Dear Keepers Of The Flame:
“Burn, baby, bum!” shrieked the Watts rioter in August, 1965, as he hurled a Molotov cocktail through a plate-glass window and yet another furniture store became a flaming symbol of the results of liberal social protest. Little did I realize then that this inflammatory cry was a proclamation of the “Word of God.” Enlightenment has come from the Southern Presbyterians’ Council on Church and Society, which told the church’s 1967 General Assembly that “we must listen to the cries ‘Yankee, go home,’ ‘Bum, baby, burn,’ ‘America will be crushed.’ Our quest must be for the Word of God that comes to us in, through, and beyond these words of men.”
I never cease to be amazed at the uncanny ability of theologically liberal social-ethics “experts” to recognize the divine pronouncements in revolutionary battle cries. And I also marvel at their penchant for determining exactly where God is or is not “at work in society.” By a rare coincidence, however, they invariably find God’s hand in radical and liberal causes but seldom see it in moderate, time-tested measures. They are deaf to the Bible’s emphasis that the Church’s primary task is evangelistic, not political. But they clearly hear God speaking to us as a bearded, khaki-clad Castroite shouts “Yankee, go home!,” a power-hungry Communist declares “America will be crushed!,” or a wild-eyed hoodlum screams “Burn, baby, burn!” I wonder what new message from God they have heard from the lips of rioters in Detroit and Newark.
God spoke to Moses from a burning bush, but so help me I surely can’t hear him speaking from those blazing furniture stores. As for the burning convictions of many of our ecclesiastical social prophets, I do not doubt that they come from a hot source. But methinks that perhaps it’s that fiery place below.
Your matchless torch-bearer, EUTYCHUS III
Of Love And Law
Congratulations are in order for your July 21 panel discussion, “The Bible and the New Morality,” and for your outstanding editorial, “The Debilitating Revolt.” Especially good in the latter was your keen analysis of what the law of God really is.…
If the onslaught of the “new morality” will cause us all to obtain a newer and broader view of what law means, then, ironically, it will perform a valuable service despite itself.
FREDERICK DIAZ
Latin-American Seventh-Day Adventist
Church
San Francisco, Calif.
Regardless of the motive behind the argument of Bishop Robinson and other advocates of the new morality, it boils down to a seeking for a license to commit the same old immorality which has been condemned by all sense of decency (even apart from the Scriptures) since the giving of the Ten Commandments.
DENZIL R. DANIEL
Faith Methodist Church
Alexandria, Va.
The panel members made no attempt to give a clear definition of what is meant by the new morality. Instead they criticized what, for the most part, are perversions of the new morality.…
The new morality is hardly simplistic. Indeed, it is complex and does demand very much of people—it demands that they think responsibly about the situation and about the persons involved in that situation, both directly and secondarily. The New Testament demands of love that Jesus taught are much harder to keep than are the Ten Commandments, because they are based on radical love, even for enemies; this is much harder to do than observing the letter of the law of the Ten Commandments. It was through radical love that Jesus “fulfilled” the law, rather than destroying it … and showed how incomplete was the letter-of-the-law legalism of the Pharisees.
KEITH E. WATSON
Tomahawk Methodist Church
Tomahawk, Wis.
The question of sin aside, let the adherents of the new morality dare to counter the historic Christian assertion that man from his origin has stood incomplete without divine direction. The cultured voices of faith rise up to tell us that morality, or for that matter existence itself, has meaning only in revelation.
JOHN M. TAYLOR
Ventnor City, N. J.
This is one of the shallowest treatments I have ever seen in print.… Why not have a situationalist on your “new morality” panel? Surely truth would be better served.
JOSEPH D. SMALL 3RD
Towson Presbyterian Church
Towson, Md.
Thank you for your positive stand against the “new morality.”
JOHN C. WINSTON, SR.
Brussels, Belgium
It is neither new, nor is it moral. You should have branded it as shameful immoral conduct which is as old as the world.
PETER L. VAN DYKEN
Ripon, Calif.
Whether or not the new morality is a valid Christian ethic—and I don’t believe it is—you do modern man a disservice by stating and implying that there is a single, clear, biblical ethic which he needs only discover and follow.
LEROY DAY
Sioux Falls, S. Dak.
I read with deep interest the panel presentation.… I underscored approval of your final comments—“But we have emphasized that love gains its direction from the commandments of God. The Ten Commandments are still the divine standard by which the world will be judged.” In fact the whole presentation merits a strong “Amen”!
But … I could not help recalling a statement which says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all.” You have made a strong point on the seventh commandment, and in the day of judgment the new moralists will be found guilty of its violation; but what about the fourth commandment, which states just as clearly, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God”?
WM. H. GROTHEER
Bible Department
Madison College
Madison, Tenn.
One weakness of the new morality is its lack of authoritative definition. Love must be defined. What better authority exists than the Bible interpreted by the Holy Spirit?.… “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever” (Heb. 13:8). Jesus is as contemporary as today’s newspaper or next week’s periodical. To those who know him, he speaks with authority through the power of the Holy Spirit.
DIGHTON BURDICK
Alfred, N. Y.
Chinese Penetration
Dean R. Kirkwood (“Investment in Christian Missions: Waste or Witness?,” July 21) makes the statement: “I know of no denomination preparing people either for future service in China or for scholarly research in advance of the day of new opportunity.” Mr. Kirkwood should be most encouraged to know that the Far East Broadcasting Company (home office—Whittier, California), in addition to ministering to the spiritual needs of China via radio, has now approved the establishment of a mass-communications research center to be located in Hong Kong. Initially, the team of men involved in this center will consist of: a journalist, anthropologist, political scientist, sociologist, and linguist. These Christian men will use their academic abilities as tools in researching the many perplexing problems of China today. Mr. Kirkwood asks, “Will we be prepared to help in the evangelization of China when another opportunity comes?” Those of us involved in this new and exciting adventure can echo a resounding “Yes!”
ROBERT LARSON
South San Francisco, Calif.
For The New Institute
Tremendous! I couldn’t wait five minutes more to say how wonderful it is to have the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies incorporated (“Dramatic Development for Evangelical Scholarship,” July 21). The enclosed $10 check speaks for my own interest and that of some of my poorer evangelical college friends. Keep us posted. And we will keep praying.
BARBARA J. HOPWOOD
Mt. Ranier, Md.
I enclose my “dollar”—actually $1.25 to cover the “depreciation” of our dollar.…
JOHN B. CRAIG M
Calvary Baptist Church
idland, Ont.
Enclosed is my cheque.… May God inspire the giving of the other $39,999, 168!
R. D. HOGG
Winnipeg, Man.
While education is not a panacea for all the ills of mankind, when combined with evangelical zeal … it has time and again proved to be an effective force for good.… My wife and I enclosed one dollar each.…
ALAN C. WARES
Instituto Linguistico de Verano
Mexico City, Mexico
• The dollar gifts of interested readers have now set the Institute cause ahead by $864.—ED.
Sermon Aid
I have just completed typing the sermon for this Lord’s Day, “Let’s Get Down to Business,” and right now I must tell you how much I appreciate CHRISTIANITY TODAY as an invaluable source for information—yes, even inspiration—to aid in sermon preparation.
As an example, I found Dr. Billy Graham’s article in the July 21 issue (“God’s Revolutionary Demand”) certainly apropos to my topic. “If every Christian in the world suddenly began proclaiming the Gospel and winning others to an encounter with Jesus Christ,” this would be “getting down to business”!
GEORGE L. VAN LEUVEN
Mt. Pleasant and First United
Presbyterian Churches
Darlington, Pa.
A Fine Assessment
“Assessing Jehovah’s Witnesses” (July 21) is one of the finest critical articles on this sect that I have read. CHRISTIANITY TODAY is to be complimented on its theological position and commitment to the Word of God.
JAMES L. KNIGHT, JR.
First Baptist
Lake Alfred, Fla.
The Doctor’S Order
As each issue of your magazine arrives, the first thing I turn to is Dr. Bell’s column: “A Layman and His Faith.” It is like a fortnightly shot of spiritual adrenalin to an always hurried, sometimes harried, pastor. L. Nelson Bell consistently has something of value to add to my ministry and to my life.
ROBERT W. HENDERSON
The Third Congregational Church
Middletown, Conn.
Reading For Balance
As a liberal-conservative, I have been reading CHRISTIANITY TODAY for many years as a counter-balance against the Christian Century. However, I have discovered that the way-out left is completely intolerant to any viewpoint other than that which is in current vogue. Strange, isn’t it?
THOMAS O. DEKLE
Kendall Baptist Church
Washington, D. C.
Let me thank you for your magazine. It’s the only survivor of all the religious periodicals I’ve ever subscribed to. You manage to combine news of topical interest with wisdom and Christian dedication in a near perfect blend.…
JOSEPHINE L. LANCASTER
Browns Mills, N. J.
You … are doing such an excellent and needed work as to give me a feeling of doing something worthwhile and important in being a subscriber.…
WILLIAM J. PALMER
Oakland, Calif.
Renaming Your Church
The way things are going theologically and ecumenically, most of our church names will be out of date in a few years.… “Grace Episcopal” and “Fourth Presbyterian” will have to go. “Emmanuel Lutheran” will bite the dust, “Emmanuel” because God is apparently no longer with us and “Lutheran” because such a crass reminder of that dissident fellow may be an effrontery to the separated brethren.
A practical problem arises: What shall we rename our churches? What titles will be appropriate to the ecclesiastical bodies of the syncretistic seventies? Even in a super-church, individual congregations can hardly be expected to be exuberant about being called “One Hundred Seventy-eighth United Church of Cleveland,” or “Church 4,798, District Q.”
I suggest the following list as a starter for ministers who would like their churches to be pioneers in the new name rush:
Church of the Ground of Being
Second Tillichian Church
The Renewed Church of America
Assembly of the Involved
Bonhoeffer Memorial Church
Altizerian Assembly
Congregation of the Concerned
Third Church of Relevance
Ecumenical Brethren
Church of the Four-Square Civil-Rights Gospel
Of course, even the most starry-eyed optimists about the “new look” in the ecclesia do not suppose that everybody will go along with it. Are there any takers for “The United Church of Dissident Sects” and “The Federation of Auti-Ecumenical Bodies”?
LEROY KOOPMAN
Morrison, Ill.
