Truth Magazine

By Connie W. Adams

Guy N. Woods

Guy N. Woods, well known author, debater, preacher and former editor of the Gospel Advocate recently passed away at the age of 85. He was laid to rest on December 11, 1993. Among his many debates there were at least three which had profound impact on the institutional division: the Porter-Woods Debate held in Paragould, Arkansas, the Cogdill-Woods Debate held in Birmingham, Alabama and the Grider-Woods Debate conducted in Louisville, Kentucky. These three discussions had far reaching effects in shaping the thinking of brethren on both sides of the controversy over sponsoring churches and church support of benevolent institutions.

My first direct acquaintance with brother Woods was in 1960-61 when the elders of the church at Newbern, Tennessee asked me to handle the correspondence with brother Woods and with Roy E. Cogdill leading up to their second debate at Newbern, Tennessee in December, 1961. Later, while brother Woods was editor of the Gospel Advocate and I was editor of Searching the Scriptures we had a pleasant, though pointed at times, correspondence touching several matters of mutual interest. In his later years brother Woods was much concerned with the direction many of his brethren were taking and the speed with which they were moving away from the old paths. Many of the avant-garde institutional men regarded him as a relic of the past while many opposed to institutionalism consider him one of those who helped to open a flood-gate which he was powerless to close in his later years.

The mightiest of men are but mortal. Epic battles are fought by men who must die and then be judged by the God of all the earth who will do right. So, let us pass the time of our sojourning here in fear for all are drawing nearer to the ultimate appointment.

Medical Evangelism Seminar

On January 7 and 8, 1994 a “Medical Evangelism Seminar” was conducted at the Harvey Hotel in Dallas, Texas. This is an annual affair and remains one of the clearest evidences of the social gospel at work among many in the institutional movement among churches of Christ. This event was hosted by African Christian Hospitals Foundation. Reports were heard from representatives of various congregations who collect and disburse various medical supplies to clinics and hospitals in several countries which are staffed by people supported by churches of Christ. These hospitals, so far, are all overseas, but they are funded by U.S. churches. However, there was a group discussion on “U.S. Medical Missions” which listed Inner City, Dallas, Texas, Mexican Border, McAllen, Texas and Appalachia, Jellico, Tennessee.

One segment featured “Helping National Churches Establish Their Own Clinic.” Already, there are hospitals or other medical missions funded by churches in the U.S. which are located in Tanzania, East Africa, Nigeria, Guyana, Guatemala and Mexico, to name a few. There are others. This is all part of the notion that the church must minister to the whole man. The New Testament teaches that the church is a spiritual body whose primary role in the world is to preach the gospel to the lost and repair their souls for a heavenly reward (Jn. 18:36; Rom. 14:17; 1 Thess. 1:8-10). There are times when congregations must relieve those among them in need (1 Tim. 5:16; Acts 6). Sometimes congregations sent help to assist other congregations to relieve those of their own number for whom they could not provide (Acts 11:27-30; 2 Cor. 8:1-15).

I receive several publications from the more conservative institutional men but do not recall seeing anything from any of them in opposition to church funded hospitals and clinics. Do they, or do they not, oppose this social gospelism?

Consider The Source

It is often difficult to know when to respond to critics and when to ignore them. Critics help keep us humble. Constant praise might be pleasant to hear but it also tends to inflate egos. It might be a good idea to consider what critics have to say about us. Somewhere in it all there just might be a kernel of truth which will help us. But all critics are not well-motivated. Sometimes they are on a vendetta, or have some personal axe to grind. Some critics hope to promote them-selves by pulling down another. In such cases it is a good idea to consider the advice given years ago by a wise woman to her son. She said, “Son, if you get kicked by a mule, just consider the source.”

Thanks To Guardian Of Truth Staff

My first year of work as a writer for Guardian of Truth is now behind me. It was difficult to make the decision to close down the work of Searching The Scriptures. Thanks to so many who continue to tell us how much it is missed. I am thankful for the opportunity to write in Guardian of Truth and to serve in other ways in the operation in this publishing business. The entire staff has been congenial and our work together has been most pleasant. I have especially enjoyed the association with Mike Willis. All of us who write for this paper, or work behind the scenes, get our share of criticism. I am sure some is well-intentioned and deserved. But these are men of honor who love the truth and are set to defend it. I do not agree with everything which every writer says on every subject any more than I did when I edited Searching The Scriptures. I do not always like the way some things are said by some writers. Mike would likely say the same. These are strange times in our nation and among the people of the Lord. Winds of change bring mixed emotions. All changes are not bad. But some signal a cutting loose from scriptural moorings. When to say what, and how much to say about it, or allow to be said about it, is not always easy to decide. It is my judgment, for whatever it is worth, that Mike Willis is doing a good job in charting a course for this paper. I look forward to continued efforts to teach the word of God through this medium.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 4, p. 3-4

By Mike Willis

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect(Matt. 5:43-48).

A person’s conduct toward his enemies frequently reveals a dark side of his character. Some men stoop to lying, misrepresentation, mud-slinging, and other vicious activities commonly characterized as “character assassination” to destroy their enemies. On some occasions hatred for one’s enemies actually results in murder, as reading the daily newspaper commonly demonstrates. What was Jesus’ conduct toward his enemies? We read above what he preached, but how did he live?

1. Jesus held no grudges. He taught his disciples to forgive as often as a person repented and asked his forgiveness, even until 7 times 70 (Matt. 18:21-35). He emphasized that one’s own forgiveness is contingent on whether or not he is willing to forgive his brother. He did not allow his disciples to nourish grudges, resulting in bitterness of spirit, hatred, and spite. But more than mere teaching, Jesus demonstrated that he held no grudges when he prayed to the Father saying, “Forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34). His conduct manifested the proper attitude one should hold toward his enemies. Jesus’ willingness to die on the cross, even for those who crucified him, demonstrates the active good will that love mandates.

2. Jesus bore injury without malice. Peter described Jesus’ attitude toward his enemies when he wrote, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Pet. 2:21-23). Jesus did not walk around with a chip on his shoulder because of wrongs previously suffered. He never hated anyone, nor did he cruelly mistreat his enemies. He lived what he taught when he said that love “thinketh no evil” (i.e., does not keep an account, a running ledger of wrongs suffered, 1 Cor. 13:5).

3. Jesus was kind to his enemies. The spirit of the world is to be kind to one’s friends and do whatever evil one can to his enemies. Plato described Cyrus saying, “No one did more good to his friends and more harm to his enemies” (cited in Boles’ Outlines 57). There is no evidence that Jesus was ever unkind to his enemies.

As a matter of fact, one of the things that created enemies for him was the kindness he showed those to whom the religious world was generally unkind. The Pharisees condemned Jesus for eating with the publicans and well-known sinners of the world (see Luke 15:1-2). They were appalled that he would be kind to such people. Their criticism itself is a compliment to Jesus’ character. He did not reflect a holier-than-thou attitude toward those whose lives were consumed with sin. Like the Great Physician that he was, he stooped to heal the sick and broken-hearted, rather than contemptuously looking down on them.

He treated the Samaritan woman with kindness (John 4). The Samaritans were considered “dogs” by the Jews. Jesus’ kindness to this woman startled her. She said, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9). Jesus was no enemy to the Samaritan woman.

4. Jesus was forgiving. I know that is true, for he has forgiven me. Paul was truly amazed at the grace of God manifested in Christ. He wrote, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8).

Jesus’ attitude toward his enemies was shown when he prayed for those who crucified him to be forgiven of their sins. It is shown in his coming to this earth and dying on the cross for us  sinners who were alienated from God.

5. Jesus forbade revenge. In the same vein as Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, Paul wrote, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). When men set out on a mission to retaliate for injuries (or imagined injuries) suffered, they are guilty of vindictiveness. Such actions proceed from a malevolent spirit. The spirit of malice is itself a work of the flesh (Rom. 1:29; Eph. 4:31).

The modern movies extol revenge in many of the Rambo type of movies. Gang wars are the result of a spirit of vengeance. Many inner city youths die in gang wars for the purpose of avenging oneself of his enemies. We may pour millions of dollars into the inner city problems but unless the spirit is cleansed of its sinful vengeance, the problems will not disappear.

Sometimes local churches are the battlefields of wounded pride. One man is committed to opposing anything promoted by another man with whom he has become crossed, regardless of how good an idea might be proposed by the man. This is just one way of “getting even.” It is a spirit born of the Devil and not of Christ.

Conclusion

Let us learn from the example of Jesus what our conduct toward our enemies should be. Let us not gloss over sin by excusing our hatred and bitterness of spirit because of some offense or supposed offense against us. Let us pray for our enemies and not nurture a grudge, hold spite, or excuse hatred.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 4, p. 2
February 17, 1994

By Mark Mayberry

America is no longer at a crossroads. We have been traveling down the wrong path for years. Many of our current societal problems stem from the dramatic shift in attitudes that occurred in the 1960s, a decade marked by the deification of freedom, and widespread rebellion against social institutions, traditional values and established authority. In the last thirty years, many of the central institutions of our society (including the judicial, educational, welfare and mental health systems) have become permeated with the values of the Sixties. However, the idealistic dream of the 1960s has turned into a terrifying nightmare in the 1990s.

Our society has rejected the Bible as God’s absolute standard. Cut loose from the anchor of biblical morality, modern man is adrift in a sea of relativity. Disorder, disintegration and chaos have inevitably followed. Let us consider several areas where the relative morals of secular-ism have brought us to the brink of ruin.

1. The Criminal Justice System

God ordained civil government to maintain an orderly society. The first responsibility of government is the swift and sure punishment of evildoers (Eccl. 8:11; Rom. 13:1-4). However, our modern judicial system is a complete failure. It coddles criminals! Judges appear more concerned with the “rights” of lawbreakers than the rights of innocent victims. As a result, crime and violence are at epidemic levels. In 1929 Chicago’s St. Valentine’s Day massacre shocked the nation when several gangsters were gunned down in a hail of bullets. Nowadays, this type violence is considered normal. On Valentine’s Day in 1993, there were 12 homicides in New York City  six in one Bronx apartment. “While population has increased only 41 percent since 1960, the violent crimes have in-creased more than 500 percent and total crimes have increased over 300 percent. The rate of violent crime in the U.S. is worse than in any other industrialized country. In addition, eight out of every ten Americans will be a victim of violent crime at least once in their lives.” We have sown to the wind, and we are reaping the whirlwind!

2. The Educational System

Christ taught that religion should be a central part of our lives (Matt. 6:33; John 6:27). The fear of the Lord is the very foundation of knowledge and wisdom (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10). Yet, our modern educational system is governed by a humanistic philosophy that is opposed to religious belief and openly hostile to Christianity. God has been banned from the classroom. The Three R’s have been replaced by the Three C’s (Condom distribution, Clarification of values, and Courses in self-esteem). Instead of teaching children that 2+2=4, Joseph Fernandez, Chancellor of New York City Public Schools, proposed that first-graders be taught the “positive aspects” of homosexual families. Heather has Two Mommies and Daddy’s Roommate were offered as suggested reading material for kindergartners. What is the result of this insanity? SAT scores have dropped steadily over the last 30 years. A recent survey revealed that nearly half the adults in America are functionally illiterate. The fundamentals of learning have been neglected. It should be obvious to all but the most blind adherents of the N.E.A. that our educational system is badly broken. Again, we have sown to the wind, and are reaping the whirlwind.

3. The Welfare System

The book of Proverbs affirms the need for personal diligence and industriousness (Prov. 6:6-11; 20:4, 24:30-34). The apostle Paul taught the importance of hard work and honest labor (1 Tim. 5:8; 2 Thess. 3:10-12). These Bible principles formed the basis of the “Protestant Ethic” that made our country great. However, today self-sufficiency has been replaced by government subsidy. Measured in constant 1990 dollars, welfare spending jumped from $28.9 billion in 1960 to $211.9 billion in 1990. Yet, despite its noble aspirations, our welfare state is a dismal failure. Why? Because it destroys the inner character of those it purports to help. Government should obviously provide assistance in certain situations, but people must learn to take responsibility for their own lives. Self-respect comes from carrying one’s own weight. Unfortunately, public assistance, as it is practiced in our country, has created a permanent under-class, who are mired in poverty and despair. Again, we have sown to the wind, and are reaping the whirlwind.

4. The Family Unit

The Bible is quite clear in its teaching regarding marriage: God’s ideal is one man and one woman for life (Gen. 2:23-24; Matt. 19:3-9). The roles of husbands, wives, parents and children are clearly delineated in the Scriptures. However, the family unit is under assault in America.

The number of divorces has increased nearly 200 percent in the last 30 years, while the percentage of people marrying is at an all-time low. This explosion in divorce has had a devastating effect on children. Less than 60 percent of all children today are living with both biological parents. The number of children living in single-parent homes has more than tripled in the last three decades. Today, 17 million children live in single-parent homes.

It is currently fashionable to glorify this trend toward single-parent families. Many would argue that divorce is invariably the best alternative to a bad marriage and that single parenthood carries no risk to children. Yet, as Mortimer Zuckerman says, “This selfish rationalization substitutes the happiness of the adult in our moral codes for the well-being of the children. Career and self-fulfillment have got ahead of caring responsibility. The results on children have been devastating. The developing child needs love, stability, constancy, harmony and permanency in family life. These needs have been casuistically sacrificed in the adult’s quest for freedom, independence, and choice. The mantra should be this: Marriage matters.”

In a recent article in Atlantic Monthly, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead summarizes much of the current research on the breakup of the family. She says that the social-science evidence is in. Though it might “benefit” the adults involved, the dissolution of intact two-parent families is harmful to large numbers of children. Furthermore, family diversity in the form of increasing numbers of single-parent and step-parent families does not strengthen the social fabric, but rather, dramatically weakens and undermines society. Again, we have sown to the wind, and are reaping the whirlwind.

5. Personal Morality

The decline in personal morality that our nation has experienced in recent years is almost breathtaking. The philosophy of situation ethics has permeated our culture. There are no limits, no rules, no standards. Like Israel of old, everyone is a law unto themselves (Judg. 17:6; 21:25). Anything goes! If it feels good, do it! Deviancy has been redefined so as to make it appear normal. As a result, sexual promiscuity, teen pregnancy, abortion, alcoholism, and drug addiction are at epidemic levels.

The number of unmarried teenagers getting pregnant has nearly doubled in the past two decades. Rare in the early 1960s, by the late 1980s nearly one unmarried teenage girl in ten got pregnant. Since 1960, illegitimate births have in-creased by more than 400 percent. Only 5.3% of all births were out-of-wedlock in 1960, but by 1990, 28% of all births were illegitimate.

While the exact number of abortions performed before 1973 is unknown, today nearly one in four pregnancies end in abortion. There were 1.6 million abortions in 1990. Since the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, there have been more than 28 million abortions in the United States. One-third of a generation has perished!

Left to his own devices, man always sinks to a lower level. Yet, through following the Bible, we are lifted up to a higher moral plain (Deut. 4:7-8; 10:12-13; Prov. 14:34). Unfortunately, men have turned a deaf ear towards the Scriptures. Again, we have sown to the wind, and are reaping the whirlwind.

6. The Entertainment Industry

The Bible stresses the value of wholesome entertainment and recreation (Ps. 23:1-2; Mk. 6:31-32; 1 Tim. 4:8). It affirms that lasting happiness can only be found through virtue and godliness (Ps. 1:1-6; Matt. 5:3-10; John 10:10). However, filth has invaded the television, movies, music, and many other forms of entertainment. The entertainment and advertising media exploit sex for sales and ratings. A recent survey revealed that 86% of all sex presented on prime-time programming on ABC, CBS and NBC is depicted outside marriage. Comedians think the only way to get a laugh is to drag their audience through a cesspool of crudeness and vulgarity. Film makers no longer believe they can entertain without filling the screen with wickedness and depravity. Truth and righteousness are ridiculed while sin and perversion are glorified. Again, we have sown to the wind, and are reaping the whirlwind.

Conclusion

Our society, having lost its religious and moral underpinnings, has become both amoral and immoral. Will Durant, the late world historian, effectively demonstrated that no nation in history has survived without a strong religious moral code. Yet, religion and morality are under relentless attack in the United States. As Chuck Colson said, “We are stripping religion away from public life to our great and everlasting peril. It is the most self-destructive process the nation could embark on. We are trying to erase the indispensable role of religion in informing the moral consensus by which civilized society has survived. We live in a post-Christian age. We have embarked into a `brave new world’ without moral directions, of values erased from teaching, of tolerance elevated above truth. . . We’re no longer neutral about religion but hostile to religion. On almost every front there is an increasing secularizing of America.” Unfortunately, the process continues unabated. Those who now control the reigns of government hold to a philosophy that will only exacerbate the situation. We stand on the brink of an evil abyss.

How long will this evil be allowed to continue? We cannot say. Man can barely discern the present, while God can see the end from the beginning. Creatures limited by time and space cannot understand the doings of an infinite Creator, except as he chooses to reveal himself to us (Deut. 29:29; Isa 55:8-9). However, we do know that God does not allow sin to go unpunished. The Old Testament teaches that, when a people persist in wickedness, divine chastisement becomes inevitable. If our nation continues its downward spiral into immorality, he will most certainly deal with us as he dealt with the nations of antiquity.

What then can we do? Let your light shine. Point the way to God. Raise your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Withstand the temptations of the devil. Renounce the corrupt influence of our deforming culture. Keep your eye on the goal: Through the eye of faith, look past the bleak future of man’s increasing wickedness to that glorious eternity which God has promised to the faithful.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 3, p. 3-4
February 3, 1994

By Tom M. Roberts

To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug, nor give advice which may cause his death. Nor will I give a woman a pessary to procure abortion. . . (excerpt from Hippocratic oath).

Just as I choose a ship to sail in or a house to live in, so I choose a death for my passage from life (Seneca, 4 B.C. – A. D. 65).

Not only is there conflict between truth and secularism regarding death, there is an ambivalence within secular circles regarding the proper esteem one is to have regarding his own death, that of his loved ones, and that of society at large. The Hippocratic Oath (though pledged to all the gods and goddesses of Hippocrates’ day) seems to be at conflict with some philosophers of ancient Rome. This early confrontation between approaches to death is the precursor to a modern conflict of enormous proportions: pro-life or pro-euthanasia/abortion. In no arena of philosophical discussion is the difference between faith in God and secularism more pronounced than that of attitudes toward death. Many are struggling with this mysterious and often tragic passage from life to death and have no ethical foundation upon which to choose. Is suicide an alternative? Is abortion murder? Do we withhold life support from aging parents? These are significant questions. But where are the answers?

Does Secularism Hold the Answer?

“… Secularization is the process by which the world is de-divinized.” “To call someone secular means that he is completely time-bound, totally a child of his age, a creature of history, with no vision of eternity. Unable to see anything in the perspective of eternity, he cannot believe that God exists or acts in human affairs. Moral standards, for example, tend to be merely those commonly accepted by the society in which he lives, and he believes that everything changes, so that there are no enduring or permanent values.”

If one does not believe that he possesses an eternal spirit, how is it possible to make a rational decision about its disposition? Such is the position of the secularist/humanist. One might as well ask a horse or cow about eternity as to ask a secularist about the value of life.

“We find insufficient evidence for belief in the existence of a supernatural; it is either meaningless or irrelevant to the question of the survival and fulfillment of the human race. As non-theists, we begin with humans and not God, nature not deity.”

Believing that man is but a “naked ape,” secularism has spawned a host of aberrant behavioral problems. Since “there are no enduring or permanent values” in their view, life itself has no moral connection to death. Like the Epicurean philosopher of old (Acts 17), he advocates, “if it feels good, do it.” Consequently, every facet of the American way of life is being contorted, as well as the American way of death. Education, entertainment, religion (limited to the social gospel), the home, politics, the courts, congress, the media and many individuals are being warped and fueled by an insatiable desire for materialism and self-gratification with a philosophical rationale. The “me, too” generation has come of age with a vengeance. From Madonna (the “Material Girl”) to Phil Donahue (Mr. “Do Anything For A Rating”), America has embraced adultery, homosexuality, promiscuous sex, the drug culture, live-in “relationships,” skin-heads, filthy speech (under guise of free speech), and pornographic “artistry” supported by tax dollars. While the popular vernacular expresses it as “let it all hang out,” or “get in touch with yourself,” this life style is the end result of secular Marxism, Darwinism and Freudism. From Friedrich Neitzsche to John Dewey, Betty Friedan to Roseanne Barr, Shirley MacLaine to Madelyn Murray O’Hair; from the National Endowment for the Arts to the National Education Association, from Hollywood to the National Organization for Women (NOW), all these and many more have one common denominator: secular-ism. Is it any wonder that Shirley MacLaine supposes that she has been re-incarnated dozens of time? Is anyone surprised that NOW is led by a lesbian? Can anyone so enamored of a hedonistic life-style (spiritual death) really propose serious consideration of physical death? However, let there be no doubt that for one to understand the secularist view of death, one must acknowledge the secularist view of life. While the Christian recognizes that the manner of life on earth will affect the destiny of existence hereafter (“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” [Rom. 8:13]), the opposite view does not. “The continuity of a human body is a matter of appearance and behavior, not of substance. The same thing applies to the mind. We think and feel and act, but there is not, in addition to thoughts and feelings and actions, a bare entity, the mind or the soul, which does or suffers these occurrences.” One’s view of life, therefore, will affect one’s … Its View of Death .. . view of death, as cause and effect.

Secularism and Death: Abortion and Euthanasia

While a lack of biblical faith (typical of secularism) does affect every second of human existence, it also adversely affects a view of and preparation for death. Not only does the deceptive philosophy keep one from a moral preparation for life after death, it actually hinders one from a humane consideration of death during life. Two examples are noteworthy: abortion and euthanasia.

“The Silent Scream” is an apt epitaph for :r fetus being cut apart in the womb. Not yet able to voice its pain, the unborn baby opens its mouth to grimace its anguish. Dry statistics of millions upon millions of abortions in America and around the world carry the message of innocent blood that cries out to God (Gen. 4:10). Used as a form of birth control, abortion has received the stamp of approval of the United States Supreme Court in the Roe v Wade decision (1973). The Women’s Liberation Movement demands abortion as one method of freeing its advocates from the bondage of motherhood into the freedom of a secular career. While early decisions of the court allowed abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy, advocates are challenging for abortions in the last trimester (up to the actual moment of delivery!) even when viability (ability to survive outside the mother) is possible.

Let me raise a warning: a baby in the womb and a baby in the crib are neither viable in the true sense of the word. If we can become so hardened to death in the womb, what is to keep us from becoming hardened to death in the crib (in the case of diseased or retarded babies)? Hitler’s Germany has shown us how far a “civilized” nation can go into madness. The madness of abortion is upon us. Secularism has America in its grip on a national level. “Pro-choice” (a misnomer, since it only allows one choice: abortion) is as American as the Clinton/Gore Administration, as Ann Richards in Texas, as the U. S. Supreme Court.

But we are not finished yet. At the other end of the spectrum of life there are other persons who are not viable: the aged, infirm and mentally impaired. It should not be surprising that a calloused and cold-hearted person that would not have natural feelings (Rom. 1:31) toward babes in the womb would also not have natural feelings toward the aged. Euthanasia is now becoming an accepted alter-native to nursing homes.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a Detroit pathologist with an inventive streak, has built a “Mercitron” killing machine (which is, in the finest American tradition, becoming “new and improved”) so that patients can commit suicide. While some states in America are passing laws aimed at making “mercy killings” illegal, some nations (the Netherlands, for example) allow it. Again Hitler’s Germany comes to mind. Malcolm Muggeridge, an opponent of euthanasia, commenting in “The Humane Holocaust,” said, “It took more than three decades to transform a war crime into an act of mercy.”

We have, in this country, an organization dedicated to “mercy killings” (within the law, of course), the National Hemlock Society. Dr. Kevorkian is committed to aiding suicides even if he breaks the law. ‘The leader of the Hemlock Society, Derek Humphrey, has written an explicit “how-to” manual on suicide entitled, Final Exit. There are over 500,000 copies in print and it has made the New York Times best seller list. Not to be outdone, Dr. Kevorkian has written Prescription: MedicideThe Goodness of Planned Death.

A more pragmatic approach to suicide than one of “goodness” is that of the American wit, Dorothy Parker. She wrote:

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

And drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren’t lawful; Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live.

Recognizing that there is a legitimate area of concern for those who are opposed to the extra-ordinary and mechanical continuation of body functions after death has occurred, there remains a distinction between preserving life and taking life. Euthanasia is the planned, premeditated taking of life, whether that of yourself or another.

The Bible Holds the Answer

Though secularists reject the Word of God out of hand, wise men seek its counsel. “The fool has said in his heart, `There is no God’ (Ps. 14:1). Those who “give up the knowledge of God” think they are wise, but they are fools (Rom. 1:22).

A reverence for life is incompatible with the secularist agenda. But whether in the womb or on aged feet, life is a sacred gift from God and must not be treated with contempt nor discarded without compassion. God has said, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (Gen. 9:6). It is a short step from the denial of God to a maltreatment of those made in his image.

Our nation is deep into the practice of both abortion and euthanasia. It has embraced secularism and has denied the God of Heaven. Believing, as I do, that God judges nations in time and raises nations up and deposes them (Dan. 4:17), I tremble when I consider the sure judgment of a righteous God upon the blood that cries from the ground. There has never been a time when God has overlooked evil. I don’t believe he will start now to do so. Let us pray that the gospel of Jesus Christ will have free course in our land once again and that people will come to repentance before we go beyond the reach of his patience and reap the bitter fruits of wickedness.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 3, p. 5-7
February 3, 1994