The Ohio Independent Baptist, January 1968

• lll esus, and by Dr. Earle G. Griffith Tl1is is a ti1nel) 1 article l'vlzic /1 receritly appeared i,i tl1e pages of "Day Break" tlze official orga,1 of tlie Pied- 1no1it Bible College, Winston-Sale,n, North Carolina. Dr. Griffith, aut/1or of the article·, serves as Vice-President of Piedn1ont Bible College and is well known by many of our 0.1.B. readers. The Western world ris now sufifer– ing its worst shock to finer sensibil– ities. Tihe Pogroms (planned slaughter of humans) in Europe a quanter cen.tury ago were not more savage, nor senseless, than these mass de– ~truotions occuirring in our mid t. To be indifferent is criminal. To ~ast one's lot, v,oice ,and influence o n the wrong side iis treason. Causeless effects cannot be. All enlightened people must seek to iso– late the ravaging germs and those :ompetent ought to rprescrJ1be a rem– !dy. Confronting the Causes These fall in,to two groups: First, Distant. Marxis,m, e,ither in a mild or extreme form. Three ~ua11ters of a century ,ago in centers )f labor unrest, stemming from chaf- ng controls ,by owners, the seeds )f revolution were sown by tabloid magazines such as, "The Ripsaw.' ' Coal and steel production ,areas were .he fertile spots. But the outcries were itreated as the hallucinations of a disgruntled minority. Speeches and editorials were laughed off as ithe rav,ings of a 'lunatic fringe." The intervening dec- ·Mies have shown how the absurd can oecome dignified, ,respected and novma]. Professional chairs, politic– ians, writers, even religious leaders 1oined in the refrain of protests, so much so, that the unlikely of 1910 1s rthe order of the day in the 71th decade. Public school de-emphasis of real An1ecican.ism and culture. This allus– ion carJiies no sweepi ng indictment of ur public elementary and secondary chools. Teachers merit better treat– n1ent, higher incomes and greater re– pect than they commonly get. They are indi~pensible. Many are noble lnd hr1st1an. Jt is still obvious that one may reach the I 2th grade and be essen– tially illiterate re pecting the concept THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST ,thart: gave birth to our cot1ntry ancl tlhe patriots and other stalwarts that defended 1th em. To read of schoo.J children who wi]l not sau]•te ,the flag, or recite the pledge, or parents abetted by lawyers, who object to prayer and Bible read– ing as being synonymous with estab– l1ishment of religion seems to defy credib,iliity. Dr. Earl G. Griffith There are ingredients so lacking in school discipline and culiture that leave youth in numbers belching f.rom high schools rthat can be 1 the feeblest of Americans. The e soon conitvol labor, business profe ions and churches. Riots against order become natural. Second, Near at Hand Causes Warped news media. To be sure by thait one embraces soime dailies and editors, some jot1rna1s, books, radio and television. How often these sco£f at persons who d1 favor the destruct ion of moral landmarks. How ea y to fling epithets, Hreactionary," ''ob!)CLtranti t," "a1ch– ~iic," etcetera. ML1ch sin1pJer than searching for f,lcts an,l standing for princip) . A c h1 ,, ic ,tl cxan1 11le c11' the rcc J..l e"" (l1"ircgar(f <)if new'-. 111ccfic1 fc)r ln c1~ anc.f it\ accc) n111anying ruwning a l – titude towarc.l popular acclain, an<.f worship of cash register results was see n in the treatn1cnt of Honorable Willian1 Jennings Bryan. The hi ss of atan has been in the bulk of their reports of him, his attitude toward C~hristi ,anity and his impressive hand– Iin,g of the Scopes tri al. The likes of lairence Darrow was extol led. T n the atmo phere se t tip by such irre– sponsjbility the 11nderwor]d •nust take ,heart. Liberal theologians and ecumenists . l1he "Pike' ' pa·ck has polluted Ameri– can ociety. What could be n1ore destrt1otive of a healthy happy, harmonious so– ciety, than men in theolo,gical chairs, widely acclaimed pulpits and in exe– cutiv·e religious position , who dis– avow every Chri stian tenet and st1b– , titu 1 te in their p·lace one church for the world, that cht1rch in den e darkness. Besides, these men and their pup– pets~ having no salvation message no heaven to reach and no hell to hun, hardly knowing whetlher God is a person or a blind force, can but leave in their wake a community of " Ju t !overs:' and Jaw despi ers. Liberal theologians are deep]y en– trenched in every city where riots have occurred. What have they of– fered a a deterrent? Courts Slow and Biased The wise t of men aid, "Becat1se entence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the son of men is fully et in them to do evil." Ecclesia tes 8: 11. How often the public as it read the account of indictment agai:1 t felons , rapi t , n1urders and in t1rrec– ti oni t receive the in1pr ion that indi fferenc toward victims is all that n1atter ! Wh at ha late ly been clone in the United tales, Ea t, We. t, orth an(l outh to bring rioter , lo tcrs, ar n– i~ t , n1urd rer to jt1 tice? Preacher , t1nday choo] teachers, lawyers, who dL advoc,1tc capital cri n1e httt 111 ,1k Ct)tlrt w rk i111- po si l1le. The Cure cga t 1\ I\ . () r \\ 11 , t t I ,t 'v\ I e ·\ n 'ss. , \Vl111 t t1 r IJ l,11t1e- l>c>fl,t:i11.r::. \\' hil(.; f }1 I tr , it r ic)I was nt it s Satanic ,., >ak 111 11 ,, \;re (Continued on page 13) JANUARY, 1968 PAGE 5