Russia and the Atomic Bomb

SOON after the United Nations General Assembly reconvened, President Truman announced that an atomic explosion had occurred within Russia. While it was generally expected that sooner or later Russia would be able to manufacture atomic bombs, the fact that she is well on the way to doing it was startling news. American military experts were quick to assure the public that this country is far in the lead over Russia in the manufacture of these missiles of destruction and that in an atomic war we would be sure to be victorious.

The public realizes, however, that during the time this nation would be overpowering Russia with bigger and better atomic bombs, and plenty of them, many of our own cities and millions of our people would be destroyed. It is also realized that such widespread destruction here and elsewhere throughout the world would probably result in the destruction of civilization itself. It would seem, then, that even the so-called victors in an atomic war would actually be losers. Most of the world is financially and economically crippled as a result of the last two wars, so what will be its condition following an atomic world war?

This question is doubtless being turned over in the minds of all the delegates to the United Nations, but what can they do about it? The world is divided largely into two camps—democratic and totalitarian. It is not a clear cut division by any means, for some of the most totalitarian governments of the earth are within the democratic camp, and are being supported by the democracies because, while totalitarian, they are opposed to the totalitarianism of the Communists. Enemies can work together to defeat a common foe, even as this country worked with Russia until Hitler was defeated. Now the common foe is communist Russia, and the western nations are determined to prevent a further spread of Russian Communism.

And Russia is just as determined to continue expanding her influence; so the struggle goes on. It is a cold war now, but how dreadfully hot it will become if the nations begin using their stockpiles of atomic bombs! That won’t be this year, and probably not next year. Perhaps not for several years; but unless all the nations can adopt an ideology of mutual interest and understanding, it is bound to come sooner or later, and then will be fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus in which he declared that unless those days of destruction be shortened no flesh would be saved.

It would be a dark outlook indeed but for the promise made by Jesus that this time of trouble would be stopped by divine intervention before the entire human race was destroyed. This intervention will not only end the destruction being wrought by the warring nations, but will result also in the setting up of divine authority over the nations, even the kingdom of Christ.

The United Nations Chapel of Prayer

WE HAVE mentioned before in these Highlights of Dawn the desire of many that the new United Nations’ headquarters building in New York City contain a chapel of prayer in which the delegates, as individuals, might commune with their respective gods. Numbers of prominent religionists and others expressed their disappointment that the first sessions of the United Nations, at San Francisco, were not opened with prayer. It is hoped that the provision of a chapel of prayer in the United Nations’ new building, which is to serve as the UN’s permanent headquarters, will help to overcome this disappointment. The inclusion of the chapel in the plans of the new building is at least a tacit acknowledgment that there is a higher power which could have something to do with the deliberations of the delegates.

A news item describes the proposed chapel as follows:

“The chapel of prayer in the new United Nations headquarters will have no altar or windows. A shaft of sunlight will come through the roof. A huge marble slab, memorializing the war dead, will be the only object in the simple, cylindrical structure.”

H.I. Philips, writing in The New York Sun, commenting on this news item, says:

“No altar. … No stained glass windows. … Just a shaft of sunlight from above to symbolize hope, truth, and an omnipotent power. Yet here can be the Universal Temple, the Cathedral of the Earth, the Prayer Room of All Races, Creeds, and Sects, all communing with a Supreme Being in realization that without it they are puppets.”

This is a beautiful summary of what the chapel of prayer in the UN’s new headquarters should mean to the assembled delegates; and perhaps the most significant thought it contains is the last one expressed, to the effect that the various delegates should realize that without the guidance and blessing of a Supreme Being they are as puppets. The realization of this fact, both by individuals and by nations, is the first step toward coming into relationship with the true God, but millions throughout the centuries have never taken more than this first step, and it is doubtful if the United Nations will get any nearer to the Creator and Ruler of the universe than this.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this same attitude as a seeking after the Lord, “if haply they might feel after him, and find him.” (Acts 17:27) In his sermon to the idol worshipers of Athens, delivered on Mars’ Hill, Paul alluded to their desire to contact the true God as represented in their idol to the unknown God. Then he told them that he was there to declare unto them the one whom they ignorantly worshiped.

While the Apostle Paul was thus diplomatic in his appeal to the Athenians, he made it clear that their multiplicity of gods could not help them, and that the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, had made provision in his plan for the enlightenment of all nations; and that this would be done during a future judgment day. He also declared that God had given assurance of this by resurrecting Jesus Christ from the dead.—Acts 17:31

The Creator of the universe, the God of the Bible and the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is doubtless pleased with the efforts of all the followers of false religions to contact him. He created the human race with the faculty of worship, and he must be pleased to note that the people, even in their fallen state, endeavor to exercise that faculty, even though in doing so they mistakenly bow down to false gods, to gods of wood and stone, gods which are unable to do anything for them.

And the Bible makes it plain that in the divine plan the time will come when God will honor the desires of the people to know and serve him, not by helping them to come to him in all their different and conflicting ways, but by enlightening their minds to enable them to serve him in spirit and in truth. Concerning this, the prophecy of Zephaniah declares that God will turn to the people a pure message, and that this will enable them all to call upon him and serve him with one consent. (Zeph. 3:8,9) In a prophecy of the birth of Jesus and its purpose we read that those who sit in darkness will see a great light, the light which shines in the face of Jesus Christ.—Isa. 9:2; Luke 1:79

Concerning that future time of enlightenment, when the people learn how mistaken they were to depend upon false gods to help them in their times of distress and need, the Prophet Isaiah quotes them as saying, “O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.”—Isa. 26:13,14

The theory that all religions lead to God is false. Nor does the fact that a person may be sincere mean that he is acceptable to God regardless of his religious beliefs. The Apostle Peter explains that there is no other name given under heaven among men whereby we can be saved except the name of Jesus. (Acts 4:12) Belief in Mohammed does not bring salvation, nor in Buddha, nor Shinto. Nor are we to suppose that prayers offered to these would-be gods are honored by the Creator and favorably answered. The prayers offered in the UN’s temple of prayer will be very conflicting in their demands. For God to answer them would lead to worse confusion than is now being experienced by the world, and the Creator of heaven and earth is not a God of confusion.

Some may ask if it is not being narrow-minded or bigoted to take such a view. Are we not thus drawing a circle around ourselves and thereby attempting to shut out the rest of the world from the benefits of divine grace? That would be true if we limited the operation of God’s grace to the present time and to the present life, but the Bible indicates no such limit. In the first place, the Bible designates all the governmental arrangements of earth as “kingdoms of this world,” and prophesies that the world, or social order, of which they are a part, is to be destroyed. (Rev. 11:15) As a matter of fact, that destruction is already being accomplished. When we adopt this, the scriptural view, it becomes obvious that the Creator must have some other plan to establish peace on earth than by answering the conflicting prayers of the UN delegates, and he has.

How reasonable it is to conclude—as many seem to have done—that the Creator is governing the affairs of this world according to the whims and wishes of those who are devotees of the various and conflicting religions of the earth. No, God is not asking anyone’s advice as to what to do about the problems of the world, nor is he rendering assistance to all the conflicting efforts that are being made to solve them in his name, or in the name of one or another of the wooden or metal gods of the heathen. A god who had no other way to conduct his affairs than this would certainly not be worthy of our worship.

Yes, God has a plan of his own for the solving of world problems. It is not a plan to revamp and remold the governments of “this present evil world” and then call them Christ’s kingdom. (Gal. 1:4) It is not the communist plan, nor the capitalist plan; it is not the Catholic plan nor the Protestant plan; it is not the Mohammedan plan, nor the Buddhist plan. It is his own plan, the divine plan—a plan which has encompassed ages in its development, and which is about to reach its glorious consummation through the manifestation of Jesus Christ as the new and universal Ruler of all nations.

This being true, there is only one prayer that could be offered in the United Nations temple of prayer which would be sure to be answered, and that is the prayer given to the church of Christ by the Master himself, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10) Yes, it is his dominion, his righteous rulership, that is to solve all the perplexing problems of earth. And the prayer in which his followers ask for this solution is sure to be answered.

Meanwhile, and even before God’s due time for the full establishment of Christ’s kingdom, he loves the people of all nations. He won’t answer their prayers for peace which are based upon gaining their own ends and having their own way. Nevertheless, his plan for their future blessing moves steadily on to a successful and victorious conclusion. And we can be glad, as doubtless God is pleased, to realize that even amidst doubts and fears and confusion, so many of the people of earth are trying to find him, realizing that without his aid all their plans will fail.

If the facts were known we would probably discover that there are very few, including professed infidels, who do not at times realize their need of God, and seek to find him. For example, Voltaire, the noted French infidel, gave expression just before he died to his desire along this line, saying:

“O God unrecognized, whom all thy works proclaim,
O God, hear these my final words:
If ever I have erred, ‘twas searching for thy law;
My heart may go astray, but it is full of thee.”

How glad we are that Voltaire and millions like him—yes, even the people of all nations—are to be awakened from the sleep of death and given a knowledge of the truth and of the true God. That will be what the Apostle Peter describes as their “day of visitation.” (I Pet. 2:12) From this standpoint, we might think of the shaft of sunlight that will stream into the temple of worship provided for the United Nations delegates as a symbol of the true knowledge of God that will yet come to all nations, and when concerning him they will say, as foretold in the Bible, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, … we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”—Isa. 25:9

Religious Persecution in Greece

RECENT news dispatches inform us that the United States’ sponsored government of Greece has notified the rulers of Albania that if they do not cease giving protection to communist guerrillas which cross the borders from Greece in order to escape the nationalist troops, they will invade Albania for the purpose of cleaning up these communist nests. This is but another step in the all-out effort to put down Communism in Greece, and thus save the country for the western world.

A step that was taken for this purpose some time ago was the institution of martial law throughout the entire country. This has resulted in some very distressing situations for religious groups which do not subscribe to the teachings of the Greek Orthodox Church. Seemingly the declaration of martial law for the purpose of stamping out Communism would affect merely the political and civil life of a nation and not its religious activities, but it is not working out this way.

Authorities in the government sponsored Greek Orthodox Church have taken advantage of this situation to suppress all other religious activity throughout the nation. It seems that in Greece martial law operates in a way to make every petty government official, and even policemen, virtual dictators in their own little spheres. The vast majority of these, of course, are staunch supporters of the Orthodox Church. This means that they are ready to do the bidding of the local religious authorities whenever called upon.

The intolerable situation this has created is shown by an incident that was brought to our attention by a reporter who has just returned from Greece. A Protestant Christian was stopped on the street in front of a Greek Orthodox Church, and asked if he attended that church. He replied, No, that he did not because he could not conscientiously accept its teachings. The policeman then demanded his ration book, stating that he could have it back by presenting a note from the priest of the church that he had started to attend the services. The man protested that the confiscation of his ration book would cause his wife and children also to suffer, but the policeman replied that this was all the more reason he should go to the local Orthodox Church.

This is one of the ways in which religious prejudice and intolerance is operating in Greece. In other instances, those who do not support the Greek Orthodox Church are dismissed from their jobs and are unable to find other employment. Thus it is that in Greece, in Poland, and in other European countries, there has been a reversion to the cruel persecutions of the Dark Ages, and this at a time when millions were believing and teaching that civilization had advanced to the point where at least the common man would be free to adopt and practice the religion of his choice.

But the advance of science and education has not changed the selfishness of human beings. Only the regenerative powers of the Spirit of God will be able to do this; and God has promised that in order to accomplish it he will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh. (Joel 2:28,29; Acts 2:16-18) He tells us also that he will write his law in the hearts of the people. (Jer. 31:33) When this is accomplished all will know the true God and will serve him together, and in the same way.—Zeph. 3:8,9

| Home Page | Table of Contents |