You Gotta Have Humbug
To readers of this estimable journal, my apologies. Belatedly it struck me that I swam into your ken with never a word of hello. Hello now. Your new Eutychus needed all the introduction he could get, but guarded, even vaguely menacing was the editor’s brief allusion. “His identity,” he decreed, “will remain undisclosed until his retirement.” And a good thing too. Perusal of previous correspondence suggests that the wrath of CHRISTIANITY TODAY readers is a terrible thing, not to be lightly incurred by anyone who is the sole support of two grandmothers, one of them very old.
Though shielded by anonymity from brute violence, I am frightened by the metaphorical marksmanship of the evangelical world. “In politics,” remarked Colin Coote, “you have to have some humbug and some anger. You have to pretend that there is no case except your case; you have to believe that your opponents are not only wrong but damned.” Substitute “religious controversy” for “politics” in the above statement and you have the makings of a telling Ph.D. dissertation. Its title would pose no problem. What about “Marks of Sanctification in the Correspondence Columns of Evangelical Periodicals”—or “The Practice and Perpetuation of Righteous Indignation”—or even “The King’s Business Requireth Hate”?
It is undeniable that Samuel Johnson had not always that open mind by which his biblical namesake caught the hymnwriter’s fancy, but he was rightly rooted when once exclaiming, “Oh, let us not be found, when our Master calls us, ripping the lace off our waistcoats, but the spirit of contention from our souls and tongues!” (Those given to laced-waistcoat-ripping will doubtless take notice.) It would be idle for me to pretend I fully understand that utterance, but it has the right ring about it.
The editor of one religious journal claims to have the perfect answer to scurrilously personal epistles. “Thank you for your letter,” he responds agreeably in his own handwriting; “if you knew me as I know myself, you would condemn me much more. Warmest regards.” This formula, while containing all things needful, should be used sparingly. Its creator has acquired a totally undeserved reputation for humility that is very hard to live down.
The Heavens Declare …
May I, as a physicist and minister of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, first say “Well done!” to the three astronauts … and the great country, the United States of America, that produced them; and second, say “Thank you!” for such a splendid surprise Christmas greeting; and third, express my admiration for the cool, detached, scientific attitude and delicate artistic sensibility of the astronauts and the sense of awe that surrounds their venture.…
Now that man has successfully triumphed over outer space and reached the moon, and has given us such fascinating pictures of this small part of the Creator’s magnificent handiwork, can we leave it at that and resolve to devote all our energies to doing his will on earth and preparing for his return?
While we heartily rejoice in such tremendous triumphs we acclaim the men in Apollo 8 as the greatest discoverers of all time, shooting from sunlight to the dark side of the moon.… Unfortunately, our planet has also a dark side, the murky darkness of man’s sin and rebellion against God, to which the Heavenly visitor came to shine in our hearts with the radiance of the Father. Swansea, Wales
May I commend David E. Kucharsky for writing “Open Letter to the Apollo 8 Spacemen” (Dec. 20). Perhaps, and how wonderful to think, God is allowing science to learn more about his universe in order that the world might see what God has done and glorify him. Perhaps this is the last chance man will have to see God’s power, and therefore, be given an opportunity to accept him through Christ before he comes again!
Secondly, may I commend astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders for acknowledging their Creator as they orbited the moon. What better way could they rejoice over victory than to let the world know that God created the heavens and the earth!
Toccoa Falls, Ga. GEORGE C. HILL, JR.
I note that [Mr. Kucharsky writes], “Ultimately, however, space exploration is in their [the hungry millions’] best interests, too.” I would like to have Mr. Kucharsky develop this plain statement and show us doubters just how this is, or will become, true.
Fowler, Ohio
Invitation To Joy
The poem by Henry Hutto (Jan. 3), “One Rare, Unanalytical, and Merry “Day,” is one of the most lovely and most comforting invitations to joy that I have ever read. How utterly modern and yet spiritually vital these few choice words … are. Thanks so much for putting them in bold setting and exciting type.
La Crescent, Dresbach, Dakota
Methodist Churches
La Crescent, Minn.
Problem-Solving
We would appreciate your permission to reproduce the article, “Except We Repent” (Jan. 3).… Mr. Havner portrays faithfully the biblical concept of man’s problem and God’s solution.
North Olmstead, Ohio
Of Money And Justice
Two December 20 editorials concerned me: “Pay day for Managed Money” and “Where Is Justice?” It was surprising that a religious magazine would touch on such important subjects as the international monetary crisis and justice in America without once mentioning God’s, Christ’s, or even the Church’s role in these matters. The individual Christian is left looking at two new authorities on God’s plans for men—Milton Friedman and “a Washington banker.” Perhaps these are two more conservative saints to be enshrined in a pantheon along with Calvin Coolidge and Adam Smith.
But there is more than just a matter of religious competence at question. The editorials could have just as easily appeared in U. S. News & World Report (and, incidentally, have, in dozens of forms, hundreds of times). What relevance does planned versus free currencies have to Christ’s birth, resurrection, and plans for mankind? In CHRISTIANITY TODAY let’s hear a biblical condemnation of planning (if there is one) and not the economic theories of Mr. Friedman or the personal opinions of a man who can’t even be named! Bellevue, Wash.
I would like to protest against the editorial, “Pay Day for Managed Money.” That managed money can be charged with all the ills you mention, culminating in “more controls and finally … economic dictatorship by the few,” is highly debatable.…
Then too, the present managed-money system should be studied in comparison with the alternatives. After all, the gold standard did not prevent the “upset, chaos, and near disaster” of the depression of the 1930s nor provide a built-in corrective to the depression.”
I believe, too, that it can be demonstrated that “a free money market” is a relative term, with no markets being absolutely “free” and few being absolutely rigid in every respect. The attempt of the administrators of our monetary system to maintain a large degree of freedom is very commendable.
This is not to defend irresponsible spending without regard to inflation or the size of the deficit. It is to suggest that perhaps the inflation of the last twenty-two years is no more unjust than the depression of the 1930s.
Hesston College
Hesston, Kan.
Your editorial on the Chicago riot stated that “the Church’s first business is to preach that Gospel in power for peace—not to encourage revolution … and anarchy.…” That is an admirable statement to which all born-again believers would subscribe. However, on the preceding page in “Pay Day for Managed Money,” your editorial takes a clear social-action position for laissez-faire economic policies—which may or may not be a good idea.…
When you promote classical (uncontrolled) laissez-faire economics, you are making a clear social-gospel recommendation in the same vein as the social militants might do in modernistic churches.
Lansing, Mich.
Your editorial on the Chicago riot seemed to do a pretty good job in whitewashing the activities of the Chicago police. It seemed to me to be hypocritical.… The report [suggests that] some of the police were as free as some of the demonstrators in using four-letter words. Do you think it is in the line of duty for policemen to break cameras, to beat demonstrators, reporters, newsmen, cameramen on the head or face with their clubs? Is it in the line of duty for some policemen to hide their badge numbers …?
When we talk about law and order, let’s make it clear that policemen, housing inspectors, school superintendents, sheriffs, etc. should also obey the laws of the land as well as the rules and regulations pertaining to their specific jobs. Getting back to policemen: Instead of cracking heads, would it not be better to arrest demonstrators, newsmen, and photographers if they were disobeying laws?
Beardstown, Ill.
Refugee Aid
Pardon my voicing my appreciation for “Arabs Dread White Christmas” (News, Dec. 20) by offering some plans for action on this critical twenty-year threat to international peace.
The plight of the hard-core European refugees and displaced persons dragged on until some students (I believe it was) proposed the “Year of the Refugees,” which it seems spurred action toward solutions. Let it happen again. While so much of our society seems so deliriously absorbed in space, what could “be a more radiant victory than for conservative Christian thought to declare and carry through “a year for the Palestinian refugees”?…
It seems to me that skills in small-craft products made available to these people will be a long-range investment for their benefit. Small-craft production proved to be the transit medium for Japan from an agricultural economy to an industrial status.…
A concerted effort by the conservative Christian groups to help these refugees where they are may open the way toward solutions which as yet are undiscovered.
Constantine, Mich.
Questions For A ‘Spy’
Re: “Ecclesiastical Espionage” (News, Dec. 20):
1. Is the gentleman from within the Church who is dedicated to its destruction returning the salary checks he receives from the distasteful institution?
2. Would you estimate that the salary he is receiving is above or below the average received by parish ministers of his denomination who see that the “apportionments” which support him are raised?
3. How much experience has this official had as pastor of a parish?
4. What is the something better this person is going to resurrect?
5. As he will not want to resurrect it from the remains of the something old which he detests, from what will he raise the more perfect instrument?
6. Will the new instrument take institutional form?
7. If it does, will it not become as ineffectual as the old form apparently is?
8. If it does not take institutional form, from whence will he draw his livelihood?
9. If preaching is essentially proclamation of Christ, how does one who boasts of no personal relationship to Christ preach?
10. If the Church is the body of Christ, just how do we get on as a Christian Church without Him?
I just had to ask.
Marinette, Wis.
Food On Principles
CHRISTIANITY TODAY has been a welcome stimulant ever since its very first issue. Articles like Dr. Addison H. Leitch’s (Dec. 20) contribution, “On Drawing Lines,” fill a near-starvation need to hear more on principles so that we may clearly see the contrast between spiritual counsel of churches and worldly council of churches! Please add another two years to my subscription.
George Air Force Base, Calif. Chaplain
A Genuine Evangelical
I have been somewhat surprised and disappointed at the lack of letters through the years in praise of the outstanding contributions to “Current Religious Thought” by the peerless Dr. G. C. Berkouwer.
In America it seems far too many evangelicals take a kind of sadistic pleasure at tilting at theological windmills (or at least giving vividly grotesque distortions of the “enemy”) and riding so far out in right field that some of us find it very hard to accept their position as in any sense normative for the biblical Church. Dr. Berkouwer, with the refreshing wisdom of a Christian statesman who is able to rise above the heat of battle and the strife of conflicting ideologies, maintains a cool and sensitive objectivity marked by an emulable moderation and a genuinely evangelical orientation.
Assistant Professor of Theology
St. Norbert College
West De Pere, Wis.
