Have Ye Not Read?

By Hoyt Houchen

Question: Is it true that when Jesus first began to perform miracles it was for the purpose of getting the crowds to follow Him? Did He do this to get their attention and thereby teach some spiritual truth? If so, would this be justification for us today to entice outsiders with “free suppers” to get their attention and teach some spiritual truth?

Reply: There is nothing in the Scriptures to indicate that Jesus performed miracles to get the attention of the people so that He could teach them. The Scriptures clearly teach that the purpose of His miracles was to prove that He was the Son of God. Notice John 20:30, 31: “Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God’; and that believing ye may have life in his name.” The purpose of miracles in the Bible was to produce faith. The miracles performed by Moses and Aaron in Egypt were to produce faith, to confirm the testimony that they had been sent from God to deliver the Israelites from bondage (Ex. 4:5). The message of the apostles in the New Testament was confirmed by miracles. “God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his will” (Heb. 2:4). It is evident why miracles in the Old Testaments were performed. They were to confirm God’s word and thereby produce faith. The miracles of Jesus were no exceptions. Jesus came from God to this earth to save men (Matt. 1:21; Lk. 19:10 etc.). This He did by teaching. His miracles proved Him to be all that He claimed to be, the Son of God. His triumphant resurrection from the tomb was the crowning evidence that He was divine. Paul wrote in Rom. 1:3, 4, “concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; even Jesus Christ our Lord.” From these and other Scriptures it should be clear that the purpose of miracles was not to attract attention for the purpose of teaching spiritual truths. Rather, they were to confirm the spiritual truths already taught.

It would be well to observe also that when Jesus fed the five thousand (Jn. 6:1-14) the crowd was already present. Jesus fed the multitude with five loaves and two fishes because He had compassion on the people. This miracle was a consequence of the drawn crowd rather than being done for the purpose of drawing a crowd. The fact that a great multitude followed Him because they saw His signs (Jn. 6:2) was merely the consequence. The fact remains that the motive of Jesus in performing miracles was not to draw the crowds. The feeding of the five thousand (about the number of the men seated) fulfilled the purpose of His miracles. “When therefore the people saw the sign which he did, they said, This is of a truth the prophet that cometh into the world” (Jn. 6:14).

I presume the querist has reference to the church and not individuals. I see nothing amiss in a prearranged meal and Bible study in a private home. But to use the miracles of Jesus to justify church sponsored meals, entertainment and recreation to draw people to the gospel is a misuse of the Scriptures.

The gospel is the power of God to save souls (Rom. 1:16), and God intended it to be the means of drawing men to Him. Jesus declared in Jn. 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself”. The question is, how are men drawn to Christ? They are drawn by His teaching. He plainly stated this when He answered the Jews in Jno. 6:44, 45, “No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him: and I will raise him up in the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be taught of God. Every one that hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, cometh unto me.” This should be clear enough as to how men are drawn to Christ. They are drawn by teaching, hearing and learning (Rom. 10:17). This is a far cry from drawing people by church sponsored social activities, as is being practiced by some of our brethren. If they would resolve to adhere to a “thus saith the Lord,” they would cease putting the church in the social business. The church is a spiritual institution and has a spiritual message for a lost and dying world. It is not the business of the church to attract people by providing youth camps, social or “fellowship” halls and bus ministries. The business of the church is to support the preaching of the gospel (1 Tim. 3:15). There is no substitute for plain, simple unadulterated preaching.

When some brethren will see what the mission of the church is and drop their social provisions to draw crowds, then at least one thing will be eliminated that divides us. We unite upon what the Scriptures authorize. We divide over what they do not authorize.

Guardian of Truth XXVI: 5, p. 66
February 4, 1982

Total Commitment

By James W Adams

Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself . . .” (Matt. 16:24). Discipleship demands total commitment. If there is one thing, above all else, that causes people to be lost, it is their unwillingness to commit themselves wholly – body, soul, and spirit – to the Lord. Yet, it should be observed that this must be a completely voluntary act. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, it was prophesied that the Lord’s servants of the Messianic kingdom would be “willing in the day of his power” (Psa. 110:3).

There is a “philosophy” and a movement emanating from that “philosophy” among our so-called “liberal” brethren, and a few avant-garde, professed “conservative” brethren of the far left variety, which masquerades under the title, “Total Commitment.” In fact, however, it is no more than a highly organized system of coercive, psychological pressure. This feature of the so-called “philosophy” has been so marked in its practical manifestations as to evoke charges of “cultism” both from within and without.

The movement had its origin among professed churches of Christ, in Gainesville, Florida, in a congregation known as “The Crossroads Church of Christ.” The movement’s basic principles have come to be called by many, “The Crossroads Philosophy.” It has been the occasion of much consternation and heated controversy among various segments of the “On-the-march” wing of professed churches of Christ. Though it began ,yin Florida, its echoes have reverberated throughout the nation. It has given rise to morbid curiosity, spurious investigation, and tentative acceptance (somewhat timorous) even among persons professing to be “conservative” – persons possessed of a certain type of mentality which egotistically rejects the “traditional” and gravitates to the novel and unusual.

No informed, sincere brother in the Lord opposes “total commitment” to Christ, but coercion and cultic demagoguery are not to be confused with New Testament consecration. Total commitment which is motivated and sustained by personal faith in Christ and love for God and things spiritual is a blessed virtue. Coerced commitment – whether psychologically or physically induced and enforced, or both – is a pernicious evil, particularly in religion. It is enslavement to fallible, human masters as opposed to the hallowed commitment of gloriously liberated sons of God. Pragmatic though it may be in its immediate, visible effects, its ultimate end is spiritual suicide.

To teach total commitment, born of faith and love, as a solemn duty of eternity-bound men and women is one thing. To coerce “total commitment” to humanly conceived and psychologically implemented programs of religious activity which are totally consuming, under the guise of consecration to Christ, is quite another thing. In fact, it is the difference between a sectarian cult and a New Testament church. It is the difference between a devoted disciple of a crucified, risen, and coronated Lord and an idolatrous zealot of a charismatic Manipulator. It is the difference between a New Testament “saint” and Jim Jones devotee or a Ron Hubbard “Scientologist.” In the use of these illustrations, we do not imply that the Crossroads’ philosophy and practice are identical with those of the men mentioned, but we do perceive a striking parallel between the coerced commitment which characterizes all three systems, and we are as much opposed to said coerced commitment in one system as the other.

It is a source of never-ending amazement that some very respectable, “conservative” brethren have considered themselves under some sort of compulsion, if not overtly to defend, at least to publicize in a semifavorable light the so-called “Crossroads’ Philosophy.” This has been done in lengthy, highly qualified, and culpably ambiguous “analyses” – dissertations which have raised more questions than they have supplied answers. From the analyses themselves, even a casual reader can recognize that they are based on superficial investigations which accept as evidence the personal assurances of the persons promoting the philosophy rather than competent data. These apologetic exposes have served (we hope not intentionally/ to camouflage significant errors in the Crossroads’ philosophy and practice and to palliate highly questionable methods of procedure even in reference to things not wrong within themselves. One is forced to wonder about the motivation behind such efforts as those demonstrated in the apologetic disclosures to which reference has been made. A very pertinent question is raised by them: What possible, defensible interest can truly “conservative” brethren have in becoming involved in a quasi-defense of a neo-liberal gimmick which has finally concerned our “On-the-march” brethren enough to shock them out of their egotistical smugness and self-righteous sense of sufficiency to stir up a controversy among themselves over it?

Specious titles, such as “Total Commitment,” are often employed by propagandists to camouflage the unlovely features and destructive tendencies of their products. Semantics can be deceptive. This is well illustrated by an advertisement run in the daily newspaper by a bank in South Wales. The bank had sustained financial reverses and was not in a position to make loans. To make this known without hurting the image of the bank, the ad was thus worded: “Within the framework of existing ratios of liquidity and statutory reserve deposits, the banks have little room for maneuvering at present.” What they were really saying was: “We cannot lend you any money right now!”

In the same way, religious innovators and cultic demagogues cover many of the quagmires of their progressive (?) and personally self-profiting activities with dignified and traditionally acceptable religious nomenclature. Hence, be careful! Do not swallow their prescriptions without carefully studying the label and analyzing the contents of the bottle. In a word, beware of sectarian gobbledegook which has been sugar-coated with specious terminology! Shakespeare correctly noted that “A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” Conversely speaking, it is just as true that sulphuric acid may be called “water,” but doing so does not make it any less deadly to him who drinks it. When I was in high school chemistry, more years ago than I care to admit, we used to recite a little piece of doggerel to the effect: “Johnny used to live here, but he doesn’t anymore, for what he thought was H20 (water) was H2S04 (sulphuric acid.” How very, very correct we were!

“Total Commitment” is the answer to the eradication of many spiritual ills provided it is produced and maintained by hearts voluntarily consecrated to the Lord in personal “faith, hope, and love.” Structured regimentation through psychological pressure and manipulation, however, is a deadly poison emanating from human, spiritual ambition and religious quackery. The Ephesian book-burners (Acts 19:18-20) learned this when they opened their hearts to the teaching of the Spirit-filled apostle of the Lord. Do we really need to be reminded of the “Jonestown Massacre” or be pointed to the recent revelations in Reader’s Digest (May 1980 and September 1981) concerning so-called “Scientology”? The path of religious history is literally strewn with the wrecks of the lives of millions who were not able to distinguish between “total commitment” as taught in the New Testament and cultic demagoguery as advocated and practiced by designing men. Shall we be totally deaf to the lessons of history?

Guardian of Truth XXVI: 5, pp. 65, 76
February 4, 1982

Premillennalists And Some Parables

By Dudley Ross Spears

The premillennial teaching concerning the church and the kingdom does not harmonize with the Lord’s teaching in some of His parables. The Schofield Reference Bible refers to the church as “the mystery parenthesis.” The church, in the premillennial concept is a second thought, a stop-gap or a last-minute alternative to the establishment of the kingdom. They tell us that Jesus intended to establish His millennial kingdom during His first advent, but since the Jews rejected it, He changed quickly and established the church. The church does not fit into a single premillennial interpretation of Old Testament prophecy. As Russell Boatman says, “The prophets saw only Christ’s first coming and His yet to come earthly kingdom; thus His two comings are said to have been fused into one in the minds of the prophets. The church is regarded as ‘in the valley’ beneath the sighting of the prophets who saw instead the higher ranges of God’s purpose in Christ” (What The Bible Says About The End Time [Joplin: College Press], p. 103).

Some of the parables of Christ picture the kingdom as a feast. Take the parable in Luke 14:15-24 as an example. The rejection of the kingdom, second thought establishment of the church, will not fit the parable in any of the wildest of interpretations. Jesus begins with the statement, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God” (v. 15/. The parable is the story of a man who made a great supper and sent his servants to bring those invited to the table. “Those bidden” refers to the Jews to whom the Lord came first (John 1:11, 12). They all rejected the invitation. The man of the parable then, in order to fill his house, sent his servants to gather others from “streets and lanes of the city” and bring them to the table. The parable ends with the judgmental statement, “For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper” (v. 24/. The ones Jesus had in mind were the Jews who rejected the invitation to eat bread in the kingdom.

The Lord has no such rosy future in His plans for the Jews as that which the premillennialists have. The Lord flatly says they will not taste of His supper, that is, they will not have a second chance. The premillennial program requires the parable to include something like this – please keep in mind that what follows is fictional, not factual.

“A certain man made a supper and bade many, and sent his servants at supper time to say to them that were bidden, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they began making excuses, thus rejecting the man’s invitation. Therefore the man changed his plan, postponed the supper for an indefinite time, set up a luncheon or snack bar instead, knowing that sooner or later, when he tried again, those who were bidden would then accept the invitation.”

The premillennialist, who takes the postponement theory, does not live who can say the above is a misrepresentation of his position. This is more evidence that they are teaching rank and plain error. May God help us all to see the difference.

Guardian of Truth XXVI: 4, p. 59
January 28, 1982

Millennialism and The American Political Dream

By Steve Wolfgang

That Americans have long perceived a special relationship between their country and their God is a fact obvious enough to be a truism. Historians have spent considerable time in the past 15 years explaining “the civil religion,”(1) producing reams of articles, essays, and book-length manuscripts.

The phrase “the civil religion” (used by Robert Bellah in the 1967 article which began the recent discussion) was intended “to describe the religious dimension of American political life that has characterized our Republic since its foundation and whose most central tenet is that the nation . . . stands under . . . a ‘higher law.”‘(2) Respected authors followed with books bearing titles such as Redeemer Nation: The Idea of America’s Millennial Role,(3) God’s New Israel: Religious Interpretations of American Destiny,(4) The Nation With the Soul of a Church,(5) The New Heavens and New Earth: Political Religion in America,(6) and The Broken Covenant.(7) The concepts of America as a “garden in the wilderness,” a “city set on a hill,” or “God’s chosen people” with a special destiny, have long been staples of American religious historiography. Notable Americans, from the Founding Fathers through a succession of Presidents and Senators, periodically have joined the “average American” in asking God’s blessings (if not invoking the Divine will) on diverse, even opposite, political goals of every sort. Truly, God has been perceived as “on every side of every social issue . . .; He has participated in every war on every side; He is a Democrat and a Republican, high tariff and low tariff, a fascist and a communist.”(8)

Much of the pre-Civil War millennial hope took the form of a glorious post-millennialism, which anticipated the reform of society through religious conversion on a scale so grand that the return of Christ would inevitably follow.(9) Like other Americans of their time, many of the early “Restorationists” (Alexander Campbell and his Millennial Harbinger in particular)(10) shared the enthusiastic postmillennnial optimism of their contemporaries; like their counterparts they saw their dream of an American millennium dashed by the war which sundered the nation. The aftermath of that conflict lead many who had anticipated the “marriage supper of the lamb” instead to what has been called “the Great Barbecue.”

Post-Civil War America witnessed an ever-increasing series of “prophecy conferences” which became an identifying feature of much of conservative Protestantism, later styled “Fundamentalism.”(11) According to one church historian, “dispensationalism became standard for large numbers of Fundamentalists,”(12) and still another recent work identified The Roots of Fundamentalism as “British and American Millennarianism.”(13)

Meanwhile, the remnants of whatever socio-religious optimism had survived the nineteenth century normally found expression in “the social gospel.” By the First World War some of these religious liberals found in the Fundamentalists enough of a threat to their own modernism to launch an attack (or counterattack, depending upon one’s viewpoint). It was a frontal assault across the board, not only against the conservatives’ view of miracles and verbal inspiration, rejection of higher criticism and comparative religions, but on the Fundamentalists’ millennial views as well. Shailer Matthews’ journal The Biblical World carried articles on “The Premillennial Menace,” and the Christian Century carried at least 21 anti-premillennial articles during World War 1.(14)

Naturally, the Fundamentalist response was to return fire, resulting in the full-scale warfare now known as the “Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy” of the 1920’s.(15) Though evidently retreating in disarray following the death of William Jennings Bryan immediately after the Scopes Trial, this conservative-premillennial impulse was only shallowly submerged. It remained close enough to the surface of American religion to be seen by anyone who cared to look (which few did – particularly those in the political, social, and religious “mainstream”). Though perhaps finding limited expression in the early Billy Graham campaigns, this undercurrent of extreme premillennial (“dispensational”)(16) is religious conservatism found even Graham too “ecumenical” for their taste(17) (to say nothing of the even more “worldly evangelicals”(18) who emerged after World War II).

The 1960’s and 1970’s, however, brought not only numerical decline in liberal Protestantism and Catholicism, but a renewed fervor and higher profile on the part of long-dormant dispensational religious conservatives. When the supposedly “evangelical” President, Southern Baptist Jimmy Carter, proved to be a bitter disappointment to these “modern” Fundamentalists, organized efforts were begun in earnest to exert pressure on American life through several avenues of the political process.

The general outlines of the latter-day dispensationalists’ political involvement have been fairly well outlined in the popular press.(19) During the 1970’s, with changes in FCC regulations and the development of new technology such as satellite programming and the proliferation of cable TV networks, a coterie of independent evangelists extended the invitation to their “electronic church.”(20) Out-flanking an older corps of preachers such as Graham, Oral Roberts, and Rex Humbard, the new group which emerged in the seventies included Jerry Falwell (an independent Baptist minister whose “Old-Time Gospel Hour” originates from his 18,000 member Thomas Road Baptist church in Lynchburg’ VA),(21)

and James Robison (a Ft. Worth-based Southern Baptist TV evangelist). The “charismatic” wing of the electronic church is represented by men such as Pat Robertson (a Yale-educated attorney and son of a former U.S. Senator from Virginia, whose “700 Club” is produced by his own Christian Broadcasting Network in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk, VA area; and by his former employee, Jim Bakker (an Assemblies of God preacher whose “PTL Club” originates from Charlotte,NC). Both Falwell and Robertson have strong doctrinal inclinations of a dispensational sort which cause them to favor millennialistic backing for moral support (if not military spending/ for the State of Israel. Robinson and Bakker have both experienced difficulties with the FCC and other governemental agencies which may be partly responsible for their entry into and support of political activity by religious conservatives.(22)

A second element in the influence of the religious “New Right” was the linkage of these TV evangelists with their large audiences,(23)computerized mailing lists, and huge ministry incomes(24) with a potent set of conservative political lobbyists who shared similar concerns on moral issues if not other political ideology. A former Colgate-Palmolive marketing executive, Ed McAteer, was familiar with a number of the TV preacher, being a member of a Southern Baptist church “pastored” by Adrian Rogers (past SBC president). As field director for the Conservative Caucus (headed by Howard Phillips, who is Jewish), McAteer was able to make apparent to a “triumvirate” of conservative lobbyists the power of the electronic church (and the willingness of the TV evangelists to become politically involved. The “triumvirate” consisted of Paul Weyrich, head of a conservative lobbying school in Washington and of the Committee for Survival of a Free Congress’ Richard Viguerie, a direct-mail wizard and editor of the Conservative Digest; and Terry Dolan of “Nicpac” (National Conservative Political ‘Action Committee). It was Weyrich (a Catholic) who reportedly coined the term “Moral Majority” in a meeting with Falwell, encouraging him to head it and supplying an aide (Robert Billings) as its operational director. Billings “later became Ronald Reagan’s religious affairs advisor, before establishing his own organization in 1980 called the National Christian Action Coalition.”(25) Two other organizations grew out of the interrelated workings of these men: the Religious Roundtable (at whose meeting in August of 1980 candidate Reagan gave an endorsement of the group and made his widely-reported anti-evolutionary statement); and the Christian Voice (founded in California in 1979 by Robert Grant, a Fuller Seminary and California Graduate School of Theology student) which is perhaps best-known for its Congressional “hit lists” of members with unacceptable voting records.

It is through such organizations that the views of Jerry Falwell (and those of his ilk) regarding the State of Israel have become publicized. Certainly there are other issues (abortion, women’s and homosexuals rights, evolution, school textbooks and the whole question of public and private education, etc.) which bind a number of religiously diverse elements together very loosely, but we are concerned here with the premillennial aspects of the current religious ferment. It should also be pointed out that the focus of God’s promises to his chosen people and indeed the promised land itself have shifted according to dispensational thinking, from America to the modern state of Israel (begun as a political entity in 1948) though the two are still linked in Falwell’s mind. Describing himself as a “premillennialist, pretribulationist sort of fellow” and an “ardent Zionist” at the same time, Falwell “preaches that one reason God favors America is that America ‘has blessed the Jew His chosen people.”(26) The reason he considers not only Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum but Menachem Begin to be “personal friends”(27)is his publicly stated support for Israel. “I support the Jews,” he says, “for Biblical reasons. I take the Abrahamic covenant literally. God has blessed America because we have blessed the Jews.”(28) Asserting that “If Hitler could rise up from hell today, he would say ‘Amen’ to that,” Falwell continues:

The Jews look on conservative Christianity as the right wing that has been their enemy in years past. It is only a modern phenomenon that conservative Christianity is pro-Jewish. Socalled Christians wiped them out during World War II, and all of them were right – wingers. It has just been in this generation that mature, Bible-believing Christians have stood up and said, ‘Hey, we are for the Jews because God is for the Jews.’ The leadership in conservative Christianity today is solidly behind the state of Israel; there is no question about that.(29)

However, addressing a rally in Richmond, VA, Falwell noted that “some in his audience might still be antiSemitic. ‘And I know why you don’t like the Jew,’ he went on. ‘He can make more money accidentally than you can make on purpose.”‘(30)

Thus, even though some major features of the premillennial scheme have had to be rearranged (just as premillennial date-setting ala Hal Lindsey has been revised on numerous occasions), Falwell and other dispensationalists still cling to their false doctrines on this issue as well as on others.

It is difficult to assess the impact that dispensationalism has had on even conservative politics. One would surmise that it has had little effect other than allowing Falwell to be pictured in intimate discussion with world leaders such as Begin(31) or former Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat, and to be able to say, selfimportantly, to one’s audiences, “I talked with Prime Minister Begin today, and he told me . .”

The relatively unstable nature of the current Middle East situation may produce problems for dispensationalists, however. If concern over oil resources prompts a continued courting of the Arab nations by the U.S., then another major re-writing of premillennial doctrine may have to accompany a new round of datesetting. Secondly, the loose coalition of business and political leaders now allied with the religious right may fracture if hard political decisions over who to best ally ourselves with begins to take precedence over doctrinal premillennial speculation.

Two interesting questions should be addressed in conclusion. First, if this strain of pro-Israel, pretribulational dispensationalism has been with us for to these many years, why has it only recently become so radicaly politicized? Why would members of religious bodies which while dispensational, are also thoroughly otherworldly in their basic ideology, become invoved in political reform campaigns? Several reasons suggest themselves. The first is the dominance of an increasingly secular, antireligious flavor in our society, produced in part by the political and social radicalism of the past two decades. Secondly, as both brother Ed Harrell and liberal Christian Century editor James M. Wall(32) have pointed out, the kind of prosperous times we have been living in have traditionally produced voters preoccupied not only with personal moral considerations but with what they perceive as the imminent collapse of society itself. Finally, as my favorite columnist, George Will astutely observed, the answer to the question of “why so many people are aroused … is they have been provoked”(33), Brother Harrell put it this way when dealing with the same question of why

Millions of religious Americans, inspired by their evangelist leaders, swarmed to the polls in 1980. It was because they had been attacked. Liberal religion and liberal politics put tremendous pressure on conservative Christians in the years immediately before 1920 and 1975 and then recoiled in shock and indignation when the fundamentalists fought back. If you don’t want to fight, don’t hit a fundamentalist. Though the parallel is not exact, it brings to mind Commodore Vanderbilt’s remark after being outfoxed by Daniel Drew in their war over the Erie Railroad. Moralized the subdued Commodore: ‘Never kick a skunk.’(34)

Thus, it would appear that rather than being led into politics by the demands of their theology, even though dispensational, the fundamentalists were drawn into the political fray for larger reasons, though their doctrinal preconceptions have surely governed the manner in which they have expressed themselves or rationalized their participation in political affairs.

Finally, what has any of this to do with New Testament Christianity; and, by the same token, what can New Testament Christians have to do with the movement? The answer to both questions, it seems to me, is “Nothing!” Certainly it can be established that premillennialism (whether pre- or post-tribulational, or the “Bollite” variety more common among Churches of Christ) is as unscriptural as either Calvinism or Catholicism. Thus, in order to have “fellowship” with the Religious Right, a true New Testament Christian would need to strain his convictions as far or farther than Jerry Falwell has had to do (rather torturously, it seems) in order to accommodate himself to Jews, Catholics, and Mormons with whom he may be united on diverse and isolated issues such as Zionism, abortion, or women’s rights. True, one might agree with Falwell (or with Jews, Catholics, or Mormons) about these or other politico-religious issues. But those whose allegiance is to New Testament Christianity have no more business allying themselves with Falwell and his dispensational perversion of prophecy (or Pat Robertson’s biblically false charismatic notions) than they do in making “common cause” with the Roman Catholic Church or the Latter-Day Saints. While one may look favorably upon their efforts in areas such as school textbooks, the evolution issue, etc., those who follow Christ and his word cannot afford to make unholy alliances with those who will label such attempts as “Campbellism” and oppose a “Campbellite” as viciously as they will an evolutionist or a homosexual.

During the Scopes Trial of 1925, when William Jennings Bryan was looked upon by some even in the Lord’s church as the next thing to an apostle of Christ, a gospel preacher from Albertville, Alabama reminded Christians that “it is no worse to deny the Bible act of creation than to set aside the New Testament plan of salvation, and not one of the denominational~preachers will preach it as it is.”(35) One of his compatriots, considering the relative demerits of an evolutionist and a premillennialist, offered this colorful analysis:

Many preachers are clapping their hands for the Bible at the Monkey Trial at Dayton, but at the same time they “can’t see any harm in Bollism.” Truly people are “blind and can’t see afar off” . . . so “annoint your eyes with eye salve . . .” Bollism is more dangerous to mankind than monkeyism because Bollism claims Bible for what they teach and monkeyism does not.(36)

In these times when the likes of the Moral Majority not only confuses the minds of the general public about what the Bible actually does teach, but entices Christians to join hands with it, we would do well to heed the admonition.

Endnotes

1. Robert N. Bellah, “The Civil Religion in America,” Daedalus (Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Boston, MA), Winter 1967. Reprinted in a “Daedalus Library” Volume, Religion in America, ed. Robert N. Bellah & William G. McLoughlin (Boston: Beacon Press, 1966, 1968), pp. 3-23; and in Russel E. Richey &Donald G. Jones, eds., American Civil Religion (New York: Harper & Row, 1967), pp. 21-44.

2. Bellah, “American Civil Religion in the 1970’s,” in Rickey & Jones, p. 255.

3. Ernest L. Tuveson (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968).

4. Conrad Cherry, ed., (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1971).

5. Sidney E. Mead (New York: Harper & Row, 1974).

6. Cushing Strout (New York: Harper & Row, 1974).

7. Robert N. Bellah (New York: The Seabury Press, 1975).

8. David Edwin Harrell, Jr., “Peculiar People: A Rationale For Modern Conservative Disciples,” in Disciples and the Church Universal (Nashville: DCHS, 1967), p. 41.

9. See Harrell, Quest for a Christian America (Nashville, DCHS, 1966), pp. 39-58.

10. See Steve Wolfgang & Ron Halbrook, “Alexander Campbell & The Spirit of the Revolution, I & II,” in Truth Magazine, 22 /February 16 & 23, 1978/, pp. 123ff. & 137ff. See also Richard T. Hughes, “From Primitive Church to Civil Religion: The Millennial Odyssey of Alexander Campbell,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 44 (March, 1976), pp. 87-103; and Earl Kimbrough, “How the Restorers Dealt With Prophecy,” in The Restoration Heritage in America (Florida College Annual Lectures, 1976), pp. 57 ff.

11. Named for a series of pamphlets titled “The Fundamentals” first appearing about 1910 and issued in four bound volumes by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in 1917.

12. C.C. Goen, “Fundamentalism in America,” in America Mosaic: Social Patterns of Religion in the United States (Phillip E. Hammond & Benton Johnson, eds.; New York: Random House, 1970), p. 87.

13. Ernest R. Sandeen (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970); reprinted in paperback edition by Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1978). Other recent studies of Fundamentalism include C. Allyn Russell, Voices of American Fundamentalism: Seven Biographical Studies (Philadelphia: Westminister Press, 1976); and the excellent recent book of George M. Marsden, Fundamentalism & American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism, 1870-1925 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980), cited below.

14. Marsden, pp. 147-148, 271.

15. For an excellent documentary of some aspects of the conflict, see Willard B. Gatewood, Controversy in the Twenties: Fundamentalism, Modernism, & Evolution (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1969).

16. The following books may be useful in separating the various strands of millennial thought (postmillennial, premillennial, amillennial, dispensational, pre-tribulational, post-tribulational, etc.): Robert G. Clouse, ed., The Meaning of The Millennium: Four Views (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1977), with chapters by George Eldon Ladd (Historic Premillennialism), Herman A. Hoyt (Pispensational Premillennialism), Lorraine Boettner (Postmillennialism), and Anthony A. Hoekema (Amillennialism); Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979); Millard J. Erickson, Contemporary Options in Eschatology: A study of the Millennium (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1977); For some historical backgrounds see Clarence B. Bass, Backgrounds to Dispensationalism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960), and C. Norman Kraus, Dispensationalism in America: Its Rise and Development (Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1958).

17. For development of this interpretation of Graham, see David Edwin Harrell, Jr., “The Roots of the Moral Majority: Fundamentalism Revisited,” Occasional Papers (No. 15), Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research, Collegeville, MN (May, 1981), pp. 2-3. See also the chapter on Graham by William C. Martin in Harrell (ed.), Varieties of Southern Evangelicalism (Atlanta: Mercer University Press, 1981).

18. The phrase is the title of one of Richard Quebedeaux’s two books on the Evangelicals (see Steve Wolfgang, “Neo-Evangelicals: Shift Toward Modernism,” in Truth Magazine, 22:43 (November 2, 1978), pp. 694-696, especially note 6). The distinction between the “old-line” Fundamentalists and the post-World War II “Neo-evangelicals” cannot be emphasized too strongly if the movements are to be understood. George M. Dollar’s History of Fundamentalism in America (Greenville, SC: Bob ones University Press, 1973), for instance, characterizes the Neo-Evangelicals as “The Enemy Within” (chapter XII).

19. The following is only a partial bibliography. On earlier manifestations of conservative political religionists see Arnold Forster & Benjamin R. Epstein, Danger On the Right (New York: Random House, 1964), which includes a chapter on George Benson and the National Education Program at Harding College; Daniel Bell, ed., The Radical Right (New York: Vintage Books, 1967); and John H. Redekop, The American Far Right: A Case Study of Billy James Hargis and the Christian Crusade (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968). For a study of some social views of various small sects see David Edwin Harrell, White Sects and Black Men in the Recent South (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1971).

There have been several noteworthy articles on the Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, and related groups in the popular news magazines in the past decade or so. Some of these include ”U.S. Evangelicals: Moving Again,” Time, September 19, 1969, p. 58; Harold O.J. Brown, “Restive Evangelicals, “National Review, February 15, 1974, p. 192;’ “The New Evangelicals,” Newsweek, May 6, 1974, p. 86; “A Born Again Faith,” Time, September 27, 1976, p. 87; cover story and related articles, “Born Again!” Newsweek, October 25, 1976; “The Evangelicals: New Empire of Faith” (cover story & related articles, Time, December 26, 1977.

The recent space of articles on the resurgence of Fundamentalism and related political involvement includes the following. From Newsweek: “Born Again Politics” (cover story & related articles), September 15, 1980; “Churches, Politics, & the Tax Man,” October 6, 1980, p. 46. From Time: “Politics from the Pulpit,” October 13, 1980, p. 28; “To the Right, March!” (Cover story & related articles, September 14, 1981). From U.S. News & World Report: “Preachers in Politics: Decisive Force in ’80? (September 15, 1980), p. 24; “Bigger Game for Religious Right,” (November 17, 1980), p. 42; “As Religious Right Flexes Its Muscles,” (December 29, 1980/January 5, 1981), p. 69). Also informative have been the following: Martin E. Marty, “Fundamentalism Reborn: Faith & Fanaticism,” Saturday Review (May 1980), p. 37; Clint Confehr, “Jerry Falwell’s Marching Christians,” Saturday Evening Post (December 1980), p. 58; Bob Johnson, “Evangelical Conservatives Are Planning Future Battles,” Louisville Courierjournal, October 19, 1980, p. D-1; Sid Moody (Associate Press), “Moral Majority,” AP feature, Sunday, October 25, 1981; William F. Buckley, Jr., “The Moral Majority Will Get You,” (syndicated column, On the Right, November 30, 1980).

Religious news publications, notably the Christian Century, have also given the New Right considerable coverage. Among the many article appearing in the Century have been the following which I have found informative: “‘Christian Voice’: The gospel of Right-Wing Politics,” (August 15-22, 1979), p. 781; James M. Wall, “God’s Piece of Cheese,” Feburary 27, 1980, p. 219; Ted Moser, “If Jesus Were A Congressman, ” (April 16, 1980/, p. 444; Martin E. Marty, “Christian Voice’s Rating Game,” (June 8-15, 1980), p. 687; James M. Wall, “The New Right Exploits Abortion,” (July 30-August 6, 1980), p. 747; John Scanzoni, “Resurgent Fundamentalism: Marching Backward Into the ’80’s?” (September 10-17, 1980), p. 847; Robert Zwier & Richard Smith, “Christian Politics and the New Right,” October 8, 1980, p. 937; “What’s Wrong With Born-Again Politics? A Symposium,” (October 22, 1980), p. 1002; James M. Wall, “The New Right Comes of Age,” (October 22, 1980), p. 995; “New Right Tops 1980 Religion News” (December 31, 1980), p. 1283; “The Decade Ahead in Church-State Issues,” by John M. Swomley (February 25, 1981), p. 199.

James M. Wall, “What Future for the New Right?” (November 25, 1981), p. 1219.

Finally, in addition to the articles cited elsewhere in this article, I have found the following to be helpful in sorting out the confusing welter of New Right personalities and organizations: Bruce Buursma, “The 700 Club,” Louisville Courier Journal, June 4, 1976, p. B-1; Philip Yancey, “The Ironies and Impact of PTL,” Christianity Today, September 21, 1979, p. 28; and “Is Morality All Right?” (Christianity Today, November 2, 1979), p. 76. See Ed Harrell, “Roots of the Moral Majority,” footnotes for still other references.

20. For a lengthy and well-written analysis of the New Right in general and the TV evangelists and Falwell in particular, see Frances FitzGerald, “A Disciplined, Charging Army,” The New Yorker (May 18, 1981), pp. 53ff.

21. For detailed information regarding Falwell’s organizations, see Steve Wolfgang, “Evangelicals & The Moral Majority,” printed outline in Bible Lectures, Church of Christ, 2222 Wendell Avenue, Louisville, KY 40205 (November 1, 1981).

22. See Harrell, “Roots,” pp. 5-6.

23. “An estimated 130 Million Americans tuned in a religious program each week (in 1980), approximately 47 percent of the population, while only 41 percent attended church services” (Harrell, “Roots,” p. 3).

24. Robertson, Bakker, and Falwell take in annually an estimated 158 million, $51 million, and $50 million, respectively (Harrell, “Roots,” p. 3).

25. Ibid., p. 4. See “Born Again at the Ballot Box,” Time, April 14, 1980, p. 94.

26. “Politicizing the Word,” Time (October 1, 1979), p. 62.

27. Falwell comment as guest on William F. Buckley’s Firing Line (televised February 15, 1981; Transcript subject No. 448: “Are We Menaced By the Moral Majority?”), pp. 3ff.

28. “Unmasking Jerry Falwell & His Moral Majority” (cover story; see related articles also) Christianity Today (September 4, 1981), p. 25.

29. lbid.

30. “Politicizing the Word,” Time (October 1, 1979), p. 62.

31. “Patricia Pingry, Jerry Falwell: Man of Vision (Milwaukee, WI: Ideals Publishing Corporation, 1980), p. 66; see also remarks on p. 70.

32. Harrell, “Roots,” p. 9, n. 60. Both Wall and Harrell refer to Richard Hofstadter’s analysis of “the Paranoid Style in American Politics.”

33. ”Who Put Morality In Politics?” Newsweek (September 15, 1981), p. 108.

34. Harrell, “Roots,” p. 9.

35. R.N. Moody, “Our Messages,” Gospel Advocate, 67 (July 9, 1925), p. 656.

36. J. G. Allen, “Our Messages,” Gospel Advocate, 67 (July 25, 1925), p. 705. See also A.A. Bunner, “Bryan as a Bible Teacher,” Gospel Advocate, 67 (October 29, 1925), p. 1034; Ed Harrell, “Fundamentalism Again,” Vanguard, 5 (August 1979), p. 1; Steve Wolfgang, “The Moral Majority?” Guardian of Truth, 25 (February 12, 1981), p. 1.

Guardian of Truth XXVI: 4, pp. 54-58
January 28, 1982