Spiritual Decadence by William Warren Prescott

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 26, 1911

Spiritual Decadence

By William Warren Prescott

THERE are still left some who remember the former days when men trembled at the word of the Lord, and when there was a power in the preaching of the gospel which moved sinners to repentance. They note with a keen regret the change that has come during the present generation, and can not be easily persuaded that the new evangel is better than the old. Of this class was Dr. Arthur T. Pierson, whose clear and vigorous protests against the destructive teachings of the apostles of evolution appeared from time to time in the Missionary Review of the World, of which he was the editor in chief. We regret the loss to the cause of genuine Christianity that has come as the result of his recent death.

Among the current contributions to the discussion of this important question concerning the present standard of religious experience, is an article by Rev. G. A. Johnston Ross, printed in the Hibbert Journal for April, with the significant title, “The Cross: the Report of a Misgiving.” In the words of the Religious Weekly (Sept. 30, 1911) the writer of this article “emphasizes the misgiving which saddens so many Christians in regard to the deep cleavage existing between the representative Christian experience of the present hour and that of, say, thirty years ago.” Not content, however, with merely pointing out this condition, he seeks for the cause of the change, and finds it in the changed estimate of sin, and in the failure to proclaim the law of God as the detector of sin and the cross as the only way of deliverance from the penalty of sin. This view of the question gets to the very heart of the matter, as it involves the wide-spread denial of the efficacy of the death of Christ as an atonement for

sin. The fundamental importance of this analysis of the present apostasy in the religious world justifies the reprinting of an extract of some length from the article mentioned above:—

Meanwhile the fact remains that that which was the vital center of apostolic Christianity, the undeserving grace of God shown in the atoning death and the mediation of the Eternal Son, is not the vital center of much of the active religion of the day; that indeed the whole redemption idea is out of vogue, or accepted only in some altered sense; that the precipitate of much of the current Christian thinking is declaratory rather than redemptive, if I may put it thus; and they [“the older generation”] fear this because a gospel which is declaratory only will not last; men will tire of it. For “men see already with exasperating clearness what their duty is;” the trouble is that they need complete adjustment to the sources of power for the performance of duty.

If the defect were merely in theological statement, I am not sure that precisely the kind of people would be affected by this misgiving whom one sees affected by it. But the defect is felt to be more than theological; it is felt as a want of thoroughness in personal orientation and adjustment. The older generation began at the point of a grave concern as to personal status before a holy God; it wrestled with the awful facts of guilt and of the incredible consequences of sin; it wrought its way into some apprehension (sufficient for the purposes of an infinite relief and of grateful trust) of the almost incredible mystery of the bearing by the living God, in the person of his Son, of the whole problem of sin, its punishment and consequences. Out from this crisis of fear, of appal, of appeal for mercy, of wonder at the greatness of God's grace, of new trust and new love,—out from this it stepped into the new life in Christ, of joy in his fellowship and that of his people, and of delight in his service. But the younger generation appears to know little of “law work,” of the apprehension of the reality of guilt, of any really searching crisis of self-adjustment, of the lifting of self off the platform of self-trust onto the platform of abased dependence on a holy God, holiest of all in amazing, bleeding self-sacrifice. Hence to the older generation, the foundation of the religion of this hour seems insufficiently strong; men who are un-saved are, they would say, going into the work of saving others; young people of clean, high purpose are following an ideal Christ, but feel no need of his being set forth in his blood a propitiation for sin. And it is worthy of remark that the change is to be seen within evangelicalism itself. I began my ministry almost twenty years ago. I had come personally into a joyous religious life through the gate of such a crisis as I have described: and my personal religion was then, and it is now, founded on the cross. But, as a young minister, I felt the difficulty of preaching the cross; the impression of it was elusive, and I feared its vulgarization; what was to me real and vital at the time was the companionship of Jesus, and I preached that as best I could. I remember that at that time I had the honor of preaching for a minister of the older generation, one of the most eminent of our Scottish clergy. When I called on him, I found him preparing an address for the General Assembly of the church of which he was the presiding officer. He said to me, “I am writing about the changes in the evangelical outlook. We older evangelicals knew what Christ did for us on Calvary; but what precisely does this beautiful Apollo whom you younger men adore do for you?” The sting in this question lurked in the word Apollo. From that day to this I have never lost a misgiving lest there should be an infusion of paganism in the Jesus-cultus which neglects the cross; lest it should be a beautiful but pseudo-Christian devotion which, like the Mary-cultus, has certain unmistakably beautiful effects in the realm of self-discipline, and yet lacks the characteristically Christian element of conducting the abashed and contrite soul into the sin-scorching presence of the Supreme. . . . Now, no man can help feeling grave concern and alarm if he begins to suspect that vital elements are being left out of much of this generation's thought on such subjects as God and sin and the needs of men. For this vital element, whose absence is suspected, is the pride-destroying element; and it is no wonder if people are afraid of the future of a religion insufficiently ballasted by pride-destroying elements. For the whole history of religion makes clear that association with the things of God positively makes for human inflation and pride, except when central to this thought there has been such a pride-destroying conception as the cross.

The divine remedy for this evident spiritual decadence is found in that proclamation of the gospel which emphasizes the work of our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary as of essential value in coming into right relation with God in these closing hours of probation. This means that the threefold message of Revelation 14, with its clear light upon the atoning work of Christ, is just what is needed as the only efficacious antidote for the present apostasy. This message gives to the law of God its rightful place, emphasizes its condemnation of sin, and points out that release from the guilt of transgression of the law can come only through personal faith in the death, resurrection, and ministry of Jesus, the “merciful and faithful High Priest,” and that the evidence of righteousness by faith is exhibited in obedience to all the commandments of God. This is certainly the message for the hour. W. W. P.