He appears to the nations in many guises. He is Lord of history,
Presuppositions for Encounter with Communism 161
people. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.... Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand."
3. As Christians we see God at work in history in many ways; He appears to the nations in many guises. He is Lord of history, of the history of Babylon and Egypt and Rome as well as of Judah and Israel. Assyria was the "rod of His anger, the staff of His fury." Cyrus was "His anointed, whose right hand He grasped," and "His shepherd" who would fulfill His purpose. He made the Caesars to serve the spread of the Gospel. He is in the turnings and overturnings of history; He rules over the rise and fall of empires. Communism is part of His domain. In God's providence Communism may be a teacher, a strange, harsh and unwelcome teacher, but nevertheless needed; in the words of Isaiah, "Though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed." If God works through totalitarian Communism to bring about in some countries swift reconstruction, long-awaited social reforms, and the discipline of society, we must accept this as a judgment not only on these countries but also on us of the more privileged nations who have failed in our ; duty to the rest of humanity.
At the same time Christians should not shut their eyes to the cost of violent revolutions and the terrible physical and spiritual wounds that they inflict on the body politic. In long perspective these terrific upheavals may be necessary, even though the evil in them seems to outweigh the good. They, and all the social ferment of our time, show that God has placed tremendous creative powers
in the hands of His creatures, to search out the secrets of nature, "to have dominion over the works of God's hands," and to influence the course of history, powers that may be used to construct or to — destroy. This is the risk that God took when He gave freedom to man. The fallen angel may become a rebellious devil. Yet we are
sure that God is the ultimate master and ruler of peas past, present, and future.
4. It is imperative for the Christian to try to understand Marxian Communism from within—its origins and development, its theories _ and structures, its religious features, its subtle appeals and dynamic _ force, as much as he tries to understand any religious or social __ movement of today. Ignorance is perilous. Understanding does not mean acceptance, but simply a wise discernment of the "signs of i the ane and a clear insight into the thinking and feeling of