Cover Story

The Christian View of the State

Joseph M. Dawson

To ascertain an authentic view of the state held by Christians is not as easy as might at first appear. The difficulty arises primarily from the fact that the New Testament, which forms the basis of the Christian belief and practice, is not a political book. It affords only a scant handful of passages which could be said to supply the Christian with a clear idea of what the civil state is and what his responsibility to it and participation in it should be. Again, in accounting for prevailing concepts we must allow for the continuing influence of the Judaistic tradition which preceded the Christian formulation, for the undoubted abiding influence of surrounding pagan philosophies and for effects of historical events which have tended even among Christians to alter or change the original Christian view.

In beginning with Jesus, we note the classical reference to his saying, (Matt. 23:21; Mark 12:17), “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” From the context we know he spoke of the obligation of men to pay taxes to the existing government. In the light of Paul’s detailed admonition to the followers of Jesus to support civil government, found in Romans, chapter 13, we construe the Apostle’s words to include more than payment of taxes, or an obligation to “render to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” This injunction is based by Paul on the prior premise (verse 1) that every one must be subject to the higher powers, civil powers being ordained of God, there being no power but of God.

The State Is Necessary

Neither in Jesus nor in Paul is there any direction that obedience shall be conditioned on the form of government, whether monarchical, democratic or any kind whatsoever. In other words, theirs is a definite recognition of the necessity for the state as a means to social order. Very few Christians—with exception of the Quakers at one time—have ever held to a stateless society. Christians universally have stood against anarchy. Paul offered his argument for this position in Romans 13:3, “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.” Peter likewise argued, 1 Peter 2:13–14, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governor sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.” Although Jesus and the apostles lived under very corrupt governments, they counselled submission to them rather than risk anarchy, which would be worse. This rejection of a stateless society differentiates Christianity from communism, for communism in theory looks to a time when “the state will wither away” and there will be no need for its police power to coerce. (U.S.S.R., A Concise Handbook, Edited by Ernest J. Simmons, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1947. p. 164).

It is significant that Jesus and Paul made their pronouncements before organized Roman persecution of Christians began, while Peter entered his in the midst of the severest persecution. John, in Revelation 13, confronting the worst of government hostility toward his faith, suggested only passive resistance, not political or military resistance. This would show a fixed Christian idea concerning the state.

The Right Of Revolution

The latter Scripture, however, may have contributed to a later interpretation of these cited passages for supporting the doctrine of the right of revolution. Revelation 13, if the common identification of the “beast” mentioned with the Roman Empire be allowed, unquestionably permits rejection of the empire and its rulers, if indeed it does not sanction overt action against them. The later upspringing acceptance of the right of revolution under sufficient provocation grew to expression when the specific scriptural injunctions came to be considered in the light of the entire body of Scriptures. The New Testament as a whole does not countenance the absolute state presently denominated totalitarianism. It limits the state by the words, “there is no authority except from God.” It is not possible to conclude from Romans 13 that there is divine sanction for every existing order or that such cannot be changed, for the authority of the state is always subordinate to the over-riding authority of God. Therefore the Christian conscience finds voice in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.” In this connection it is appropriate to quote John C. Bennett:

The warning against anarchy has often been understood in the sense that the most that Christians should ever do by way of resistance to even the most tyrannical and lawless state is to refuse to obey and to take the consequences in the form of punishment and persecution. Even Luther and Calvin, who were not passive by nature, had great difficulty in suggesting anything more than passive resistance to the most tyrannical authorities. Both, however, in different contexts did provide for active resistance on the part of lower political authorities against higher authorities. The loophole for active resistance, even for violent revolution, became a major factor in the history of Calvinism; and as a result, Calvinism helped to inspire revolutions in many countries, including Scotland, England, Holland and the United States. In the period of the National Socialist state, many Lutherans approved of active political resistance in Norway, Denmark and Germany. Roman Catholics have in general had less difficulty than Protestants in approving active political resistance where political authorities have threatened the life or freedom of their church. (The Christian As Citizen, New York: Association Press, 1955, pp. 49–50).

Separation Of Church And State

On the other hand Protestants, particularly the left-wing Puritan independents, took the lead in disestablishing the church and in separating the church from the state. Baptist Roger Williams was moved by dislike of the state controlling the church, while Episcopalian Thomas Jefferson revolted against church control over the state, with the result that the American Republic set the pace for separation of church and state for most modern countries. Both Williams and Jefferson agreed that the membership of a state and a church are quite different, the constituency of the state being the population and that of the church being those gathered out of the population by reason of their spiritual qualifications. They also agreed that the functions of the church and those of the state being secular are under enforcement of police powers. Those contending for church-state separation assert that it has lessened corruption which has characterized union of church and state wherever such has existed. The United States Supreme Court has declared that in America separation of church and state has proved best for the church and the state. Thus convincing proof by historic experiment has been given against the hoary contention that union of church and state is essential to national unity.

Although advocates of church-state separation frequently give Jesus’ words, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” as authorization for their belief, it is only fair to point out that the real reason for the new order originated in the struggle for freedom, both in the battle for religious liberty for believers and in the demand for political freedom on the part of citizens upholding the state. This is not to affirm that the plan is contrary to Christianity. Quite the opposite, adherents believe that while not explicit in the Christian system, it is implicit in the Christian teachings.

Secular State Is Modern

It is a fact, however, that the differentiation between the purely religious nature of the church and the essentially secular functions of the state is a comparatively modern development. No differentiation was seen in Babylonia, Egypt and the most ancient civilizations. Josephus wrote:

Some legislators have permitted their governments to be under monarchies, others put them under oligarchies and others under a republic form; but our legislator (Moses) had no regard to any of these forms, but he ordained our government to be what, by a strained expression, may be termed a theocracy, by ascribing the authority and power of God. (Against Apion, Book II. paragraph 17, in Complete Works of Josephus. New York: World Syndicate Publishing Co. X, p. 500)

The Hebrew Repudiation

It will be remembered, however, that the Hebrew theocracy gave place to monarchy under King Saul, and that after the Exile of the Jews, fearing control of their religion by the heathen states in which they lived, forever thereafter renounced union of church and state. Those same heathen states long before and for a millennium after, maintained union of church and state. In primitive Greece, as elsewhere, there was no distinction between the religious and the secular. The king, in his capacity as head of the state, was also the chief priest and the guardian of religion. Unity of religion and the state was observed in the Greek city-republic. Socrates was condemned to death for religious heterodoxy. In pre-Christian Rome the ancient mixture of state and religion obtained, and in the later empire the emperors were deified and worshipped, to the horror of the Christians.

Considering world-wide practice, it was not surprising that when Constantine the so-called Great in 313 A.D. accepted Christianity, he prescribed it should be the religion of the state and that he forthwith commenced to persecute all dissenters unto death. While it must be admitted that by the stupendous event of Constantine’s conversion the Christian church acquired immense prestige and grasped unmeasured opportunities, it nevertheless suffered tragic deterioration in quality and impairment in its fundamental principles. Tertullian when persecuted preached, “It is a right and privilege of nature that every man should worship according to his convictions;” but he subsequently argued, “Heretics may properly be compelled, not enticed to duty” (Religious Liberty: an Inquiry, by M. Searle Bates. New York: International Missionary Council, 1945, pp. 137–138). Augustine, when a youth in North Africa pleaded fervently for freedom of of conscience, but later in Rome his position on religious liberty may be truly described in the maxim sometimes (perhaps erroneously) ascribed to him, “When error prevails, it is right to invoke liberty of conscience, but when the truth predominates, it is just to use coercion” (ibid., p. 139). For a thousand years thereafter history records the shameful conflict as to which partner, the church or the state, should control the other.

The Welfare State

In earlier parts of this discussion, emphasis was placed on the Christian view that the state was God-ordained to prevent anarchy and preserve social order. More recently Christians have widely insisted that the state, in addition, has the responsibility of extending Christian love to those aspects of public life which affect for good or ill the welfare of one’s neighbors. This may either be approved or condemned as “the welfare state,” according as one is pronouncedly liberal or conservative. Those who supported this view during the 11th to the 15th centuries urged it, not on biblical grounds, but as “an uneasy compromise between the agape of the New Testament and the world powers of feudal society.” Bennett says that it partly tamed this world but at the price of identifying Christianity too closely with the culture of the times and of encouraging too much that was unjust in society. Increasingly in varying degrees, governments have come to regard the principle.

It is proper to introduce at this point the view expressed by the World Council of Churches at Evanston.

Those who make true justice must be made sensitive by love to discover needs where they have been neglected. Justice involves the continuous effort to overcome those economic disadvantages which are a grievous human burden and which are incompatible with equal opportunity to people to develop their capacities. Justice requires the development of political institutions which are humane as they touch the lives of people, which provide protection by law against the arbitrary use of power, and which encourage responsible participation by all citizens. (Evanston Speaks. Reports of the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches, second section, “Social Problems—The Responsible Society in a World Perspective”)

Translated into particulars, governmental extension of love might cover social security, retirement benefits, assistance to the unemployed, aged and disabled, funds for veterans, housing, public health and care of the sick and mentally ill, soil conservation, agricultural subsidies, restraint of monopolies, regulation of public carriers, free education and the many other benefits.

At the outset of our discussion we conceded that Jesus and his followers prescribed no specific form of government for the state. It must be insisted, however, that democracy seems to be inherent in Christianity. Jesus himself has been called the great democrat. The implications of democracy are unmistakable in the Christian teachings. To the extent to which Christianity prevails in the world democratic government is likely to arise, for it has long been recognized that government tends to assume the pattern of the religion which prevails in a given society. An authoritarian religion produces a government akin to absolutism, and a voluntary religion encourages a government in which freedom is cherished. It becomes increasingly clear that Christianity initiated democracy in the world. Arnold Toynbee declares that democracy is a leaf torn from Christianity, although half emptied of its meaning by being divorced from its Christian context.

We conclude with the assertion that the rule of the people means the recognition of human rights—the right of the ignorant to education, the right of slaves to freedom, the right of the employed to fair wages, the right of the child to be well born, the right of all men to justice. This warrants the establishment of hospitals, schools, orphanages, a free ballot and a free conscience. Under the idea of the worth of man, we have never thought it necessary to claim that all men are equally endowed with gifts, or that they can get equal results; the idea demands only that all men shall be entitled to the same considerations under the law. It asserts that capacity and dignity are not conferred by station or possession but are inherent in the submerged as well as in the fortunately placed. Democracy recognizes that man’s personality is the highest value in the universe and society is to be organized in a manner to minister to his true life. Treatment of man is the test of merit in all institutions, systems, laws, philosophies. “What does it do to man?” is the validating question to ask of any government.

END

We Quote:

HOWARD E. KERSHNER

Author and Editor of “Christian Economics”

The Ten Commandments are the basis of satisfactory economic relationships as well as of morals. Coveting, stealing, untruthfulness, and murder are just as much violations of economic law as of moral law. Such practices in business or government can no more be made right by majority vote than the moral law itself can be changed by that method. One who does not establish a reputation for honesty and truthfulness rarely succeeds in business. The commandment against bearing false witness lies at the very heart of a successful business career. It is a question of morals, to be sure, but equally a question of economics. It is good economics as well as good morals to love one’s neighbor as oneself.—In God, Gold and Government, p. 49 (Prentice-Hall, 1957).

Dr. Joseph M. Dawson has served Southern Baptist causes effectively for more than a half century. Born in 1879 in Texas, he received the B.A. degree in 1904 from Baylor University, which conferred the D.D. in 1916 and is now proposing the J. M. Dawson Studies in Church and State because of his interest in this field as first director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs. Dr. Dawson was cited in 1955 by Protestants and Other Americans United for his contributions to religious liberty. He is author of America’s Way in Church, State and Society.

Theology

Review of Current Religious Thought: June 10, 1957

William A. Mueller

Our modern world is truly one world. It is indivisible. More than anything else the missionary enterprise has driven home that fact. But our world is also a sadly divided world. Yet, what happens in the U.S.A. or Western Europe has its impact on folk everywhere. How strong are our spiritual defenses?

Mother’s Day is behind us. What of the American home? Kermit Eby, eminent social scientist, is alarmed about certain trends in our American economy that are a continuing threat to the home (Christian Living, April 1957). He writes on “Pressures on the Family.” What are they? He lists the following: 21½ million women working in shop and office, desertions of families by fathers rapidly increasing, mass-purchasing power financed by credit and debt, the blessing or bane of installment buying, loan companies charging from 6 to 14%—and the consequent strains on millions of families in America. Eby is convinced that the price we pay for our comforts is all too high. “We have produced an economy in which major satisfactions demand the extra earnings of the wife; as a consequence the American home is being radically changed—children are ‘farmed out’ or allowed to roam the streets.” But the pressures to keep up with the Jones’ continue. “The pressures are blatant and constant; and few of us there are who can resist; we believe our happiness to be intimately bound up with what we have or want.” Presently, Americans owe 28 billion dollars for luxury necessities.

Has the Church anything to say concerning usury, the use of leisure, the submarginal groups among our people caught in this economic squeeze and rampant materialism? Watchman, what of the night?

Walter Schlichting’s “Christians, Luxury and Sacrifice” (Moody Monthly, March 1957) tells of the amusement that two American business men visiting Korea experienced when they saw a young farmer pulling a plow guided by his father. A missionary told them that they had sold their only ox and given the money to their church for a new building. “What a stupendous sacrifice!” exclaimed the American visitors. “They did not feel that way at all … They counted it a great joy that they had an ox to give to the Lord’s work,” answered the veteran missionary.

The same author tells of a returning missionary and his impressions of significant changes among Christians in America. The answer? “Yes—an increasing spiritual coldness.” And then: “The Christians are too engrossed in getting things and gadgets.… In the scramble they have lost touch with God.”

This writer has been alarmed about the tremendous turnover in missionary personnel. He knows of five missionary couples who have returned after one term on the field and the cost at the most charitable reckoning must have amounted to at least $10–12,000. The cost of church-ecclesiastical committees are rising every day. One even hears that missionaries on the field must spend much of their time as tourist guides to “prominent” laymen and pastors encircling the globe. What of our stewardship at home and abroad?

G. Pitt Beers, writing on “Home Missions After 125 Years” (Missions, May 1957) surveys the extensive and sacrificial work of American Baptists since 1832. When the ABHS was established in that year, our population was 12,858,670. New York City had 202,589 people, including 17 slaves. Today America numbers more than 165,000,000 people. Dr. Beers passionately argues for greater efforts to win America’s unchurched millions to the Lord Jesus Christ. “Though more people are in our churches than ever before, there are also more unchurched people than ever before. There are more unchurched communities of larger populations. There are more people in deteriorated city areas, largely untouched by the evangel. The needs of the people call from every side.… It is, indeed, a time for the Christian forces to go forward.”

“Evaluating Our Religious Revival” by Dr. Edward L. R. Elson in The Journal of Religious Thought, (Autumn-Winter 1956–57) is a sobering word against too hasty evaluations. We have by now heard Reinhold Niebuhr, Edward Carnell, Homrighausen and even Paul Tillich on the matter. Elson warns against cynics and snobs who prematurely decry or denounce the current religious revival. He defends both Billy Graham and Norman Vincent Peale, although he by no means is in full agreement with either. Both have been in the writer’s pulpit. Elson is aware of the pitfalls of revivalism, but he rightly points out that “the methods which one religious leader rejects may be effective through another religious leader.” Presbyterians in the Great Awakening (1734–58) became sorely divided into Old Sides and New Sides, yet God was in that mighty movement of grace. Elson searchingly asks:

Can it be that the lamentation of some critics is so boisterous because the real awakening does not emerge from their particular theological school, their academic cult, or their personally approved techniques and methods?

Let us beware, he warns, lest we mistake biliousness for prophetic insight. Theology is important, Elson admits, and as a Presbyterian pastor he is grateful both for the vigorous evangelism and the resurgence of vital theology of our day. However, the critics of revival need to be reminded “that men are not saved by theology. Men are saved by the grace of God. The Gospel is simply the good news that in Christ God acted on behalf of man for his redemption. The gap between the theologian at the summit and the newly initiated may be very great; but a Christian must begin somewhere, and it ought to be sufficient for him to begin where the earliest Christian began, with the confession Jesus is Lord.” The concluding word of Elson’s address sums up the burden of his heart:

Let us not miss the wonder and the glory of our age just because we are too close to its impact, too complacent with its stirrings, or too cautious to comprehend its meaning.

Dr. Elson’s convictions were addressed to the 39th annual convocation of the School of Religion at Harvard University.

Another word of warning comes from the ever judicious missionary statesman, Professor Kenneth Scott Latourette. In an article “Rethinking Missions After 25 Years” (International Review of Missions, April 1957), he warns the leaders of ecumenical-minded missions against overlooking the rapid growth in Asia, Africa and Latin America of groups and denominations who do not cooperate with the ecumenical movement. “Indeed, the non-cooperating bodies are more and more the growing geographical edge of Protestantism” (p. 168). Their prominence, Latourette says, “should compel those churches who join in the ecumenical movement to re-appraise their methods and message in more drastic fashion than did even the Inquiry.” Protestantism must ever be self-critical in the light of God’s revealed truth and changing conditions.

Books

Book Briefs: June 10, 1957

Expository Stimulant

The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Ned B. Stonehouse, General Editor. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids. 6 volumes in print of the 17-volume set. $3.50 to $6.00 each.

In 1946 Eerdmans Publishing Company announced its proposed 17-volume commentary entitled The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Scholars from Europe, South Africa and America were engaged to offer their contributions to this project. Dr. Ned B. Stonehouse, the worthy successor to J. Gresham Machen in the chair of New Testament in Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, was chosen as General Editor.

It is both the desire of the publisher and the ambition of the General Editor that these works he abreast of modern scholarship in every phase which touches the craft of the exegete and interpreter of Scripture. More than noticeable is also the strong feeling that these biblical reference works ought to be slanted mainly to the usefulness of the man in the pulpit.

But as essential as both of these characteristics are, they are but secondary to the supreme devotion of all parties involved in the project; that is, to ever remain loyal to the Scriptures—the Word of God written, tapping every resource possible in the attempt to reveal the original intent of God’s written revelation.

In view of the first six volumes published in this set, it is apparent that the commentators and the General Editor contend that the realization of this goal will best serve the serious work of the Christian church.

Even though there is a solid agreement among the contributors in their acceptance of a strong theory on the inspiration of Scripture, and an unanimity of thought in their acceptance of the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man as compromising their basic theological structure, each scholar reveals himself as an independent thinker and in no way shies away from textual, historical and doctrinal problems.

Occasionally, to be sure, there is a point where the author fails to do full justice to a knotty problem or glides quickly over some chafing text. An example of a rather brief and slightly dogmatic treatment is Grosheide’s comment on 1 Corinthians 7:14. The text reads, “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the believing wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the believing brother, else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.” Rather than face the several problems involved in this text in the manner of Meyer, Alford and others, Grosheide works quickly to his own conclusions. Capping his remarks on the last phrase, “sanctified in Christ Jesus,” is his rather axiomatic statement, “This refers to the life within the covenant and to the right to baptism, hut does not imply that each of those holy children will go to heaven” (cf. Romans 11:13 f.).

Another example of a rather hasty treatment is found in Jac. J. Muller’s work, The Epistles of Paul to the Philippians and to Philemon. The biblical text reads, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8). Less than ten full lines are used to expose the truth of this salient verse.

Preachers attempting to bring to their people an exposition of this remarkable, homiletically-arranged verse will need more than a few suggestive synonyms for the virtues mentioned in the text. They will need to know something of the relationship which exists between the things honorable and the things just, things pure and things lovely and whether or not the order in which Paul records these virtues is of any consequence. They will also be concerned over the force intended in logizesthe (think). These considerations are the ingredients with which soul-feeding sermons are made. Besides the biblical text itself, commentaries are supposed to be the chief source of supply.

For the most part, the commentators in this series use a semi-technical style which is arranged in a similar semi-technical page format. The main copy includes a commentary on the text, cross references, related historical material and, in some instances, references to other source books which augment the particular discussions. The bulk of references to other sources, however, plus the technical discussions on the original language level are found in the footnotes. This arrangement allows for a wide and varied readership, the main copy providing the English reader with the burden of the argument, while the student able to use Greek and Hebrew has considerably more exegetical content at his disposal. Naturally, this being a New Testament commentary, a working knowledge of the Hebrew language in the line of scholarly equipment is not to be compared to that of the Greek. However, the references to Hebrew words and ideas are not infrequent, especially in Bruce’s work on the Acts. Aknowledge of these two languages, plus that of Latin, German and Dutch, would assure a full understanding of these suggestive footnotes.

Of the six volumes now at hand, Bruce’s work on the book of Acts carries the torch of thorough research in the area of footnote enclosures. Geldenhuys’ work on Luke insofar as footnotes are concerned does not reach the standard attained by Bruce; it is, nevertheless, a work of some stature. Even though Geldenhuys offers some pertinent remarks on special subjects such as demon possession, fasting and like topics and acquaints his readers with portions of S. Greydanus’ Het Heilig Evangelic naar de Beschryning van Lukas, Plummer’s Gospel According to St. Luke, Strack and Billerbeck’s Das Evangelium nach Lukas and Zahn’s Einleitung in das Neue Testament, the body of the text and the footnotes are something less than classic in the field of Lukan research.

In the areas of textual criticism and introductory and historical references, Bruce’s contribution far excels those evidenced in the other five volumes. In the light of this footnote material alone, the Book of Acts is easily one of the worthiest commentaries to have rolled from the evangelical press within recent years.

Although none of the other volumes printed thus far equals the scholarly product produced by F. F. Bruce, each of the other entries is academically acceptable and includes some points of excellence. Jac. J. Muller’s Philippians offers about as fine a discussion in digest form on the Kenotic Theory as can be found. After pointing out flaws in the interpretations of Calvin, Augustine and others, Muller shows how the use of the aorist participle which denotes simultaneous action manifestly states that Christ emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant. Neither the preacher nor the professorial scholar needs more on this subject than that which Muller presents in this place.

Among the points of commendation revealed in the Commentary on the Epistles of James and John by Alexander Ross, is the thick supply of cross-reference material. A close examination of these references shows a keen awareness of not only the parallel passages and related verses, but a fine appreciation of contexts out of which these texts are culled. Readily noticed also in Ross’ work is his devotional passion. Especially is this conspicuous in his treatment of John’s First Epistle.

As pointed out in the Foreword by Editor Stonehouse, one of F. W. Grosheide’s more telling virtues in his commentary on First Corinthians is his attempt to show the main thread of thought which runs through the entire letter. To Grosheide, Paul’s thesis is that the Corinthian people had to be reminded in various ways and in strong but simple language that God’s redeemed ought to be a humble, God-fearing, neighbor-loving and serving people. After due allowance has been granted for “main-theme enthusiasm,” the contribution set forth here by Grosheide is of considerable worth and should he of some real value to the man in the pulpit.

The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of Galatia by Herman N. Ridderbos, in some ways failing to meet the exegetes’ expectations, is a highly serviceable work. Perhaps the most glaring deficiency is the omission of contrasting views. A case in point already brought to the Christian public’s attention in other reviews is his one-page commentary on Galatians 3:20—one of the most stubborn problems in New Testament interpretation. The biblical text reads, “Now a mediator is not of one, but God is one.” Out of a few hundred interpretations offered during the span of Christian history, Ridderbos enlightens his readers on just two of these suggested interpretations. This commentary, however, as is true of the others, has many commendable features. If one of these features is to be singled out, it ought to be his discreet handling of the alleged contradictions which supposedly exist between the parallel texts of Acts and Galatians. Especially fine are his comments on the harmony of Galatians 2:1–10 and Acts 15.

In the light of what has been pointed out in this brief survey-review, it is apparent that each of these commentaries is a judicious work which ought to be something of an expository stimulant for the sermon-maker and ultimately a source of spiritual food for those who occupy the pew. Due basically to the conciseness of these volumes, they are judged as being something short of authoritative in the area of biblical reference works. Invariably the material circumscribed is of a high order, but not infrequently there is considerable room for expansion of thought and a fuller expression of existing interpretations. Yet, in spite of this defection, these theologically conservative commentaries stand among the very best biblical reference works coming from the evangelical press in our day. Students of the Scriptures who are serious in the things of Christ will be helped considerably with the constant use of this source material.

LLOYD A. KALLAND

Back To Sublime Truths

Doctrinal Preaching for Today, by Andrew W. Blackwood. Abingdon, New York, 1956. $3.00.

A long succession of able young men who came from Princeton Seminary to work with me as Assistant Ministers at the First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, bore unanimous witness to the great help they had received from the instruction of Dr. Blackwood, then Professor of Homiletics at Princeton. An examination of the book by Dr. Blackwood, Doctrinal Preaching for Today, makes clear why those who sat under him at the Seminary valued the training they received.

Ministers who did not have the advantage of Dr. Blackwood’s instructions will find no little profit in this book; and other ministers who have been drawing their inspiration from such subjects as Ecumenicalism, United Nations and racial issues are finding that their wells have run dry, may be moved by a study of this book to turn back to the sublime truths of the Christian revelation and “with joy draw water out of the well of salvation.”

The great thing about doctrinal preaching is that it is not only for Today, but for Yesterday and Forever.

CLARENCE E. MACARTNEY

Conversation In Print

The Experiment of Faith, by Samuel M. Shoemaker, Harpers, New York. $1.50.

Among the writing ministers of the day, “Sam” Shoemaker must be rated as one of the most effectively articulate. Another Shoemaker book is the “expected” thing. Those who are familiar with his previous books will not look for a volume heavily weighted with scholarship or startlingly novel in its originality. They will look—without disappointment—for a kind of “conversation in print” on matters that are closely related to Christian experience and to the communication of Christian witness to others.

Something known as “The Pittsburgh Experiment” was called into being soon after the author became rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in “The Steel City” in 1953. This was a concrete venture in evangelism in which businessmen were challenged to Christian commitment in a way that would make their faith witness relevant to the problems of every-day living in a roaring industrial city such as Pittsburgh.

What happened to these men, many of whom are junior executives either in management or in labor, and what they in turn have caused to happen, by the grace of God, in the lives of others, will live for a long time in the annals of unconventional evangelism.

Starting with a “case history” that concerns an insurance manager, Dr. Shoemaker unfolds the story of what the Christian faith does when people are exposed to a virile and victorious expression of it, and when, being exposed, they respond to it. His knack of writing for the person who knows little or nothing of Christian theology was never put to better use than in the way he does it here. Take this from the first chapter as a sample: “Yet our first great need is not for a set of rules about how to be good; it is for something to bridge that yawning canyon between us and the God we dimly seem to remember but cannot entirely forget.”

The chapters on “How To Keep Going Spiritually” and “How To Win People To Christ” are never nebulous. They are kept close to the one-two-three of specific steps, the relevant practicalities on which laymen can get their hands. Some words both frank and wise are written in reference to the danger of over-simplifying and mechanizing the procedures by which Christians seek to bring others, one by one, to the realization of the new life in Christ.

Incidentally, Dr. Shoemaker brands as a species of “snobbishness” the attempt by a well-known New York theologian to discredit—at least so far as the New York scene is concerned—the ministry of Dr. Billy Graham.

Some readers will feel, justifiably, I think, that more might have been made of the place and power of Scripture in the ministry of soul-winning.

The final chapter, “How To Work For Christ Through Your Job,” blows like a refreshing breeze through the stuffiness and sterility of much of our thinking in evangelical circles with respect to this inescapable area of Christian responsibility. “I am convinced,” says Dr. Shoemaker, at the end, “that God enters the business scene in two ways: first, through converted men and women whose hearts he has touched and changed and who carry his Spirit with them at all times; and second, in human relationships that are different because he has become the Third Party to them.”

Here, in 64 pages, is a gripping description of how one converted person can, under God, reproduce his kind!

PAUL S. REES

Theology

Bible Text of the Month: Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

The distribution of rewards and punishments in the day of judgment will be in perfect agreement with the works of men; the righteous will be exalted to happiness; the wicked be doomed to misery. The Gospel makes no difference with respect to this: it provides relief for the penitent, but rather aggravates than removes the condemnation of the impenitent. But it opens to us an important fact: namely, that the punishment of the ungodly is the proper fruit and deserved recompence of their own works: whereas the reward bestowed upon the godly is a free unmerited gift of God for Christ’s sake.—CHARLES SIMEON.

Wages Of Sin

While the doctrine of eternal happiness is generally admitted, the eternity of future punishment is doubted by many. The declarations, however, of the Holy Scriptures respecting both are equally explicit. Concerning each of them the very same expressions are used. Owing to the hardness of their hearts, men are insensible to the great evil of sin. Hence the threatenings of future punishment, shock all their prejudices, and seem to them unjust, and such as never can be realized.—ROBERT HALDANE.

Sin is personified as man’s natural master (vv. 12, 14, 22), and he is represented as paying his subjects with death. This term, according to the apostle, does not seem to denote the annihilation of the sinner. To pay anyone is not to put him out of existence; it is rather to make him feel the painful consequences of his sin, to make him reap in the form of corruption what he has sown in the form of sin.—F. GODET.

The reason why death is the result of sin is, that sin deserves death. Death is due to it in justice. There is the same obligation in justice, that sin should be followed by death, as that the labourer should receive his wages. As it would be unjust, and therefore wrong, to defraud the labourer of his stipulated reward, so it would be unjust to allow sin to go unpunished. Those, therefore, who hope for pardon without an atonement, hope that God will in the end prove unjust.—CHARLES HODGE.

The punishment of that death which was the threatened penalty of the first transgression, will, according to Scripture, consist in the pains both of privation and suffering. Its subjects will not only be bereaved of all that is good, they will also be overwhelmed with all that is terrible. As the chief good of the creature is the enjoyment of the love of God, how great must be the punishment of being deprived of the sense of His love, and oppressed with the consciousness of His hatred!—ROBERT HALDANE.

Gift Of Eternal Life

Eternal life contains a great deal more than the two words, life plus eternity. Eternal life is not merely endless existence. It means endless life in its highest possible state of existence. It means that all that is piecemeal and temporary has passed away forever. It means that the absolutely perfect has come, that life has reached its highest altitude. It means that all the fulness and richness that this human vessel can receive of the goodness of God has been made ours.—R. E. GOLLADAY.

Eternal life comprehends all the blessings of the covenant of grace. The Scriptures make mention of it as the great end of the incarnation and sufferings of Christ.… The enjoyment of it is not confined to the future state; it commences in this world, when the believer not only obtains a title to immortal happiness, but is illuminated, sanctified, and comforted by the Spirit of Grace, and it will be perfected in the life to come.—JOHN DICK.

Llfe eternal—of which, all that we can say is but stammering, and all our knowledge and conceiting of it but ignorance, in regard of what it is: yet, so much we know or may know of it, as, if we knew aright, would certainly draw us more into desires and pursuit of it. The very name of life is sweet.… So happy, that there shall not be the smallest drop of any evil or bitterness in it, pure unmixed bliss; nothing present in it that is displeasing, nor anything wanting that is delightful; and everlasting, that when millions of years (if there were any such reckoning there) are rolled about, it shall be as far from ending as at the first.—BISHOP ROBERT LEIGHTON.

Of the nature of that glory of which the people of God shall be put in possession in the day of their redemption, we cannot form a clear and distinct idea.… Their blessedness will consist in a knowledge of God and His mysteries, a full and exquisite sense of His love, ineffable consolation, profound tranquillity of soul, a perfect concord and harmony of the soul with the body, and with all the powers of the soul among themselves; in one word, in an assemblage of all sorts of blessings.—ROBERT HALDANE.

Through Jesus Christ

Christ is the foundation of all spiritual life that is in us. He is the second Adam that conveyeth all that is spiritually good. “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Christ came that we might have life, and that we might have abundance of life preserved for us, such abundance as he enjoyeth himself in the heavens.—RICHARD SIBBES.

Christ, God-man, Mediator, is the life, that eternal life, in respect of his threefold offices of king, priest, and prophet. As prophet, he is the life by way of revelation, discovering this eternal life to us; as priest, by way of impetration, procuring this eternal life for us; as king, by way of collation, conferring this eternal life on us. And as the fulness of water is dispensed by the sea to the earth, and the fulness of light is communicated by the sun to the air; so the fulness of grace and glory, of life, even eternal life, is conveyed by Christ to his church.—NATHANAEL HARDY.

Heaven is procurred, prepared, taken possession of, and retained, by means of the atonement. The blood of the covenant constitutes the title to its possession. The heavenly things themselves are purified with better sacrifices, than those by which the patterns of things in the heavens were purified. We have boldness to enter into the holiest of all only by the blood of Christ, and to the Lamb in the midst of the throne are the redeemed indebted for the permanency of their glory and bliss. Those immortal honors, those glorious hopes, those perennial enjoyments, which are imaged by crowns of glory, palms of victory, harps of gold, and rivers of life, have all their meritorious source in the cross.—WILLIAM SYMINGTON.

The Lord’s design is that His life may reappear anew in his people or be reproduced in them; and that there may be such a symphony, so to speak, that his people shall promote on earth the great object for which he lives in glory. The life of love and active service which he lived on earth is to be renewed and reproduced in all his people. And when we inquire how this is attained, we find that the tide of resurrection life flows into his people, in proportion as they keep before them His abasement, atoning death, and resurrection as the great themes of faith and the great springs of action.—GEORGE SMEATON.

If the greatest love hath been manifested in giving Christ to the world, then it follows that the greatest evil and wickedness is manifested in despising, slighting, and rejecting Christ. It is sad to abuse the love of God manifested in the least gift of providence; but to slight the richest displays of it, even that peerless gift, wherein God commends his love in the most astonishing manner, this is sin beyond description. Blush, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth; yea, be ye horribly afraid! No guilt like this.—JOHN FLAVEL.

Far East News: June 10, 1957

Reconciliation

For the first time since World War II a Japanese voice was heard over a Korean radio broadcast when HLKY, Korea’s first Christian station, used a taped rebroadcast of a service in Tokyo.

Delay in Korean reconciliation with Japan is understandable. The enmity is centuries old. In Japan tourists are still shown the great mound covering thousands of Korean noses and ears cut off and sent to Japan during the Hideyoshi invasion of 1592. Forty years of efficient but often brutal colonization (1905–1945) only whipped existing hatreds to white-hot heat. President Rhee was tortured by the Japanese when he was a young man.

Sharpest challenge yet given to Korea’s Christians on the necessity of reconciliation with their brother believers in Japan has come from an Ecumenical Youth Team touring the country under the auspices of the Korean Student Christian Federation.

Said Eliezer Mappanao of Manila, “The Japanese sinned against you, but that sin is past. Your sin is present. You have not forgiven.” When Korean students who had suffered bitterly under the conquerors questioned his right to speak thus, the young man vindicated himself very simply, “My father was killed by the Japanese without cause.” His plea that Korea’s Christians must take the initiative in forgiveness has stirred student thinking in city after city.

Membership of the Youth Team includes a Pakistani (the first ever to visit Korea other than diplomatic or military personnel), a Filipino, a Canadian missionary from Japan and an American college student now studying for one year at the University of Hong Kong.

—S. H. M.

People: Words And Events

Lost and Found—The California Senate, in a 20–7 vote, killed a bill to make “In God We Trust” the official state motto. Opponents said the bill would jeopardize the long-accepted but unofficial motto “Eureka,” which appears on the state seal. “Eureka,” which means “I have found it,” was put on the seal 100 years ago as a symbol of the discovery of gold in California.

The Wrong Key—A typist’s error in copying a Presidential proclamation led to an erroneous report in religious circles that President Eisenhower had designated the third Sunday in May for the 1958 celebration of Armed Forces Day. The observance will continue to fall on the third Saturday in May.

Morals and Money—Moral delinquency among U. S. airmen based overseas has been attributed, of all things, to an insufficient Air Force budget. Col. Harry J. Mrachek said the present indoctrination program is not sufficient to train airmen in the morals and customs of the foreign countries to which they are assigned.

Name Dropping—Alabama Baptist officials have demanded that the word “Baptist” be dropped by the Baptist Laymen of Alabama, a group of laymen organized for the avowed purpose of fostering white supremacy.

Bright New World—Twenty-two Roman Catholic members of the Moundsville (W. Va.) High School graduating class were barred by their principal from taking part in commencement exercises because they refused to attend baccalaureate services in a Protestant church. They sat at the exercises as spectators and the diplomas were given privately.

Age of Reasoning—Calle Parker Gates, 101, Jackson, Tenn., was awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree by Lambuth College. Miss Gates, an 1873 graduate of Lambuth’s predecessor, the Methodist Memphis Conference Female Institute and a school teacher for 47 years, was honored for her service to the community.

“They’re just making me a doctor because I have lived so long,” she said. “In a few more years perhaps they’ll make me a Methodist bishop.” She will be 102 on July 3.

The Golden Orange—Anthony T. Rossi, builder of a $25,000,000 Florida citrus empire and a devout Baptist, relates his business success to his spiritual convictions—“God has always guided me, told me what to do and when to do it. He has used me for his purpose.”

Dancing on Campus—Action of the Wake Forest College trustees permitting dancing on the campus has led to threats of financial support withdrawal by individual churches. The college is a Southern Baptist institution. The action was supported, however, by the Cullom Ministerial Conference, comprising pre-ministerial students at the college, after a heated debate. “We have no right to impose our opinion on the student body as a whole,” the conference resolution said. It added that dancing is “a personal ethical matter which must be decided by each individual.”

Digest—Dr. Theodore F. Adams, president of Baptist World Alliance, recently suffered a heart attack, but is expected to recover “completely.” It may not even be necessary for him to curtail work, says his physician … Dr. Eric M. North retires as senior general secretary of the American Bible Society after 30 years service.… Dr. Ernest C. Colwell, vice president and dean of faculties of Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., elected first president of Southern California School of Theology.… Death claims Professor Emeritus Louis Berkhof, 83, first president of Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Mich. He wrote more than a score of books, among which were Systematic Theology, Manual of Christian Doctrine and Summary of Christian Doctrine.… Dr. Russell V. DeLong, Nazarene evangelist and author, elected president of Pasadena College, succeeding Dr. W. T. Purkister, who is going to the Nazarene Seminary, Kansas City.

Europe News: June 10, 1957

100Th Anniversary

The American Church in Paris, reported to be the first American chapel founded on foreign soil, marks its 100th anniversary this year.

Formed to serve the American colony in the French capital, the church is the oldest non-governmental American institution in Europe.

The present English Gothic structure, erected over the foundation of a tobacco warehouse on the Quai d’Orsy, was completed in 1931 at a cost of $1,000,000. It replaced the first chapel on the Rue de Berri, off the Champs Elysees. The building was called a chapel until 1883 when a French law prohibiting use of the “church” for a Protestant house of worship was repealed.

Co-Existence

Wladyslaw Gomulka, leader of the United Workers (Communist) Party, said in Warsaw that future relations between the government and the Roman Catholic Church in Poland will largely depend on the church “marching together with us.”

He spoke at the first full convention of the party since he was returned to leadership after Poland’s bloodless revolt against Soviet political domination last October.

Gomulka said the party believes that the “idealist outlook” of the Roman Catholic Church will exist for a long time side by side with the “materialistic outlook” of non-believers.

He added:

“We don’t prevent the church from marching in matters of faith along its road of Roman Catholic doctrine. The church should also recognize the fact that Poland has changed her former social system, that she is building socialism.

“In matters which are of vital concern for the interests of the people’s Poland and the nation, we want the church to march together with us along the Polish road. It is on this that the long-term shaping of relations between the people’s state and the church will largely depend.”

Britain News: June 10, 1957

Spiritual Cure

The real tragedy of Ireland lies in the fact that the 16th century European Reformation, which had such a gracious and beneficial influence in England and Scotland, never reached Ireland.

This is the opinion of the Rev. F. Rupert Gibson, superintendent of the Irish Mission of the Presbyterian Church.

In an address at Belfast, he said history might have been different if Irish settlers had been given the Bible in their own language.

The Irish problem, he said, is not political, but spiritual, and must have a spiritual cure.

“The teaching of the Bible could take the gun out of Irish politics,” he added.

Spiritual Ties

Under the tide of “Relations between Anglican and Presbyterian Churches,” a report has been issued by the Church of England (Anglican) and the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian).

Two smaller communions, the Episcopal Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church of England, collaborated in the study.

The report is the result of conversations of the four churches over a period of years with a view to creating closer spiritual ties. Emphasis in the talks has been placed on the removal of existing barriers and the reconciliation of differences rather than on formal church union.

Chief interest in the report lies in the proposal that the Presbyterian churches should adopt an order of bishops, chosen by each presbytery from its own membership, and that the Episcopal churches should introduce a system of lay eldership similar to the Scottish eldership.

The Bishop of Derby, Dr. A. E. J. Rawlinson, said the proposals probably will “starde” some people. If the recommendations are adopted, both the Church of England and the Church of Scotland will be called upon to make “radical changes” in their existing organizations “in the interest of fuller unity and fuller truth.”

It has been urged that no judgment be passed on the report until its proposals have been fully examined and discussed. Already, however, many voices have been raised against the chief proposal, especially in Scotland. The Rev. Tom Allan, leader of the “Tell Scodand” movement, is reported to have said that he opposes the plan. The Bishop of Brechin, Dr. Graham, of the Episcopal Church in Scotland, also is cautious. He remarked that the proposals must be allowed to “lie on the table” for some years to come.

—F. C.

South America News: June 10, 1957

Retreat In Ecuador

Effective cooperation between evangelical missions has highlighted Gospel work in Ecuador.

More than 175 missionaries, representing 13 organizations, furthered their cooperative efforts recently at the eighth annual Inter-Mission Fellowship Retreat in Quito. Speaker was the Rev. Larry Love of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The Fellowship has spearheaded a youth camp effort with much spiritual success.

Ministers Stirred in Graham Crusade

WORLD NEWS

Christianity in the World Today

“This is like all the Christmases I have ever known rolled up into one.”

The expressive statement was made by a New York minister after the first week of Billy Graham’s Crusade at Madison Square Garden. He was stirred night after night as the Word of God reached deeply into the hearts of businessmen, show people, teen-agers, society matrons and derelicts.

Another minister, evidently in soul-searching thought, sat in the Garden one night long after the benediction had been pronounced. There had not been enough regular counselors to meet the need of the hundreds who had surged forward at the invitation, and he had volunteered his services in helping one to find Christ. It was a rich experience. As the lights flickered out all over the Garden, he sat off by himself—still thinking about it. And big tears ran from his eyes.

One clergyman, before the campaign began, determined that he was going to put everything he had into it and trust God for the blessings in his church. He organized a special bus every night and rejoiced each time on the return trip because some of the people who left with him returned with Christ. Another bus had to be added in the second week. He said new life had been abundantly added to his church.

The case histories of two churches in London have been repeated many times in New York. During the Harringay Crusade, a minister and his congregation did everything possible to cooperate. They made a house-to-house canvass of people in the parish and provided free transportation. The pastor said the membership of his church tripled as a result of the effort.

Another pastor in London was against the Harringay meetings from the start. The congregation did nothing. However, about 30 of the people who made decisions listed his church as their preference. He didn’t contact the 30 and made an effort to prove his point that the decisions were not real by stating that only about ten of them ever showed up for services. He said he had admitted about two families, but was pretty sure that one of these was dissatisfied.

“If doctors treated new-born babies like many ministers treat young Christians the mortality rate would be a shocking thing to behold,” remarked Mr. Graham in an appeal for New York clergymen to encourage them in Christian growth. “Babes in Christ grow strong by reading their Bibles daily, by spending time in prayer, by living and witnessing for Christ and by being faithful in their churches.”

Some ministers continue to object to the large and efficient organization, brought together from three continents in an effort to penetrate the heart of the world’s biggest city. One person wrote that he would have more respect for the ministry of Billy Graham if he preached in the streets.

The Charlotte Observer, in a recent issue, carried an editorial in answer to such attacks. It said:

“If Billy Graham needs any defense against those who object to his evangelistic work because they do not approve of his ‘organized methods,’ he can merely turn to St. Paul.

“When Paul decided to evangelize that den of iniquity, Ephesus, he did not go at once. Instead, he sent two advance agents, Aquila and Priscilla, who had had two years of hard experience in Corinth and before that in Rome. Their job was to organize the campaign and to soften up Ephesus for the main event when Paul arrived.

“They were helped by a brilliant young man from Alexandria named Apollos—the kind of orator who could make an audience eat out of his hand—who did much of the softening up work after Aquila and Priscilla corrected his doctrinal errors.

“Then came Paul, not alone, but accompanied by a team of tough professionals, Timothy, Luke and others, all of whom had been through the mill, fought with mobs and spent some days and nights in prison.

“From the names mentioned in the Epistles and in Acts in connection with the Ephesus campaign, it can be estimated that Paul had a team of about 20 persons, all experts, who knew their way around in the business of evangelism.

“So, if Billy Graham has too much organization, he has an excellent precedent.”

A prayer of the Graham team from the beginning has been that the impact of the Gospel on New York will spread over the nation and into all parts of the world. Already, little revival fires have been reported in several cities, mainly as a result of the prayer meetings being held for New York.

The spread received a big boost by nation-wide telecasts direct from Madison Square Garden over the ABC network. Mounting millions tuned in for the first two telecasts, with the Word of God reaching into more homes than ever before in history. The final two telecasts from 8 to 9 p.m. on succeeding Saturdays are expected to zoom the evangelist’s audience rating. A significant commentary, it seems, is that famed comedians who humor viewers away from the realities of life may be losing out in American homes.

But Billy Graham, who drives to the heart of realities with understandable sermons founded on “Thus saith the Lord,” is gaining momentum.

Television executives are a little puzzled about the phenomenon, and some of them don’t quite understand the answer offered by Mr. Graham:

“It isn’t a man. The people are hungry for God!”

Size Of Churches

A Presbyterian churchman has proposed that research be conducted to determine “how large a church can be and still be a community.”

Dr. Paul C. Payne of Philadelphia said a “searching study” should be made into the most effective size of churches “before we continue any further in piling up monster congregations.”

Dr. Payne, retiring general secretary of the Presbyterian (U. S. A.) Board of Christian Education, said the churches must find ways of giving “strange, hurrying, lonely throngs of people around us an experience of community in the impersonal faceless life of our great cities and suburbs.”

Some city churches, he observed, “are dying and deserving to die because they are making no effort to serve the neighborhood where they are situated.”

He deplored a tendency to “make church membership easy for fear of driving prospective members away.

“By making church membership easy, we turn our churches into warrens for spiritual rabbits, who want some magic formula guaranteed to save their tender skins, while braver souls who would take the church seriously find themselves baffled by the lack of challenge or by the little church chores assigned them.”

Evangelical Manual

The Youth Commission of the National Sunday School Association has prepared a manual entitled, “Scouting in Evangelical Churches.” Published in cooperation with the Boy Scouts of America, the manual may be obtained from NSSA, 542 S. Dearborn, Chicago, Ill.

Worth Quoting

“The early Church had power, not merely ideas. It produced results, not programs. God is seeking a Church and people today through whom he can pour a spiritual dynamic capable of transforming life.”—Dr. B. H. Pearson, Los Angeles.

“We see all around us the men and women to whom Christianity is little more than a socially acceptable hobby. They are perfectly nice people, in nice clothes, driving a nice car to a nice church on a nice Sunday. Secretly, they believe that Christ’s teaching is much too impractical for this mundane world—at least for six days a week. Sunday they’ll hear the sermon … Monday they’ll write their Congressman and ask him to cut out of the budget that portion devoted to health, education and welfare.”—Governor George M. Leader of Pennsylvania.

“From the year 1725 to 1729 I preached much, but saw no fruit of my labors.… From the year 1729 to 1734, laying a deeper foundation of repentance, I saw a little fruit … for I did not preach faith in the blood of the Covenant.… From 1734 to 1738 I saw more fruit of my preaching and visiting … than ever I had done before, though I know not if any of those who were outwardly reformed were inwardly and thoroughly converted to God.… From 1738 (year of prayer meeting in Aldersgate Street) to this time … the Word of God ran as fire among the stubble … multitudes are crying out, ‘What must we do to be saved?’ and afterwards witnessing, ‘By grace we are saved through faith.’—John Wesley, quoted by the Rev. Charles C. Ryan, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Church Sacrifice

Bishop Gerald Francis Burrill of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago told the annual diocesean convention that “evangelism in the Episcopal Church is being sacrificed to the needs of the program and the schedule of worship.”

The church that lacks evangelistic zeal, he warned, is in danger of “contracting spiritual hardening of the arteries.”

He added:

“Clergymen are so busy with routine that little time is left for reaching new people.… Our laity do not think of themselves as missionaries in their neighborhoods. Our underlying difficulty is our lack of concern for God’s commission for each one of us to seek out his brother.”

Merger Of Churches

The following special report was written by Dr. Robert J. Lamont, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, Penna. and a contributing editor of CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

The 169th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A., held recently in Omaha, Nebraska, unanimously ratified the vote of every presbytery in favor of union with the United Presbyterian Church of America.

The 872 commissioners stood with bowed heads and prayed for God’s blessings on the action they had taken. If the U. P. General Assembly, meeting in June, approves, the union will be consummated at Pittsburgh in May, 1958.

Dr. Harold R. Martin, pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington, Illinois, was elected moderator. A high spiritual note that characterized the meetings of the Assembly was sounded by Dr. Martin at the induction ceremonies when he said, “I am only a sinner saved by grace and I earnestly covet your prayers for the blessing of the Holy Spirit on the Church of Christ.”

“The Whole Gospel for the Whole World” was the Assembly theme.

As part of the long-range benevolence advance, the commissioners unanimously approved a $43,000,000 budget for 1958. This action committed the church to a benevolence goal of $54,000,000 by 1962. The step of faith brought forth the spontaneous singing of the Doxology by the Assembly in the packed Omaha Civic Auditorium. Stewardship of time and the tithe of substance was urged.

In an effort to keep its constituency and the public informed, the Assembly created the “Office of Information.” Dr. Murray S. Stedman was elected director.

Mrs. J. R. Salisbury of Kansas City, Missouri, president of the National Council of Presbyterian Women’s Organizations, which has a membership of over 625,000, told of the program of prayer, study, service and giving—world wide in its witness for Jesus Christ.

A truly significant paper, “The Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. and the Public Schools,” was presented by the Board of Christian Education after more than two years of research. Among other things, the report:

1. defines certain areas of common loyalties of the public school and church and expresses a strong conviction that Presbyterians must remain loyal to public education;

2. demands continuance of the traditional principle of separation of Church and State;

3. enunciates a policy limiting the promotion of Presbyterian parochial schools;

4. opposes the support of independent and parochial schools through the use of public funds;

5. maintains that the public school teacher is in a strategic role to exercise a keen sense of Christian vocation;

6. urgently requests Presbyterians in this country to work actively for the improved financial support of public schools.

The report was enthusiastically adopted.

A committee on the rewording of the Shorter Catechism recommended that the questions and answers on the Shorter Catechism remain unaltered.

The Assembly paid tribute to more than 2,800 national missionaries by receiving unanimously the report of the National Missions Board, which provides for college scholarship assistance for the children of national missionaries. A corporation was created to sell bonds in the amount of $10,000,000 to be used to finance on a loan basis new church development.

As part of the report of the Committee on Evangelism, prayer was offered for the blessing of God upon the Billy Graham Crusade in New York City. The Assembly telegraphed assurance of prayer and support to Dr. Graham.

The Board of Foreign Missions reported that the task of the Church had reached a crucial moment—brought about not by its failure but by its success in establishing indigenous churches in many lands. To facilitate the world mission and to cooperate with new churches, the Assembly voted to establish a commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations to succeed the present Board of Foreign Missions and the Permanent Commission on Interchurch Relations.

One could not help but be impressed by the dedication and the evangelical concern, not only by the board and agencies but by the commissioners themselves, as in prayerful democracy the Church was committed again to the “Whole Gospel for the Whole World.”

In Christ’s Name

Pressure to keep Christians from praying in Christ’s name at public meetings was denounced in a joint statement issued by the Greater Miami Ministerial Association and the Greater Miami Council of Churches.

The resolution said:

“We record herewith our profound disapproval of any such attempts to bind the conscience of any man or woman of any faith.

“We believe that such acts and attitudes are disruptive of the spirit of fair play, tolerance and understanding among our people and represent a denial of the principles of religious freedom and the right of free speech.”

The churchmen said any prayer offered in public or semi-public or private assembly should be “in accordance with the religious convictions of the person offering the prayer—whether he be Protestant, Catholic or Jew, or a representative of any other religious faith or sect.”

The resolution did not name any specific cases. But it said that “various pressures have been exerted in the public schools, in parent teachers association groups, in certain civic clubs and in a variety of public and semi-public functions where custom, tradition or the solemnity of the occasion indicate that prayer should be offered, to prescribe and proscribe the character of that prayer in a way that is an affront to the integrity of the minister’s or layman’s faith and a violation of his conscience.

“Specifically, Christian people have been requested, or forbidden, as the case may be, not to pray as Christians, sometimes upon pain of punishment, wherever it could be administered.”

In an accompanying explanation, the Rev. J. Wayte Fulton, Jr., president of the ministerial group, said some of the pressure has been the result of misunderstanding of how important it is for a Christian to pray in Christ’s name.

From 5 To 500

In the spring of 1857 groups from five Michigan communities—Grand Rapids, Polkton (Coopersville), Vriesland, Graafschaap and Noordeloos—withdrew from the Reformed Church of America and formed the beginning of the Christian Reformed denomination.

There were five churches, 750 people, and one minister, who traveled around in an ox cart.

Vern Boerman, writing in the Muskegon Chronicle, said Abraham Lincoln was campaigning to be a senator when the denomination was born.

The writer added:

“They were part of those Reformed Christians in the Netherlands who had suffered hardship because they protested against a State Church. They were part of those who came from the Old World land of dikes and windmills to America, the haven for people from many lands.

“In its century of existence the Christian Reformed denomination has had many forms of growth and change—from the Dutch language to English, modifying from a primarily Dutch church to one including Americans of many backgrounds, founding a church-supported college and seminary, establishing a system of domestic and foreign missions, working on neighborhood evangelism, sharing in the construction of Christian grade and high schools, establishing local and national radio broadcasts, publishing magazines, books and literature.

“Today, the Christian Reformed Church reaches from Nova Scotia to California, from Alaska to Florida. It embraces a quarter-million people in over 500 churches.”

Elaborate celebrations will mark the centennial observance.

Hoover’s Challenge

The following statement, concerning crime and church responsibility, was made especially for CHRISTIANITY TODAY by John Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation:

“Thoughtful citizens everywhere are alarmed over the continued upsurge in youthful lawlessness. Last year arrests of young people under 18 years increased 17.3 percent over the previous year in our cities. Population in the 10–17 age group increased less than three percent in the same period.

There are, of course, many causes contributing to juvenile delinquency, but one which I have repeatedly observed is the absence of individual moral character in our youth. Let us never forget that Christ emphasized the inherent worth of the individual. Teaching this fact is the joint responsibility of the home and church.

“Unfortunately, many homes today do not provide a standard of moral character as a guide to young people. We cannot ignore that our churches do not reach all young people and many of them have little familiarity with Christ’s teachings. Obviously, this presents a real challenge to our churches. The material richness and glitter of the life of our times provides many temptations for our youth. If they do not know Christ and the Word of God, and lack the standard for guidance, we can expect a continuing increase in the number of young people who are brought before the courts each year. When the Word of God is absent, chaos may enter young lives. Our churches must reach the youth of America.”

Missionary Alliance

Member churches and other supporting organizations of the Christian and Missionary Alliance contributed a record $3,718,668 for its work during 1956, an increase of $284,266 over 1945.

Of the total, $2,299,586 was spent to support the Alliance’s mission work.

These reports were made at the organization’s 60th annual meeting recently in Charlotte, N. C. More than 1,000 delegates attended.

President H. L. Turner of New York said the interdenominational agency sent 103 new missionaries into 22 foreign fields last year. He reported the total number of active missionaries abroad to be 786.

All The Answers

Before it tries to solve problems of society, psychiatry should first solve its own problems, Dr. Francis J. Braceland, president of the American Psychiatric Association, told the group convention in Chicago.

He stated:

“To attempt to pose all the answers to problems ranging from preventing international wars to bickering over back fences is to invite public discredit.… Psychiatry still can’t agree, for example, on whether mental illness is a chemical derangement of the body or an end result of emotional wounds in children.”

The likelihood, he added, “is that both the mind and the body are involved in the problem. And perhaps even these aren’t the whole story. Apparently the problem is wrapped up with man’s whole being, his higher aspirations, the meaning of his life, the understanding of himself and his place in the order of things.”

Spreading The Word

The number of languages and dialects into which at least one book of the Bible has been translated passed the 1,100-mark during 1956, The American Bible Society reported at its 141st annual meeting.

The entire Bible has been published in 210 languages and dialects; a complete Testament in an additional 270 and at least a book in 629.

Business Transaction

Three acts of Congress were necessary for the Acworth (Ga.) Methodist Church to buy seven acres of land from the Army Engineers Corps.

A bill was first introduced by Rep. Henderson H. Lanham (D.-Ga.) to give the Army Engineers permission to sell the land.

Congress approved the bill but the House and Senate quickly recalled the measure from President Eisenhower’s desk. The White House discovered that the bill erroneously specified 9,990 feet instead of 990 as the depth of the tract. Both Houses passed the measure again and sent it back to the President.

Eutychus and His Kin: June 10, 1957

COMMUNICATION

After a recent title bout someone asked Sugar Ray Robinson how far the knockout punch had traveled. “I don’t know,” asnwered the recrowned middleweight, “but he got the message somewhere!” The crack is not so classic as the champion’s left hook, but it has a future. It is made to order for all these talks about talking and should appear in a dozen commencement addresses.

Sugar Ray was only using the language of a communication-conscious age. Since our society is being reshaped by electronic means of communication, we cannot avoid the subject. With curious zeal, many people want to reduce everything to communication. Skeptics assure us that we have outgrown all talk about what is, and that we must be satisfied with the logical analysis of how we used to talk about it. T.V. surely demonstrates how much more we know about how than what to communicate!

The old liberalism believed that education would solve all problems. Today’s liberal has the same naive faith in communication. Communicate in print, at the conference table or on the psychiatrist’s couch, and conflicts will evaporate. The trouble is that the message, on delivery, is often a left hook to the chin!

Some preachers are far more ready to discuss communication than the Gospel to be communicated. The difference between heaven and hell becomes an exercise in semantics. By separating language from truth, men justify using expressions they no longer believe and at the same time deny that God can reveal his truth in human language.

Those who believe that God’s Word is truth need a new grip on “communication”—and revelation. But they must avoid the method of the wise man of Gotham, who decided he needed a better grip while hanging from a tree branch over the sea, and therefore let go to spit on his hands.

EUTYCHUS

SPIRIT OF FOREIGN POLICY

It seems to me that you have unnecessarily confused things in this time when there ought to be support of our President in what he is seeking to do for the peace of the world.… The President’s policy should be judged wholly on the basis of whether it is calculated to head off Communism and the communistic countries from making more trouble.…

EARLE V. PIERCE

Minneapolis, Minn.

I am enjoying … CHRISTIANITY TODAY and want especially to express appreciation for the editorial “The Spirit of Foreign Policy.” … I feel this is one of the most constructive and timely presentations I have come upon in a long time.

PAUL S. JAMES

The Baptist Tabernacle

Atlanta, Ga.

Congratulations on whoever wrote the editorial “The Spirit of Foreign Policy” …

JEROME DAVIS

West Haven, Conn.

Permit me to congratulate you on your splendid editorial “The Spirit of Foreign Policy” (April 29).… You certainly have hit the nail on the head.…

S. H. HALAJIAN

Los Angeles, Calif.

REFLECTIONS ON MARTYRDOM

In reply to “The Prayer of the Five Widows,” I was much disturbed.… To say that “… because God has done a tremendous thing in taking five of His choicest servants in this incipient stage, we are bold to expect tremendous answers to prayer in the future,” is to call God a murderer. God never desires that lives which are dedicated to him be taken in death.… Unnatural death is never in God’s plan but because of some sin of man.… It is not God’s will that the men lost their lives.… I would say to these wives, march on in silence and God will use and reward you.

E. V. HARGREAVES

Shasta Valley Methodist Parish

Mantague, Calif.

The martyrdom of five splendid men by the Auca Indians might … stir our thinking along these lines:

Arriving by plane, setting up tents and dressed as they were, these men appeared to be as much apostles of our culture and civilization as bearers of the Gospel.

Missionary work in Asia and Africa is today suffering greatly from this very thing.… Christ came down to our level and met us under our conditions. Is it not possible he would have both ministers and missionaries examine the instructions given to the twelve and the seventy before their tours (Lk. 9:3 ff. and 10:2 ff.)? These instructions made them live at the level and within the cultural limitations of the people to whom they were sent.

A. A. TUFFIN

St. Mary’s

Hayes, Kent, England

GIVING WAY TO ROME

Please, please … will you not misuse the term Catholic Church so consistently? So many people follow in using the term as pertaining to that branch of the Church which is properly termed The Roman Catholic Church. The practise of using the name Catholic as an exclusive right for those of the Roman fold is erroneously broadcast by that denomination and all the Protestants seem only too willing to give way to Rome in this regard except in some few cases. As a member of the Anglican Church of Canada I must point out that while we are a Protestant Body, and I can assure you probably the first Protestant Body (vide John Wycliffe 1320–1384), we are assuredly a Holy Catholic Church.…

CUTHBERT THOMAS

All Saints’

Cannington, Ontario

CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA

We have read with considerable interest the long editorial treatment on “Conversations with Chinese Christians” (Jan. 21 issue).… All of us can agree heartily in its comment on the inseparable bonds that exist among all Christians and the natural desire for fellowship with them across all barriers.

Reference is made in your editorial to agitation by “leading churchmen” for a delegation to visit Communist China.… We do not know of any general “agitation” or demand for such a visit by American churchmen. In fact, Dr. Mackay is the only leading American churchman we are aware of who has called for such an exchange of visits at this time.… It has been the opinion in the China Committee of the Division of Foreign Missions that for various reasons, the missionary forces do not feel that the American churches should propose such a visit at this time.

We are even more concerned, however, with the … position … that “liberal” churchmen in China have collaborated with the Communist government, and “evangelicals” have resisted government pressures and have subsequently suffered severe persecution.… A substantial portion of the Chinese church leaders who have been imprisoned are those who would be regarded as “liberals,” while a number of church leaders who are freely carrying on their work and who are intimately associated with the Three-Self Movement are well known fundamentalists.

We do not believe it is accurate to say, “the majority of evangelicals were reluctant to join up,” and “many of their churches have since been occupied or closed by the government.” Many Chinese churches were closed. So far as we know, not a single Protestant church in any of the cities has been closed. The churches that were closed were in the rural areas, where the bulk of church membership was conservative, usually during the period of land reform.… There is also incontrovertible evidence that a very large number of these churches have since been permitted to re-open.…

All of us have the deepest sympathy with Chinese Christians who have suffered for their convictions. We believe that their suffering has come about not because of their theological position as conservatives or liberals but because of unwillingness to yield or compromise their basic Christian convictions. It is untrue and unfair to take the categorical position, or to suggest, that “evangelicals” have by and large opposed the Communist government and have been persecuted and “liberals” have for the most part conformed and are in complete control of the church today.

Many of us who tried to work under Communism in China and who have vividly seen the pervasive influence and almost irresistible pressures of a totalitarian state, feel that it is not our place as American Christians to sit in judgment on Chinese Christians but rather to continue earnestly to pray, having in mind our own shortcomings, that God’s Holy Spirit may lead us and them into his perfect truth.

CLAUDE L. PERKINS, JR.

WALLACE C. MERWIN

China Comm.

Far Eastern Off.

Division of Foreign Missions

National Council of Churches

We have noted with interest the continued correspondence and articles regarding the Three-Self Movement church in China, and feel that one or two points should be re-emphasized.

First, some have the idea that we evangelicals have said that only the so-called liberal Protestants in China have cooperated with the Three-Self Movement church. We admit with deep regret that many of our strong evangelical leaders eventually aligned themselves with the Three-Self Movement church. It was said and emphasized in the original comment on this whole picture that at the start, when the Communists took over China, it was exclusively liberal churchmen who formed the Three-Self Movement church and then cooperated with the Communist government in putting pressure on church leaders all over China with the result that a number of strong evangelicals lined up with the Three-Self Movement church.

Whereas this is true, we are reliably informed that a majority of our evangelical leaders and churches, both rural and in the cities, have refused to cooperate with the Three-Self Movement church. Reports given us from inside China indicate that most of the persecution that has overtaken our Protestant pastors in China who have been conformed with the Three-Self Movement Church, has been instigated by that church. Although the reason given for the persecution has not been a religious reason, but rather a political offense of noncooperation with the State, the actual instigation was religious in most cases and not political.

There are two facts that I think we should point out. Without a doubt the Three-Self Movement Church represents formal Christianity today in China. The evangelicals on the other hand together with all those who have remained true to the faith, are members of the informal church which bases its entire faith and organization on their personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The second thing is, that as far as we can see, the Three-Self Movement Church is but an extension of the Communist government which allows it a certain amount of freedom and probably will as long as it serves the general purposes of the government. We are convinced that it is being used as a political tool in the hands of a Communist regime which will exterminate it when its usefulness ceases.

CLYDE W. TAYLOR

Executive Secretary

Evangelical Foreign Mission Assn.

Washington, D.C.

BOOKS FOR SEMINARIES

If any seminary or Bible training school at home or abroad wishes to secure new copies of books I have written, the librarian should write me a letter, listing the titles of Blackwood hooks now on the library shelves. There are no strings attached. The books go out free, with postage paid. They are for use in the seminary library, not for the study of any individual.

ANDREW W. BLACKWOOD

Garden Court Apartments

Philadelphia 43, Pa.

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