The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1951-11-08

VlSed. The disc has ~
never been m
that will record his
voice; it will not be
heard on any tele- -
phone. Then how do 4s o. ka
people know God? Dr.. Foreman
By the eye of faith,
the ear of faith. The Bible suggests
that it is God himself who opens
mems eyes to his presence, opens
their ears to his voice.
God in History
IT is so when we speak of "God
L in history" The historian can tell
us what happened; but why does it
happen? The last, the final, the all
inclusive Why? is religions ques-
ton; and religions answer, faith S
answer, is always: God.
Take, for example, the we'll known
story of the Exodus, when the Chill
dren Of Israel got out of Egypt
where they had been slaves for
about as long as the Negroes were
slaves in America before 1868. All
historians agree % that Israelites
were in Egypt; and (2) that they
got out.
But the history books do not read
like the Bible. In the Cambridge
Ancient History" or in any history
of the ancient Middle East, you can
read the account of the Exodus
with te miracles left out.
Furthermore, the historians
never bring God into their tale.
All they can tell us is what you
could have caught with a NOV
ing picture camera or record
ing machine. But God cannot be
caught that way. The story of
the Exodus, in the Bible, has
another slant. The Hebrew folk
never said eve escaped" or
at was a lucky break" or
''MOseS took us out" They al
ways said, God brought us out"
If you had been there when they
crossed the Red Sea (the original
Hebrew in Exodus does not use the
expression RED Sea" in this story.
and it may have been one of the
Bitter Lakes or even an arm of the
Mediterranean-it makes no diff
ference), armed with your camera
and sound-recording devices, you
could have caught the roaring of the
wind and after long hours of the
hurricane you would have seen the
water level going back and back till
finally solid ground appeared. But
when your pictures were developed
you would not have seen God.
God in Our History
TT would not do us much good, in
deed, it would only make us jeal-
Gus or bitter, if we thought that God
had hand in the history of Israel.
but took no interest in the history of
other people. Many centuries after
the Exodus, the prophet Amos said
that God not only brought the Is
raelites out of Egypt, but he also
brought the Philistines out of Crete
(Caphtor) and the Syrians out of
Kir.
Still later on in the Bible Gods
hand is said to be leading the
great conqueror Cyrus Of Persia
isaiah 45:1-D, even though
Cyrus knew nothing of it. God
was there, but the eye Of faith
was not. God is always there;
and sometimes the eye of faith
is there to see him.
In the history of England two of
the most famous events are the de-
feat of the Spanish Armada, and
the retreat from Dunkirk. In each
case the English people were to all
appearances helpless, just as the
Hebrews were helpless at the Red
Sea; in both cases, as at the Exodus.
the weather came to their rescue"
A great wind swept the Spanish
navy to destruction; and a great
cloud-cover kept the Nazi airforce
pent in until the British army had
escaped from Dunkirk.
The weather, say historians. God.
say voices of faith. Are not both
right?
Side of the Free
rs God on the side of the little ma
l. ton?
Not always. But taking history
as a whole, Christian people
have reason to believe as the
people Of the Bible did: that
God hates oppression and vio-
lence, and his "hand is against"
nations that live by such means.
On this Armistice Sunday it is
well to remember that. If our
cause is just it is not because
we never lost war.
Our cause is just if and only if it
is the cause of human freedom. We
have no assurance that God will
stand by us otherwise.
Copyright 1851 by the Division of
Christian Education, National Council
of the Churches of Christ In the United
States of America. Released by WNU
Features.)
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The Supreme Court spoke Out