Three Millions to Study Peace
THE Federal Council of Churches has prepared a course of thirteen lessons on international peace, which “will be published during October, November, and December of this year, in the Sunday school and other periodicals of the various churches affiliated with the Federal Council.” A circulation of three million copies is already assured, and it is expected that the distribution of these studies will reach five million. The lessons “aim to create and crystallize sentiment among professing Christians in the interests of international fraternity and interracial sympathy and appreciation.” The expressed object of such studies in peace is certainly very highly commendable. Christian people, above all others, should labor to promote peace. They should emphasize the fact that their Master is the Prince of peace, and that they stand for the principles of meekness and lowliness that characterized the Christ of the living God. But while recognizing and strongly affirming these principles, we must not lose sight of the fact that very many things that pass under the head of religion, and that even assume the name of Christ, are out of harmony with the clearest teaching of His word. The great leaders of the Jewish nation in the time of Christ were the influential doctors of divinity. They claimed to teach the Bible. They boasted of being the descendants of Abraham, and of inheriting all the glorious history of Israel. Yet those doctors of divinity rejected the Christ that their Bible presented; they crucified the Messiah that their prophets had foretold. The great theological leaders of the Middle Ages of the Christian era claimed to hold to the Bible. The cross of Christ was their insigne. They made the exalted claim of being the representatives of heaven. Yet in the name of Christ they perpetrated cruelties that were the disgrace of the human family. And from the same prophets that foretold the suffering of Christ, and also the martyrdoms and suffering of His followers, we learn that the last generation of men will witness delusions the worst that the world has ever seen, and that these will be introduced and promulgated largely through the professing church of Christ. And it will not be Catholicism merely that will thus be deluded and in turn become a deluding power; but there is an “image” foretold by the revelator, that will swing corrupted Protestantism as well as Catholicism into line, and all will combine in flooding the world with deception. In the time of Christ, those who followed the Bible in reality were not carried away by the delusions of the rabbis that caused the crucifixion of Christ. In the Middle Ages, those who followed the Bible in reality were not borne down by the deception that stained the earth with the blood of the martyrs. And so in the times in which we are living, the only safe course for either Catholic or Protestant—and all others, regardless of any church name or church affiliations—is to know and follow the Bible for himself. Some of the doctors of divinity in the time of Christ were among God’s true noblemen. The record says that “a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” Acts 6:7. The Middle Ages produced from among the doctors of divinity some of the mightiest characters in history. And so in this time, we know that history will repeat itself; but the individual must understand and know the sacred Book for himself. The true doctor of divinity will not impress us with the importance of accepting his views and notions of things, but he will urge upon us the importance of knowing the Word for ourselves, and personally and intelligently following the living Christ by the light of the clear precepts of the living Word. The Prince of peace says to all His followers that “in Me ye might have peace.” And through His prophet-apostle, He has told us of a great multitude that would be saying, “Peace and safety,” as “sudden destruction” bursts upon them. 1 Thess. 5:3.