Tne Development
of tne Down Grade W hat German Rationalism Has Been Doing For Our Preachers and Churches. A Call to Return to the Book.
BY DR. A. C . D IXON Bible Institute of Los Angeles
HAT Spurgeon called the “ Downgrade” theology has been for twenty-five years the w ithèring scourge of ! our churches, causing th e ir
prom inent leaders in th is movement for a federation of churches candidly con fesses th a t his faith is a d rift; and, im agining th a t others are like himself, he calmly advises us to postpone all evan gelistic efforts u n til we can decide where we are. A leader who has so u tte rly lost his way is a p ath etic spec tacle. Can we follow a theological leader who is theologically lost? Will it not be a case of th e blind leading th e blind, and both falling togeth er into the ditch? The saddest featu re of th e whole sit uation is th e fact th a t some of our leaders have refused to give to our Lord Jesu s Christ th e crown of pre-em inence in th e realm of knowledge; and th e ir reasons for th is would compel a clear- thinking, logical m ind to refuse Him pre-em inence in th e realm of ethics. If w hat they claim for Him is true, He is no t to be tru ste d in any realm . We are told th a t in th e “Kenosis” Jesus chose so to empty H imself th a t He was in H is totality, igno ran t of some things. As Son of Man, He was ignor a n t of the tim e of His Second Advent, and they decline to perm it H im t o . be igno ran t as Son of Man w ithout in sist ing th at, as Son of God, He was equally igno ran t; although they are w illing to adm it th a t a man today may be in his physical and m ental being thoroughly igno ran t of whal he knows clearly and fully in his sp iritu al being. He may have a sp iritual discernm ent which n eith er his body nor his m ind can un derstand. Both th e Scriptures and psy chology are against them .
loss of power, th e ir alienation from the people; and th e ir décline in member ship. German rationalism has been do ing for our churches and Sunday schools w hat German shells have been doing for th e towns of F ran ce and F land ers; and one of the leaders in this movement frank ly confesses th a t he has tak en p a rt in bombarding the fair cathe d ral of tru th which we call th e Bible un til it is only a w reck of its form er self, while he calls upon us to help him to recon struct th e ru in s according to th e ru les which he and his fellow- destructionists have adopted. But we like the old building, erected by holy men under th e G reat A rchitect, w ith all its hallowed memories, b etter th a n th e new stru ctu re w ith its assumption of “ assured resu lts.” These “ assured re su lts’’ are already proved to be, not solid stones, b u t soft p laster, which crumbles under the touch of p atien t in- vestigation. The facts compel us to adm it th a t living men in high positions are w rit ing articles and books in which they al lege th a t th e destructive criticism of th e Bible has made good its claim s; and they are giving us a. Bible in ruins, w ith th e claim th a t th e ru in s are to them more beau tifu l and useful th a n th e Book in its form er glory. And along w ith the w reck of th e Book th e ir evangeli-. cal faith has been wrecked. One of the
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