Early in his ministry Dr. Harry A. Ironside was living in the San
Francisco Bay area, working with some Christians called Brethren. One
evening as he was walking through the city he came upon a group of
Salvation Army workers holding a meeting on the corner of Market and
Grant avenues. When they recognized Ironside they asked if he would
give his testimony. So he did, telling how God had saved him through
faith in the bodily death and literal resurrection of Jesus.
As he was speaking, Ironside noticed that on the edge of the
crowd there was a well-dressed man who had taken a card from his
pocket and had written something on it. As Ironside finished his talk
the man came forward, lifted his hat, and very politely handed
Ironside the card. On one side was his name, which Ironside
immediately recognized. The man was one of the early socialists who
had made a name for himself lecturing not only for socialism but also
against Christianity. As Ironside turned the card over he read, "Sir,
I challenge you to debate with me the question 'Agnosticism versus
Christianity' in the Academy of Science Hall next Sunday afternoon at
four o'clock. I will pay all expenses."
Ironside reread the card aloud and then replied somewhat like
this. "I am very much interested in this challenge. Frankly, I am
already scheduled for another meeting next Lord's Day afternoon at
three o'clock, but I think it will be possible for me to get through
with that in time to reach the Academy of Science Hall by four, or if
necessary I would arrange to have another speaker substitute for me at
the meeting already advertised. Therefore I will be glad to agree to
this debate on the following conditions: namely, that in order to
prove that this gentleman has something worth debating about, he will
promise to bring with him to the lecture hall next Sunday two people,
whose qualifications I will give in a moment, as proof that
agnosticism is of real value in changing human lives and building true
character.
"First, he must promise to bring with him one man who was for
years what we commonly call a 'down-and-outer.' I am not particular as
to the exact nature of the sins that had wrecked his life and made him
an outcast from society -- whether a drunkard, or a criminal of some
kind, or a victim of his sensual appetite -- but a man who for years
was under the power of evil habits from which he could not deliver
himself, but who on some occasion entered one of this man's meetings
and heard his glorification of agnosticism and his denunciations of
the Bible and Christianity, and whose heart and mind as he listened to
such an address were so deeply stirred that he went away from that
meeting saying, 'Henceforth, I too am an agnostic!' and as a result of
imbibing that particular philosophy found that a new power had come
into his life. The sins he once loved he now hates, and righteousness
and goodness are now the ideals of his life. He is now an entirely new
man, a credit to himself, and an asset to society -- all because he is
an agnostic.
"Secondly, I would like my opponent to promise to bring with him
one woman -- I think he may have more difficulty in finding the woman
than the man -- who was once a poor, wrecked, characterless outcast,
the slave of evil passions and the victim of man's corrupt living,
perhaps one who had lived for years in some evil resort, utterly lost,
ruined and wretched because of her life of sin. But this woman also
entered a hall where this man was loudly proclaiming his agnosticism
and ridiculing the message of the Holy Scriptures. As she listened,
hope was born in her heart, and she said, 'This is just what I need to
deliver me from the slavery of sin!' She followed the teaching and
became an intelligent agnostic or infidel. As a result, her whole
being revolted against the degradation of the life she had been
living. She fled from the den of iniquity where she had been held
captive for so long; and today, rehabilitated, she has won her way
back to an honored position in society and is living a clean,
virtuous, happy life -- all because she is an agnostic.
"Now," he said, addressing the man who had presented him with his
card and the challenge, "if you will promise to bring these two people
with you as examples of what agnosticism can do, I will promise to
meet you at the Academy of Science Hall at four o'clock next Sunday,
and I will bring with me at the very least one hundred men and women
who for years lived in just such sinful degradation as I have tried to
depict, but who have been gloriously saved through believing the
gospel which you ridicule. I will have these men and women with me on
the platform as witnesses to the miraculous saving power of Jesus
Christ and as present-day proof of the truth of the Bible."
Dr. Ironside then turned to the Salvation Army captain, a girl,
and said, "Captain, have you any who could go with me to such a
meeting?"
She exclaimed with enthusiasm, "We can give you forty at least
just from this one corps, and we will give you a brass band to lead
the procession!"
"Fine," Dr. Ironside answered. "Now, sir, I will have no
difficulty picking up sixty others from the various missions, gospel
halls, and evangelical churches of the city. So if you will promise to
bring two such exhibits as I have described, I will come marching in
at the head of such a procession, with the band playing 'Onward,
Christian Soldiers,' and I will be ready for the debate."
Apparently the man who had made the challenge had some sense of
humor, for he smiled wryly and waved his hand in a deprecating kind of
way as if to say "Nothing doing!" and then edged out of the crowd
while the bystanders applauded Ironside and the others.
"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes
of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of
the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commandments of the
Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is
pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and
altogether righteous" (Ps. 19:7-9).
This article originated on The Salvation Online Network
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