Articles - Jesus Christ

In 1960 a book authored by C. S. Lewis was published with the title, The World’s Last Night and Other Essays. Both the title and final chapter of the book connect with a question posed by the seventh century poet Donne (1572-1631). In Donne’s work, Holy Sonnet XIII, the following question is asked: “What if this present were the world’s last night?” C. S. Lewis captured this question as the foundation for an essay he wrote concerning the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The relevancy of this essay for apologetics, and its significance during all the years of one’s life on Earth are implied in what Lewis wrote in the following:

. . . [I]t seems to me impossible to retain in any recognizable form our belief in the Divinity of Christ and the truth of the Christian revelation while abandoning, or even persistently neglecting, the promised, and threatened, Return. “He shall come again to judge the quick and the dead.” . . . “This same Jesus, said the angels in Acts, “shall so come in like manner as ye have seen [H]im go into heaven.” . . . If this is not an integral part of the faith once given to the saints, I do not know what it is. . . .
The doctrine of the Second Coming has failed, so far as we are concerned, if it does not make us realize at every moment of every year in our lives . . . [the] question “What if this present were the world’s last night?” is . . . relevant. (qtd. in Dorsett 383, 390, emp. added)

  This is the final installment in a brief trilogy that has given thought to the American tradition of allowing religion a prominent place in the public square. There is a sense of incongruity in the order in which these three articles have been published. This is the case because the person (Jesus Christ), the object of belief referenced in the above title of this article, provided the initial motivation for the writing of this brief series. Specifically, this motivation rose from the wonder and awe of Jesus Christ implied in the last stanza of the great American hymn of hymns, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” sung acapella by the United States Armed Forces Chorus July 4, 2019, at Washington, D. C. As stated in the opening article in this series, this musical performance was breathtaking. The final stanza of “The Battle Hymn” reads as follows:

A study of the names, titles, and designations of the King of Heaven and Earth has an overwhelming element to it. The subject is overwhelming. It is a subject that is full of wonder. Eight centuries before He was born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18-2:1) and cradled in Bethlehem’s manger (Luke 2:1-7), it was prophesied that His name would be “WONDERFUL” (Isaiah 9:6, emp. added). Alexander Campbell once wrote:

The Savior’s inspired names have all a meaning. Each one of them designates some peculiar characteristic or office, or work of the Messiah. Since this is the case, we may expect that some great truth underlies the names, which the evangelical prophet gives to the Redeemer.
“His name shall be called Wonderful.” There are many obvious reasons for this name. Passing by all others, there is one which seems to have especial weight. Jesus is called Wonderful, on account of the strange contrasts and wide extremes seen in him and in his history—contrasts and extremes which appear to be direct contradictions.
There are extremes in the Savior’s names. On one page of inspiration he is called the “man Christ Jesus;” on the next he is called “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” At one time he calls himself “the Son of Man;” at another time, “the Son of God.” We are told he is “the child born, the son given;” and yet with the same breath we are told that he is “the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” He is Jehovah, God over all, and blessed forever, and yet he is a servant of servants. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, the ever living and ever unchanging one, and yet he is the crucified and buried Redeemer. If Jesus is appropriately called by all these diverse names, he must be Wonderful. (25)

  Christianity confronts the basic issues of life and death with the affirmation of the historical fact of Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead. The great emphasis on this is evidenced in the documents that comprise the New Testament. It is seen in the report of eyewitnesses (cf. Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21; 1 Corinthians 15), the preaching of the early Christians (Acts 2-5, 9-10, 13, 17, 22-24, 26, et al.), and the regular weekly assembly to eat the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:20-34; 16:1-2). These documents say nothing about an annual observance known as Easter. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states that the term Easter “does not properly occur in Scripture. . . . There is no trace of Easter celebration in the NT” (Porter 889). Thus, the practice of Christianity based on the New Testament will result in disciples meeting every Lord’s Day (i.e. the first day of the week) to eat the Lord’s Supper and, in this special way, remember their Lord.

  In 1978 I was given two apologetics books by the late Fred E. Dennis, during one of my visits to the Dennis house on Cutler Street in Marietta, OH. The first book was God’s Incomparable Word, authored by Harold Lindsell a founder of Fuller Seminary who also served as Editor of Christianity Today. The second book was More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell, a popular apologist during that era. Fred Dennis was a preacher who was known by many during the 20th century. He died in 1983 at the age of 88. At his passing, a weekly publication of the Granny White Church of Christ, Nashville, TN, and “Home Congregation of Lipscomb [University] Students,” contained a front-page article concerning Fred Dennis. The article described him as “an outstanding preacher, holding fast to the ‘old paths’ . . . held in deep esteem . . . because of his consecration and sound preaching” (Hardy).