMANY In all his lionlike boldness when facing excommunication, imprisonment, or even death, Martin Luther did not ohce claim self-sufficiency. He was not the “superman” but the humble servant of Christ. Pictured above is a copy of the first edition of Luther’s German translation of the Scriptures, open at Psalm 46. “ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psa. 46:1)! “Let me then be refuted and convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by the clearest argu ments, otherwise I cannot and will not recant. . . . Here I take my stand; I can do no otherwise, so help me God! Amen,” said Martin Luther at the climax of his trial at the Diet of Worms. As, the “source book of the German language,” Luther’s translation of the Bible into the German vernacular in 1534 tremendously influenced the unification of the Germanic peo ples. But when faith in the authority of that Book was under mined in German thought life, there grew an exaltation of man’s reason that made the term “German rationalism” known around the world as a symbol of unbelief.
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