World War I
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The leaders of Biola and of the Fundamentalist movement in general had specific views towards the Great War which are referred to often in The King's Business. These views range from strongly anti-war to mildly supportive of the war effort (in a very specific way).
Official opinion before US Entry
The earliest stages of the war in Europe provoked many anti-war editorials written by R.A. Torrey. In November 1914, he wrote the following: "It may be impossible at the present moment for us to fix the responsibility for the present war, but God knows at what man's door it lies, and it lies at the door of not one, but many. It is one of the most infamous crimes in the whole world's history. No murder of an individual, no matter how monstrous, is so enormous in the sight of God and of all intelligent men as this appalling crime that is now devastating many lands. The names of the persons who are responsible for this war ought to go down to posterity despised and loathed and regarded with horror."The King's Business Vol 5.11, Nov 1914: 593 http://www2.biola.edu/kingsbusinessview/5/11/4
3 months before the US entered the war, another editorial in The King's Business stated, "War never is possible among real Christians. ... A godless philosophy and an irreverent Criticism lies back of the whole war."The King's Business Vol. 8.1, Jan 1917, Pp. 7-8 http://www2.biola.edu/kingsbusiness/view/8/1/8
Kermit L. Staggers points out that "special criticism was directed at the German aerial bombardment, but England did not escape criticism in the pages of _The King's Business_. ... The general skepticism that Torrey expressed in The King's Business, questioning the legitimacy of England's cause and Germany's cause, extended into the area of whether American newspapers were reporting the war realistically."Staggers, Kermit L. 1986. Reuben A. Torrey: American Fundamentalist, 228. Claremont Graduate School. Indeed, the reality of WWI may not have penetrated the hearts and minds of Americans until the sinking of the British liner Lusitania on May 7, 1915 when 128 American were killed. While this event caused many Americans to begin thinking about possible war against Germany, Torrey and the editorials in The King's Business "advocated a policy of moderation toward the German nation."Staggers, Kermit L. 1986. Reuben A. Torrey: American Fundamentalist, 229. Claremont Graduate School. While Woodrow Wilson was advocating a stance of peaceful strength, Torrey's editorials praised the President for being "calm and righteous." In April 1917, 5 months after Wilson had been re-elected primarily because of his advocacy of peace and only days before the US entered the war, The King's Business stated that "there seems to be no possibility of America's being kept out of this most appalling war in all the world's history. The course being pursued by Germany has no shadow of excuse in international law or humanity. In their desperation that nation and its rulers seem to have gone mad. It looks as if there was nothing left to be done but to utterly crush the nation, to bring it to its senses."The King's Business Vol 8.4, Apr 1917: 293. http://www2.biola.edu/kingsbusinessview/8/4/6
Official opinion after US entry
In another editorial published in October 1917, the editor writes, "We are in the war because Germany violated and re-violated our rights and things came to such a pass that we were left without any choice as to whether we would go into the war or not. The Government of the United States simply recognized a war that already existed, which Germany had started."The King's Business Vol. 8.10, Oct 1917, Pg. 867-8 [While the official position before the United States' entry into the war was strongly anti, later the editors are willing to recognize the necessity of entering the war, as long as the real issue is not revenge against the German people, but resistance of evil, sin and the devil.
The overall attitude of the periodical was one of reluctant approval, but many of the consequential side-effects of the US war effort were strongly condemned by the same editorials. The arrest and jailing of a southern minister who was suspected of disloyalty to the President, the idea that a man could be saved by patriotically dying for his country, and food rationing that ignored the grain being wasted by the alcohol industry--these were all decried by various editorials as wrong, false or misguided.
In fact, the alcoholic beverage industry was to become a central theme of The King's Business editorials during late 1917 and 1918, as the focus shifted to promoting the "conclusion of two wars--the war to end all wars and the war to end all alcoholic beverages."Staggers, Kermit L. 1986. Ibid., 260.
Moral and Religious Issues
Clearly the editors thought it important to address moral and religious issues which were relevant to the American people and to American soldiers in the war. As Staggers writes, "the editorial position of the magazine reluctantly accepted American participation while using the war as a vehicle for an attack on American social evils such as strong drink."Staggers, Kermit L. Ibid., 260.
Alcohol
Tobacco
In an editorial published June 1918, the issue of tobacco use among American soldiers is addressed. Beginning in March 1918, soldiers were issued American Red Cross comfort kits, which contained toiletries and other essentials, as well as pipe tobacco and cigarettes. The King's Business quotes the Western Christian Advocate: "We are scientifically correct and ethically right in opposing the use of tobacco. ...] Not from a moral point of view, but because it is absolutely hurtful to the human constitution."The King's Business Vol. 9.6, Jun 1918, Pg. 456-7 http://www2.biola.edu/kingsbusiness/view/9/6/3
"Patriotism as Religion"
Drain on the Church
Later that year, the editors addressed the problem of the war's having drawn off the best and brightest young men of the local church in order to fight for their country.The King's Business Vol. 9.9, Sep 1918, Pg. 738-9 http://www2.biola.edu/kingsbusiness/view/9/9/3 This commentary vividly illustrates the more foundational concerns of the editors of The King's Business-those of spiritual and religious wholeness. While many issues relating to World War I are addressed in the periodical, they are almost invariably connected to the state of the church or the moral degradation of the American people. Even more indicative of this attitude is the number of main articles in The King's Business which dealt with the war-there were few if any. Although the editors thought it necessary to discuss problems that the war created and correct wrong attitudes towards the war's purposes and effects, the primary goals of The King's Business continued to be evangelism and Bible teaching.