Truth Magazine

By Cecil Willis

Brother W. W. Otey told me once that in seventy years of gospel preaching, he had never preached a sermon with which he was completely pleased one hour afterward. He could always think of some things that he should have said, but that had been left out. Or, he could think of some things that were said that should have been said differently, if said at all. Each sermon lacked something; head-power, or heart-power, as he put it. Which merely is to say that nearly all of us have 20/20 vision hindsight-wise.

In the last issue of Volume Eighteen we carried our usual Author-Subject Index. But it was suggested in a staff meeting of Truth Magazine personnel in Memphis in July that a Topical Index would be tremendously helpful to those who made it a practice to preserve their issues of Truth Magazine, or to those who purchase Bound Volumes. Furthermore, any research to be done in such bound volumes in years to come would be made much easier, if we published a Topical Index. Brother Jeffery Kingry volunteered to prepare the detailed Topical Index, which involved a tremendous amount of work on his part, and considerable extra expense on our part. Your reaction to the Topical Index will help us to assess its value, and to determine whether it should be prepared and published each year.

Our Critics

Constructive criticism is helpful to any person, who will receive it in the right way. Some of our severest critics also are some of our best friends. It always is good to listen to criticism, for it just might be the case that one’s critic is correct. On the other hand, trying to please every critic would not only bring one to complete frustration; it would drive him insane! So we know that Truth Magazine is not going to please everyone.

Critics often generalize, and make such broad criticisms that one hardly knows where to begin, if he were disposed to try to implement any of the recommendations made by his critics. As most preachers already have learned, one’s critics frequently hear only what they want to hear. To the super-sensitive liberal, every admonition to follow closely the instructions of the Lord is counted as one more sermon “on the issues.”

Luther Blackmon told me once that the .fellow who “got under his skin” the most was that fellow who gets up close in your face, turns red with anger, shakes his finger under your nose, calls you a liar, and then proves it! So with the thought in mind that our critics who so persistently (and yet so inconsistently) criticize us for criticizing just might be right, we have carefully reviewed the contents of Volume Eighteen.

Some have charged that ours is an unbalanced paper, and that about all we do is to criticize someone else. We have been accused of riding, one issue to death, which is not in itself such a bad idea if that issue happens to entail the teaching of false doctrine. We would like to stamp out error, if we could do so. We would like to do all within our power to eradicate error. Some have even charged that a few people do all the writing in Truth Magazine. Some others write to criticize us for publishing so much material from brethren who are not generally well-known. With just these few criticisms listed, one already can see the impossibility of pleasing everywhere. A good many years ago I resolved in my mind Who it was that I was trying to please, and thereafter have not been unduly upset if my efforts to please Him did not please some of my family, brethren, or neighbors.

Contents of Volume Eighteen

With both Indexes readily at hand, it was quite easy generally to summarize the contents of Volume Eighteen. For instance, I discovered that articles had been published from 141 different brethren during the year. I think that nearly any editor would tell you that he could produce a better quality paper, if he confined his writers to those on his staff. If he could not, he is a rather poor chooser of staff personnel. But a paper written exclusively by a few carefully selected staff personnel will not draw the wider reader interest that one seeks. Furthermore, if no one will give an inexperienced writer a chance to write, how do we think younger men ever will become abler writers? We deliberately publish some articles primarily to encourage inexperienced writers to write more that their literary abilities, if any, may be enhanced.

Approximately 475 articles were published in Volume Eighteen. They covered a wide range of subjects. In fact, Brother Kingry found it necessary to list articles under 115 different topical headings. A careful examination of the number of listings under each heading easily will enable one to tell .which subjects were being given the most attention during the year. At the same time, an examination of the Topical Index even surprised me. I was not conscious of the fact that the 824 pages published last year had touched upon so many different subjects. In many instances, one article would deal with several sub-headings, and thus may have been listed under more than one topical heading. But following are some of the topics covered in Volume Eighteen, and the number following each Topical heading is indicative of the number of articles appearing that touch upon that subject.

Alcohol	3
Apostles	4
Atheism	3
Attendance	4
Biblical Authority	23
Baptism	17
Baptist Church Doctrine	19
Benevolence	5
Book Reviews	22
Calvinism	14
Children	7
Christian Living	36
Church	38
Church News reports (and cover pictures of meeting houses of churches from 21 States and foreign countries)	49
Current Events on the Religious Scene	15
Debates (Articles and Reports)	12
Denominationalism	25
Discipline	4
Drugs	5
Evidences	9
Evolution	4
Fellowship	43
Civil Government	6
Grace	14
Happiness	5
Hypocrisy	7
Influence	9
Inspiration	4
Instrumental Music	10
Interpretation (Biblical)	10
Jehovah’s Witnesses	5
Kingdom	9
Liberalism	19
Materialism	4
Millennialism	3
Miracles	7
Modesty	6
News Briefs	29
Obedience	24
Old Testament	15
Parents	6
Personal Work	5
Pornography	3
Prayer	5
Preachers	9
Reactions (to all forms of false doctrines)	60
Salvation	12
Scripture Exegesis	39
Sin	16
Subjectivism	5
Teaching Methods	15
Truth (not referring to Truth Magazine)	15
Unity	5
Word Studies	6
Worldliness	19

These are by no means all the listings in the Topical Index, but I think these are enough to show you that Truth Magazine does carry a wider variety of material than you might otherwise have supposed. No doubt there are several Biblical areas that we did overlook, or at least slight. If so, those overlooked areas would be good ones upon which, you might prepare carefully studied and well-written manuscripts. There is not a single word of divine Truth that will be excluded from the pages of Truth Magazine. As in our preaching, so is it in our writing: we intend fully to preach the gospel of Christ (Rom. 15:19); to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). Whatever our short-comings may be, perhaps you can help us to correct them.

Articles By Staff Members

In the first issue of Volume Nineteen (November 7th), we announced the addition of several new staff writers. Following is a listing of the staff members and the number of articles written by each one:

James W. Adams	5
Donald P. Ames	8
O.C. Birdwell	3
Luther Blackmon	9
Roy E. Cogdill	6
Karl Diestelkamp	30
Bruce Edwards, Jr.	12
George T. Eldridge	4
Larry Hafley	38
Ron Halbrook	14
Irvin Himmel	10
Ferrell Jenkins	1
Jeffrey Kingry	25
John McCort	5
Harry Ozment	5
Earl Robertson	2
Jimmy Tuten	19
Mike Willis	27
Steve Wolfgang	4
Cecil Willis	49

Summary

Our new Topical Index is not quite complete. Brother Kingry did a splendid job on the first 44 issues, but a less thorough job was done on the last 7 issues. Very likely there are some mistakes in these Indexes, though I went over it three times, and even checked out every listing and page number. All in all, Volume Eighteen to me looks like a fairly well rounded religious journal. It appears to me that it would not be entirely out of place for it to be in the home of nearly any Christian. Perhaps we have inadvertently, indeed have, produced that nebulous something frequently referred to kts a “family magazine” about which some of the brethren have had so much to say.

But Volume Eighteen is now past history. We must work on the present number, Volume Nineteen. We hope to keep the paper fairly well balanced, but still tilted. just enough that it is not hesitant to fire away at any digressive teaching that begins to surface among us. If a magazine such as Truth Magazine does not appeal to you, we are sorry that is the case. But we think there is a need for just such a paper, and we intend to continue basically in the manner in which we have proceeded thus far.

If you feel that Truth Magazine serves a useful purpose among brethren, we would appreciate a kind word from you about the paper to some friend who is a Christian who needs to be reading a paper like this one. Unfortunately, the people who need to read a paper like Truth Magazine the most are the ones who are the least likely to buy it. Perhaps a worthy gesture on your part would be to send such a friend a free subscription to Truth Magazine. We certainly would appreciate your partnership in this work, demonstrated by your willingness to spend your hard-earned money to send this paper, to someone else who can afford it, but who has so little interest in spiritual matters that he is unwilling to spend a few dollars a year on such a publication. If you were to do as suggested and send a free subscription, or a group of free subscriptions purchased on our reduced group-subscription rate, in all probability the brethren to whom you send this paper will someday come to appreciate your interest in their spiritual growth, and certainly their Bible knowledge would be enhanced by considering the writings of 141 gospel preachers, writing on 115 different Bible topics, and consisting of nearly 500 different articles. Where else can you get so much for just $7.50 per year? We think Truth Magazine subscriptions are a bargain. A Truth Magazine subscription, as we often have said (since we borrowed, the idea from someone else), is a gift that can be opened 50 times a year.

Truth Magazine XVIII: 7, pp. 99-102
December 19, 1974

By James E. Cooper

Those who defend miraculous healing for today often insist that regeneration is a miracle. A. J. Gordon quotes with approval another man who said, “You ask God to perform a real miracle when you ask Him to cure your soul of sin as you do when you ask Him to cure your body of fever” (The Ministry of Healing, p. 193). The assumption here is that when one is convinced that regeneration itself is a miracle, a major obstacle to belief in miraculous healing is overcome. We deny that regeneration is by miraculous means.

Webster defines miracle in part as “An event or effect in the physical world deviating from the known laws of nature, or transcending our knowledge of these laws.” Anything that happens contrary to the known laws of nature is called a miracle; it may not be a miracle at all. One may simply be unaware of what laws of nature are acting.

The latter part of Webster’s definition (“an extraordinary, anomalous, or abnormal event brought about by superhuman agency”) comes nearer to the realization that a proper definition of miracle must distinguish God’s special, supernatural manifestations from things which occur by natural force or law. The difference in a miracle and a natural occurrence is not that the power of God is at work, but that in a miracle God operates in an unusual manner. Gordon says, “a miracle is the immediate action of God, as distinguished from his mediate action through natural laws” (p. 193). We accept this definition with the provision that we remember that there are “natural laws” in the spiritual as well as the physical realm. Paul shows that the law, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” applies in the spiritual realm as well as in the physical realm (Galatians 6:7-8).

Regeneration refers to the new birth. To be regenerated is to be born again. As there is no miracle involved in being born the first time, there is no miracle involved in being born again. The child comes as the result of the operation of God’s natural laws. Conception takes place when sperm and egg are united. Following a period of gestation, delivery follows, and a new life begins. The “miracle” of birth is the result of God’s natural law of procreation at work.

In the process of regeneration, the new (or spiritual) birth, the seed must also be planted. In the parable of the sower, Jesus taught that the “seed of the kingdom” is the “word of God” (Luke 8:11). Peter declares that we have been “begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth” (1 Peter 1:23). By the preaching of the gospel, which is “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16), we are “begotten” by the gospel (1 Corinthians 4:15) and thus receive the “implanted word, which is able to save our souls” (James 1:21). When the Word of God works on our hearts, we are brought to the completion of the new birth when we are “born of water and of the Spirit” (John 3:5) and enter into the church of Christ.

Regeneration is the normal spiritual effect of the working of God’s fixed spiritual law in the matter. The Scripture teaches us that God’s law concerning regeneration requires faith in Jesus as Christ (John 8:24) based on evidence in God’s word (Romans 10:17), repentance of sins (Acts 17:30), and baptism “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38; compare also Mark 16:16; Acts 22:16 and Galatians 3:26-27). One who thus enters “into Christ” becomes a “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17), and walks in “newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). There is no miracle in regeneration; it takes place in harmony with God’s fixed (and known) spiritual law of procreation!

Truth Magazine XVIII: 7, p. 98
December 19, 1974

By Fred C. Melton

Our British brethren, for the most part, have a traditionally strong aversion to what they refer to as the “one man ministry” or the clergy system and it must be said with all due respect that they come by it honestly. The slightest hint of a class system, especially in religion, many times touches off reactionary feelings stemming from long historical abuses.

I ran across the following description of English church life around the middle of the nineteenth century in a volume called Bristol’s Earliest Photographs by Reece Win stone: “I reached Christ Church in Clifton Park before 11 o’clock. `Have you got a ticket, sir?’ inquired a policeman as I was about to enter the West Porch. I told him I had not, for I was not aware a ticket was necessary. `I’m sorry for it,’ said the young man civilly enough, `for my orders are not to admit anyone without a ticket,’ `And you may rest assured,’ replied I, `that I have too great a regard for your cloth to ask you to exceed them,’ and I turned away to wait until my friend, John Henry, by the Grace of God, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, made his appearance, as I knew I might effect an entrance under the shelter of his lawn sleeves.”

In his indignation at being refused entry to Christ Church, the Churchgoer is joined by an old lady and a reporter, who express their annoyance very loudly. However, on the stroke of eleven, the doors are flung open and everybody enters, the old lady and the reporter still voicing their indignation until lost in the crowd. Another old lady, who was his pew-mate, whispers to him that there is not a pew left to be rented. “I’m told the first ten or twelve pews have given over one hundred pounds each to the church, and a friend of mine, who gave thirty is half-way down the nave.” To which the writer replies moderately that all cannot have the first pew and it is only fair the highest sums should have the highest seats. (One hundred pounds equals about $235.00 at the current exchange.) The old lady agrees and says that she hears that the poor people are to be allowed to pay a half-crown for their sittings in the aisle. The Churchgoer, after noticing the large attendance, the serious attention of all present, the mode of conducting the service, the character of the minister, and expressing his deep gratifications, goes off at a full gallop about the grievances of the poor. He complains that the High Church aristocracy, and the Evangelical aristocracy each have their own churches, but they have both “up to the present moment, overlooked the spiritual exigencies of their humbler brothers.” In short, there is no Poor Man’s Church in Clifton, and Mr. Leech (the “Churchgoer”) “is righteously indignant.” At Clifton “old Church,” the nose of the Beadle (usher) almost curled at the approach of a poor man: the aristocracy filled the pews, and their “pampered menials” the free seats. The Churchgoer, on visiting St. Andrews, the old parish church, afterwards rebuilt only to be demolished by Hitler’s bombs, gives a racy account of a “lofty, perked up looking dowager” (widow with a title) who is attended by a pageboy “so packed and squeezed into his jacket and trousers” that one fears he risked “bursting forth in native fulness and form to the world.”

The gentry and the rich merchants of Clifton went to service on Sunday attended by their servants, who carried the Prayer and Hymn Books, and after escorting their ladies to their pews, took up their places in the free seats at the back, to the detriment of the poor whom the seats were intended for. He mentions the crowds of “feathered fashionables,” visitors who owned no “sittings” waiting anxiously at the bottom of the nave until the busy pew-openers could find them accommodation. Mr. Leech was fortunate in his visit to the parish church, for he heard the great Dr. Pusey “read the Communion Service.” This gentlemen was the protagonist of what we now call ritualistic worship, and by one faction was looked upon as a saintly reformer and by the other as a heretical bugbear.

Is it any wonder then, when today one observes the crumbling old buildings of the orthodox church many times preserved only for their beauty or historical value seemingly avoided by both rich and poor alike?

Truth Magazine XVIII: 6, p. 93
December 12, 1974

By Ronald D. Howes

1844 was a banner year for imagination, speculation, and false prophets. William Miller’s day in court, or night on the roof top, came and went only to be upstaged by the daring enterprise of Ellen G. White of Seventh-Day Adventist fame. New religions were springing up with reckless abandon in the United States. Meanwhile, our neighbors in Persia were being stirred up about a modern-day “John the Baptist.” In this year, the, BAB, Persia’s “voice crying in the wilderness,” begin preparing his countrymen for BAHA `U’ LLAH, alias: Everlasting Father, Prince of this World, Lord of Lords, Alpha and Omega, Spirit of Truth, etc.(1)

The Bahai World Faith, the brainchild of “The Prophet” Baha `u’ llah and his son Abdul Baha, is a religious mutation of the worst sort. The keynote of the teaching of these men was the “oneness of all things.” Therefore, all people are one, all races, all societies, and also, all religions. All the conflicting, contradictory, and irreconcilable differences of the world’s religions are really just figments of the imagination. “All are one.” The foundation principle of the Bahai Faith is that God has manifested himself through 9 different personal representatives, or “divine manifestations” of himself. As they would say it, “All the Prophets are the Temples of the Cause of God.”(2)

Will The Real Jesus Christ Please Stand Up!

This translates to read that the 9 great world religions, and especially their leaders (Lowe, Krishna, Bhudda, Confucious, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Baha `u’ llah, etc.) were all sent by God, and all had the same inspiration, the same degree of truth, and the same relationship with God. Therefore Jesus is no better than Krishna, Moses has nothing over Mohammed, and the New Testament is some kind of long lost friend of the “Upanishads.” In simpler terms, this theory is a devaluation of the New Testament and turns the “Only Begotten Son of God” into a mere prophet.

Bahais contend that all the “Divine Manifestations” brought the same message from God to men; only adapted for the society into which it was brought. All these different prophets, they claim, were equal and united, all teaching the same message. An enlightened public has generally scoffed at this totally unsupportable premise. Even on basics such as their concepts of right and wrong, after-life, morality, their own mission in life, there is great diversity, yea even great difficulty.

Still, some have been convinced. Here we find offered a simple philosophical cop-out. To those who are distraught by the great differences in the world, and are not satisfied to cope with them in the gospel of Jesus Christ, this is the walk down the garden path. How much simpler it is to say that “everybody” is right, than to preach that “many” are wrong. Great problems are shrugged off as insignificant.

PROBLEMS, Problems, problems

Within the frame-work of this kind of thinking, discussions with the Bahais prove to be difficult undertakings. There is no common ground of authority in religion. All these terms become somewhat elusive and hard to tack down. They do accept the Bible as the Word of God, but no more or less so than the babblings of Krishna, or the Koran. The following excerpts from a conversation with a Bahai Chapter Leader will serve to show some of these exercises in futility.

Discussion With a Bahal

Question: How do Bahais reconcile their belief in the Bible as the Word of God and Baha `u’ llah as the Word of God, when the Bible claims to give us “all things pertaining to life and Godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). If it does, what is left over, and why does the world need Baha `u’ llah?

Answer: Jesus brought everything his generation needed as did Mohammed to his people and Bhudda to his. But, we can not expect a 2,000 year old religion to be applicable to the needs of men in today’s modern society.

Question: If Jesus’ message does not apply today, what new truth did Baha `u’ llah bring that makes his message more applicable than Jesus’?

Answer: Baha `u’ Ilah did not bring a new truth, but a new system of order and unity. Christianity failed to unite mankind, and has decayed and divided into so many sects that it can no longer deal effectively with the world’s real problems.

Question: In the letter to the Hebrews, Paul goes to great lengths to prove that Jesus and his system were superior to Moses and his system. For instance, a better covenant, a better sacrifice, a better priesthood, and more. How do Bahais reconcile these teachings with their belief that Moses and Christ were equal manifestations of the divine will?

Answer: Oftentimes disciples of a great prophet will go overboard in their praise for their prophet. This is such an instance. We do not find Jesus bragging and saying that he was better than Moses.

Question: What makes the Bahai Faith superior to Christianity?

Answer: The Bahai World Faith is more spiritually oriented than Christianity. Your religion has been shackled with worldly things. You are wrapped up in showy services, fancy buildings, physical gestures. We are not!

The last answer to this stomach turning dialogue left something to be desired. So, under further grilling he admitted that they do indeed like big 9-sided temples, hold sometimes extravagant religious feasts (with non-spiritual watermelon), and perform a genuflection during some prayers to promote spiritual humility. Still, our Chapter Leader refused to admit to himself that these were all evidences of physical needs and worldliness, and not his glorified concept of super mental spirituality.

Some Telling Points

The “great prophet” of the “New World Order” could not come up with even one new spiritual truth. By their own admission, Baha `u’ llah came to change society, and along the way he just happened to throw in a little religion to augment his political philosophy and social theory.

Bend Their Arm!

To successfully work with a Bahai, you must first completely and firmly reestablish the absolute authority of God’s Word. Step two, is to press the inconsistency of preaching a God whose prophets rarely agreed and could not make up His mind about what was best for mankind. Do not be so soft in your argumentation. Most Bahais that I have studied with relate with great pride the tremendous emotional crisis they went through in becoming Bahais; a similar crisis may be needed to root out their error. Press them, and continue to press; get them into a corner and make them sweat out their beliefs. Most Bahais consider themselves intellectuals, and this little bit of pride may be used against them to point out some of their worst mistakes for, “God is not the author of confusion” (I Cor. 14:33).

Endnotes

1. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By (Willmette, Illinois 1957), pp. 93-95.

2.