On page 112 of Backgrounds to Dispensationalism, confusion is everywhere. Think of Mr. Darby's being made to say of a Christian, "he is the body of Christ" (italics, Dr. Bass's). Does Scripture so speak? Would Mr. Darby use such an obviously wrong statement? We have searched for any such slip and have not found it. We do find where Mr. Darby uses, "Ye [plural] are the body of Christ." He adds, "The assembly at Corinth represented at Corinth that one and only unity, that of all individuals united to Christ in one body by the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Everything had a connection with the one body, composed of all the members of Christ. There was no action which did not relate to the whole body." In this article, What is the Unity of the Church?, found in Mr. Darby's Collected Writings, vol. 20 (Stow-Hill), pp. 296-306, Mr. Darby was answering a Mr. F. Olivier, a Frenchman, who was attacking the principles of those gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. A reviewer of such an article should recognize that in this type of writing one may refer to something the other man has said, without any approval whatsoever. And so on page 113, Dr. Bass says: "Darby does not refer to the assembly as a formal organization." (Compare this with quotation of J.N.D. earlier in this paragraph.) Such statements are misleading, hut are found abundantly in Dr. Bass's book. It is confusion heaped on confusion. But it would be impossible to pin down all of the inconsistencies, because one would have to search all of Mr. Darby's 34 volumes of Collected Writings, 3 volumes of Letters, 5 volumes of Synopsis of the Bible, and much more to prove that he did not make little statements attributed to him. But we challenge Dr. Bass's book for inaccuracy of reporting and for bias and prejudice in the conclusions reached. He seems determined to destroy, if he can, the image of the man J. N. Darby in an effort to bring ridicule on his able expository works, defining the heavenly character of the true Church of God—by that we mean of all believers according to God's plan-for the purpose of making the professing church earthly-minded, not looking for her Lord, but trying to improve the world just as doom is about to overtake her and the world which she loves all too well.
Dr. Bass's unsubstantiated charges that "John Darby was subjected to the temptations common to all religious innovators- that of continually advancing new 'revelations' of 'spiritual' truths to attract and maintain his following" (p. 98) is absolutely without foundation, and not one shred of evidence can be adduced to support it. It is as vicious as it is untrue. The burden of proof falls upon the man who makes the charge, but on one who is ill-prepared to understand, much less to delineate, the position of those who are rooted and grounded in the truth of dispensationalism.
The uncharitable doctor seizes on every controversy among brethren to discredit the whole movement, and he advances many arguments which were set forth by opponents. He would whitewash the gross error of a B. W. Newton, and in the end advocate a going on with just about anything. He flings the charge of "separatist" at Christians who, seeking to do the will of God, withdraw from iniquity. Separation, it appears, is an anathema to him.
We would mention that Dr. Bass assails brethren as though "new birth, the historicity of the resurrection, the validity of the virgin birth, or any other cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith" were disregarded (p. 99), while points of ecclesiastical doctrine became the test. Mr. Darby wrote one large volume against F. W. Newman's Phases of Faith, or more correctly, Phases of Infidelity. Mr. Darby did a great work for the Church of God by his careful analysis of Newman's infidelity, entitled, The Irrationalism of Infidelity. His counter attack covers 598 pages (Morrish edition) of volume 6 of his writings. Newman had attacked the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. Specifically, Newman attacked 21 Old Testament and 15 New Testament books. He had imbibed German "Higher Criticism"; he ridiculed the miracles, and held the virgin birth up to scorn. Will Dr. Bass dare to assume that such vital truths were sidetracked? Were they not maintained with vigor? Where will he find in all Christendom more able and energetic defense of truth against error than in the writings of J.N. Darby, William Kelly, and others of their persuasion?
In spite of Mr. Newman's infidelity which caused his old friend J. N. Darby to attack his writings, Dr. Bass felt free to use the following criticism by Mr. Newman: "Over the general results of his action I have long deeply mourned, as blunting his natural tenderness and sacrificing his wisdom to the Letter, dwarfing men's understandings, contracting their hearts, crushing their moral sensibilities, and setting those at variance who ought to love: yet oh! how specious it was in the beginning! he only wanted men 'to submit their understanding to God,' that is to the Bible, that is, to his interpretation" (italics by Dr. Bass). p. 58. Now we ask, in all fairness, Would such a man, who turned away from God and His Word and sought to make infidels out of people, be a credible character witness against a man of God who withstood him and his infidelity? Evidently, Dr. Bass thinks so, and he is willing to emphasize his charges against Mr. Darby (because it suits his purpose) even to the point of adding emphasis to what Mr. Newman wrote. We believe that Dr. Bass displays himself in his hook, not to his credit, but to the opening of the eyes of the unbiased.
In contrast to all the unsavory things that Dr. Bass collected against Mr. J. N. Darby, we recently found a book published by Pickering and Inglis of England and Scotland, which, while giving a biography of Alfred H. Burton, B.A., M.D., happens to throw a little light on Mr. Darby. Dr. Burton edited the Advent Witness until 1934, and was chairman of the Prophecy Investigation Society. The book is authored by F. W. Pitt, a close friend and colleague of Dr. Burton's.
Mr. Pitt said, "I know that Mr. Darby is regarded by many as a sort of religious dictator, but Dr. Burton and others who knew him well have told me that he was the most courteous and humble of men, gracious and sympathizing, counting the fame and riches of the world as naught.... J. N. Darby died in 1882 holding Dr. Burton's hand." pp. 27, 28.
We are well aware that Mr. Darby would not wish us to attempt any defense of himself or his ways, for he would much prefer to leave it until the judgment seat of Christ, when all will be manifested in the light of Him who is "the righteous judge." But inasmuch as Dr. Bass chose to make an issue of the character, traits, and teachings of the venerable servant of Christ, in a bold attempt to bring the whole character of the Church of God clown to the level of the world, and to undermine the blessed truth of the Lord's coming for His people before the tribulation, it seems incumbent on us to call our reader's attention to the basic plan of attack taken by this opponent of dispensational truth. The Apostle Paul loathed having to defend himself to the Corinthian saints in his second letter to them; but it became necessary, for an attack on him was an attack on what he taught. We recognize this fact, of course, that Paul was an apostle and spoke authoritatively. Mr. Darby was not and did not. There is this similarity, however, that Dr. Bass thought to bring the whole truth of the heavenly calling and hope of the Church into disfavor by attacking the man who was mightily used of God to recover lost truth. Instead of letting doctrine stand or fall on its own merit or demerit, and of judging all truths by the revealed Word of Truth, Dr. Bass's charges, aspersions, and at times almost ridicule, are used to becloud the issues and cast dust into the air-air already cloudy enough with false doctrines of men "speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them."
Dr. Bass has gone to great pains to whitewash B. W. Newton; but that could be expected, since Mr. Newton was a confused man on the subject of prophecy, and held many things in common with Dr. Bass.
And now, reader, we have much more to say regarding Dr. Bass's book, but we close this section in order to avoid wearying you as it has wearied us. But, in closing, we will quote Dr. Bass's scheme and hope for the Church, a plan which we abhor and utterly reject as totally false. We quote:
"Dispensationalists, who insist that the purpose of the church is to call out the 'heavenly body' from the world, and that this body will be ultimately raptured away from tribulation, have forgotten that the church was placed in the world so that through it Christ's message might come to the world." p. 148. This in itself misrepresents things, for it is God's purpose, not the Church's, to call out a heavenly people. Dr. Bass continues:
"The church does have a responsibility to the culture in which it finds itself. This responsibility involves communicating the teachings of Jesus so that they will have an impact upon the moral and social problems of society. [Any rank modernist could concur in this.] The church is in the world for more than merely calling out a heavenly body: it has a mission to the world itself." Dr. Bass continues:
"The mission of the church to the world is to reflect the ethics and ideals of Jesus, through personal salvation, into the culture of society so that that culture may be changed [let this man produce one verse in its proper context that affirms this]. The principles of the Sermon on the Mount must be translated by the church into practical principles of Christian living. This is not to suggest that the church will ever ameliorate the sinful world to the extent that it becomes a perfect society, but it is to emphasize that the church cannot escape its mission by repeating that it is 'not of the world and not for the world.' Dispensationalism would withdraw the church from its impact on the world, contending, as does the Scofield Bible that... 'the Sermon on the Mount in its primary application gives neither the privilege nor the duty of the Church,' because it is a part of the gospel of the kingdom" (italics ours). Dr. Bass calls Mr. Darby "a tortured and confused man" (p. 98), but we would like to reverse the charge, and let it fall on the head of him who made it. He further continues his statement of what he believes concerning the earthly character of the Church:
"Has not the evangelical church all too long defaulted the proclamation of the gospel to the 'world'? Does not God yearn for His church, which has the true gospel, to carry the message of this gospel to the problems of the culture in which it lives? Has not dispensationalism contributed largely to this default of the church's mission, and made it a detached, withdrawn, inclusively introverted group, waiting to be raptured away from this evil world?" Is the "true gospel" the "ethics and ideals" of Jesus? NO! That kind of gospel never saved anyone. It is as sterile as the sayings of Confucius.
"Is it too much to ask the evangelical church of today to stand in its world and let Christ minister through it to the world? The church needs to throw off the mantle of 'in but not of detachment and apply itself vigorously to the spiritual and social problems of its world." pp. 148, 149. Christ ministers to His Church, hut nowhere is it suggested that He ministers to the world.
We make bold to say, that everything which Dr. Bass says on these two sorry pages could be said by an unconverted religious man. Not that we say he is not saved, but he surely puts himself in dubious company. Think of talking of the church's world! and of throwing off the "in but not of" the world. To do this would necessitate discarding John 17, where we have that memorable prayer of the Lord to His Father, as He was about to leave the world and His own in it. He said, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Was that true or false? The Lord said that He did not pray for the world, but for His own who were still in it. Reader, we prefer to believe Christ's words.
Think of being told to cease our worldly detachment and make an impact on the world. If every Christian lived the separated life that was seen in the early Christians, there would be an impact on the world. Christianity proper did not begin until the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2); but where, oh where, do you find the Church being told to apply itself to the problems of the wicked world of the old pagan Roman Empire! We do read, however, that the early Christians turned the world upside down (Acts 17:66And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; (Acts 17:6)). This they did, not by social contacts and a patronizing subservience to the world, but by walking apart and far off from its customs and ways. They turned to God from idols and waited for the Lord to come hack, and it got the whole world talking. 0 for Christians of that stamp today! Did Paul, John, or any apostle, or the Lord Himself, attempt to remove the plague of slavery? Did not Paul send a runaway slave back to his owner and offer to pay for any default by the slave? (See Philemon.) Did any apostle declaim the great moral depravity of the world, and so try to raise its moral standards, and improve society? Never once! But they did tell true believers in the Lord Jesus that those things belonged to their past, and that they were to live in holiness. The God to whom they had turned was holy; therefore, they were to be holy.
Dr. Bass's proposals on these pages of his book offer nothing hut the same old "social gospel" that dragged down the whole professing church at the beginning of this century. Now he wants all Christians to give up their separation, and mingle and meddle with the world. May God keep the feet of His saints from such a slippery and wrong path. Titus 2 outlines practical Christianity and tells Christians how to live in this world-"soberly, righteously, and godly"-first, with ourselves; second, toward the world about; and third, toward God and before God. Then it is added "in this present world," while looking out of it for "that blessed hope" which is the coming of the Lord. The glorious appearing is another thing and will follow when He comes back with His saints.
We forthwith reject and despise such attempts as Dr. Bass's to pull the Church down to the level of the world. It is the same thing which took place in the days of Pergamos-Rev. 2- where the Church fell down to the level of the world, as did Eutychus in Acts 20, when he wearied and went to sleep while Paul was preaching. He fell three stories, to the level of the earth. And when the teaching given us by God, through Paul, of the heavenly calling, portion, and hope of the Church is given up, the Church will fall, or rather has fallen, to the level of the world, down from the third heaven, in principle, to the corrupt and corrupting world.
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