The Fundamentals: Volume 8, Chapter 7: The Knowledge of God

8/20/2019 The Fundamentals: Volume 8, Chapter 7: The Knowledge of God

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CHAPTER VII

THE

KNOWLEDGE

OF

GOD

BY

REV. DAVID JAMES BURRELL, . D.

D., LL. D.,

MINISTER OF THE MARBLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH, NEW YORK

CITY

The man who does not know God has not begun to live.

He may eat and drink, make merry, accumulate a fortune

or wear a crown; but he has not entered into that better life

of high hopes and noble purpo ses and aspirations which make

us worthy of our Divine birthright. For "this is life enternal,

to know God."

To put ourselves into just relati9ns with God is literally a

matter of life or death. All the ologies are worth mastering

but THEOLOGYs indispensab le. We must know God.

But where is He? "Oh, that I knew where · I might find

Him Behold, I go forward but He is not there, and back

~1ard but I cannot perceive I-Iim; on the left hand where He

doth work, but I cannot behold Him; He hideth Himself on

the right hand so that I cannot see Him " The horizons

recede as we approach them, and the darkness thickens as

we grope like blind men feeling their way along the wall.

There are three roads which are vainly trodden by multi:

tudes who pursue thi s holy quest. Each of them is marked,

"T his way to God"; .and ,each of them is a cul de sac or

blind alley, which leaves the soul still groping and crying,

"Oh, that I knew where I might find Him "

The first of these paths is Intuition

There are no natural atheists. All are born with an

in-

dwelling sense of God. We do not enter on conscious life

like the inferior orders; but "tra iling clouds of glory do we

come from God who is our horn

en

In regions of darkest

paganism there are traces of two innate convictions; namely,

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· a Divine birth and a sinful a]ienatiOn. Hence the universal ·

spirit of unrest so pathetically

expressed by Augustine:

''We

came forth from God, and. we shall be homesick ·until

we

re-

•

turn to· Hinri.''

No doubt there l1ave

been

some who, with no

Jight

but

t l1at wl1icI1shine·s along the pathway of Intuition, h.ave, made

the ·

acquaintance

of Go'd ;

but

the

vast

multitude

have simply ·

arrived at idolatry. They have made unto themselves gods

'''after t11e similitude of a man''; gods, like the Bro ,cken o,f

the Ha1·z mountains , p1·ojected on tl1e skies. An idol is a man

made god. It may be carved out of wood or conjured out

of the gray matter

of

tl1e brain; but a11 gods, whencesoever

. they co,me, are i,dols, except the one true God.

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•

Tlie

second p thw y

of

tlie God-seekers is

Reason .

He,re we come upon the

p·hilosophers

and

thos ,e wh

1

0

travel

witl1 them, This also leads to disa·ppointment; as· it is writ- ·

ten, ''

1

The wor1.d

by

wisdom knew not God''.

The golden age of philosophy in Greece fo11owed close

•

on the decay of the Pantheon.. It was when the people had

lost confidence in their idols and the cry was heard, '~Great

•

Pan

is d,ead

I''

that

the

Groves ,and G.ardens an,d Painte ,d.

Porches

arose

on the hanks of the Ilyssus. The thoughtful

1nen who assumed th·e

na111e .Philosoplioi

that is, ''lovers of

wisdom'', were all seekers after God. The Stoics, Epicureans,

Cynics and Peripatetics all hoped

to

discover Him

by

the

light of reason. Ho,v vain the quest

When Sim.onides ,vas asked for a definition of

God, he

required some weeks for meditation and then

anSwered,

''The

mo1·e

I t·hink

of

Him, the

more

He

is

unl


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92

•

The Fit1tdame1itals

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· substantially of four arguments, to wit: (A) The ontological

•

argument;

to

the

effect that the

being

of

God

is involved

in the i,dea of God.. This is good as fa1

as it goes, bttt it

fa lls vastly short of demonstration; and in any

case it

reaches no c·onclusio

1

n as to the character of G,od.. (B) Tlie

cosmolo,gi,cal argument,

which reasons from

effect to

caus

1

e

.and

ex·presse ls

itself

in

the epigr,a~

ex 1iiliilo nihil

fit; out

of nothing

nothing

comes . This is equally · inconc·tusive,,I

since

thje neces sary Somewhat to wl1ich it leads is

but

the merest

shade of th.e shadow of a god. (C) The teleological ~gu-

m;ent, which proce ,eds from design to a designer; carrying

with it

a strong presumption as to infinite wisdom

b·ut

taking

•

little or no

1

C

ognizan ,ce of the mo

1

ral nature of God. (D)

And the antliropological

argunient,

wl1ich inf~rs the

1no1·al

nat ure ·of God from the mora l nature of man. This goes

further tha ·n the others; neve1·the·less it is so far from being

final proo1. i11 the mathen1atical s,ense tl1at on

1

n1ay re .ason·

ably questio11 whether any trutl1-seeker was evet .. really con- _

vinced by

it.

Thes ·e

are the arguments whicl1

have be.en used by pl1iloso

phers from time immemorial ; and little has been added in

tl1e ·

process

of

the

passing

years. The

result,

as a whole, is

me lane .holy failure. T he worl

1

d by its wisdom, that is by

the exercise of its unaided reason, fias simp,ly reached Agnos

ticism; it has not foun ,d out

God .

Not to those who deem

tl1e1n

then1si1lve,, wise, ·b,ut rather

to the simple whose hearts are open

1

Godward, comes

tl1e

great revelation.

It

is one tl1ing

to know

about

God and

quite a11o,t.her· to know Him. John Ha .y kne,v all ·about

Pres ident Lincoln from his boyhoo ·d up; littl ,e Tad had 110

such information, but he knew his father, knew

him

·through

and thr .ough. The ey,es of Faith se:e

further

tha ·n those

of

\

rea son. Wherefore J·esus sa id, Exce p

1

t ye

become as a

little

chi.Id

ye shall

in

no

wise

enter into tI1ekingdom

of

God .

·

The ,t hird of the allitring pathway.s i .

that

of

the

Fiv

e

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Se1 ises.; that is, of Natt11·a] Science, wl1ich reache ·s its con-

clusions on

the ·

evidence

of tl1e

physical senses.

This rules out faith, which is the

sixth sense

divinely

given to

men for the ·

apprehension ~f spiritual truths. To

undertal,e to

solve a11yof the grea ·t problems

which have to

.

do with .our spiri tu,a.1 life

by

th,e

testimony

o;f

the

fin_ger

tips

is to l1ave one s labor

£01·

one s . pains; since, in the nature

of

the

cas·e,. ,,·s,piritual

,thing s are

spirituall .Y discerned .

T·o1·.

undertake to grasp

a spiritual

fact

by

the

p hysical

senses

is as preposterous

as

it

woi1ld

be

to

insi.st

on

se,eing

with

the ears or

he·aring with

the eyes. Faith i.s

not. cr,edu1ity,

nor

is

i·t

unsubstantial, n

1

or is it

belie·ving witl1out ,evidence..

On the

contrary,

it is

both substantia l

an,d

evidential:

only

i·t

is the substance of . things

hoped

for, the evid,en

1

ce

of

t.hings

not seen .. To

reft1se

to · exercis ,e

this .sixth

sense or

. power of spiritual . apprehension

is

to

sl1ut oneself out

for-

ever £ om the

possibility of

appr

1

eh·e11ding

Go

1

d

~r·

a·ny

o,f

the great, intangible, but real

truths

which center ·in

Him.

Yet we are constant]y hearing, in certain quarters, of

the

in1portance of pttrsui11.g

ott r

theological studies

by the

scien-

tific method . With wl1at result? W ,e have a world of ·

facts , tl1ey say, and fro .m. the se facts,

by

the

inductive

pr ,ocess, we rn·ust arrive

.at

our

conclusio ,ns .

It

is

like

an

example in

Algebra:

God is the

unknow n term ; let

this , be

expr ·essed

by

x : th ,e p

1

ro

1

hl

1

em then ~s to resolve x into

known terms by th ,e use of a multitude of seen and tangible

facts. Can

it

be

done?

G·o on and pursue yo,ur research ,es

along

the line ,s

of

evolution, until back of cosn,os you come to chaos,[

an.cl

back

of

chaos

to the

nebula, and

ha,ck

of

tl1e

neb11]a

o

the

primordial germ; a·nd that last infini ·tesimal atom will loo~ up

at you

with

t he ,old

question

on its

lips,

as

loud

as ever

and

involving

.a probl .em

as deep

as wl1en ,you began,

1

Whence

ca1ne I? What is your answer? God? Call it

1

God

if

yo ,u

please; in fact, however, it is s.imply an impersonal indefinable,

inescapable something or

otl1,er which,

for l.ack of a

better

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94 The Fundamentals ·

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t,erm, is designated as a ''First

1

Cause'', h'ut which is infinitely

far ·from what is meant by a

perso11al

God. .

W 'elJ, then, s

1

hall the

quest be

given

up

?

Is

the universal

thought of God merely an ignis f atiius leading the hopef ttl

traveler into a r

1

eal111

f impenetr ,abie mists and shadows ?

Or

•

is there .still some way of finding , out God?

Yes,

there

is a foiirth road ·by w

lii ch we approacliRini; and

.

it is an liighway cast up by the King ,Hiinself. It is, calle~

Revelation , or tlie Unveiling.

•

Th.ere i,s an antecedent

pr ·esumption

in its

f lav,or;

to

wit,

that if there is a ,God anywhere in the universe He would not

Jea:ve us ~o gr

1

ope

QUr

way hopeles lsly

in

tl1e

dark towa,r·d Him, .

but would somewhere, somehow, unveil Himself to us,

· Well, her ·e ·is a Book, which claims to b

1

e Revelation. Of

all the books in the literature of the ages it is the only one that

claims to have been div·inely authorize

1

d and '',;v,ritten by holy ·

men as they were moved by the Spirit of God''.

It opens with tl1e words, ''In the begin11ing,God''; and pro

ceeds to set forth the tw

1

0 great doc,trines of Creat ,ion and

Providence. It affirms, on the on

1

e hand, that everything in the

universe ha ,s

its,

origin in

the

1

creative powe ,r

0

1

f

G,od.; and, 0

1

n

the other, , that everything is sustained

by

·the providence of

God. .

In these two doctrines we have the sum and

sub.stance

of

Bibl

1

e, truth. But

thi.s

is not all. In b

1

etwe

1

en tl1,e do,ctrines of

Creatio

1

n and Providence there walks, through all the co,rridors ·

of Holy 'Writ, a my s,terious Figure who is

the

foregleam of

anotl1er

revelation further on. At th~ outset this Figure

appears in the protev ,angel as the ''See ,d of Woman'•, who is

to come in the

fulln ,ess

of time

to ''bruise

the serpent's

hea,d'''.,

An

1

d He appears and re-appears, n,ow in

l{ingly

guise, again

as

a man of sorrows an.d acquainted . with gri ,ef, and again with

a.

name written on His ves.ture,

' 'Emmanu~l '',

which being inter-

•

preted is '' ,God ·with us''. ·

This Book, claiming to be the written Word of God, mal


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The Kno·wledge of

God

us acquainted

with

His

being,

personality a·nd

rnora·1 attri bu·tes ;

bttt it does not exhaust the theme. It leads us along· a road,

li,ghted

h.Y

visions

and prophecies,

untiJ

it

opens

into another

and

cl.earer

roa,d;

to

wit, The Incarnat ,e Word of God, .

And this fifth road t.he Inca-rnation is the way which all

tru th-seekers mi.is t·pursue

if

they would fina.lly arrive

at

a just

and sa·ving kn0:wledge of God.

I·t js he·re that we ·me·et Christ,

bringin lg

th

1

e mes

1

sage from

the

throne .. He comes

into

our

worl\d

with

t·he expi ess purpose

of making · God l


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96

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teaching is postulated on the written Word, , o,f whic ,h He s,aid,

•

Search the Scriptures; for in them

ye

think

ye

have et

1

e1~nal

l

life; and they are they which testify of Me.

And

the moment

we turn from . tl1e I·ncar11ate Word t

1

0

the wri ·tten

Wor ,d, we

come ·upon the saying,

In

the beginning, God .

A.s to the moral att1·ibutes of God, the teach .ng of Jesus is

indUbitabiy

clear. God is a spirit , He says, and they that

· worship Him 1nust worship Him in spirit and in truth . It

11eed

scarc ,e1y

be said tl1at a. spirit,

t.hough invisible

and

impal

pable, is a real

s,elf-conscious

personality. The communion of

Jesus with this Spirit is that of one person with another. He

do,es,

not

s,p,ealc to

Law,

n,ot t

1

0

E·ne·r·gy, nor to, an ind 1

efinab]e

Something not

ou1~selves

that

maketl1

for right ,eousness , but

to One

with whon1

He is

on familiar terms. The only be

gotten Son which is in

t}ie b.0

so111 f the Father He hath de-

..

cla1·ed

Him . .

Asj to Divine providence I-Ie speaks i11 no t1nce1·tain tone~

The God whom He unveils is in .and ·ove1~all. Out on the

hillsides H ,e bi ·ds t1s Consider tl1e lilies,, how tl1ey grow , and

assures : us that 0~1r Father, who eareth f or

tl1em,

will muct1

more

care

for us . In pursuance of

this

fact

He

encourages

us

to pray, saying, Ask and it shall

be

given you, seek

and

ye

sl1all

find,

knock -

and

it

sha]]

be

opened

unto

you .

Oh,

great

heart of the Infinite, quick to respond to our every cry

for

l1elp The doctrine of prayer, as taught by Jesus, is simplicity

itself. We are to run to God with our longings as children to

their parents;

For

if ye, being evil, know how to give

gooc1

gift ,s unto YOUr c.hiidren, how much mor

1

e sha.11you.r

Fatl1er

•

which is in heaven give good things to them

that

ask

Him''.

As to

th ,e moral attributes

of God the

tea

1

ching of

Jesus

is

not

only

clear but most emphatic; be

1

1use at this point it

toucl1es vitally our eternal welfare. The Divine holiness is

pr ,esented not so .much as .an a·tt·ribute as the condition

of

God s

being. It is the light emanating from I-Iis thr 1n

1

e, of whicl1

Christ is the supreme n1anif

estatio .n,

as He said, I am

the

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light

of

t·he

world' '' ;

and

this light must ever be reflected in

the life of

His dis.ci·ple.s,

.as He said, ''Ye a.re the ligl1t

of

the

world ; let your

light

so shine

before

men

that

they may see

your good works and glorify God''. This holiness is not merely

freedom

from moral

contamination; but

sucl1 a

se·nsit ·ive,

aver

sion to sin as makes it impossible for God to 100k with

com

plac1·ncy u·po,n any cre~·ture ,vl10 is defiled by

it.

Hence the

appeal . o the

cultivati ,on

of .a ho1y life; since '',vithout holiness

no

man

sha.lI

s·ee Go,d''.

Out of this

atm :os.phere

of

holiness

proceed two attributes

\vhi,ch, like op ·ening arms ,,

embr,ace

the world.

1

0ne of

th,em

is Justice, or regard for la\iv. No teacher · ever lived,

·11ot

even

.Mo,,e,s, wh·o emphasized as deeply as d.i,d Jesus t.he integrity of

the mo·ra.1 law. He de,fended not only the law its.elf but th

1

e

penalties affixed to its violation. The Deca1ogue is not so

sev,ere an arraignmen ·t

1

0£

sin

as the

S,ermo

1

n on the ,

Moun.t,

which rings with the inviolability of law.

The other of

the

1

outstretched arm :s is Love. The

fullne .ss

of D

1

ivine love is set

fo·rth

in the words of Jesus: ''When ye

pray sa.y, 'Our Fat .her', .,. It was wisely

obs.erve

1

d by Mad .ame

de .Stael that if Jesus had nev,er do,ne an)rthing in the w·orld

except

to

teach us

''Our Father''

He wo,uld h.ave

,conferred

·an

· inestimable boon upon a11 the children of men.

God~s love

is

manifest i.n the unceasing gifts of His providence; but its

crowning token is the grace of salvation : ''God so loved the

world that He g3.ve H is only begotten

Son

that whosoever

believeth in Him shou1d not perish but h.ave everlasting life''.

And the reconciliation between Love and Justice is found

at the

1

Cro.ss,

Here ''mercy

and

truth

are

me.t

togeth ,er ;

rigl1t

eousness and peace have kissed each other''. As law is s.acred

an,d

invio1able,

i.ts

pen .alty

m.ust b,e inflicted; it

must

be. inflict,e

1

d

e1the·r upon the male·£acto,r 01· upon some

com·petent

substitut e

who sha.11volunteer

to

st1ffer fqr

him.

It i,s

the only begotten

S,on who ,

vo]u·nteers,

sayi·ng, ''Here am I, send Me '' The justice ~

'of God is shown in the suff er ,ng inflicted upon His only begot-

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ten Son; and Hi ,s l,ove is corre ,spondingly shown in 'the

proffer

of all tl1e 'be].J.efits of that vicarious suffering to every one on

the

so,Je condition

of

faith. . ·

. It pleased God to vindicate Hi~ supre me maj ·esty before Iiis ,

an

1

cien·t peop ·te in the controversy on Carmel. All day the paga?3

p,riests assemb led at their altar cried, . ''O Baal, l1ear us'' : but

·t'here was no voice nor any that regarded. At evening tl1e

lone p

1

ro

1

pl1

et

of J

l1ovah

stood be s.ide his altar and calmly n1ade

l1is prayer, ''0 God of Israel, . let it be known tl1is day that

Thou a1·t God '' Was there any tI1at· r,egar 'ded?

Lo,

yonder

in t11e twilight sky a falling fleece of fire In awe-struclc

silence. t11e people saw it desc ,ending, lower ,and lower, until it

touched the sacrifice and cons11medit. The lo,gic of the argu

ment was ir1·esistible: they cried with one accor

1

d, ''Jehovah

i,s the Go,d '' .

The antitype and parallel of that great controversy is at

Calvary, ,vl1ete Christ, at once the ministering p

1

riest and the

sacrifice upo n tl1e alta1·, made I-Iis last prayer with hand s out

st ·retcl1ed upon

the cros .s ; and

the desce11di11g

ire consumed

14im as a wl1.0Ie burnt 0

1

ffering for the w,orld's sin. The logic,

here .also, is un ,answerable. In all the world

t'her ,e

is no

othe ·r

gospel

\Vl11cl1

dequately sets fortI1 the

Divi11e

love*

By

the

power of truth,

by

the trii1mph of

righteousness,

by

the

logic

of events, by the philosophy of history, by the blood of the

atonement, . let the world answ ,er, ''Our God is the God of

sa lvati o11; and th.ere is none otl1er beside Him ''

Tl1e fai lure of other religions and philosophies has been

•

grote ·squely pathetic: The irony of Elijah on C'armel is merely ·

•

an ecl10 of '

tl1e

D

1

ivine bttrs ,t

of

laughte ,r

out of

heaven

in

respons ,e to tl1ose who cry ,: ''Let us br

1

eak Hi ,s band asunder

and cast away I-Iis, cor

1

ds f r,o,m us ." He

th,at

si,tteth in the

I1eavens sha ll laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. ·

Th ,e pantheo ·ns cr ,umble an ,d the pri

1

ests die; one altar remains,

to wit, tl1e cross on C'alvary. It is the sole altar and supreme

argum

1

ent of tl1e true God .

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The Knowledge of od

99

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But every ,nan must f'or himself make answer to that argu-

ment. Each for

himself ,, must

figl1this way into

the tru .th.

It

is like the grapple which Jacob

had

with an

unseen .

antagonist at

'the br ,ookside. As, the,

nigl1t wore

on he cam

1

e to under ,stand

that ·· Omnipotence had laid hold

upon

him. ·

Then

came a

sudden

,vrench

an ,d Jaco ,b

fe'll, disabled.

God had thrown

him

I

H ,e sank a helpless man, but, clinging still, crie

1

d, ''I will not let

Thee go except Thou b,Iess me l'' And thereupo ·n the bless ,ing

was given,

a

blessing which God had waited through

the ,

weary

years to bestow upon him:

''Tl1y name shall

be called no

mor ,e ·

Ja ,cob, 'th "e Suppl ,ant ,er', but

Is ,rael;

for as a, prince hast , thou

pre ,vail ed with

1

Go,d''.

Then

and ,

there

he rec

1

eive,d his

guerdon

1

0f

knighthood and entered in,to

1

the higher l·if e. At the

clo,se

of that conflict the light of morning was g]owing on the hills of

Edom: how significant

the

words,

''And the

sun

arose upon

hi,m I'' · ,

The new life had begun ; th,e Jong,quest,was ,ove·r ;J cob had

found God. And

he went

his

way llll1l()ing

n his

shrunken

thigh.,

to

·bear

throu ,gh

all

the

after

years the

token of '

that

struggle until he came to heaven's

gate,.

at

peace

with .

It is

thu s

that every man

finds God;

in a close grapple

that

ends

'in self

surrender,

an

'Utter

yielding

to the

beneficent

powe·r of God. ·

•

So true Iife begins with knowing God. It begins when a

m,an, oppressed by doub

1

t an~ uncerta .inty, hears , His voice,

flaying,

''Reach

hitl1er

thy hand a11d hrust it into

My

side,

I''

It

begins when, standing under the cross, he realizes, as Luther

did, ''He died for

me,

for me '' Then

the

day breaks and

the

shadows flee away.

Love

conquers

doubt, and

the

soul,,

holding the unveiling

of

the Infinite in the passion of Christ., .

•

cries out, '''l\ y Lord and My God '· . ·

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The Fundamentals: Volume 8, Chapter 7: The Knowledge of God

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Transcript of The Fundamentals: Volume 8, Chapter 7: The Knowledge of God