| Highlights of Dawn | August 1957 |
The Conversion of the World
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” —Isaiah 11:9
THE expression, “conversion of the world,” reflects an age-old concept of the professed Christian churches as to their God-given responsibility toward mankind. This concept of the divine will for Christians stems in part from the great commission given to the apostles by Jesus, when he said to them that they were to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. (Matt. 28:19) Confirming this, when he appeared to his apostles for the last time, Jesus said, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”—Acts 1:8
When Jesus first sent his disciples into the ministry he restricted them to the one nation of Israel, saying, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matt. 10:5,6) When, after his resurrection, he instructed them to go to all nations, even to “the uttermost part of the earth,” he wanted them to realize that the original and temporary restriction no longer applied.
But was it the Lord’s intention that the missionary work of his followers would convert the world to Christianity? The apostles did not so understand it. James, addressing an apostolic conference at Jerusalem, said, “God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14) The expression “take out” implies that many would be left, and that the whole Gentile world would not accept and profess the name of Christ.
This language also indicates a definite divine purpose which in due time would be accomplished. Paul describes the completion of this work as the coming in of the “fullness of the Gentiles”—not the conversion of all the Gentiles, but the selection of the full number from among them which had been designed by God. It is after that, Paul explains, that “all Israel shall be saved.”—Rom. 11:25,26
The missionary work of Jesus and his disciples within the nation of Israel did not convert “all Israel,” but only a “remnant.” As, many as did accept Jesus as the Messiah were given authority to become “sons of God.” These were the first to be called out from the world to be a “people for his name.” (John 1:11,12) But, as Paul wrote, ultimately all Israel shall be saved. So it will be with the Gentiles. After the people for the Lord’s name is selected from among them, “all [the rest of] the Gentiles” will also be given an opportunity to “seek after the Lord.”—Acts 15:17
However, neither “all Israel” nor “all the Gentiles” who are ultimately converted and blessed, will be a part of that “people for his name.” This expression denotes that the called ones become members of the divine family. They are pictured as being on symbolic mount Sion with the “Lamb,” and as having his Father’s name “written in their foreheads.” (Rev. 14:1) As sons, if they prove faithful, they will constitute God’s ruling house. Together with Jesus they will be kings and priests to rule in the earth. (Rev. 5:10; 20:6) And it will be through this rulership that the world will be converted. It will be then that the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Human Efforts Fail
Soon after the apostles fell asleep in death, the professed followers of Jesus began to lose sight of the real objective of their missionary efforts. As this departure from the truth became more pronounced, methods were changed—so radically changed that that which was mistakenly called Christianity was forced upon many countries of Europe by the power of the sword. Here are sample quotations from the noted church historian, Mosheim, picked at random from his works:
“There is no doubt but that the victories of Constantine the Great, the fear of punishment, and the desire of pleasing this mighty conqueror, and his imperial successors, were the weighty arguments that moved whole nations, as well as particular persons, to embrace Christianity.”
“A war broke out at this time between Charlemagne and the Saxons, which contributed much to the propagation of Christianity, though not by the force of a rational persuasion.”
“More forceful means were afterwards used to draw them into the pale of the church, in the wars which Charlemagne carried on against that gallant people. … During these wars, their attachments to the superstitions of their ancestors was so warmly combated by the allurements of reward, by the terror of punishment, and by the imperious language of victory, that they suffered themselves to be baptized, though with inward reluctance, by the missionaries which the emperor sent among them.”
“Precautions were employed among the Huns in Pannonia, to maintain in the profession of Christianity that fierce people whom Charlemagne had converted to the faith, when exhausted and dejected by various defeats, they were no longer able to make head against his victorious arms, and chose rather to be Christians than slaves.”
These are not isolated items of history, but reflect the methods by which, almost without exception, the various nations of Europe were forced in the “Christian” fold. Nor were the leaders of the apostate Christianity of that time out of sympathy with those methods. Concerning Charlemagne, and the clergy who supported him, Mosheim wrote:
“Succeeding generations, filled with a grateful sense of the famous exploits which Charlemagne had performed in the service of Christianity, canonized his memory, and turned this bloody warrior into an eminent saint. … And indeed Charlemagne merited this honor, according to the opinions that prevailed at that period of time; for to have enriched the clergy with large and magnificent donations, and to have extended the boundaries of the church, no matter by what methods, was then considered as the highest merit, and as a sufficient pretension to the honor of saintship.”
It requires no special discernment to realize that countries “converted” by such methods were not in reality Christian. It is granted, of course, that to the extent the Gospel was proclaimed and reached into the hearts and lives of individuals, these would be among those few “taken out” as a people for the Lord’s name. But the world knew these not, even as the world did not know Jesus in the true sense.—I John 3:1
That whole nations, and virtually an entire continent, should be forced by the power of arms to adopt what was called Christianity does not mean that Jesus’ commission to go into all nations and preach the Gospel was resulting in the conversion of the world. Nor did the changes which were later brought about by the impact of Protestantism make the nations of Europe Christian. Neither by the torture of rack and pinion, the persuasion of the Inquisition, nor by Protestant preaching, has the true knowledge of God as yet embraced the continent of Europe.
With the discovery of the Americas the European concept of Christianity began to move into the Western Hemisphere. Freed from Vatican and political tyranny, it found—in North America—reasonably free expression; and, without legislation, has become generally accepted as the religion of the country. Liberalism has demolished much of the superstition of European Christianity which was brought to this country; but it has also largely destroyed faith in the Bible, which is the source of the true Christian religion. A very large segment of the American clergy today, and probably an equally large percentage of laymen, think of the Bible as merely a good book, but without divine inspiration and authority.
However there are exceptions, chiefly among the smaller denominations. These still hold to the religion of fear which Charlemagne and other warriors of Europe forced upon that continent in the Middle Ages. They still believe that God will eternally torture the wicked in a fiery hell. They still believe that the thousand years of probation called in the Bible the judgment day is a twenty-four hour day of horrible doom. They still believe that at the “crack of doom” the planet Earth is to be destroyed by literal fire so hot as to reduce it to a mere cinder in twenty-four hours.
The Nominal Church
“Nominal” means “in name only,” and so we find upon analysis that thus far the so-called missionary efforts of the professed followers of Jesus, resulting in the nations on three continents being called Christian, have not converted the world, nor even these three continents, to real Christianity. And now, even nominal Christianity is very much on the defensive.
Until the drastic changes brought about by two world wars in a generation, the churches supposed that God wanted them to convert the remainder of the world to their concepts of Christianity, and a measure of success was being attained. Oriental countries, with their idol worship, were the chief objectives in this missionary outlook and endeavor. But now this situation has greatly changed.
Missionaries to India have not been completely banned by government edict, but they are not as welcome as in former years. They are banned entirely from Communist China. In 1949 there were 750,000 Protestants in China, and 3,500,000 Roman Catholics. By 1956 these numbers had diminished to 600,000 Protestants, and 2,600,000 Roman Catholics. How thankful we are that this does not represent a failure of God’s plan!
Revival in America
It is claimed that at the present time a great religious revival is taking place in America, but even this is accompanied by strange overtones of bewilderment and doubt on the part of many. There probably never has been such a time for building churches. But even here one is led to wonder, especially by statements such as the one from John K. Mitchell, Pastor of North Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. After using a closed circuit television arrangement to relay his Easter services to an auditorium near the church where the overflow audience assembled, the pastor said,
“New churches always have to be built on peak attendance at services such as Easter and Christmas, but the rest of the year there are many empty pews. If TV facilities can be made to fill in on peak days, churches could be built smaller and at less cost.”
This seems to indicate that large attendance in many churches is still limited to special occasions. But there is a resurgence of religious fervor in America regardless of how deep-seated it may be and of what significance may he attached to it. Billy Graham’s evangelistic crusades doubtless help to create some of the present-day popularity of religion. However, these crusades are not universally acclaimed. The Christian Century, undenominational Protestant magazine published in Chicago, forecasting the “success” of the Billy Graham Madison Square crusade in New York, had this to say:
“The Billy Graham campaign will spin along to its own kind of triumph because canny, experienced engineers of human decision have laid the tracks, contracted for the passengers, and will direct the traffic which will arrive on schedule. The figure is not a remote one. With trainloads of well-saved out-of-town supporters coming from as far away as Texas, the campaign will obviously be railroaded to success.
“Where else could the crusade possibly go? Operating in a period of enormous popular religious interest, anything this obviously religious is bound to compel the multitudes. The pre-arranged crowds, though they guarantee the ‘success,’ are only part of the story. In a time of bewilderingly generalized and undifferentiated and uncritical religious interest, it is certain that the standees and turn away throngs will be there for their own reasons, too. Here is something hugely religious, and everybody is religious like everybody else, so why not go to the Garden? They all read Norman Vincent Peale and they all watch Bishop Sheen and they all go to the big Easter showing of The Ten Commandments and they all believe in records like, ‘I Believe,’ so why not go to the Garden? Especially since the Graham crusade is so generally endorsed and so uncritically hymned by various Christians. Even the churchman whom you know couldn’t swallow the message or go for the method—even these are listed among the sponsors. For this is the era of good feeling. At whatever cost to the conscience or integrity, everybody goes along. Undifferentiating good will is part of religion-in-general, and that is what we have.”
The Christian Century has a great deal more to say in criticism of the Graham New York crusade, but what we have quoted reveals, we think, that it is hopeless to look in the direction of modern evangelism to convert the world, or even New York, even if these crusades were not operated by highly organized machine methods, and even if it were not true, as reported by The Christian Century, that “strategists posted around the hall will be waving their hand signals down to the platform suggesting by symbol which of the evangelist’s several categorized approaches will work best on a particular block of people.”
Even if the New York crusade should result in closing barrooms, and diminishing crime in the great city, what then? It would mean that to the extent the converts accepted Billy Graham’s religion they would be believers in a god of torture who is ready to singe them in the white hot fires of a creedal hell forever, should they depart from the “strait and narrow.”
Well, as we see it, this would not contribute in the least to filling the earth with the true knowledge of God, nor to the conversion of the world to the true teachings and principles of Christianity. But this does not mean a failure of God’s plan. We are glad to see religious fervor—in America, in Europe, in the Orient, or wherever it may be manifested. The fervor of idol worshipers is often just as sincere as it is in the hearts of professed Christians. Sincerity and zeal in themselves do not prove that one is right, for these outward manifestations of religious zeal can be induced by false religion as well as by true.
They do, however, generally speaking, reveal the desire of the people to worship and serve a higher power, and in God’s due time this desire will be honored and the people enlightened to know the true God, and by this enlightenment, inspired to serve him. One of the prophecies states that the Lord will “turn to the people a pure language [or message] that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.”—Zeph. 3:9
Tremendous efforts are now being made to bring about religious unity among the various religious groups such as Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. The approach to this “unity” is not through a study of the various doctrines which separate them, but by ignoring these doctrines, and simply being good fellows together. This they call religious freedom and tolerance. Actually, today, there is no other approach that is possible, for these groups could never be induced to give up their pet theories and dogmas.
But it will be different when the Lord turns to the people the pure message of truth. This will be under the administration of Christ’s kingdom. Then the “people” for the Lord’s name will all have been selected from the world, and, resurrected from the dead, will be reigning with Christ. It will be then, through the agencies of Christ’s kingdom, that the true knowledge of God will be caused to fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.
This, we believe, will produce a religious enthusiasm such as has never before been experienced by man. Eventually the whole world will call upon the name of the Lord to serve him, not each one or each group in a different way and with a different concept of God and truth, but with “one consent.” That will be genuine unity because it will be based on a knowledge of God which all will recognize as the truth and to which all will enthusiastically subscribe.
And this blessing of enlightenment and conversion will come not only to the present living generation but to those who have died as well. Those who, at the point of the sword forced a pseudo Christianity upon the nations of Europe, will be awakened from the sleep of death and will learn that they accomplished nothing worthwhile for the true God. Charlemagne has, of course, been asleep in death, and does not know that long years after he died he was canonized as a saint; but if someone should tell him this when he is awakened, he will soon learn that his well-intentioned friends had made a terrible mistake in canonizing him, that he was in reality no saint at all.
We are mentioning these possible details merely to emphasize the literalness with which God’s promises of the resurrection and of the future enlightenment will be fulfilled. A sincere listener to “Frank and Ernest,” in their discussion of the topic, “Probation After Death,” failing to grasp the full thought that was presented, wrote, “Would you like to live with Hitler or Stalin?” Well, when Hitler and Stalin are raised from the dead, and are enlightened with a knowledge of the true God, who knows what tremendous changes will be brought about in their outlook and demeanor? They will at least be given an opportunity to believe and reform.
The true followers of Jesus during the present age will not, of course, be restored to life on the earth. These are promised a heavenly home with their Lord. The restoration of mankind in general to life on the earth is referred to by Peter as the “restitution of all things,” spoken by the mouth of all God’s holy prophets since the world began.—Acts 3:19-21
The religious fervor seen in the world today is engendered largely by fear. It will be different in the kingdom age. The knowledge of the Lord which will then fill the earth will reveal his love, and it will be to the sweet influence of divine love that the people will respond. Because of fear many claim that to suggest that the people will have an opportunity to accept Christ in the resurrection would quickly lead to increased crime and wickedness in the world. This is not true. The vast majority in our penal institutions today were raised to believe in hell-fire, and many of them in purgatory as well. We doubt if there is a single criminal in a prison anywhere in the world who, when he committed his crime, believed the genuine Bible truth concerning the love of God.
And it will be the love of God throughout the age to come that will motivate the people to serve him. When they see and experience the blessings which his love has provided for them through Christ, they will, with their whole hearts, respond, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”—Isaiah 25:9
Paul wrote that it is God’s will that all be “saved” and given a knowledge of the truth. (I Tim. 2:3-6) Here, however, the word “saved” does not mean eternal salvation, but simply an awakening, or a rescue, from the sleep of death. The purpose of this is that the people might be given a knowledge of the truth concerning the provision of life that has been made for them through the death of Jesus as their Redeemer.
The “truth” which the people will then receive, Paul says, is that there is “one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all.” This great truth, is to be “testified” to all “in due time.” In Romans 10:13 Paul explains that it is necessary to know about the Redeemer in order to believe in him; and in John 3:16 we are informed that those who do believe will not perish but have everlasting life.
It is good to know that the future enlightenment and conversion of the world through the glorified Christ will include those who have died. Truly the people of all nations will then be glad and rejoice in the God of their salvation. The only ones who will not attain to eternal life as restored humans will be those who, after receiving a knowledge of the truth concerning the Redeemer, willfully reject him. Peter speaks of these as opposing “that prophet,” and declares that they will be destroyed from among the people.—Acts 3:23