The Christian Chronicle (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 46, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 21, 1954 Page: 2 of 8
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Article of the Week
April 21,
Ri
No. 46
By JAMES
WILBURN
R.
Kbool
M
it tan
NATION
INFLUENTIAL
f
".......'A
1
Work in Sod
I
to
oyful life if you keep God’s
COMMUNISM
IS
RELIGION
1 :
I
ZEALOUS
COMMUNISTS
ARE
it <
1 hat
I
V..
&
effect i ve
i. > 111
>111
I
I .*
they
NAT!\o
EV At
AMAZING
SIMILARITY
i.i n
MLN IN AMER
L"
'Zteed, ‘SittAnai
amazing similarity
a
TRUTH WASN’T THERE
i
SPIRITUAL
ASPECTS
(“He is the
i1'”
who, while
Miller Returns
(Continued From
BUND
ALLEY
♦..pi
b‘i
'.“■"tv":’;.■
t h y
I I
When
i&M J;***
li
li
»
k
•4
Dnicle rftttfade
{fafumctuAni
Bat after the converting experience and the
protection of faith, commuiam strengthens its
has
one
ii pon
t he
arbund July 1st. W1
home they plan to i
and their works in Iti
Belgium, France and I
Brother Miller is to
MEN WHO HAVE
GO TO THE UNIC
A
a ii<i ' •
M . i i n I ■ i. ?
I
I
!• i
*
the I
way
But again.
Its
11 ■ •,
T. '>n
[' eXClud
' Inga.
Tayk
. me,
pets I
ocal T
s (> i n p
t o
seek
I ’i .
rchltei
t ? hrougt
» I ’
,h Im
l>\ I
VGl .
J
A 11 • I X
I. I ll •
I- n. I'.';
Teni i '
WmiH—* ■ '-
second
in the
Italy is
an
and
long as I am in this tabernacle, to
remembrance” (2 Pet. 1:13).
—Ernest A. Finley
read
to
by
authoritarian
upon whicRx
I < I III\ I ! <l 11 -
tiler.' .
1"
He
with® we have opportunity, let
tile
an
t rn e a nd
I get
false
I
'll1
k I"
Li nd .'Illi; h
] I (> \ 11. . '
I I.
li. ,.|.l.t<
sulf i ■ i i:
obvious
many
It is
’ communism
writers have
characteristic
ancient <
■sb from
no gospel messengei'
and him crucified, as
ays. Because they were
i the author of what
. i
Lamar
J
However, there wa
there to present Chr
they turned from false
taught that Christ was the author
their eyes beheld, many have lost faith in the
Son of God himself.
the uneducated
;sor alike It is
Hie immoral^
tn. >t i ■> es
lead a
of God
conviction that man alone
day of judgment, and from
belief that this will only c
steal revolution
*
our
are the
Karl Marx,
mi n will sit
f ra udulent
them i
themselves. Their
century denotn-
rder of things as
the workshop of
I unders]
has thousanl
Russian !. 11
iron i uilaii]
Sm h v i. ion
exemplary. '
perish ' i | ’i
human lie.. ■
However, we many times have failed to
understand one of the most important aspects
Communism Communism does not speak
destroy all that is spiritual as it
at first It recognizes full well
endowed with a vacuum which
can fill With this obvious fact
mind,
Each weak the artlole adjudge
the moot timely will bo publlohod
on thio pogo.
Fl
■m
btei
Ii
Th* law in your heart,
one yi }
tract
the
11
(•< : li d
Communism is begotten by man’s need
for religion It is the outgrowth of a condition
fostered by Catholicism and Denominationalism,
both stale and unsatifying fillers for man’s spirit-
ual vacuum. It is a religion whose adherents
are both zealous and missionary. Wrapped in
fanatical self-denial and sacrifioe, they are
out to win the world
Thus, instead of God.
judge's seat. (“Seeing the
of perverted ‘Christendom' about
ists have turned to worship
only hope is to see beyond 2'Mh
inationalism to the
it was delivered fr<
heaven )
makes it possible
to be abundantly
not an abrupt, but a gradual process.
This solemn warning is recorded in Heb. 3:12.
This admonition was penned nearly two thousand years ago
but is as applicable today as then. Scientific research and modem
inventions have changed man’s habits and customs but his nature
remains the same as when Paul warned the Hebrew brethren.
If infidelity and atheism has slain its thousands, apostasy has
slain its tens of thousands. 1 he path of time is strewn with the
wreckage of those who were once faithful, zealous people’of
God but eventually departed from the source of light and life.
The above text along with a multitude of others stands as a
lighthouse on the shores of apostasy with its beam “turning every
way” warning man to guide his frail bark away from the rocky
shore.
Apostasy is generally
It takes place by degrees.
Following his baptism Brother “A” was filled with zeal and
determination to do the work of the Lord. He took great delight
in every service and project of the local congregation. Htt delight
was in the law of God and he meditated on it daily and mired it
coDH'S
tliroui.'li a pliy-
: ipp
I,. 11
■ i ml
li >< >k s tn a
is highly
('iimmnism
.1 ml
its
the 1
the
it
Forest Rhoads,
looking for both sii|
Jimmy Scott. G
poking for both
Gene Tope. <
Jack Arvin, ii
ana.
Maurice Fieri e.
Barney Thompsi
Bob Beaty, 220
Do; ke Gilliam, 1:
Ab these mutitudes realize that communism
is but a blind alley and not the way of escape
(Oratimed on Page 1)
....."‘..A’AIw
Amazingly, these motixes are some of the
same motives which lead a man to bow be-
fore the mercy-scat of God to seek salvation
through His son and our advocate. Jesus Christ.
Someone has very aptly called communism
“half-way house to Christianity.” In other
words, had pure Christianity been there when
those millions, disgusted and disappointed, broke
from the shackles of Romanism and Protestant
ism, many would now be primitive, New Testa-
ment Christians.
This attitude is obvious in
peasant and the university profe
universal in scope, for it is akin t
ity of the soul
I
Russian aggression is no more Communism
than Democracy is Christianity. In the advance of
communism, we are watching a spiritual war-
fare upon the battlefield of religion Make no
mistake about it! Communism is a religion
a complex secular religion
concerning the hope with-
o Russia to show
three decades ago were
exploited and without hope in thi
now a people who comprise the
influential and productive nation
No wonder the
We all are conversient with the athelslc
foundation of communism. One of the moat
quoted portions of communist scripture is
from the pen of Lenin; “Down with religion!
Ixmg live atheism! The dissemination of athe-
istic views is our chief task.’’ Perhaps even
more familiar are the words of the father of
commuism, Karl Marx, when, in the commun
1st Manifesto.” he (tills religion the "opium’’ of
the oppressed
For the reason
in them, they proudly point t
that a people who but
poor,
are now a people who
most influential and productive
world. No wonder the poverty-stricken
falling prey to the red demon She can
amazing religious parallel between herself.
Russia when it was yet dominat'd by the Czars
through the Greek Orthodox church
u
.. .1
IE
I b I
This atheistic obsession, which forms the
bed-rock of communism, was given life shortly
after Stalin signed a decree in 1932 which
read, "On May 1, 1937. there must not remain
on the territory of I'SSR a single house of
prayer to God, and the very conception of
'God' will Im? banished from the Soviet Union.”
All of these aspects; its converting exper-
ience, Its faith, its hope, and its judgement day.
but add to the fact that communism as a re-
halfhearted. ea- v -going, smug
to the imliv ideal. It means
The communist soapbox-
('ommunism looks to a day of
judgment Its eschatology is highly empha-
sized and all important. Gommnism being made
up of Judaism. “Christianity,” and Atheism,
has deduced from Christianity its jiidginent
day, when all the sins and the failures of
society will be punished and the oppressed
will be the heroes. From atheism it takes the
will bring about the
Judaism comes the
■i line
1 Guv V
Edj'.efii hl i liHli
August I s , | ,
his support i
2. W,i\mon
Tulia, lev.i . i .
I Ret it i ii in.. i - > I
... Fain 11 I.
I’earl ami
a 1>1 rox i ma t
■1. .b.|
Rl V • . : nil
saihi"’
llth ....
The most obvious aspect of
is one which many Christian ’
failed to see. It is likewise a
which we must understand fully. It is paramount
to our actions as we take inventory of the
harvest field In the years ahead. This aspect
18 Its amazing similarity to Christianity It-
self.
The Christian is called upon to deal with
church and her children the denominations,
demand much of the time of the busy Christ-
ian in refuting error In Communism, the 20tli
century Christian faces another false religion
We are not dealing with the problem of Rus
slan aggression which wages its war upon the
battlefield of state
The Christian's
menace should be first of all
The presence in
false way of life is
vessels of the only
“Through thy precepts
Therefore I hate every
109:104). When these
;•> 1' t
Communism has its own “converting ex
pertence" which one convert calls a “mental
explosion.” This emotional converting exper-
ience is procured by the witness of the com-
munist scriptures, the nucleus of which is Marx's
“Commuist Manifesto.” One cannot read it
without sensing Its Inevitable appeal to an
exploited group of people—exploited by the
perverted demands of an authoritarian reli-
gion and looking for something
to feed their hungry souls.
of Communism Communism does not i
to kill and destroy all that is spiritual
might appear at first It recognizes full
that man Is endowed with a vacuum i
only religion can fill With this obvious
foremost in mind. Julian Hecker of Moscow
University points out. "It (Christianity), must
die before It can find a new life in the ascend-
ing communist spiritual culture.” (Emphasis
mine—JRW).
for wh < h tl
search agai
is that the
gospel of (
power of < ;
talnment, vv
can see the
crucified
earth, will <
32).
this world
feeling of shame,
of any thriving
indii tment against the
living w a y.
understanding:
way” (Psalms
millions of disillusioned
souls turned to be fed. why was not Christ in
his purity presented to fill their wants and needs?
Why was not the feast of the simple gospel
spread before them? “They shall die in their
iniquities, but their blood will 1 require at thy
hand.” (Ezekiel 3; 17).
Joe McKissick,
church in Lev eilam
churches suppiv ins
burg.
Ray Vot.iw. Si
by South Houston
(is looking for trav
John T. II i rd in
to be supported by
looking for tiv e| ,
hold upon the religious nature inherent In man
by exploiting the ‘new hope” the hope that
poverty is not inevitable and that modern tech-
nological development makes it possible for
men's material needs to be abundantly sup-
plied in and of himself
of Judaism.
deduced from
when all the
will be
Had we been there with the truth, doubt-
less thousands of souls could have been salvaged.
As It is, they are sacrificing their lives in what
one man has called a “half way-house to Christ.’
Sooner or later, however, they will come to
realize that communism is but a half-way-house
and no more. It fills only half of their needs,
its basic failing is in the fact that it is Man wor-
shipping man—man depending upon himself for
what God only can supply man striving to
lift himself by his own bootstraps. A
i -udy,
I nom t
1 ■ «mal
I «l «n(
e ig capi
j The 1 ‘‘Yea, 1 will give diligence that at every time ye may be able
Rafter my decease to call these things to remembrance” (II Pet. 1:
add 15).
Remember to walk in the steps of Christ, ‘For hereunto
de but were ye called: because (.Juist also suffered for you, leaving you
an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Pet 2:21).
Remember to keep rhe fleshly man in subjection, “I buffet
I my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after
I\>tal<that 1 have prearhed to others, I myself should be rejected”
““’■‘(I Cor. 9:27).
Remember that you can live a
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
counsel of the wicked, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor
< sitteth in the scat of scoffers: But his delight is in the law of
1ML Jehovah; And on his law doth he meditate day and night”
J (Psa. 1:1,2).
Remember to do all the good that you can, “So then, as
us work that which is good toward all
men, and especially toward them that are of the household of
| "" faith” (Gal. 6:10).
Remember that as Christians we must wield an influence for
good, “Ye arc the salt of the earth . . . Ye are the light of the
world . . . Even so let your light shine before men; that they
may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in
heaven” Matt. 5:13-16).
Remember that you have only the present on which to work
and prepare for eternity, “Behold, now is the acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
Remember that you have an enemy that is bent on your
eternal destruction, ‘‘Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may
devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).
Remember that you must someday face death and then stand
before the throne of eternal judgment, ‘And inasmuch as it is
appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment”
(Heb. 9:27).
“And I think it right, as
stir you up by putting you in
nT
OB MlVol. XI Abilene, Texas, April 21, 1954
t the a______________________________—--
f tar PublUhed WednMday of each weak «*Mpt the last week la Jana and the
'MPh * last week in December at Abilene. Texas.
fS.M Per Annum in Advance — *S.M Outside the United States
Bend all communications and articles to Boot 11M; AHIomv Taxas
®r”*r Entered as second class matter October II, 1144, at the Peet OfSll at
1^- plan Texas, under the Act of March I, 1171.
! tel? al Jabe M- ............................................................... Manwr
| Leon Ramsey ......................................................Circulation Manager
I 11' ---—----——---
i ilThe I wax If writing aboi t your SUBSCRIPTION always gtvs year ante
fl feefaad eosiyiete addrein Ju«t ax It appear* on oar addreev labeL Better sttl,
j utey eaeiose wltb year letter the label frun* yoar latest «py o* <*• Chrtrttaa
, Cbroaiele.
The persecutions of Nero and the threats
of the coliseum but added fuel to the torch
of faith in the early church. The church will
never fade under physical persecution Nor
will communism fade under the threat of atomic
bombp, though they may prove effective in
dealing with Russian aggression.
Christians are more fortunate. The Christ-
ian doesn't have to depend totally upon his own
record when he seeks converts for Christ. He
can point to Christ’s perfect example; whose
cloak of righteousness he himself wears to hide
his own imperfections and faults. (“He is the
propitiation [covering] for our sins.” I John 2:2)
Communists cannot point to one who, while
they were yet sinners, died for them. (Romans
5:8).
at tit tide toward
a
world
as
ligion is not a halfhearted, ea-'vaoing,
religion. Rather, to the individual. It
more than life itself. The < ommunGt
er could build a wonderful sermon upon the text,
"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he
that loseth his life for my sake slxill find it."
(Matt 10:39).
on the
worship
oininun-
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The Christian Chronicle (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 46, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 21, 1954, newspaper, April 21, 1954; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1306397/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.