19-DARKNESS AND LIGHT by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Sep 22, 1914

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 37.

19—DARKNESS AND LIGHT

By Editor

I understand that the gospel as brought to view by Christ and His apostles in the first centuries and recorded in the Bible was covered up during the Dark Ages, and began again to be revealed at the commencement of the Reformation. What was the first light brought out, and when, and by whom? And was it justification by faith? And did later reformers take up the same and carry it on through with them, or did they reject it? READER.

No, it is not true that the gospel was wholly hidden during the Dark Ages. There were faithful followers of God who kept it alive in their own hearts through all that darkened time. There were those, like the Waldenses and others, out in the wilderness and among the mountains, who were loyal to God, and who had His word. There were those even in monks' cells, in the convents, among the priests of Rome, who had access to the Bible, and were faithful to it as far as they saw it. Of course a mighty impulse was given to this in the time of the Reformation. Previous to this, men had been stirred to study the Bible. Wyclif's translation had been made, and portions of the Bible were translated by others. When printing was invented, that gave a great impetus to the spread of the gospel. Then followed other translations.

It is quite impossible to say just when or by whom or what was the first thing developed, when there was more or less of it developed all the way. There were numberless men in the Roman Catholic Church who stood for the truth of God. Some of them went down to martyrdom. Others remained. The great thing of the Reformation in Germany especially was justification by faith. Later reformers accepted this, and went on developing other phases of the Word.

The great mistake made by many of the Protestant sects was that of trying to crystallize what they believed into a creed. It is impossible for human words to express the infinite truth of God; and just as soon as men tried to define what God's word taught, they limited the Word, and limited the faith of those who would accept the creed. Of course there were always those within the creed-bound church who believed out beyond the creed, and whose faith ignored man's framing of God's truth, who saw greater light in the word of God, and consequently they rebelled against the creed, separated themselves from the creed-bound body, gathered around them other followers, and sometimes made the same mistake over again—formed another creed.

That has been one of the great hindrances to Protestantism. If the word of God had been allowed to have free course, and rule, and be glorified, and men had rallied around that—the Word and the Word alone—union would have come instead of the discord we see at the present time. Man's hope of saving discord and divisions has resulted in only greater confusion. It is impossible for us to tell, as our questioner asks, the particular creed that each of the churches holds to. Sometimes churches divide on church government purely. Take the Congregationalists and the Presbyterians for instance. The Presbyterians leave the management of their church largely to the presbytery or the elders. Each Congregational Church is independent. It has no general body of authority.

There is very little difference between the creeds of Protestants, and it is growing less and less all the time. Of course the Baptists have one phase of truth to which they hold, some of them tenaciously and loyally; namely, baptism. Some of them are yielding that. There are books on religions which will give the various creeds of churches. It is impossible, however, even to indicate them in the Question Corner.

20—TEACHING ERROR

Has God ever commissioned anybody to teach error, or has it at any time been His will that man should believe error?

It would seem as though the question answered itself. "He is . . . a God of truth." Deut. 32: 4. The fact is that He is incarnate truth; for Jesus Himself, who came to represent the Father, declares, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." John 14: 6. He saves us, not by error, but by truth—sanctifies us by His truth. John 17: 17. His word is truth, and it is by that Word that we are kept from the paths of the destroyer. Ps. 17: 4. And there are a multitude of other passages that teach the same thing. No lie is of the truth. No lie is of God. None of God's children are ever justified in either believing or teaching a lie. Matt. 5: 19; Rev. 22: 15. Those who hold to error and are still saved, are saved not because of the error, but in spite of it. It is because there is dominant truth in their lives notwithstanding the error.