I had gone by to see a friend of mine who is a chaplain
in a major hospital in our Capitol City. This
gentleman is a
very kind and compassionate individual and is well suited for his
profession in
giving guidance and counseling to the sick, their families and those in
times
of grief. His demeanor is such that we can discuss most any subject and
especially regarding those of a religious nature. In the course of our
recent
conversation, I mentioned that I serve on a Board of Regents for a
local
Christian University and that our president was having difficulty in
finding
qualified professors to teach in our doctorate program because so many
of the
men who would be academically qualified had been tainted in their
education
with modernism. I then began to illustrate what I meant by that
statement and
mentioned that some scholarly individuals understand that the first ten
chapters of Genesis as being a myth, and they would deny many of the
miracles
that occurred in the Old Testament. I observed that when we deny much
of the
Old Testament, it will come down to whether or not we could accept the
virgin
birth of Jesus, the resurrection of our Lord and other cardinal
doctrines of
the New Testament. I also related how that the very inspiration of the
Old
Testament has been challenged. Though not so surprised, I was
disappointment at
his response to my thoughts when he said, “I believe in the
Old Testament but I
understand that it is a book that tells of the love that God had for
his people
but it is not a book of science, etc.” He said that the earth
is not flat and
that the days in Genesis One could have been long periods of time. Also
that
the Old Testament was a reflection of the times when the writers lived
and that
now we have much more scientific evidence than they did, thus enabling
us to
have a different understanding regarding their writings. He mentioned
also that
some religionists believe that the earth was created on October 12,
4004 B.C. Because
of other statements he made, I perceived that my friend had himself
been
tainted with modernism in his pursuit of higher education.
I responded to many of his statements by saying that
the Bible does not teach that the earth is flat and that the exact date
of the
creation of the heavens and the earth is not mentioned in the Bible. I
expressed my belief that the earth is relatively young in comparison to
the
millions of years as taught by the evolutionists. I also agreed with
him that
the Old Testament is not a book of science, but that when the Old
Testament
mentioned scientific matters, it was always accurate. I remember that I
took a
class in college entitled, The Authorship
of Deuteronomy, written by our scholarly and beloved brother
J. W.
McGarvey. I was simply overwhelmed with the advanced knowledge taught
by a
brother in Christ as he endeavored to explain some of the tenants of
‘higher
criticism’ regarding the Old Testament. We studied that
according to the
liberal view of the Old Testament that Moses was not the author of the
first
five books normally called The Pentateuch. No, it was not Moses, but
several
writers who authored various parts of the books, Genesis through
Deuteronomy
and they were referred to as J, E, D, H and P. There was a redactor
(editor)
known as R that brought all their writings together some seven hundred
to one
thousand years after Moses had died. There was the rejection of most of
the
miracles and stories of the Old Testament. Such a theory actually
denied the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the writing of the Old Testament. One
important thing I want to mention just here is, what is taught in the
theological
seminaries will eventually reach the people in the pews via the
pulpits. It
might not be easily recognized by the members who are not students of
the Word
of God. For example, when our oldest child attended the vacation Bible
school
of a prominent protestant church in the small town where we were
living, I
asked him to bring his class book home so I could read it. I believe
our son
was in about the fourth or fifth grade at the time, so this material
was
written for children in the elementary schools. The stories were about
the
children of Israel
being in Egypt
and the time spent in the wilderness. When it came time for the
crossing of the
Red Sea, the author of this material referred to the body of water as
being the
Sea
of Reeds.
Inferred is the thought that the
water was not very deep and that when the tide went out the Israelites
crossed
over, and when the Egyptians entered the water, the tide came back in
and
trapped them. In addition, when the Israelites needed food while they
were in
the wilderness for forty years, they found a substance that grew on
Tamarisk
Trees that was sweet and that they could eat, thus denying that God
provided
food for them in a miraculous manner. This might not sound significant
to many,
but the fact is the liberal author was denying the miraculous
occurrences in
the stories of the Old Testament.
There is a saying that seminaries are really
cemeteries, that is, it is during the years when young men and women
sit at the
feet of professors who espouse modernism that their belief in the Bible
as
being the inspired Word of God dies. While this is not surprising it is
alarming that some of our ‘Christian Universities’
are following in the same
path that our schools walked over one hundred years ago. Many brethren
do not
know that the schools once operated by faithful brethren were
eventually taken
over by educators who believed in and taught modernism. The very
liberal
Disciples of Christ denomination is one of the fruits of such
modernistic
doctrines taught in their universities and colleges. In recent times Abilene
Christian University
announced the forthcoming One-Volume Commentary on the Bible which will
“espouse
standard critical conclusions (multisource Pentateuch, multiple
Isaiahs,
two-source hypothesis for the Synoptic Gospels, etc”. Mark
Hamilton who is a
Bible professor at ACU and editor-in-chief of the commentary project
stated
this volume will step out “in directions that will be new to
most general
readers with the restoration movement.” (Note: I give credit
to brother Wayne
Jackson concerning the news regarding ACU. This
information was taken from an article which he had written entitled,
“ACU:
Stronghold of “Radical Criticism” in the Christian
Courier).
The sad fact is that modernism has permeated most
universities that have been founded on Christian principles. There are
scores
of young men and women who attended these universities and college who
are now
agnostics and who do not esteem the Bible as being the inspired Word of
God. As
members of the body of Jesus we must constantly be aware of the
teaching that
takes place in our own Christian schools. We must not send our young
people to
those universities and college where rank liberalism/modernism is being
taught
by those professors who claim to be adherents to biblical teachings. On
the
other hand we need to support morally and monetarily those schools
which are
endeavoring to be faithful in teaching our young people the inspired
Holy
Scriptures.
Psalms 119,
the longest chapter in the Bible, has much to say about the Word of God
and the
Psalmist love for the Law of the Lord. In contrast to the theories of
modernism/liberalism invading the kingdom of God listen
to what the
inspired writer stated in verses 127 & 128:
“Therefore I love Your
commandments More than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your
precepts
concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false
way.”
