THE FALSE CURE OF PERPETUAL SUNSHINE

By Dr. M. R. Dowler

Radithor is a name probably not familiar to most. Radithor was a cure-all tonic marketed across the United States between 1918 and 1928. Radithor, the Certified Radioactive Water claimed to cure more than 150 health disorders. William Bailey, Radithor’s creator touted its miraculous results as “The New Weapon of Medical Science.” Another one of Radithor’s ads called it “Perpetual Sunshine” in a bottle. Trouble was---Bailey had no medical or scientific training and his product didn’t work, at all. In fact, it eventually killed some of the people who tried it.

After careful analysis of its ingredients, the newspapers reported that Radithor was laced with radium, the highly radioactive metal. But the tragic irony is that no one at the time properly tested Radithor until wealthy industrialist Eben Byers died after consuming nearly 1,400 bottles. In an effort to reverse the bad press, William Bailey offered $1,000 to anyone who could prove the danger of Radithor. No one took up the offer and Bailey drank some of his own product. He died of cancer in 1949 and his body was exhumed in 1969 out of fear of radioactive contamination. The Geiger Counter used during the autopsy showed a significant amount of radium twenty years after his death. Such was the power of a false cure.

Theologically, salvation by grace is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). But the idea of salvation by grace alone is difficult for humans to grasp; theologian Millard Erickson wrote, “Somehow it does not seem right that we should receive salvation without having to do anything for it.” But God won’t have it any other way (Romans 6:23). If humans could do anything to facilitate salvation, certainly it would be reason to boast. Boasting is an expression of pride, and pride was the original sin in which Lucifer became Satan.

Works salvation (baptism, circumcision, church membership, etc) is what the Apostle Paul called “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9) Simply stated, the unregenerate are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-2; Colossians 2:13); incapable of any kind of genuine work of redemption. Radithor was marketed as a physical cure, but it was a poison that led to physical death. Trying to gain salvation through any means other than the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Titus 3:5) sounds like a laudable “spiritual cure”, but it is a spiritual poison that leads to a spiritual second death (Revelation 21:8). Think about it.

LARRY KING’S FANTASY INTERVIEW

By Dr. M. R. Dowler

Lawrence Harvey Zeigler was born in Brooklyn NY in 1933. Soon after he got his first job in 1957 as a broadcaster on a local radio station, Lawrence Zeigler changed his name to Larry King because the station manager felt Lawrence Zeigler sounded too German and too Jewish. Larry King has had a storied career. He has interviewed over 30,000 people during his twenty-five year television career on CNN; and in 1989 the Guinness Book of World Records credited King as having broadcast more hours on radio than anyone.

Of all the people Larry King has talked to over the years, there is one person he said he would love to interview, although he quickly acknowledged an interview would obviously be impossible. When asked who would be the subject of King’s fantasy interview, he stated in the October 22, 1990 issue of People Magazine, “Jesus Christ.” And when pressed as to what he would like to ask Jesus, Larry King replied, “I’d like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin born.”

The doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ is one of the hot-button issues within theology and next to the resurrection of Christ; the virgin birth is one of the most debated and controversial biblical subject.  Theologically, the doctrine of the virgin birth falls within two camps----conservative theology looks at Jesus’ virgin birth as a miracle clearly taught in the scriptures (Isaiah 7:14), while liberal theology sees every birth as a miracle and views Christ’s birth as no different than any human.

These two vastly different perspectives are also seen in their respective big-picture view of Jesus. Liberal theology emphasizes the immense of God---that is, God is seen as everywhere present and active; conservative theology emphasizes the transcendence of God---God is outside of our world, but so interested in the affairs of His human creation that He came to live among us for a brief period of time (Luke 19:10). The virgin birth should be important to us simply because it occurred (Matthew 1:18, 25; Luke 1:26-38). Simply stated, the virgin birth is indispensable to the sinlessness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), and also serves to remind us that our salvation is as supernatural as was His virgin birth (John 3:5-6). Think about it.

THE WILD WEST OF BIBLE PROPHECY

By Dr. M. R. Dowler

I like prophecy. I love to hear it preached and I love to study about it in order to preach it myself. Most people would agree that the subject of Bible prophecy is exciting. There is something within our inquisitive nature that loves to learn something about the future never known before (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Conversely, the study of prophecy in many of our modern churches is like living in the Wild West---anything goes. The wildest of predictions and the most outlandish of speculations abound by preachers in church and on television.

On such example is the proclivity to try to figure out the identity of the Antichrist. I have several shelves of prophecy books in my library ranging from decades old to recent publications. One prophecy teacher (of whom I have several of his books), popular in the 1970s and 1980s “identified” the man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3-5) as Henry Kissinger by using the letters in his name supposedly totaling 666 (you know A=1, B=2; etc). Trouble with using these letter/number schemes is that you can manipulate just about anyone’s name to total 666, even Barney the Purple Dinosaur or Ronald Wilson Reagan. And as ridiculous as this may sound, a lot of good folks can and do get wrapped up in it.

Eschatology is a big fancy-schmancy theology word for the study of prophecy and the end times. Interestingly, eschatology seems to fall within one of two extremes; what theologian Millard Erickson calls “eschatomania” and “eschatophobia.” Eschatomania, as the name implies, sees prophecy in every aspect of Christian theology. Eschatophobia is a fear of all things prophetic. Sadly, some pastors are so intimidated with what the Bible and fallible human authors say about the end time that they fail to study or teach it.

A balanced view of eschatology must be maintained. Prophecy is important, and there are at least three reasons why God wants us to study prophecy; 1) we are commanded to study it (Isaiah 34:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21); 2) certain parts of the prophetic program can comfort us (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18); and 3) knowing what the Bible says about the future can help us to consecrate our lives to Christ today (1 John 3:1-3). Sometimes we Bible teachers get it wrong, not intentionally, but because we also (as everyone) “look through the glass darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:9-12). Think about it.

THE OTHER STATUE OF LIBERTY

By Dr. M. R. Dowler

Most of us know a few basic details about the Statue of Liberty; it was a gift from France of a woman holding a torch in her hand. And its greenish patina tint is the result of the weathering process of the copper it was made of. But there is another statue of liberty probably few are aware of. It is called the National Monument to the Forefathers in Plymouth MA, formerly named the Pilgrims’ Monument.

The 81-foot high National Monument was over sixty years in the making, from its design in 1820 to its dedication on August 1, 1889, just thirty-four months after the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor. The National Monument features a central statue symbolizing faith in the center with one hand pointing to heaven and the other holding the Bible. Along the base are four smaller, seated statues representing Morality, Law, Education and Liberty.

Spiritual liberty is one of the hallmarks of the doctrine of salvation (James 1:25). Simply stated,  it is the deliverance from sin through the transforming power of grace (Galatians 5:13), and true liberty in Christ alone is the message of the gospel itself (Galatians 2:4-5). Interestingly, the precursor of spiritual liberty is found in the Old Testament Year of Jubilee celebrated every fifty years in ancient Israel (Leviticus 25:8-10) in which men and land was released from bondage or mortgage.

The word liberty is used twenty-seven times in the Bible (KJV) and it always points to freedom from some sort of bondage. Theologically, Christians are free from the condemnation of sin through faith in Christ (John 3:16-19). In this life, brethren, we are free from the power, but not the presence of sin. The National Monument serves as a matrix of the Christian faith portrayed in granite. Christian actor Kirk Cameron featured this statue of spiritual liberty in his 2012 documentary Monumental. So celebrate your national liberty today and your spiritual liberty everyday. Think about it. Happy Fourth of July.