THE CANKER IN OUR MIDST

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 4, 29 September 1917, Page 8

THE CANKER IN OUR MIDST

Sir,— May I beg a little of your space in order to bring before the public a matter which is felt by many to be ct.b of grave importance at the present time? We are thankful to have received the appeal from our Government calling the country to a'special season of prayer,.on the first Sunday in October. We feel, however, that if that prayer is to be efficacious there must first be a definite effort on the part of the community, to learn' the reason for which an Almighty and Allwise God has allowed such a. crisis to come upon our nation; and if some great fault is discovered, for which, a chastisement is being visited vjon us, there must be an unconditioned renunciation of that fault. In the last chapter of. the second'book of Chronicles there is a record of a series of calamities which, came upon the nation of Judah, and the closing portion of that chapter might almost be read as a description of the tragedy which has been taking piece in Europe during the past three years. In that same chapter we are olso told the reason for which punishment 'was vi6ited upon the nation. No. particular and individual sin is mentioned, tut rather 'the one great sin which lay at the root of all other corruption—ignoring and rejection of tho Divine revelation of truth, which God had given for the development of the national character, and guidance of the national life through His inspired, "messengers" and "prophets." "They mocked His messengers and despised His words, and misused His prophets, so that the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people until there was no remedy." We ask: Who were these "messengers" and "prophets"? and the reply is. that they were the very men Whose writings form the earlier portions of the Old Testament. "His words," which the nation "despised," were the very teachings which those writings contain. To them were subsequently- added the writings of lrter inspired "messengers" and "prophets, and the library was finally completedby the, addition of the books of the iNew Testament, written by men to whom the promise was given by tho Son of God Himself: "When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth . . . and He shall bring to jour remembrance all things whatsoever I have said unto you." ' What is the attitude of the vast majority of the people of Christendom tcsday towards those messengers and the "Word of th'ei Lord" which their writings contain? Are we not bound to admit that, so far as concerns any definite personal honouring of those messengers, or any deliberate study and appropriation of the truths which their - writings convey, the attitude of the 'great bu k of Christendom to-day is precisely that which is described in tho passage quoted, and which led to the downfall of the Kingdom of Judah. Sir, wo feel 'that the canker which lies at the root of all coldness and'spiritual apathy in the individual; all deadness, formality, and powerlessness in the Church; all indifference, and moral and social corruption in the nation, is the failure to honour tho writers of tho sacred- books as being the very inspired messengers of God, and to study and apportionato their teaching as being in very deed tho "Word of the Lord," contained in "words which the Holy Ghost tcacheth." History proves that,the very darkest epochs in the life of the race have been those when the Bible has ceased to be the book of tho masses. On the. other hand history also proves that the brightest and most glorious epochs iu the' life of tho British nation have been those in which tho Bible has received ils greatest public recognition and honour; as the-very Word of God, and the only guide for a truo individual and national life. We are to-day being threatened with a most subtle and deadly influence, which is seeking to poison tho very springs of truth; that influenco has its home in Germany, and is even more fatal in. its results than tho political treachery which so nearly accomplished the downfall of Bussia. This canker is spreading into most of our universities and theological colleges, and gradually pervading tho teaching of every branch of the Church. It is represented by that modern nationalistic theology, which is nothing more than a weak-kneed compromise with infidelity; and which tends, like tho canker which destroyed Judah of old, to question the authority and reliability ot tho "messengers," and to discredit in tho minds of the masses tho teaching they handed down as being in very deed "tho Word of tho Lord." Sir, if tho na tion is to bo called to a season of prayer, let us first be honest and sincere; let us acknowledge and renounce tho canker in our midst; let our professors of divinity and leading theological scholars renounce any. unhallowed compromise with German rationalistic theology; let our clergy and ministers return to a simple, plain, and believing expounding of the teaching of the Bible, as being

the very Word of God; let them eihorfji the masses to honour and use it diligently as the one guide for individual iifo and conduct. Wo shall then pass through this awful war to a brighter and more glorious epoch in our Empire's history than any which have preceded; and our nation will emerge a greater moral and spiritual power in the world than ever before. On the other hand, let us bo betrayed into a departure from the Bible as being the one unassailable Rock of Truth; let us be betrayed into renouncing a simple protestant faith, which has always sprung from a sincere and unquestioning acceptance of the teachings of that book; and wo may there rest assured that we have already passed the zenith of out power, and that the seeds of national decay and decline are already beginning to mature.—l am, etc., ' W. G. WILLIAMS. •