Article May 22, 1948 Issue

Signs of the Times

"The open Bible"

with contributions from D. Elton Trueblood, Alfred P. Haake, T. T. Shields

Excerpts from two articles by Dr. D. Elton Trueblood in The Christian Advocate Chicago, Illinois

As we look at the modern global map we begin to note a remarkable historical fact about democracy and religion. All people have religions, but some religions are evidently more conducive to the development of democracy than others.

We find that democracy, in the sense of maximum human freedom consistent with order, is found most clearly in those lands which have had the tradition of the open Bible. ... If this is not an accident of history, and accidents on this scale do not occur, we need to understand more carefully what the connection is. ... To a degree which is often unrecognized, but is really very great, the democratic conception of life stems directly from the fundamental ideas which the Bible includes and which respect for the Bible encourages. Because this fact is so inadequately understood, it requires explanation in some detail. ... The important point to make clear is that as soon as the central idea of the sovereignty of God is established, men are set free from the domination of other men, and some kind of democracy is bound to ensue. The idea may find embodiment slowly, but it will find it at last. The first of the Ten Commandments seems, superficially, to be a purely religious matter, but it turns out to have revolutionary political implications. The kind of government which our forefathers established on American shores was inevitable for a people who had learned to read the Bible for themselves and to take it seriously.

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