Facing the Crisis by C. H. Edwards

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 18, 1911

Facing the Crisis

By C. H. Edwards

C. H. EDWARDS

There are certain developments in the world which seem to indicate that at no very distant day the entire Christian church, and especially observers of the seventh day, will be brought face to face with the question of simple faith in the Bible and its statements. For years the Higher Critic has carried on his work of undermining the faith of Christendom in the surety and truthfulness

of the Bible.

He has never hesitated a moment to dissect the Sacred Word. He declares that the story of Jonah and the whale is but a myth; that Job never lived; that Daniel never had an existence, and that the writings ascribed to him were simply the impositions of some one who lived at a much later date. The virgin birth of Christ, his miracles, and his bodily resurrection have all been ridiculed and rejected; and to-day comparatively few are found who believe in the supreme, infallible, divine Word of God. Many, even of those who proclaim their allegiance to that Word, at once become apologists for it and admit that they do not believe its scientific statements, when they are met with the assertion that so-called modern science disproves the accuracy of the Bible.

Perhaps the latest attempt to undermine the authority of the Bible has been the effort to discredit and change the ten commandments. This movement has assumed such proportions that it is well worth our time and attention to consider it. For years the Christian world has been preparing for just such an attempt as this. Many who apparently abhor the teachings of the modern critic have been the leaders in preparing the ground and sowing the seed for the great harvest that must surely be reaped. Some time ago there came from the pen of one of the most prominent evangelists of the age, a book whose intent was to discredit and belittle the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. So zealously did he endeavor to repudiate the sayings of God that he actually declared:—

“The one thing we have now settled is that the law written and engraved upon stones, including the Sabbath law, has no claim whatever on the Christian; in fact, is done away. We must stand by this proposition, because the Spirit of God says so in the Word.”

From one end of the country to the other this fearful delusion of antinomianism is being promulgated. Even the preachers of denominations which claim absolute loyalty to the decalogue are adopting this insidious notion that God's holy law has no claims upon a Christian. Thus, from the pulpit and from the press, the entire world is being sown with the seeds of lawlessness; and when the present movement to discredit the authority and authenticity of the decalogue is fully launched, the world will be ready to be swept away in the vortex of antinomianism and destruction.

The Higher Critics of England have decided that it is time for the church to authoritatively declare its opinion on, and its attitude toward, the ten commandments. This month there will be held a convocation of the Church of England at Canterbury; and at that time the Very Rev. William M. Furneaux, dean of Winchester, is to present to the convention a plan for the revision of the law of God. It is declared that this movement has the backing of so many influential clergymen that there is a fair prospect of its receiving favorable consideration.

We are glad to state that not all the clergy are committed to this plan. The following ringing challenge by Prebendery Webb-Peploe, of St. Paul's, London, should cause many to stop and consider the matter carefully before engaging in such an undertaking:—

“Never has a more blasphemous or sacrilegious proposal been made. What are we coming to when mankind presumes to abridge and alter words specifically declared to be those of Jehovah? The substitution of the evangelical summary of the ten commandments in the common service was a retrograde step, but it was nothing so serious in the sight of God as this new proposal. I hold that the whole of the Old Testament was a divine organ. It is not brevity that is aimed at, but a deliberate distortion of the Christian faith.”

What makes the movement so forbidding and so alarming is the reason that is set forth as the basis for the change. Not only has the Christian church been taught the sophistry of antinomianism, but even from the pulpit the statement has been made that the story of creation, as recorded in Genesis, is a myth, pure and simple. The same teaching is found in leading colleges and universities.

Dr. Henry S. Nash, professor of New Testament literature in the Episcopal Theological Seminary at Cambridge, England, says:—

“These commandments are padded with too much theology and worn-out tradition. The movement to shorten, or modify them on the part of the convocation of Canterbury in the Church of England, is really nothing new. The subject has been discussed by scholars of the Bible for some time. We need to put them into portable shape. Everything else is put into a small shape today, and I suppose these commandments must yield to the same tendency. . . . Now about the history of these commandments. We do not believe they were handed to Moses on two tables of stone chiseled out by the Omnipotent. That is to say, We do not believe that God turned sculptor for a time, and handed this prophet two tables of stone with the commandments engraved on them. While they came in their simplest form from the Almighty, we are not compelled to believe that the two tablets of stone came out of heaven, and were handed to Moses. All the evidence is against this. This is merely tradition. Like all traditions, it has fallen to pieces in the light of careful and accurate scholarship.”

After thus decrying the authenticity of the entire law, he takes the commandments separately, and gives his reasons for changing them specifically:—

“Now we see this in the fourth commandment. We do not keep the seventh day holy because God rested on that day. There are many other reasons for keeping one day holy in seven. Sunday is not the Sabbath. The Sabbath is, strictly speaking, Saturday. But this commandment speaks of the Sabbath in such a way that it does not give us the true reason for keeping Sunday. This opens a whole field for controversy. It is not necessary to enter on this. But it indicates that we are not to look at the wording of this commandment literally; for if we do, we shall have no end of trouble. No one believes that this earth was created in six days of twenty-four hours' length. No doubt there are people who still cling to this conception of creation, but geology has something to tell us about this. Its investigations are to be weighed. It may have taken millions of years for this earth to assume its present condition. I think that such a commandment provokes comment in its present form. It is so involved in traditions that we have to explain many of its phrases, whereas a simpler form would answer so much more to our moral teachings.”

Bishop Williams, of the Episcopal district of eastern Michigan, when asked to express his opinion on the subject, said:—

“I don't believe there is any person nowadays who believes the Lord created heaven and earth in six days, and that is my reason for favoring the abridgment of the fourth commandment.”

Prof. F. B. Blodgett, professor of Old Testament literature and interpretation at the General Theological Seminary, New York City, declared:—

“Similarly, under the fourth commandment about keeping holy the Sabbath day, the reason is stated: ‘For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day.’ Now today nobody believes that the earth was made in six days,—at least, it is not at all in line with modern science. It would be hard, therefore, to hold, as a reason for keeping the Sabbath, a reason the truth of which one disbelieves. As a matter of fact, we keep the Sabbath for an altogether different reason—not because the Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days, but because of modern humanitarian motives in providing rest for workers.”

From this it can be seen that the movement to abridge the commandments is a logical one from the modern churchman's point of view.

Step by step, closer and still more closely, the world is being brought to the final test of faith. The children of men are coming face to face with the solemn question: Whom shall we believe—God or man? Is it a matter of wonder that the Saviour, seeing this very time, asked, with inexpressible sadness, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”

It is by such teaching that the world is being prepared to reject the Bible and its divine Author. But what is the chaff to the wheat? He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh at man's vain imaginings. His Word is established. By

it man will be judged at last. Happy are they who accept that Word now, believe its plain, simple record of creation, and square their lives by God's divine law.

Providence, R. I.