Biblical Separation Defended - Far Eastern Bible College

impossible to set up a local committee that would agree on whichchurches are worthy [to participate in a cooperative evangelisticcrusade] and which are not.” 12 To Dr. Graham’s remark, Dr. Bob Jones,Sr., replied:I have been in evangelistic work for sixty years, havingstarted when I was just a boy; and wherever I have held ameeting, any pastor in the town or city could tell me any time Iwould ask about a church, “It is (or is not) a sound church withan orthodox pastor.” All Americans do not agree about somethings . . . but . . . Every orthodox Christian in the world believesthat the Bible is the Word of God and whatever it says is so, andthey all agree that it says that the Lord Jesus Christ was born of avirgin; He was God manifest in the flesh; He died a vicarious,substitutionary death on the cross; He bodily arose from thedead; and He is the world’s only Saviour. 13It is to be noted that Dr. Graham speaks of a sound church, Dr. Fermtalks of a worthy church, and Dr. Jones speaks of a sound church usingthe fundamentals of the Historic Christian Faith as his criterion ofsoundness. If Dr. Graham uses the word “sound” as a synonym for Dr.Ferm’s “worthy,” and if “worthy” means “deserving” then truly only theLord could decide with absolute certainty, for mortal men in this lifecannot with ultimate finality pronounce on who is deserving and who isnot deserving of the blessing of being allowed to participate in anevangelistic crusade or other work of the Lord. However, suchparticipation is not to be considered as a desert for the worthy ordeserving, but as a duty to be performed by the Church. Thus it is seenthat because mortal Christians must judge by outward fruits and are notable to peer into the hearts of men or organizations, except in clear casesof unmistakable piety or profligacy, the evaluation of anyone’s or anygroup’s worthiness is a subjective matter, which may well occasiondisagreement. However, the matter of soundness is not so subjective. Ifsoundness be taken in the usual sense, as Dr. Jones, Sr., used it, then itrefers to orthodoxy of doctrine. This can be objectively evaluated bycomparing the creedal statements of a group and its oral and writtenteachings with the fundamental doctrines of the Historic Christian Faith.This task is not so difficult as it might appear because just as the Churchmust acknowledge one who gives a credible profession as a member of59