Articles - God

   Sheldon Vanauken’s book,  A Severe Mercy, has been described as “a real-life love story full of wonder and hope.” It is this, but it is much more. I recall my first reading the story when it was published in an inexpensive paperback reprint edition. It is a true story of faith mixed with sorrow, which includes Vanauken turning to the British author and apologist, C. S. Lewis, for guidance. Vanauken was grappling with tough questions that came from his wife Jean falling prey to a mysterious illness that resulted in her death.

   The book includes 18 previously unpublished letters written by C. S. Lewis

   For some, the above words may be a reminder of a popular 1960s song—“What the World Needs Now is Love.” Though I well remember the song, the above title was triggered, not by a song, but a philosophical debate on ethics that occurred in the Fall of 1980 on the campus of what was then North Texas State University, Denton, TX. The participants in the discussion were Thomas B. Warren (1920-2000) and Joe E. Barnhart who died earlier this year (Feb. 5, 2023). In the debate, Dr. Warren affirmed Christian Theism (the ethical system advanced in the New Testament) is superior to the system of utilitarian ethics (the system advanced by the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham, 1748-1832), and by Dr. Barnhart who, in the aforementioned debate, affirmed it as being superior to Christian Theism.

I am reflecting on autumn. The corn is turning brown in the fields. The pumpkins have turned bright orange. The leaves on the trees are changing into their autumn dress. In an 1856 four volume set, Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons, rich in apologetics, Henry Duncan showed the value of natural theology through his marvelous study—more than 1500 pages—of how the four seasons are “a beautiful and striking exhibition of the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator” (Winter iii). Although it is dated more than 150 years ago, Duncan’s work is unique.

   The Russian novelist and essayist Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) had a plan that entailed the completion of a literary cycle titled, The Life of a Great Sinner. The plan was to involve a goal of addressing the existence of God, which he once called “the problem that has consciously and unconsciously tormented me all my life” (Great Books of the Western World, vol. 52, vi). The literary cycle was not finished, but what the great writer did complete, just prior to his death, was a masterpiece recognized by many literary scholars as one of the major achievements in world literature titled The Brothers Karamazov. First published as a serial (1879-80), it was then published in a full edition in 1880.

   There is a story of a twelve-year-old boy who wrote the Library of Congress requesting two books. He wanted one book on space travel, and another on sane living. The boy concluded his letter by saying, “If you can’t send both books, send the one on space travel ‘cause I’m more interested in that.”

   Most of us would agree that it seems normal for a twelve-year-old boy to be “more interested” in space travel than in a topic like “sane living.” However, surely we should also recognize it to be the case that when many U. S. mental health groups are describing what they call

   In the introduction to a 2014 speech delivered on “Civic Education,” the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said:

Washington is my favorite of the Founders—the one I would most have liked to meet. Not just because he was the indispensable man—the man without whom the American Revolution would not have succeeded. But also because he is a puzzlement. He was not a great intellect; indeed, he was quite sensitive about his lack of formal education. (He was not even, to tell the truth, that skilled a military tactician as The New York campaign demonstrated.) And he was surrounded by great intellects, who produced great writings—Hamilton, Madison, and Jefferson, to name the most prominent. Washington himself wrote not much of note, beyond his famous First Thanksgiving Proclamation and his Farewell Address. . . .  Yet all those well-published, intellectual geniuses looked up to, deferred to, stood in awe of George Washington. What was there about the man that produced that result?

   It must have been character. Washington was a man of honor, of constancy, or steady determination. A man who could be believed, trusted, counted on. (64-65)

As a puppy, he was given the name “Bud.” At age seven, when he came to live with us, I called him “Buddy”—my Buddy. He was a handsome pure-bred yellow Labrador Retriever; an American Lab, which tends to be taller than an English Lab. Buddy was large, gracing nearly thirty inches according to how they measure the height of these animals. He weighed 105 pounds. He was not overweight. His name fit him well—“Mr. Bud”—beautiful, gentle, obedient, happy, lovable, affectionate, and loyal. Oh, how loyal he was!

George Cansdale (1909-1993) was a prominent British zoologist and Superintendent of the London Zoo. He traveled widely and spoke extensively concerning his field of expertise. All the while he maintained an allegiance to the biblical worldview. His presentations on the animal world captured the attention of children and adults. He authored a book titled All the Animals of the Bible (Zondervan 1970). In the book’s Foreword, written by the late John Stott, the author is described as one who was “a keen Bible student all his life.” Cansdale’s book is fascinating and informative. In a chapter about bears, wolves, foxes, dogs, et al., Cansdale says, “Without doubt the dog is man’s oldest animal companion. . . . [The dog] assumed the role of honoured assistant and intimate companion of people all over the world” (121, 123).

C. S. Lewis once opined that “autumn is really the best of the seasons” (Letters 308). While we have no desire to quibble for, or against, this opinion, we certainly do concur with the following lines we read many years ago under the title, “The Foliage of Autumn”:

As a boy, I grew up hearing and watching the late Batsell Barrett Baxter on Herald of Truth radio and television broadcasts. Even to a kid still in elementary school, Baxter was an engaging speaker. His seemingly flawless conversational speaking style, easily understood message, and obvious care and concern for the listener, served to make him a popular speaker in the 20th century.

   The first and only time I heard Baxter preach, other than by radio or television, was in 1971. After completing undergraduate study at Harding College in 1970, providence afforded me the opportunity to return to the Harding campus the following year for the annual Bible Lectureship. The lectureship theme was “Faith in Conflict,” and

Everett Ferguson, Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Abilene Christian University, rendered a great service when he authored his brief volume Thinking~Living~Dying published in 2011 by the Warren Center. It is a publication rich in content that concerns how early Christian apologists (2nd-3rd centuries) speak to the 21st century. Describing the earliest apologists, Ferguson says they “not only won the intellectual contest with [unbelievers] but also excelled [unbelievers] in conduct. The Christian life is a powerful argument for the truth of Christianity. . . .”

Where and when this article is being written, one might say, “The weather outside is frightful!” The temperature is zero with a beautiful white landscape of 8-10 inches of snow on the ground. I think of Elihu’s words:

God . . . does great things that we cannot comprehend. For to the snow He says, “Fall on the Earth” . . . He seals up the hand of every man, that all men whom He made may know it. Then the beasts go into their lairs, and remain in their dens. From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. . . . Hear this, O Job: stop and consider the wondrous works of God. (Job 37:5-10, 14)

The late William F. Buckley, Jr., wrote in his 1951 book, God and Man at Yale, that he believed “the duel between Christianity and atheism is the most important in the world” (xvi). That was 70 years ago. What Buckley said was true then, and it is still true today. One year following the publication of Buckley’s book, in which he challenged the unbelief that was rearing its ugly head at Yale, a former KGB spy and defector from atheistic communism published an autobiography, which is the dark story of his former atheism, espionage, treason, and terror.

David Berlinski, author of The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions, has described the Old Testament as “the greatest repository of human knowledge and wisdom in the history of civilization, anytime, any place. . . . It is an enormously complex, rich, and dramatic piece of work.”

Have you ever given thought to the final two verses of this “complex, rich, and dramatic piece of work?” The reading is as follows:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. (Malachi 4:5-6, ESV)

ohn W. McGarvey (1829-1911) was a highly acclaimed Bible scholar. His volume on The Authorship of Deuteronomy (1902) was recognized in reviews in America and Great Britain as a premier work of its kind.

It is of no small thing when one with a reputation like McGarvey writes as he did in his autobiography, when referring to his contemporary Moses E. Lard. J. W. McGarvey wrote concerning Lard that he had “unequaled eloquence. . . . Some of his sermons were acknowledged by all hearers to be the most thrilling they had ever heard, and there is no doubt that his power to stir the deepest depths of the heart was above that of any other preacher of his time.” McGarvey called Lard ‘the most powerful preacher we had.”

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” (Psalm 95:6, ESV). A man who was a great preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ for more than seven decades, and a dear friend of mine, was Denver E. Cooper (1923-2015). He once shared with me that when he began his preaching career in the 1930s many church people would kneel when they prayed. Do we do much of that today? If not, one wonders why.

On August 20, 1775, George Washington wrote a letter to Major General Philip Schuyler. Two months earlier Washington had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army by the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia. In addition to the details of military strategy included in his letter, Washington included these words: “I am sure you will not let difficulties damp your ardour. Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages” (founders.archives.gov).

This statement from the man whom the late Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, called “the greatest American of them all” implies qualities needed for such a time as this. Perseverance and spirit have done wonders throughout the ages and certainly throughout the history of America. This is a different time, with different details, but it remains a time for the qualities of perseverance and spirit to work wonders again.