An Open Letter To Earl West
Dear Brother West:
In this issue of the Gospel Guardian appears the full text of the sermon you preached at Cuyahoga Falls some eight years ago. You will recall that the sermon was printed in tract form by the donations of interested individuals in northern Ohio. From the introduction to that tract we read:
"After the sermon was taken down by short-hand off the tape recording, and typed, the manuscript was sent to Brother- West with a request for his permission to publish the sermon in tract form. Brother West readily granted permission. Some minor revisions were made in the text by Brother West."
We take this to mean that the final manuscript, bearing your corrections and revisions, gave an accurate presentation of what you said — of your convictions. Indeed, much of the material in this sermon is the same as that appearing in your tract "Congregational Cooperation" which was printed by the Gospel Guardian some years ago.
You will certainly recall the circumstances of the printing of that tract: The material appeared first in the Gospel Advocate in a series of about six articles. You will recall your resentment over what you considered brother Goodpasture's studied effort to destroy the effectiveness of what you had written by spreading the articles out over many, many months; so that from one article to the next, so long a period of time had elapsed that many readers would lose the line of argument. The material was later published in The Preceptor, and finally on the pages of the Gospel Guardian.
You will recall that the late brother G. C. Brewer took exception to what you had reported about "the Henderson meeting of 1910," and tried to indict your trustworthiness as an historian by reporting his "memory" of certain conversations he had had with brother Lipscomb about that event. You replied to Brewer's article by citing Lips-comb's own words, as he wrote them at the time, and not relying on Brewer's "memory" of conversations that had taken place forty-three years before.
You know, of course, that Goodpasture refused to print your reply to Brewer. And when the Gospel Guardian asked your permission to print the material in tract form, you specifically requested that your answer to Brewer be included in the tract. Which was done. You will recall, too, how brother H. A. Dixon and brother Goodpasture tried to persuade you to withdraw your permission for the Guardian to print the tract, and of the long distance telephoning that was done in an effort to bring you to do this. You refused.
You will recall, too, how Athens Clay Pullias offered you a contract to teach in David Lipscomb College; how surprised he was to learn that you had deep convictions that it was a violation of the Scriptures for churches to contribute to Christian colleges; and how Pullias told you he "could not afford" to have anyone on his faculty who thought such contributions were wrong. You handed him back the unsigned contract, telling him your convictions were not for sale.
But what has happened, brother West? Your tongue has been silenced; your pen has been stilled. You made a "confession" through the Gospel Advocate a few years ago; but no "confession" can change facts. Like the unhappy J. B. Briney of old, the rest of your life may well be spent in trying to answer the arguments made in the strength of your youth. Briney died an embittered and frustrated old man when he saw the monster he had helped to promote (the Missionary Society) roll over him like a juggernaut, ignoring his protests, and going far, far beyond anything he had ever dreamed or thought possible. He had unleashed forces which he could not control.
Does it not become clearer to you with every passing day, dear brother?, that the liberalism in the churches which your "confession" and subsequent silence has encouraged and promoted will eventually go far beyond anything you could endorse or accept? Or is it to be the tragic case with you, as with Pat Hardeman, John Brinn, Ralph Wilburn, J. P. Sanders, James A. Warren, Woodrow Whitten, and a host of other "Gospel Advocate" men that once you have left the safe mooring of a "thus saith the Lord" you will be able to find no stopping place short of the liberal wing of the Christian Church — or perhaps even atheism?
Do you still have your strong convictions against church contributions to colleges? And do still believe that God made no provision for the activation of the "church universal?" And that any effort to activate it either through a missionary board or under a sponsoring eldership "as they did in Texas, and set it up for all churches to contribute through that one church to do their work, you have in principle the same system as that of the Catholic Church through the Pope, or that of Protestantism through their centralized control (Missionary Society, etc.)"? (See your sermon, this issue.)
Is it too late to appeal to your respect for the simplicity of the gospel of Christ? Thousands of faithful Christians have been deeply indebted to you for the excellent work you did in setting forth the history of these "cooperation" developments among the congregations. Many of these people had given no really serious thought to the problem until your writings turned them to a study of history — and of the word of God. Have you found some new truth on these matters now? Or is it that you minimize the entire matter, and think it all a "tempest in a teapot."
If you have discovered new truth which has caused you to change your convictions, or if you wish to refute your former writings and show how they were in error (particularly the sermon reprinted in this issue), the pages of the Gospel Guardian are open to you. And we assure you there will be no effort to destroy the effectiveness of what you write by stretching your articles out over long months of time! The readers of this journal are not fanatical partisans; they are men and women who are wholly committed to the service of God; above all things else on this earth, they desire to be acceptable in his sight. If you have anything which can contribute toward that end, your contribution of it is earnestly desired. May we hear from you?
Sincerely, Fanning Yater Tant