Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 13
December 21, 1961
NUMBER 33, PAGE 4,13b-14a

The Coming Battle

Editorial

W. W. Otey

(Editor's note: With the death of brother Otey an historic era comes to a close. But he "being dead, yet speaketh" in numerous articles, books, and sermons that he has left. We print here an article from his pen which originally appeared in the Gospel Advocate, September 14, 1933. It shows that even then, nearly thirty years ago, he saw and understood clearly where the fight would be pitched in the years ahead.)

Sin is but the fruits of unbelief. All righteousness springs from faith in God, united with full reliance upon his word. The word of God received and retained in the heart results in salvation. False teaching already in the heart has always been one of the greatest obstacles in the way of getting the word into people's hearts, and it often neutralizes its saving power. The hindrances to its success have varied in different countries and historical periods. The method of overcoming obstacles has needed to be adapted to the conditions. Paul's sermon to a Gentile audience at Athens was different in matter and method to his addresses to Jewish audiences in synagogues. He kept in mind the viewpoint of his hearer.

The great work of the reformers in the sixteenth century was to break down confidence in the supreme authority of the Church of Rome, and to restore the word of God to its rightful place as the only source of authority in all matters religious.

In the early part of the nineteenth century, Protestant denominations in America accepted, in theory, the Bible as the revealed will of God to man. But in practice they had rendered it ineffective by their false interpretations. That God had spoken in the Bible to man was a matter of very general agreement. But what God had said in the Bible was a matter of much disagreement. It was used largely as a text by which to prove humanly formed creeds. Each denomination used its creed as spectacles through which to read the Bible. It was like a company of people arguing about the color of a picture, each having on spectacles of a different tint. The great task of the restorers was to persuade people to remove their colored glasses and discern what God had actually said in the Bible.

We are confronted today with a task different from that of any others since the Bible was fully written. Till now all who claimed to be followers of Christ have admitted in theory that the Bible was first written by inspiration. The idea that the first copies of the Oracles of God were indicted by the Holy Spirit is no longer admitted in theory by multitudes of those who profess to be followers of Christ. This is a situation different from that of any other period in the history of Christianity. Our greatest task now is to convince people, many of them professing to be followers of Christ, that God has actually spoken to man in the Bible — in other words, that those who wrote the first copies of the different sections of the Bible were guided by the Holy Spirit, and, therefore, in every part where it has been faithfully and correctly transcribed and translated, it infallibly reveals the will of God to man.

While there are still many parties in religion with minor differences, the great trend is toward the forming of two schools of thought. The depth, breadth, and speed of this movement is very deep, broad, and swift. The revolution of thought religiously is of far greater moment and just as real as the revolution in economics, mechanics, and politics; yet it is scarcely discerned by many.

The teachings of these two schools of thought are sometimes designated as Modernism and Fundamentalism, but perhaps more accurately expressed by the terms naturalism and supernaturalism. The teaching of naturalism is that natural law, without any direct intervention of God, has brought the universe, together with man, the Bible, and religion, to the present state. It flatly denies all idea of supernaturalism — that God has ever from the beginning done anything in contravention of natural law. Specifically stated, naturalism denies that man was created sinless by miracle, and that he fell. It denies the miraculous birth of Jesus, that his death in any way atoned for sin, that he was raised from the dead. And it specifically denies one of the greatest of all miracles — namely, the inspiration of the Bible. Naturalism affirms that man was evolved from dead matter, as a single-cell life, and on up through jelly fish, reptiles, to some ape-like beast, the immediate ancestor of man. Naturalism affirms that man and all he is — body, soul, and spirit — Christ, and the Bible are the result of a natural process of evolution. As Burris Jenkins, a noted Christian Church preacher, tersely expressed it: "Christianity is not the truth, but a search after the truth." The result of accepting the doctrine of naturalism is the rejection of the Bible as God's revealed authority to man, and Christ as a sin offering and Redeemer. It rejects all idea of the miraculous, and so rules God out of religion. Its religion is solely that of naturalism.

The vast majority of institutions of higher education, state and religious, are steeped in naturalism. At least a very large per cent of those now entering the pulpits in denominational churches lean very strongly toward naturalism. It is one of the chief causes of the present loss of vital force in the denominations. It is an insidious anesthetic — benumbs spiritual sensibility, and is like the deadly monoxide gas that kills its victims before they notice its effects.

The task of the Campbells and their associates was to remove the daub of sectarian interpretations and present to view what God had said. Our task is to dispel the fog of naturalism and show that God has actually spoken at all.

The burning question now is how best to turn back the mighty wave of modernistic philosophy that is today sweeping over the world. The unreasoning denunciation, too often resorted to, of higher education, science, and scientists is certainly the most unwise course that can be pursued. It can only result in the defeat of the cause of those who resort to so unscriptural a course. Every achievement of applied science should be applauded, and every true scientist honored. It is only in the field of pure speculation aimed at the creation, fall, redemption through Christ, and the Bible as a revelation from God, that the battle is joined. Here is solid ground, and must be intelligently defended. There is not a single achievement nor a single demonstrated fact of science that conflicts in the least measure with any statement in the Bible Only in the field of purely speculative, unproven theory is there the least disagreement. And this discrimination should be studiously made by every one who would speak or write on such momentous matters.

Sermons, lectures, essays, and books, free from prejudice and passion, that appeal to the intelligence, may be freely used with good effect. But in the final test there is one infallible remedy foe all unbelief and for all forms of sin. That remedy is Christ preached and Christ lived.

The mightiest spiritual battle of the ages is approaching. There is being marshaled the most numerous and skillful host of insidious unbelief since Christ was crowned. Legions of intellectual giants and spiritual heroes are needed in the Lord's army. Young men, put on the whole armor of God, grasp the sword of the Spirit, and join in the fight: Let there be no faltering till the shout of final victory rises to the gates of heaven.

Bible were guided by the Holy Spirit, and, therefore, in every part where it has been faithfully and correctly transcribed and translated, it infallibly reveals the will of God to man.

While there are still many parties in religion with minor differences, the great trend is toward the forming of two schools of thought. The depth, breadth, and speed of this movement is very deep, broad, and swift. The revolution of thought religiously is of far greater moment anu just as real as the revolution in economics, mechanics, and politics; yet it is scarcely discerned by many.

(Continued on page thirteen)