Conducted by WILLIAM G. WIRTH, 5447 EL VERANO AVENUE, EAGLE ROCK, CALIFORNIA
If you have a question regarding Bible doctrine and Christian living, or on other subjects apropos to the field of the “Signs of the Times,” write out your question and send it in, preferably direct to Dr. Wirth. Anonymous questions will not be answered. Do not become impatient if your question is not answered immediately, for Dr. Wirth has scores of questions in waiting, and yours will be answered in order.
MEATS OFFERED TO IDOLS; SABBATHS
Mrs. Leone Manning of California asks an explanation of Romans chapter 14, especially the portions speaking of certain meats and sabbath days.
The meaning of Romans 14 will be grasped if we catch the main idea of Paul in the group of chapters (12 to 15) of which it forms a part; namely, the peace and unity of the church in its internal and external relations (see Romans 12:16, 18; 13:10; 14:13, 19; 15:1, 2). Chapter 12 tells, in general, of the peace and unity of the believers with God and the church; chapter 13 tells of this peace and unity with the state and society; and chapter 14 and the first part of chapter 15 deal with this peace and unity with those Christians who are “weak in faith.”
From condemning, in the closing part of chapter 13 (verses 13, 14), base fleshly indulgence, Paul passes easily and immediately, in the 14th chapter, to the opposite extreme,—excessive scrupulousness. In divine love and forbearance the apostle urges the “strong” in faith (see Romans 15:1) to “treat people who are overscrupulous in their faith like brothers; do not criticize their views” (Romans 14:1: Goodspeed). In these “overscrupulous” matters Paul mentions, which were due to ascetic and Judaizing influences, the “strong” were to be most careful not to discourage and ruin the faith of the “weak” by debarring them from church fellowship. “Who art thou that judgest the servant of another [God]? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; for the Lord hath power to make him stand.” Verse 4. “Each man” was to be left to the work of the Holy Spirit upon his understanding, until he was “fully assured in his own mind,” since in his sincerity what he does is “unto the Lord.” Verses 5, 6.
NOTHING UNCLEAN OF ITSELF
Because the apostle, in Romans 14:14, says that “nothing is unclean of itself,” by no means proves, as the questioner well realizes, that we may eat and drink anything we wish. This is so obvious that we need not take time to prove it. We may eat only those things that are approved by God. That which is filthy, unhealthful, and vile is divinely disapproved. We need to keep in mind 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20: “Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.” Physically, therefore, we must do right as we feel we must do spiritually. Paul again writes: “Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31. We shall not go wrong if we abide by this rule.
In the 5th verse the apostle turns to another instance of similar scrupulousness. The days refer to the Jewish ceremonial, special festival sabbaths, such as the Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, etc. (Leviticus 23), which the “weak” Judaizing Christians felt should be observed. The “strong,” comprehending clearly that these old ceremonial feasts and holydays were done away at the cross, made no difference between days from this dispensational viewpoint, and so, ceremonially speaking, esteemed “every day alike.” In other words, there were for them no more of these special holydays. Let the questioner study carefully Galatians 4:8-11; Colossians 2:8-17.
Romans 14:5 makes no reference whatever to the regular weekly recurring seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, which is immutable and ever required of Christians (Genesis 2:1-3; Matthew 5:17-19; James 2:8-12). Hence this verse does not mean that any day will do as the Sabbath.
“A FOOLISH CONSISTENCY”
E. F. Hamberg of Kansas asks to be shown the harmony of certain texts of Scripture.
Bible scholars are uncertain as to what day of the Jewish month Nisan it was upon which Jesus was crucified.
Were we in possession of all the details of the happenings that occurred in connection with Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, the apparent contradiction between Mark 16:1 and Luke 23:54–56 would easily and quickly vanish. It may be that in addition to the preparation of the “spices and ointments” on Friday, as recorded by Luke, “when the Sabbath was past” spices were “bought,” as told by Mark. It is just such a minor difficulty as this that establishes beyond a peradventure the veracity and force of the gospel story. Such artless and bald inconsistencies prove the lack of studied fiction and the sheer, simple, forthright honesty of purpose of the evangelists in recording their great object,—the account of the main facts in the earthly career of the Redeemer. Insignificant details were lost sight of in this major design. Let us remember the wise reflection of Emerson: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
NO SUCH TEACHING
Mrs. R. J. Edwards of California asks why some should say that the Bible record of creation teaches that our world is the center of the solar system.
It is incorrect to say that the creation account in Genesis 1 teaches “that this world is the center of the solar system.” There is nothing in the record predicating that, and to maintain this idea is but to maintain a figment of the imagination.
SANCTIFICATION AND JUSTIFICATION
Mrs. H. S. Brown of Iowa thinks sanctification to be an instantaneous work and asks for help on the subject.
The questioner is in error when she assumes that because Acts 2:4, 14-18; 10:44; 11:15; 19:6 speak of the reception of the Holy Spirit by the disciples, the Bible teaches “instantaneous sanctification.” If these scriptures and their context are studied carefully, it will be seen that the Holy Spirit was given in these instances for service, that the ones who received the Spirit might, through the divine power bestowed upon them, do greater work for God.
As it is not clear that a proper distinction is recognized between justification and sanctification, a few words regarding this will not be amiss. When a man accepts by faith the Lord Jesus Christ as his Redeemer from sin, sinner though he actually still is, God immediately accounts, judges, him righteous. Righteousness, therefore, is judicially imputed or reckoned to him because of his faith. This wonderful manifestation of divine love, this outpouring of “the riches of His grace,” “which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6, 7), which at once “justifieth [makes judicially righteous] the ungodly” through his faith that is “reckoned for righteousness” (Romans 4:5), is justification. It must be evident, however, that this justification, as glorious as it is, which starts the Christian on his heavenly career with a clean record, with his sin-stained past forgiven, with a future eternal reward of life ahead of him, is not enough. This judicially reckoned righteousness conferred as a “free gift” (Romans 6:23) from heaven needs to be made an actual experimental righteousness in the believer on earth. Here is where sanctification comes in, to complete what justification begins; to make imputed righteousness infused righteousness, to make the candidate for eternal life actually righteous. And as it takes Heaven time to work out an actual righteous character in us, it has been well said that while justification is the work of a moment, sanctification is the work of a lifetime.
Because Paul in Romans 15:16 says the Gentiles were “sanctified by the Holy Spirit,” this does not contradict what I have just said about the lifetime work of sanctification. Paul is here representing himself as a priest, offering up to God his Gentile converts as acceptable sacrifices, consecrated, or sanctified, by the Holy Spirit that dwelt in them. See Romans 8:9, 11. As of course every acceptable sacrifice presented to God was regarded as holy, consecrated, sanctified, so as sacrifices in this illustrative sense Paul represents his converts. However, what was granted in Paul’s figure had really to be worked out in patient sanctification in the lives of these Gentile Christians. See Romans 12:1, 2.
NO HOPE, NO GOD
No matter what section of the country you live in, you can hardly pick up a paper any day without finding one or more accounts of individuals who are committing suicide. It is true that in many of these cases ill health may have so deranged the mind that the individual is lost to any sense of what he is doing. In other instances, financial reverses and disappointments in life in general cause them to give up in despair, and destroy their own lives.
A group of leaders of the hobo world, including James Eads Howe, millionaire hobo from Los Angeles, who recently convened in Washington to seek means of solving the unemployment problem in the United States. Unemployment figures throughout the world have reached the staggering totals of 2,000,000 for England, 3,000,000 for Germany, 16,000 unemployed and 40,000 partially unemployed for Belgium, 40,000 for Italy, and from 4,000,000 to 6,000,000 for the United States.
But the basic trouble in practically all such cases is the fact that these individuals do not know God for themselves; they do not have the saving grace of the hope that comes only through a companionship with God, and the hope that is inspired by the fact, that no matter what conditions may be in this life, there is the hope beyond, that God Himself, after He has tested and tried us, will give us the blessings of an immortal happiness, where no discouragement and no despair may ever enter. In his Ephesian letter, the apostle says, “Wherefore remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands; that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:11, 12.
How sad and how comfortless those words are, “no hope and without God”! Apart from God and apart from the Bible, the individual may go along for a while in apparent happiness, if he has health, and plenty of means, and everything seems to be going merrily on; but down in his heart all the way through there is a longing for something that can be satisfied only by a knowledge of God and companionship with Him. It is God through His presence in the life that fills the soul with hope, and places us where we do not give way to the despair that comes from disappointment. The Christian has the same disappointments to meet that are met by the people of the world, but his heart is buoyed up by hope; he knows Him in whom he has believed, and trusting in Him he goes forward, knowing that the God who created the great universe has power to take care of him. Hence, no situation, however complex or however despairing, can ever daunt his courage or cause him to give up the struggle.
But apart from this experience, the individual is in the situation described by the apostle: “If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.” 1 Corinthians 15:19. There is a thought in this text that a casual reading may fail to bring to our attention. There are many individuals who have hope in Christ in this life, but who have not entered into the real experience of getting victories through companionship with Christ, through living in His presence, and through being inspired with the courage, the faith, and the consolation that can come only from this intimate companionship. The individual with a superficial Christian experience is unable to cope with the real problems of disaster and calamity that come upon men and women in various ways, and which create the despair in their hearts that results in suicide. We must have that hope in Christ that reaches beyond this life and lays hold upon the actualities of eternity. This life is so fleeting, it is so full of disappointments, that only that soul can be completely happy who is all the time trusting in Christ and seeking Him for power to follow His steps.
The Christ was tempted and tried by all kinds of discouragements, and finally came to the climax of suffering the excruciating agonies of crucifixion. But His hope in His own heavenly Father held Him through to the end, so that He had power to suffer it all and to die in order that we might be inspired with the same hope and confidence that, through the sufferings and the atonement of this mighty Christ, will set us free from sin and give us immortality in the great eternity beyond.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul says, “In hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth? But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Romans 8:24, 25. The marginal rendering for “patience” in the Revised Version is “steadfastness.” It is only hope, then, that can inspire the patience, the steadfastness, that will hold us true and keep us despite every kind of suffering and disappointment. Because we know that if we are called upon to suffer, the God of hope has a great purpose in it, and we can trust Him to work it out to His glory and for our everlasting joy. With such a hope, no individual can be defeated through despair, disappointment, and perplexity.
The way in which this hope is developed in the heart is also very clearly presented to us in another word of the apostle, as follows: “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4.
How beautifully helpful is this wonderful statement! It is “through comfort of the Scriptures” that we “have hope.” In this time, when the teaching of the world leads men to distrust the Bible, leads them to neglect the word of God, the foundation is laid for the despair that ends in so many suicides. It is8the Scriptures that give us comfort; it is the promises of God that fill the soul with courage; it is through the Scriptures that we learn the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and learn to enjoy that companionship with Him that is so beautifully expressed in the words, “To whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27. “Christ in you”! What words of power these are! And not only “Christ in you,” but He is “the hope of glory.” With this companionship, with this blessed hope, no day becomes so dark, no storm cloud becomes so dense, no situation becomes so overpowering, that the soul is crushed. This mighty hope is the anchor of the soul, and holds in every storm. Therefore let “the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13.
Did the Man JESUS CHRIST Ever Live?
By Gentry G. Lowry
¶The persistent growth and development of the church of Christ throughout the centuries since its Founder returned to heaven is the strongest argument of all in favor of the fact that Jesus did live on this earth and did all that He is reported by His followers to have done.
GENTRY G. LOWRY
Ranchi, India
As the gospel of Jesus Christ finds its way into the various countries of the world, the questions often arise, Who is Christ? Did such an individual ever exist? There are men—learned men, according to worldly standards of wisdom—who are ready to undertake to prove that such a person as Jesus Christ never existed; that the whole story that is carried into the remotest corners of the earth by the Christian people is a myth and nothing else; that those who call themselves Christians, the followers of Christ, are deceived, and spend their time and money in deceiving others. They put forth tremendous efforts to prove that the whole story, as we have it in the Gospels, is only the ravings of a bunch of maniacs, not worthy of the faith or confidence of sensible and intelligent men. Their object, of course, in trying to discredit the life and works of Christ is to upset the belief of the people in Christianity.
There would be no more effectual method of breaking up the work of Christ and of the Christian church in the world to-day than to prove that the story of His birth, life, death, and resurrection is only a fairy tale. And so, from generation to generation there have been men who, having their own reasons for not believing in Christ, undertake to show that the whole story is a hoax.
OBJECTIONS USUALLY RAISED
One of the chief proofs that they usually bring forth to make it appear that there is nothing to the story of Christ's life, death, and resurrection is that His name does not appear in any of the current histories of that time. They say that other great men who lived and died in that time are mentioned in the histories of those days. Such men as Demosthenes, Plato, and Socrates, who lived before the time of Christ, and Nero and the Cæsars, who lived after Christ, are mentioned. Then why does not Christ, who claimed to be such a great teacher, if ever such a man lived, find at least some place in the histories of those times? The fact that they do not read a detailed story of the life of Jesus Christ alongside of other great men of the day is sufficient proof to them that Christ never existed.
In bringing forward such evidence as this to prove that a Man called Jesus Christ, a religious teacher, never existed, people seem to forget that as a rule only men who held some public office or were connected in some way with the government or public life of the times were mentioned in the histories of those days. In the first place, the people did not have the facilities in those times for writing and printing records of public men and affairs that we have to-day. Also they did not take the same interest in religious leaders as we do now. This is an added reason why only those who, according to the way men valued things in those times, were accounted public-spirited men were worthy of mention in historical records.
AN ILLUSTRATION
As an illustration of this point, take the historian Thucydides, who is supposed to have been the very best Greek historian, and who died about four hundred years before Christ was born. He was a very careful historian, and took the utmost trouble to ascertain his facts before writing them in his history of Greece. What was the purpose he had in view in writing his history? It was to give the history of the deeds of the various states of Greece—just that and no more—during a certain limited time of his own career. Consequently he tells us no more of the individual citizens than is required by his history. There were undoubtedly great men in his time whose names he did not mention. He mentions only those who were generals in the army, politicians, or public men of some sort or other. He does not mention any men who did not hold some kind of public office. Consequently, although during the time of his history Socrates was living in Athens, the very town in which this historian lived, and he must have been well acquainted with him, he did not mention his name even once,—because all this time Socrates was a private citizen and took no part in public affairs.
Later on, when Socrates was given some position in the government, his name was mentioned in current history,—not as a great philosopher, or as a martyr, as one would naturally expect, but simply in connection with some little part he had to play in connection with the public life of the time.
Because other men who lived in those days and contributed their part in the affairs of Grecian life, such as poets, dramatists, orators, and philanthropic men, were not mentioned in their histories, are we to conclude that such men did not exist? Certainly not. But we do conclude that such men in those days did not particularly interest those who were writing the history of the times.
Our readers will now easily understand why Jesus Christ, who always shrank from any sort of publicity, and kept Himself out of public affairs as much as possible, does not find His rightful place in the ordinary histories of His time. The writers of the times in which He lived were not interested particularly in religious matters. And even if they had been, it is not likely that they, being pagans as they were, would have taken very much notice of Christ at that time; for then His greatness was not seen as it was later on. He would have appeared to them as a simple-minded, fanatical sort of Jew rather than a great teacher and a founder of a wonderful world-wide religion, as we to-day know Him to be.
NOT CONCLUSIVE
So, simply because we do not find the name of Christ in the histories of His times does not in any way prove that He never existed. And, furthermore, we should not be too hasty in making the statement that His life, death, and resurrection, as well as His teachings, are not mentioned in histories of the time. For there were four historians, some of whom were personally acquainted with Jesus, who have given us details of His activities while in this world. They tell of His miraculous birth, of His9childhood, of His work as a teacher and healer, of His trial, of His death on the cross, of His resurrection after three days, and, finally, of His ascension to heaven. These men's writings have been collected and form a part of what we now call the New Testament.
But, says one, these men were not recognized authorities or historians. They were His followers, and therefore may have been misled, or they may have purposely endeavored to mislead us. It is true that they were not recognized historians, and it is also a fact that they were His associates and disciples. But it hardly seems reasonable to think that these men could have completely deceived the world on this point even if they had so desired.
TWO QUESTIONS ASKED
Anyone who would accuse them of deliberately writing up a false story about the matter would be asked two questions. First, how could they have done such a thing? for all that they wrote was within seventy-five years of His death, and there must have been many people living in Palestine who could easily have exposed their fraud and dishonesty; and most of them would have been only too glad to do so. Second, what possible object could they have had in trying to deceive the public by telling such an unheard-of story as that of the life and death and resurrection of Christ? What could they have hoped to gain by doing such a thing? Why would they insist on telling the story over the then-known world when it meant ostracization from their homes, persecution, and in many cases, death? These questions are not easy to answer when one thinks of what the early believers had to pass through as a result of their teaching the things they did.
OUTSIDE EVIDENCE
As to their being deceived themselves, one would think that it might possibly be that one or two might have been deceived; but one could hardly conceive of all twelve of His apostles being taken in by the deception. Moreover, one of the writers tells us that above five hundred men and women saw Him after His resurrection. It hardly seems likely that such a report would have been circulated if Christ never existed at all.
Moreover, there is evidence that within a few years after the death of Christ, even government officials were convinced that there had been a man called Christ who had lived, and had died, and had been resurrected. It is true that they did not look upon Him as a great teacher or religious leader, but at least they gave credit to the story of His life. Tacitus, a Roman historian, records the fact that the notorious emperor Nero waged a most cruel persecution against the Christians, and expressly mentions that these people were followers of a “criminal” executed by Pontius Pilate. He, of course, gave credit to Pilate’s report as to the character of Jesus, and that is why he called Him a criminal. The fact remains, however, that he recognizes the Leader of the Christians as one who was executed by Pilate.
Then again, Pliny, a Roman governor, wrote a long letter to the emperor, asking him what he should do with the extraordinary number of Christians in his province, and mentioned the fact that these people used to sing hymns to Christ as God. These Roman writers were born less than fifty years after the death of Christ, and it is very hard to understand how a historian like Tacitus could have been taken in by a false story about a man who never existed. It is clear that they did not believe that Christ was divine, or anything of that sort, for all the evidence they had, outside of the testimony of Christians, was the report of Pontius Pilate. But what they did was to record that these Christians were followers of a certain Man who lived under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. This is enough to show that not very long after His ascension even secular historians of that time recognized that the Founder of the Christian faith actually lived in this world, and that He was executed in the time of Pontius Pilate. This agrees with what the historians of the New Testament tell us.
TIME HAS MADE A DIFFERENCE
It is difficult for us who live two thousand years this side of Christ to have a very clear idea as to the conditions that existed during the first two or three centuries after Jesus’ death. Nowadays the religion of Jesus Christ is being carried by people of all nations to every nook and corner of the world. Everywhere He is acknowledged to be, at least, one of the world’s greatest religious teachers, and His followers are found everywhere in the world, in all grades of society from the lowliest peasant to the king on his throne. But in those days it was not so. Christ Himself was branded by the Roman officers as a seditious criminal, hardly fit to be mentioned in respectable history. His followers were looked upon as the off-scourings of the earth, and were despised and persecuted by every one. Their sacred books, instead of being valued and prized as the chief treasures of the world’s literature, as they are now, were derided and blasphemed by the educated of the time. When we take all these things into careful consideration, it will not be so difficult for us to understand why the non-Christian writers of those days did not think it worth while to give Christians any large place in their histories.
GREATEST ARGUMENT OF ALL
The greatest and strongest argument of all in favor of the fact that Jesus lived in this world and did all that He is reported by His followers to have done is the persistent growth and development of the church of Christ through the centuries since its Founder returned to heaven. Christians have been bitterly persecuted, they have been banished, their churches have been burned, their writings have been destroyed, and everyPage Tenpossible obstruction has been placed in the way of their progress, and yet continued growth has been made. There is a power in the story of the cross that cannot be gainsaid, and which overcomes every barrier that confronts it. This is not to be wondered at if Christ actually lived in the world and if His words are to be believed, for He predicted that the plan of salvation that He taught would go to the whole world. But if such a Man never lived and the whole story of His life is only a fairy tale, then the history and progress of the Christian church in the world is indeed a mystery.
Yes, Jesus Christ actually lived. The place, the time, and the manner of His birth were all predicted by prophets of old centuries before they took place. He was born in the very place that had been predicted for Him, and in the way the prophets had declared. He did the work that was foretold for Him. He met the fate that the prophets and seers had foretold He should meet. His whole life, His work, His death, and His resurrection were all a fulfillment of prophecy. This is why the work that He began two thousand years ago, and committed to His followers at the end of His experience in this world, has gone on from victory to victory, in spite of the opposition that has been brought against it down through the ages.
