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Why do the Heathen Rage?

     These essays were written over a period of thirty years and originally appeared in more than sixty newspapers nationwide. The author, who chose to remain anonymous, was a prominent Christian businessman in the Atlanta area. He entitled his columns "Why do the Heathen Rage?" and used this question from Psalm 2 and Acts 4:25 as a basis to comment on the events of the day. He believed that Psalm 1 promised blessings to the faithful in Christ, but Psalm 2 and Acts 4:25 asked a critical question and answered it with a prophecy of cursings and judgments upon the heathen; those who rebelled against the laws of God.
     Truly a prophet in his own time, the author received thousands of letters from his readers. However, at times, newspapers would refuse to print his column or prefer to edit it because of his outspoken condemnation of evil in government, literature and individuals who supported unbiblical practices.
         "You will find here a keen insight on several scriptural passages concerning those who are departing from the truth of God's Word. While you may not agree with all of the author's beliefs, you will be awakened to a sense of contending for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

    Bob Hill, Editor
    Evangelical Review
TOPICAL INDEX
The Bible - God's Word
June 30, 1962
March 26, 1962
October 24, 1964
February 23, 1963
November 16, 1967

Applied Christianity
December 07, 1963
May 31, 1975
July 14, 1973
October 30, 1965

Morality: Social Issues and Sin
July 15, 1968
December 30, 1972
November 20, 1971
March 20, 1968

Government / Rulers
April 23, 1966
May 21, 1966
May 28, 1966
March 07, 1964
God and History
January 19, 1974
July 27, 1974
March 08, 1975
November 02, 1967

Hell and Judgement
May 19, 1962
January 04, 1964
March 31, 1962
April 13, 1974
July 06, 1963
March 08, 1969

General Themes
May 04, 1963
April 24, 1965
January 27, 1973
August 25, 1963
August 31, 1974
June 15, 1963
March 13, 1965
October 27, 1962
November 10, 1962


God and History

JANUARY 19, 1974

     Queen Mary, known in history as "Bloody Mary," sat upon the Throne of England from 1553 to 1558. She was a violent persecutor of Protestants. After having brought multitudes in England and Scotland and Wales to the "block" and had their heads cut off, and others to the "stake" to be burned alive, she stretched forth her hand to strike them of Ireland. In 1558 she signed a Commission authorizing the persecution and annihilation of all Irish heretics. The Commission for execution was committed to Dr. Cole, a zealous son of Rome.
     For a little sample of Queen Mary's work, we quote from an English History:
         "Among the first victims were John Rogers, the Bible Translator, and Hooper the Bishop of Glouster-Coverdale was saved by the interposition of the king of Denmark; but Ridley and Latimer sealed their faith at Oxford, Oct. 16,1555. Latimer was now in his 77th year, hale and hearty and merry to the last. 'Play the man, Mister Ridley,' he shouted to his fellow, as the executioners were fastening them to the stake, 'We shall this day light such a candle in England, as I trust by God's grace shall never be put out!'"
         "Of all Mary's victims none perhaps merited her vengeance more than Cranmer. She would not be a woman to forget the part which he had taken in fastening the stain upon her birth. Cranmer's courage which had never been of the stoutest failed him. He shrank from the torture of the heretic's death, and in hope of gaining his life recanted. His enemies, however, had no idea of allowing their victim to escape and he was condemned not-withstanding. As the end drew near, he recovered his spirit and boldly facing death, withdrew his unhappy denial of The Protestant Faith, thrusting his right hand into the flame first, "that unworthy right hand," as he sadly exclaimed, with which he had signed the recantation! The persecutors thought the "smell and sight of death" would frighten them into speedy acquiescence. But these were different men whose faith was now put to the test; nor could their firmness be shaken by the sight of flames. Spectators who came to scoff and jest, went away thoughtful and reverent."
    "Genuine Protestantism does not consist only of the doctrines of justification by faith and the supreme authority of the Scriptures, for it implies, as its name indicates, an energetic protest, formulated in the name of these doctrines, against Ecclesiastical abuse of every kind." These, and many other men and women, died cruel deaths, some even rejoicing in their sufferings in order to be faithful witnesses to Genuine Protestantism!
     Protestantism lived on in England and Scotland and Wales to bless those people and the world. Hear now, how God Almighty protected and preserved the Protestants of Ireland at that time from the designs of Queen Mary and her supporters: Doctor Cole, on receiving the Queen's Commission, immediately goes to Ireland to execute the bloody mandate. At Chester, where he is to embark, he communicates to the mayor the nature of his errand to Ireland, at the same time pointing to a box, which, to use his language, contained "that which will lash the heretics of Ireland." The good woman in the house where they were, (Elizabeth Edmonds), a friend of the Protestants, who had a brother in Dublin, hearing these words, was not a little troubled. Therefore, watching her opportunity, she opens the box, takes out the Commission, and places in its stead a piece of paper in which she had carefully wrapped a pack of cards, with the knave of clubs uppermost. Suspecting nothing, The Doctor, the weather favoring, the next day set sail for Dublin. He immediately appears before the Lord Deputy and the Privy Council, makes his speech, declaring the nature of his Commission, and presents the box to the Lord Deputy; which, on opening, nothing appears but a pack of cards, the knave of clubs staring his Lordship in the face! The Lord Deputy and Council were amazed, and the Doctor was confounded; yet insisted that he started with a Commission such as he had declared. The Deputy answered: "Let us have another Commission, and we will shuffle the cards in the meantime."
     The Doctor, chagrined, returned to England, appears at the Court, obtains another Commission, but is now detained by unfavorable winds, and while waiting, Queen Mary died, being called to her dread account! And thus God preserved the Protestants of Ireland! (MSS of Sir James Ware, copied from the papers of Richard, Earl of Cork, and found quoted by Mosheim, Vol. 2, p. 42. Also, Universal History, Vol. 4, p. 278.
     "He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision!" So, says the 4th verse of the 2nd Psalm concerning heathen, kings, rulers, and people who imagine a vain thing and rage against The Commandments, The Acts, The Ordinances and Providences of "Him that sitteth in the Heavens.
     Psalm 138, verse 2: "For thou has magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name."
     Herein can be found genuine Protestantism. "Democratic Institutions exist by reason of their virtue. If ever they perish, it will be when we have forgotten the past, become indifferent to the present, and utterly reckless as to the future." Quoted from the Monument to Thos. Watson on the Capitol Grounds in Atlanta.
     It appears to us that Our Supreme Court, the supporting Powers that be, including most of the High Ecclesiastical Powers, in their treatment of The Bible, God's Word, which He has magnified above all His Name, are seeking to destroy Genuine Protestantism just as surely as was Queen Mary. They will never do it, thank God: "He that sitteth in the Heaven shall laugh!" In the meantime, let all "genuine Protestants" stir themselves up to improve their conduct in "honoring all God's Commandments," and improve their "prayer life," especially remembering that prayer the Government forbids the schools: "Deliver us from evil!" "God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform." It has been well said that sometimes God's doors swing open or shut on strange and peculiar "hinges!"


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God and History

JULY 27, 1974

     We quote from a letter received giving a reader's reaction to a past Saturday's article about King Charles The First of England, and Oliver Cromwell:
         "While I have admired some of your editorials, I cannot agree with your surmise of Oliver Cromwell as detailed in a past issue of The Atlanta Journal. You suggest that in Oliver Cromwell, God 'Found his man to stand in the gap' whereas history shows him to be a cold-blooded murderer of women and children.
         "Herewith I list some of the slaughterers of mankind.
         1. Pharaoh of Egypt at the time of the birth of Moses (He was a heathen).
         2. Herod about the time of the birth of Christ (He was a stooge of Roman Empire).
         3. Attila, the Hun, Scourge of God (He was a heathen).
         4. Genghis Kahn (Mongol heathen).
         5. Tamarlane (Oriental heathen).
         6. Catherine de Medici, Regent of Charles IX, King of France (She engineered the Massacre of St. Bartholomew).
         7. Oliver Cromwell, Commander of The Praying Puritans, he invaded Ireland to put down a rebellion, and had his 'Roundheads' slaughter Men, Women and Children at Cork and Wexford. How can a man of God violate the 6th Commandment and permit the useless slaughter of innocent children, thereby earning the worst malediction one Irishman can hurl at another Irishman, 'The Curse of Cromwell Be Upon You . . .'
         "There can be no question as to the stabilizing influence Cromwell had on the British Government during his term of office, but the stain of blood of innocent children of Cork and Wexford can never be erased. I suggest you remember this when you are tempted to extol the virtues of Oliver Cromwell. I am not an Irishman.

    Yours very truly."
     We wish to thank the writer of this letter for sending it, for his desire, and for his effort to "straighten me out." However, will have to admit he has failed, for we are not "straight," according to his "measuring stick." However, we are giving him the opportunity to "straighten out" any of our readers it they feel the need of it.
     I consider our disagreement is due to the difference in the character of "The God" they profess to worship and serve. No doubt he will say that "his God" created all these "Slaughterers of Mankind" such as Pharaoh, Attila, Genghis Kahn, Tamerlane, Cromwell, etc. But I can't go along with this letter writing friend, not especially with "his God," for it appears to me that "his God" after creating all these "big boys" lost rule and control of them to the extent where they did a slight devilment and dirty work. Such a god ought to be ashamed of himself -- started to say somebody ought to "kick him in his pants," but that might be too rude -- recall in one of my articles, I told how I thought God rebuked me a couple of times for mistreating snakes!
     I certainly do believe, testify and bear witness to the fact that the God I believe in created every one of these great "slaughterers of mankind" and many others, but He never lost control over any one of them for even a fraction of a second, and on the contrary, everything and anything they did was with His Permission and the result of His exercising righteous Judgments and "Paying the Wages of Sin: Death!" They were his Judgments and Curse being visited upon Sin, Rebellion, Anarchy and Rage against "God who is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being wisdom, power, justice, holiness, goodness and truth."
     He is the God who on two different occasions turned the devil aloose on Job: first on his family, and then on his person. But in each instance, He kept the Devil under control and said, "Go so far, but no further!" If you have genuine and true faith and "Fear of the Lord" in your heart, should you worry unduly about those who die and are slaughtered? Has He not said "Not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Heavenly Father!" The Almighty created my Grandfather Adam out of the ground, and in introducing Himself to His New Creature He said: Obey or die! In Luke 13:3, Christ says to us: "Repent, or Perish!" May I ask: What is your experience in this subject of Repentance?
         "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards Him!" 2nd Chronicles 16:9.

         "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it. But I found none!" Ezekiel 22:30.
     Again this writer suggests that "God found His man to make up the hedge, and stand in the gap," in Oliver Cromwell with the result that England, Scotland and Ireland were not destroyed, but saved and greatly blessed. Be careful you know what you are doing and "Don't bear false witness against your neighbor," Oliver Cromwell.
     Unless there is a change of mind the writer intends next week to give account of Cromwell at Cork and Wexford according to his understanding.


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God and History

MARCH 08, 1975

     We trust it will be an encouragement to all the true and sincere people of God to be reminded of several long periods of time in the earth when men dwelt without fear for their families, loved ones, and property, due to kings, rulers, and governing authorities who would not countenance or put up with lawlessness. May I ask any or all in whatever category you may belong who claim to believe that the "death penalty" does not prevent crime: Did you ever see a dead man commit murder? Did you ever see a dead man rape a woman or girl? Do you reckon there was any rape, adultery, homosexuality, or other crimes in Sodom on that morning shortly after Lot went out of the City and God rained fire and brimstone from heaven upon it?
     The following statement is made not for the purpose of offending any man, but rather for the purpose of the writer not offending God Almighty: From my knowledge of The Bible, if I take the position the "death penalty" does not restrain and prevent, I make God out to be a liar many times in His Word, and in fact reject the entire economy of The Almighty revealed in John 3-16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Maybe we need to meditate on these words of The Lord Jesus Christ: "Ye do err, not knowing The Scriptures, nor The Power of God!" Meditate on them, and repent!
     Regardless of what others do, or profess, you continue to "Fear God and keep His Commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." "Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season we will reap, if we faint not." "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth, as it is in Heaven. Deliver us from evil." Remember that a number of times God has told us in His Word: "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." For nothing should the people of God more devoutly pray than that "their great men might be good and God-fearing men!"
     "Democratic Institutions exist by reason of their virtue. If ever they perish it will be when you have forgotten the past, become indifferent to the present, and utterly reckless as to the future." "When you have forgotten the past!" The following is a reminder of a few incidents of the past:
      Not forgetting the past: let's turn to Oliver Cromwell about the 1650's A.D., and remember that God used him in England, Scotland and Ireland to put down evil, rebellion and disorder.
     Not forgetting the past: in the year 617 A.D. Edwin was crowned King of Northumbria, one of the seven divisions of England in the period of The Heptarchy. It was from this King that Edinburgh got her name. It was said first of him that in his days "a woman with her babe might walk scathless from sea to sea." The people tilled their fields and gathered their harvests in quiet and safety. Men no longer feared the thief and robber; stakes were driven by the roadside spring, where the traveler found a brass cup hanging for his use, and no thief durst carry it off . . . "Thus the church as the great civilizer, had already begun its work in Teutonic Britain."
     Again, not forgetting the past; in the year 1066 A.D. the grandson of a Norse pirate was recognized as King of England. His ways were masterful and his measures severe, but the results were beneficial. He was a hard drillmaster; but England needed a drillmaster, and the English were the first to recognize it. Life and property were protected as they had never been done and protected under native English kings. Even the Chronicle is forced to recognize "the good peace he made in the land, so that a man might go over the realm alone with his bosom full of gold unhurt. Nor durst any man slay another, how great so ever the evil he had done." "The good peace he made in the land!"
     Don't forget again that the conqueror's son, Henry I demanded respect and obedience to his laws, and won the title -- "Lion of Justice." "And no man durst misdo against another."
     Not forgetting the past: around 1200 to 1230 A.D., Genghis Khan came out of the Gobi desert and conquered the cities of civilization. No other man except Alexander the Great, long before the time of Genghis Khan ever made such a change in the world during one lifetime. Southern China was conquered, he swept over Russian princes, and over the brave Poles and Hungarians. His general, Subotai, got as far as Vienna, where his forces turned back from Europe of their own accord -- doubtless because France and Germany went to their knees in prayer to God Almighty! Genghis Khan demanded obedience to his Law: Mongol accounts say cart loads of gold and silver stood nearby without any guards to watch over them, so utterly was the Law of Genghis Khan, which forbade stealing, obeyed!
     Somewhere, somehow, this Magnificent Barbarian had gotten ahold of God Almighty's Commandment: "Thou shalt not steal." He believed it! He enforced it! (Would God we would do the same!) Because of that Law peace prevailed for thousands of miles around him. At a "Council of his Conquerors," he said,
         "I have gained the mastery by carrying out our Law. Only severity keeps men obedient . . . An action is only good if you carry it out to the end."
     His commandments were obeyed even after his death. It was as if he sat on the raised throne of the council of the Mongol Khan. Everything written down in his Law was carried out by the generations that followed him. When his grandson, Batu Khan, ruled there was a saying in Russia that "a dog cannot bark without permission of Batu Khan." And it was also said that a young girl alone could carry a sack of gold safely from the River Don to the City of The Khans. What is wrong with such power when it is used to stop stealing, and protect women?
     Above records of five rulers testify to the ability of men to keep law and order. Suggest we think on our ways.
     What is the trouble?'The answer is as plain as the nose on your face: We have forsaken the Commandments of our God!


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God and History

NOVEMBER 02, 1967

     In the year 1625 Charles the First ascended the throne of England. The political creed of Charles was a short one; he believed in "the divine right of kings," and also the "divine right of his bishop." There was no place for a Parliament in his system, except as a cumbersome and annoying method of securing money for the purpose of government.
     From the first, Charles was at war with his Parliament, and soon there was an era of arbitrary government -- 1639-1640. It has been estimated that at the outbreak of the American Revolution seventy-five percent of the people of English blood of the northern colonies were descendants of men and women who had been driven out of England by the tyranny of Charles and his little arch-bishop -- by the way, these are the two responsible for the "Declaration of Sports" promulgated in those days that made it legal for the profanation of the Sabbath -- both of these boys ended up by losing their heads on the chop block, however, to their worldly credit it might be said they were not "chicken" about doing as they pleased on God's Day!
     During this period of arbitrary government "The Star Chamber Court" made history by passing out judgements and sentences for "flogging, for one or more ears to be cut off, or slitting noses, or for face branding." In spite of these severe judgements, and censoring of the press, many hardy souls fought on "underground," some enduring more than once the atrocities of the court! With such conditions, is it any wonder that Civil War broke out in 1641, and all the nation was in uproar? Scotland was hostile. One of the worst massacres of history occurred in Ireland in 1641 and all that nation was in uproar. The great mass of the English people were disloyal and ready to take advantage of the first sign of weakness on the part of the government.
     Civil War! Take a glance at the opposing forces: The king's forces and supporters were thorough courtiers, many of them soldiers of fortune, princes of royal and noble blood such as two nephews of the King, Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice, gay worldlings who hated Puritanism and despised Puritans -- doubtless there are multitudes of their descendants in our land today. On the other side supporting Parliament were the great mass of "God Fearing" yeomanry, tradesmen of the towns, etc.
     For ten years the Great Civil War desolated England. The economic life of the nation suffered terribly. Thousands of individuals had been ruined, and public works abandoned and, in cases, destroyed altogether. Thousands of acres had been thrown out of cultivation. Little respect was shown for civil law, crime and violence had increased steadily; murder, arson and highway robbery were common events of daily life -- sounds about like our day, is it not so? These were only symptoms of a deeper malady, the general decay of civilization.
     God, in His mercy, gave Parliament the victory, 24 years after Charles was crowned, on the 30th of January, 1649, after a trial by the High Court of Justice, King Charles was condemned to die. Three days before the Court had given its decision, declaring Charles Stewart to be "a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the good people of this nation," and fixed the death penalty. On the 30th he was led out to Whitehall to die: "And when the tragedy was over, and the masked executioner held up the gory trophy of his art, he shouted to the horror-stricken crowd 'Behold the head of a traitor!'"
     A few years after the king's death, England, Ireland and Scotland were at peace and prospering. When Charles ascended the throne, England's government and power were looked down upon, if no scorned, by other nations. At the time of the death of The Protector, Cromwell, England was respected and feared both as a land and sea power -- someone said of the Prime Minister of France: "He was more afraid of Cromwell than the devil!"
     "Watch God work!" Consider the change God wrought in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1641 and 1659: from chaos and confusion to order, peace, and prosperity. Consider the human instruments with which He worked. We quote Ezekiel 22:29-30:
         "The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy; yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: But I found none!"
     We suggest that in Oliver Cromwell God "found His man to stand in the gap." During the first few years of the Great Civil War, Prince Rupert's horsemen and Cavaliers swept the cavalry of Parliament off the field of battle. However, the sturdy Puritan infantry and foot soldiers of Parliament forces victoriously withstood the king's infantry. There was a country squire by the name of Oliver Cromwell. He had a cousin among the nobility by the name of Hampden by whose influence he might have obtained military preference. However, he asked no special favors for himself but appeared to be content with the office of captain in the cavalry. When Prince Rupert's Cavaliers played havoc with Parliament's horsemen, Cromwell managed to keep his men together and from being routed and scattered. Cromwell analyzed the success of Prince Rupert's Cavaliers, and said to his cousin, Hampden: "Your troops are most of them decayed serving men and tapsters, and such kind of fellows, and their troops are gentlemen's sons and persons of quality. Do you think that the spirits of such base and mean fellows will ever be able to encounter gentlemen that have honor, courage, and resolution in them?" Cromwell then went to work to raise a cavalry regiment of a very different mettle. As he himself expressed it, he proposed to match "men of religion" against the "king's gentlemen of honor." The result was the organization of the famous "Ironsides," a body of men who possessed the loftiest religious enthusiasm, tempered and hardened by the severest discipline.
     Cromwell's Ironsides were men that had the true "fear of God" in their hearts; and gradually lost all other fear: "Truly they were never beaten at all," he says. They swept Prince Rupert and his Cavaliers off the face of the earth. The Prince then took a job of Admiral in the king's navy, but it was only a question of time until Cromwell's Ironside Navy swept Prince Rupert and his ships off the ocean, or to its bottom -- have forgotten just what did happen to the great Prince in the end, but the last I recall he was wandering about.
     Do not forget the "past." The above recalls to remembrance some very significant history of our past. It is the first step in the downfall of our "democratic institutions:" forgetting. The second downward step is indifference, and the third utter recklessness." Are not our "democratic institutions" now failing in favor of institutions of socialism and communism? Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, lest we forget! Lest we forget!



W. M. Religious InfoNet ¤ Box 456 ¤ Forest Lake, MN 55025
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