PROTESTANTISM derives its name from the Protest of the Reformers at the Diet of Spire, 1529. It derives its life from simple faith in the Word of the Living God. The great historian of the Reformation, in which Protestantism had its birth, well says:—
The Reformation was accomplished in the name of a spiritual principle. It had proclaimed for its teacher the Word of God; for salvation, faith; for king, Jesus Christ; for arms, the Holy Ghost; and had, by these very means, rejected all worldly elements. Rome had been established by the law of a carnal commandment; the Reformation, by the power of an endless life.
The Reformation was but the revival of true Christianity, not in mere form, but in power; neither as an ism or a creed, but as a life. For, as D'Aubigne again says:—
If there is any doctrine that distinguishes Christianity from every other religion, it is its spirituality. A heavenly life brought down to man—such is its work. . . . One of the tasks of the sixteenth century was to restore the spiritual element to its rights. The Gospel of the Reformers had nothing to do with the world and with politics.
The life of Christ, received by faith through His Word, must protest against the abuses which had crept into the church,—principles which were essential to the Papacy. And this it did in the celebrated Protest at Spire. What the essentials of this Protest are we will let the Protest itself speak.
Said the Protestants:—
Because it concerns the glory of God and the salvation of our souls, and that in such matters we ought to have regard, above all, to the commandment of God, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, each of us rendering Him account for himself, without caring the least in the world about majority or minority. . . .
That there is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the Word of God; and that the Lord forbids the teaching of any other doctrine; that each text of the Holy Scriptures ought to be explained by other and clearer texts; that this Holy Book is, in all things necessary for the Christian, easy of understanding, and calculated to scatter the darkness: we are resolved, with the grace of God, to maintain the pure and exclusive preaching of His only Word, such as it is contained in the Biblical books of the Old and New Testament, without adding anything thereto that may be contrary to it. This Word is the only truth; it is the sure rule of all doctrine and of all life, and can never fail or deceive us. He who builds on this foundation shall stand against all the powers of hell, whilst all the human vanities that are set up against it shall fall before the face of God.
Says D'Aubigne again:—
The principles contained in this celebrated Protest of the 19th of April, 1529, constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this Protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith; the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second is the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these two abuses, Protestantism sets up above the magistrate the power of conscience, and above the visible church the authority of the Word of God. It declines, in the first place, the civil power in divine things, and says, with the prophets and apostles, We must obey God rather than man. In presence of the crown of Charles the Fifth, it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ. But it goes further, it lays down the principle that all human teaching should be subordinate to the oracles of God. . . . In this celebrated act in Spire no doctor appears, and the Word of God reigns alone. Never has man exalted himself like the pope; never have men kept in the background like the Reformers.
This is Protestantism; the Word of God only as the rule of faith, the power of the Spirit only for the propagation and preservation of the Gospel; Christ supreme above all earthly rulers; absolute separation of Church and State; absolute non-interference of the civil magistrate in matters religious; conscience above creed; individual freedom of choice above the church. All these are involved in simple faith in the Word; for faith must be of individual exercise, and all the others are taught by the Word.
It was not until the Protestant church sought to confine to the cold, dead forms of human creed the living Word of God; to seek the aid of civil power to support and enforce the creed; to make faith a body of doctrine instead of a matter of personal relationship between the individual soul and its God, that that church lost its power. The16glorified and living Christ could not dwell in the creed-built tabernacles of Peter, or James, or John, or Calvin, or Luther.
If the Reformation, having attained a certain point, became untrue to its nature, began to parley and temporize with the world, and cease thus to follow up the spiritual principle that it had so loudly proclaimed, it was faithless to God and itself. Henceforward its decline was at hand. It is impossible for a society to prosper if it be unfaithful to the principles it lays down. Having abandoned what constituted its life, it can find naught but death.
And the historian goes on to say that God taught this great lesson right in the beginning of the Reformation. One branch looked to God alone, rejected the arm of flesh, and prospered; the other sought alliance with the world, and found sorrow and desolation.
But it was only a little while when those who rejected the power of the civil arm crystallized their faith into a creed, and allied themselves with the civil power. From thence sprang the "Protestant" State churches of Europe.
And all this necessitated dissent and dissenters. Christ could not be confined to human creed. No man or men could apprehend or express the whole of the living truth. The Spirit of God could not be limited by civil statute.
And yet the dissenters could not learn this lesson; and creed of dissent has followed creed to the present day. Each Protestant creed has, however, uniformly held to the one principle,—the all-sufficiency of the Word of God,—and has uniformly excommunicated and denounced as heretics those who had the courage to follow the principle outside of the creed.
Still, at the beginning of the century just closing, the great Protestant body—diverse though it was in creed—held strongly to the great principle of the Word of God as the all-sufficient rule of faith. Baptists, Friends, and Presbyterians were united in protesting against any union of Church and State, or any interference of the civil power or its officers in matters of religion, or any preference by the State of one creed or religion over another, affirming that such union or interference or preference would erect "a claim to infallibility which would lead us back to the Church of Rome."
Yet upon this principle—so vital to Protestantism and the world—this great body of Protestantism was to be tested.
"In the fulness of the time" Christ is to come again, even as He came "in the fulness of the time" at the first. A reform message in the spirit and power of Elijah is to precede His second coming, to prepare the way before Him, even as such a message preceded His first advent. That message will of necessity restore the primitive faith, the primitive power, the primitive purity of Gospel teaching. It will declare as the Gospel, even as the prophet and apostle declared it, that "all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." 1 Peter 1:24, 25; Isa. 40:3-10.
And this message of preparation which thus exalts God and His Word, and holds out no hope in the human, is the everlasting Gospel of God. This is the message preceding the King's coming, represented by an angel proclaiming with a loud voice that all the world may hear: "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Rev. 14:6, 7.
The power of this Gospel Word is creative power, the power of Him who made all things, who "spake and it was," who "commanded and it stood fast." The power of this Gospel is this same mighty, creative "power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Rom. 1:16.
That Word, that Gospel, presents as man's only Saviour, Jesus Christ, in contrast to salvation by human aid; as man's only hope, naked faith in the creative power of God, in contrast to so-called scientific evolution; as man's only life, that which comes through the righteousness of God by Jesus Christ, in contrast to the erroneous doctrine of man's inherent immortality; as man's only rule of conduct, God's holy law, as given and kept by our Lord, in contrast to that law perverted by human tradition; as the only husband of the church, Jesus Christ, in contrast to the alliance of the church with civil power; as the culmination of the hope of all the ages, the second coming of our Lord, in contrast to the utterly groundless, scriptureless hope of a converted world; in brief, including the above and others, the pure water of life of God's truth, in contrast to the wine of Babylon's fornication.
It was God calling from lifeless creed to the living Word; from helpless humanity to a divine Lord; from lying tradition to the eternal law of truth; from a perverted gospel to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What Did Protestantism Do?
Would to God we could write the answer differently! If we could only say that she has been true to her essential, fundamental principles, principles which gave her life, the maintenance of which are necessary to her existence, we would not need to pen this. Her present condition of power and unity would answer the question. Her conquests over the strongholds of error would demonstrate her right to exist.
But as God's providence developed and revealed, oftentimes through humble instruments, His glorious Gospel in contrast to the error of creed, the churches refused to walk therein. By the majority, life through Christ and His righteousness only, was rejected for the old pagan belief in the immortality of the soul, and from this false basis, Satan, through Spiritism, has swept away millions. Creative power as recorded in Genesis has been rejected, and evolution has taken its place, offering no hope to the poor sinner; for surely if God's Word does not mean what it says as regards creation of the earth, it does not as regards cleansing from sin and regeneration of heart. Still holding the traditionary Sunday, which has no mandatory support save in pagan and papal precept, she is turning from the law of God, and the Sabbath of the Lord in that law, that she may keep her own tradition. Having no support for Sunday in the Word of God, she is appealing to the State to help her enforce the traditions of men. Still quaffing the wine of Babylon's fornication, drunken with human prestige and prosperity, God's Word has, with many, become an object of criticism, containing many errors, insufficient of itself as a rule of practise. In holding this view of the Word, in repudiating the divine law, obedience to which made Jesus Christ the character that He is, in turning from the increasing brightness of the truth-lighted pathway, Protestantism is left a prey to every delusion of the enemy; and, on the one hand, thousands are becoming entangled in the snares of "Christian Science," "Modern Spiritualism," Evolution, Unitarianism, and other modern and ancient cults, while thousands of others are becoming meshed in the Roman net, deeming the great "mother" more consistent, stronger, and more aggressive than the Protestant body, honeycombed as it is with every species of error. All is Babylon—confusion—now to the poor souls longing for truth.
God Still Calls.
Still God loves all these. He solemnly warns the professed church that Babylon is fallen, and that she will soon meet her doom. Rev. 14:8; 18:1-8. He solemnly protests against the worship of all earthly powers, against the reception of all marks of human homage, against all human exaltation, error, pride, and power. Rev. 14:9-11.
And souls will heed His Word. Souls will believe and be saved, of whom it will be said: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Verse 12. They will return to the life of Protestantism,—faith in the living Word,—and will live. Some of the children of this remnant church may be persecuted; some may die for their faith. Nevertheless, she will gloriously go forth in the light of the dawning morning, "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;" for with her is the "Chiefest among ten thousand, and the One altogether lovely."
MILTON C. WILCOX.
The Bible and Tradition
THE great question at issue between popery and Protestantism is this: Is the Bible only to be received as the rule of faith, or the Bible and tradition together? Is no doctrine to be received as matter of faith unless it is found in the Bible, or may a doctrine be received upon the mere authority of tradition, when it is confessedly not to be found in the Sacred Scriptures? The whole Christian world, both nominal and real, are divided by this question into two great divisions; the consistent and true-hearted Protestant, standing upon this rock, “The Bible and the Bible only,” can admit no doctrine upon the authority of tradition; the papist and the Puseyite place tradition side by side with the Bible, and listen to its dictates with a reverence equal to, or even greater than, that which they pay to the Sacred Scriptures themselves; and he who receives a single doctrine upon the mere authority of tradition, let him be called by what name he will, by so doing, steps down from the Protestant rock, passes over the line which separates Protestantism from popery, and can give no valid reason why he should not receive all the earlier doctrines and ceremonies of Romanism upon the same authority.—Dowling, Hist. Rom., Book 2, chapter 1, section 4.
THE MISSIONS OUTLOOK
By W. N. Glenn
THE missions outlook is brighter from the standpoint of the Word of the Lord than from present visible results, or from logical expectations based on such results. The Saviour gave commission to His disciples, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15. To this He adds, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. 28:20. A commission conducted under such auspices is sure of eventual success. From this standpoint, in the faith of this Word, the outlook for missions is propitious.
But much of the mission work of the past and present seems to come short in the vital point of turning men from the world to Christ. The so-called "advanced civilization" appears to be the goal of much present-day missionary effort. If the heathen can be induced to forego some of their ruder habits, and be persuaded to adopt the customs of the "civilized" or "Christian" nations, it is deemed so much triumph for Christianity. "Evangelization" seems to be the aim, rather than conversion to Christ. And their learning to do as the white man does is too often accounted conversion to Christianity.
The "Christian-nation" idea rather than that of individual Christian life, and the idea of saving society rather than individual souls, which are permeating the church to-day, are also having a deteriorating effect in the missionary world. The heathen are led to consider all the people who hail from the white missionary's native land as Christians—no matter what may be the calling or the conduct of the individual. The opium, the intoxicating liquors, and other vice-producing articles of merchandise that accompany or follow in the wake of the missionary, are regarded by most of the heathen as Christian goods, and the men who cheat them in trade are regarded as typical Christians.
That mere "evangelization," as commonly practised, is not real Gospel work, is shown by the Master when He says, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven." Matt. 7:21. Too much of the missionary effort of to-day is dependent for protection upon the power of the country of which the missionary claims to be a citizen. When it comes to the test of persecution, the destruction of property, and the peril of life, too often the missionary has shown that his faith was not in the Saviour's promise, "Lo, I am with you," but in the obligation of his country to stand by him and defend him with its puny temporal power.
A Spirit Not of Christ.
As long as the spirit of missions in foreign lands is shown in revenge, retaliation, and redress for reverses and injuries, the true Gospel will make but little progress. The urgent, persistent demand upon the Turkish Government for payment of damages to mission property in Asia Minor will prove a serious detriment to true missionary work in that country. As long as a great nation, posing as "Christian," assumes a threatening attitude toward a professedly Moslem government for a paltry sum of money, Christian mission work will not have a very bright outlook among the sultan's Moslem subjects. Apparent success, for the most part, will be due to the fear of American arms rather than to an obedient love for the Gospel presented by American missionaries.
The outlook in China is greatly befogged by the retaliatory attitude of some prominent missionaries. One of them, conspicuous in position and long service, whose example would naturally have great weight with native converts, acted as guide to the foreign army in its attack upon the Chinese capital. Without reference to the justice or injustice of the action of the "allied powers," the spectacle of a professed Christian missionary at the head of a hostile army, assaulting with carnal weapons the people to whom he had been wont to present the Gospel of peace, is not calculated to inspire that people with a love for the religion professed by the missionary and his auxiliary forces. In the face of such an attitude it will certainly be more difficult in future to convince that people that the Gospel of Christ means peace on earth and good-will toward men.
Still another instance in connection with mission work in Peking is anything but encouraging to the future of mission effort in that vicinity, especially under such auspices. An American lady of wealth and influence had been conducting mission schools in the capital for thirty years when the recent disturbance arose. When asked by a press reporter for her opinion as to the conditions of peace, she very emphatically declared that she would demand the heads of the empress and Prince Tuan before entering upon peace negotiations at all. It is a pleasure to state, however, that other missionaries have shown a different spirit in this respect. But the manifestation of this spirit of revenge, and dependence upon human power, by those prominent in Chinese mission work, can not but cast doubt upon the efficiency of past work, and sadly blur the outlook for the future, if the work is to be continued in the same spirit as heretofore.
Not a Pure Gospel.
Antagonism of method and doctrine on the part of missionaries has been a great detriment to true mission work. The heathen have received what purported to be the Gospel from so many conflicting sources that their ideas of Gospel truth must be as much confused as are the Babylon voices of "mother" and daughters. Moreover, they must consequently become partakers of the creed animosities of their many and varied teachers. The many divergences from the plain Word of God that have been retained in the popular churches, and been adopted as doctrine, have also been instilled into the minds of the "evangelized" heathen. To such an extent has the Word been mutilated that it is made to teach, both at home and abroad, a perverted gospel.
To be specific, the Sabbath of the Lord is set aside for a human substitute; the ordinance of baptism is perverted into a meaningless ceremony; the ordinance of feet-washing (memorial of the Saviour's humility)18is rejected, in the face of the Lord's example and plain precept; the fundamental doctrine of immortality only in Christ, through a resurrection of the body, is superseded by that of the natural immortality of man, and his entrance into glory or into eternal torment at death. And this natural-immortality theory has paved the way for the soul-destroying doctrine of Spiritism, which is sapping the life-blood of the professed church of Christ. Furthermore, the hope of the church, the second coming of Christ to redeem His people (John 14:1-3; Heb. 9:28), is made of none effect by the teaching that He comes every time a Christian dies, and takes his "immortal soul" to heaven. Again, the Saviour's words, "As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man," etc. (Luke 17:26, 27), and the words of the apostle Paul, "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse" (2 Tim. 3:13), are made void by the constant assurance that the world is growing better, and that there will be a thousand years of perfect peace before the coming of the Lord. The really infidel doctrine of evolution also has its adherents and advocates among the missionaries. It is infidel because it is antagonistic to the Word of God, which teaches the direct creation of man by the power of that Word.
Now all these gross deceptions, and consequently many more, are being taught in mission fields (not by all missionaries, thank God) as the Gospel of Christ. What, then, is the outlook for missions?—From the standpoint of present conditions the horoscope shows eventually a people theoretically turned from their present darkened condition, but it is only to that of adherence to a perverted gospel, having merely "a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." It shows a people educated from one deception to another, gilded with the much-vaunted "modern civilization," and outwardly stamped as Christians.
But, as stated in the outset, the missions outlook is brighter from the standpoint of the Word of God. We are there shown the final failure of all attempts to lead men to Christ by means of a perverted gospel. The Revelation shows us almost at the end of time a messenger bearing the "everlasting Gospel," going to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." Rev. 14:6. That this new missionary enterprise, represented by an angel flying in the midst of heaven, is set on foot near the end of time, is shown in its proclamation of the judgment hour. Verse 7.
The necessity of beginning anew with the everlasting Gospel, to carry it to all the world, is shown by the further proclamation that "Babylon is fallen." The conglomerate mass of false doctrine that has permeated the churches becomes finally so unwieldy that the entire structure falls to pieces. At last it fails as utterly as did the Jewish Church at the time of the first advent, by reason of the traditions through which the law of God has been made void. The Babylonian establishments become no longer of any possible use as Gospel vehicles. The reason is stated in the previous chapter: "All the world wondered after the beast." They adopted its false doctrines one after another, until they fell in with it entirely. "And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast; and they worshiped the beast." At the close of chapter 12, however, there is noted an exceptional remnant: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman [the church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
It is this "remnant" that must carry the "everlasting Gospel" in its purity—commandments of God and all—to the entire world. And they must do it with the rapidity of an angel flying in the midst of heaven; because the time is short, the judgment hour is at hand. "For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness; because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth."
What, then, is the mission prospect?—The "everlasting Gospel," going in the power of the Spirit, in the faith of Jesus, in the purity of the unadulterated Word, must succeed. The prospect must be bright, despite appearances; for it is a prospect of faith, and not of sight. That it will develop a company who will "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12), is the assurance of the prophetic Word; therefore it can not fail.
There is now a vast material preparation for such a work. The governments of earth and the great corporations, in making their worldly improvements, have unwittingly labored for the day of the Lord's preparation. They have prepared the railroads, the steam vessels, the electric motors, the telegraph, the mail and express facilities, and all the necessary paraphernalia for doing a quick work. And the great Bible societies have issued the Word and portions of it in nearly four hundred languages and dialects. With all these helps at hand, guided by the great missionary Spirit of the Chief Shepherd, the last grand, universal effort should be speedily accomplished.
Although it is the eleventh hour, the Lord is saying to those who have the faith of Jesus, "Go ye also into My vineyard." The doors are everywhere open to a work of faith. The Macedonian cry, "Come over and help us," is heard in every land. Men everywhere are restless and uneasy. They are seeking peace; they are in quest of truth. And the enemy of souls is taking advantage of their hungering and thirsting. He is ready at all times to supply the demand, but he supplies only that which is fallen and delusive. The truth alone can make them free; and the truth can be found only in the Word of God. The true missionary will carry only this Word,—the everlasting Gospel,—and by a Spirit-filled life will exemplify it wherever he goes.
W. N. GLENN.
CALL THEM IN
By Anna Shipton
"CALL them in"—the poor, the wretched,
Sin-stained wanderers from the fold;
Peace and pardon freely offer;
Can you weigh their worth with gold?
"Call them in"—the weak, the weary,
Laden with the doom of sin;
Bid them come and rest in Jesus;
He is waiting—"call them in."
"Call them in"—the Jew, the Gentile;
Bid the stranger to the feast;
"Call them in"—the rich, the noble,
From the highest to the least;
Forth the Father runs to meet them,
He hath all their sorrows seen;
Robe, and ring, and royal sandals
Wait the lost ones—"call them in."
"Call them in"—the broken-hearted,
Cowering 'neath the brand of shame;
Speak love's message low and tender,—
"'Twas for sinners Jesus came."
See, the shadows lengthen round us,
Soon the day-dawn will begin;
Can you leave them lost and lonely?
Christ is coming—"call them in."
—Miss Anna Shipton.
A TOKEN OF CHEER
IN THE days of the Reformation, when the great universities of Europe were teeming with infidelity and dogmatic adherence to traditionalism, many earnest souls, yet few in comparison with the many, were searching the Word of God and becoming infused with the missionary spirit. It is even so now.
That there is much "respectable" infidelity in our great institutions of learning, is clearly manifest. The Bible is in many cases studied as literature, not as the Word of God. It is regarded by rationalistic professors as an object of criticism instead of the norm of faith. Its history is considered mythical; its miracles are only parables; its creative power is but evolution. And thousands of receptive minds are becoming poisoned, warped, and dwarfed under these soul-destroying teachings.
Yet it is encouraging to know that opposed to this is an earnest faith movement, especially manifest in volunteer missionary organizations. The Spirit of God through His Word is reaching hearts open toward the light, and so is fitting them either to prepare the way for the last message, or to engage in the preaching of that message.
Concerning the increase of these organizations, the New York Independent, in giving us a comparison for the past five years, tells us "that the 900 student Christian associations in universities, colleges, and higher schools have increased to 1,400; the 45,000 members to 65,000; the 11,000 members of the Bible classes to 23,000; the 2,000 members of mission student classes to 5,000. Whereas there were then 10 national students' movements, now there are 15, and the World's Student Christian Federation unites all these different movements" in a world-wide sympathy. "Instead of 38 secretaries there are now 101, and the 21 buildings, valued at $400,000, devoted to the work of these associations, have increased to 39, valued at over $1,000,000. Five years ago there were 10 National Student Conferences, attended by 2,600 delegates. During the past year there were 20 such, with an attendance of over 5,000. The 50 pamphlets and books published in the interests of the movement have grown to nearly 200, and the 6 periodicals, with a combined circulation of about 6,000, have increased to 13, with a circulation of fully 20,000. At that time the Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions had been organized in but two countries; now it includes students not only of all Protestant Christian lands, but of Asia, and more students have gone to the mission field during the past five years than during the preceding ten years."
