60. Chapter 55: The Church Seeks to Preserve the Faith

CHAPTER 55 The Church Seeks to Preserve the Faith

1. The Fundamentalists Oppose the Modernists In the year 1910 a series of twelve small volumes was pub­lished under the title, The Funda­mentals: A Testimony to the Truth. The appearance of these books marked the beginning of the Fun­damentalist Movement, an organ­ized attempt to uphold the teach­ings of the Bible against Modern­ism. The doctrines set forth in these books as fundamental were: (1) The Bible’s freedom from error in every respect, (2) the virgin birth of Christ, (3) the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross (that He suffered and died in our stead to satisfy the wrath of God against sin) , (4) the physical resurrection, and (5) the physical second com­ing of Christ.

More than 2,500,000 copies of these books were circulated, and in all the large churches a sharp con­troversy developed between the Fundamentalists and the Modern­ists. It stirred the Methodist, the Episcopalian, and the Disciples churches, but it raged most violent­ly in the Baptist and Presbyterian churches. The struggle began in 1916 and continues to the present day.

2. Many Fundamentalists Accept Premillenialism The horrors of the First World War led many people to believe that the end of the world was at hand. Believing this, they occu­pied themselves with the teaching of the Bible concerning the last things. A vast number of people in the various churches accepted the doctrine that the Jews will re­turn to Palestine, and that Christ will come back to earth to rule in Jerusalem as king for a thousand years. This doctrine is called Pre­millenialism, because it teaches that the second coming of Christ will take place before (pre) the establishment upon earth of a reign of a thousand years (millenial). The people who hold to this doc­trine are called Premillenialists or, more commonly, Premillenarians. A great number of the Funda­mentalists in the large churches accepted the Premillenial views. Thus, although the name Funda­mentalist would be a fitting one for all those who believe the fundamen­tal truths of the Bible, it has in recent years become popularly linked with the Premillenarians. This doctrine of the thousand years reign is held by a number of the small sects and the so-called un­denominational churches, as well as by many of the Fundamentalists in certain branches of the older denominations, such as the Baptist Church. Two of the leading schools where Premillenialism is taught are the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Several Christian lib­eral arts colleges also uphold this view.

Premillenarians believe firmly that the Bible is divinely inspired and true in every respect. But their doctrine concerning the future kingdom arises from an interpreta­tion of Scripture which differs from that of the Reformed church­es. Premillenialism is based upon certain ideas concerning the posi­tion and mission of the Jews in the world, and upon the belief that Christ will reign in Jerusalem for a thousand years.

3. Holiness Groups Develop in the Churches In all the large churches in America there were many people of limited means who began to feel ill at ease among the wealthy and prosperous members. Moreover, with the triumphant progress of Modernism in the more or less fashionable churches, and their formalistic worship, these people felt that heart religion was disap­pearing. Around the year 1880 the "holiness" question came to the fore especially in the Methodist churches. In his day Wesley had taught the possibility of Christian perfection. But to the great mass of members in the Methodist churches, Christian perfection was no longer a goal for which to strive with might and main. Instead a large measure of worldliness had crept in. In many churches Holiness groups came into existence. The members of these groups declared that they were true to the founder of the Methodist Church, Wesley, and that they wanted the Church to return to his doctrine and ideal. But the leading men in the Meth­odist churches looked with disfavor on the Holiness movement. The majority of prominent ministers in the Methodist Church and in other large churches were inclined to ac­cept Modernist views. This filled the orthodox members with alarm. They felt less and less at home in churches that were cold to the de­sire for "holiness." Before long they began to withdraw and form separate religious organizations.

Between the years 1880 and 1926 no less than twenty-five Holiness and Pentecostal sects were formed. They were most numerous in the rural districts of the Middle West. In that region the Methodists are especially strong, and it was from the various Methodist bodies that the greatest number of people came who joined the Holiness sects. How-Aver, other churches and other sec­tions of the country also yielded members to these sects. The Church of the Nazarene was formed in 1894 when eight smaller Holiness groups combined. Other Holiness groups are the Assemblies of God, the Church of God, and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ. All are protests against the increasing Modernism in the large churches of America.

4. The Reformed and the Southern Presbyterians Strive to Main­tain the Truth

Other churches, both old and new, have taken their stand for the true, historical Christian faith. Large elements in the Reformed and Presbyterian churches resisted the tide of Modernism and pre­served their Creeds. Certain Lu­theran bodies, too, remained loyal to their Confessions—notably the Missouri Synod, besides other, less well-known branches of the Lu­theran Church.

You will recall that back in the seventeenth century immigrants from the Netherlands came to America and settled in New York and New Jersey, where they estab­lished the Dutch Reformed Church (ch. 46, sec. 3). Later that church began to grow rapidly, and in time had many congregations, not only in the East but in what at that time was called the new West. Soon after the Civil War the name was changed to "The Reformed Church in America." This church has been greatly instrumental in preserving and spreading the Reformed faith in our own land and in sending out the Gospel to heathen countries. To this day it maintains the Confes­sions of the ancestral church in the Netherlands. But Liberalism, a foe against which no stronghold can afford to feel secure, has made an invasion here also. However, the larger part of the membership of this church remains orthodox, and hundreds of its ministers are proclaiming the true Gospel. The southern branch of the Pres­byterian Church and the United Presbyterian Church have become divided camps because of the lib­eral beliefs of many of their min­isters and members. We should not forget that there are great numbers of true believers in these denominations — people who have been born and bred in the Re­formed faith, and who, under un­favorable conditions, are remaining true to their Confession. The northern branch, called the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., has steadily lost ground to the lib­erals. Although the historic West­minster Confession continues as its official creed, it no longer has the same meaning for all members. The modernists are free to read liberal meanings into the state­ments of the Confession, while the orthodox members hold to the true doctrines which it really contains.

Several years ago a group of orthodox members of this large church took a firm and public stand against liberalism. They finally broke away and formed the Ortho­dox Presbyterian Church. We shall read more about this movement in the next section.

Other churches, smaller and less known, withstood the tide of Mod­ernism and are today preaching the historic Gospel. Old School Presbyterians carry on in the faith of their Scottish forefathers. The Netherlands Reformed Church is an off-shoot in our country of small groups rising out of the Secession of 1834 in the Netherlands. The Reformed Episcopal Church (ch. 52, sec. 2), though episcopal in or­ganization and church government, is Calvinistic in doctrine and continues as a witness to this faith. And there are others. And so we see that although Modernism has swept in like a tide during the past few decades, there have been and still are those in many denominations who by God’s grace are standing firm and will not be moved.

5. Orthodox Presbyterians Form a New Church A fairly recent church to come out of the struggle between Mod­ernism and the historical Christian faith is the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. For many years the Con­gregational and Presbyterian churches were the chief bearers in America of the Calvinistic banner. When the Congregational Church, under the influence of the New England Theology, lowered that banner, the northern branch of the Presbyterian Church, called the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., continued for many decades to hold it high. Its famous seminary is that at Princeton. Around it clus­ter the illustrious names of the Hodges, of Green, Wilson, Vos, Patton, and Warfield. All these men were great scholars and very able champions of historic Calvin­ism. But at last Modernism made its subtle inroads into Princeton Seminary and, as we have seen, into the Presbyterian Church.

Then in 1929, under the heroic leadership of Professor J. Gresham Machen, the Westminster Sem­inary was established in Philadel­phia as a protest against the Modernism at Princeton. A few years later, after a severe struggle fought with rare courage, the de­fenders of the Calvinistic doctrines of the Westminster Confession (ch. 34, sec. 6) suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of the Modern­ists, in the General Assembly of 1935. This victory of the Modern­ists was made possible by the large number of Presbyterian ministers who, although themselves sound in doctrine, played into the hands of the Modernists when they valued peace above truth. Those who were true to the faith of their fathers then organized, in 1936, the Ortho­dox Presbyterian Church. This small but valiant church continues today its bold fight against Modernism.

J. GRESHAM MACHEN 6. The Christian Reformed Church With very few exceptions the churches in the United States are immigrant churches. The Christian Reformed Church is no exception. It is one of the very last churches to be planted on the North Ameri­can continent as the result of im­migration from Europe. The immigrants who founded the Christian Reformed Church came from the Netherlands. They estab­lished their first settlement some distance from the east shore of Lake Macatawa in the western part of the state of Michigan, in the year 1847, and called it Holland. At about the same time another group of Dutch immigrants made a settlement in central Iowa, to which they gave the name Pella. Still other groups made themselves homes in Paterson, New Jersey; in Grand Rapids, Michigan; and in Chicago. From there these Dutch immigrants and their de­scendants, together with many who came later, spread throughout nearly all the northern states. But they are most numerous still in western Michigan. Other centers are Paterson and vicinity, Chicago and vicinity, and western Iowa. In late years groups of Christian Re­formed churches have sprung up in California, in the northwest cor­ner of the state of Washington, and across the border in Canada. Today this church is experiencing a considerable growth as a result of the immigration of Netherland­ers to Canada following World War II. The Christian Reformed denomi­nation came into existence in the year 1857. Although it has enjoyed a steady growth, it is still very small. In 1949 it numbered 341 churches with 272 ministers and a total membership of 148,881. In doctrine this denomination is Reformed or Calvinistic. Its creeds are the creeds of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands: the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dordt (ch. 28, sec. 7; ch. 38, sec. 4) . Its officers are called ministers or pastors, elders, and deacons. The form of its government is Presby­terian. Its churches are grouped into nineteen classes, which cor­respond to presbyteries. Each church within a classis sends its minister and one of its elders as delegates to the classical meetings, which are held two, and in some localities three, times a year. Two ministers and two elders from each classis meet as delegates in annual synods.

Like all Presbyterian and Re­formed churches, the Christian Reformed Church demands a thor­oughly and broadly educated minis­try. Its schools are Calvin College and Calvin Seminary. These are located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. An appreciable percentage of the membership of this Church came from two districts in Ger­many bordering on the Nether­lands. The Christian Reformed Church has also absorbed a number of people of several nationalities other than Dutch or German, most­ly through intermarriage. In north­ern New Jersey and in the adjacent part of the state of New York there are members who are de­scendants of the original Dutch settlers of the seventeenth century. But the bulk of its membership to­day, as from the beginning, is com­posed of the later immigrants from the Netherlands and their descend­ants. These descendants are now Americans and Canadians — some of the first generation and others all the way down to the fifth.

Since World War II thousands of Reformed people from the Neth­erlands have migrated to Can­ada. A very large percentage of these people are being organized into Christian Reformed churches.

Like the German Reformed (ch. 52, sec. 4), the Dutch Christian Reformed also met with trouble over the language question. Some of the members desired to have all services conducted in the Dutch language; others felt that it would be wiser to introduce the language of their new country. Today most of the Christian Reformed churches use the American language exclu­sively. But there are churches that hold one Holland service each Sun­day, and others that hold a service in the mother tongue occasionally for the benefit of the older genera­tion. The significant thing about the Christian Reformed Church is its religious background in the Neth­erlands, so well described by Died­rich Kromminga, the late professor of Church History at Calvin Semi­nary, in his book The Christian Reformed Tradition. The Dutch who in 1847 and following years settled in Michigan and Iowa came out of the Secession of 1834. This secession, you will recall, was a protest against worldliness in the Church (ch. 44, sec. 7). Through books, periodicals, and correspond­ence these immigrants and their children kept in close touch with religious and theological develop­ments in the Netherlands. In time they came under the influence of Kuyper, Bavinck, and many other able leaders. Thus there was fos­tered an intelligent and enthusias­tic love for Reformed theology and the Calvinistic view of life.