The Ohio Independent Baptist, January 1961

1 '"T'<) 11\ t .... 1 c.1 ( ~11r1, tin11 i5 tc) b,1ttle ,1, c.l \\ ..1rric)r. For tl1e cl,.1il\· lot of , l-:(1tl's t l1il tl 1 11ot ,1 becl of ea e l)ttt ,l fer<1ci·1t1 c.:011fljct. ..~1 d ot1r \\ re ~tli11g 1 11ot \\ itl1 pt111)· 1na11 b t1t ~1 g~1i11 t ~ t1per11,1h1ral ,1t,111ic 110 t . .. •O\\ i11 arl). lJc1ttle, logical b·,1tegy 1 to ct1t off tl1e tll)Pl>· of tl1e e11e1n)' 's \\ ec.11)011 . r 11cleri11g l1i111 i11clefe1 sible, )·e,1. a l1elple pre)·. .~ brief gla11ce at l1istor,· re\-ec:11 th,1t tl1is i exactl,, . - \\ l1c1.t c.1 t,111 ha ,1tte1nptecl to clo. A.. 111ai11 li11e of hi h·atcg~· 11c1 been to <lepri\e Goel· people of Gael's \ \ lord, ,, itl1ot1t ,\·hicl1 tl1e,· flot111cler a11d be- • come c·o11fu ed sheep. Ot1r preciot1 protectio11 i · tl1i , "Bt1t the ,,,orcl of tl1e Lord e11clt1retl1 fore,,er" ( 1 P e ter 1: 25a ) . :\' e,·ertl1ele ata11 h c:1 tried to rol) ti of ot1r S\\'Ord a1 cl tl1e storie of God' ,ictorie a1 d Sat an ' failt1re i a li"·i11g te timonial t o tl1e b-t1tl1 of thi , ·erse. oon after the criptures ,,,ere com– pleted, the great Ron1a11 Empire thre,\· its \\·eight behind an att empt to tamp ot1t C1 ristianit) 1 • One of its emperor ~ Diocletian, ( 2 4 A.D.-305 • .\ .D. ) , 1nade a particular effort to seize and bur11 all avai lable copies of tl1e criph1res. Gods p eople fled ,,·here they could, some goi11g t111d er– grou11d into the catacomb of Rome tal'ing \,'ith them their preciot1s copies of the \\ 7 ord. E"~e11tually Diocle tiru1 and sucl1 died. The Bible lived on! God had used H is people t0 preserve H is \ Vord. a t an's attempt to stamp out the crjptures ended in failure. H o\,·ever, the enemy of our soul does 11ot gi"'e up easily. If outward f orce is insufficient to accomplish his goal, ,,,}1y not iI1direct subtlety? So his strat egy ch anged. Since the Bible could not be put out of existence, the next best step was to limit its pos- 1· 1' 1\ Pl'l s·1· J a 11 u ,1 r y 19 G I e • _tan e l u retne s sr·s~1<J11 t() a rL)lati\'C'l) \111,lll grot11J. ·r11ts i. I)l'{..('1Sel}· \\ 11 ,l l l1appP11 (>cl . A cl rg, <:la ' ' l) Ctl l11C tl1e . ()1 l)OSSCSSOl s ()f tl1<' 1..c:ri11t t1r cs. It \\tlS 11ot e,·e11 U\ ,1il ,1blc ir1 t11e la11gt1,1g of tl1 co111111011 11eopl . 01),·ic)ttsl)' if tl1e 1Jeopl \\'isl1ecl Scri1Jtt1ral kr10,\·lcclge t11e~ 1nt1st t1sk tl1e clergy for Gael 's \ \ ·orcl . Bt1l s i11ce 011ly tl1e cl er g)' cot1lcl po se the \ \ 1 ord, their offer– ings to tl1e tJeop]e co11si ted i11 "piot1s" i11terpret,1 tio1 s of tl1e criph1re, not tl1e crinh1re it elf. In time tl1ese i11- terpretatio11s a11d declaration ca1ne to b e co11siclerecl of more importance tl1a11 tl1e Bible \\·hicl1 the)' \Vere st1p– posed to t1n, 1 eil. The Bible ,,,as tak– i11g ,1 back seat a1 d becon1ing r ela– ti\·el )' u11i1nporta11t. Sat a11 's plan seemed to lJe 011 t h e verge of achiev- . 111g ~ ucces . H o\,,, did God an ,,,er thi threat ? 1"HE REFOR. 1ATIO:-JI God raised tip 1nen ,vl10 dilige11tl)' translated the \\;ord into the la11gt1age of the com– mon people then \\ridely clistribut ed it. Of course the invention of the prii1ting press at tl1is time \vas no accide11t. The st1bseqt1ent Protestant n1ove1ne11t r emains the b est-kno\vn co11cept of the Refo1matio11; bt1t un– clerlyi11g Protesta11tism , a11d p erhaps the mo t sig1 ifica11t f eature of this gr e,lt er a, was the p laciI1g of the Bible back in to the hands of the p eo– ple. And to have the Bible is to lay asi<le f ,:1ulty church dogma. Again Satan fa iled . Again God's Word en– dures . Again that old master of deception char1ges hi strategy. H e could not stamp it ot1t. H e could not substitute cht1rcl1 dogma through limitation to a sp ecial class. But wait! W h a t good will i t do God's people t o pos– sess a Bib le if this Bible has no value? Ah- that' s it . And so in the name of scholarship a tan sough t to discredit the content s of the W ord. Liberal or modernist sch olars und ertook to p rove that the Scriptures were of little alue. T hey cla imed it was not the p roduct of inspiI·ation , tha t it w as not written b y wh om or wh en it claimed t o b e, tha t it w as contradic– tory, its miracles wer e but f ables, its lTI<>l" tllS t'C>tlf]icling, its ( :tlrisl a rn :,le 1nn11 , n1 tl ils s,1lv ,1 licJ11 11 ni \ 'C Bt1l agai 11 (;c>cl s lcppPcl f(>rtl1. gttiu II tlsecl Hi <i O\\ 11 to t11\v,1rt tl1c IJur– p oses of ,1ta11. 011ce mo1 e mc11 ,,,er ra isecl ltp, me11 like B. 13. \ \ 'ttrfiel(l, R. D. ' '' ilso11, J. G. ~1acl1e11, ( .. Ji'. K il , 0 . T. Alli5, a11cl m,111,, o tl1crs ; ' ,, 110 pro,recl tl1e lie of liberalis1n. Tl1C)' de1no11strated tl1at the BilJle is tl1e protluct of cli\ i11e inspiration, t l1at it , vas \\ 1 ritte11 l)y \\ hon1 and ,vl1e1l it clai1ned, that it is 11ot co11tradictory, that its miracles are ge11t1i1 e, its morals holy fro1n Genesis to Revela– tio11, its Christ ,·erv God of \ 1 er, , Goel ; , ' and its sal,·atio11 an incalct1lable necessit)' · To open mi11ds tl1ey pro,,ecl tht1t the co11clt1sio11 of liberal scholar– ship ,,,e1e only the preco11cei, 1 ecl tl1eo1ies of biased mi11cls a11d not at all \\'Orth,, of tl1e term of scholarship. T l1us the atte1npt to discredit tl1e \ \ 1 ord failed; and ta11ding st1preme, "the ,vord of the L ord endure th. " So Satan has fot1nd tl1at h e can11ot p '..1t Gocl's \ Vord out of existence; l1e cannot sul)stitute cl1urch dogma; he ca~111ot st1cces full}' discredit its con– t e1 t s. B11t there remains one last , vay to deprive Christians of their sword. This, the most ii1sidious of all, rather than b eing imposed from \vithol1t, finds its impetus from , ,,ith– i11 tl1e ranks of Christia11s them sel,Tes-. If Satan can cause Christians to neg– lect the stud)' of their Bibles, h e can greatly ,veaken its influence and be victoriot1s in their l ives. This might b e called the attempt through Chris- . tian neglect ; and "vho does not recog– nize fuat this attempt finds victims in the most fundamental of our ch ur ch es? Bt1t hear this: "The ,;vord of the Lord endureth forever." at an ,,·ill b e defeated! H e cannot ,vin! Ah, but the quest ion for you and for me is this, "vh at contribution ,vill I make to his d efeat ? L e t u s join together and diligently find our meditation in tha t great Book of Books \ V hich "L iv· efu and abideth forever ." L e t us· make 1961 a great year of diligent Bible s tudy l