The Essential Truths of Religion
Men who entertain the so-called “liberal” views concerning the doctrines of the Christian religion have rejected the leading tenets which have for many centuries been regarded as the plain teachings of the Bible. They deny the inspiration of the Scripture, the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the vicarious atonement, the miracles of Christ, and even the resurrection of Christ. And yet the claim is put forth that the decision of such questions as these can never touch the essential, cardinal truths of religion. The only possible basis for such an assertion as this must be the view that the essential truths of religion are something entirely distinct from the person and work of Christ. According to the teaching of the Bible, Christ is simply the personification of Christianity—the concrete revelation of the truth. The divinity, miraculous birth, sacrificial death, and the resurrection of Christ are the primary truths of Christianity. Faith in the Christ of the Scriptures is essential to salvation. “Except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” To deny these truths is to deny the Christianity of the Bible. What kind of a “religion,” then, can4that be which is not affected by any view concerning the person and work of Christ? Evidently it can not be the Christianity of the Bible. We are forced to the conclusion that it is Satan’s gospel of the inherent divinity of man—the flattering sophistry that every man can deliver himself from sin by developing the good which is within him. How astonishing that man, helpless and defiled, daily conquered by “principalities and powers,” should be deluded into the belief that he does not need a divine Saviour, and that he can lift himself out of “the horrible pit.” This modern religion is simply a refined form of heathenism. It is a mere human philosophy instead of a divine life. It is a weak echo of Lucifer’s boasting self-assertion, “I will be like the Most High.” It cuts man off from him who is “able to save to the uttermost,” and prepares the way for Satan to forge the bonds of slavery all the more securely. Beware of a pretended religion which makes of secondary importance faith in the revealed truths concerning the incarnation, the death, and the resurrection of Christ. It is not Christianity.