The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-10-24

|SA Faith may be
l2zzz&2&zseA eY understood as the
body Of Christian truth given once for
all in the first century, embracing the
fundamentals Of our Christian sys-
tem-the infalllbllity of the Holy
Scriptures, the deity Of Christ, the lost
state Of man by nature, the only hope
Of recovery by the atonement of Christ
on the cross, etc. This may be consld-
cred from the standpoint Of the church
In its visible form or that of the indi-
vidual, personal interest in the sub
ject being emphasized with reference
to the latter rather than with the for
mer. The aspect of the former be-
cause It determines the aspect Of the
latter, shall have fuller treatment.
Faith has had a varied experience.
For some three centuries 1t was held
with comparative fidelity. Then the
clouds of paganism and lust for EN-
bracing Christianity as an element OF
political life began to gather. For
some centuries there was great dark
ness. In the period of the Crusades
there were Pickering lights. Then
darkness came over Christian thought
until the days Of Huss In Bohemia and
Wickliffe in England. Persecution in
Bohemia and Indifference In England
soon brought another season Of dark
ness, until in Germany, under Martin
Luther the light arose that has shone
for four hundred years, and accounts
for what we have Of the true faith to-
day.
Is the faith Of the church, as such, n
wreck today? Do we find all sails set
and drawing, bound confidently for Il
distant port? Or do we see that church
hesitating, staggering in the midst Of
changing teachings as to fundamentals
like the ship with contrary winds and
laborlng hard to avoid the rocks on
which it may be total wreck?
Is It not true that some denomina-
tiOns Of Christians while still clinglng
to orthodox creeds have abandoned
those creeds in their teachings? Faith
full men in some denominations are
now crying to their brethren to sup.
press many Of the church publications
as they are distinctly infdel In their
teachings. Is 1t not true that many
hungry souls go to church and come
away hungry because they have not
heard the Gospel Of Jesus Christ?
How about the individual? Not long
ago a young man, who was gradu
ate Of one Of Americas greatest uni
verslties and was finishing his second
year in an orthodox theological semi
nary, said to the writer that he had
lost his faith, had no confidence in the
Bible, did not accept the deity Of Jesus
Christ, and was thoroughly unhappy
This Is an extreme case, but the writer
has had many young people of liberia
education give substantially the same
testimony.
What Is the somewhat remote rea
son for this situation as to religious
teaching? We must go to the land o.
Martin Luther. The work of corrupt
ing the Bible had progressed unit
nearly all German universities ant
theological schools had repudiated thu
faith of Luther, although clinging t
his name. Learned men said certain
results had been attained and thes'
results dlscredlted the Bible. Will
amazing rapidity this conclusion tool
hold In England and Scotland and oul
own country. Destructive bibllca
criticism and Darwinian evolution
swept over nearly all our great uni
verslties and our Bible was In thu
scrap heap. Those of us who have
watched the trend of German theO
logical teaching have observed tire
mendous advance since the days o
Schleiermacher, Baur and Hoffman t
the days Of Kuenen. Graf and Cornlll
It was bad enough with the former
worse with the latter and the fina
plunge was made by men like Neltsz
che, who utterly ignored the Bibl'
and defied God himself. Is II any won
der that Germany is suffering today
and is 1t much less wonder that thu
Saxon world is suffering likewise
When will men learn wisdom?
For the individual, especially re
specting young people, the old-fash
loned religion must come back. TIL,
old religious home must be restored
How many professedly religious home
are religious wrecks!
Back to God Back to Jesus Christ
To thus get back we must get back t.
the Bible. Thank God 1t Is being pub
lished as never before and the demant
for 1t is beyond the supply. Thanl
God for this fact as to the hunger o
the people for truth.
I freely admit that salvation Il
worth working for. II Is worth ,