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Therefore, Stand Click here for Table of Contents THEREFORE, STAND A Plea for a Vigorous Apologetic in the Present Crisis of Evangelical Christianity BY WILBUR M. SMITH Professor of Apologetics, Fuller Theological Seminary Editor of Peloubet's Select Notes on the International Sunday School Lessons BOSTON W. A. Wilde Co. COPYRIGHT 1945 W. A. WILDE COMPANY All rights reserved THIRTEENTH EDITION Eleventh Printing MADE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To Mary Irene Faithful companion and devoted wife, a constant encouragement to the author to do his best in every task This volume is dedicated with love and gratitude ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Without the generous help of many publishers both in this country and in Great Britain, much of the value of this book, if its readers find it to be of value, would be lost. As the preface states, it has been the deliberate intention of the author to give many, and at times extended quotations to illustrate and substantiate the statements which will be found in these chapters. These quotations would not be possible were it not for the generosity of many publishing houses that have been so kind to the author in every way. Both the publishers of this book, the W. A. Wilde Company, and the author himself, wish to express their profound gratitude for their cooperation. When brief phrases or sometimes single sentences have been quoted, especially from older works, it has not been thought necessary to secure permission for quotation; however, if any such permission should have been secured, and through the author's own carelessness, or oversight, such has not been solicited, he would appreciate his attention called to the matter, and hereby apologizes for any such errors, which will be corrected in the second edition of this work (he really has that much hope for the book, that he expects a second edition will be called for, within his own lifetime). The following publishing firms have generously given permission for the author to use quoted material from their publications. Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, New York and Nashville: The Resurrection Fact, by Doremus A. Hayes. Augsburg Publishing House, Minnesota: What Is Christianity, by Dr. Norborg. Chapman and Hall. Ltd., London: Christianity and Communism, by Dr. Julius Hecker. The Christian Century Press, Chicago: The Kingdom of God and History, by a number of authors, and a large number of important ar- vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS tides appearing in their valuable religious weekly, The Christian Century. Columbia University Press, New York City, N. Y.: Popular Free-thought in America, by Dr. Albert Post. F. S. Crofts & Company, New York: The Human Enterprise, by Max Otto. Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., Garden City, New York: Madame Curie, by Eve Curie. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Systematic Theology, by Professor Berkhoff. Dr. Vergilius Ferm of Wooster College, for quotations from Contemporary American Theology, which he edited. Harper & Brothers, New York City: The Survival of Western Culture, by Dr. R. T. Flewelling; and, School and Church: The American Way, by Dr. Moehlman. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Religious Thought of the Greeks, by Prof. Clifford H. Moore. Longmans, Green & Co., London, New York: The Resurrection and Modern Thought, by Dr. W. J. Sparrow Simpson. The Macmillan Company, New York City: A Critical History of Greek Philosophy, by W. T. Stace; God in History, by Dr. Otto Piper; The Philosophical Basis of Theism, by D. G. Hicks; People, Church and State in Modern Russia, by Mr. Paul B. Anderson; Timothy Dwight: 1752-1851, by Dr. Charles E. Cuningham; and, Christian Doctrine, by Dr. Whale. John Murray Ltd., Publishers, London, England: Pro Fide, by the Rev. Charles Harris. Thomas Nelson and Sons, Limited, Toronto: Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time, by Professor Harold J. Laski. Oxford University Press, Oxford, England: The Greek Genius and Its Meaning to Us, by R. W. Livingstone; A History of the Ancient World, by Professor Rostovtzeff; and The Legacy of Greece. Ronald Press, New York City: The Course of American Democratic Thought, by Professor Ralph Henry Gabriel. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York: Christianity and the Social Revolution, by various authors; Main Currents of Modern European ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii Thought, by Rudolf Eucken; and Human Nature in the Bible, by the late Professor William Lyon Phelps. The Pilgrim Press, Boston, Massachusetts: Paths to the Presence of God, and The New Christian Epic, both by President Albert W. Palmer. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, Pa.: Religion and the Modern World. The Vanguard Press, Inc., New York City: What Is Communism?, by Earl Browder. The Viking Press, Inc., New York: Faith, Reason and Revelation, by Professor Harold J. Laski. Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Intention of Jesus, by Professor John W. Bowman; and What a Man Can Believe, by Dr. James D. Smart. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York: Outlines of Historical Geology, by Professors Schuchert and Dunbar. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut: Science and Criticism: The Humanistic Tradition in Contemporary Thought, by Professor Albert J. Mueller; and A Common Faith, by Dr. John Dewey. CHRISTIAN AT THE HOUSE BEAUTIFUL "The next day they took him and had him into the armoury, where they showed him all manner of furniture, which their Lord had provided for pilgrims, as sword, shield, helmet, breastplate, all-prayer, and shoes that would never wear out . "Now, he bethought himself of setting forward, and they were willing he should. But first, said they, let us go again in the armoury. So they did; and when they came there, they harnessed him from head to foot with what was of proof, lest, perhaps, he should meet with assaults on the way ... "Now, in this Valley of Humiliation, poor Christian was hard put to it; for he had gone but a little way, before he espied a foul fiend coming over the field to meet him; his name is Apollyon. Then did Christian begin to be afraid, and to cast in his mind whether to go back or stand his ground. But he considered again that he had no armour for his back; and, therefore, thought that to turn the back to him might give him the greater advantage, with ease to pierce him with his darts. Therefore he resolved to venture and stand his ground; for, thought he, had I no more in mine eye than the saving of my life, it would be the best way to stand." (From John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.) viii CONTENTS Click chapter title for text Preface. xi I. The Forces and Agencies Engaged in the Modern Attack upon Evangelical Christianity. ................................................................. 1 II. The Continuing Retreat of Evangelical Protestantism. ................. 103 III. Some Reasons for the Unbelief of Men and Their Antagonism to God. .................................................................................................... 138 IV. The Pessimism of Our Contemporary Skeptics. .......................... 187 V. The Civilization of Ancient Athens: Its Achievements and Its Impotencies. ............................................................................... 203 VI. St. Paul's Address to the Athenian Philosophers. ......................... 246 VII. The Creation of the World by God; the Apologetic for Our Era of Scientific Emphasis. ................................................................... 272 VIII. The Resurrection of Christ from the Dead: the Apologetic for an Age Demanding Historical Certitude. ................................................. 359 IX. A Righteous Judgment to Come: the Apologetic for This Time of Disappearing Ethical Standards. ................................................. 438 X. "Peace and Joy in Believing." ..................................................... 467 XI. Suggestions for an Immediate Vigorous Offensive in the Defense of the Christian Faith. ................................................................. 478 Notes. ........................................................................................ 523 Index to Subjects. ....................................................................... 601 Index to Authors. ........................................................................ 605 Index to Scripture Passages. ....................................................... 611 ix PREFACE The main purpose which the author of this work has had in mind throughout its writing is that from its perusal some of the present generation of young men, whose faith in God and in the Bible has been shaken or destroyed, by the years spent in collegiate institutions and universities where the Christian faith is under constant attack and ridicule, and those who have come under the power of the spirit of skepticism and irreligiousness of our present unbelieving age, might be persuaded to consider fairly, without prejudice, as they would any subject offered in college, the evidences which support and confirm the great elemental truths of the Christian faith, and find, in this reconsideration, or perhaps new consideration, a solid foundation on which a real and abiding faith might be built. In the well-known phraseology of the Apostle Paul, this volume has been written for "the defense and confirmation of the faith." 1 The author believes that now, more than ever, the facts of life, the facts of history, and the facts of science, are not on the side of agnosticism and atheism, but on the side of Christian truth, and that our faith is definitely not contradicted by
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