The War a Shock to Faith

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 6, 1916

The War a Shock to Faith

OUTSIDE of the great war zone of Europe, where many professed Christians on both sides of the controversy are fighting for what they consider worthy ideals, and where they are praying the God of heaven to give success to their arms because of the righteousness of their cause, the faith of many Christian believers has been inexpressibly shocked and almost destroyed by this terrible conflict. They marvel how it can be that the high ideals of the twentieth century should be so ruthlessly sacrificed. They inquire, “If after nearly two thousand years of gospel effort there is not sufficient power among so-called Christian nations to keep them from deadly warfare, what hope is there for the future?”

These doubters clearly mistake the teaching and import of the Sacred Writings. The Scriptures of truth nowhere declare that this world will be converted. On the other hand, they state repeatedly that wickedness will increase, that the nations will be engaged in deadly conflict, that even the professed church of Christ will lose its distinctive Christian character, and take on the spirit and character of the world with which it is surrounded. But the Lord declares that in this time of peril and distress and apostasy he will gather out from all nations a people for his name.

Nor need we with questioning faith ask why it is that God permits the suffering incident to this terrible conflict. Suffering has always existed in the world. The present situation, while more startling in its vivid colorings, presents no really new problems. Speaking of this, the editor of the Sunday School Times for March 4, 1916, says:—

“Let us remember that, although the present European war is the greatest and most awful the world has ever seen, it has brought no new problem, no new facts, into the world. Before the summer of 1914 there was in the world more sin and misery and suffering, ending in tragic deaths, many, many times over, than have occurred during the eighteen months of this war. And there is today in the world, outside of the areas where the war rages, infinitely more sin and suffering and hopeless dying than in the war zones. There are said to be some sixteen hundred million human beings in the world today,—more than one billion and a half. Of these, think of the hundreds of millions in India, in China, in Africa, in South America, whose lives are filled with tragedy and suffering from birth to death. Think of the millions in India of whom it is said that they never know what it is not to be hungry, have never had a satisfying meal in their lives.”

“Terrible as the war is, it is only an incident in the vast problem of sin and suffering in the world. It is perhaps the most terrible ‘incident’ so far in the Christian era. It is in the ‘limelight’; it is so concentrated that all must see it and know about it and be overwhelmed by its ghastly facts. But if we could trust in God before the war, absolutely nothing has happened since the war started that justifies us in losing our faith in him.”

“And we can trust God. He is sovereign. He is reigning. He is love. He wants men to love and to believe him, receiving his Son Jesus Christ as their Saviour. But men will not have it so. And God is allowing men to have their own way for the time being. This war and its tragic accompaniments, as also the sin and the suffering of untold millions outside the war area, are the result of men’s rejection of God and his love. When God sees, in his infinite wisdom, that men have had a full and sufficient opportunity to try out their own plans and prove that they are a failure, then by the return of his Son Jesus to this earth he will establish peace in righteousness.”

In the midst of darkness and distress God is working out his eternal purpose. He takes cognizance of his children. He stands ready to guide every trusting soul; and though the earth be removed, and the mountains carried into the midst of the sea, it is for every believer to look from the darkness of his surroundings to the light and glory emanating from the Father’s throne, and from the transitory things of earth to the stable things of eternity. The present is dark, but the future is bright with promise.