hi? ~~:. - orthodox presbyterian church we justified in entertaining the conception of christian...
Post on 30-Apr-2018
212 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
31. 8ftg:bam ;fIllltbenftitOf \936-\937
-""111"'""hi? Oct~~!.~, ..~~:. ;43
l:Iili!d1a1tOne Year-$2.00
1505 Race StreetPhiladelphia 2. Pa.
l
'lIbUshed Twenty-three Times a Year
EDITORIAL COUNCILJohn P. Clelland John Patton Galbraith Edwin H. Rian
Leslie W. Sloat Ned B. Stonehouse
The Christian World OrderliThe Christian in the Twentieth Century World"-PART 1
By the REV. JOHN MURRAYProfessor of SystemaHc Theology In Westminster Theological Seminary
Ten eenh a Copy
Thomas R. BirchManagIng EdItor
BY THE term, "The Christian World Order", I takeit that what is meant is a world order that in all
its aspects and spheres is Christian, an order so conformed to the principles of Christianity and so pervaded by the forces that are operative in Christianitythat the whole of life will be brought into willingcaptivity to the obedience of Christ.
Are we justified in entertaining the conception ofChristian world order? Or, at least, are we justified inentertaining such an order as an ideal towards whichwe should work and strive? Do we have any assurancethat such a world order is attainable? And, if we haveno assurance that it is attainable, are we not mockingourselves and others by framing the conception and,particularly, by working' towards the achievement ofit? Should we'not rather descend from the clouds anddeal with more practical and sensible matters?
We shall have to acknowledge frankly that we donot have the right from God's Word to believe thata Christian world order in the purity and completeness of its conception will be realized on this side ofthat great and momentous event towards which thehistory of this world is moving, namely, the appearing
l of the glory of the great God arid our Saviour Jesus'Christ, the visible glorious advent of the Lord Himself.For a Christian world order, in the purity and completeness of its conception, is a world order that has
brought to complete and perfect fruition the redemptive, regenerative and restorative forces that are embodied in the Christian redemption and revelation.Such an order would mean the complete eliminationof sin and of all its effects and the full attainment ofrighteousness and holiness. To whatever school ofeschatological persuasion we belong, we cannot believethat such an order will antedate the advent of the Lord.
It is true that the postmillenarian believes that before Christ comes the world will become Christian.But even the most consistent supernaturalistic postmillenarian cannot hold that, even in that period ofunprecedented prosperity for the kingdom of Codupon earth which he posits as antedating the Lord'scoming, the world order will be so completely conformed to the divine will that all sin will be eradicatedand righteousness and holiness be all-pervasive. He,with other supernaturalists, believes that such an orderwill have to wait for the new heavens and the newearth wherein dwelleth righteousness (II Pet. 3:13).A Christian world order, if the word "Christian" isapplied with consistency, means an order in which theprinciple of redemption and restoration is brought toits complete and all-pervasive expression and fruition.
So a Christian world order, in the purity and completeness of its conception, will not antedate thatmanifestation of power and glory when Christ will
Th' P....~ytorlan Guardian I. pUbll.hed .elni.menthly from Slptelnbor to Juiy. Inclu.iye, and monthly In August by Th' Pre.bYterlan Guardian Publl.hln, Corpera.tl,n. 728 Sell.. Bulldl.,. 1505 Ra.e Street. Philadelphia. Pa .. at the tollowJngrat.e•• payable In adVance. for either old or new .ubocribers In &DY part of the world. pO.tacolIrePaoid: $2.00 _ year; $1.00 for five months; five or more copi.. either to s.Jl8,t&te addre.... or In .. paekage to one ..ddress, $1.211 e&eh Per year; introductory ra.te for now!lUbeeriberaonly. throe months for 2Ile; 10c per single coW. Entered as sOCOlll! Cla88 matter March 4. 1937. at tbo Poat OIIIee at PbiladelPbia. P.... under the Act of Mareb 3. 1879.
October 10
order is order brought into existenceby the deliverance from sin and evilwrought by redemption and regeneration. The principles and forces thatmust be at the basis and centre ofChristian order in any of its formsmust be the principles and forces ofGod's regenerative and sanctifyinggrace. Any idealism or reconstructionthat proceeds upon a program that iscongenial to fallen human nature orthat is readily adjustable to the impulses and passions and principles offallen human nature has denied thevery genius of Christian order.
There is, therefore, something drastic about the transformation thatChristian order effects. This is whywe are so reluctant to entertain aChristian program of procedure insome of the most practical spheressuch as those of education and industry. We are so often content to havea few amendments and correctionsthat give a Christian veneer to certaininstitutions. Without question thesecorrections may have, to a certainextent, a salutary influence, but theseamendments do not change the basically nonchristian character of the principles and methods by which theseinstitutions or orders operate. TheChristian principle as applied to everyorder is radical and revolutionary inthe true sense.of these words, radicaland revolutionary because it is organically regenerative. It deals not byhalf-measures nor by indirection butby honest, thoroughgoing effectivenesswith the reality of human sin andwith the all-pervasive corruption it hasbrought in its train.
Three Divine InstitutionsWhat then is this order that Chris
tianity contemplates? There are threebasic divine institutions in human society-the family, the church and thestate. All of, these institutions aresocial in character; in each of themthere is a plurality of individuals. Thatplurality, it is true, may sometimes bethe minimum of plurality. The family,for example, is constituted first of allby two individuals. But in each casethere is plurality. This is such an elementary, obvious fact that it may seempuerile to mention it. But, elementarythough it be, the implications forChristian order are of profound im-
(Continued on Page 278)
The Christian World Order , 273John Murray
Meeting Life's Problems 275Charles E. Stanton '
Our New Order in East Asia 276Floyd E. Hamilton
Editorial 281
With fhe Standing Committees 283Of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
The Parables of Our Lord , 284Lawrence B. Gilmore'
Why Spiritism Is Popular 286T. C. Van Kooten
TABLE OF CONTENTS
October 10, 1943
that are inherent 'in the Christian redemption and revelation. And this isjust saying that the ideal and goal imposed upon us by the kingship andkingdom of our Lord and SaviourJesus Christ is nothing less thanChristian world order. To recede fromthis conception and aim is to abandonwhat is implied in the prayer Christtaught His disciples to pray, "Thykingdom come. Thy will be done inearth, as it is in heaven" (Matt.6:10). And it is to renounce what isovertly expressed in the words of theapostle, "For though we walk in theflesh, we do not war after the flesh:(For the weapons of our warfare arenot carnal, but mighty through Godto the pulling down of strongholds;)casting down imaginations, and everyhigh thing that exalteth itself againstthe knowledge of God, and bringinginto captivity every thought to theobedience of Christ" (II Cor. 10: 3"5) .
What Is the Christian Order?To the concrete question of what
constitutes Christian world order, wemay now address ourselves. It is necessary at the outset to premise any discussion of this practical question uponthe fact of human sin and depravity.Any attempt to erect Christian orderupon the ruins of human depravitymust end in dismal failure. Indeed, itwould be an inherent contradiction.For Christian order is order that isChristian and, if Christian, it restsupon the supernatural and redemptivefoundations of Christianity. Christian
THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN'274
come again without sin unto salvation,when He will bring to naught all ruleand all authority and power and whenall his enemies shall have been madeHis footstool.
Our dilemma would seem to be indeed perplexing. If we have to wait forthe supernatural forces that Christ'sadvent will bring in its train beforethe order of absolute right and holiness will be ushered in, is there anysense in speaking of a Christian worldorder except as an eschatologicalhope? Particularly and most practically, is there good sense in workingtowards the establishment of a Christian order when we know that, in thecompleteness of its conception, it isnot attainable in what we generallycall this life?
We must be bold to say that theChristian revelation does not allow usto do anything less than to formulateand work towards a Christian worldorder in the life that we now live. Itis not difficult to demonstrate thevalidity and even necessity of thisthesis.
The, standard of thought and therule of conduct for us are divine obligation. The rule and standard for usare the irreducible claims and demands of the divine sovereignty, andthese irreducible claims are that thesovereignty of God and of His Christbe recognized and aprlied in thewhole range of life, a interest, ofvocation and of activity. That is justsaying that the demands of the divinesovereignty make it impossible for usto evade the obligation to strive withall our heart and soul and strengthand mind for the establishment of anorder that will bring to realization allthe demands of God's majesty, authority, .supremacy and kingship. Andthis, in a word, is simply the fullfruition of the kingdom of God wherever we are and in the whole compassof thought, word and action.
But, since we have fallen and sincethe only way now whereby the claimsof the divine sovereignty can even begin to be realized within the compassof our responsibilities is through theredemptive and mediatorial work ofChrist, then there rests upon us, withlike universal and unrelaxed stringency, the obligation to bring to bearupon the whole compass of life thesupernatural and redemptive forces
275
laid out on much the same principles.There is not one of us but has difficult and heart-searching problems .toface, for the only way to the gates ofheaven leads through the forest oftrial and testing. We seldom knoweach other's greatest problems andoften do not know our own; and somecertainly have more difficult problemsthan others. But one thing seems always to be true: The more wholeheartedly we give ourselves to Christ'sservice, the greater will be the problems in our lives. And a study of theBible leads us to conclude that themost blessed among us are those whohave faced the most difficult problemsand the most severe trials. Moses,David, and Elijah of the Old Testament and the apostles of the NewTestament are some of the greatestBible characters, and their lives standout for the severity of the trials theyendured. If we 'find our hearts oftenburdened with problems which wefind ourselves utterly helpless to solve,we may well be thankful, for this isthe divinely appointed way for thefullest development of our characters.
Now let us see what Hezekiah didin this seemingly hopeless situation.Sennacherib sent a letter to Hezekiahdemanding immediate surrender ofJerusalem. But Sennacherib said something else in that letter that disturbedHezekiah even more than did the demand for the surrender of the city;He said that none of the gods of theother nations had been able to prevent him from conquering those nations, and neither could the God ofIsrael keep him from conquering Jerusalem. Hezekiah did the one. thingthat everyone of us can do when our •hearts are heavily burdened and wecannot see the way ahead. He turnedto God. He took the blasphemousletter from Sennacherib up into thetemple and spread it out there beforethe Lord and asked God to save Hispeople and His city, that all menmight know that He was God. Hezekiah knew that the situation was absolutely hopeless, unless God shouldintervene, but he had' the faith tobelieve .that God could and woulddeliver [erusalem- if that should be
have had the courage and vigor toset about it in the face of strongopposition. This vision, courage andvigor is the natural, God-given endowment of young manhood, but itis too often squandered in the seeking of pleasure and excitement.
Religious reformation was the firstthing to which Hezekiah gave hisa~ention upon becoming king, but itwas not the only thing that he did.He saw the military weakness of Judahand he set about making improvements. He built forts and arrangedfor an adequate supply of water inJerusalem in case of a siege, and weread that the Lord was with him andprospered him whithersoever he went.
Then one day his problem came.It was the crisis of his life, and it became a turning point and a landmarkin the history of the Jews. Sennacherib was the King of Assyria, whichwas at that time the most powerfulnation of the world. Sennacheribcame marching down through Palestine, taking every city as he went. Theinhabitants who yielded peaceablywere deported, but those who resisted were sometimes punished bybeing skinned alive. As Sennacheribdrew near to Jerusalem, Hezekiah andhis people were terror-stricken. Sennacherib agreed not to besiege Jerusalem, if Hezekiah would pay hima huge sum. Unwisely, Hezekiah complied. and even stripped the gold offthe temple doors in his frantic effortto raise the sum. But Sennacheribwas like our modern dictators; hisword was not worth much and, afterhe had received the money, hemarched against Jerusalem and demanded its surrender. As Sennacheribapproached Jerusalem, he was utterlyconfident that nothing could stophim. Within the city, Hezekiah andhis people knew that, humanly speaking, there was no chance at all thatthe city could hold out. against thispowerful army.
Now we may feel that there is noreal parallel between this problem inHezekiah's life and our own problems, because our lives are so entirelydifferent. And yet our lives are notreally so different. All our lives are
THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN
•
1943
THE study of the principles ofChristian conduct is like learning
the alphabet. First we must see theletters written large and by themselvesto recognize them. Then we .mustlearn to recognize them in many different associations. We can learn torecognize the various principles ofChristian conduct by first findingthem in the Bible where they arewritten largest. We can then see howthey apply to the lives of all men, andespecially to our own. The principleof Christian conduct to which wenow turn our attention is that of dependence on God in meeting life'sproblems. We find this principledemonstrated more or less in the lifeof every believer, but there is oneoccasion in the Bible which furnishesus with a particularly outstandingillustration of this principle in operation. It is the occasionwhen Hezekiahdefied the king of Assyria and. byfaith in God was victorious over himand his powerful army. We shall studythis story, then, as an illustration ofhow we ought to meet life's problems.
Let us first see what Hezekiah'sproblem was. Hezekiah became kingat the age of twenty-four. In so doing,he stepped into a difficult job, for hisnation was in very bad circumstances.Ahaz, his father, had not been astrong ruler, and he had left the nation in a rather weak condition. Butworse than this, Ahaz had been a verywicked man. He had taken many ofthe valuable things out of the temple,allowed it to become filled with rubbish, and then closed it entirely. Inthe meantime, he caused many altarsto be erected for the worship of idols.With courage and vigor, Hezekiahbegan a great reformation in Judah,opening the temple, cleaning out theaccumulated rubbish, destroying thealtars which his father had built forthe worship of pagan idols, and calling the people together to observe thePassover feast which for many yearshad been neglected;
It is worth noticing that almostalways, both in Bible times and inchurch. history, it has been youngmen who have had the vision to seethe need of reformation, and who
Meeting Life's ProblemsA Study in Christian Ethics by the REV. CHARLES £. STANTON
Pastor of the Cornville Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Cornville. Maine
THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN October 10
dreams of world conquest. It is because the emperor is alleged to be agod that the National Shintoists believe Japan's destiny is to dominatethe rest of the world. Just as Christians claim the whole world as thedominion of the triune God, so theNational Shintoists teach that thewhole' world belongs to the "divine"emperor. It thus becomes evident thatwe could not allow him to continueto exercise even a semblance of hisformer office and pomp. It would bedangerous to allow him,' or any members of the imperial family, even toremain in Japan, for they would always be a rallying point for the imperialistic elements in the nation.Banishment would probably be thebest solution. Expropriation of all theimperial estates and financial holdingswould have to follow, so that the imperial clan would .retain none of theglamour and religious prestige in theeyes of the people that its wealth atpresent bestows. In order to protectour country from the danger of another war twenty or thirty years fromnow, we must not only prevent theJapanese from rearming but also fromusing the emperor as a rallying pointfor a "holy war" in defense of theNational Shintoist claim that if is thedestiny of the "divine" emperor torule the rest of the world.
all aglow, tell of their new-joy in lifewhen first they learned to look to Godin prayer arid discovered that Goddoes answer their prayers. It is truly'a joyous experience and the greatestthrill life can afford. There is not asingle problem of any kind in our livesbut that God will work it out in away that will be to His honor andglory and to our blessing.
It takes real faith to believe thisfaith that comes after years of looking to God and discovering His faithfulness. But faith like this is life'srichest treasure and life's most joyousexperience.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of three studies by Mr. Stantonin the field of Christian Ethics. Thethird will appear in an early issue.)
CONCLUSION
IN OUR plans for post-war Japan,one of the most important ele
ments must be the abolition of theimperial form of government. Somewill doubtless challenge any attemptto refuse to a conquered country theright to choose a particular form ofgovernment. On general principles thechallengers' position would be correct,but the situation in Japan is entirelydifferent from that in other countries.In Japan' the form of government isitself so completely identified with thereligion of National Shinto, and thatin turn is so dangerous to the peaceof the rest of the world, that in selfdefense we are forced to deny to theJapanese the right of choosing the imperial form of government for thefuture, however much we may advocate as a matter of principle noninterference by the conquerors withthe internal politics of the nationconquered.
It is true that the emperor of Japanis a mere puppet today, but he is asymbol, because it is claimed that heembodies, in his own person, all thespirits of his ancestors back to andincluding the spirit of the so-calledsun-goddess. This religious element inthe claims regarding the emperor tiesin directly with National Shintoist
Our New Order in East AsiaBy the REY. FLOYD E. HAMILTON
Missionary to Korea for More Than ,Twenty Years
the angel of the' Lord came to thecamp of Sennacherib and smote onehundred and eighty-five thousand ofhis soldiers. On the morrow Sennacherib, in rage and shame, took theremnant of his once-powerful armyand returned to Nineveh, where hewas soon after killed by two of hissons.
This prayer of Hezekiah's and theremarkable answer is one of the mostspectacular events of Old Testamenthistory. It illustrates exactly the sameprinciple that we may and ought toput into operation in our lives. Godwill answer our prayers just as surelyand abundantly as He answered Hezekiah's, We often do not recognize.the answers to our prayers when theycome, but God does answer. I haveseen young people, with their faces
276
His will.This is the kind of faith God wants
us to have. It is one thing to believethat everything in the Bible' is trueand that God is able to take care ofHis people. Satan and all his angelsbelieve this. The question is, Do webelieve Cod will lead us through everyproblem? Do we believe it enough totake every problem to God in prayer?Do we' believe it enough to comeback from prayer with the calm assurance that God has answered ourprayer and all is well? Do we believeit enough to find peace of heart inthe midst of trouble?
Psychology teaches us that fear isthe greatest destroyer of character andpersonality. More mental abnormalities are caused by fear than by anything else. Fear makes people selfish,narrow-minded, worried and unattractive. Faith does the exact opposite. Itmakespeople generous,broad-visioned,calm and attractive, and allows themto be at their best at all times. Thereare two kinds of calmness-that ofthe fool and that of the believer.There are many around us who livevery calm and efficient lives, yet whoare not Christians. Their calmness isthat of the fool who has closed hiseyes to the truth and hurries on tohis destruction. That sort of calmnessis based on the wisdom of men. Theother kind of calmness is that whichcomes. from a steadfast assurance thatall is well, and it is based upon theunchanging Word of God.
Every Christian has faith, but notevery Christian has faith like that ofHezekiah. And Hezekiah was notborn with this faith-he acquired it.The first time Sennacherib sent toHezekiah, Hezekiah was frightenedinto sending Sennacherib what he demanded; and for this lack of faithIsaiah the prophet rebuked Hezekiah.But the next time Sennacherib sentto Hezekiah, he was dealing with adifferent man-a man who had goneto God in prayer and had come backwith the calmness of one who knowswhat he is going to do.
Hezekiah did not have to wait longfor an answer to his prayer. The Bibleseems to indicate that, on that veryday, Isaiah came to Hezekiah and gavehim God's answer to his prayer. Theanswer was that Sennacherib wouldnever come into Jerusalem, but thatGod would put a hook in his nose anda, bridle in his mouth and lead himback whence he had come. That night
THE PRESBYTERIAN GUA.DIAN1943
Except for thus prohibiting themfrom perpetuating National Shintothrough the imperial form of government, 'we might allow them to decidefor themselves what their form ofgovernment should be, though probably the only alternative would bedemocracy. Assistance would doubtlesshave to be given by the allied nationsfor some time in the future, to insurethe perpetuation of such a democraticgovernment.
Religion,The most dangerous point in the
whole system of foreign control ofJapan would be in the realm of religion. Now INe believe in the principleof freedom of religion and consciencefor all. But a vital distinction in thedefinition of freedom of religion needsto be made. No man has naturalright to freedom of religion. All menare naturally under the obligation toworship and obey only the TriuneGod according to His revealed will.The state, however, has a right to dealonly with the outward acts of itscitizens, not with their thoughts orbeliefs. The principle of freedom ofreligion is concerned then with thepolitical right of all men to believeand teach and worship according tothe dictates of their own consciences,as long as they do not interfere withthe similar rights of others, or othernations, and as long as the propagation of their teachings and beliefsdoes not violate common morality anddecency, or attack and endanger theexistence of the government itself. Itwould, however, be the inherent rightof any government to defend itselfagainst attacks by religionists whosought to overthrow the government,and it would also be the right of agovernment to interfere with thepropagation of a religion which violates common morality or decency..For .example, it would be proper forthe government in India to prohibitthe propagation of those forms of theHindu religion which maintain sexualimmorality as a religious rite. Whetherit is expedient for a government to'exercise such rights is another question, and one for the' governmentitself to decide.
Another distinction needs to bemade at-this point between religiousmatters concerned with domestic politics and religious matters concernedwith international politics. We wouldhold that a government would havea right to interfere inside its own
borders with the propagation of a religion. advocating as a religious beliefthe overthrow of the government, orsome other doctrine dangerous to theexistence of the state. However, insuch an instance another nationwould have no right to interfere inthat country for the purpose of suppressing that religion or forbidding itspropagation. On the other hand,when those religionists begin to propagate the teaching that it is the destiny of their nation to rule the restof the world and when, by that propagation, the nation actually embarkson a career of conquest, the countries so attacked would have everyright not only to resist the aggression but also, if victorious, to intervene in the aggressor nation in orderto. forbid, the propagation .of theteaching itself. In other words, whena religion invades the realm of international politics, other nationsconcerned have a right to interveneif their own safety is imperilled. Suchintervention, however, should be concerned only. with the propagation ofsuch dangerous beliefs. No government would have the right to interferewith the mere holding of such beliefsor with the gathering together of persons holding such beliefs.
Now in regard to National Shintowe face a difficult problem. It goeswithout saying that all restrictionsagainst the free propagation of Christianity and the organization ofchurches should be removed. The iniquitous "Religions Law" in Japanshould be repealed, and - completefreedom of religion should be reestablished. But National Shinto, indistinction from Sect Shinto, is thesource of all the trouble we are in.It not only claims to be supreme overevery other religion but also refusesto allow other. religions to exist unless they recognize the supremacy ofNational Shinto. Moreover, NationalShinto is identified with the stateitself, so that its veliY existence depends on the imperial form of government. At present, a good Christian cannot possibly be a good Japanese, for a good Japanese must recognize the emperor as the divineembodiment of all the spirits of theimperial ancestors back to and including the sun goddess. Of the essenceof National Shinto is its claim thatthe destiny of Japan is to dominatethe rest of the world, and that theJapanese are supreme over the rest ofthe human race because they are de- ..
277
scended from the gods.It seems quite clear that it would
be dangerous to the safety of all othernations for us to allow NationalShinto to propagate such beliefs inthe future. We would be in dangerof another attack from Japan as soonas she had recovered her strength andas soon as foreign supervision wereremoved. For the safety of the world,therefore, National Shinto raust beoverthrown.
Immediately someone will objectthat if we were' to destroy the National Shinto shrines, withdraw financial support of the priesthood by public funds, and prohibit the propaga-,tion of the claim that it is the destinyof Japan to nile. over the rest of theworld, we would violate the very principles of religious freedom we .areseeking to establish in Japan. If thiswere purely a religious question, therewould certainly'be ground for such anobjection. But it is also apoliticalquestion, and the Japanese themselvesare witness to that fact. [apanese government officials in the past haverepeatedly insisted that NationalShinto was not religion but patriotism. From the Christian point ofview-since spirits were said to inhabit the shrines and since citizenswere ordered to bow before shrines sodedicated-it seems clearly to be areligious question as well as a patriotic one. There is no doubt, however,about .the political character of National Shinto, and we unquestionablyhave a right therefore to deal withit in the political realm, even thoughit has religious implications throughout. In our insistence on religiousfreedom, we cannot abrogate the political rights of nations, attacked because of the teachings of NationalShinto, to insure themselves againstsimilar attacks in the future. Weshould deal with the whole matter,therefore, as a political one, which allagree it unquestionably is.
.Let us at this point make it unmistakably clear that it is not SectShinto which we are attacking, hutNational Shinto. Objectionable asSect Shinto is, I feel we should notinterfere with it except as its teachings take it into the realm of international politics. I would advocatecomplete freedom for anyone to believe what he pleases about the deityof the emperor, but since, by thepropagation of the teaching that it isthe destiny of Japan to dominate theworld, he would be enterillg the
THE PRE 5 BY T ER I A N G U A R D IAN278
political realm and endangering thesafety of other nations, the propagation of such teaching should be prohibited. We have a right to overthrowthat which would endanger the peaceof the world. But we would have noright to seek to interfere with thebeliefs and worship even of a religion such as Sect Shinto, as long asit did not endanger world peace.
EducaHonIf, however, our control 'of Japan is
to be effective and successful over along period of time, a primary consideration must be the correcting ofthe educational system of Japan. Thetextbooks which now inculcate theteachings of National Shinto will haveto be edited closely to eliminate suchdangerous doctrines. All requirementsof shrine worship, bowing toward theEast, and before the pictures of theemperor must be abolished. Theteaching of, or the compulsory religious observance of the teachings of,National or Sect Shinto in the publicschools should be prohibited. Complete freedom should be establishedfor private schools under religiousauspices to teach anything that wouldnot violate the principles we havepreviously laid down. Not even a private. school should have the right toadvocate the overthrow of the government by force, or to teach immorality,and the government concerned wouldhave the right to forbid such teaching. Within these limits we shouldallow a freedom of education as wellas religion.
Let no one underestimate thepower of education. National Shintoowes most of its popularity and success to the.fact that it has been taughtconstantly in the public school system of the country. Remove suchteaching and, with the emperor outof the way, the next generation ofJapanese will have forgotten it.
ConclusionThis blueprint of our new order in
East Asia may seem to some too detailed and too drastic, but I am convinced that anything short of thiscomplete control of Japan over a longperiod of time would imperil the peaceof the world. We must constantlybear in mind the fact that, in orderto be successful, such control mustavoid arousing hatred and oppositionamong the majority of the Japanese.If the occupation forces feed thestarving, make it clear that there is
no intention of exploiting the country, assist economic recovery in everyway, and insist on the reforms hereinsuggested, I believe opposition willdisappear in a very short time and theJapanese will realize that we reallyhave in mind not only the peace ofthe world but also their own bestinterests.
Naturally as Christians the thingwe are most interested in is the freeopening up of the Japanese Empireto the propagation and teaching ofChristianity. When all restrictions areremoved, I believe that Christianitywill take care of itself, and that Christian missions to Japan will enter uponan era of success of which we havenever before dreamed. God grant thatvictory will soon be ours, and Godprotect us from failing to exerciseChristian principles in the peace thatfollows!
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This discussion byMr. Hamilton, which was begun inthe issue of July 25th and is here concluded, raises many very importantquestions in the fields at religiousliberty and at the relation at churchand state. With some at the positionsexpressed by Mr. Hamilton the editorial council is in rather definite disagreement. On the editorial page atthis issue appears a brief discussionat one at these points at disagreement. It is the editorial council's purpose also to express more fully in anearly issue some at its convictions' onthese matters and its reasons forholding them.)
The ChristianWorld Order
(Continued trom Page 274)
portance. When we say that th~se
basic institutions comprise a pluralityof individuals, we must not forget thatit is a plurality of individuals, and wemust not overlook the importance ofeach individual in his singularity. Thishas too often been the bane of socialtheories and movements. The individual is the ultimate unit in everysocial organism and organization" an~Christianity never overlooks the individual person.
In dealing with Christian worldorder there is no concept with whichChristianity 'has furnished us that ismore expressive and comprehensive
Odober 10
than that of the kingdom of God, andit was none other than our Lord Himself who said, "Except a man be bornagain, he cannot see the kingdom ofGod" (John 3:3), "Except a man be.born of water and of the Spirit, hecannot enter into the kingdom ofGod" (John 3:5), "Except ye be converted, and become as little children,ye shall not enter into the kingdom ofheaven" (Matt. 18:3). The kingdomof God begins its reconstruction withthe individual. It never submerges theindividual in the social mass. It neversuppresses or blurs the needs, the interests, the obligations and the destinies of the individual in his relationsto God or to men. Christian worldorder in its zeal to renovate and reconstruct the orders of society must insure that the needs of the individualare fully met and his interests fullyguarded and prornoted..
The FamilyIt is, nevertheless, true that when
we are dealing with order we haveprincipally to do with the organizationof individual persons. The first is thefamily; it is the fundamental ordinanceof divine institution. The familyexisted prior to the fall. God said, "Itis not good that the man should bealone; I will make him an help meetfor him" (Gen. 2:18). Implanted inthe very nature of man is the necessityfor, and the instincts towards, familylife. But sin has brought ruin into thefamily institution. And perhaps noinstinct has been more abused and nosanctity more desecrated than theinstinct that is related to, and thesanctity that finds its basis in, thatordinance of marriage with which thefamily begins. The history of thisworld is strewn with the wrecks causedby the abuse and distortion of the seximpulse.
The family is the primary socialordinance. When sin wreaks its havochere, when the sanctities, that guardand ennoble family life are desecratedand when family honor is laid in thedust, then all social order is out ofjoint and degradation reigns supremein every realm.
The history of our generation andthe commanding facts of developments in science, economics and politics, the exigencies arising from theclose interdependence of all nations,are compelling us to give more attention to the question of world orderthan ever before in the history of our
THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN1943
era. Weare all aware of the urgentconcern that the leading statesmen ofall countries are entertaining with respect to this question. As Christianswe are compelled to face the responsibility of Christian world order. Let usnot camouflage the issue. Until thefamily, the basic social institution, theinstitution through which also the individual as the ultimate unit of societyis brought into being and throughwhich he receives the heritage, thenurture and the training that will fithim for every social responsibility andfunction-until the family is redeemedfrom its sin, whether it be the sin ofcoarse immorality or the sin of refinedgodlessness, and until it is renewedand rehabilitated by the grace of God,it is a moral, psychological and socialimpossibility for Christian 'world orderto be instituted.
"Husbands, love your wives, even asChrist also loved the church, and gavehimself for it" (Eph. 5:2 5). "Wives,submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord" (Eph.5:22 ). "Children, obey your parentsin the Lord: for this is right. Honourthy father and mother; which is thefirst commandment with promise; thatit may be well with thee, and thoumayest live long on the earth. And, yefathers, provoke not your children towrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord"(Eph. 6:1-4). "But fornication, andallunc1eanness, or covetousness, let itnot be once named among you, asbecometh saints" (Eph. 5:3). Theseare the affections, instincts and principles that must regulate marital andfamily life, and only then can anyChristian foundation be laid. for thatsocial organization that can be calledChristian. The Christian program isradical, and we see how grave the responsibility and colossal the task whenwe face the dismal fact that the rarityof the Christian family makes it asprecious as diamonds.
The ChurchThe second basic divine institution
is the church, the visible church. Itmight seem that, since the church isan ordinance of redemption and preeminently the institution of God's redemptive grace; since it is the comparly of the faithful, renovation andreconstruction would not have to beapplied to the church as to the individual and to the family. It mightseem, rather, that from the church
would radiate the influences and forcesof renovation. But alas! we have todeplore the fact that the professingchurch has to a lamentable extent become the habitation of dragons andthe scene of abominations. If thechurch had been unfalteringly faithfulto the principle of its origin, constitution, witness and operation, then thesituation would simply be that itshould have to continue to unfold andapply with ever-increasing perseverancethe principles upon which it rests. Butthe sad fact of our situation today isthat judgment must begin at thehouse of God and the church musthave applied to it the same radical,revolutionary and reconstructive principles and forces which we' have already found to be indispensable toChristian world order.
The church is the church of Christ.It is subject to Him, derives its .faithfrom Him, owes obedience to Him,performs the functions prescribed byHim, restricts itself to the sphere appointed by Him and advances Hisglory. Faith, testimony, worship, government-these four words sum upthe function of the church. It is faithabsolutely faithful to the Word ofGod. It is worship in accordance withthe prescriptions of His will. It is government directed by the ecclesiasticalorder instituted by Christ and Hisapostles. It is testimony to the wholecounsel of God to all nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues.
Truly it is not the function of thechurch to put Christian world orderinto effect. The church must occupyits own sphere of operation and limititself severely to that sphere appointedto it by Christ. When the church attempts to become totalitarian then ithas violated Christian order. But it isthe function of the church to establishand promote Christian order withinits own divinelyinstituted domain, andit is- the function of the church toproclaim the world order to whichGod's sovereignty and Christ's headship obligate in every sphere.
o how crushing is the shame thatrests upon the church! Christian worldorder is an impossibility when the institution that is preeminently the instrument of testimony to Christ isitself the chamber of abominations. Itis surely mockery and hypocrisy forthe church to point the way when sheherself has committed whoredom inthe sanctuary of God.
Judgment must begin at the house
279
of God, judgment that will issue inpurification of faith, of testimony, ofworship, and of government. Purifiedand renewed, sound in faith, steadfastin testimony, pure in worship andfaithful in government, the churchwill become the channel of redeeminglight and grace to a world lost andstaggering in the confusion that therejection of the counsel of the Kingof kings has brought upon it. "0 thatthou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace beenas a river, and thy righteousness asthe waves of the sea" (Isa. 48: 18) .When the church puts on her garments of glory and beauty, then underthe captaincy of Him who is Faithfuland True, the King of kings and Lordof lords, she will go forth, fair as themoon, clear as the sun and terrible asan army with banners. Then it will besaid again, "In Judah is God known:his name is great in Israel. In Salemalso is his tabernacle, and his dwellingplace in Zion. There brake he thearrows of the bow, the shield, and thesword, and the battle. Thou art moreglorious and excellent than the mountains of prey" (Psalm 76: 1-4). Humiliating .indeed is our reproach. Butby God's grace and Christ's power,how glorious our vocation and responsibility!
The StateThe state is the third basic divine
institution. It might be thought that,while the redemptive and regenerativeforces of Christianity have an obviousbearing upon the individual, the family and the church, yet the state cannot be regarded as coming in anydirect way under the demands andinfluences of the Christian revelation.The state has to do with civil order,the preservation and promotion ofcivil righteousness, liberty and peace.It will be said that the civil magistratein the discharge of his official functions has no religious obligations andtherefore should not and cannot beregulated in the discharge of his officeby the Christian revelation, in otherwords, that the Bible is not the ruleof conduct for the civil magistrate asit is for the individual, for the familyand for the church.
This position embraces a strangemixture of truth and error. There istruth in this position insofar as itrecognizes the limits of civil authority.Civil authority is not totalitarian.Civil authority must never trespass the
THE PRE 5 BYT ER IAN G UA RD IAN280
sphere of the family, or of the church,and it must guard the God-given rightsand prerogatives of the individual. Ifthe distinction of spheres is onceblurred or obliterated, then good orderis impossible and Christian principlesare negated.
It is also true that those in whom<is vested the right of civil governmentmust exercise that government in accordance with the laws of the commonwealth. If they are not able to dothis in accordance with conscience,then they must abdicate their' officeor seek by the constitutional meansprovided by the commonwealth tochange those laws. Especially is thisthe case with believers who recognizethat their supreme obligation is toGod and to Christ.
But a fatal element of error inheresin this position, if it is thought thatthe 1 Christian revelation, the Bible,does not come to the civil authoritywith a demand for obedience to itsdirection and precept as stringent andinescapable as it does to the individual,to the family and to the church. Thethesis we must propound as overagainst such a conception of the relation of the Bible to civil authority isthat the Bible is the only infalliblerule of conduct for the civil magistratein the discharge of his magistracy justas it is the only infallible rule in otherspheres of human activity.
God alone is sovereign. His authority alone is absolute and universal. Allmen and spheres are subject to God.The .civil magistrate derives his authority from God. Apart from divineinstitution and sanction, civil government has no right to exist. "Thepowers that be are ordained of God"(Rom. 13:1). Since civil governmentderives its authority from God, it is
<, responsible to God and therefore obligated to conduct its affairs in accordance with God's will. The infalliblerevelation of His will God has deposited in the Scriptures. It will surelybe granted that there is much in theScriptures that has to do with the conduct of civil government. And thissimply means that the Word of Godbears upon civil authority with all thestringency that belongs to God'sWord.
Furthermore, the Word of God reveals that Christ is Head over allthings, that He has been given all
, authority in heaven and in earth. Thecivil magistrate is under obligation toacknowledge this headship and there-
It's Not Too Lateyou can still send this and
the succeeding articles inthis series to your friends foronly one dollar for each subscription.
fore to conduct his affairs, not only insubjection to the sovereignty of Godbut also in subjection to the mediatorial sovereignty of Christ and musttherefore obey His will as it is revealed for the discharge of that authority which the civil magistrateexercises in subjection to Christ.Christian world order embraces thestate. Otherwise there would be noChristian world order.
To recede from this position or toabandon it, either as conception or asgoal, is to reject in principle thesovereignty of God and of His Christ.The goal fixed for us by the Christianrevelation is nothing less than a Christian state as well as Christian individuals, Christian families and a Christian church. And this just means thatthe .obligation and task arising fromChrist's kingship and headship arethat civil government, within .its ownwell-defined and restricted sphere,must in its constitution and in itslegislative and executive functionsrecognize and obey the authority ofGod and-of His Christ and thus bringall of its functions and actions intoaccord with the revealed will of Godas contained in His Word. We thussee how radical and reconstructive isa philosophy of Christian world order,if we are to face that conceptionfrankly and address ourselves to theresponsibility it entails.
It is, of course, true that all of lifeis not exhausted by the family, thechurch and the state. These, however,are the basic divine institutes of society. A Christian world order willembrace every department of lifeindustry, agriculture, education, recreation. But since these institutions arebasic, it is inevitable that the Christianizing of every other departmentof life will proceed apace with theChristianizing of these basic institutions.
When we contemplate such stupendous responsibility as that arisingfrom the sovereignty of God and ofChrist's supreme kingship and lord-
October 10
ship, we may well be crushed by thesense of our own insufficiency. Howweak we are and how formidable arethe enemies of God and of His kingdom! Who is sufficient for thesethings? We are indeed totally insufficient and the task is overpowering.
But this overpowering sense of ourweakness and inability is no reasonfor faintheartedness. It is rather thevery condition of true faith and perseverance. The responsibility is ours:it is stupendously' great. The insufficiency is ours: it is complete. But thepower is God's. The grace is of God.The promise is His. "Thou hast amighty arm: strong is thy hand, andhigh is thy right hand.· Justice andjudgment are the habitation of thythrone: mercy and truth shall go before thy face" (Psalm 89:13, 14) .How necessary it is to remember thatChrist has spoiled principalities andpowers, triumphing over them in Hisdeath, and that He is now exalted farabove all principality and power andmight and dominion and every namethat is named not only in this worldbut also in that to cornel Being by theright hand of God exalted and havingreceived the promise of the Father,He hath sent forth the Holy Spirit.We must do honor to Christ and toHis kingly authority and might. Wemust also do honor to the Holy Spiritwho convicts the world of sin, ofrighteousness and of judgment. Wehave not only an almighty advocatein heaven at the right hand of Godbut also an almighty advocate uponearth. How puny and helpless are thepowers of evil when they are set overagainst the irresistible grace and powerof Him who is Himself God, possessing with the Father and the Son thetotality of Godhood, the Spirit of theFather and of the Son! And howshameful and vile is our faintheartedness and unbelief! "Greater is he thatis in you, than he that is in the world"(I John 4:4)' It is the peculiar prerogative of the Holy Spirit to take ofthe things of Christ and show. themunto us. It is His to glorify Christ.Let us lay hold upon the promise, "Ifye then, being evil, know how to givegood gifts unto your children: howmuch more shall your heavenly Fathergive the Holy Spirit to them that askhim" (Luke 11:13), and let us in Hisstrength go forth to claim every realmfor Him who must reign until all Hisenemies shall have been made Hisfootstool.
:i
THE PRE 5 BY T ERI A N G U A R DI AN1943
EDITORIAL
Freedom of Religionand Political Expediency
AS intimated in the editorial note" following the article of the Rev.Floyd E. Hamilton, which is concluded in this issue, a number of important questions are raised by itspublication. The positions taken bearin a decisive way upon one's wholeview .of the relation of church andstate. The publication of : the articlealso thrusts forward certain questionsas to the editorial policy of thisjournal. Such issues call for clarification, and we intend to publish editorials and articles that will achievethat end. This editorial makes onlya beginning, and confines its comment to one issue only, namely,theissue of freedom of religion in relation to political expediency.,
The question we raise is whether,without impinging upon our mostfundamental Christian convictions,we dare to deny to the Japanese people the right of real freedom of worship. Mr. Hamilton indeed affirmshis belief in "the principle of thefreedom ,of religion and consciencefor all," and maintains, moreover,that the state "has a right to dealonly with the outward acts of itscitizens, not with their thoughts andbeliefs." Yet he insists that, for thesafety of the world, National Shintomust be overthrown and its propagation prohibited. In other words, inspite of Mr. Hamilton's affirmationof his belief in freedom of religion,he is, willing, purely for reasons ofpolitical expediency, to advocate thatthe United Nations shall deny to theJapanese any real freedom of thoughtand expression, at least if these takethe form that it is the destiny of theJapanese, as descended from the gods,to become supreme over the rest ofthe human race.
On our part, we are not convincedthat there is not a wiser and morepractical plan of dealing with the situation after the war-a way of dealing
which will carefully distinguish between the political and religious aspects, taking all proper and necessarysteps in the former sphere and yetscrupulously avoiding any violationof the right of the Japanese to holdand propagate any religious beliefsthey may choose. But even if wecould not immediately discover any.wise and practical .way to proceed inorder to guarantee our own politicalfreedom, it would be, in our judgment, an unconscionable sacrifice ofprinciple to allow that political consi~erations might require· the settingaside, even temporarily, of the principle and exercise of freedom of religion. In fact, it is exactly here, in asituation where the state may so easilytransgress its proper limits of sovereignty and encroach upon the sphereof religion, that it is the urgent dutyof Christian believers to be on theirguard. If we are on our guard, weshall· be prepared to insist that thestate shall not assume to dictate whatmen shall believe or to interfere withtheir liberty to make propaganda fortheir beliefs. .. If freedom of religion and worshipIS to possess any real meaning, itmust be acknowledged,to exist by divine sanction. "God alone is lord ofthe conscience", This is not to saythat God will not judge men's worship by His Word, but it is to affirmthat such liberty, so long a~ it remainsliberty and does not invalidate otherdivinely bestowed liberties, may notbe abridged by men; Least of all maywe allow that the state may waive thisfre~d?m because of, or adjust it to,political expediency. This would betantamount to the subordination offreedom of worship to freedom fromfear of aggression, the latter hardlybeing an inalienable right.
We are grateful to Mr. Hamiltonfor his interesting and stimulatingcontributions to the pages of THEPRESBYTERrAN GUARDIAN. With mostof what he says we are in heartyagreement. The dissent from hisviews, intimated and set forth above. 'IS not presented in any censoriousspirit.. Our dissent .is presented onlybecause of the profound implicationsof these matters for our whole viewof doctrine and life, and because webelieve that we must resist everytemptation to swerve from our coursei~ maintaining and defending the divmely bestowed liberties of mankind.
-N.B.S.
281
Non-DiscriminatingJournalism
ALTHOUGH we ourselves with'" drew from the PresbyterianChurch in the U.S.A. some yearsago because we were convinced thatwe could not in good conscience re-·main, we have never taken the position that there were not true Christians still in that denomination. Andalthough we were convinced that anyeffort . to reform that church fromwithin was doomed to failure from1936 onward, we have never takenthe position that there were not thosewithin that church who were, or atleast thought they were, really tryingto reform it from within.
Certainly if there is ever to occurany reforming of that church fromwithin, it must come through somegroup which has a voice and makesit heard. The weekly magazine calledTh.e Presbyterian has repeatedlyclaimed to be the voice of the con-
• servatives within the PresbyterianChurch in the U.S.A. There have~een times when we could applaudI~S efforts, even though we were convinced that they would, accomplishnothin~. And we would gladly applaud ItS efforts for the historic faithstill today, if we felt that it werereally interested in making a fight forthat faith.
Evidence continues to accumulate,~owever, that it has practically thrownm, the sponge. In a recent issue ofTHE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN an article appeared concerning the viewsof Dr. Hugh T. Kerr, Jr., on theatonement of Christ." The significantthing was not so much that Dr. Kerre~ther held or wanted to express suchyIe",:s. There are many in that denomination much more radical than hemuch more unbelieving and anti:christian. But the significant thing wasthat the only regular magazine in thedenomination which claims to be conservative, The Presbyterian, made itspages the medium for transmittingDr. Kerr's views to the church andthe public. Apparently even such conservativism as has found a place inThe Presbyterian has been obnoxiousto the liberal elements in the church,and the paper is to be taken over inthe interests of the "inclusivist"policy.
Again, in the September 2 3rd issueof The Presbyterian, we are con-
'" Issue of Sept. 10, 1943, pp. 241ff.
THE PRE S BYTE RI A N G U A R D I A N
ii1
Odober 10
possible. There are no other Protestant churches on this entire side ofthe city. A survey of the neighborhood, consisting of one thousand callsby the pastor and an equal numberby members of the congregation, indicated that the residents were wellpleased that we had located here".
A fifty per cent. increase in attendance has resulted from the move tothe new location. Summer Bibleschool was in session for two weeks,beginning August 9th, with an enrollment of fifty-five, all but seven ofwhom were new to the church.
Dedication services were held onSeptember 26th, with the Rev. EdwinH. Rian of Westminster Seminarypreaching the dedicatory sermon.
tion, but investigation proved that itcould be purchased for far less thanits assessed valuation. Consequently,the necessary loans were secured atlow rates of interest. The present expenses of the church are actuallylower than when rent was paid for ameeting place as well as a manse.
"The new building", said Mr. At·well, "is remarkably adapted to thedual purpose of providing room forchurch and Sunday school servicesand living quarters for the pastor andhis family. In fact, it is just aboutideal for both purposes, and everyoneis agreed that the location is the best
new church home at the comer ofWestfield Avenue and Dorian Road,and first services in the new propertywere held on August 8th.
For some time prior to. the purchase, it had been clear to the pastor,the Rev. Robert L. Atwell, and members of the congregation that the workof the church would be greatlystrengthened by the acquisition of abuilding of its own. As the result ofa survey in which the church wasaided by the Rev. George W. Marston, field missionary of the Committee on Home Missions and ChurchExtension, the new property waschosen. At first it seemed likely thatthe building would be far beyond thefinancial resources of the congrega-
New Property of Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Westfield, N. J.
WESTFIELD CHURCH MEETSIN NEWLY-ACQUIRED HOME
GRACE Orthodox PresbyterianChurch of Westfield, New
Jersey, has this summer purchased a
take heed that they be not misled bythis magazine. For The Presbyterianapparently has ceased to be a champion of conservatives. The fountaingives forth bitter waters as well assweet. -L. W. S.
282
fronted with an example of the samesort of thing. Here we find an articleon "The Bible". In the course of thearticle, the Bible is held up as a mostpowerful force which should be the"lamp to our feet and the light toour path". But then the author, Dr.Dwight R. Guthrie, tells us, with respect to the Old Testament, that during the exilic and post-exilic "literaryage priests and scribes and other menof God edited the books of the Law,the historical books, the books of poetry, and even the prophetical books,changing, or even making additionsto, many of these writings". We arealso informed that it was not untilthe council of Jamnia in 118 A.D."that a .definite decision .was reachedto the effect that the thirty-ninebooks . . . were officially declaredthe Old Testament".
This whole statement is merely ataking over, lock, stock, and barrel,of the higher critical position withrespect to the Old Testament, a position which the old Princeton so completely demolished, and which hasmore recently been shown to be without foundation by Dr. O. T. Allis inhis volume, The Five Books of Moses.
It is not surprising that people, including ministers in the PresbyterianChurch in the U.S.A., hold this position which destroys both the truthand authority of the Old Testamentand which is clearly contrary to theconstitution of the church itself. It isfar more disturbing, however, thatthis supposedly conservative magazinelends itself to the propagation of suchunbelief. Many people in the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. stilllook to that paper for conservativeleadership. How mistaken they are isbecoming apparent. For if there is aknowledge of the true historic Christian position on the part of its directors, there is at least no discrimination. The false is placed alongside thetrue. A double and uncertain voice isheard. And the sway of liberalism becomes increasingly dominant.
In fact such non-discriminatingjournalism really contributes. to thewell-being of the foes of truth, for itgives real comfort and encouragementto the enemy. They have a voice evenin the supposedly conservative camp.Let those within the PresbyterianChurch in the U.S.A. who truly sorrow over the plight of that churchas it lies under the control of Modernism, but who are convinced thattheir place is in and not out of it,
283
. . .
USED BOOKS. We buy and sellnew and used religious booksand sets. Write for our free catalogs. Baker's Book Store, IOI?Wealthy Street, Grand Rapids 6,Michigan.
to a unique plan. Most of us havefelt for some time the desirability otemphasizing the teaching of the catechism in the Sunday school, yet theonly way that it has been done in thepast is by tacking on a question andanswer to each lesson, with perhapsa little time spent in explaining themeaning of the answer. There wouldthus be little or no relation betweenthe question and the regular Sunday school lesson and, since the emphasis is usually on the lesson, toooften the catechism question was ignored by teacher and pupils.
According to the plan now contemplated, instead of teaching thecatechism incidentally, the lessonswill be built around the catechismquestions. For example, suppose wedesire to teach Question 11 of theShorter Catechism, "What are God'sworks of providence?" In consideringthe passage of Scripture that mightprofitably be used to teach the providence of God, the story of Josephcomes immediately to mind. Thusone, two or more lessons would thenbe developed from the story ofJoseph, dealing with the providentialcontrol of Joseph's life and circumstances, and bringing in the answerto the eleventh question as a clearpresentation of the truth of God's
CHOIR GOWNSPULPIT ROBES
w Stotet~,E .
_ CAtALOG .. -...-
I
* Knowledge of His saving grace brought tothousands thrlJugh our Tracts each year. Have
your share in this soul-winning ministry. Here areGospel Messages, keyed to the times, attractive andforceful, appealing and convincing.Also Tract Racks,Post cards, Cellophane Sheets, etc. Big assortment.Send only 250. Dept. P~
FAITH, PRAYER & DAn LEAGUE, Mulkeson Htl.. Mich.
Of THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Foreign Missions
THE Rev. Clarence W. Duff lefton the S.S. Serpa Pinto on Sep
tember 3rd for Lisbon, Portugal.Word was received on September24th of his safe arrival in Portugal. Anumber of missionaries of various denominations sailed on the same ship.
The Rev. Bruce F. Hunt has beguna very successful itineration on thePacific Coast. Excellent groups haveattended a number of the meetings.At the Westminster Church of LosAngeles a hundred were in attendance, and at a special rally. for whichthe Los Angeles churches secured theuse of the building of the Christianand Missionary Alliance, there wereover two hundred in attendance. Hisservices in connection with the fallmeeting of the Presbytery of California were a great inspiration to thepresbytery. He will visit all the PacificCoast churches, completing the itineration about October roth.
The Foreign Missions Committeehas appointed a subcommittee to investigate the possibility pf securinglanguage study for the Rev. and Mrs.Charles E. Stanton prior to their departure to the Ethiopian field. It haslargely been the custom of missionscommittees to assign the missionariesto language study on the field, andusually a large part of the first termis occupied in that useful work. Latelynew methods of study have been developed, so that much of the groundwork can be accomplished in thiscountry and thus valuable time besaved on the field.
The general assembly requested theCommittee, in connection with itsefforts to open a new work in Peru,to conduct a further investigation ofthe implications of association withmissionary work now carried on inthat country. The Foreign MissionsCommittee has appointed a subcommittee to consider the directive andto report to the next meeting of theCommittee. The Rev. Messrs. Sloat,Kellogg and Dyrness were appointedto this subcommittee,
Christian Education
IT HAS been decided to prepare ourcontemplated Sunday school les
sons, departmental graded, according
THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN
•Home Missions
ON THE evening of September19th the first of a series of Bible
classes was held under the auspicesof the Committee by Gordon H.Clark, Ph.D., at his home inWheaton, Illinois. Readers of theGUARDIAN will remember that Dr.Clark was compelled to resign his professorship at Wheaton as a result ofhis vigorous presentation of the system of doctrine taught in the Scriptures (April 25, 1943). Since Wheatonhas long been recognized as a leadingChristian college which outstandingevangelical Christian young peoplehave attended and from which a greatmany of our ministers have been graduated, the Committee felt the necessity of continuing the witness of historicPresbyterianism on the campus.Dr. Clark consented to accept the invitation of the Committee to becomeOrthodox Presbyterian Student Advisor, effective September 1St. In addition to the regular Sunday. Bibleclasses which he has conducted in previous years, Dr. Clark plans to offercourses in various phases of Biblicaltruth throughout the year. The classeswill be conducted in his home whichhas long been a rendezvous for students who have been interested in aserious study of the Bible as theWord of God. Dr. Clark is wellequipped to give an adequate philosophical basis for the faith which heholds, and his training as a successful pedagogue has enabled him veryadequately to give an intelligent presentation of Biblical Christianity toinquiring students.
September 26th marks the openingof the newest Orthodox Presbyterianchapel. On that day were held theopening services of our chapel inPortland, Oregon. The Rev. GeorgeW. Marston has secured a store building at 8130 N. E. Sandy Boulevard inPortland, and it has been completelyrenovated and adequate equipmenthas been secured prior to the opening.The Westminster Church of Bend,Oregon, has taken a special- interestin this work, and sizable contributions have been made by that congregation in order to secure the physicalequipment necessary for the openingof the chapel.
With the Standing Committees
1943
THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN
.The P,arables of Our LordAn Introductory Meditation
By the REV. LAWRENCE B. GILMORE, Th.D.Stated Supply of the Fint Orthodoll: Presbyterian Church. Cincinnati
i
J
October 10
Forms of P~rablesParables differ in form and content.
A short comparison stated by suchwords as like and as is a simile. "Asa sheep before its shearers is 'dumb"(Isa. 53:7) is a simile. A parableproper is really an extended simile. Aparable accordingly is a short fictitiousstory told to teach a moral or religiouslesson. Such a parable is that of thekingdom of heaven likened unto amerchant seeking goodly pearls, who,having found one pearl of great price,sold all that he had, and bought it(Matt. 13:45).
A metaphor is an implied comparison, as where the Lord Jesus says ofHerod Antipas, "Go and say to thatfox. . . ." (Luke 1 3:32). The similewould make the comparison explicit,as "Herod is a fox," or "Herod is likea fox," while the metaphor keeps thecomparison implicit.
An allegory is a description of oneobject in terms of another. It em- \ploys a tissue of detail-compatisons.An allegory, therefore, is really an extended metaphor, as where the Saviourdescribes Himself as the .true vine(John 15). The allegory is an elaborated picture. It lacks the story-movement of the parable proper, whosebeginning can be expressed by "onceupon a time", as in the familiar introduction, "Behold, a sower went forthto sow" (Matt. 13: 3).
The fable is a type of parable ourLord does not use, although two fablesare found in the Old Testament(Judges 9:8-15; II Kings 14:9)' Thefable is a creation of fancy, as whenthe trees choose a king (Judges 9)'The parable presents events and relations true to real life, as where thewoman hunts the lost coin (Luke15:8) .
The Underlying PhilosophyThe parables are based on the real .
similarity existing between the twostrata of creation, the natural arid thespiritual (redemptive), both strata being the creation of the one God. "Itwas not necessary for Jesus to inventillustrations", said Dr. GeerhardusVos. "All He had to do was to call
which means a comparison, proverb,or gnomic saying. Just as in the OldTestament the word maschal covers
.varied forms of illustration, so in theNew Testament the word paraboIe isapplied to various illustrative sayingsof our Lord.
pupils -in the doctrines of the Reformed Faith, as well as to persuadethem to commit the catechism tomemory. They would understand themeaning of each answer, and be convinced that it is taught in the Bible.
During the summer, thirty-onechurches used the summer Bibleschool material put out by the Committee, and 1,573 junior summerBible school books were sold.Churches report unusually steady attendance at the various vacationschools. Due to illness and pressureof work, Dr. Lawrence B. Gilmorehas felt compelled to give up thepreparation of the summer Bibleschool' material for next year, andMrs. Richard W. Gray has beenasked to prepare the junior lessonsand the teacher's.manual, andto correlate the work of the other departments and prepare a daily programfor the schools. Other writers arebeing selected to prepare primary, intermediate and senior lessons.
everyday life."Parable" is the word usually ap
plied to the illustrative or gnomic sayings of our Saviour. It occurs fortyeight times in the Synoptic Gospels.Elsewhere in the New Testament wefind it only in Hebrews 9:9 and 11 :19·It is not used in John's Gospel, whichhas the synonym paroimia, a wordoriginally denoting a wayside saying,but meaning in the New Testament aparable or allegory. The Lord JesusHimself used the word "parable", asin Matthew 13:18, where He said,"Hear ye then the parable of thesower".
In Matthew 13:34, 35, the word"parable" is connected with the OldTestament terminology, for Matthewsays: "All these things spake Jesus inparables unto the multitudes; andwithout a parable spake he nothingunto them; that it might be fulfilledwhich was spoken through theprophet, saying, I will open my mouthin parables; I will utter things hiddenfrom the foundation of the world[Psalm 78: 2 l" . The word parabolehere translates the Hebrew maschal,
284
WE ARE now beginning a devotional study of the parables of
the New Testament. These parablesall come from the Lord Jesus Himself. Few books have been written onthe Old Testament parables. The NewTestament" parables, en the contrary,are so voluminously set forth in commentaries, treatises and sermons thatour minds are in danger of becomingsurfeited and confused. The unevenmerit of these expositions further demands that we select with discrimination. We must also ourselves examinethe wording of the parables, and seekmost earnestly the illumination of theHoly Spirit. For we need in devotional study a true and sober interpretation, just as much as do theologianswhile making their doctrinal formulations.
The Word "Parable"It is well to recall that the word
"parable" is the Greek word parabole,which means a placing beside, a cornparing. Parabolic teaching, therefore,is a method of illustrating moral andreligious truth by a comparison with
providential guidance. The otherquestions would be taught in thesame way, finding a Scripture storyor passage which teaches the truthset forth in a particular question andanswer, and then developing the storyitself around the catechism answer asthe central theme.
While the subjects of the variouslessons would be chosen according tothe logical development of thought inthe catechism, rather than the consecutive history of the Bible, onequarter of each year would be devotedto consecutive historical study, andat least one whole year in the seniordepartment to the teaching of God'splan of redemption as it is historically worked out in the whole Bible.Thus each important doctrine setforth in the catechism would havebeen taught at least three times, andpossibly more, during the Sundayschool life of each pupil, before heenters the senior department. In thisway we would- hope to ground our
THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN 285
on the InternationalUniform Lessons
Union Lesson Helps oller sound, inspiringlesson expositions written by specialistslorevery age group. Undenominationaland uncontroversial with room only lorconstructive truth.
Write for free specimens
AMERICAN SUNDAY·SCHOOl UNION1816 Chestnut St., Phdadelphia, Pa.
the guests' excuses, the lost sheep, ,thelost coin, the prodigal son, the unjuststeward, the rich man and Lazarus,the unprofitable servants, the importunate widow, the Pharisee and thepublican, the pounds (Luke 10:2519:27)'.
III. Parables concerning judgmentand the consummation of the kingdom: The laborers in -the vineyard(Matt. 20:1-16), the two sons (21:28-32), the wicked husbandmen (21:33-44), the marriage feast and thewedding garment (22: 1-14), the figtree (24:32-34), the ten virgins (25:1-13), the talents (25:14-30)'
A question for Us TodayAs we look at the subjects of our
Lord's parables, we are again impressedwith the rich provision in God's Wordfor our study and meditation. But, aswe reflect on the reason for our Lord'sincreased use of parables, we mustask ourselves if our own hearts are dulland hard in the presence of Christ's
CHRISTIAN SANATORIUMMidland Park, N. J.
Phone: BAwthoJ'De 7·2816GofBe Hill
Registered Practical Studentand
General Domestic Workers(Male and Female)
Good Pay Pleasant Surroundings
Apply to SUpen7Uor of Nursea
NURSESNEEDED AT ONCE
general to know the mysteries of thekingdom of heaven, since they did notrightly see, or hear, or understand(Matt. 13:19-16). The time had comemore explicitly to instruct His disciples but, at the same time, the truthwas to be concealed from hearers wholistened with hard and unrepentanthearts. It was to be spoken cautiouslyin the presence of enemies waiting totwist and tum it against Him. It wasto be veiled from fickle throngs whowould be unwilling to hear His wordsif they realized their full impact(Mark 4:11, 12, 33, 34)'
Outline of Christ"s ParablesIn addition to the shorter pictorial
sayings of our Lord, there are thirtyor so parables proper which we shallclassify, following for the most partthe arrangement in A Dictionary ofthe Bible by the late Professor J. D.
. Davis:I. Parables illustrating the nature of
the kingdom of heaven: the sower,the tares, the seed. growing secretly,the mustard seed, the leaven, the hidtreasure, the pearl of great price, thenet (Matt. 13:1-5°; Mark 4:26-29),and one by way of application, thehouseholder bringing out things newand old (Matt. 13:51, 52). .
II. Parables illustrating the kingdom of heaven in the individual life:the two debtors (Luke 7:41-43), theunmerciful servant (Matt. 18:21-35),the good Samaritan, the friend at midnight, the rich fool, the waiting servants, the barren fig tree, the shut door,the chief seat, the great supper and
attention to what had been lying hidden more or less since the time ofcreation. This seems to be the meaning of Matthew's quotation fromPsalm 78:2. The marvellous acquaintance of Jesus' mind 'with the entirecompass of natural and economic life,observable in His parables, may be explained from this, that He had beenthe divine Mediator in bringing thisworld with all its furnishings into being, and again was the divine Mediatorfor producing and establishing theorder of redemption. This fact underlies as a broad substratum all the parables in the Synoptics" (New Testament Biblical Theology, p. 53)' Inthis connection various writers appropriately quote the question suggested by the angel to Adam and Evein Milton's Paradise Lost, V, 424-426:
"What if earthBe but the shadow of heaven, and
things thereinEach to other like, more than on earth
is thought?"
Why Our Lord Used ParablesCertain advantages of parabolic
teaching have often been pointed out.For one thing, it makes the truthmore vivid, gains the listener's attention, and impresses truth on his memory. For example, no abstract statement of the duty of neighborlinesswould have had an effect equal tothat produced by the parable of theGood Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).
A further advantage is that theparable avoids prejudice by makingthe truth clear in a story before thehearer realizes the story is directed tohimself. Thus when the chief priestsand Pharisees had heard Christ'sparables of the Wicked Husbandmen,and of the Rejected Stone, they realized that He spoke of them (Matt.21:45)·
A third advantage of the parable isthat it can be employed to veil thetruth hom unworthy hearers (Matt.13:13-16; Mark 4:11, 12; Luke 8:10).Our Lord indeed used parables fromthe beginning of His ministry (Mark2:19, zo-e-the bridegroom taken away;Mark 3:25-the house divided againstitself; Luke 6:39-the blind leadingthe blind; Luke 7:40-5o-the twodebtors) . But· there came a timewhen, in the face of rising opposition,He. evidently greatly increased His useof parables. He explained this by saying it was not given to His hearers in
1943
THE PRE 58 Y T ERIAN G U A RD I A N October 10
plicit factors which contribute to itsgrowth.
(1) The first impetus to Spiritismis found in man's tenacious clingingto the loved ones who have gonebeyond, and an uncontrollable desireto communicate with them. It is notwrong to love the departed, but it iswrong to seek to communicate withthem when God explicitly prohibitsit. Nevertheless, here we find the reason for most sitters' first adventure inSpiritism. This fact also explains themarked increase in seances directlyafter the first World War. Loved oneswere .looking for messages from thespirits of their departed soldier sonsand husbands. (Dorothy Walworthpoints out in her article in The American Mercury that the second WorldWar, with its mounting casualty list,is again playing into the hands of theSpiritists, and is again being exploitedto the full by them.) The fact thatman succumbs to this desire to communicate with the dead, in direct violation of God's will, shows the absolute antichristian motive from whichbasic Spiritistic desire arise.
(2) The second factor that playsan important role in Spiritism is curiosity. Spiritism itself emphasizes andplays with the mysterious. There is afascination about these mysterieswhich leads many to experimentespecially those who are not inhibitedby religious convictions. There is anatural curiosity in all men to knowexactly what lies beyond the grave.How many have gone to a seance onlyfrom curiosity? They saw or heardsomething. They were deceived, andfinally completely convinced in theirdeception. Careless curiosity has exposed many to the poison of Spiritism. We may not allow our curiosityfree reign. If God meant that weshould know more of the facts beyondthe grave, He would have furnishedus with authentic information. Let usnot seek to know what God has notrevealed.
(3) Spiritism also fits in with thesuperstitions which constitute the religion of many paganized moderns.Superstitious people gravitate towardSpiritism. In fact, Spiritism for someis little more than an exalted animism.Spiritism plays upon the fears of theseaddicts of superstition. They fear theforces of the spirits about them. Theyseek to communicate with these spiritsso they may know who the spirits are,and arrive on a friendly footing with
the last days, speaks of lying wonders."For there shall arise false Christs,and false prophets, and shall shewgreat signs and wonders; insomuchthat if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Spiritistic phenomena are sometimes amazing andthe unwary are completely convinced.Even the child of God sometimes begins to wonder. In II Thessalonians2 :8, 9 we are also warned of lying .wonders: "And then shall that wickedbe revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth,and shall destroy with the brightnessof his coming; even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, withall power and signs and lying wonders". Revelation 16:13, 14 gives usan even more vivid picture: "And Isaw three unclean spirits like frogscome out of the mouth of the dragon,and out of the mouth of the beast,and out of the mouth of the falseprophet. For they are the spirits ofdevils, working miracles, which goforth unto the 'kings of the earth andof the whole world, to gather themto the battle of that great day of GodAlmighty". These unclean spirits andtheir deceiving miracles' apply toSpiritism. All of these texts are applicable, in part at least, to Spiritism.There many of Satan's lying wondersare performed. The fact that Spiritismmay do something which appearssupernatural proves absolutely nothing. Let us not be deceived. Let usheed God's warning and "not havefeIIowship with devils".
Spiritism's PopularityIf Spiritism is so false a religion,
how can we account for its great success? That it has many devotees cannot be denied. Of course there is asmattering of truth in Spiritism-theimmortality of the soul and the existence of the spirit world-but, in themain, Spiritism is Satanically false.However that may be, there are ex-
that thou didst hide these things fromthe wise and understanding, and didstreveal them unto babes: yea, Father,for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight"(Matt. 11:25, 26).
286
Why Spiritism Is PopularBy the REV. T. C. VAN KO.OTEN
Pas.tor of the Christian Reformed Church of Volga. South Dakota
truth. May God by His grace makeus rather more and more worthy ofthat word which Christ uttered concerning the elect: "I thank thee, aFather, Lord of heaven and earth,
IN I Corinthians 10:20 we are told,"But I say that the things that the
Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice todevils and not to God; and I wouldnot that ye should have fellowshipwith devils". Paul warns and speaksexplicitly of worshiping demons. Inthe Book of Revelation, which gives.us various panoramic views of the entire Christian era, we are repeatedlywarned that devils will be worshipedin the latter days: "The rest of themen which were not killed by theseplagues, yet repented not of the worksof their hand, that they should notworship devils". "They worshiped thedragon which gave power unto thebeast". These prophecies are at leastpartially fulfilled in Spiritism. Theprediction of I Timothy 4:1-3 is evenmore directly applicable to Spiritism."Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed toseducing spirits, and doctrines ofdevils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hotiron; Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats, whichGod hath created to be received withthanksgiving of them which believeand know the truth". God warns thatman will give heed to "seducing spiritsand doctrines of devils". That isexactly what Spiritism is. It is alsoan interesting fact that at a Spiritisticconference held in Rhode Island, thefollowing four resolutions were passed:"(1) That the Sunday schools shouldbe discontinued; (2) that all Christian ordinances and worship shouldbe abandoned; (3) that sexual tyrannyshould be denounced; (4) that abstinence from animal food should beaffirmed" (Spiritism Unmasked byW. E. Vine, page 25)' Compareresolutions three and four with versethree of I Timothy 4.
Lying WondersChrist, in His characterization of
1943 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN
Floyd E. Hamilton Delivers Address on "The Tragedy of the ChristianMinistry"; Student Body This Year Totals Thirty-five
FIFTEENTH ANNUAL OPENING EXERCISES HELD ONCAMPUS OF WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
WITH
S-TANDARD'SSUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSONS
Sunday School PapersBdl.....y
REFORMED BIBLE TUCBBRS
Le..om in Bible OrderCHRISTIAN REFORMED
PUBLISHING HOUSEG.....d Rapid., Mich.
Money for Your Treasury ~Ovel' %,000,000 §
SUNFLOWER DISH CLOTHS
"I iishThat THOU MAYEST PROSPER "ID_ your income with my "Bible Text Special"- 50 beautiful Christmasfolders, imprinted with nameand choice of Bible text. Retails for only $1.20.Christians appreciate. Liberal commission. Alao,complete line Greeting Cards, Plaques, Calendars,Bible Games, Novelties, Bibles, Books, etc. Pays~ood profit to yourself or church society. Write forfull information, and returnable samples, today.SatisfactioD cuaranteed.C.w. BOYER.2101 Windsor ltd••Dept. PG,Day\on5,Olllo
They're True-to-the-Bible as God's. revealed Word. Every lesson a '
Bible lesson. Closely Graded orInternational Uniform Lessons andstory paper; for all ages from Beginners to Adults, Standard's lessonsare used in thousands of successfulschools. Send for catalogue. Alsofree prospectus of Graded; or sample of Uniform. When writing,please mention which you wantand department. Address Desk PG-IO
The Standard Publishing Co.8th and CutiN Str c et s (inClnnoli, 3, Oh.o
NIGHT SUPERVISORWanted at the Christi,an Sanatorium,Midland Park, N. J. Registered Nurse,to fill position of Night SJlpervisor.Address reply giving full partieulars asto past experience, age, and Churchaffiliation, to Snpervisor of Nurses.
were. sold durinlr 1942 by Ladies' Aids,and member. of Sunday schools andYounlr People's Groups. Finest qualityeloths. An ea.y, pleasant way to raise
ifunds for__your treasur;y or for the purchase of WAR BONDS.
Sample I'ree to OllleialSsn.amo.. Mill_Est. 1915
Cohoes, N. Y.
~~t.Q>
were a dozen years ago. Some havetaken refuge in the Barthian fold.andothers appear to be swinging somewhat in the direction of the orthodoxcamp. Is Westminster Seminary thensuperfluous? No, declared ProfessorKuiper, because a return to orthodoxywhich is not a return to the Bibleas the inerrant Word of God is noreturn at all. Secondly, the world isin need of an emphasis on the lawof God in this day of moral laxity.We at Westminster, he said, stresshuman responsibility just because westress the sovereignty of God. TheReformed Faith insists that the lawof God as expressed in the decaloguehas. eternal validity. Thirdly, in ourday the devil seems to be having hisway. It is therefore high time thatwe emphasized the kingship of Christand proclaimed to the world thatSatan can do nothing without permission of the King of kings. In thefourth place, we live in an age oftotalitarianism. No greater problemthan this confronts the world, andit will still be with us after the presentwar is won. The Reformed Faith isthe antidote for state. totalitarianism;for it is of the essence of the Re-
found? The Scriptures! One might goon to show how much of Spiritism isborn of a lack of faith, but in eachcase the only true and the only satisfying answer for the searching soul isfound in God's Word.
Pray God that none of us may ceaseto call upon the Lord, and go on theroad to Endor as did Saul, for thatroad leads only one way, and that isto hell. In the words of RudyardKipling,
"Oh, the road to Endor is the oldestroad,
And the craziest road of all.Straight it runs to the witch's abodeAs it did in the days of Saul.And nothing has changed of the sor
row in storeFor such as go down on the road to
Endor."
them. These poor superstitious soulshave had no real religious experience,and the experiences of Spiritism seemto come so easily and appear so veryconclusive.
(4) The last contributing cause toSpiritism is lack of faith-lack of faithin general, lack of faith for the future,lack of faith in immortality, and soforth. Lack of faith for the future liesbehind much Spiritistic endeavor.The novice is uncertain of the future,especially the future beyond the grave.He desires a certainty he can verifywith his own senses. He looks to communications from the spirits whohave traversed the great beyond andsurely know whereof they speak.Others are searching for proof of theimmortality of the soul and seek tofind such proof in Spiritism. Why notseek the answer where it can be
THE fifteenth annual opening exercises of Westminster Theological
Seminary were held on the afternoonof Wednesday, September 22nd, onthe campus at Laverock, near Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. Promptly atthree 0'clock, students, alumni andfriends of Westminster gathered inthe auditorium, and the exercisesopened with the singing of the doxology. The invocation was pronouncedby the Rev. Frank L. Stewart, pastor -of the Second Church of theCovenanters, Philadelphia. After thesinging of a hymn,the fifty-thirdchapter of Isaiah was read by the Rev.John P. Clelland of Wilmington,Delaware, and prayer was offered bythe Rev. Robert L. Atwell of Westfield, New Jersey.
The Rev. Professor R. B. Kuiper,chairman of the faculty, presided andbrought a greeting to the enteringstudents. He welcomed them, he said,specifically for such a time as this,for there has never been a greaterneed for Westminster Seminary thanthere is today. The institution wasfounded to combat Modernism. Butcertain liberals seem today to be lesssure of their Modernism than they
October 10. 1943
minister with that message faces acoldly uninterested world today. Since'many nominal Christians doff theirChristianity when they return fromchurch on Sunday, and since Protestant ministers are largely concernedeither with social problems or, at theother extreme, with the minutiae ofeschatology, the voice of the clergy isdiscounted by those who shape ournational policies.
Those who today enter Westminster Seminary, said Mr. Hamilton,seem to be joining a dwarfed minoritycompletely out of step with the times.They will acquire a burning zeal forthe glory of God and dedicate theirlives to the furtherance of His kingdom, but they will preach to emptypews and a comparative handful ofpeople. This need be no tragedy tothe Calvinist, however, for his Godis a sovereign God who asks only thatHis servants be faithful in the planting and watering of the seed, and whoHimself has promised to give the increase.
One of the reasons the paganworld refuses to hear our message, continued Mr. Hamilton, is that Christianity seems to have nothing to sayin most fields of secular existence. IfChristians are to regain for Christianity the high place it should hold inthe councils of the world, they musteffectively challenge the reigningpagan philosophy of life. And theycan do so only by applying their Calvinism to every field of human existence. Through Christian educationfrom primary class to university, wemust train men who will see eachspecialized field through Christianeyes. This is the tremendous task towhich we must be dedicated.
"If you go forth from WestminsterSeminary believing that your God istruly the sovereign God", concludedMr. Hamilton, "you may have someshare in regaining that lost intellectual empire for your King".
After the singing of a hymn andthe closing prayer, tea was served inMachen Hall by the wives of members of the faculty and a time ofhappy sociability was enjoyed byfriends of the seminary and formerclassmates.
Total enrollment this year is thirtyfive. The junior class has ten membersand' there are eight graduate students.The seminary is encouraged by thissplendid registration in the midst ofthe complications and emergencies ofa war year.ST. LOUIS 5. MO.
COMPANY
As with Gladness Men of OldGuide Me. 0 Thou Great Jehovaho Jesus, King Most WonderfulHow Sweet the Name of Jesus soundsChief of Sinners Though I Be
I Know that My Redeemer LivesJesus ChrIst Is Risen Today. AUelujahChrist the Lord Is Rls'n TodayThine FOTever, God of Love
o Bless the House Whate'or Befano Perfect LoveJesus. Lover of My SoulBehold. a Stranger at the Door
The address of the afternoon wasdelivered by the Rev. Floyd E. Hamilton, general secretary of the Committee on Christian Education ofThe Orthodox Presbyterian Church,on the subject, "The Tragedy of theChristian Ministry". The message ofthe rule of the triune God, declaredMr. Hamilton, is the message of theReformed Faith, but the Christian
RECORDING
THE PRE 5 BYTE R I AN· G U A RD I AN
THEO. W. POLSTER. lJIantlger
SERIES"Take My Life and Lot It BeAm I '" Soldier of the Cross fAbide with MeAbide. 0 Dearest JesuaNavy Hymn
SERIES 11/Old Bohemian Christmas CarolHark. the Herald Angels Singo Little Town of BethlehemLot U. AU With Oladamne VoiceBrightest and Best of the Sons of .
the Momlng
SERIES I.VDrawn to the CrossChrist the Life of All the LivingAI.s. and Did My Savior Bleed!o Sacred Head Now WoundedJ_s. ThY Blood and Rlghteousnes.
288
We Gather TogetherLift Up YourBeadsBrl~ort\l.0 Beauteous Heavenly
Hark. the Glad Soundo Come, All Ye Faithful
Agnus DelGlory Be to le_Go to Dark OothsemaneIn the eross of Christ I Glory
818 DeMUN AVENUE
t: :~~~~s Is Our GodGod. Bless Our Native LandOnward, Christian Soldiers
Order by Serle> Number. WRITE TODAYl All orde.... earefully boxed_eut prepaid auywhere.
Just Released!
By Lutheran Hour Chorus andSt. Louis A Cappella Choir
PRICESSerle. I, st. Loui. A Cap la Choir, Complete Album $ 5.00S..,.. II. III and IV. Lutheran Hour Choru., Co..plete A'..u EACH 6.50All Til Album•• Lutheran Hour Choru 19.50All Four Albulll. Complete, Serle. I. II. III and IV, 47 Mu.'.al Number 22.50
(Anyone Interested In Individual records ID&Y write WI for Information and nrtoes)
Send Order and Rem.fttauee to-
CONCORDIA
These new albums inspire and delight. They enrich andadorn your home with lasting cultural satisfaction. Theymeet the need of the hour for spiritual strength and de-velopment--on the home front and among service men. WIL~~~':~~Nowhere else can exclusive religious recordings of this St. Louis A Cappella Choirsort be purchased. Order today to avoid disappointment.Each album is 'composed of 12" double-faced records recorded by Theo. W. Polsterand processed by the ,RCA Manufacturing Company, Ine., on Victrolac Quality records.Pastors are widely using these records for local radio programs. Notice that each albumis designed to represent a portion of the church year. .As a gift, these albums carry a compliment of good taste and musical appreciation- •for Christmas and the year 'round.
Tile St. Louis A Cappella Claoir, 1943 SeriesWILLIAM B. HEYNE, Ccnductor
. SERIES IB.ns of Sp.yer Sen1l
~~~~~~~::i~';';';';-;';'(;':':;':';';':';';':':':';:~;'::.;.:.:~:;.~~::;.:~;.;.:~;.:;.:.:-;.:.:.(;.;.;~~#~TIle Lutlleran Rour Chorus, 1943 Series
MARTIN WERFELMANN. Conductor
1943 SERIES OFRECORDINGS
formed Faith to insist on the separation of church and state and on thesovereignty of the family, the churchand the state in their respectivespheres. These, said Professor Kuiper,
. are a few of the reasons why Westminster Seminary is, more neededtoday than ever before and why hewelcomed the entering students specifically for such a time as this.
top related