| Highlights of Dawn | July 1954 |
The Evanston Conference
“For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” —Isaiah 29:14
COMING August, the World Council of Churches will hold its second general conference, in Evanston, Illinois, the first being held in Amsterdam, Holland, in 1948. This will undoubtedly be the most momentous conclave of religionists to be held in America since the Parliament of Religions in the nineties of the last century. There will be a difference in this respect, that then the conference included representatives of practically all the nonchristian religions of the world, whereas in Evanston it will be limited to those who profess to be Christians. Concerning the Chicago Parliament of Religions, The Chicago Herald then said:
“Never since the confusion of Babel have so many religions, so many creeds, stood side by side, hand in hand, almost heart to heart, as in that great amphitheater last night. Never since written history began has varied mankind been so bound about with Love’s golden chain. The nations of the earth, the creeds of Christendom, Buddhist and Baptist, Mohammedan and Methodist, Catholic and Confucian, Brahman and Unitarian, Shintoist and Episcopalian, Presbyterian and Pantheist, Monotheist and Polytheist, representing all shades of thought and conditions of men, have at last met together in the common bonds of sympathy, humanity, and respect.”
The gathering at Evanston in August will in many ways, be just as imposing as was the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, although it will lack the universal aspect of the latter, and few, either in this country or abroad, will entertain a great deal of hope that any worthwhile degree of unity among Christian denominations will be achieved at Evanston, or that a workable solution for the religious and other problems of the world will be found. Actually, of course, nothing along this line resulted from the Chicago conclave more than a half century ago, although at that time there were high hopes in this direction.
But much has happened in the world since then. Contrary to the expectations and pronouncements of most outstanding churchmen, the world has not advanced toward a higher standard of civilization. The ideology of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has not been accepted by the nations. Instead, in the short period of half a century, there have been two global wars, with a third threatening, and so terrible in its potentials of destruction that thinking men and women the world over are freely expressing the possibility that the human race itself might be destroyed.
If, as expressed by the Chicago newspaper, the peoples of the earth, through their religious leaders, were never before so bound by “Love’s golden chain,” its links of friendship have long since begun to break, until today there is nothing on the horizon, religiously or otherwise, which gives assurance that the worst fears of man will not be translated into that holocaust of destruction which so many are predicting.
Many of the Fundamentalist groups of America will not be represented at Evanston; but representation from European churches will be quite general, and these are more fundamentalist in viewpoint than most delegates from the United States with whom they will be meeting. Herein lies the basis of what will probably be one of the most vigorously contested points of controversy at the conference.
The Fundamentalist view is that the Bible is inspired; that its story of creation and the fall of man is literally true; that Jesus died for the sins of the world and was resurrected from the dead, and that he returns to earth to consummate the divine plan centered in him. This the Modernists deny, claiming that the Bible’s story of creation and the fall is merely intended as an allegory to teach a lesson in moral living. They claim that while Jesus may have died on the cross, as the Bible relates, it was not as a vicarious atonement for sin; and many of them openly express doubts that he was raised from the dead, as the Bible teaches. And Modernists as a whole deny that Christ will ever return to earth as the Bible teaches.
This difference of viewpoint will be brought into the open at the Evanston Conference. The committee on agenda, consisting mostly of clergymen from Europe, has chosen as a theme for the convention; “Christ, the Hope of the World.” In outlining what they mean by this, they make it clear that in their understanding the second coming of Christ is a literal event in the divine plan of salvation, and that he returns to reign for a thousand years, as the Bible says, and that it will be during the “Millennium” of his reign that peace on earth and good will toward men will be achieved.
These European clergymen have not as yet made themselves entirely clear as to what they have in mind when they speak of the reign of Christ and the Millennium, but the Modernists who will attend the conference are already indicating that they will oppose the idea that the hope of the world lies in the return of Christ and the setting up of a literal kingdom on earth by him. So the lines of battle are being drawn, and it will be interesting to see what the outcome will be.
As we have said, the clergymen from Europe are as yet vague in their statements concerning Christ being the hope of the world. Perhaps this vagueness is due to their own uncertainty as to just what the return of Christ and the establishment of his kingdom will actually mean. This would not be surprising. There are various Fundamentalist groups in this country who would agree that Christ is the only hope of the world, and that his return will mean the consummation of the divine plan, yet their view as to just what this consummation will involve are quite dissimilar.
Some believe that at his return there will be terrible and frightening convulsions of nature; that the righteous—those who hold to their views, that is—will be snatched away into the air, and that the unrighteous will perish as humans, and then, as immortal souls, be tormented forever.
Others hold that convulsions of nature will occur when Christ returns, that the righteous—meaning themselves—will be caught up into the air, and that the wicked will perish. But they do not believe that the wicked have immortal souls which will be tormented forever. Rather, the wicked, they claim, remain in the sleep of death for a thousand years, while the righteous, in heavenly glory, study the “books” which record their past deeds, discover that none are worthy of everlasting life, so they are resurrected to have the sentence of eternal destruction passed upon them.
Still others believe that when Christ returns the righteous will be caught up to be with Christ, and will reign with him over the earth for a thousand years; that it will be during that time that the world will be converted. But these hold out no hope at all for those who have died throughout the centuries without accepting Christ, and for the millions who yet will die before, as they allege, he will return and set up his kingdom in which they expect to be joint-heirs.
So this divided viewpoint of the so-called Fundamentalists will attempt to meet the arguments of the Modernists at the Evanston conference. There will probably be but one point of agreement among them all, Fundamentalists and Modernists alike, as to how Christ is the hope of the world, which is that it will be necessary for all to accept and practice the ideological teachings of his Sermon on the Mount in order to have peace, and whatever salvation they might conceive as being in store for the faithful beyond the grave.
And we can agree with this also. It is self-evident, we think, that whatever one’s views otherwise may be, the ethical teachings of the Master are of paramount importance, and that those who ignore or flout them could not possibly be pleasing to the Lord. Neither individuals nor communities of individuals can ever hope to have peace unless they learn and practice love for their enemies, and find it in their hearts to pray for those who despitefully use them. No one will ever attain the blessings which Christ provides unless he seeks to become like our Father who is in heaven—our loving Father, who causes the rain to fall and the sun to shine upon both the just and the unjust.
We trust that even the Modernists at the Evanston Conference will agree that in this sense Christ is the hope of the world. But the Fundamentalists will insist, and properly so, that a great deal more than wholesome moral living is necessary to salvation. They will argue, and scripturally so, that belief in the sacrificial work of Christ is also essential, that apart from such a belief Christ offers no hope for the world.
This is the dogmatic teaching of the Word of God! We read concerning Jesus that there is no “other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Belief in him includes faith in the fact that according to the Scriptures he “was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” (Rom. 4:25) Jesus himself said that he would give his flesh for the life of the world, and certainly no one could have life unless he gratefully, and by faith, accepted this fact, and appropriated to himself the life-giving powers of Christ’s sacrificed life.—John 6:51
Sin Atonement Foretold
By pictures and by prophetic utterances, the Old Testament Scriptures point forward to the coming and death of Jesus as the world’s Redeemer. This aspect of the divine plan of salvation is shown in the symbolism of a slain lamb, the first picture of this being Abel’s offering of a flesh and blood sacrifice, which the Lord accepted.
The thought is again shown in Israel’s sacrifice of the passover lamb. It was the blood of the passover lamb that afforded protection against death for Israel’s firstborn that fateful night in Egypt, when the death angel destroyed Egypt’s firstborn. It was the next morning that all Israel was delivered from slavery under the cruel taskmaster, Pharaoh. This pointed forward to the deliverance of all mankind from slavery to sin and death in the morning of earth’s new day, that day referred to by David, when he foretold that while weeping may endure for a night, “joy cometh in the morning.”—Ps. 30:5
In Isaiah 52:10 we read of a glorious time when the Lord will make “bare his holy Arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” The “Arm” of the Lord is Christ, the hope of the world, and we have the blessed assurance that all the ends of the earth shall see his salvation. But first the “Arm” of the Lord, as shown by Isaiah, was to be “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Isaiah says further that he would be led “as a lamb to the slaughter.”—Isa. 53:3,7
When John the Baptist introduced Jesus to his disciples, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) In order to take away the sin of the world, this “Lamb” must be slain. This was done, Peter later explained, when by “the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,” he was taken, and by “wicked hands” was “crucified and slain.”—Acts 2:23
The Apostle Paul, speaking of the death of Jesus and of the opportunity of salvation which it guarantees, said, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (I Tim. 2:3-6) The word “ransom” here used means a price to correspond, a substitute; so Paul is explaining that Jesus became the world’s substitute in death.
Death was the penalty for sin, and Jesus “poured out his soul,” his being, “unto death.” (Isa. 53:12) It was for this purpose that he was “made flesh”; that is, “for the suffering of death.” (Heb. 2:14) The condition of death is described in the Old Testament by the Hebrew word sheol, which is translated “hell” thirty-one times, “grave” thirty-one times, and “pit” three times. In Psalm 16:10 it is translated “hell,” the text indicating that Jesus’ soul was in hell from the time of his crucifixion until his resurrection. “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,” David wrote prophetically of Jesus.
After Jesus’ resurrection and his return to the heavenly courts he said to John on the Isle of Patmos, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, … and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Rev. 1:18) Paul expressed a similar thought when he wrote that “to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.”—Rom. 14:9
Yes, by virtue of his death as the Redeemer, Jesus now is the “lord,” has control over, both the dead and the living. He has the “keys” of “hell and of death.” Having humbled himself and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, God has highly exalted him “and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”—Phil. 2:8-11
This is, in part, a quotation from the prophecy of Isaiah as found in the 45th chapter of his book. The context seems very appropriate at the present time, when nations and churches are taking counsel together to find a way of salvation, and when the vast majority of them are looking for help to gods of their own making, rather than to acknowledge that Christ is their only hope, and the hope of the world. We quote:
“Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and Savior; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”—vss. 18-23
Who could doubt, when reading a prophecy like this, that Christ is the hope of the world? It emphasizes the fact that God did not create the earth in vain, but formed it to be inhabited, as though it related to a time when it appeared that all the inhabitants of the earth might be destroyed. It speaks also of those “who are escaped of the nations,” indicating a widespread destruction in which only a portion would “escape.” It indicates also a confusion of religious thought, when those who escape would be looking in vain to gods who cannot save—ideological and ethical gods, as many of the delegates at Evanston will be doing.
But withal there is only one hope for salvation. The Lord declares, “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Then follows the Lord’s statement that he has confirmed his provision of salvation by his oath. There is only one instance recorded in the Bible in which God confirmed his promise by his oath; that is, when Abraham showed his willingness to offer his son Isaac in sacrifice. Then God confirmed his promise to Abraham that through his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed.
Paul speaks of Isaac as being Abraham’s “only begotten son.” (Heb. 11:17) Actually, of course, Abraham had other children, but Paul’s use of this expression suggests that Isaac was a type of Christ. So far as Abraham was concerned, he actually offered Isaac in sacrifice, and Paul explains that he “received him in a figure from the dead.” (Heb. 11:19) In that experience, then, we see the death and resurrection of Jesus illustrated. That God confirmed the covenant with his oath at this juncture would therefore mean that through the death of Jesus the divine purpose to bless all the families of the earth was sealed.
And this blessing will reach the people through the exalted Christ; through him who is raised above angels, principalities, and powers; through him to whom “every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess.” (Isa. 45:23; Phil. 2:9-11) Thus far only a comparatively few have had a fair opportunity to hear and believe on this only name whereby anyone can be saved. In this connection, it will be interesting to observe how the European and other Fundamentalists at the Evanston Conference will handle the theme, “Christ, the Hope of the World.”
Doubtless some will insist that while the sacrificial work of Christ was essential to salvation, they will claim that the opportunity to believe on him is limited to the present short span of life, and that those who die in unbelief are forever lost. This, with many, is understood to mean that they will suffer an eternity of torture. One of the texts used to substantiate this limited view of divine grace is Paul’s statement, “Behold now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”—II Cor. 6:2
They overlook the fact that Paul is not here referring to the period of one’s life, but to an age in the divine plan, an age in which God accepts the sacrifices of his people, and to those who are faithful even unto death he will give the reward of joint-heirship with Christ in his kingdom. In this text (II Cor. 6:2), Paul is quoting from a wonderful promise of God recorded in Isaiah 49:8, which reads, “Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.”
There is no other possible meaning in this divine promise than the fact that during the present age God is preparing the true followers of Jesus to be associated with him in the future blessing of all mankind. The earth was given to man as a heritage, but man forfeited his inheritance through sin. Through Christ and the church it is to be restored to him, and the “desolate heritage” will be made like the Garden of Eden. The people, awakened from death, will be given an opportunity to occupy their restored home forever—“That thou mayest say to the prisoners [of death] Go forth.”—Isa. 49:9
This introduces another aspect of the subject, “Christ, the Hope of the World,” which will probably be discussed at Evanston in August; namely, the future work of Christ and the bearing it will have on saving the present social order from ruin, and providing individual salvation from death.
The Fundamentalist clergymen from Europe use language which indicates that they believe in the actual return of Christ, and that he will set up a real government in the earth, and reign for a thousand years. Will they clarify their position at the conference? If they do, what will be the reaction of the majority groups who long since have given up their belief in the second coming of Christ, and who claim now that the only way the world can benefit from Christ is to adopt and practice his moral and ethical teachings? It will be interesting to watch.
Next month we will discuss the prophecies pertaining to the work of Christ during the thousand years of his second presence. Certainly those who have faith in the inspired Word of God can have no doubt that Christ is the hope of the world in a much more comprehensive manner than many have as Yet come to believe.