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Show Ma Family Weekly November 16, 1969 Bible Can Help Us Solve Today's Problems --Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish find in the Scriptures not only comfort but guidance in facing the turmoil of our times emn question, asked so long ago in the Holy Scriptures, is still unanswered through the centuries. If those foundations be dissolved, nothing awaits us but chaos, anarchy, violence, and disaster. This National Bible Week must call is back to those God-give- n : and d principles, obedience to which makes a people great. No civilization yet has ever turned aside from those great precepts revealed in the Word of God and survived; nor shall we. We shall either love the Book, the God of the Book and obey the great precepts of the Book, or we shall perish like other nations before us. We cannot but pray the prayer of Moses: "Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!" (Deuteronomy 5:29). A. 7 Heaven-reveale- John Cardinal Cody, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago. Frontiers are awesome. Not only intriguing and exciting, they are also a source of insecurity and a cause of fear. Only the brave cross over. Today man stands on the brink of the 21st century. Ke has planted footprints on the moon and has stepped out into space. He sees himself as a citizen of the universe, thrilled but frightened. Simultaneously open to him here on earth are the world of power with its promise and threat, the world of technology, both awesome and awful, and the world of man filled with hope and despair. Adventurers and optimists might see cause for grei. hope. But other voices speak of fear, insecurity, frustration, and despair. To them, the Bible speaks a clear and forthright word: "Fear not!" It is a repeated urging in both the Old Testament and the New. The small steps of a man do indeed create giant leaps for mankind. Sacred Scripture reminds us time and time again that in our greatest conquest and our most dismal failure, we are in the hands of God. "Fear Yr John Cardinal Cody not!" He said to Peter when He took bold steps across the waves (Matthew 14 :25-3. "Fear not !" He said to the women who took brave steps into His 3) tomb (Matthew 28:1-10And to us who stand on the edge of so many new worlds, He says again, "Fear not . . . Stand up! Do not be afraid" (Matthew 17:5-8-). ). The Rev. Dr. Julius Mark, rabbi New emeritus. Temple Emanu-E- l, York, Churchman of the Year (1969) of Religious Heritage of America. It is strange that we who are living in an age of tumult, hatred, and violence do not turn more frequently and assiduously to the Bible not only for comfort but for guidance. The very thought of the transformation that would occur in our present society and in the world at large if everyone made a serious effort to d dream of put into practice the "brethren living together in unity" age-ol- and of each individual "living in peace under his own vine and fig tree with none to make him afraid" would be translated into blessed reality if we would "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God." There are innumerable other passages in the Bible which admonish us not to curse the darkness of our generation but to light a candle. The prophet Joel, for example, spoke of the time when "your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions." Why are dreams associated with the old and visions with the young? Because it is the nature of the old to gather up the past and rehash it in their dreams, while the young should think the future and behold visions of a more beautiful future. The hatred and the violence which have erupted in both our cities and on our college campuses may be traced to the tragic fact that many, but by nc means a majority, of our youth white as well as black have become so frustrated and heartbroken that they have abandoned a belief in the future. They no longer see visions but only dream nightmares. What our nation needs above all is hope. What the world needs is hope. Therefore, we must continue to strive for a revival of vision in youth, a of a belief that it is worthwhile studying, it is worthwhile building and not destroying ; that there will be a future and that it is up to all of us to cooperate and 'vork unitedly. re-iv- al Carson Blake, General Secretary, World Council of Dr. Eugene Churches. The Rev. Dr. Julius Mark The most serious problem in our nation and the world today is a threefold one, which involves the confrontation of rich and poor, the ideological questions posed by Marxist ideology, and the problem of racism. Of these, racism is the most difficult. Economic and ideological systems can be changed relatively easily, but we cannot change skin color. The churches today are realizing that working for economic and social development is one of their major re sponsibilities. But the churches cannot meet the problem alone. It seems to me that unless the American people begin to press business, trade unions, university, and Government leadership to treat poverty as a moral issue, our culture and our nation ultimately will collapse in a deep swamp of greed and crime. Our motives and means as we struggle against poverty must be seen clearly in contrast to the Communist strategy to the same end. I call upon conservative Americans to support these efforts on their own ground of freedom, lest all of us find ourselves in a world increasingly dominated by tyrannical materialism. The World Council of Churches recently held an international Consultation on Racism in London, the first ' ; !" -- - y tf" --v ;f 3d Dr. Eugene Carson Blake event of its kind in church history. The consultation endorsed the principle of reparations, not advocating any particular group as the recipient. Religious institutions were asked to divest themselves of their excessive material wealth and give a significant portion of it, without control, to organizations of the racially oppressed. The Biblical passages that I find most applicable here are from Paul in the Revised Standard Version : "He made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earthy having determined the allotted periods, and the boundaries of their habitation" (Acts 17 :26) ; "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). Family Weekly, November 16, 1969 I XT - 1 . J 7 |