The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-07-02 00:00:00

THE BIBLE ON MAN'S EARTHLY CONDITION.—We
aver, that in God's Word, and that throughout its pages,
not in a few places, but in many—not dubiously, but with
the greatest clearness—there are given doctrines, and re-
proofs, and instructions in righteousness, for legislators,
for statesmen, and for num of wealth arid influence; and
that the general tenour of these is directly opposed to
what a set of philosophers, falsely so-called, of our own
times, have conspired to dignify with the name of political
economy. And accordingly, and very naturally, as the
Bible and they are at variance, they agree to lay the Bible
on the shelf, and to assert that, however necessary and
supreme in its own department—the concerns of God and
the soul—yet in sublunary matters, the management of
nations, &c., it is either wholly silent, or speaks without
any divine authority, or any claim to our respect. Thus
it is that one of the best men and ablest divines in all
Scotland can write a treatise on political economy, in
which scarcely a single reference is found, from the first
line to the last, to the only infallible source of instruc-
tion—the word of God. But if by really great divines,
and eminent teachers of religion, the Bible is thus thrust
out of sight, who shall wonder, that the consequences to
the nation are of the fearful kind described by Mr. Bo-
sanquet. In his valuable work, he entitles a chapter.
"THERE IS NO FAITH," and thus does he prove his
assertion :—" Want of faith is the very characteristic of
this generation. Concurrent and consistent with this. is
a WANT OF CHARITY. The Bible is boldly and practi-
cally denied in every particular. No class or body of men
believe and obey it. And strange as it may seem, it is by
no nation, or people, or churches, or sects of men, less
implicitly believed and followed, than by those very peo-
ple and sections of the church who talk so much about it.
There are no persons less obedient to the plain sense and
mandates of the written word of God, than those who
most speak of and uphold it as the sole authority and
standard, and reject all assistance from the history of the
church, and what is spoken against as tradition. The
Bible is denied in every particular. Men do not believe
that we are really to be Christians ; that we are to imitate
our Lord. They do not believe that the world could pos-
sibly go on, if all men were to act upon pure Christian
motives, and up to a perfect Christian rule; if they were
to forgive and forget injuries; if they were not to resent
an affront; if they were to give to people, because they
asked them ; if they were to lend money, without looking
far interest ; if we were all to give up luxuries, and style,
and costly furniture, and equipage ; if we, our cattle, and
servants, were strictly to observe the day of rest. How
many are there who appear to believe that it is not right
to be anxious about the future ; that riches are not a good
thing ; that the entrance into heaven is easier to a poor
man ; that we ought to return a tenth to God ; that it
would bring a blessing, to give freely and largely to the
poor; that children are a blessing and a gift from the
Lord, and that the man is happy who has his quiver full
of them ? It is evident that, in all these points, the Bible
is disbelieved, and is practically denied ; and does not
control or guide us in our habits and principles of life and
of society. Still less do we believe that the public mea-
sures, the laws and the government of the state, and the
intercourse with other nations, ought to be, or can be,
carried on, and conducted on Christian principles. What
number or classes of persons believe that righteousness
exalteth a nation ; that the conscience of the government
is the conscience of the people ; and that our rulers arc
bound to take the first care for the pure religion
o, their
morals of the country ; and that, if they do s
righteousness will bring down a blessing upon the noonw7;
That the fault committed, in the disregard of
counsel and instruction, is as deplorably foolish,
fearfully profane, is unquestionable. There Gods
is but one
sure and unerring standard of truth in the woriv ld b t
one
mmoralitu y
—and
code of morals which is unpolluted b i
eny us for our guide.
that is the book which God has g
and either to reject or disregard it, is
To cast that aside,
not more irreligious and atheistic, than it is SENSELESS
AND runAxioNAL.—Remedies for the Perils of the
Nation.