The Popularity of Falsehood.
By W. N. G.
Since the fall of Adam, the truth has not been popular on the earth. His downfall was caused by believing a lie. That lie was, “Thou shalt not surely die.” That falsehood is the fountain-head of all the untruth that has permeated this world from that day to this. From that lie sprang the idea that man has in him an undying nature—that he has an endless existence within himself—and upon this idea hang all the superstitions of heathenism and the deceptions of Spiritualism of every age. The unpopularity of the truth has been demonstrated in the history of every nation since the world began. And in none has it been more conspicuous than among the professed people of God. It is more conspicuous among them because there is where logically it would not be expected. This was notably illustrated in the unpopularity of Christ among the Jews. Christ was the truth (John 14:6), and the law of God is the truth (Ps. 119:142); but the professed people of God rejected His law (verse 126; Mark 7:8, 9), and condemned Christ to death. And the substitution of the teaching of men for the Word of God is just as common in the church to-day as it was then. So we need not wonder that the world is more enamored of falsehood than of the truth. The popularity of fiction is evidence of the unpopularity of the truth. A teacher in one of the public schools of this city, in commending a public library book to her pupils, said that it was “founded on fact, with just enough fiction to make it interesting.” Here was a “Christian” teacher intimating to her pupils that the truth is not interesting. And such is the character of the great majority of even the more popular religious story-books. The New York Christian Advocate, speaking of the writings of Dr. Henry M. Field, says that “his books have been almost as popular as if they had been romance.” Almost as popular as romance is apparently deemed an unusual eminence for truth, and so it is. Not many years before his death, Henry Ward Beecher, one time America’s most popular preacher, was seized with an ambition to add to his reputation for versatility by writing a novel. So he wrote “Norwood,” which had a great sale, not because of its great merit even as a novel, but because it was Beecher’s novel. But some will ask, How is it that the Bible has such a large circulation? There are various reasons, two of which will suffice: (1) Bible and missionary societies give away hundreds of thousands of copies to people who pay very little attention to them; (2) it is popular, because deemed respectable, to have Bibles in the house, altho otherwise scarcely regarded at all. It is not uncommon to find several copies of the Bible in houses where it receives no other attention. It is the possession of the book that is popular, and not its contents or doctrines. Furthermore, it is true that the doctrines which are the most plainly stated in the Bible (which is the truth, John 17:17) are not deemed orthodox in the popular churches. For instance: “The dead know not anything,” etc. (Eccl. 9:5, 6); “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ” (Rom. 6:23); “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29; “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matt. 19:17); “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5); “We according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13); “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14, 15); “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God” (Ex. 20:8–11); “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (2 Cor. 10:4); “Ye have robbed Me . . . in tithes and offerings” (Mal. 3:8; Matt. 23:23); “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Luke 17:26); “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matt. 5:17); “Behold, I come quickly” (Rev. 22:12). These and many more of the plainest utterances of the Scriptures are to-day popularly made void by tradition of the churches. Jeremiah describes the situation in a few words: “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so; and what will ye do in the end thereof?” Chap. 5:30, 31. Is it any wonder that the world loves falsehood, when error is so popular even among those who profess to serve God? The prophecy of Isaiah is equally ominous, and should call forth a more faithful study of the Word of God. Hear him: “We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves; we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; in transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity can not enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey; and the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment.” Isa. 59:10–15. There is but one way out of this bondage of falsehood, which has so extensively leavened both the world and the church, and that is through the truth. Says Christ: “If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31, 32.