Christ, Christianity and the Bible — Background and Themes

The Argument from Goodness

Haldeman builds his case for Christ's divinity on the premise that the world accepts Jesus as a good man. He enumerates Christ's compassion, unselfishness, and beneficence—giving sight, healing, raising the dead. The logic is stark: if Jesus is merely human, his claim to be God would be blasphemy, making him not good. The excerpts show Haldeman using vivid, almost cinematic scenes, such as the evening crowd pressing against a house where Jesus heals. This is not abstract theology; it is a pastoral appeal designed to move the reader. The catalog subject 'Jesus Christ -- Divinity' is thus treated not as a doctrine to be proved but as a conclusion forced by moral evidence.

Doctrine as the Church's Vertebrate Strength

In the later excerpt, Haldeman shifts to a polemic against modernism. He insists that preachers must preach doctrine—three times he repeats 'doctrine' as the first, second, and pre-eminent thing. The church, he claims, is starving for want of it, and preachers have become 'emasculated apologists.' He contrasts this with the courage of martyrs and missionaries who believed in supernatural truths. The catalog subject 'Christianity -- 20th century' is here given a specific shape: Haldeman sees his era as one of compromise, where the church risks bankruptcy by accommodating modern thought. His language is direct and confrontational, warning that a Christianity reduced to moral maxims will be rejected.

The Supernatural as the Eternal Miracle

Haldeman calls for a return to 'old-fashioned doctrinal, supernatural, miraculous Christianity.' He argues that the world is tired of mechanistic explanations and longs for something beyond the material. The excerpts show him dismissing 'mere machinery' and laboratory formulas, insisting that Christianity is miraculous because God is 'the eternal miracle.' This section ties together his earlier arguments: Christ's divinity is the foundation, doctrine is the structure, and the supernatural is the lifeblood. The catalog subjects do not capture the urgency of his tone—he warns that if the church hesitates, it will face 'spiritual and moral bankruptcy.' His solution is a defiant proclamation of traditional beliefs, unapologetic and uncompromising.

Readers approaching Haldeman's work should expect a sermon-like text, heavy with rhetorical questions and emotional crescendos. The excerpts are incomplete, but they suggest a structure that moves from Christ's person to the church's mission. Haldeman's voice is that of a pastor convinced of crisis, not a scholar weighing evidence. His reliance on vivid imagery and direct address makes the book a period piece of early 20th-century conservative Protestantism. Those interested in the history of Christian apologetics or the modernist-fundamentalist controversy will find it a revealing document.

Reading Haldeman's fierce insistence on Christ's living presence, I found myself thinking not of arguments, but of stillness. His clamor felt exhausting, and my mind drifted to a quieter path, one where divine connection is found in simple, receptive silence. That older text felt like a sigh after shouting. A Short Method of Prayer — Text and Context holds that breath.