23. A GREAT SPIRITUAL UPHEAVAL
It will also be noted that, according to the Modernists, the supernatural elements of Scripture—miracles and prophecies—are offensive to the modern mind, and hence must be discarded.
The reader will readily perceive how necessary it is to the carrying out of Satan's programme (which is virtually the avowed "Programme of Modernism") that prophecy should be thoroughly discredited and brought into contempt. Hence the pains manifested in all the literature of these cognate movements to inculcate the idea that the "modern mind" regards prophecy with contempt and derision. It was thus at the first coming of Christ; for then, as now, the religious leaders, through ignorance and contempt for prophecy, fulfilled the prophecies which were read by them every Sabbath day. As it is recorded: "For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though they found no cause of death in Him, yet desired they Pilate that He should be slain" (Acts xiii. 27, 28).
The Modernists recognize that their movement is part of a great spiritual upheaval which is taking place throughout the Christianized countries of the world (and which, as we have seen, is not confined to them). They say:—
"Undoubtedly a crisis has arisen in the very centre of Catholic thought" (p. 129). "A great spiritual crisis, which did not begin to-day, but has to-day reached its culminating intensity, troubles all the religious bodies of Europe—Catholicism, Lutheranism, Anglicanism."
The idea of a great crisis, and a general movement to take up new religious ground, is a very captivating and stimulating idea; and the terms in which the advanced (and advancing) theologians refer to it, indicate the enthusiasm it has the power to arouse. It is the cry of "Excelsior!" to which many will respond who care neither for the things that are behind, nor the things that are before, but whose blood is stirred, and whose fleshly zeal is quickened, by the rallying cry of any forward movement wherein the masses take part.
We have now heard the reasons which the Modernists give for abandoning the old bases of faith, and for stigmatizing them as "rotten beyond cure"; and we look next with deep interest to the results they are setting out to accomplish.
As to this, the "Programme of Modernism" is very definite and explicit. The standards they have adopted for the reformed Catholicism, for which they are labouring, are those of the MODERN WORLD. Nothing less, or other, than the complete amalgamation and unification of the Church and World is the object of
CATCHING SIGHT OF THE VISION their hopes and efforts. Full well do they realize that a great religious system is to be reared upon the basis of the divinity of Humanity, and is to control the "titanic industrial energies" of mankind; and they see clearly that, if in this system the Church of Rome is to occupy the position of authority and power, it must quickly forsake its antiquated doctrines, and place itself squarely upon the platform of Humanism. For this they toil and suffer, being well content, in such a cause, to incur the frown of the Church authorities, with all its disagreeable consequences. They have caught the vision of the great Unification, and it has fired their hearts with an unquenchable enthusiasm. That they will press on to its realization, with ranks constantly augmented by other hosts who have been aroused by the same vision, cannot be doubted; for so it is written, and these things must needs come to pass. The voice of Him who sees the end from the beginning has said: "Behold, I have told you before."
Speaking of the aspirations, ideals, and language of the "modern world," with its great commercial enterprises, grounded upon faith in the powers of man, and ruled by the principle of consolidation, the Modernists say:—
"We have set to work to master that language, to grasp those ideals, (in order) to complete the reconciliation of the old Catholic tradition with the new thought and new social aspirations. Through a living, and not merely local, contact with the world in which we dwell, we have come to dream of a GREAT UNIFICATION" (p. 136).
The great system of the end is now so close at hand, that men of every nation, class of life, and religious preconceptions, are catching a view of it, and are filled with wonder and admiration at the grandeur and magnificence of the sight. The Modernists understand perfectly the source of this inspiration. It comes, as they plainly say, from the World in which they dwell, and they have obtained it by a living instead of merely a local contact with it. This thrilling and inspiring vision is not for those who set their affections on things above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God; it is not for those who have died with Him to the world and its things, and whose life is hid with Christ in God (Col. iii. 2, 3). It is for those whose life is in the world, who boast of a living contact with it, and whose affections are set on things below "where Satan's throne is" (Rev. ii. 13). It is, say the Modernists, through a living contact with "the world in which we dwell." And thus is being fulfilled that which was written by the seer of Patmos when he beheld, eighteen centuries ago, the symbolic vision of the great Unification, and when, in speaking of its animating spirit, he said: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast),
THE "TASK" OF THE MODERNISTS whose names are not written in the book of life of the slain Lamb." "And he causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast." "And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do" (Rev. xiii. 8, 12, 14).
And furthermore, the Modernists are fully imbued with the spirit of the age, in that they look to the power of man himself to bring about this great unification of the religious and industrial affairs of all mankind, in identifying themselves with the "democratic movement," and in proposing to found the new edifice upon the basis of contemporary science and philosophy. They say:--
"We have girt ourselves for the task of bringing the religious experience of Christianity into line with the data of contemporary science and philosophy, and of emphasizing the religious and Christian elements that go to the constitution of the democratic movement" (p. 136).
Finally, they truly speak of "contemporary civilization" as being "saturated with the scientific spirit and eager with democratic aspirations," and confidently predict the "inevitable ascendancy of the democracy."
The "great Unification," whatever its name may be, is indeed inevitable; and the principles of Democracy are undoubtedly among the potent factors that are operating to bring it into existence. Thus, whichever of the great movements of the day we may follow, it brings us at the end of its course to the exaltation of Man to the supreme place, and to the consolidation into one colossal system of all the interests and affairs of humanity.
Nebuchadnezzar, the great head of the greatest world-power, had a dream of "a great image, whose brightness was excellent: and the form thereof was terrible" (Dan. ii. 31). Probably it was in an attempt to represent this vision that the king made an image of gold, and set it up in the plain of Dura, and called upon all them that dwell upon the earth, of all "peoples, nations, and languages," to fall down and worship the golden image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up (Dan. iii. 1-5).
And now, in the latter days, the Modernists (both within the Church of Rome and without it) are coming to dream of a great image whose form is imposing and awe-inspiring, and whose brightness is excellent. We cannot doubt that there is a terrible reality corresponding to this dream, and which will surely form a dominating part of the "religious experience" of all those who dwell upon the earth; for they will be compelled to worship the image of the beast. It likewise will be an image of gold, since money is the form of the chief idol to which the people of this idolatrous age are bowing; and it will in some way greatly surpass the image set up in the plain of Dura, for, while the
THE POPE VERSUS MODERNISM number of the latter was sixty and six, the number of its antitype will be six hundred and sixty and six.¹
"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast."
Those who fail to count the number accurately, and to perceive that it is the number of Man, will doubtless be among the company of those who will worship the beast and his image, and will have his mark in their right hands or in their foreheads.
THE POPE'S "ENCYCLICAL" ON MODERNISM
The purpose of Modernism, and the formidable character of the movement, can best be learned by reference to the Encyclical letter which the present occupant of the Papal chair has issued against it. This remarkable document occupies more than one hundred closely printed octavo pages. In perusing the quotations which follow, the reader must remember that these scorching and blistering words of invective and denunciation are not directed against heretics or opponents of the Roman Catholic Church, but against members of its hierarchy, who are actively ministering at its altars and preaching to its people. And in
¹ "Nebuchadnezzar the King made an IMAGE OF GOLD, whose height was THREESCORE cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits" (Dan. iii. 1).
order to measure the defiance and self-confidence of the Modernists, the reader should also remember that this Encyclical is published by the Modernists themselves as an appendix to the "Programme of Modernism," from which the foregoing quotations have been taken.
Furthermore, the reader will notice that the language employed by the Pope to characterize the doctrines and aims of Modernism is not less severe, but rather more so, than that used by the present writer, who, therefore, cannot be justly accused of exaggerating the significance of this new, but powerful, movement.
The Pope, at the beginning of the document, calls attention to the—
"notable increase in the number of the enemies of the Cross of Christ, who, by arts entirely new and full of deceit, are striving to destroy the vital energy of the Church"; and who "assail all that is most sacred in the work of Christ, not sparing even the Person of the Divine Redeemer, whom, with sacrilegious audacity, they degrade to the condition of a simple and ordinary man."
These, surely, are the terms of indignation which an Evangelical Christian would use to describe the purposes of the Modernists.
The Pope, in scathing language, but with singular lucidity, describes the method employed by the Modernists, and other schools of Rationalists and Higher Critics, in arriving at their "assured results."
THE "HIGHER CRITICAL" METHOD
Their method is to decide as to the truthfulness of any statement of Scripture, and particularly of any act or words attributed therein to the Lord Jesus Christ, by considering what they themselves would have been likely to do or say under similar circumstances.
There is not, and never has been, any evidence to support the conclusions of the Higher Critics. All they have to go upon is the text of the sacred writings itself. It is purely by the exercise of their own intuitive perceptions that they are enabled to split up a book of Scripture into numerous fragments, to assign various bits of the dismembered whole to different "sources," to say whether a given passage is or is not "genuine," to pass upon its authorship, and to give the approximate date at which it was written. It is, of course, impossible for an outsider to bring these "results" to any test, for his inability to recognize their validity is, according to higher critical standards, conclusive evidence that he is destitute of the intuitive powers which the critics employ in reaching them. Moreover, there is no test to which they can be brought. The evidence on which they rest cannot be examined, for they do not rest on evidence. Hence it is at the peril of one's reputation for both scholarship and mental acumen, and of being disapproved as hopelessly behind the science of the age, that one dares to question any of these "results." This risk is too great for many of the present generation of theologians (particularly its younger members) to incur; and in this way the ranks of the higher critics are recruited.
The Pope thus describes their method:—
"Their method is to put themselves into the position and person of Christ, and then to attribute to Him what they would have done under like circumstances. They proclaim that Christ was not God, and never did anything Divine; and that, as man, He did and said only what they, judging from the time in which He lived, consider that He ought to have said and done" (p. 199).
And the Pope speaks of—
"Their boundless effrontery, by which, if one of them makes any utterance, the others applaud him in chorus, proclaiming that science has made another step forward; while if an outsider should desire to inspect the new discovery for himself, they form a coalition against him. He who denies is decried as one who is ignorant; and he who embraces and defends it has all their praise" (p. 205).
"The domineering overbearance of those who teach the errors, and the thoughtless compliance of the more shallow minds who assent to them, create a corrupted atmosphere which penetrates everywhere, and carries infection with it" (p. 205).
MODERNISM AND HUMANISM
"They are ready to admit, nay to proclaim, that Christ Himself manifestly erred in determining the time when the Kingdom of God was to take place."
Evidently the Pope classes the Modernists among those of whom the Apostle Peter spoke in saying: "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts (or inclinations), and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Pet. iii. 3, 4).
The Pope calls particular attention to that prominent doctrine of Modernism which declares that, in every man, believer and unbeliever alike, is the germ of the Christ-nature. This, as we have seen, is the essence of the new Religion which has sprung up simultaneously in so many different quarters, and under different names, but which is best described as "Humanism,"—the attribution to man of the Divine nature. On this point he says:—
"They would show to the non-believer, as hidden in himself, the very germ which Christ had in His consciousness, and which He transmitted to mankind" (p. 211).
We see from this statement that Mr. R. J. Campbell was fully justified in claiming that Modernism is in substance the same movement in the Church of Rome which is, outside that system, known as the New Theology.
As to what necessarily follows from the teaching of the Modernists, the Pope says:—
"The rigorous conclusion from this is the identity of man with God, which means Pantheism."
It would be more accurate to say that the identification of man with God means Humanism; although many (but not all) forms of Humanism do, indeed, identify the universe also with God, which is Pantheism.
We thus see, both from our own examination, and from the Pope's thorough study and lucid description of the movement known as Modernism, that its essential principle is identical with that of the new theologies, and of infidel Socialism.
Thus the attention of the world is being insistently called to a platform, already in process of construction, and rapidly nearing completion, whereupon New Theology, infidel Socialism, Humanism of all varieties, and Modernised Romanism, may stand shoulder to shoulder, and may enjoy congenial fellowship, while striving for that great ideal—the Unification of Humanity through the exercise of its own inherent powers.
As to the effect of Modernism, the Pope has this to say:—
THE "SYNTHESIS OF ALL HERESIES"
"Their system means the destruction, not only of the Catholic religion alone, but of all religion."
This is undoubtedly true in the sense intended, for by "religion" the Pope means Christianity; but, to be more precise, the effect of the system will be, not to destroy all religion, but rather to establish an universal Religion, embracing the secular as well as the spiritual interests of humanity, and exercising authority over all human beings and in respect of all human affairs.
Or, in other words, the Modernists have "girt themselves for the task" of bringing into existence precisely that sort of a Consolidation as is pictured in the 13th chapter of Revelation, in which task they are being effectively aided by nearly all discernible human activities, and, most effectively of all, by the mighty spirit that now energizes in the sons of disobedience (Eph. ii. 2).
The Pope pronounces his judgment upon the whole system of Modernism in these notable and weighty words:—
"And now, with our eyes fixed on the whole system, no one will be surprised that we should define it as the SYNTHESIS OF ALL HERESIES."
That is to say, all heresies combined into one system.
The Protestant reader, having some idea of the power of the Pope over members of the Catholic hierarchy, and of the doctrine of papal infallibility, may well ask whether such a scorching blast as this from the Vatican will not instantly wither Modernism to its very roots, and scatter its fragments like chaff to the four quarters of the earth. The answer is, that it will have no such effect. This tremendous papal utterance is treated by the Modernists as a mere criticism upon their aims and doctrines, and as a comment so harmless that they can, without prejudice to the task for which they have girt themselves, print and circulate it in various languages. Will the Encyclical arrest Modernism? On the contrary, it will simply test and bring into display the strength of that movement. It may curb the outward activities of the Modernists for a season; but their view of the matter is that the present Pope is an accident—"a parenthesis," as he has been styled—and when his little interval of power is ended, then the movement will proceed with increased vigour and accelerated pace. And, perhaps, the next Pope may be a Modernist himself! Stranger things have happened in Rome.
MR. NEWMAN SMYTHE'S VISION
"THE COMING CATHOLICISM"
Once more we change our point of view, in order to take a look at another movement of thought, which, after all, is not a different movement, as will be speedily seen, but merely a phase of the movement we have been already considering. This phase of the present drift of things has for its prophet and historian, Rev. Newman Smythe of New Haven, a Protestant clergyman.
Mr. Smythe's "Coming Catholicism" is not that ancient ecclesiastical system known as Roman Catholicism. The latter is not in reality catholic, whereas the catholicism which Mr. Smythe's prophetic gaze has descried is a religious system which shall be really universal. It will command the assent of all mankind, and be the religion of a consolidated humanity.
Mr. Smythe discerns unmistakable signs of the coming of this great ecclesiastical system, and he gives excellent reasons for the predictions he makes. The reader will probably be prepared to accept Mr. Smythe's main conclusion, particularly when he learns that the "Coming Catholicism" is to be a grand combination of Business and Religion, that its religious framework is to be something worthy of "a world of titanic industrial forces," and that the principle which stimulates the movement is the exaltation of Man, by means of his own achievements, to the place of God.
The full title of the book from which we will now present extracts is "Passing Protestantism and Coming Catholicism."
It will be startling to some readers to find a Protestant clergyman calmly directing attention to the "passing of Protestantism," just as it will startle others to find the Pope of Rome denouncing a strictly Romanist movement as the "synthesis of all heresies." But we are living in a day of strange events; and others yet more strange are coming swiftly.
The author of "Coming Catholicism" first proposes the important questions: "What can Christianity now do in the world?" "What shall be the religious life of the people?" What is the prospect for "a reunited Christianity"? And we may briefly anticipate his detailed answers to these questions by saying that Mr. Smythe fully shares the views of Mr. Campbell, Dr. Gordon, and the Modernists, to the effect that the prospects of "a reunited Christianity" are excellent, and that those prospects are to be realized by the establishment of a religious system from which Christ Himself shall be wholly excluded, along with everything which heretofore has been regarded as distinctively "Christian."
Mr. Smythe calls attention at the outset to the unusual religious activity which has been observable for some years past, and which has resulted in the disintegration of systems that have, for a long time, been fairly
THE "PASSING" OF PROTESTANTISM stable in doctrine and observances. He says that "it has of late years been the breaking up rather than the making of creeds"; and he makes the very important statement that—
"there are to be discerned signs of the passing of the Protestant age of history" (p. 8).
In this connection the author notes, and very clearly sets forth, some of the signs which justify the foregoing statement, such as—
"the relaxation of authority in our Protestant Churches." "Religion has lost authority in the family life." He notes "The weakening of religious restraints among the children of Protestants"; whereas "Romanism speaks with authority to the whole family" (p. 15).
We cannot quote extensively from this part of the book; but the foregoing passages will suffice to show that Mr. Smythe has examined the surface conditions of our times to good purpose.
The immediate result of this, he thinks, is that people—
"may now seek after new cults, or remain content with feeling themselves to be religious in general, with no beliefs in particular."
But such condition could only be a transition stage. Such a general breaking up of long-existing systems must be the preparation for a change of some unusual sort. And Mr. Smythe is evidently impressed with the very significant fact that this disintegration of ecclesiastical systems is accompanied by a revolt against the existing economic system, and also by many and striking indications of the coming of a NEW SOCIAL ORDER.
Mr. Smythe is only one of many observers who note the breaking up of existing religious systems, and the relaxation of the hold of the churches and their ministers upon the consciences, and even upon the interest and attention, of the people. The evidences of this disintegration are so pronounced as to alarm even the editor of one of the popular American magazines, who, confounding (as most people do) the ecclesiastical institutions of this Sardis state of the Church—which have a name that they live but are dead (Rev. iii. 1)—with real “Christianity,” expresses the fear that “Christianity is dying, and dying fast.” This editor, in order to aid in averting what he regards as a threatened calamity, has procured the assistance of a minister well known on both sides of the Atlantic, Dr. Charles H. Aked, giving to the latter a commission to write a series of articles under the significant title of “The Salvation of Christianity.” These articles are now appearing at the rate of one a month. The most interesting point about them is the fact that what Dr. Aked, and those who share his views, regard as “Christianity,” is deemed by them to be now in such a bad case as to require special efforts for its “Salvation.” But, happily, what Dr. Aked regards as “Christianity” is something quite different from true