Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

society,"Century, of the decline of the west and the shiftingof political and social power to the non-Caucasianraces.2. Communism must be viewed on the humanlevel in the light of this social revolution. Actually,militant Communism is a power-grabbing conspiracythat is capitalizing on the widespread leaderless hungeringsof the masses for social change.3. However, one should guard against taking ahypercritical attitude and summarily dismissing communism as "from the devil." A true critique of Communism is not limited to the by-products of thisatheistic system: the way in which it betrays andcorrupts all of its followers, the way in which it repudiates the dignity of human personality throughits calculated use of sinister methods to dehumanizethe spirit of its enemies.4. There are at least four different "religious"approaches men make toward evaluating the Communist movement. They may be defined and distinguished as followsThe approach of the Christian socialist:This man feels that both Capitalism and Communism are defective, being social systems that compound both truth and error. Their separate goodpoints should be recognized and accepted, their badpoints exposed and rejected. Any military show-downbetween these two ideological camps should be resisted. Communism, he regards as a "heresy" ofChristianity and hence undesirable to destroy intoto. The church should seek to steal Communism'sthunder and become the champion of social justice,having what is called a "prophetic voice ina voice crying out for righteousness and equity. Asto the future. The Christian Socialist is very uneasyabout being too hopeful but feels nevertheless thatif the Church does its task, world-wide catastrophewill be averted. This view is very popular among theleaders of the Ecumenical Movement, the neo-orthodox scholars of America and Europe, and those unabashed liberals who still allow themselves to beclassified as such. Bennett, Wood, Niebuhr, Tillich,and Brunner are among its leading exponents.The approach of the non-Protestant churchman:This man feels that the social system of Americahas a Christian heritage, but regards Communism asnot so much of Satanic origin as the result of sinsof the Capitalists and the Liberals. He feels that theroots of Communism can be traced to the Protestantrevolt (i.e.: The Reformation) and to the rise offree-thinking Liberals who rejected the authorityof the Papal Church. Because Christianity was secularized, Communism, the end-point in secular religion, has developed. This view is ably defended byBishop Sheen of the Roman Catholic Church and Dr.Lowry of the AngloJCatholic segment of the Episcopal Church. It optimistically looks forward to thespiritual triumph of America and the ultimate collapse of Communism a sort of neo-post-millennialview.The approach of the evangelical Christian capitalist:This man feels that the social system of America is essentially Christian, being based on the teach-December 7, 1955ings of the Scriptures. To him Communism is itscomplete antithesis, and by being opposed to Christianity reveals its Satanic origins. It must be resistedto the death. There is much strength to this position.We know that during this Capitalistic Era there havebeen sired more evangelical enterprises, missionarysocieties, mass-evangelistic campaigns,etc. thanduring any other period in the history of the Church.Were this capitalistic system destroyed, it wouldbring great distress to the work of the churchthroughout the world. This view is ably defendedby Blair, Kaub, Mclntire, and others. Their basicmessage : Capitalism must be saved and Communismdestroyed if Christianity as we know it, practice itand teach it is to exist on the earth.Alternate approach for the evangelical Christian:When one is confronted with the task of training missionary candidates who are going to labor inareas where Communism is a live issue and whereAmerican prestige is declining, the inadequacies ofthe "Christian Capitalist" viewpoint loom large. TheChristian Gospel and the Christian church withwhich these prospective missionaries are to be identified must be regarded in a context -ofhistory thatperforce must transcend the modern historical era ofAmerica's emergence as a world power.This evangelical Christian approach must beginwith God and His infallible Word. In the final analysis, we must think vertically and not horizontally.There is only one Cause, and that is God. And He isthe God of History. In the past He has raised up bitter and hasty nations to try His people and to bringthem back to Himself. The Assyrian and Babyloniannations are cases in point. After He uses them to accomplish His purposes He punishes them for theirsins.We must believe that God has allowed the Communist System to come into existence to refine HisChurch and bring it back to a place of active obedience to His will. Suffering and trial and upheavalhave ever been His agents in bringing His peopleto the place where they really desire to serve Himas true disciples, true followers of the Crucified. InHis time all the power and oppression of the Communists will be broken, and they too shall come before the judgment bar of God.(To Be Continued)CURRENT EVENTS . . . Cont'd from page 371SPEEDY FINGERSThe U. S. government is testing a new typewriter keyboard whose supporters claim that it will increase a typist's"Dvorak"output by as much as 35 per cent. The simplifiedkeyboard puts the most-used letters at the places which areeasiest to reach. All the vowels, for example, are on thesecond row of Keys, where the fingers ordinarily rest. Ourtraditional keyboard was arranged, with very little thought,in 1873 by one of the inventors of the typewriter. He neveranticipated the development of the touch system. The Dvorak system was developed in 1934 but has never gained general acceptance, for about the same reasons that keep usfrom adopting the metric system or phonetic spellinghabit and the cost of conversion. Our national governmentnow uses 800,000 typewriters,worth about $100 million. Aone-third increase in their output obviously would produceconsiderable savings.373