If ever there was a time in the history of the world which called for calm and unbiased reasoning on the part of all, it is now. But mere reasoning, no matter how intelligent, can never bring hope to anyone unless there can be found some dependable foundation upon which reason may be based.

Today, the world seems hopelessly adrift on the stormy seas of raging human passions. Jesus foretold the coming of just such a time as this in which there would be “distress of nations, with perplexity; . . . Men’s hearts failing them for fear” (Luke 21:25,26), as they see the things “coming on the earth.” Is there a way out?

This is a question that is now upon the lips and in the hearts of practically all thinking people the world over. Is there anything upon which we may build our hopes for better days ahead? In this hour of world distress, many churchgoers are recommending religion as a sure solace for the suffering people. But if religion can point the way out of the billowy seas of uncertainty to a haven of rest and security, for what particular kind of religion should we look?

We hold that through biblical truth alone will man find a true solution to the present worldwide conditions of perplexity and distress, and it is from this standpoint that we approach the subject in this discussion. Yet on this point we are faced with the necessity of distinguishing between the pure teachings of the Bible and the confusing theories of traditional theology, which too often masquerade in the name of Christianity.

We cannot expect to make progress in finding a reasonable basis for faith and hope except by identifying superstition as such, brushing it aside, and seeking to learn and apply the naked principles of undefiled biblical truth to present-day problems. If, as all Christians claim to believe, the Bible is the foundation of ultimate truth and reason, then by all means let us find out what the Bible really teaches! If in this search for truth we may seem to trespass upon some of your accustomed beliefs, and seem cruelly to wrest them from you, think not that this will destroy your faith in the eternal verities that are actually taught in the Bible. It will not!

TRUTH AND REASON

To whatever extent vain superstition is replaced with dependable truth and reason, one’s faith becomes a far more comforting reality than mere credulity, and the Bible takes on a new and saner meaning. And how much need there is today that our faith be based upon a firm foundation of reason and truth, for we are surely confronted with many confusing paradoxes.

Evolutionists insist that we have made steadily progressive strides since the first crude beginning of civilization on the planet. Many today boastfully point to the marvelous achievements of this modern information age, yet our highly civilized world is faced with the undeniable fact that its boasted civilization now stands at the very brink of destruction. With all our learning, we are not able to maintain the standards of supposed culture to which we pretend to have arrived.

No longer is it possible to prevent a knowledge of these startling facts from edging in upon the public mind. Serious statesmen are frankly pointing out the necessity of something drastic being done if civilization is to be saved. Prominent religious leaders of all schools of ecclesiasticism are earnestly announcing that unless the people now quickly return to God, the whole world will be plunged into the greatest and most deadly cataclysm of all human history.

FINDING THE REAL SOLUTION

Agreeing that it does look doubtful if mere human diplomacy will be able to prevent the disaster which nearly everybody fears, the necessity of finding some other solution naturally becomes obvious and imperative if we are to have any hope for the immediate or distant future.

Do the religious differences that exist among the professed followers of Christ mean that we should give up our faith in the Bible itself as containing answers to the baffling questions with which the world is now confronted? We think not!

Should we conclude that the great Intelligence who brought into existence the countless billions of heavenly bodies, and who causes them to move about ceaselessly in their orbits with such absolute accuracy, has signally failed in his attempt to produce a race of sentient creatures here on this small planet that can continue to exist under conditions of uninterrupted peace and happiness? Reason answers, No!

When Jesus was on the earth he suggested to his disciples something very definite in the way of world betterment, He said, “Pray ye: . . . Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:9,10) All down through the centuries, ear- nest Christians have been repeating that prayer, and patiently waiting for its answer. Is it ever to be answered?

What kind of laws will the world be required to obey then, and when will the prayer, “Thy kingdom come,” be answered? These are but a few of the many important questions which reason demands must be considered if we are to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion in the discussion of this subject which is so vital to all who are seeking a true solution of present world distress—the divine solution.