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When You Say ·
~~PRINCE
OF PEACE''
DoYou Really Know
What You're Talking About?
by Jeff Calkins
' T IS THE SEASON
when it
seems like everyone goes
around talking of peace.
that says that man can create a
peaceful world by himsel f:
"Last night 1 had the strangest
dream 1 ever dreamed before; 1
dreamed the world had al! agreed
to put an end .to war."
That "modern civilization may
someday be changed so that
neighborly good will and helpful
partnership may be fostered. "
20
All of a sudden, people are quot–
ing the Bible.
Because Christmas is supposed
to celebrate Christ's birth, who
hasn't beard these two passages
quoted widely?-
"For unto us a chi ld
is born ... and bis name shall
be called . . . Prince of Peace"
(Isaiah 9:6).
And ..... on earth peace, good
will toward men" (Luke 2:14).
Men identify Christmas with
their longing for peace. Even nor–
mally hardheaded journalists be–
come quite sent imental at t his
time of year.
For example:
"Someday t he spirit of Christ–
mas will mean more in national
and international affairs than it
does today.
"Someday there wi ll be peace
on earth.
"Someday there will be good
will toward men."
Those words were written 25
years ago in
U.S . News and
Wor/d Report
by the late editor
David Lawrence. Bu t as is ob–
vious , tbat "someday" is not
today. We have not yet reached
that biblically prophesied millen–
nium of world peace.
Consider a popular folk song
Peace Wlthout God?
Man believes he can create a
peaceful world. T he idea, most
often put for th by the religious
leaders of this world (who of all
people should know better!), is
that if only the nations can agree
to put down their weapons and be
nice to each other, war can be
ended. Of course, such fluffy ide–
alism has never worked in tbe last
near 6,000 years of human bis–
tory. But that doesn't seem to
make any difference to them.
I n 1979, for examp le, at the
World Conference on Rel igion
and Peace, in Princeton, New
J ersey, t here met 337 representa–
tives of the world's religions–
Christian, Buddhist, Confucian–
ist, Hindu , J ewish, Jainist, Mos–
lem, Sikh, Shintoist and Zoroas–
trian. T heir declarat ion showed
-their high expectation . for what
man
can accompl isb by himself in
this world:
That "the power of active love,
uniting men and women in the
search for righteousness, will lib–
erate the world from all injustice,
hatred and wrong."
That "all religions will increas–
ingly cooperate in creating a
responsible world community."
Funny that religious leaders
should leave God out as a neces–
sary part of any attainment of a
peacefu l world! (But then, t hey
cannot even agree on who or what
God is!)
The same kind of thinking also
makes itself known in the annual
Ch ristmas messages of prominent
world religious leaders. T hey gen–
erally believe the way to peace is
through human efforts toward
disarmament, "teaching peace"
and human use of " moral weap–
ons" like international law.
The Way to Peace They
Ha.ve No t Known
War is rooted in t he nature of
man. The Bible, unlike many of
t he religious leaders of this world ,
reveals a realistic view of human
nature-the way human beings as
a whole are!
"As it is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one. .. . Their
fee t are swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery are in
their ways: And t he way of peace
have they not known" (Romans
3: 10, 15- 17).
If
it were not so,
The
PLAIN TRUTH