The Flag Torn And Trodden On

by J. Miller | Category: Editorial | Feb 1951

In September, October and November, 1920, there appeared in this magazine articles entitled, "Hauling down the flag," by Dr. C. M. Luxmoore. What gave rise to the writing of those articles was a special sermon preached by Dr. Barnes, then Canon of Westminster, in Cardiff Parish Church, in which this preacher said that "Christian thinkers now quietly accepted theories of the origin of the earth and of man, due to modern scientific investigation and speculation. They, therefore, found it necessary to abandon the doctrine of the Fall and the arguments deduced from it by theologians, from St. Paul onward." We quote from the above-mentioned articles what can well bear repetition :

"The very fact that men who have subscribed to the written creeds and articles professed by the 'Established Church of England,' as it is called, are prepared to abandon the doctrine of the Fall while they still maintain their positions as salaried ministers of the Establishment is sadly significant of the decay of morality.

"According to Article IX 'Original sin is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and, therefore, in every person born into this world it deserveth God's wrath and damnation.' Article X says: 'The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good work to faith and calling upon God.'

"These two extracts are from the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, of which it is stated in the King's Declaration that precedes them, that 'all clergymen within the realm have willingly subscribed to the Articles established, which is an argument that they all agree in the true usual literal medium of the said Articles.' Dr. Barnes, whilst on the one hand agreeing to the Articles on the Fall and the consequent corruption of the nature of every man naturally born, became the protagonist against the fact of the Fall, and the spokesman for all who like himself rejected what is all too patent to even a casual observer of the habits of human beings, that man "is of his own nature inclined to evil."

This sermon was preached thirty years ago, but this same Dr. Barnes, now Bishop of Birmingham, at his diocesan conference on November 28, 1950, claims that sure proofs have been found of the missing link between ape and man in the fossil skulls, teeth, and jaws that have been discovered which belonged to apes that were developing into primitive man. He also spoke of certain coloured frescoes of animals of the last Ice Age in their furry coats, which he had seen in a cave in South West France. Then he says

"In the face of such knowledge we cannot teach fanciful falsehoods, however poetic, literary, or symbolic, to children in our Church schools."

In 1920 he spoke of "theories" being accepted as though they were truth, such theories being based on "scientific investigation and speculation." The truth of God's word was then alleged to have been abandoned for theory and speculation. In effect, according to Dr. Barnes, the Fall never took place at all. In his old age he comes out boldly and tells his clerical underlings that what is said in Genesis as to the creation of man is "fanciful falsehoods," not fit to be taught to children in Church of England schools. According to this Bishop man is just a civilized ape. His nature and the ape's nature are identical, only man is a little more educated, and, besides, strange to say, he has developed a religious conscience. However this conscience has come about is not at all clear.

But listen to what this Bishop further says

"Let us tell young people that the importance of the Incarnation lies not in its manner, but in the fact that in Christ God reconciled all men to Himself. The truths of our religion lie in the words and teaching of our Lord."

Who wrote the story of Creation and of the Fall? All orthodox Jews and Christians believe that Moses wrote Genesis and the following four books, called in Joshua 1.8, "This book of the law." We read at the beginning of our Bibles, "The first book of Moses, called Genesis." Dr. Barnes says, "The truths of our religion lie in the words and teaching of our Lord." Has be forgotten what the Lord said in John 5.46, 47?

"For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words ? "

If Moses wrote Genesis and his words are but "fanciful falsehoods," how is it possible to believe Christ's words ? Moses' writings and Christ's teaching either stand or fall together. Deny Moses and you deny Christ. There can be no escaping of the Lord's conclusion.

We have alluded before to the Lord's words in Matthew 19. 4-6, where He refers to Moses' account of man's creation. "Have ye not read, that He that made them from the beginning made them male and female?" In his diocesan address this Bishop speaks of frescoes at least 20,000 years old. It is easy enough to speak glibly of millenniums and to seek to hide facts behind fanciful figures; a few thousand years here or there do not matter much. But we are faced with something more important than chronology when we face the Lord's own words. He alleges that God made man male and female from the beginning, which means, if it means anything at all, that He made mankind male and female as we see them now, and as they were in the Lord's time, and this was true all the time from the beginning of the human race; not male and female apes, but male and female humans. What Dr. Barnes calls "fanciful falsehoods," the Lord held as fact, and a fact of the most important kind to the human race, for it has to do with marriage and the procreation of the human species.

The Lord, who had referred to Genesis 1., quotes again from Genesis 2., "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the twain shall become one flesh," and in quoting this He puts it in a question, "Have ye not read? ". It is quite impossible to speak of the Lord's words and teaching as truths and at the same time describe what He says as "fanciful falsehoods."

We are also told that there is no importance in the manner of the Incarnation, so that the account of this as given in Luke's Gospel, and also in Matthew, might as well never have been written. Whether the Lord was naturally born, and thereby inheriting the corruption common to all mankind so born, or born of a virgin, through the miraculous conception, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and so born holy and without sin, does not appear to matter; the thing that does matter, we are told by this cleric, is "the fact that in Christ God reconciled all men to Himself." This is yet another lie added to all the former pile. Note that we are told by him that all men are reconciled in Christ incarnate unto God.

Paul alone of all the apostles deals with the matter of reconciliation. But then Paul is an arch-deceiver, who deduced arguments about the Fall in his epistles, according to Dr. Barnes; why should he be listened to on the matter of reconciliation any more than on the fact of the Fall? But what does Paul say on this subject of reconciliation; He says this :-" While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" (Romans 5.10). So Paul tells us that he once was an enemy of God. Though Christ had become incarnate before Paul's time, yet Paul was not reconciled by that fact. He hated Christ and in consequence hated God, and hated the people of God. He said, "I was before (before he was reconciled to God through the death of His Son) a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious " (1 Timothy 1. 18).

Christ made "peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1.20), and then Paul says "And you being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works yet now bath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death" (Colossians 1. 21, 22) If all men are reconciled to God through Christ incarnate how was it that the Colossians, and all other saints remained enemies in mind and works till they heard "the word of the truth of the gospel" (Colossians 1. 5), and wherein comes the need of personal faith in Christ, as is proclaimed by the Lord and His apostles? (John 3.16, Acts 10.48, 13.38, 39) Justification by faith alone is the great bedrock of the reformation the theme of the preaching of Luther and all the reformers. "Being therefore justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5. 1)

Are the British people prepared to swallow without a thorough examination of the matter what Dr. Barnes is teaching ?-

1.That man is but a civilized, religious ape.

2.That the account of man's creation as given in Genesis is "fanciful falsehoods."

3.That there never was a Fall, and as a consequence man is not in a corrupt and sinful state by nature.

4.That the Lord Himself who believed the Genesis account was deceived and misled all who followed His teaching.

5.That the manner of the Incarnation as described in the Scriptures does not matter.

6.That all men are reconciled to God in the incarnate Christ without the need of repentance and faith in Him. To accept the above is not simply a matter of hauling down the flag, but the flag is torn and trodden on.

J. Miller | Feb 1951
Editorial