THE Great War, which was begun in August, 1914, still proceeds with no apparent signs of termination. Since its beginning two additional combatants have taken the field—Turkey on the side of Germany and Austria, and Italy on the side of the Allies. The decision of the conflict seems still distant. The Germans with their vast preparations, continue in the main to hold their own, and to show themselves powerful and determined foes. Great losses have been sustained on both sides of the fray. The German and Austrian losses run up to several millions, and are greater than those of the Allies. Still the losses of the latter have been very severe. Many brave British officers and men have fallen, and many homes, as a consequence, are sadly mourning their dead. We believe that the British have, with the divine help, maintained their credit for courage and endurance on the battlefield, and have accomplished marvellous results against overwhelming odds. If this had not been the case, the German forces, with their superiority in numbers and munitions, would have swept everything before them on the near Western front. God, in His mercy, has put a check on the progress of cruel and unscrupulous enemies. May the day of their complete overthrow be at hand!
It is our intention in the present article to call attention to some of the general moral and religious lessons which are to be learned from the events of the War.
1. The War has taught us a new and powerful lesson as to the depravity of the human heart.
It is the testimony of Holy Scripture that God made man upright at the beginning, but that he sinned and fell from his estate of innocence, with the consequence that now, by nature, “there is none” of the human race “righteous, no, not one.” The Scripture also clearly teaches that fallen men are corrupt in heart as well as life, and that if there be anything lovely or of good report found in connection with them, such is due to the grace of God, either in its common or special operations. “For out of the heart,” saith Christ Himself, “proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt. xv. 19). Now, these solemn truths have been very plain to those in all generations who have been enlightened by God’s Spirit, and have accepted the testimony of His Word. But they have not been so to men who, under the influence of unbelief, have refused to believe the Scriptures and rejected the teaching of the Spirit. Such have disowned the doctrine of the Fall and have advanced flattering theories of man’s present innocence by nature and capacity for spiritual progress upward. “The Ascent of Man” has been the cry in theological schools, pulpits, and business and family circles for many years.
Such delusive self-flattery was undoubtedly provoking to the eyes of God, as well as injurious to its victims. But God, who is rich in mercy, had determined that He would give during these latter days, in the person of Germany, a terrible object lesson of human depravity to the whole world, if so be that the votaries of modern unbelief would bethink themselves and come to see and believe the unerring truth of the Scriptures as to the Fall and its consequences. “Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. iii.). Germany on land and sea has exemplified every line of this dark picture since the present War began, and has made it as plain as it possibly can be made that the fallen heart of man contains, in the enlightened twentieth century, the same constituent elements of depravity and wickedness as it did in the first. There is no difference. And if Britain has exhibited a nobler spirit in word and action than Germany, let us not take the praise to ourselves, but magnify the grace of God, who has made us to differ. Belonging to the same corrupt race, we cannot boast of any native superiority. We are in heart as they are. Indeed, notwithstanding gracious restraints, there are very strong symptoms among us of the terrible evil that lurks within. Witness outbreaks of drunkenness and gross immorality, and the widespread disregard of the Lord’s Day. It is when men are placed in circumstances of temptation that the strength of moral principle is put to the test and discovered. “Weighed in the balance and found wanting,” must be the verdict in regard to many men, otherwise brave and capable. Surely it is also clear that things have come to a deplorable pass when people are found in the country who endeavour to justify immorality and the birth of illegitimate offspring in view of the losses of men upon the battlefield. We cannot hide the painful fact that the War has brought to light very vividly even in our own nation—incomparably more honest and merciful than Germany—the dreadful corruption of the human heart when stirred into activity. Would it not be well, then, if people everywhere were awakened to see the awful truth in this matter, and were led to value God’s provision in grace through Jesus Christ for the removal of the evil?
2. The War has taught us the ruinous effects on morals of all departures from Bible truth.
Germany has been for many years the leader of what is known as the Higher Criticism. The inspiration, the infallibility, and even common veracity of the Bible, have been cast to the four winds by German critics. It was impossible that such unhallowed desecration of the fountain of true godliness should not have a ruinous effect upon religion and morals. Take away the Word of God, and the authority of the moral law and of all gospel precepts is immeasurably weakened in relation to men’s consciences. Further, German writers have been foremost in renouncing the all-important truth of the eternal Godhead of Christ, and in treating the Divine Saviour as a mere man. Still again, the infidel theory of evolution appears to have a dominating influence in the minds of the leaders of the German people. This theory tends to rule the Most High out of His own universe, and to debase men to the level of the beasts which perish. It explicitly encourages the unholy idea that the strong have a right to oppress and extinguish the weak. “Might is right,” a principle subversive of all morality, seems now to be the German motto. The practical fruits of these fatal departures from Bible truth are to be seen to-day on the plains of Europe, and in the seas around our native isles. All the rules of civilized warfare have been wantonly violated, and defenceless towns and ships are attacked without mercy. The most callous people (outside Germany itself) have been shocked by the unprecedented outrages committed by the “Huns.” Can any reasonable person, whatever his religious opinions, say that Germany has been bettered by her advanced progressive thought? Has it made her more noble and honorable than she used to be? Is it not as clear as a noonbeam that she has been degraded to the level of the savage? Surely we in this country ought to take solemn warning from her moral and spiritual downfall. Too much place has been given already to German Rationalism in our Churches, with the result that people are lapsing from the observance of all religious ordinances. No Bible, no family worship, no respect for the Sabbath, no honesty, no truthfulness, no modesty of demeanour—an absence of seriousness, and a general frivolity of spirit and action—these are the prominent features of modern life. It is time therefore that there was a return to Bible truth and Bible Christianity. The voice of God is, “Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?”
3. The War has taught us that secular education, apart from the Gospel and grace of God, will not raise us to a higher moral or spiritual level.
The Germans claim to be the best-educated nation in the world, and the claim is not challenged. But what has their education done for them? Has it produced true nobility of character? No; the very reverse. It seems to have made them only more skilful in devising instruments of horrid cruelty wherewith to torment and destroy their fellow-creatures. They boast of their so-called “kultur”; they glory in their own shame. Thus men are warned that if they cast off the true Gospel of God, education will only make them more efficient agents of the devil. We do not undervalue for a moment a sound and liberal education, but it is of prime importance that it go hand in hand with the reception of true Christian principles. Let education be made wholly secular and divorced from Christian truth, and we only look for a nation of materialistic atheists. May the Lord awaken us more and more as a people to see the danger of glorying in literature, art, and science, apart from an experimental acquaintance with the Gospel of Christ as the power of God unto salvation!
4. The War has taught us that God is angry with the nations.
To those who believe that there is a divine moral Governor of the universe who “doeth according to his will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth,” it is plain that this War has not taken place without His permission, and that He has a just and righteous hand in the event. Is there not a cause on the side of the nations why things should be so? Sin is the one cause of God’s holy displeasure. Germany turned her back upon God’s truth, and He has allowed her to multiply instruments of war and destruction,—on her part with a view to world-wide conquest and dominion, but on His part with a view to her national humiliation. She has been building her own funeral pile, though God may ultimately, in His mercy, raise a better Germany out of the ashes. It is further plain that He has designed her in the meantime to be a scourge to Britain and the other Allies. We do not expect Germany to conquer, but we can plainly see that God is chastising us by her instrumentality for our iniquities, our worldliness, our infidelity, and our neglect of Gospel truth. Our losses on land and sea have been great, and before all is done it is to be feared that few families throughout the land will escape some touch or other of the rod. The widespread rallying to the colours, while worthy of admiration as patriotic, has already introduced an element of anxiety and disquiet into thousands of homes. The finger of the Lord has already touched with pain the life of the nation, and this is a call, not merely to elation in view of the courage of our brave young men, but to self-examination and self-humbling under God’s hand.
The Lord is angry, otherwise the bloody sword of war would never have been unsheathed. There is a call to confession of sins and to genuine repentance. Let there be a turning from foolish and frivolous ways—from everything contrary to God’s Word and injurious to the soul’s good. Let there be a turning to the Bible and prayer and the means of grace. Let there be a fleeing unto Christ as the one Saviour “of that which was lost.” Thus and thus alone will we obey the voice that says, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,” and thus alone may we look forward hopefully to the fulfilment of the promise—”that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter v. 6).