Church Union
In a letter to the Stornoway Gazette at the end of November, Rev. William MacLean, Ness, stated: “There can be no true church union unless the all important statement in the Westminster Confession of Faith, that the Holy Scriptures are ‘immediately inspired by God and by His singular care and providence are kept pure in all ages’ (Chapter 7, Section 8) is unequivocally accepted.” Mr MacLean quoted extensively from “The King James Version Defended” by Dr E. F. Hills to show that the providential preservation of the Scriptures is a doctrine of Scripture and of Christ Himself, and that the text found in the vast majority of the extant manuscripts is the providentially preserved and approved text. He went on to show the powerful influence of the Westcott and Hort edition of the Greek New Testament — the text on which many modern translations are based — even on many conservative scholars.
He referred to a statement in the October issue of the Free Church Record calling in question the publication of Witherow’s Apostolic Church (by our Publications Committee) seeing that it contained a commendatory reference to one of the manuscripts highly prized by the Westcott and Hort School. In reply to the Free Church editor, Mr MacLean stated that it was because the book set forth the Scriptural order of Church government and not to propagate Witherow’s outmoded view on the manuscript that the book was republished. How unfair and unjust it would be, he added, to suggest that the publishing of Spurgeon’s Sermons by the Banner of Truth was to uphold and propagate Spurgeon’s view, which appears in the sermons, that infant baptism is “a lie and a heresy”.
Mr MacLean concluded his letter by stating that he wholeheartedly agreed with what the late Rev. Neil Cameron said: “Were it possible for us, our desire is that neither the sad divisions nor the contentions among our fellow-countrymen would continue, and that not only the people of Scotland but all the people under the sun would be united on the foundation of the Reformed Church of Scotland. We would open our heart to all the people of the world were they to come together on the basis of the Truth and in the name of Christ.”
The King James Version Defended
The following quotation gives Spurgeon’s view on tampering with the Scriptures:
“The approved method of the present carnival of unbelief is not to reject the Bible altogether but to raise doubts as to portions of it, and questions as to the uniform inspiration of it as a whole. If the Book be not infallible, where shall we find infallibility? We have given up the Pope, for he has blundered often and terribly; but we shall not set up instead of him a horde of popelings fresh from college. Are these correctors of Scriptures infallible? Is it certain that our Bibles are not right, but that the critics must be so? Now, Farmer Smith, when you have read your Bible, and have enjoyed its precious promises, you will have tomorrow morning, to go down the street to ask the scholarly man at the parsonage whether this portion of the Scripture belongs to the inspired part of the Word or whether it is of dubious authority . . . We shall gradually be so bedoubted and be criticized that only a few of the most profound will know what is Bible and what is not, and they will dictate to the rest of us. I have no more faith in their mercy than in their accuracy . . . And we are fully assured that our old English version of the Scriptures is sufficient for plain men for all purposes of life, salvation, and goodness. We do not despise learning, but we will never say of culture or criticism, “These be thy gods, O Israel”. Strange that there should be men so vile as to use the penknife of Jehoiakim to cut out passages of the Word, because they are unpalatable. O ye who dislike certain portions of Holy Writ, rest assured that your taste is corrupt, and that God will not stay your little opinion. The tendency to alter the Word of God is human. The desire to alter the Word of God is dangerous. The act of altering the Word of God is sinful. The desire to alter the Word of God is weakness. The ambition to alter the Word of God is Pharisaic. The craving to alter the Word of God is accursed.”
Television Violence
The B.B.C. has set up a special research unit to examine certain of its programmes which have come in for severe criticism because of the high level of violence they contain. A survey has shown that young people exposed to these programmes show a greater tendency towards violence than others who have not been exposed to them. A Daily Express editorial at the beginning of December stated: “The crisp removal of half-a-dozen well-known and subtly corrupting series would be welcome.”
It is regrettable that it has taken the B.B.C. so long to act in this matter as it was obvious to ordinary people for a long time that these programmes would inevitably have a bad effect on those who watched them. That such programmes have been broadcast is an evidence of how Satan has used this medium for his own ends. How different it will be when it is in better hands and will be used beneficially for the nation.
Pornography
Attention has been drawn recently to the use of children in pornographical material when the matter was raised in the House of Commons. Mr Rees, the Home Secretary, said, in reply to a call to protect minors in this loathsome trade, that he shared the revulsion of most people on this subject and was examining measures to counter the use of children in pornographic material. There is no doubt, from reports of the type of material that is presently on sale in some newsagents, that swift action is needed in order to combat the corrupting influence of this trade.
Quebec
The province of Quebec in Canada has long been a thorn in the side of the rest of Canada. The reason for this is not merely that the French language has had equal rights with English there but, more especially, because the influence of the Roman Catholic Church has been stronger in that province than anywhere else in Canada. Though French-speaking Canadians have won many concessions from the Federal Government over the last number of years, still the cry in Quebec is for total separation from the rest of Canada. Along with the Roman Catholic Church, France has endeavoured to foster and exploit this movement for her own ends. Should the French-Canadians in Quebec succeed in their aim, there is no doubt but that Quebec will become an even greater thorn in Canada’s side, just as Eire has been in the side of Britain.
Self-denial is the best touchstone of sincerity.
Thomas Watson.