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B.- That is an answer which I believe to be very much to the point; and if we could only substitute the earlier
revelation of truth found in the Gospels and the Acts for the law of Moses, we should have a parallel argument that
would exactly suit our case. Let me put it this way. The Church which is the Body of Christ, called into being after
Israel had been set aside at Acts 28, is associated with a calling that goes back before the foundation of the world, a
`mystery', `hid in God' until it was revealed to Paul as the prisoner of Jesus Christ. As a member of this Church I
can legitimately say with regard to the Gospel of the Kingdom and the calling associated with Abraham :
Because I do not now attempt to follow the teaching that belongs to the dispensation of the kingdom of
Israel, it does not follow that I do not believe the Gospels and the Acts to be inspired and true. I simply do not
believe that their teaching was given to me.
A.- When you put the matter like that, I can appreciate the strength of your argument, but I am by no means sure
that the cases are parallel. The coming of Christ and His offering of Himself upon the Cross for our redemption
stand between me and the law of Moses; but you, by cutting off the Gospels, the Acts and the early Epistles of Paul,
cut away the very Cross of Christ and so overthrow the foundations of our faith.
B.- I think we are getting to grips at last. Am I correct in assuming that you have been assured by some brethren
of repute and standing that we have no place in our teaching for the Epistle to the Romans?
A.- Well, as you ask the question, I must answer in the affirmative. I have read in the writings of more than one
teacher that The Berean Expositor has no room for the teaching of the Epistle to the Romans, and because I value
this epistle more than any other book in the New Testament, I felt, out of sheer loyalty to Christ Who fills the epistle
with grace and glory, that I should have no dealings either with you or your literature.
B.- I suppose the following extract from an article on the Epistle to the Romans would give a fair presentation of
your own attitude. (Reads) :
`Perhaps no one book in the whole of the Scriptures may be considered to have a claim upon all who believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, more than the Epistle to the Romans. Where all exhibit the hall-mark of inspiration,
comparisons are odious, but inasmuch as a building needs foundations as well as top-stones, so we may speak of
the Epistle to the Romans as essentially fundamental in character'.
A.- That represents exactly my own position and contention.
B.- May I read a little more from the same writer?
`Paul had been charged with introducing innovations, preaching a self-evolved message, of altering laws and
customs, and therefore before he defines his gospel he turns aside to declare that it was entirely in harmony with
the Old Testament Scriptures, and indeed was the fulfilment of its promises. In 1:17 he picks out one verse from
an Old Testament prophet and makes it live for all time: "The just shall live by faith". In chapter 3:10-18 he
shows that his doctrine of universal sin is founded upon the Old Testament Scriptures, and in chapter 3:21
declares that the gospel presentation of a righteousness of God without the law is witnessed by the law and the
prophets ... He who tampers with Moses destroys John 3:16 (see 3:14). He who ridicules Jonah denies the
resurrection (Matt. 12:40). He who disbelieves the Flood doubts the Second Advent (Matt. 24:37-39).
Moreover, as a final witness against Modernism, it was the risen Christ Who declared that all things must be
fulfilled that had been written of Him "in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms" (Luke 24:44).
The many who believe the gospel of God as preached by Paul can have neither part nor lot with any who deny
the inspiration of the Old Testament, narrow and old-fashioned though such an attitude may appear'.
A.- These are exactly my own views, and the last sentence expresses my own reason for refusing your literature.
B.- You think, then, that the writer of these extracts was sound in the faith?
A.- Yes, and I wish you would send a copy of these articles to the Editor of The Berean Expositor. It might do
him good.
B.- I am sure he would read them with interest, particularly as he wrote them himself.