The Wave of Scepticism and the Rock of Truth

by M. H. Habershon

"Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever."

"These are they that came out of great tribulation, and washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever."

There is nothing in the Fourth Gospel, nor in any other part of Scripture, that more emphatically proclaims the Godhead of Jesus Christ than this worship of Him by the whole host of heaven. The whole creation, as twice described in the second commandment, fall down and worship Him. It is identical with the language Paul uses in his letter to the Philippians: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

This sort of language pervades the whole book. The allegory of a Lamb slain to wash away sin by the shedding of His blood occurs a score times.

It is not possible to read it and believe what our author insinuates. He wants some proof that the four Gospels are not religious romances written long after the events occurred which they record. I point out that the author has the proof in his own argument that John wrote the Apocalypse, and that the evidence therein given to the miracles is not affected by any uncertainty whether the Gospels were produced by eye-witnesses, or constructed on second-hand evidence, by such disciples as Mark and Luke.

No criticism ever questions that Paul preached a miraculous gospel, or ever doubts the genuineness of certain of his epistles in which the doctrines are fully stated.

There are, at least, four which have never been questioned—viz., the First of Thessalonians, written about the year 50; the Epistle to the Galatians, A.D. 52; the First of Corinthians, A.D. 57; and the one to the Romans, A.D. 58; and in all those letters the miracles and doctrines are referred to which, years before, when he first went forth to preach, were the themes of his ministry. His insight into spiritual matters increased as he grew older, as his later writings indicate; but from first to last it was the same gospel.

He writes to the Corinthians in the year 57, to remind them of the gospel he had preached unto them. He says, "I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures; and that he was seen of Peter, then of the twelve; after that he was seen of five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time." Now as Paul's written version of the gospel at this time was in the main identical with John's, we get from the evidence that John wrote the Apocalypse a very definite conclusion.

It has been absurdly suggested by John Stuart Mill, and others,[66] that Paul originated the dogmatic doctrines of Christianity. Now we know that Paul, in the early years of his ministry, communicated with James, Peter, and John, at Jerusalem, respecting that gospel which he was preaching among the Gentiles; for he writes to that effect in his unquestioned epistle to the Galatians, and tells them that when "those three apostles, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to him, they gave to him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship." Would John and Peter and James have done this if the miraculous gospel Paul told them he was preaching was inconsistent with their own knowledge of the circumstances and events in Christ's life of which they were all eye-witnesses?