One of Satan’s most successful devices is to band people together (even Christians) for the purpose of attacking a manifest evil while he is endeavoring to strengthen and establish a more subtle and dangerous iniquity. This has often been witnessed in the history of the church, as, for example, when the enemy has persuaded men to defend the truth of God by resorting to the sword or by calling in the assistance of the civil powers in the way of persecution. The Lord Himself warned His disciples that the time would come when they who killed them would think that they were doing God service. In such ways Satan often carries out his own designs through the mistaken zeal of the children of God. Over one hundred years ago, many antagonistic forces were united against ritualism and against Roman Catholicism in particular. The sad spectacle was presented of politicians, of nominal and of real Christians, uniting against what they deemed a common foe. More recently we have seen the overthrow of much more human tradition, supposedly in the name of seeking the truth.
Warring Against Ritualism
The evil of ritualism and human tradition cannot be overestimated. For a long period it has been helping to quench the pure light of the gospel of the grace of God. However, a danger as great, if not greater, is concealed in the controversy which is now being waged. That danger is rationalism, or secular humanism, which in its true essence is infidelity. Thus there are in the ranks of the aggressors upon ritualism many who deny the inspiration of the Scriptures, who are unsound as to the person of Christ, and who do not accept the scriptural presentation of the atonement. When ritualism is swept away, it is only to make larger room for that rationalistic infidelity which is corrupting the channels of spiritual life on every hand through the literature of the day.
Rationalism
It may then be helpful to consider briefly what the Scriptures have to say concerning rationalism. In Colossians 2 Paul warns us against three enemies of Christianity, rationalism, ritualism and superstition, and it may be observed that he puts rationalism first. These are his words: “Beware lest any man spoil you [lead you away as a prey] through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” What then is meant by philosophy and vain deceit? It is the application of the human mind, human powers of reasoning, to the Scriptures and to divine things, and the expression of man’s competency to sit in judgment upon the Word of God and what that Word reveals. This is done, and the right to do it is claimed on all sides. The effect upon souls is that they do not know what to believe, and accordingly they lapse very much into the state of Pilate as embodied in the question he addressed to the Lord, “What is truth?” The evil is spread far and wide, and it is spreading ever more widely. It has penetrated unnoticed into many a godly family circle and has filled the minds of many of the young with doubts and questionings, if not with infidelity.
The Christian Friend, 1899,
adapted