The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1914-11-13

ugiouS one. In other words, We
are asking ourselves: Has Chris
tianity caused this fearful war? Is
this the fruit OF centuries OF the
teaching of Jesus? is this terrible
conflict sent as q punishment for
sins long INDUCED in? And some OF
us, with hushed breath, have come
back to the really fundamental
question: Does God Cause War;"
And it IS to a discussion of that
question that l desire to direct your
attention this morning. Dut let me
say at the outset that / make no
claim to answering it fully. l am
not here to say. even with the light
Of Gods word. what He can or cam
no, do. l am only trying to lead
you &lOng some paths which l think,
in the presence OF this catastrophe,
might be helpful to your thinking
and your faith
AS we start out, however. q; may
be we'll to put this question square,
ly before us. Does God cause war?
To the question thus asked. we
would make am emphatic denial
lie is not Inc author OF all wars, for
history proves that there have been
war. i'm which He had no part Let
us look at it in another way: Are
no wars TO be traced to Him? Per-
haps we will not be so quick to an
swer this question, for a little rcflec-
ton will show what seems to have
been the hand Of the Almighty i'm
some of the wars which were waged
upon the earth. Then take it this
way: Are some wars caused bv
God? We will hesitate here. be-
cause we have shut up our concep-
ton of God. or rather because, per-
haps, it is so narrow and little that
we do not want to appear to dis
honor Him by ascribing war to Him.
So, we would answer this question
somewhat agnostically: I'VE do
not know"
Perhaps it will surprise you when
] quote as my text the words which
are to be found in the first part OF
the 22nd verse OF the 5th chapter
Of First Chronicles. They read.
For there fell many slain. because
the war was OF God" At once the
question is raised: is that text
true? Did the writer mean what
he was saying?" Now in order to |
clear the ground, let us look for a
few moments at the text The state !
ment is perfectly plain, and there is |
10 difficulty in understanding it. II |
simply states that many were killed !
because the war was OF God. Now |
hardly think that it can be charg
Ell that the writer del berately fall
sihed. For the reason given for SO
many slain could just as easily have
been some other. At least. as far
as we can see, the writer stated e1-
actly what he believed to be true.
He thought or believed that God had
brought on the war. and that the
number OF slain was traceable to
this fact
Let us try to get behind the text
TO the state Of mind OF the writer
How could he, if he had such ex-
alted ideas about God, have attri-
buted the war to Him? There are
two or three answers to this. First
or all. the religion OF the common
people OF Israel never rose as high
IA did the religion OF the prophets
and other leaders. They thought
of God, Jehovah, as a tribal deity,
only much stronger and better than
the gods OF the tribes around about.
They, therefore, when the war went
in their favor. had no compunction
in ascribing it to Jehovah. and when
it went against them they thought
of God, as having brought disaster
upon them
But, to take a higher view OF the |
matter we must look to the concep-
tion of God as it was held by the
prophets and the religious people OF
the time. II there is one fact that
stares the reader OF the Old Testa
ment in the face. il is that the He
brews had the habit OF tracing all
things back to God. He was the
ground and the reason Of all things
moral evil excepted Earthquakes.
Hoods, pestilence, famine, all of the
joys and the vicissitudes OF life were
traced to Him. This was in keeping
also. with their habit OF describing
God In the language OF men. He
saw, He laughed, He got angry He