The Wreck
of Faith
By REV. J. H. RALSTON, D. D.
Secretary of Correspondence Dcpartraeat,
Moody Bible Institute, Chicago
TEXT-When the son of man cometh,
ihall he find faith on the earth?-Luke
|8:&
These words have been interpreten"
is meaning that when Jesus Christ re
body of Christian truth given once for
all in the first century, embracing the
fundamentals of our Christian sys
tem-the Infallibility of the Holy
Scriptures, the deity of Christ, the lost
ttate of man by nature, the only hope
?f recovery by the atonement of Christ
an the cross, etc. This may be consid
ered from the standpoint of the church
tn Its visible form or that of the Indi
vidual, personal interest in the sub
ject being emphasized with reference
to the latter rather than with the for
mer. The aspect of the former, be
cause It .ermines the aspect of the
tatter, ?nail have fuller treatment.
Faith has had a varied experience.
For some three centuries it was held
with comparative fidelity. Then the
clouds of paganism and lust for em
bracing Christianity as an element of
political life began to gather. For
some centuries there was great dark
ness. In the period of the Crusades
there were flickering lights. Then
darkness came over Christian thought
until the days of Huss in Bohemia and
Wickliffe In England. Persecution in
Bohemia and indifference In England
soon brought another seuson of dark
ness, until In Germany, under Martin
Luther, the light arose that has shone
for four hundred years, and accounts
for what we have of the true faith to
day.
Is the faith of the church, as such, a
wreck today? Do we find all sails set
and drawing, bound confidently for a
distant port'/ Or do we see that church
hesitating, staggering in the midst of
changing teachings as to fundamentals
like the ship with contrary winds and
laboring hard to avoid the rocks on
which it may be a total wreck?
?not true that some denomlna
Christians while still clinging i
odox creeds have abandoned
eeds in their teachings? Faith
i in some denominations ?ire
..lng to their brethren to sup
press many of the church publications
as they are distinctly infidel in their
teachings. Ls lt not true that many
hungry souls go to*Thurch and come !
away hungry because they have not
heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
How about the individual? Not long
ago a young man. who was a gradu- j
ate of one of America's greatest uni- ?
yerslties and was finishing his second
year in an orthodox theological semi
nary, said to the writer that he had
lost his faith, had no confidence in the
Bible, did not accept the deity of Jesus
Christ, and was thoroughly unhappy.
This is an extreme case, but the writer
has had many young people cf liberal
education give substantially the same
testimony.
What is the somewhat remote rea
son for this situation as to religious
teaching? We must po to the land of
Martin Luther. The work ol' corrupt
ing the Bible had progressed until I
nearly all German universities and
theological schools had repudiated the
faith of Luther, although clinging to
his name. Learned men said certain
results had been attained and these
results discredited the Bible. Wirb
amazing, rapidity this conclusion took
hold in England and Scotland and our
own country. Destructive biblical
criticism and Darwinian evolution
swept over nearly all our great uni
versities and our Bible was in the
scrap heap. Those of us who have
watched the trend of German theo
logical teaching have observed a tre
mendous advance since the days of
Schleiermacher, Baur and Hoffman to
the days of Kuenen, Graf and Corr.i ll.
It was bad enough with the' former,
worse with the latter and the final
plunge was made by men like Neitsz
che, who utterly Ignored the Bible
and defied God himself. Is it any won
der that Germany is suffering today,
and is it much less wonder that the
Saxon world is suffering likewise?
When will men learn wisdom?
For the individual, especially re
specting young people, the old-fash
ioned religion must, come back. The
old religions horne must be restored.
How many professedly religious homes
are relieious wrecks!
Back to God ! Back to Jesus Christ!
To thus get back we must get back to
the Bible. Thank God lt is being pub
lished us never before and the demand
for it is beyond the supply. Thank
Ged for this fact as to the hunger of
the people for truth.
turns to this
world that he will
find no faith.
They have been
interpreted as be
ing simply an in
quiry, because of
the teachings of
the Bible and
present world
conditions as to
faith at that
time. In either
case we have a
wreck in view,
whether real or
imaginary.
Faith may be
understood as the
l?Q?m Brm.
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GEDDING CUSHMAN,
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Notice of Final Discharge
To All Whom These Presents May
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WHEREAS, John D. Boswell has
?nade application unto this Court for
Fina] Discharge as Administrator in
re the Estate of Nathan Jennings de
ceased, on this the 3rd day of Decem
ber, 1918.
THESE ARE THEREFORE, to
cite any and all kindred, creditors,
or parties interested, to show cause
before me at my office at Edg?field
Court House, South Carolina, on the
3rd day of January, 1919 at ll
o'clock a. m., why said order of Dis
charge should not be granted.
W. T. KINNAIRD,
J. P. C., E. C., S. C.
3rd Deecmber, 1918
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