THE BANKRUPTCY OF CIVILIZATION
• '■'. An article bearing this title has appeared recently in one: of our English religious magazines in which the writer has attempted to show that though 'in this Year of Grace, 1914, we have reached the high-water mark of development in human civilisation, yet the present war is a confession of failure. Civilisation with all its products has been weighed in the balance and found wanting, and must be so till civilisation is filled with the Spirit, of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The writer of these lines is submitting these views because to a large extent the Press and pulpit of this Dominion has 60 far tea large exten. failed to face these facts. In England it.is being realised that.the arm of flesh;has failed; that civilisation can p so far and no farther; that The Hague': Conferences .- have .their: limitations, and -that international 'treaties can, be : worthless in a season of emergency.. Let it.not be said.that German civilisation has alone failed to respeot solemn, treaty obligations for wo have had recently the example of the United States very ' reluctantly agreeing to ratify the provisions of the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty. l To those who haye been endeavouring to keep in touch, with the philosophy of Germany, the present war gives no great occasion for surprise, as it has been well perceived that the writings of Nietzsche have dominated German thought; of whom an English writer has said: "We have no hesitation'in stating that his philosophy is corrupt enough to sicken a Hottentot.,
~..; .But Nietzsche has triumphed and the only explanation of the heatli'enish antics of the Kaiser is found in the fact that he imagines himself to bo the super-man." It is well known that German Higher Criticism has introduced an irreverence into: Bible criticism that has done untold harm. Unfortunately England, with New Zealand and the other States within the British Empire, has also been cursed by. this anti-Christian philosophy. Our nation has lost to a very appreciable extent the simple faith in the Bible as the Word of God which was so noticeable on the part of the leaders of thought and amongst all classes of society during the earlier part of last century.' It is said that most of the professors of our Colleges, and many of our theologians deny the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. Beyond all doubt the greatest battle of this century must rage around the'. inspiration of- the Word of God, Has the Almighty really spoken to erring mortals ? , Or are we mere derelicts tossed to and fro upon the ocean of. life's enigmas without a chart or compass? If the Bible goes all' vanishes; our faith is vain and we stand .helplessly face to face with the unsolved problems of sin and sorrow, life and death, judgment and immortality. If the Bible be not a revelation from God of God, but merely the creation of human philosophy, imagination, memory, argument, and tradition, 1 then we are confronted with the greatest and most audacious imposition ever palmed off upon the credulity of the human race. But the very existence of the Book to-day is in itself miraculous and can be accounted for on no other ground than that of Divine superintendence and interposition. It is the wiiter's firm conviction that .God is speaking to the nations at the present time through this terrible crisis. We are told that in England there are many evidences of the chastened mood of the people throughout the country, and that even Lord Kitchener finds time to attend the services for prayer which is daily .being offered to God for a speedy and successful end of the conflict. It has pained some of us to" note that there is very, little of this spirit apparent in <New Zealanfl. -We are told that God has appointed four sore judgments by means of which' He causes His voice to be heard. Three are frequently referred to as the "sword, famine, and pestilence, and the fourth is considered fo be the earthquake. One of our City Fathers at a Council meeting a few years ago gave as his learned opinion that owing to the many mineß having been opened up throughout this country which would act as, safety valves to enable earth's internal gases to escapo we in New Zealand need not fear any violent earthquakes in the future, and I trush he is right; but' let us not forget God has many ways of causing His voice to be heard.. The writer is not connected with the Bible-in-Schools League, but is a firm believer that the Bible should be read in the State Schools. The last word upon the subject has been pronounced by Lord Bryce.who, in addressing an Educational Conference in England recently, announced himself as emphatically in favour of religious instruction in the public schools. Wo aro forgetting in this land that, our Nation's greatness dates from the time that she declared for an open Bible. There is real danger at. the present time of New Zealand becoming a country almost without reverence and with little faith in God or hope in heaven. /Eublisled, bj famze&§B*ul
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Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2328, 9 December 1914, Page 5
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859THE BANKRUPTCY OF CIVILIZATION Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2328, 9 December 1914, Page 5
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