Truth Magazine

By Donald P. Ames

Recently I was asked my opinion of the movie currently making the rounds entitled “Oh, God!” The movie is being widely proclaimed as “divinely funny” and a “very clever satire.” Since I had not seen the movie, I was in no position to comment. However the querest had a copy of the book (by Avery Corman-Bantaam Books) and loaned it to me for my examination.

Realizing the book was designed as a satire and after pointing out that we know God does not make persona( appearances today (Heb. 1:1-2), I agreed to read it as open-mindedly as possible and also determined to make every allowance for “poetic license” that could -reasonably be made. I did not wish to condemn it merely because it alleged God made a personal appearance to men if it had a good moral to it, nor did I wish to excuse it simply because it starred George Burns and John Denver, who happen to be two popular movie stars. A judgment was going to have to be fair and based on the contents of the book itself.

However, upon reading the book, I must frankly admit I was very disgusted with the whole thing. True, it was a clever satire on human reactions to the idea God might appear today to refute the charges that He never existed or was dead. But, upon finishing the book, I honestly wondered if the satire was being directed toward mankind or toward God Himself! There is a fine line between satire and mockery (or even blasphemy) and, in this case, the mockery seems as much directed at God as anything else.

God is portrayed as a little old man who took that form so He might be seen by men (possibly excusable as “poetic license”), but who is also fond of TV, His cigars, and likes His “cold beer and clams” (p. 70, 141). He is portrayed as a confused person, who knew the past and present because He had witnessed it, but had absolutely no plan or concept of what lay in the future-“I don’t know anything from what’s going to be. . .not even what’s going to happen for dinner” (p. 139). This is completely unbiblical and a mockery (cf. Eph. 3:11; 1 Pet. 1:10-12, etc.). His total lack of planning and purpose is also seen in such statements as “I came up with the concepts, the big ideas-the details can take care of themselves” (p. 11).

That He is not portrayed anywhere close to the God of the Bible (all-knowing, everywhere-present and concerned) is seen by such statements as: “Looking back, of course I made a few mistakes. Giraffes. It was a good thought, but it really didn’t work out. Avocados-on that I made the pit too big” (p. 11). Compare this with Gen. 1:31. He next quibbles with Moses over the number of commandments to be given from Mt. Sinai. Originally thinking of about 5,000, He finally works it down to 15. Moses demands only 8, so after quibbling and compromising, they finally agree on 10 (p. 12). When asked if He really listened and heard the prays of all men, He replied, “Who says I listen? I only said I’m there. After while, who can listen?” (p. 10). Compare that to Matt. 10:29-31 ! And, when asked what was in store for man, His confusion and lack of direction is openly manifested in seeking the answer to that as much as others were because “I couldn’t tell you. . .I don’t get into that” (p. 11). Compare that with Matt. 10 or Paul’s sermon in Acts 17:24ff.

Next we note God had no proof or evidence to present that He was God, and such requests were simply dismissed with “I don’t do proof” (p. 6). Can anyone imagine Moses going to face Pharoah with such a flimsy statement, or the apostles going forth to preach with no evidences that they were backed by God Himself (Mark 16:17-20; Heb. 2:1-4)? In fact, God even goes so far as to say, “I don’t do miracles. . . The last miracle I did was the 1969 Mets and before that the 1914 Boston Braves and before that I think you have to go back to the Red Sea” (p. 11-12). Imagine that! Nothing since the Red Sea! What about the conquest of Canaan, Elijah at Mt. Carmel, Daniel in the lion’s den, the raising of Lazarus, or even the resurrection of Jesus Christ? All these are simply dismissed — or forgotten by an extremely forgetful God who can’t keep track of things very well.

Other examples of the mockery of God are included in His statement about His holy word — “Not that the Bible is such a bargain — talk about inaccurate” (p. 126). How is that for confidence in His inspired word? God also mocks the idea of the Final Judgment and thinks it silly He would think of wasting His time sitting on a throne while mankind passed before Him as if in some parade- a- s if He did not have anything better to do (p. 62).

Jesus Christ is totally ignored as the means of our salvation in the movie, and the idea of doctrine being important (John 12:48) is held up to ridicule. Jesus is mentioned one time, when God is asked if He is His son. “Well, the thing is, people who want to believe that Jesus was my son can go ahead and believe it. It’s what they want to think and I don’t get into that . . . .Jesus was my son. Buddha was my son. Confucius. Mohammed. Moses. All the fellas” (p. 61). Thus, the deity of Christ is mocked and disavowed by God as unimportant. Christ is placed on a level with man and false prophets (cf. John 3:16; 1:1-3, 2 Thess. 2:11-12). When pressed further on this point with the question of which of tTie world’s religions were really the closest to the Divine Truth, God cleverly slides around it with the comment, “All of them are cute” (p. 61). Thus God, per the book, does not really care what you believe-just as long as you do not conclude He never was or is dead!

God further selected a Jew to carry His message of existence to the people. No do not conclude I am antiJewish, but since the Jews rejected Christ and His saving gospel, if God desired to save mankind and bring a message to them, it would not be in the hands of an unbelieving Jew today (Luke 10:16). Nor would he be so foolish as to send a man forth with no evidence He had actually spoken to Him to try to prove He existed. Nor would He select an indifferent, non-religious man who wrote one good article, was full of dreams of getting rich and famous, made frequent use of profanity, admitted to a variety of sexual sins in the past, and relied on a publicity agent (his wife) to get popularity.

Vulgar language and profanity appear throughout the book; one chapter dealing with a nude girl desiring sexual relations seems to have been inserted for no other purpose than to spice up the book with sex (especially when the rest of it deals with mankind’s reaction as a whole to the idea of the appearance of God today).

As I said, I found it disgusting! I hope this exposure will assist in warning others of the trash and mockery it contains so you do not waste your money on it and may answer intelligently when asked about it.

Truth Magazine XXII: 6, pp. 104-105
February 9, 1978

By Dody Gibson

There was a man Jehoiakim,

And over Judah he did reign.

He was a very wicked king.

The Scripture makes it very plain.

The Lord spoke through Jeremiah,

From words written in a sacred scroll,

That he might turn from evil ways,

And in so doing save his soul.

But Jehoiakim flew into a rage.

He lost control and with great ire,

He clipped the words with his penknife,

And threw them all into the fire.

Now what of us living today?

Do we sometimes the scripture discard?

And using the penknife of neglect,

Leave God’s word so often marred?

How does your Bible read for you?

Go visit the sick, remember to pray,

Teach a class or sing a song?

What does your copy really say?

Do you miss meeting with the saints?

For by your actions you will declare,

If you have clipped these words away.

Better check to see if it’s still there.

Jeremiah 36:23

Truth Magazine XXII: 6, p. 104
February 9, 1978

By Steve Wolfgang

During the week of October 24-30, 1977, members of the Expressway Church of Christ, 4437 South Sixth Street. Louisville, Kentucky, had the privilege of hearing Brother Roy Cogdill speak by invitation of the elders in a gospel meeting. The meeting was well attended by Expressway members and by a number of community visitors who are not members of the Lord’s church. Truth Magazine readers who have known Brother Cogdill through the years will rejoice to know that Brother Cogdill has regained a measure of health and strength and came preaching with the same fervor, force and clarity which has been characteristic of him through the years.

We do not wish to turn the pages of this paper into an “adulation sheet” for the worship of any man (as some publications among our liberal brethren have become), nor to think more highly of any man than we ought to think, but we do feel that good news regarding those who have fought long and valiantly in the Cause should be reported. Although Brother Cogdill’s health has not been the best in the last few years, at this time he appears to be in better health (and seems to feel much better) then he has for some time. He spoke each night for nearly an hour, sometimes more, to above-average crowds (which puts the lie to the idea that brethren will not abide lengthy sermons; they will, so long as the preacher has something to say!). At a special Saturday morning session on the Charismatic Movement, Brother Cogdill spoke for nearly two hours and answered questions from the audience. He spoke three times on Sunday, and participated in the call-in radio broadcast with this scribe and Jamie Sloan of Douglass Hills (where Brother Cogdill held a meeting last fall). Brother Cogdill went from Expressway to Danville to conduct a meeting there, and we have received a good report of his continued good health and forceful preaching to good audiences there. While we do not wish to fall victim to the wrong of thinking of men “above that which is written” (1 Cor. 4:6), we feel that Brother Cogdill’s long experience (he marked his 55th anniversary of preaching on November 20) and his evident ability make him an exceptional proclaimer of God’s word. His love for the souls to whom he preaches is manifest in the earnestness with which he preached the gospel. The saints at Expressway were truly edified.

In our opinion, one of the main contributions Brother Cogdill has made in his efforts to teach the truth as widely as possible has been the numerous books, debates, and tracts which he has authored. Perhaps the best known of these has been The New Testament Church, first written nearly forty years ago (1938, to be exact). Besides going through nearly twenty printed editions of perhaps nearly a quarter of a million copies, the book has been translated into nearly a dozen foreign languages and, in Brother Cogdill’s own words, “Has done a lot of preaching at places I could not or would not be allowed to go.” While Brother Cogdill was here, he replied to a recent request from the American Braille Society in Los Angeles to grant permission for them to publish The New Testament Church in Braille so that even the blind may now have access to this thorough and scriptural study of the Lord’s church.

This scribe counts it a,rare privilege and honor to have been associated with Brother Cogdill in this effort and to have had the benefit of sitting at his feet during this period. We bid him Godspeed and wish for him continued health and many more opportunities in preaching the gospel.

Truth Magazine XXII: 6, pp. 103-104
February 9, 1978

By Gene Warman

In Rom. 16:25, the apostle Paul said, “Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith.” Rom. 1:5 states, “through whom we received grace and apostleship unto obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake.” We have seen that in these verses of Romans Paul uses the expression “the obedience of faith”. Now, what does Paul mean by such an expression? The term simply has reference to the obedience which is produced in the Christian life by faith. Paul tells us that the purpose of his apostleship was unto the obedience of faith. The apostle refers here to the proclaiming of the word; he is attempting to get people to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. On the basis of this faith, he is moving them to be obedient to the commands of God. We are not to have the obedience that is pleasing to us, but the kind of obedience that pleases God. That is the kind of obedience that springs from our faith in Him.

In this world in which we live, we walk by sight. You go to the bank to borrow money and the banker wants to be assured that you are able to repay the debt. That is the way we live in our everyday life. And yet, when it comes to being a Christian, we understand the words that our God has spoken, and we propose to do the thing God has required of us. To say that we are saved and justified by the obedience of faith, is not at all to say that we are justified by faith only. Some are afraid of the word “obedience”. We are not saved by faith only. But one is saved when he has enough faith in God that he will do whatever God says. It is an active faith that pleases God. Our faith must be strong enough to do the thing that God requires.

James 2:24 records, “You see that by works a man is justified and not only by faith.” James speaks of the example of Abraham in the days of old and the offering of Isaac by Abraham. Was it by faith only? James 2:24 gives us the answer-that it was by both Abraham’s offering and by faith; nevertheless he did something and his works, therefore, were but a manifestation of the faith that he had in the Almighty God. When we have enough faith in the Lord that we ate willing to follow Him and do what he says, it is that faith that is pleasing in the eyes of God.

Let us examine the kind of faith that produces obedience in the individual. The kind of faith that you and I must have is the faith that pleases the Lord. If we have that faith in the Lord, He is the sovereign of our lives. What think you of Christ? Is He the Son of God, or is He a mystery. The world agrees that He was a good man but not the Son of God. The answer to that question itself determines where we will spend eternity. In John 8:24 Jesus said, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins; for except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” God has given enough evidence to produce faith in our hearts. A person who is honest and conscientious, and who really wants to go to heaven when he dies, will find enough evidence to prove that Jesus is the Christ. Mark 16:15, 16 records, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.” We see then that one must be obedient to the faith that is revealed in God’s Word.

So our faith must be centered in the right object, if we are going to be guided in the right direction. Our faith must not be centered in Moses or one of the prophets. When Jesus took His disciples up to the Mount of Transfiguration, there appeared Moses and Elijah-Moses, the great law giver, and Elijah, the prince of the Prophets. They said, “Let us build three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Then Moses and Elijah disappeared and there remained none save Jesus only. Then the great God of heaven spoke saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matt. 17:5). This especially teaches us that we are not to follow Moses or the prophets, but we today are to follow Jesus Christ. We have confidence not in man but in the Lord. Then as we turn to the words of our Savior, and we have followed what He says, we will be, therefore, on the way to heaven. A faith which is centered in the word of God will save us.

But again, may we emphasize the kind of faith that produces obedience? Whatever God tells us to do is right. -I must be right. Like the apostle Paul, when our thoughts and minds come to the place where they are conflicting with God’s commands, let us surrender our own thoughts. Let us put our words down as false teaching when they come in opposition to God. God will not tell us to do anything that we ought not to do or that will not build us up spiritually. With that kind of confidence, we can go forward in the will of God, knowing that whatever we do is in harmony with His will and we will not be wrong.

May we go a step further and raise the question as to the kind of obedience that faith produces. I think we are impressed with the thought that the obedience which , faith produces is the obedience that is always prompt, which always does the thing that God tells the person to do. In Genesis, the 12th chapter, God told Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldees. When Jehovah spoke, Abraham left and did what God said. God told him to get out of that country; Abraham went out not knowing whither he went. That is the kind of faith that the Bible holds up as an example. Abraham did not ask questions; he did not begin to apologize and give excuses. When Abraham understood what God wanted him to do, he proceeded to do it. His was the obedience that was prompted by faith.

In the New Testament, in the 16th chapter of Acts, Paul and Silas were put in prison in the city of Philippi. While they were there, an earthquake occurred and the doors of the prison were opened; the jailer supposed that the prisoners had escaped, and was about to kill himself. But Paul and Silas saw him and called out, “Do thyself no harm, for we are all here.” The jailer sprang in and fell down and said to them, “What must 1 do to be saved?” It was then that Paul began to preach unto him the word of the Lord. And the Bible says that the same hour of the night, this Philippian jailer and his household were baptized. We see in this, that he did not put off obedience. Paul preached to him about Jesus and told him what Jesus wanted him to do. When the jailer understood, he obeyed in the same hour of the night. That is the way it ought to be with all of us. When we know the will of God, we ought to do it, not begin to make excuses for not doing it.

But again, if we have the right kind of faith, that faith will produce in our life obedience that is unwavering. It is the sort of obedience that is continual. This faith will not be a matter of having religion only on Sunday, then the rest of the week forget about it. We are going to be constantly and everlastingly obedient to the commands of Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, Noah is held up for our example. Noah was a righteous man. God looked down and recognized the righteousness of Noah. God determined to destroy the people of the world by a flood, but he determined also that He would not destroy Noah, because of his righteousness. So it was that God told him to build an ark. He told him what kind of wood to use and what size to make it, and furthermore what should be done in preparation for the flood that was to come. People went on unconscious that their life was about at an end. Many scoffed at Noah. Nevertheless, Noah went on with his work in obedience to God. But his faith in God rested on the promise that God made. You and I know the result. He was rewarded. His life was saved while the lives of the others were destroyed, all because of his obedience toward God.

Likewise, Abraham was told to take his son and offer him on the altar. That was a strange request. He understood that he was to be the father of a great nation. He had only one son, through whom this promise could be fulfilled. How then could he kill Isaac? Abraham rightly deserves the name of the father of the faithful. We are told that Abraham thoroughly believed that he would have to kill Isaac and that God would raise him from the dead. Abraham staggered not. That is the kind of obedience that all of us must have.

Throughout the New Testament the same principle prevails. Paul is a classic example of one who was obedient to faith. Though he was often persecuted, he was always obedient to the faith that he had in Christ Jesus. Now some men preach that if you have once been saved, you cannot be lost. They refer to this as the eternal security of the believer. No doctrine could be farther from the truth of God’s will. Just as one may cease or discontinue believing, one may stop living as God would have him to live. If it is, or was, impossible for a man to be lost after he has been saved, why are there so many warnings in the writings of Paul, Peter, and other inspired men concerning the danger of falling? ‘Take heed lest ye fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Paul warned the Gentiles that they would be cut off if they did not continue in belief (Rom. 11). Paul recognized the possibility of his being lost for he says in 1 Cor. 9:27, “lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” No friends, the doctrine of eternal security of the believer, is just another false doctrine that is being set forth by men.

Truth Magazine XXII: 6, pp. 102-103
January 9, 1978