| News and Views | May 1946 |
The “United” Nations
WHEN Andrei Gromyko walked out of the United Nations Security council meeting on March 27, thinking people the world over who were willing to face facts realized with almost dead certainty that the U.N., like its predecessor, the League of Nations, will not save the world from war. Senator Pepper, who strongly advocates that the “Big Three”—Truman, Attlee, and Stalin—should get together again and try once more to settle their differences, used this “walkout” of the Russians from the Security Council as an additional reason why his plan should be tried.
The Senator remarked that the disease which breeds war is in the bloodstream of the discontented people of earth today, and that only a mutual understanding between the three great powers will be adequate to save the world from future horrors. What the “Big Three” can do about the disease which he claims is poisoning the blood stream of the world politic, Mr. Pepper does not say, evidently because he does not know.
The Russian’s walkout from the Security Council, and the body blow it gave to the U.N., highlights important biblical prophecies relating to our time, particularly a group of prophetic statements concerning efforts which would be made by the nations of earth to unite, both for war and for peace; in order to save themselves from destruction. In Zephaniah 3:8 the prophet explains that it was God’s purpose to gather the nations and to assemble the kingdoms. In Isaiah’s prophecy (chapter 8, verse 12) we are warned not to say a confederacy to those who advocate a confederacy, nor to fear their fear. Isaiah 45:20 reads as follows: “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations.”
In these inspired forecasts of world developments during our time it is brought to our attention clearly that the motive for this get-together activity on the part of the nations is fear. They fear the consequences of attempting to stand alone in this time of world upheaval. This trend toward association has been most manifest beginning with the memorable year 1914, when the first World War commenced. But even prior to that there were various alliances between the nations of Europe, which were formed with the balance-of-power idea in mind. Each nation which joined one or another of these alliances did so in the hope that it was joining the strongest combination.
It was because of these alliances that the incident in Serbia in the summer of 1914 could serve as the igniting of a tinder box which flamed forth into the first World War in such a remarkably short time. As that war continued, the lines formed more definitely between the Allies and the Teutonic powers. But they did not all escape destruction. The Hohenzollern hereditary ruling house of Germany and the Hapsburg-Lorraine imperial family of Austria were overthrown. The Romanoff dynasty of Russia also succumbed. A number of smaller kingdoms went down with these larger ones.
But, as the Prophet Isaiah puts it, some escaped; and concerning these the prophet states, “Assemble yourselves, … ye that are escaped of the nations.” The escaped nations did assemble, in what was called the League of Nations. Closely allied with the League of Nations was the World Court. This uniting of the nations was for the purpose of preventing the outbreak of another world conflagration. The escaped nations seemed to realize that another global struggle would in all probability lead to the destruction of still others of their number.
The League of Nations functioned fairly well for a while; at least until it was subjected to a real test as a peace-keeping organization, and then it failed. It was powerless to prevent Japan from invading Manchuria and China. When the attempt was made, Japan withdrew from the League. It also failed to prevent Italy from invading Ethiopia, for Italy also withdrew from the League rather than to be subject to its rulings. International relationships rapidly deteriorated from then on, and in 1939 came the outbreak of the much dreaded second global struggle.
Meanwhile totally different forms of government had been set up in some of the major countries involved in the war, particularly Germany, Russia, and Italy. But there was another aligning of powers to make war, with the United States finally being drawn into it, even as in the case of World War I. But the second debacle of war brought on by human selfishness has proved to be much more devastating than the first. Many of the principal cities of Europe were laid waste; and in Asia too, there was great and wide-spread destruction.
And, while the first World War overthrew the hereditary ruling houses in Germany and Austria, the second left the German people with no government at all. The German people are now a subject people, and will remain so for an indefinite period. And many of the smaller governments also failed to survive the shock of the second World War. The powerful British Empire was tragically shaken, and would not have survived at all but for the financial, material, and military help of this nation, as well as the military help of Russia.
Now again, the nations which have escaped full destruction have assembled for mutual protection. The United Nations as an organization is but a continuation of the fulfillment of prophecies which point out this “last-days” trend of the nations to form alliances for mutual protection. Because this pattern of events is so clearly pointed out in the Word of God, it is no surprise to those who are acquainted with the prophecies that Andrei Gromyko should so dramatically desert the Security Council of the U.N., when it became clear that he could not prevent his government from being brought before the council for criticism. And although a compromise agreement was reached on this particular issue, there is no doubt about the U.N.’s failure to bring in a utopia of peace on earth and good will among men.
Listen to the testimony of God’s Word on this subject: “Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together [even in the Security Council], and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand.”—Isaiah 8:9,10
And again we read: “Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.”—Zeph. 3:8
There is no mistaking the meaning of these two prophecies The Lord declares that the whole earth is to be devoured with the fire of his jealousy. This, of course, is not literal fire; nor is the physical earth to be destroyed. In the Bible, God uses the term “earth” to symbolize human society organized as nations and otherwise. It is this organization of men, based upon selfishness and hate, and made up of contending factions called nations, that God will not tolerate in the earth forever.
The fire of his jealousy is to burn and consume this evil order of things. The term jealousy is used in this connection much as we employ it when we say, for example, that we are jealous of the good name of our family, or of our country. It is not vindictive jealousy, but a sincere, genuine interest in that to which it pertains. So God is interested in the human race. He loves all the people of the earth—all nations. He has promised to bless all nations through the establishment of Christ’s kingdom. First he sent his Son into the world to die for the people; and his second advent is for the purpose of blessing those for whom he died.
But this selfish, man-made order of things stands in the way of the blessings which God has designed for the people. Being jealous for the well-being of his earthly creatures, his overruling hand in the affairs of men brings about the overthrow of all authority that opposes justice and righteousness, or that in any way would vitiate the good that he has planned shall be vouchsafed to the people through Christ’s kingdom.
And what will this symbolic fire of God’s jealousy destroy? Anyone who knows of the high standard of righteousness and justice held forth in the Bible, and with this knowledge looks into the council chambers of the world today, will soon discern how much there is to be burned. The church-state systems of Europe did not measure up to this standard, and most of these already have been burned by the fire of God’s jealousy. But the assembling of the nations will proceed, and the fire of God’s jealousy will continue to burn against all their unrighteousness—wherever it exists—until the way is fully prepared for the world government which will be the kingdom of Christ.
Through the prophet the Lord tells us not only that he will destroy a world order, with the fire of his jealousy, but he follows up by saying that after this destruction he will “turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:9) Shortly after the deluge of Noah’s day God divided the people of the earth by confusing their language. (Gen. 11:1-9) They have remained at odds with one another from that time until now. The language barrier is still a considerable handicap to world unity; but this will be changed when the kingdom of Christ is operating in the earth.
The confusing of tongues became symbolic of a still more serious confusion, which has been the confusion represented in the people’s worship of God. Conflicting creeds and dogmas of men have divided the worship of the people and given most of them crude, and ofttimes, ugly conceptions of God. When. the “fire of God’s jealousy” shall have done its work in the earth, and the kingdom of Christ is established, the confusion of tongues as it relates to the worship of God will also cease, for the promise is that God will turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon him and serve him with one consent.
God has also promised that there is to be a world authority which the nations will recognize, and by recognizing it, will obtain peace and security. This is mentioned by the Prophet Micah, who declares that in the “last days” it “shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, … and all nations shall flow unto it.” (Micah 4:1-4) The Bible interprets the “mountain” of the Lord as being the kingdom of the Lord. That kingdom being established in the top of the kingdoms indicates that it will dominate the affairs of all nations.
It is the kingdom of the Lord’s house which will do this, the prophet tells us. The “last days” in which this occurs is a transitional period in which the humanly constituted ruling houses are overthrown, and God’s ruling house takes over. We have already seen many of the former set aside, but we are yet to see the kingdom of Christ take over all its great power and majestic glory. This is amore advanced development of the “last days,” but not too far away now. God’s ruling house is to be made up of his beloved Son, Christ Jesus, and with him his true followers, who are to be joint-heirs in that government.
Other prophecies indicate that the rulership of this government will be very strict—Christ will rule the nations with a “rod of iron,” the prophet and the Revelator declare. (Psa. 2:9; Rev. 2:27; 19:15) But, recognizing the justice of this sovereign power and authority, the prophet assures us that the people will say, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain [kingdom] of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” (Isa. 2:3) The result of this will be that the nations will “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”—Isa. 2:4
So, while we may hope the best for the U.N., we can see the fulfillment of the Word of God in what is happening to it; and at the same time, we can look forward to the coming of a genuine United Nations over which Christ, the King of kings will be the Head; and the authority and power of God, its “security.”
| News and Views |
“Seething” Protestantism
TWO top-ranking religious events having worldwide implications have lately held the attention of those interested in the role religion will play among the nations during coming years. One of these, and the one which by far had its publicity department the better organized, was the elevation of a group of new Roman Catholic cardinals. The other was the world conference of Protestant churches held in Switzerland. Not all the sessions of this conference were open to the public, and it is suspected that in some of the meetings held behind closed doors, Protestant attitude toward. Roman Catholicism may have been the topic for discussion.
At any rate, highly placed Protestant spokesmen in this country have lately been speaking out boldly against what appears to them to be a sinister political activity of the Catholic Church in America. Bishop Oxham of the Methodist Church is one of these; and another is Dr. John A. Mackay, a Presbyterian, and president of Princeton Theological Seminary. The public press reports Dr. Mackay as saying:
Two things fill me with concern regarding present trends in this country within our great sister communion, the Roman Catholic Church. The first is its increasing commitment to a Roman, as distinguished from the traditionally independent policy of American Catholicism. Such a trend has inevitably produced in history the phenomenon called clericalism, which has been the bane of Latin lands and from which we in the United States have been providentially spared. Clericalism is the pursuit of power, especially political power, by a religious hierarchy, carried on by secular methods and for purposes of social domination.
My second concern goes deeper. It is the practice, lately initiated in the official Catholic press in this country, of vilifying in a most unworthy way, the Protestant Reformation and its great leaders, particularly Martin Luther and John Calvin. I plead with the distinguished scholars of the Roman Catholic Church in America that they frown upon every journalistic attempt to distort historical truth for ecclesiastical ends.
It was this very outspoken attitude of Dr. Mackay that caused Time magazine to observe that “United States Protestantism is seething.” Regardless of what the outcome of the controversy will be, it is certainly true that the Roman Catholic Church is making a desperate effort to establish itself more firmly in this country. And this is being done not alone along political lines and by “vilifying” Protestantism, as Dr. Mackay points out. The Catholic Church is also waging an active advertising campaign in secular papers to impress the American public with the superiority of Catholic teachings, particularly with respect to the future life. A sample of the method used in this connection is the following quotation from an advertisement which appeared on the church page of a Phoenix, Arizona, paper:
“CATHOLIC INFORMATION”
“Don’t Send Me to Hell”
JACK DAWSON had a queer sort of nightmare the other night. He dreamed he died and his soul was being judged by God Almighty. Now Jack was always a clean living fellow, and a great Bible student, and he says that in this dream of his, everything was happening as he’d expected.
There sat the Ancient of Days in a snow-white robe, with hair like pure wool; He had crowds of what looked like servants standing around Him, and there people in tens of thousands gathered before the throne.
And there stood Jack, right in the center of heaven, while the recording angel brought out a big book and started to read:
“John Dawson—baptized and confirmed, a regular church-goer, loved God and his fellow men.”
“Well,” said Jack, “I began to throw out my chest. Maybe I hadn’t been such a bad egg after all.”
“Repented of and atoned for all his sins,” the angel continued, “except—“
Then Jack says his heart sank. The Ancient of Days turned His eyes toward him—those eyes which Jack says he’ll never forget. They were like a living fire. Eternity was written in them—deep, piercing, searching out the marrow of his bones.
“And can you guess what was holding me up? I’ll just tell you. I’m not too careful about my speech. (I guess you know that!) And when I get excited or when things aren’t going right, I let out a few cuss words
“And these were keeping you out of heaven?” we asked.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Each one had been entered against me in the books.”
“Well, what happened then?”
“I don’t know. I woke up and found myself groaning, ‘Don’t send me to hell … don’t send me to hell …’”
And the Catholic Church teaches that the good Lord won’t send a person to hell for little sins committed in a moment of thoughtlessness. We know that nothing defiled can enter heaven, but, according to our belief, Jack would have gone to purgatory, where he could have made up for his thoughtless speech, after which he would have joined his Lord and Master in heaven. Purgatory, you see, is for those who, when they die, are not good enough for heaven, yet not bad enough for hell.
It would represent real progress, we think, and at the same time serve as an effective method of silencing Catholic propaganda of this kind, if outstanding Protestants like Dr. Mackay and Bishop Oxham would also become concerned over the way they allow Protestants in general to labor under the impression that the blasphemous doctrine of eternal torture is still believed by them. What a grand service they would render to the general public, and how they would weaken the influence of Catholic teachings, if they would come out openly and tell the people what they must assuredly know themselves; namely, that the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Scriptures do not support the Dark-age teaching, either of eternal torture or of purgatory. Every educated Protestant minister knows that sheol (translated hell in the Old Testament) and hades, gehenna, and tartaroo (rendered hell in the New Testament) do not mean torture, either temporary or eternal.
Perhaps it is too much to expect Protestant clergymen openly and publicly to admit that the churches they represent are built upon creeds the teachings of which have no foundation in the Christian Bible. On the other hand, as long as they fail to do this with respect to the doctrine of eternal torture, they can have no effective argument against the Catholic claim that their idea of being tortured temporarily in purgatory is more humane than the Protestant theory of eternal torture for all who are not saintly enough to go to heaven when they die.
And on the relative merits of doctrines pertaining to what becomes of people when they die, the Catholics seemingly have scored another point over the Protestants in the following, which we also quote from a Catholic advertisement which appeared in a secular press—this one in Fairbanks, Alaska:
“CATHOLICS SAY—”
“How Can Babies Go to Hell?”
We can’t see it ourselves—how the good Lord could take a helpless, innocent baby and thrust it into that “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. 25:41) It just doesn’t tie in with our idea of God’s justice and mercy.
Of course the Catholic Church has never sponsored so monstrous a belief as infant damnation. In fact, the more you know of the Catholic Church, the more you will come to see that if a doctrine is queer, or if it sounds wacky, then it can’t be Catholic, for Catholicism is common sense interpreting God’s Word to mankind.
No—we Catholics with Jesus, insist that “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) That means baptism. It means, plainly, just this: no baptism, no heaven; either, or; take your pick.
But if baptism is the “ticket” without which one can’t get into heaven, then sin (serious, wicked, and obstinate) is also the “ticket” without which no one goes to hell. In other words, sin is as necessary for damnation, as baptism is for salvation. If the Lord finds you holding the devil’s ticket at death he will disown you, even though you should have been baptized. But if he should find you with neither ticket, neither baptism nor personal sin—what then?
Well you won’t find anything in the Bible to cover such a case, but Christian Catholic thinkers, positive that Jesus won’t send your innocents to hell, have spoken of a third place—Limbo, they called it—where such souls can enjoy the happiness they deserve. St. Thomas of Aquinas, one of our foremost theologians, said that, in this Limbo, souls are free from pain and sorrow, and even enjoy a certain inward peace and happiness, so that they reach at least a little of that joy which would have been our common lot on this earth if Adam and Eve had not offended the good Lord.
In other words, they have an everlasting life pretty much as ours would be down here, if all the “blood, sweat, and tears” were drawn out of it; not much compared with the sight of the Blessed Trinity, but infinitely better than the pains of hell, and far better than this, our ordinary daily life.
One of the special points of interest in the foregoing quotation is the admission that the Catholic Church knows of nothing in the Bible to indicate what God has provided for unbaptized infants who die. Had the sacred Word been consulted more studiously, Catholic “Fathers” would have found a much better provision than their own uninspired writers have suggested. For example, they would have found God’s promise to the mothers of infants destroyed by the edict of Herod at the time Jesus was born. Certainly these infants had never been baptized, yet to their mothers God promised:
“Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice, from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy [death]. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.”—Jer. 31:16,17; Matt. 2:17,18
Most Protestant parents today would be inclined to say that they do not believe that their unbaptized infants who die go to a place of eternal torture. They are to be commended for this, for both their heads and their hearts are far superior to their creeds. However, according to the strict interpretation of Protestant creeds, particularly the Presbyterian, for which Dr. Mackay allegedly stands, that’s exactly where all unbaptized infants do go when they die. The renowned Jonathan Edwards, for example, in a day when the creeds really were understood to mean what they say, stated that hell is lined with infants less than a span long.
How thankful we are today to know that such grotesque notions are not taught in the Word of God. How much more reasonable is the truth set forth in the Bible, which is that both infants and adults, saints and sinners, are unconscious in death—sleeping—while awaiting the great awakening by the power of the divine Christ. The Bible teaches—although the Catholic Church apparently doesn’t know it that the true followers of the Master are awakened in the “first resurrection,” to live and reign with Christ, while the others, young and old, are to be brought forth for trial, discipline, and, if properly exercised under the chastening rod, to full restoration to edenic perfection, during the thousand years of the messianic reign.
Thank God, for the light of truth now shining upon the sacred pages of his Word! May we let that light shine.