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  THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE GLOOMY DECADES
  by A.W. Tozer
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Summary: A.W. Tozer describes the despondent intellectual mood of the
1920s and 1930s, characterized by materialism, pessimism, cynicism, and
skepticism.

Topics: "Hope in Despair", "Faith Amidst Pessimism"
Scripture References: Psalm 42:11, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 41:10, Matthew 6:34, John 16:33, Romans 15:13, Philippians 4:6-7, 2 Timothy 1:7, Hebrews 11:1, 1 Peter 5:7

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DESCRIPTION
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A.W. Tozer addresses the pervasive pessimism that followed World War I,
describing how materialism, pessimism, cynicism, and skepticism became
the dominant attitudes of the 1920s and 1930s. He notes that
intellectuals across various fields succumbed to these gloomy
perspectives, leading to a general sense of despair about the future,
particularly regarding prophecy and civilization's fate. Tozer critiques
the liberal religious response of the time, which, while optimistic, was
based on a misguided interpretation of scripture. He emphasizes the need
for genuine faith and hope amidst the prevailing darkness, urging
believers to seek true understanding and trust in God's promises.

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CONTENT
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Immediately following the first World War, a wave of pessimism swept
over the literate world.

What the cause was I shall not go into here but, whatever it was, the
intellectual mood of the ?20s and ?30s was thoroughly despondent.
Materialism, pessimism, cynicism and skepticism were the four horsemen
of those gloomy decades and they rode forth conquering and to conquer.

The scientists were materialistic, the philosophers skeptical, the
novelists and biographers cynical and almost everyone pessimistic. Even
the interpreters of prophecy were apprehensive, for they saw in the
capture of Jerusalem by the British and the rise of the Roman Empire
under Mussolini evidence of the nearness of the tribulation days, the
coming of Antichrist and the collapse of civilization. About the only
religionists on the Protestant side who managed to retain a little
optimism were the liberals (?modernists? they were called in those
days), and they were cheerful for a wrong reason. Out of the poetic
passages of a Bible, in which they no longer believed, they wove
delicate daisy chains, which have long since withered, and crocheted
pretty religious doilies of which they are not now exactly proud and
which they would willingly forget but cannot because their handiwork is
still to be found among us--on the seventeen cent bargain table of the
second-hand bookstores.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/aw-tozer/the-four-horsemen-of-the-gloomy-decades/
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