World Crisis Prompts Inauguration Decision

Christianity in the World Today

When President Eisenhower takes his second term oath of office at a private ceremony in the White House at noon on January 20, he will become the first President of the United States ever to be sworn in on a Sunday.

The decision against waiting until Monday, prompted by the tense international situation, will prevent the nation from being without a President for 24 hours. (Religious leaders, generally, are in complete accord with the decision.)

President Eisenhower will repeat the oath at noon on Monday, January 21, in a public ceremony on the steps of the Capitol. The Monday ceremony will be broadcast and televised throughout the world.

20th Amendment

Under the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1933, the term of the President ends at noon on January 20. If a President has failed to qualify, the Vice President-elect shall serve as President until he does. Thus, President Eisenhower will have to step down as President at noon on Sunday unless he takes the oath for a second term. Presidential advisers warned against a 24-hour hiatus of executive power.

Vice President Richard M. Nixon also will take his second term oath at the private White House ceremony and will repeat it at the public ceremony on Monday.

January 20 will be the fourth time in U. S. history that an inauguration day has fallen on Sunday. On Saturday night, March 3, 1877, President-elect Rutherford B. Hayes took the oath privately at the White House. He repeated the oath publicly the following Monday. In 1849, Zachary Taylor refused to take the oath on Sunday and was not sworn in until Monday noon. In 1821, President James Monroe deferred taking his second term oath until Monday.

Plans for Church

President Eisenhower plans to attend the 9:30 a.m. service at National Presbyterian Church on Sunday, January 20. If he attended the 11 a.m. service, he would be in church at the time his term expires.

Four clergymen, including the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in North America, will participate in the public inauguration. It will be the first time that a representative of Eastern Orthodoxy has taken part.

Dr. Edward L. R. Elson, pastor of National Presbyterian Church, where President Eisenhower is a member, will give the invocation. (Dr. Elson is a contributing editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY.)

Archbishop Michael, of the Greek Orthodox Archdioceses of North and South America, will deliver the first prayer, immediately before the Vice President takes his oath of office.

Dr. Louis Finkelstein, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York, will offer the second prayer immediately preceding the administration of the oath of office to President Eisenhower.

Edward Cardinal Mooney, Archbishop of Detroit, will give the benediction.

Traditionally, three clergymen participate in inaugurations—one each from the Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths.

Private Communion

On Thursday, January 3, a private Communion Service was held in National Presbyterian Church at 8 a.m. for President Eisenhower, his Cabinet and members of Congress. Dr. Elson conducted the service.

Flood Of Indecency

The so-called small protests of concerned people throughout the nation have converged on official Washington and touched off the following major developments in the “flood of obscenity” flowing through U. S. mails:

★ Staff members of the House Post Office Committee are drafting a bill that will make habitual violators liable to as much as 20 years in prison.

★ Rep. John Dowdy (D-Texas), chairman of House Subcommittee on postal operations, has announced plans to close a legal loophole through which “peddlers of lust” flaunt the law.

★ Mr. Dowdy also plans to introduce a bill providing that publishers of indecent books and magazines may be tried at any place such mail is received as well as where it is deposited. (Kansas and New York differ greatly on views of pornography.)

★ The United States Supreme Court has taken under advisement an appeal by a convicted publisher of obscene books which, if granted, can upset state and Federal statutes and necessitate complete revisions of such laws.

Concerning habitual violators, Mr. Dowdy had this to say:

“We see the same fellows over and over again. They publish first under this name and then under another. As soon as postal authorities catch on to them in one place, they move somewhere else. They get fined, but it doesn’t stop them because they are after big, quick profits. If they do go to jail for six months, they only use the time to think up new ideas.”

The only answer, he said is “a good stiff jail sentence.”

In the matter of the legal loophole he plans to close, the Texas congressman said the Dowdy-Rees Bill gives the Postmaster General authority to impound mail of publishers violating postal regulations, but allows violators to flaunt the law because of a Senate amendment.

Designed to protect legitimate publishers, the amendment provides that the Dowdy-Rees act “shall not apply to mail addressed to publishers or distributors of publications which have entry as second class matter under the Act of March3, 1879, or to publishers or distributors of copyrighted books and other publications to whom a certificate of registration of copyright has been issued under the copyright laws.”

Publishers of racy “men’s magazines,” he said, are rushing to Washington to register the contents of their magazines for copyright and are going through the form of applying for a second class mail permit.

The Post Office Department is rejecting the applications for second class mail privileges, but publishers are entitled to a 30-day period in which to appeal. Not until that period is over can the department start legal action to impound the publisher’s mail. The copyright office of the Library of Congress does not have authority to deny a registration of copyright merely because it questions the contents of a publication.

Regarding the site for the trying of cases, Mr. Dowdy said most of the objectionable magazines and books are being mailed from two cities, New York and Los Angeles.A staff spokesman for the House Subcommittee said:

“Pornography may be viewed as one thing in Hollywood or on Broadway, and as quite another in Emporia, Kansas, or Athens, Texas. After all, it is in the latter places that the damage is done in terms of corruption of morals and juvenile delinquency. Judges and juries who see at first hand the results of such immoral reading matter may take a more serious view of the offense.”

In the Supreme Court appeal, Samuel Roth, a New York publisher convicted by a Federal jury and sentenced to five years in jail with fine of $5,000, has asked that the conviction be set aside on grounds of no evidence to prove his publications actually injured anyone.

The appeal has reached the Supreme Court at the same time that the justices appear to be moving toward a sweeping ruling that will decide the constitutionality of state statutes aimed at preventing the sale of indecent literature.

The justices have delayed until mid-January their decision in the case of Butler vs. Michigan, in which a Detroit bookseller has challenged a Michigan law aimed at preventing sale of books that may be harmful to the morals of minors. This case was argued before the high bench on October 16, 1956. Other cases heard by the court during October have been decided.

(Usually when a case is by-passed in this manner, it means either that the justices are divided and dissenting opinions are being written by some members of the court, or that the court considers its opinion so important and fundamental that extra time is being spent on preparation of the written opinion.)

Jerusalem + Judea + Samaria News: January 07, 1957

Route Of Moses

Extensive surveys, tending to support the theory of some that Moses took a northern route through the Sinai Peninsula on his way to the Promised Land, have been completed by two teams of Israeli scientists.

One team, consisting of archaeologists, historians, philologists and geographers of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, explored the famous Greek Orthodox monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mt. Sinai.

The other team, made up of archaeologists of the Israeli Department of Antiquities, investigated ruins in the Oasis of Kadesh Barnea, near the Israeli-Egyptian border north of Sinai.

At St. Catherine’s the scientists scrutinized and photographed manuscripts dating from the sixth century. Examination of the monastery buildings disclosed remains of a basilical church built by the Emperior Justinian in the fourth century, with only a chapel of the Burning Bush—a Crusader addition—still substantially intact.

The monastery was found standing on a Justinianic foundation on which were superimposed structures of the Crusader, Napoleonic and late 19th century periods.

Geographers surveyed a granite area between the monastery and the south Sinai coast. Archaeologists examined the ruins of a large fortified settlement at Wadi Feiran in ancient Paran. Paran, which reached its prime in the Byzantine period, was inhabited from the middle of the Iron Age to the early Arab period.

The scholars, headed by Dr. Benjamin Mazar, president of Hebrew University, reported they had found no remains of a middle Bronze Age, claimed to have been contemporary with the Jewish exodus from Egypt.

The second team found large quantities of pottery at Kadesh Barnea dating from the Patriarchal period, as well as remnants of a 10th century B. C. Judean fortress which had apparently been destroyed by the Babylonians. A wall three miles long protected the whole Kadesh area against nomadic tribes.

Unusual Infant

Noah, builder of the ark, was such an unusual infant that his father believed he had been supernaturally conceived and spoke to his wife “with vigor” about it.

This new light on the family life of Lemach, father of Noah, and his wife is contained in what is known as the seventh Dead Sea Scroll, the last to be unrolled, Dr. Yigael Yadin, one of Israel’s leading archaeologists, disclosed.

Dr. Yadin, former chief of staff of the Israeli army, is now on the staff of Hebrew University. He and a colleague, Dr. Nahman Abigad, have translated five columns of the scroll.

The account, said Dr. Yadin, is written in Aramaic “in a very pleasant hand” on the hairy side of what is believed to be goatskin. He said it was so brittle that only an inch or two could be unrolled at a time.

In the scroll, Lamech, speaking in the first person, tells of his growing fear that the boy he thought was his son was really the child of “the Watchers, the Holy Ones or the fallen angels.”

He explains that his fear was induced by the unique qualities of the child. Lamech describes the infant as having a body “white as snow and red as the blooming of the rose,” with long locks of hair “white as wool” and eyes that lighted up the house “like the sun” when he opened them.

The scroll then tells how Lamech confronted his wife and how she, finally “growing wrath,” swore by the “Most High Lord of Greatness and King of the World” that Lamech, not some supernatural being, was the father of Noah.

One More Seat

Another seat in the Chamber of Deputies has been granted to Iraq’s Christian minority, making a total of eight in the 138-member lower House.

The newly-created seat from Baghdad brings the number of Christian deputies from the Iraqui capital to three.

Projects In Israel

The government in Israel has allocated $140,000 for the improvement of biblical, historical and other tourist sites.

Landing facilities will be improved at Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee, the site of the Multiplication of Loaves and at Capernaum, site of the ancient synagogue where Jesus is said to have prayed and preached.

A new tree-lined road to Mount Zion is nearing completion.

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Africa + Asia + Australia News: January 07, 1957

Missionaries Slain

Half-civilized natives of Dutch New Guinea became enraged when their pigs began to die in large numbers.

Blame for the plague (thought to be pig-cholera) was laid on the intrusion of missionaries in tribal territory.

A native uprising was planned for November 3, but failed to materialize, according to information received by the American Mission of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Then, about two weeks later, the natives, armed with axes and knives, surrounded the mission, located near the border of Dutch and Australian New Guinea.

Twelve unarmed native missionary teachers were killed and the bodies dismembered, the Sydney Mirror reported. An airplane belonging to a European missionary was ripped apart.

Had the November 3 attack been on schedule, 12 American missionaries, plus the 12 natives, would have been caught at a mission service.

The uprising was brought under control when the Dutch flew Marines, with Sten guns and mortars, to the scene. Americans and Europeans were kept under police protection in a government building for several nights.

‘Godless Monopoly’

A new universal primary education plan initiated by the East Nigerian government has been denounced by Catholics as a “godless monopoly of education.”

Under the plan, all new schools opened in the region are to be government-controlled and managed by local officials, who will be free to invite religious bodies to supply temporary faculty members.

Britain and the Continent News: January 07, 1957

Responsibilities

Dr. Regin Prenter, professor of theology at the University of Aarhus, has warned members of the Danish Parliament that too great a dependence upon government will stifle self-reliance of the people and make them incapable of democratic self-government.

Speaking at the annual worship service in Copenhagen, marking the opening of Parliament, he declared that “the greatest danger of the modern welfare state lies in its failure to acknowledge its limitations.

“The danger is that the State not only cares materially for those who are not able to take care of themselves, but that it will care both materially and spiritually for all of us … to such a degree that the personal responsibility of the individual is weakened by it.”

Taking as his text, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” Dr. Prenter praised “the far-reaching social legislation” of recent years which has “put an end to much human need and misery.”

“But,” he added, “a democracy can live only as long as there is a feeling of responsibility in the people. On the day when the politicians alone have any responsibility and all of us let ourselves be blindly led by them … democracy will be finished.”

Sharp criticism of the sermon was voiced by the Danish press. Editors took issue on the grounds that it was a “political sermon” rather than the “ordinary devotional service” customarily delivered on the opening of Parliament.

In response to the criticisms, Dr. Prenter said “a colorless church service is of no devotional value.” (He is chairman of the Commission on Theology of the Lutheran World Federation.)

Changes In Hungary

The presidium of the General Synod of the Hungarian Lutheran Church has acted in Budapest to widen a reorganization of the Church begun in the wake of the anti-Soviet uprising during October.

It confirmed the reinstatement of Dr. Jajos Ordass, head of the southern district and acting leader of the Church. The presidium announced that elections will take place this month to fill all other church posts, including bishoprics. Results of the elections are scheduled to be announced January 19.

The General Synod also reinstated all pastors who had been removed or suspended by the former Communist regimes for political reasons.

Bishop Ordass replaces Bishop Laszlo Dezsery, former head of the district which includes Budapest. Bishop Dezsery was named to the post, with the approval of the Communist authorities, in 1950, only a week after Bishop Ordass was released from prison, where he served 20 months of a two-year sentence for alleged “foreign currency manipulation.” Bishop Dezsery resigned recently and may soon quit the ministry.

The General Synod also named Bishop Zoltan Turoczy to replace, temporarily, Bishop Lajos Veto, another Communist appointee who resigned, as head of the Trans-Danubian district.

Digest …

Greater Manchester (England) Evangelistic Campaign, with the Rev. Joseph Blinco as speaker, scheduled March 23 to April 13, at Albert Hall. Mr. Blinco now serving as associate evangelist of Billy Graham team.

News about North and South America: January 07, 1957

Sparks In Canada

Nearly 500,000 persons attended 125 rallies in the first two months of a national evangelistic mission conducted by the United Church of Canada.

“It is impossible to estimate the number of persons influenced by these missions,” said Dr. W. G. Berry, crusade director, “but reports show that large numbers came forward to make personal decisions for Christ.”

The missions were held in cities across the country. Leading speakers were Dr. Alan Walker of Australia, the Rev. Joseph Blinco of England and the Rev. Leonard Griffiths of Ottawa.

Dr. Berry said the missions are “only a small part of a much larger plan of the United Church to conduct the greatest evangelistic campaign in its history.”

The crusade, he said, will “challenge every area of Canadian life and culture with the Gospel. We propose to offer the Gospel not only to individuals but also to society as a whole and attack sin not only in personal life but also in social life.”

The missions will continue through 1957. Over 300 rallies are planned during the Lenten season. Speakers from overseas will include Dr. Charles Duthie, the Rev. Tom Allan of Scotland, Dr. Donald Soper and the Rev. William Gowland of England.

Giving Goal Soars

The present goal for total Southern Baptist Convention giving in the year 1964 is $728,000,000—including $189,000,000 in missionary and benevolent work.

In 1955 the total was $335,000,000, with $35,000,000 used for missionaries and benevolences.

The following goals have been set by the SBC executive committee:

1957–$364,000,000; 1958–$416,000,000; 1959–$468,000,000; 1960–$520,000,000; 1961–$572,000,000; 1962–$624,000,000; 1963–$676,000, 000.

Along another front, a survey has disclosed some interesting facts about the average Southern Baptist minister in Tennessee. In his survey, Professor Herbert J. Miles of Carson-Newman College, found:

They agree (90 per cent or more) that Southern Baptists should not join the National Council of Churches, should not ordain women to preach, should not take part in the Lord’s Supper outside a Baptist church and should not accept by letter a non-Baptist even though he has been immersed.

They disagree on such issues as capital punishment, integration of races and performing weddings where one party has been divorced.

The average minister is 41 years old, has been preaching 14 years and has held five pastorates.

Lutheran Merger

Representatives of four American Lutheran churches have agreed to proceed at once toward a goal of organic church union.

Delegates, at a meeting in Chicago, voted to form a constitution for a united Church that will include articles of doctrine as well as “practical matters of organization.”

Involved in the merger plan are the United Lutheran Church in America (2,270,000 members), Augustana Lutheran Church (536,000 members), Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (Suomi Synod) (35,000 members), and the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (20,000 members).

“We have among us sufficient ground of agreement in the common confession of our faith, as witnessed by the Lutheran Confessions, to justify further procedure,” delegates announced.

Sales On Sunday

The growing trend of Sunday selling throughout the United States received a slight setback when the New Jersey Supreme Court outlawed the Sunday sale of automobiles in the state by a 6–0 vote.

It was a victory for religious forces in the state. They have been conducting a campaign against the rising tide of business-as-usual on Sunday.

The state legislature last year enacted a law prohibiting the Sunday sale of automobiles. Its validity was attacked by two New Jersey used car dealers.

In June, Superior Court Judge Howard Ewart declared the law unconstitutional. He said it had· not been enacted to promote the general health, safety and welfare, but had as its main purpose the controlling of competition in the sale of new and used cars.

The high court’s opinion, prepared by Chief Justice Arthur T. Vanderbilt, rejected this contention. It maintained that the dealers were not being discriminated against because the ruling applied to all motor vehicle dealers and all were “protected in their businesses.”

Floundering Students

Recent surveys prove that theological students are not being adequately trained to grapple with modern church problems, Dr. Colin Williams of Australia said at the 70th annual meeting of the Theological Faculties Union of Chicago.

Dr. Williams, new professor of historical theology at Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, Illinois, asserted:

“Too many unapplied content courses and too many ungospelized practical courses leave the student frustrated and floundering when he takes a church. There is a big time lag—20 years or more—between seminary graduation and the time a man gets into a church big enough to count, and by that time he has forgotten his theology.”

Dr. Williams expressed fears that American Protestantism “identifies Christianity with Eisenhower prosperity and fails to bring modern culture under the judgment of the Gospel.”

He added:

“Contemporary religion in the United States lacks an awareness of Christ’s Lordship and sovereignty, which involves a break with the world.”

The speaker urged teams of seminary professors to go out for workshop conversations with laymen of the churches in order to bring the needs of the churches and the teaching of the seminaries into better focus.

F.D.W.

Educators Retire

The second president of a Southern Baptist College to announce his retirement, in recent weeks, is Dr. D. M. Nelson of Mississippi College.

Exact date of the retirement was not announced.

Dr. Harwell G. Davis has reported he will retire as president of Howard College in 1958.

Dr. Nelson has been associated with Mississippi College for 50 years. A graduate there in 1907, he later served as professor of physics before succeeding Dr. J. W. Provine as president in 1932.

The college increased from 360 students to over 2,000 during his span as president.

In announcing his plans, Dr. Nelson said:

“We have thought that with the completion of the library and fine arts building and with three other buildings begun and on the way toward realization, we should transfer the responsibility of the presidency to younger and more capable shoulders.”

The board of trustees appointed a nominations committee to seek a successor.

No Giving Up

Pilot John Keenan, who replaced the martyred Nate Saint, has been flying, in recent weeks, over Auca villages discovered after the death of the five missionaries.

He reports that the famous “George,” the Auca man who visited the martyrs’ camp with his two companions, always appears friendly and that he has in his possession the model airplane last seen floating in the water near the bodies.

It has been noted that Auca houses are adorned with the tin strips used to cover the graves of the missionaries.

College To Close

Shurtleff College, Alton, Illinois, 129-year-old American Baptist College, will suspend operations on June 30, according to a vote by the board of trustees.

One of the mid-west’s oldest educational institutions, the college was founded by a famous Baptist home missionary, John Mason Peck, in 1847.

The college has been unable to finance the additional personnel and equipment necessary for accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges. Its facilities probably will be taken over by Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, as a branch school.

Books

Book Briefs: January 7, 1957

Milford Sholund

Lessons For 1957

The Douglass Sunday School Lessons, by Earl L. Douglass. The Macmillan Company, New York. $2.95.

The International Sunday School Lessons and the International Bible Lessons for Christian Teaching are used in Sunday schools throughout the world. Sunday school teachers and leaders looking for stimulating commentaries on these lessons will be rewarded in this volume by Dr. Douglass. For forty years this series of lesson expositions has been a favorite in the United States.

The author has organized the fifty-two lessons in a compact volume of 490 pages. The introductory material for each lesson includes the Scripture reading, devotional reading and daily Bible readings with the printed text from the Scriptures for the lesson of the day. In addition, there are topics designed to help the teacher develop the lesson for young people and adults. The lesson plan includes a simple outline usually with four points which is very helpful for the teacher.

The biblical exposition is simple, scholarly and conservative in interpretation. Pastors and Bible teachers will find a library of choice interpretations on the heart of the Scriptures.

The lesson plan includes a section on suggested questions and topics for discussion, “Suggested Questions and Topics for Discussion.” There are usually five questions for each lesson, thus simplifying the discussion period.

The entire series of studies are made relevant to practical life situations. The author succeeds in showing how to use the biblical text for a twentieth century problem. The first quarter studies include the Gospel of Matthew.

Ten lessons in the second quarter on Studies in Genesis consider the origin of perpetual human issues. The author stresses the point that life and salvation are the great truths of God’s Word.

Personalities of the Old Testament are made to live again in lessons for the third quarter. The lesson on Amos, Crusader for Righteousness, is an excellent example of making an ancient prophet of God speak the eternal truth for American people in the twentieth century. The Sunday school teacher will find abundant help on thirteen biographies.

The New Testament themes are drawn from I Corinthians, Philippians and Philemon in the last quarter’s lessons. The author succeeds again in bringing truth to life. In the lesson entitled, “That I May Know Christ,” page 459, based on Philippians 3:12–14, Dr. Douglass says, “First we observe that Paul realistically regarded life as a struggle. The modern idea that we can lie back and let peace and confidence come down upon us like the gentle rain from heaven, finds no support in the New Testament.”

Temperance lessons are seldom included in graded lesson series. Dr. Douglass has not only included helpful information on this subject, but he has applied the implications of the problem where it belongs. He shows by reliable data what the results of drinking do in automobile accidents, home life, military service and among youth in general.

He includes a bibliography of fifteen pamphlets and periodicals which every Sunday school leader can use, especially for high school students.

Milford Sholund

The New Eve

Christ and the Church, by L. S. Thornton. Dacre Press. 18s.

In this comparatively slender volume Dr. Thornton has given us the third and final part of his treatise on The Form of the Servant, and the thesis of its pages is, in the author’s own words, “that the whole mystery of the Christ is re-enacted in the church.” The relation of Christ to the church he sums up in the two terms identify and cooperation. The doctrine of identity centers around his concept of the church as the new Eve coupled with that of Christ as the new Adam: as Eve was formed from Adam’s side while he was in a deep sleep, so the church was formed when Christ “fell asleep in death upon the cross and his newly opened side became the site of the new creation.” The doctrine of cooperation centres around his concept of the church, the New Eve, as “the human agent through whom the obedience of the new Adam becomes effectual in all.” As is common with Anglo-Catholic theology, reconciliation is sought in incarnation rather than in atonement; hence Dr. Thornton’s emphasis on the “one flesh” concept: as Adam and Eve were “one flesh,” so he finds it possible to speak of Christ and the church as sharing “a common nature in organic identity” and constituting “a single organism in which Christ is the head and the church is the body.”

Those who are acquainted with Dr. Thornton’s earlier books will recognize the theme of organic identity: the created order is viewed as a progressive organic series in which each higher level contains and elevates all the lower stages of the organic series. It is in the Incarnation that, at last, the highest level is seen to be reached; indeed, according to Dr. Thornton, it is not until the Incarnation that the plan of creation is fully disclosed. On his premises, it must be concluded that the Incarnation would have taken place even if man had not sinned: for “the first creation was,” he says, “part of a much larger plan which was from the first Christocentric,” so that the form of the first creation “is determined by the necessity that it shall find its fulfillment in the Christ.” Accordingly he maintains that “the ‘place’ of reconciliation with God is the flesh of Jesus in which Christ and the church are one.” Further, in the Incarnation, ex hypothesi, the Son of God embraced “all flesh,” so that “the transfigured flesh of Jesus was the ‘all flesh’ of creation which he had taken to himself.”

Dr. Thornton assigns to the New Testament miracles of healing a sacramental quality, so much so that this miraculous ministry, bringing wholeness to man and thereby effecting the restoration of creation to its true destiny, is propounded by him as continued in the church through the sacraments and particularly in the Eucharist, “the new passover,” in which “the bread is transformed because it is there identified with the Lamb of God as the material of his eucharistie body.” This “creative identification” of the bread with the body of Christ is effected by the repetition “in a duly authorized way” of the words “this is my body” by Christ’s “human representative.” It appears that Dr. Thornton regards the healing faculty of the church, focused in the eucharist, as leading gradually to a universal restoration of all things, until at last “all flesh” will be “one flesh” in Christ and the evolutionary journey will have reached its goal. As for the form of the servant, it finds its primary significance within the framework of the self-sacrifice of the Messiah. As the sacrifice of paschal Lamb is defined as “the substance of worship in the redeemed order,” this leads again to the central significance in Dr. Thornton’s system of the eucharist.

It is not possible in the space of a brief review to deal adequately with the important questions raised by a work so closely woven in texture as this. Throughout, in his use and manipulation of Scripture, Dr. Thorton applies the allegorical method in a manner which would have delighted the more imaginative of the early fathers and which bids fair to rival the more esoteric exegesis of certain groups of the Plymouth Brethren, though it may be doubted whether either early fathers or Plymouth Brethren would find themselves able to approve of his major conclusions.

PHILIP E. HUGHES

Semi-Popular

Titles of the Triune God, by Herbert F. Stevenson. Revell, New York, 1956. $2.50.

In the foreword to this American printing of an English work, the following statement is made: “The Bible makes no attempt at a definition of God. What it does is to give us a wealthy characterization of God.” Thus the reader is introduced to the theme of this little volume.

First, a few words relative to the mechanics of the book. The chapters, in the nature of short essays, are organized into three groups: “God,” “Our Lord Jesus Christ,” and “the Holy Spirit.” For the most part, the author has followed a chronological or progressive line of development in the first division of his book and a topical or nominal one in the latter two. Nothing in the way of an exhaustive concordance is furnished.

Second, some remarks relative to the content. There are two basic types of names treated in such a study: those formed from a single word and those formed from a combination of words. In the former class are to be found those deriving content from the word itself, e.g., “Jehovah,” and those of a descriptive nature involving something of the metaphor, e.g., “rock,” “shield,” etc. In the latter class, the general rule submitted is that the first word retains its own meaning while the subsequent word or words is an additional “unfolding of His Person, or will, or provision for His people” (p. 37). New experiences sometimes demanded new names. In some instances these names were ascribed to God by men while in other instances they were pronounced to man by God. In passing from the first division into the second, one moves into an area in which some change in meaning is evident, i.e., prophetic names of the Old Testament move into their New Testament fulfillment in the Incarnate Son and words of common use are given a deep, sacred content. The author’s treatment of the third division, the Names of the Spirit, which he calls a major theme in the New Testament, is Trinitarian and shows how in this area one moves from the vague and implicit Old Testament treatment of the Spirit of God into the concrete and explicit New Testament treatment of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.

Third, a brief criticism of the book. For a proper perspective, one must keep in mind what must have been the author’s purpose in writing the volume. It is, first of all, to fill the gap created by the lack of any book treating “all the names and titles of the Three Persons of the Trinity,” (p. 7). Thus the scope is extensive rather than intensive. It is, next, written “not … for scholars but for students—for just plain you and me” (p. 6). Thus the nature and tenor of the book is what one may call “semi-popular.” For the pastor, this book will be extremely suggestive homiletically; for the layman it furnishes a guide for profitable devotional study; and for the scholar, in either group, it gives a good “bird’s eye view” of the subject plus a four page bibliography. The author has not purposed to enter into the arena of theological debate and therefore the expression of his own personal views without development at points is only to be expected, e.g., “the gap theory” (p. 171), his millennial view (p. 87), etc. Occasionally there is, we feel, a tendency to overdo the typology element.

HEINRICH B. EILER

Intelligible To Laymen

God In His World, by Charles S. Duthie. Abingdon Press, Nashville. $2.50.

Testifying that “the events of my own life have compelled me, from very early days, to see how necessary it is to take Christian thought and Christian evangelism with equal seriousness” (p. 7), Dr. Duthie has been concerned to present a theology that will be intelligible to laymen and that will serve them well in their efforts to win others to Christ. Out of a background that includes the pastorate, the chaplaincy, teaching, and participation in the Tell Scotland Movement of evangelism, he writes with a passion and with an ability to state old truths in fresh ways.

The author recognizes that many who previously had no interest in things spiritual are today groping for something that will satisfy their hearts, and he is concerned that the Christian faith be presented to them in an intelligible form. His interest in doctrine is to the end that men may come to know Christ as He is offered in the Word, and that they in turn may be used to bring other groping souls to him.

This is obviously a worthy aim, and it is good to be able to report that in a real measure, the author accomplishes his purpose. Recognizing the importance both of working from the Gospel out to the situation of modern man, and from the situation of man back to the Gospel, he does both effectively. His writing is full of fresh spiritual insights, and whether he is dealing with our beliefs in the persons of the Godhead, or in the opportunities which confront the Church today, his treatment is vigorous and helpful.

Each reader will have his own favorites among the chapters of the book, but there are highlights here that should have the widest appeal. The presentation of the meaning of surrender in the closing chapter of the book, for example, is a masterpiece. Dr. Duthie describes it under the headings of capitulation, acceptance, communion and confidence. Developing these thoughts, he shows that in the biblical sense, surrender is giving in to God, taking in from God, drawing near to God and trusting in God.

All of which is not to say that there are not occasional disappointments in the book. Dr. Duthie gives a central place to Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, but he cannot quite bring himself to admit that Christ was punished for our sins (p. 33). He seems to feel that the formation of the World Council of Churches marks a major step forward in Christian unity. His acknowledged indebtedness to liberal scholars is at times disturbing. But without denying or minimizing these disappointments, it must be said that Dr. Duthie has something for us, and that his message is well worth heeding.

H. L. FENTON, JR.

Faith Fades Away

Sermons from an Ecumenical Pulpit, edited by Max F. Daskam. Starr King, Boston. $5.50.

The Unitarian fellowship of German-town (it doesn’t say where, but presumably that is the Boston influence) does not have a resident minister. Instead, this congregation invites prominent preachers of every faith to occupy its pulpit for a few Sundays at a time. The plan has been in operation for twenty years and if the sermons in this book faithfully represent the result, the pulpit committee must draw its names from Who’s Who among America’s pulpiteers. Niebuhr, Tillich, Paul Scherer, James Cleland, Van Dusen, Fosdick, McCracken and Norman Thomas are among the many who contributed one sermon each to this collection.

“But how,” Max F. Daskam, the editor, reports they often are asked, “can you have (all denominations) in one pulpit? Don’t they contradict one another?” By way of reply Mr. Daskam reports that it is their experience that “denominational differences tend to fade away as our guest ministers stress the great and eternal truths of our Christian faith.” He would have spoken more accurately had he said that in these sermons whatever is explicit about the Christian faith tends to fade away.

The sermons are collected under significant headings, such as: I. What Goodness for Man; III. The Nature of Jesus; VI. The Larger Hope. When the time comes for him to speak, Niebuhr affirms the impossible possibility of human perfection; Tillich, that one can be righteous and yet feel no relief because little is forgiven him; Rabbi David W. Wise, that a true God-concept is one which does not fractionalize the Universe, accepting pleasure, for instance, but not pain, but is one which accepts all of life and substance as a part of God and His never-ending process; Harry C. Meserve, that you understand Jesus when you see Him to have been a man who found his vocation, that of a religious teacher, and went about talking, “not even about God, or any significant religious idea, but about the life that he found around him” with its necessities to maintain faith amid corruption and to get along with other human beings; Cleland, that we must get to know Jesus if we are to fit our lives to the ethical discernments and demands of our Lord and Master, for only in loving Him will we grow more like Him until our new conduct becomes second nature with us—theologically, this means re-birth; Elton Trueblood, that true freedom follows the recovery of the disciplined Christian life; Bishop Oxnam, that the ideals of a peaceful world and a unified church can be kept alive if we keep close to Jesus who incorporated those ideals; and Halford Luccock, that Easter is far more than an affirmation about the length of life, it is a symbol of the reality and the triumph of the spiritual world, the miracle of a life lived in a new relationship to God.

These are beautiful sermons. They are so beautiful, in fact, that almost everyone would enjoy reading them. But I am reminded that it is occasionally possible to string beautiful sentiments together without preaching the Scriptures. And this book suffers from the scarcity of a clear Word unto Salvation.

G. AIKEN TAYLOR

Psychological Approach

The Pastoral Epistles and the Mind of Paul, by Donald Guthrie, Tyndale, London. 1s.6d.

This pamphlet of 44 pages reproduces the Tyndale New Testament Lecture for 1955; it deals with a subject to which the lecturer, who is Tutor in New Testament in London Bible College, has devoted special study for a number of years.

In contemporary discussions of the New Testament Epistles, it is generally taken for granted that the three Pastoral Epistles—the two addressed to Timothy and one to Titus—cannot, as they stand, be ascribed to Paul. Some regard them as completely pseudonymous (one German scholar has recently suggested that they were composed by Polycarp of Smyrna, martyred in A.D. 156); others recognize genuine Pauline fragments embedded in them. Among the latter the most eminent name is that of the veteran English scholar P. N. Harrison, whose painstaking study, The Problem of the Pastoral Epistles (1921), has perhaps done more than any other work to convince scholars that Paul was not the author of these letters in their present form. Yet the case against Pauline authorship has not been permitted to make its way without contradiction; commentaries maintaining their authenticity have been produced in recent years by Jeremias in Germany, by Spicq in France, and by E. K. Simpson in England and the scholarship of these writers is unimpeachable.

Mr. Guthrie defends the genuineness of the three epistles from the psychological point of view. His approach involves linguistic and doctrinal considerations. Dr. Harrison laid particular stress on the differences in style and vocabulary between the earlier Pauline letters and the Pastorals. Mr. Guthrie does not challenge Dr. Harrison’s data, but claims that other data must be taken into account as well and that the inferences drawn from the data by Dr. Harrison are not so certain as many suppose. To make the situation clearer, he supplies at the end of his study (among other linguistic appendixes) a list of particles and other small words which constitute the connective tissue of language, comparing their use in the Pastorals with their use in the earlier epistles.

Paul’s increasing years and the changing needs of the church account for the less dynamic approach and more formalized theology of the Pastorals. In an examination of the summaries of the doctrine called the “faithful sayings,” Mr. Guthrie points out that, with the exception of that in 1 Timothy 3:1 (where, it might be added, the Western text reads “popular” instead of “faithful”), the doctrine summarized is thoroughly Pauline.

Mr. Guthrie does not shirk the difficulties which a defender of the epistles’ authenticity has to face, but he concludes that the difficulties inherent in the pseudonymous and fragmentary theories are greater, especially on the psychological side. His arguments ought to receive the serious attention of all careful students of the New Testament.

F. F. BRUCE

Christian Verse

The Valley of Silence, by Jack Shuler. Zondervan, Grand Rapids.

This well-printed and attractively bound volume contains 94 selections. Some of them are by such well known writers as Annie Johnson Flint, Grace Noll Crowell and Ella Wheeler Wilcox, and there is one each by John Greenleaf Whittier, Rudyard Kipling and Charles Dickens. Forty-two of the pieces are listed as by unknown authors. Sometimes a textual comparison with such a book as J. D. Morrison’s Masterpieces of Religious Verse would have improved the printed version, e.g., in “Making Harbor” where about half the first stanza is omitted in Shuler’s collection.

These selections are fairly uniform in quality. They belong, however, not to poetry proper but to verse. In the Foreword the publisher describes them as “writing for every occasion … the fitting conclusion to a sermon, the effective opening to a speech.” Verse lends itself to such ends; poetry does not. Genuine poetry operates in a different capacity than to gild the lily. It is not decorative but rather carries its own essential autonomy. It penetrates not with the pin prick of a self-evident moral but with a massiveness which is as freighted with meaning as life itself. Verse can afford to be facile, clever, ingenious. Poetry proper is original, expansive and generative. Verse may toy with an idea; poetry thrusts toward truth itself. Verse is generally satisfied with a mere twist of meaning; poetry presents the genuinely significant. Verse is descriptive; poetry presentational and symbolic. Verse is usually practical and didactic; poetry, if it is to be called functional at all, is functional at the root of man’s being. In a word, verse may deal with the surface of things, but poetry will content itself with nothing less than the center.

The selections in Mr. Shuler’s book are as good as the average of Christian verse, but too often they are marked by the inevitable characteristics—cliches, forced rhymes, padded lines and the like. The time is ripe for orthodox Christians with a gift for writing to attempt devotional verse in the great tradition of literature itself.

CLYDE S. KILBY

Simple Testimony

The Angel Spreads her Wings, by Maxine Garrison. Revell, Westwood, New Jersey.

This is a book about a book. Maxine Garrison, a friend of Dale Evans and Roy Rogers, tells the story behind the writing of Dale’s little book, Angel Unaware.

She tells the heartache and faith behind the writing of that beautiful volume and describes the way in which it was received by the public. Many quotes are given from letters received by Dale Rogers showing how her simple testimony of the mission of her frail, short-lived, Mongoloid daughter has inspired and comforted others, particularly those with similar experiences.

As interesting as it is, I regret that no mention is made in this book of the precise nature of Dale Evans’ faith. In Angel Unaware we see her insistence upon a proper relationship with Christ. Edwin Orr vouches for Dale’s genuine Christian faith in his book, The Truth Behind the Hollywood Christian Group. But if one reads Maxine Garrison’s book alone, he gathers, I am afraid, that Dale’s faith is some beautiful, mystical thing having little or no connection with orthodox Christian faith.

NORMA R. ELLIS

Composite Volume

Encyclopedia of Morals, edited by Vergilius Ferm. Philosophical Library, New York, 1956. $10.00.

Here is another composite volume edited by tha indefatigable compiler, Vergilius Ferm. The first entry on the Aboriginals of Yirkalla emphasizes the statement in the Preface that the material is not only philosophical but also anthropological.

Then when we come to Puritan Morals (12 pages, double columns), we find more description of their allegedly disagreeable conduct than exposition of theory. The articles on Aristotle, Kant, and Sidgwick are well written. The difficulties, particularly in the last two thinkers, are lightly touched on, as may be wise in an Encyclopedia; Aristotle receives more criticism, though the total effect is not so clear. Christian Moral Philosophy (49 columns) dates the Mosaic Law after the prophets and claims that the Pharisees were the legitimate heirs of Ezekiel, but in contrast with this radical view the author recognizes the eschatological theme of the Sermon on the Mount and gives a tolerably good account of Romans. Justification by faith is explained, and the infliction of a penalty on Christ is acknowledged.

As it is impossible to review every article in an encyclopedia, these must suffice as samples.

GORDON H. CLARK

Theology

Review of Current Religious Thought: January 07, 1957

G. C. Berkouwer

Goethe once remarked, after Immanuel Kant wrote in 1793 about the radical evil in the heart of man, that Kant had dirtied his philosophical robe with the stain of original sin. Others were more concerned to say that the philosopher had insulted humanity. This was understandable, for the expression Kant used reminded people of the Reformation doctrine of the corruption of the human soul. And this was a confession sternly maintained in the face of Humanism, which proceeded from belief in the profound and ultimate goodness of the human heart. The bitter encounter between Kant and Goethe is often cited in books concerning humanity, but it brings to mind for our purpose a problem that transcends the dispute between these two thinkers. The question is: what can we expect of man? Can man rely on man and can he trust himself to be led by man?

There were those in Kant’s time who were willing to forgive Kant for a notion that could be explained by means of the influence on him of his family tradition. But most people judged that he went much too far. If he had to speak of humanity, there were other, better things to be mentioned. It is, however, actually remarkable that Kant’s severe judgment concerning man’s radically evil nature had a bright side. For with Kant too there appeared, at the last moment as it were, an escape from this corruption. He spoke, indeed, of a revolution that was required in the perspective of man in order to make good his rescue. But though he compared this revolution with the biblical talk of the re-birth, he found the solution in human freedom by which man could arrive on his own steam. In the light of this, it is questionable whether Kant actually gave Goethe very much reason for his protest.

In the meanwhile, this anecdote may set us to some serious thought in our own time when the question of man has again been pushed into the foreground. In the history of thought we can see a tendency again and again to hold high the value of man and to refuse to minimize his capacities. We see this in Humanism, which, in various forms, never fully recedes from history. It was inexplicable for Erasmus, for example, that Luther refused to teach the free will of man, that he insisted on talking of the bondage of the will. Erasmus had more respect for man. And it is understandable that he is still the patron saint of Humanism.

After the Second World War, the “Humanist Association” was established in the Netherlands. An appeal was made (after the catastrophe) to fill in the ranks and get going again. The appeal was to the basic humanity of the people. It is interesting that great disillusionments often awaken new trust in man. Evil is explained by circumstances. The possibility is held out of going back to the deeper forces of human personality. No matter how many disillusionments man may suffer, he remains faithful to his confidence in the resources of humanity.

In our time, however, many humanists are saying that we cannot, as previously, be unqualified optimists. There is a recognition of dark and demonic powers working in man—an admission that humanists must this time be realistic humanists. The horrible aberrations of human life are so manifest that humanists cannot themselves go on talking simply about the goodness of man. The eloquence of anti-Semitism and the concentration camps is too persistent to be avoided. Still when the chips are down, the light shines through. The great conflict which according to the New Testament was engaged and won by Jesus Christ is assumed instead by mankind; it is thought that man himself shall yet appear as the victor in this present battle.

One wonders what the background of this perennially renewed confidence in man might be. Will this confidence never fail? Shall the dogma of man’s innate goodness continue to persist in this age when the shocks that humanity suffers have been so terrific that some human acts have been universally branded as inhuman? After the Neurenburg trials, one responsible writer wrote that such criminals were not to be regarded any longer as human. This is too simple a way to dispense with the grotesque aberrations of humanity. This brings us close to Phariseeism; it is a way of holding ourselves aloof from these crimes. No, whatever darkness closes in on us in this age, we shall have to confess that it is the darkness of humanity, of the humanity of which we are part. We cannot get rid of the darkness by raising ourselves above it.

The confession concerning the evil of man has persistently been explained as a form of pessimism. Augustine was accused of Manichean influences in his confession of the evil in man. (Augustine was a Manichean for nine years.) The same pessimism was charged to the Reformers. But the Reformation confession of man’s evil has nothing to do with pessimism. The Christian Church was concerned about the burning question of man’s self-redemption, a question which hovers in the background of many streams of thought in our own time. It is relatively unimportant whether one looks for this self-redemption through the state, society, or from man in his individual striving. For in all these forms of self-redemption we have to do with the healthy who are in need of no physician. Christ spoke his most sharp and revealing word against such people.

In the confession concerning the radical evil of man we are not dealing with a more or less pessimistic or optimistic mentality. We are faced with the decisive question of redemption. For this reason, it is not surprising that the questions arising around Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of men are followed by questions concerning man himself. In our own time one of these questions is that of human freedom. The existentialism of Sartre is freighted with this very problem. The entire human existence is set on the fork of the freedom of man, who must develop his life without reference to dependence on divine power. But there is also recognizable in Sartre a profound resistance to grace. Man, refusing to capitulate to grace, must always blaze his own trail in freedom to freedom. He must also recommend freedom to the children of his time. We are wondering just now whether existentialism has seen its day or whether it is yet expanding its influence. We need not wager an answer to this, though we do note many who are saying that in existentialism life is delivered to chaos. More important for us, however, is that in every adventure in self-redemption the Gospel of Jesus Christ is and remains the great scandal. This says again that the struggle of the Gospel shall be part of our ministry until the Last Day.

Cover Story

The Christian-Pagan West

The Editor

The West once was pagan and then became Christian; historically, it is the pagan-Christian West. Today, in contrast, it has become the Christian-pagan West. No century was ever more misjudged than the twentieth by those who hailed it as the “Christian” century. For the once banished demonic spirits have returned again to inhabit the abode of Western culture, and some, indeed, seem to be securing permanent tenure.

Thinking men may scorn the phrase “the Christian-pagan West” as ill-tempered. The West is, after all, the Christian West; what specially distinguishes Occident from Orient is this Christian motif. Moreover, even the compound “Christian-pagan” may seem as artificial as “pagan West,” for after all, whatever is pagan is non-Christian, even as what is Christian is assumed to be Western.

Decline Of Christian Spirit

Such an evaluation of events, however, is outdated; indeed, it is actually irrelevant. It reflects the romantic overconfidence of earlier generations and of the past century. It assumes, and erroneously so, that traditional patterns of the home and work, of civilization and culture still prevail. It perpetuates the illusion of a people who took for granted that the inherited spirit of the West could not die.

Never Fully Christian

Admittedly the West has never been the totally “Christian West.” At best, it has been the “Christian West plus or minus,” the Christian West qualified by some limiting word, e.g., the “imperfectly Christian West.” Scholars now admit, indeed, that the Dark Ages were less dark than historians once pictured them; yet the Middle Ages stood nonetheless in drastic need of the Reformation. The tradition of papacy, monasticism and scholasticism developed an hierarchical, ritualistic and legalistic religion. Superstition and legend abounded; faith was often blind and unreasoning; piety and sacrifice were common substitutes for virtue; ascetic self-denial and gross sensuality flourished side by side; and the church was drawn frequently into the current of political intrigue and immorality. As Philip Schaff remarks, “the medieval light was indeed the borrowed star and moonlight of ecclesiastical tradition, rather than the clear sun-light from the inspired pages of the New Testament; but it was such light as the eyes of the nations in their ignorance could bear, and it never ceased to shine until it disappeared in the day-light of the great Reformation” (History of the Christian Church, Vol. IX, p. 12).

Yet Luther and Calvin, no less than Augustine, Anselm and Aquinas, stood in hourly need of justification on the ground of Christ’s death for sinners. The same applies to the early apostles Peter, Paul and John, and in our century to evangelical giants like Dwight L. Moody and Billy Graham. The smudge of sin discolors even the best Christian history.

Heritage Of Greatness

Nevertheless it must be said that no other world culture has lived on the Christian side of life and history; it has had a Christian past, with a lease on Christian experience. The classic pagan mind, shaped by Graeco-Roman idealism, even at best was not good enough for the West. The old culture at its vulgar or common level was beneath the dignity of Christians. And the vices of infanticide, religious prostitution, slavery were abhorrent and repugnant to believers. Because they revered Christ as the guardian of purity and as the champion of sexual virtue, the Christians renounced adultery, covetousness, craftiness, dishonesty, drunkenness, theft. Doubtless the New Testament exhortations, and the picture in the Revelation of the decline of the seven churches in Asia Minor, caution us against painting the first century only in the brightest colors. Yet even in wicked Corinth the apostle Paul could write the world-stained believers: “Such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

Virtue In Abundance

Actually, Christians were known from the very beginning more for their positive ethical and spiritual performance than for mere abstinence. Pagan observers marveled “how they love one other.” An inexplicable joy irradiated the lives of these ordinary mortals; the peace that became theirs was unknown even to an age free of international hostilities; a boundless flood of kindness and benevolence was turned toward neighbors and strangers; godliness came to live in human flesh. These were a holy people, graced by the Holy Spirit. Acquaintance with the Risen Christ endowed them with a spiritual treasure so surpassingly superb that they laid down their lives rather than renounce Him. Even where totalitarian rulers brandished steel against them, they preferred martyrdom to the sin of silence. They were “called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26), and they were worthy of His Name. They had a divine commission to go to a perishing world; they were “under orders” to witness of the Redeemer to lost men. Their “conversation”—their walk as well as their words—was halo-bright. The incarnate, crucified, and risen Christ was the meeting place of their hopes and fears. Their marching orders were to confront the world in an armor the pagan empires had never worn. They eclipsed all the previous generations in their embodiment of love, of joy, of peace, of long-suffering, of gentleness, of goodness, of faith, of meekness, of temperance.

Inspiration Of Christianity

All that became noblest in the West was but the lengthened shadow of such faith and life. In a world abounding with religions, biblical Christianity supplied a distinctive view of God and the universe, of man and his destiny. The life of the West came to revolve around the drama of divine incarnation and atonement. The span of human existence was related in every sphere to the God-man who died in the stead of sinners and who rose for them in triumph over death. Between the divine creation of man and the final judgment of the race, the advent of the Redeemer stood as the dominating peak of history. Time “before Christ” lacked any climax; it was a movement of events in which the redemptive promise of God waited fulfillment. “The year of our Lord” became synonymous with the age of grace, in which redeemed men and women were adopted into the family of faith, with the risen Redeemer as their living Head. Since the sixth century the West has based its calendar upon the reality of the incarnation.

While Christian monotheism furnished the lofty inspiration of religion and morality, its influence did not stop there. It shaped literature and the arts. It even furthered the confidence of the West (although contemporary thought arbitrarily obscures this debt) in the unity and rationality of space-time existence, and hence stimulated the growth of science. Christianity upheld the ultimate significance of reason and conscience under God, and it proclaimed as well a providential universe on the basis of divine creation and preservation. Neither ancient polytheistic religion nor philosophical dualism had produced this lively sense of God and the supernatural world, and of man’s awesome destiny.

A Squandered Inheritance

Today this inheritance is all but squandered. No doubt those who disparage life in the Middle Ages as measured by the purity of New Testament religion can make their case, but nonetheless the world today, in contrast with earlier centuries clothed by Christian influences, stands starkly naked in moral shame.

Call it a return to paganism or barbarism or what one will, the fact remains that in the West for three centuries Christian influences upon society, the state and culture have decreased while secular influences have increased to dominating proportions. In the eighteenth century the upper classes of society broke with Christian beliefs, and the unity of Western Christendom vanished. While phantom unity rémained in the balance of power preserved by the absolute monarchies, when these fell, only the myth of the West’s ongoing progress concealed its fragmenting ideals. When progress, in turn, seemed doubtful, only the rise of dictators preserved the outward illusion of unity.

Terrifying Ambiguities

Today’s situation is awesome in its ambiguities. The largest strength of the Communist party, next to Russia and China, is in Italy, home of Vatican City and the organizational head of the largest body of professing Christians. Many who vote Communist still attend Roman Catholic mass in Italy (in contrast with the French).

The Italian Senate’s only woman member, Senator Lina Merlin, has charged that between two and three million women live by prostitution; that in Rome houses of prostitution operate under government license “all over town, and near schools and churches.” Such confusions and contradictions strike ever deeper and deeper in nominally Christian centers today; principle and piety seem ever less and less a central concern of human existence.

The Reformation warned that the Christian West had deteriorated to quasi-Christian foundations, and called for a full and swift return to biblical supports. Scholasticism had one-sidedly emphasized the intellectual element in Christianity. The community it produced repeated the Apostles’ Creed, but without putting heart and soul in the opening word. For Credo (I believe) it tended to substitute Credendum est (it is believed). A generation merely mouthing the creed led to another generation that could not in good conscience even repeat it. The highest language of faith, used first by saintly men, next by carnal men, and then by unregenerate men, at last vanished entirely from the vocabulary of the modern pagan.

Medieval Compromises

The medieval compromise, in fact, reached far beyond matters of doctrine and personal virtue. It involved also a misconception of the social order and of the church’s relation to culture.

In the provocative volume Man in This World, Hans Zehrer reaches back a thousand years to A.D. 1075 and the autocratic Pope Gregory VII’s Twenty-Seven Theses, which led in 1308 to the bull Unam Sanctum as the pivot of the Western revolt against authority. By their own claims the papal despots began to lessen the distance between God and man, and man and God. Drawing the spiritual sword, popes presumed to rule over emperors and their subjects in place of God. “In setting himself in the place of God, the Pope gave the signal for every class to do likewise. ‘Why should you be God and not I?’ is a question before which title-deeds lose their force” (Zehrer, op. cit., p. 67). Thereafter, the man who would be God becomes in swift turn the man freed from all superior authority, who loses at last not merely the image of God, but in doing so loses also the image of man, and descends to bestiality. He becomes the herd man of our era, easily led by totalitarian superiors. In the Christian-pagan West he emerges as the beast-man of evolutionary naturalism, although in actuality he is the man-beast.

Men With Half A Soul

Whatever may be said about Zehrer’s thesis, the fact is that for five centuries, since the mid-fifteenth century yielded to the post-medieval era, the man of Europe and the Americas has stood increasingly confounded and mute in the presence of the Great Questions. His distant forefathers had been heirs of the classic Graeco-Roman world view and prized the Christian inheritance even above that. The death of ancient culture they counted gain because of the birth of a higher. But the modern man, by contrast, gave half his soul to the Renaissance, and was half-hearted toward the Reformation. He now gave snap answers to Ultimate Problems, answers which blurred the Christian motif, and from which all remaining biblical hues, already pallid, would soon fade.

Those who today call merely for “a new Reformation” thereby betray the fact that they judge current history unrealistically. Latin America, perhaps, is a prospect for such a duplication within history. There, as nowhere else, the smoldering revolt against a medieval temper could erupt into a war of ideas, involving Renaissance as well as Reformation claims. But elsewhere the West has already stripped human life of much of its traditional meaning. The inherited patterns of civilization are paling swiftly. Priority Answers of the past are now repudiated, and the Priority Problems along with them. The current failure to grasp the world of ultimates commits man to categories that imply the end of a rational-moral cosmos and the consequent insignificance of reason and the good. For two generations influential philosophers in the once-Christian West have ceased to ask, “Who is God?” “What is the purpose of history, and of the universe?” “How shall we define man’s dignity?” “What are the permanent aspects of truth and morality?” but instead have been asking “Is there a God?” “Does purpose exist in history and the universe?” “Is man essentially unique?” and “Have reason and goodness any objective significance?”

The Drift Downstream

The chorus of intellectual giants answering these questions negatively has swelled. Paraded as the verdict of modern intellectual genius are the dogmas that the binding force of reality is not supernatural and that life and society are held together best if God be dissolved. Confused Western man has been floating downstream on the river of negation, for driftwood requires nothing in the way of spiritual decision. Today, tossed by doubt and uncertainty, modern man is wearying of this world and of himself. His day-to-day existence balances on the sharp edge of chilling questions.

The geographical frontiers of Christendom have shrunk perceptibly. The Russian Orthodox Church and the vast evangelical Stundist movement in the U.S.S.R. eke out their existence by the tolerance of a totalitarian government. The Ukraine, where Roman Catholic congregations date back a millennium, is enslaved behind the Iron Curtain. France, a half-century ago included in every list of nominally Christian great powers, has a bankrupt faith; of its 42 million inhabitants, 35 million no longer attend mass (a mortal sin for Catholics). Only European lands on which the Reformation made a strong theological impact are today virile in their resistance to Communism.

But the shriveling of the Christian claim upon modern thought and life is even more shocking than the shrinking of Christian territorial frontiers. Almost everywhere the West shows a return to pagan ways of thinking and living. Before Christ and before conscience it puts a score of substitute allegiances.

Eroding The Patience Of God

First, the boundless wickedness of the Tigris-Euphrates valley, the cradle of civilization, eroded the patience of God’s Spirit, and the early human enterprise was finally deluged in doom. The new beginning was grounded in revealed religion; the sacred Hebrew narratives carry forward the best of the old history from Abraham to Moses and Sinai, to David and the Hebrew temple, and through the prophets of the Old Testament. Furthermore, they light up this whole venture of faith with Messianic expectation.

Then, the decline of the proud and classic Graeco-Roman civilization ended in the tribal sack and fall of Rome. This extremity of the pagan world became the Christian believer’s opportunity; the weakness of the pagan gods revealed the strength of the Lord of glory.

The third long night of human barbarism seems to have begun. To many observers, the horizon of this third night exhibits little, if any, prospect of a sunrise. Earlier and once benign cultures perished in judgment. The first civilization in the Tigris-Euphrates valley came to naught with the destruction of a generation hardened in its revolt; the glory of the Hellenic world could not withstand its later disintegration and doom. Descending from its pinnacle of lofty achievement, the Christian West in becoming pagan is ¡leaded for inevitable doom. The light men shun today is blinding, for the post-Christian era revolts against the most sacred inheritance of the race. To assume that an anti-Christ culture will escape perdition is sheer madness.

Cover Story

Israel’s Transgression in Palestine

Oswald T. Allis

The explosive situation in the Near East is a startling reminder that ever since World War I, the world has been confronted with an anomalous and even unprecedented state of affairs. It is the claim of a people to return and repossess a land that has not been theirs for nearly two thousand years. What other people in the world would venture to demand that the clock of history be put back two millenniums for their benefit? Yet within a decade the land of Palestine, which has been for centuries under non-Jewish control, with a population estimated in 1914 at less than 700,000, of which the majority were Arabs, has been partitioned in such a way that the state of Israel now has a population of 1,716,000, of whom nearly 90 per cent are Jews. Yet nearly a million Arabs are refugees outside of Israel and dependent upon a dole from the United Nations for their very existence.

A Religious Question

This is an amazing situation. To what is it due? It is due partly to Zionist agitation in England and America, partly to the widespread sympathy for the Jews because of the inhuman treatment they received in Europe during World War II. Consequently, the claim of the Zionists that Palestine belongs to them as the descendants of Abraham was accepted by many who would have emphatically rejected a similar claim by any other people to possess a land in which they had been for centuries an almost negligible minority. In fact, to evaluate the situation properly, we must view it not as a political question but as a religious one and ask ourselves, Do the promises of the Old Testament to which the Zionists appeal support their claim to the possession of the land; and does the New Testament which the Zionists reject confirm them in it? A number of considerations are involved in the answering of these important questions.

The promise to which the Zionists appeal is clearly-stated in Genesis 18:18, “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates”; and it is referred to repeatedly elsewhere. Does this settle the question? Does it give the Israeli a clear title to Palestine under the Abrahamic Covenant? We believe it does not and for the following reasons.

Conditioned On Obedience

This promise was conditioned on obedience to the will of God. Note the words, “because thou hast obeyed my voice” (Gen. 22:18) and also Genesis 26:5, where the renewal of the covenant with Isaac is explained by the words, “because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” This basic principle, that possession of the land and prosperity in it was conditioned on obedience, is stressed again and again. It is made especially clear in the solemn warnings in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28; and it is definitely declared that to be “scattered among the nations” will be the punishment of disobedience (cf. Deut. 4:27).

These prophecies plainly foretold the course of Israel’s history. When the people forsook the Lord in the days of the Judges, the Lord “sold” them into the hands of their neighbors, the Moabites, Ammonites, Midianites, and Philistines. Later He brought against them mighty enemies from distant lands to punish them. The situation in the days of Isaiah is graphically described in the “Great Arraignment” (chap. 1). Again, the Lord declared through his prophet that Assyria was “the rod” of his anger (Isa. 10:5). He used this rod to destroy the Northern Kingdom; and only a representative handful ever returned to the land. Many speak of the tribes of the Northern Kingdom today as “the lost tribes.” More than a century later Jeremiah (5:1) described the apostasy of Judah in words that remind us of Diogenes and his quest for an honest man; and Jeremiah declared to the Jewish “patriots” who were resisting Nebuchadnezzar that the king of Babylon was the Lord’s “servant” (25:9), that Jerusalem would certainly be taken by him, and that the Jews would go into captivity for seventy years. At the end of that time the Lord raised up Cyrus, whom He called “my shepherd” (Isa. 44:28); and Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to rebuild the temple. But it was only a believing remnant that returned; and they were subject to foreign rulers during most of the time that they were permitted to remain in the land of their fathers. Certainly the Old Testament teaches both prophetically and historically that possession of the land was conditioned on obedience to Him who had given it to Abraham his “friend” (Isa. 41:8).

Repentance A Prerequisite

Repentance was the condition of restoration to the land. This principle is stated with special clarity in Deuteronomy 30:1–10. The words “and shalt return unto the Lord thy God and obey his voice” precede and condition the promise “then the Lord will turn thy captivity.” This condition may properly be said to underlie all the promises of restoration that appear later in the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others. And the course of history confirms it. It was when the people cried unto the Lord in the days of the Judges that He delivered them from their oppressors. Only a small remnant of the Ten Tribes (note Luke 2:36) returned with the believing Jews after the Babylonian captivity. A return in continued unbelief in Old Testament times would have been an act of defiance of their God who had driven them from the land because of their unbelief and disobedience to Him.

Dispersion A Punishment

The destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and the resultant dispersion of the Jews was the punishment for their sin of rejecting and slaying their long-promised Messiah. Toward the end of his earthly ministry and in anticipation of his death, Jesus clearly foretold to the Jews the consequences of their failure to accept Him. In the parable of the wicked husbandmen, He told them, “The kingdom shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. 21:43). He foretold the utter destruction of the temple (Matt. 24:2) and declared that Jerusalem should be “trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). All of these predictions have been fulfilled or are still being fulfilled. The Jews have been scattered for centuries, their land has been possessed by strangers, the site of their temple has been occupied for centuries by the Mosque of Omar.

Nationalism Rebuked

Jesus proclaimed a Gospel which was the fulfillment of the original promise to Abraham: “In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). Speaking to Nicodemus He promised everlasting life to “whosoever” believed in Him (John 3:16). To the Samaritan woman He declared that the time was then come when men need not go to Jerusalem or to Gerizim to worship God, that wherever men worship “in spirit and in truth” their worship is acceptable (John 4:23). At Nazareth He made such effective use of the Old Testament to rebuke the narrow nationalism of the Jews that they sought to slay Him (Luke 4:23–29). After His passion and before His ascension, He combined his announcement of universal sovereignty with the command, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations” (Matt. 28:18–19).

This world-embracing Gospel, an evangel that makes no distinction between Jew or Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, was preached by the Apostles and especially by the Apostle Paul. The Christian Church was at first entirely Jewish. The great issue that came before it was not the admission of Jews but the admission of Gentiles into a church that was originally Jewish. It was the great privilege of Paul to proclaim the “mystery” of the complete equality of Jew and Gentile in the Christian Church (Eph. 3:1–13). It is quite true, and to the Church’s shame be it said, that for many centuries and even in our day she has failed to welcome the Jew into her communion. Instead she has hated him and “ghettoed” him. But despite her unfriendly attitude, many thousands of Jews have found their Messiah through the Church; and for all such the Jewish problem has been largely or wholly solved.

Land No Longer Important

Under the Christian dispensation the land, the city, and the temple have lost the importance that formerly attached to them. According to the Law of Moses it was almost a necessity for a believing Israelite to live in or near the land of Canaan. The tabernacle, and later the temple, was the center of worship for his people. He was required to go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the three annual feasts. For him Jerusalem and the temple had unique significance and importance. For the Christian, whether he be Gentile or Jew, all this is changed. A believing Jew is today as near heaven in the United States, where 5,000,000 of his fellow Israelites now live and apparently expect to continue to live, as if he were in Jerusalem. An unbelieving Jew is just as far from Heaven in Jerusalem as he would be in New York or London. For the Christian, whether Jew or Gentile, the land of Palestine has a sentimental interest. But that is all. It is only the Jew who still lives more or less in the Old Testament dispensation who regards the possession of the land as important. And part of its importance to him is due to racial pride and nationalistic aspirations. There are many open spaces in the world, many friendly nations, in which oppressed Israelites can find a refuge and a home without imperiling the peace of the world.

An Unjust Restoration

The attempt to restore the Jews to Palestine has proved to be unjust in itself and highly dangerous to the peace of the world. The Balfour Proclamation of 1917 was a war measure. Even before Allenby had captured Jerusalem, it promised the Jews a home in Palestine. Since then the British under their mandate and the United Nations under the leadership of Great Britain and of the United States (which has in the four great cities of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston nearly a third of the entire Jewish population of the world) have allowed unlimited immigration, have partitioned Palestine between Jews and Arabs, and have allowed the Jews to extend their borders beyond the boundaries established by the UN General Assembly. Furthermore, they have taken no adequate steps to right the wrongs of the dispossessed Arabs, whose tragic condition fosters resentment and hate throughout the entire Moslem world. Palestine did not belong to the British. It did not and does not belong to the United Nations. The persecution of the Jews in Europe was a grievous act of injustice. But allowing the Jews to take possession of a large part of Palestine and to force hundreds of thousands of Arabs out of it is an equally grievous wrong. Two wrongs do not make a right. Israel’s demand that her occupation of a part of Palestine be accepted as a fait accompli and her obvious intention to bring in many more Jews and to increase her holdings in the land as need requires and opportunity offers naturally incense the Arabs. How could it be otherwise?

Ought Israel To Succeed?

It is not the purpose of this article to propose a solution of the snarl that has been allowed to develop in the Near East. But mention of a historical parallel may be instructive. More than eight hundred years ago, under the blessing of popes and priests, kings and knights and multitudes of misguided men—even women and children—sought for two centuries to “rescue” the holy places in Palestine from the hands of the infidels. “They made religion subservient to war and war subservient to religion.” The attempt failed. The Children’s Crusade was one of the greatest tragedies of history. Palestine remained until forty years ago a part of the Moslem world. We ask ourselves, ought the Crusades to have succeeded? The verdict of history seems to be, No! The fleshly sword of medieval chivalry was defeated by the scimitar of the followers of the False Prophet. We ask the same question about the present struggle over Palestine. Does the Israeli cause deserve to succeed? Should Christians be willing to plunge the nations into a third world conflict just to restore unbelieving Jews to, and to maintain them in, a land from which they were driven nearly two thousand years ago? We believe the verdict of history will be, No! May God grant that this verdict not be written in rivers of blood!

The Rev. Oswald T. Allis, Ph.D., D.D., was formerly professor of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary. He is author of The Five Books of Moses, Prophecy and the Church, The Unity of Isaiah, and other volumes, and is a consulting editor of the Evangelical Quarterly.

See also the article that ran next to this one: “Israel in Her Promised Land.”

Cover Story

Israel in Her Promised Land

Wilbur M. Smith

The question whether or not Palestine has a place in God’s redemptive program for Israel, and in relation to the other nations of the earth, in our age and particularly at the end of the age is interwoven with other questions. Indeed, one’s attitude toward Palestine as a future Land of Promise will be determined, primarily, by his attitude toward two eschatological themes: will there be a millennial reign of Christ on this earth, and is there a special place for Israel as a nation at the end of this age? If there is to be no millennial reign of Christ and, consequently, no place from which his rule will be directed, there is little need to discuss the prophecies regarding the future of Palestine, for it certainly will have no role apart from the Messiah. Furthermore, if there is no future for Israel as a nation, apart from the participation of converted Jews in the promised privileges of the Christian Church, Palestine will have no more meaning than any other national territory, except for its holy places.

We cannot determine if Palestine is still the Land of Promise, and gloriously so at the end of the age, except from the inspired records of the Hebrew Scriptures. I shall divorce the subject as far as possible from any discussion of the millennium and messianic reign of Christ and confine this article to the teaching of the Old Testament.

Palestine a Divine Gift

In the Old Testament—and many Bible students seem unaware of this—God’s giving of Palestine to Israel is more frequently referred to than any other act of God toward Israel, even than the deliverance from Egypt or the promise of a Messiah. In 141 passages of the Old Testament (57 in Deuteronomy alone) God is said to give the land of Canaan, the Land of Promise, to His people Israel—a truth declared from the call of Abraham (Gen. 12:7) to the exilic prophecy of Ezekiel 11:17. Of these references to Palestine as a gift of God to Israel, quite a number are portions of prayers to God, or of God’s answers to prayer (Exod. 6:4, 8; 32:13; Neh. 9:15, 35, 36). Some state that Palestine is to be a gift of God to Israel forever, a truth enunciated as early as Abraham’s day and reiterated down through the prophets. Turn to some of these passages:

For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever (Gen. 13:15; also 17:8; italics added).

And thou shalt keep his statues, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, for ever (Deut. 4:40; italics added).

Israel’s Restoration Predicted

Even when Israel’s future rebelliousness is spoken of, Scripture clearly predicts that after a period of judgment Israel shall be permanently restored:

And Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither Jehovah shall lead you away. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter days thou shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and hearken unto his voice: for Jehovah thy God is a merciful God; he will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them (Deut. 4:27–31).

Centuries later, Amos even more specifically emphasized this hope:

And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God (Amos 9:14, 15).

A Permanent Possession

That such a restoration should be permanent and not followed by another dispersion is clear from passages in the prophets, particularly Jeremiah:

Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them; and I will make an everlasting convenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole soul (Jer. 32:37–41; cf. 24:6).

A century after the Mosaic period Jeremiah exhorted apostate Jerusalem:

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubborness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers (3:17,18; cf. 25:5).

Ezekiel echoes the theme in the following context:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God (11:17–20).

Although the word give is not used, Isaiah also stresses that Palestine is to be an abiding possession of Israel:

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but Jehovah will be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah will be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified (60:19–21).

Joel likewise promises, “But Judah shall abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation” (3:20).

The Promise Is Uncanceled

This promise to Israel of Palestine as a permanent possession, often repeated in the Old Testament, is at no time canceled. Not only has the idea of Israel’s permanent occupation remained unfulfilled, but other aspects of these promises are as yet unrealized. When has Israel ever enjoyed the permanent, uninterrupted peace and prosperity here promised? Rather, her history has been among the saddest in the annals of ancient peoples. Except for Solomon’s glorious reign, her records reveal not one century without Israel’s defeat by one of her enemies. Even during Solomon’s day, taxes were so burdensome that upon his death this problem was presented to the new king by these distressed people. Because this complaint was not properly resolved Israel and Judah were separated and have remained so ever since. At no period has all Israel served the Lord in faithfulness and sincerity. That day is yet to come or scores of prophecies will never be fulfilled.

If we take the unauthorized liberty of canceling these prophecies, why may we not with equal liberty cancel any other prophecy with which a particular theory would lead us to disagree? The promises regarding Canaan were made to one nation, Israel, and to no other; if this land is ever to enjoy the prophesied blessings, it will be only as believing Israel again inhabits that sacred territory.

The Import Of The Names

The very names given this land are predictions, especially Zechariah’s term, “the holy land” (2:12). It is called by Isaiah “Immanuel’s land” (8:8), land of Immanuel’s birth, where He died and, as an earlier writer once said, “the scene of His labors and sorrows, of His shame and triumphs and the land where He will again plant His kingdom and reign with accumulated glory” (J. T. Bannerman, A survey of the Holy Land, Its Geography, History and Destiny, London, 1844, p. 12). Repeatedly the Lord refers to Palestine as “my land” (2 Chron. 7:20; Isa. 14:25; Jer. 2:7; 16:18; Ezek. 36:5; 38:16; Joel 1:6; 3:2); once it is called “the Lord’s land” (Hosea 9:3). It is sometimes said that the New Testament practically ignores the significance of Palestine. This is contradicted by many passages. Only in the New Testament does the frequently used title for Palestine, “the land of promise,” occur (Heb. 11:9).

In the four thousand years since the call of Abraham. Palestine has never fulfilled the implications of these divinely bestowed titles. In the books of Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles and even Ezra and Nehemiah, is there any period in which this land displayed, from Dan to Beersheba, the holiness of God? When was God recognized by all Israelites living in that land as a holy and true God? In what reign did this land have abiding peace, its people walking in uncompromising righteousness? If the implications and promise of these names are fulfilled, it must be in a future day of “Holiness unto the Lord” (Zech. 14:20), when the laws of the Lord will be written on the fleshy tables of the hearts of God’s chosen people (Jer. 31:31–34).

The Sacred City

The divinely given names of Palestine’s capital likewise embrace promises and prophecies as yet unfulfilled. Isaiah, for example, multiplies sacred titles for this city: “the city of Jehovah” (60:14), “the city of righteousness” (1:26), “the daughter of Zion” (1:8; 4:4; 62:11, etc.), “the faithful city” (1:21,26), “Hepzibah” (62:4), “the holy city” (48:2; 52:1; 64:10), “the holy mountain of Jehovah” (27:13; 66:20), “my city” (45:13), “my holy mountain” (11:9; 56:7; 57:13), and “Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (60:14). Never has Jerusalem known as many as forty successive years in which these names accurately express the prevailing conditions. Some day the nations of the world will go up to that city to learn the law. If Jerusalem is to be so central in the redemptive program of God at the end of this age, surely the land in which it is located will have equal significance.

For centuries the scattered and persecuted people of Israel have looked toward Palestine with hope and expectation and with a prayer that God would restore them to the land promised to the patriarchs for a perpetual possession.

No other people in history but the Hebrews have carried in their hearts, century after century, a love for the land of their fathers which they themselves have never seen; And they have derived this hope of return not from Midrashic and fantastic interpretations, from Targums written long after the close of the canon of the Old Testament or from some obscure Talmudic tradition, but directly from the Word of God. Even before a powerful league of nations or royal commissions, the Jewish people plead not a mere hope or imaginary right but these prophetic Scriptures. In 1937, David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, was testifying before the British Royal Commission. Lord Peel, chairman of the Commission, had remarked, “The mandate is your Bible.” To this Mr. Ben-Gurion replied: “The Bible is our mandate. The mandate of the League is only a recognition of this right and did not establish new things.”

The proclamation of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948, began with these stirring words: “The land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and national identity was formed. Here they achieved independence and created a culture of national and universal significance. Here they wrote and gave the Bible to the world. Exiled from Palestine, the Jewish people remained faithful to it in all the countries of their dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for their return and the restoration of their national freedom.”

Finally, the last eight years testify that Palestine needed the Jews for prosperity and plenty. Anyone who saw the pitiful barrenness and poverty of that land even thirty years ago, and has seen the land more recently, recognizes that the Arab was a curse to the land, showing no advancement in agricultural methods for two thousand years. Today not only are nearly two million Jews feeding that land, but there is such a surplus of some products that Israel must now find an outlet for the sale of excess food. There has been a greater advance in prosperity and culture in Israel in the last decade than was evidenced in the eighteen hundred years preceding it.

The Glory To Come

The names of Palestine, the prophecies regarding Palestine, the disappointing history of the Jews in Palestine in ancient times and events in the newly created state of Israel bear a united, indisputable testimony to the fact that the greatest glory this land has ever seen will yet be unfolded. Jerusalem shall truly become a city of peace, and the people of God will dwell in unwalled villages, each man sitting in quietness and confidence under his own tree. This will be God’s victory for that portion of the earth which He has called His own land. No anti-Semitism, no wars, no unbelief, no pogroms, not Antichrist himself will be able to prevent the fulfillment of these divinely given promises.

The Rev. Wilbur M. Smith, D.D., is author of more than a dozen books, and is editor of Peloubet’s Select Notes on the International Sunday School Lessons. Since 1947 he has been Professor of English Bible at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is a frequent contributor to religious magazines and a writer on prophetic themes.

See also the article that ran next to this one: “Israel’s Transgression in Palestine.”

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