Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1841-1853, 1846-08-27

lies the mistake Of this scripture Interpretation IN
evil hearts, than IN our want OF sklliln
Greek and Hebrew. Men know themselves, their
own acts and passions, and these make interPreta-
tons accordingly Gods word seems 10 us higher,
and more, acts and words are higher, and more
in the grace OF love As we are IN our hearts, not
so much IN our skill and scholarship, so shall we have
power interpret Our interpretations are klndo OF
declaration of ourselves. We put ourselves into the
scripture and call il God. The Jews pride and ma
tional ambition made him Moses and the pro-
phets to forete temporal, king-Chrst; his hatred
of the Gentiles made him interpret, Thou shalt ors
thu neighbor as thysef,' into Thou shall love thy
neighbor, and hate thine enemy lie called It the
word of God, the text of scrpure-but the word was
in his heart, the text was his heart. The dlscI-
pies of the divine Jesus thought the kingdom Of hca-
ven,' he spoke of continually, Lad throne, and
great places around the the throne, and glory and
power, and 50 they interpreted his scripture The
throne and the power IN their hearts, not IN MS
scripture. The bread they thought he meant to re-
buke them for forgetting when he ssld, Take heed,
and beware of the leaven Of the Pharsees and OF the
eaven of Herod, in their carnal hearts, not IN
his scripture.
The Bible is the word of God according TO the
spiritual well the intellectual being of its inter-
prefers. Whose shall do the will, he shall know Of
the doctrine ; not whose shall cUriously study the
word. When human society shall seek TO do the
work of love, through their laws, then deeper d.
vnty shall manifest itself in thescrlpture. fathers
aud mothers soul is the best interpreter OF Gods
word 1t is Gods greatest revelation Of all his works.
They all declare him, animate and inanima;e. The
heavens shall declare his glory the bossomiug earth
shall image his beauty the forces of nature shall de-
clare his power the relations of father and mother
and child, only, in the purified human heart, shall de-
clare his endless love In love Is God revealed; to
| love is he revealed Dost thou love! Then hast
thou a revelation of God the Father and mayest in
terpret his word. Ifnot. not. The revelation must
accord with the heart of the interpreter.
For myself, am ready to say, so very father Is
God TO me so loving to all his children so espe-
cialy tender to his sinful and Prodgal sad sons
| ('and when he was yet great uGy of, his father
saw him, and ran, and fell his neck, and kissed
him !; that if the book though called his BY every
outward authority, demanded of me, commanded me
to kill his child, my brother, deliberately, the gal
lows for any crime; must say, beyond the reach Of
question in my spirit, the book is not from God the
Father. Ii may be the word of what will call,
and worship for God, in evil hearts, the God re-
vealed to unoving hearts, but cannot be the word
of God the Father. Is ChrisieDdom alive, in Jesus,
to the thought of the sonsbip Of man with the FATHER
God Or is it not dead, still, in the thought of the
subjectship of man to the power of the KING God
The last, surely. Our governments represent our
thought; power, the king is in them all the Father
is not yet come in our governments he is coming.
But whatever might feel of that state which
could find perpetual revelation from God, to all
mankind forever 10 kill their offending brethren his
children in penalty for sad murder, that revelation
is not in the 9th chapter of Genesis.
In a brief recapulation of the whole matter, the
first verses Of that chapter, embracing the whole
of one continuous subject contain this and this is
the whole A blessing to Noah and his children.
Their increase. The flesh of beasts birds, fish, rep
tiles insects given for food, like the vegetables ofhe
garden. prohibition to eat the flesh of A
statement of indefinite, consequential horror to arise
from it, inwardly and outwardly. And finally,
petition of the instructive blessing and Injunction to
multiply, and fill the earth.
| This, simply, is the whole of the matter. The
death penalty, for crime recognized by society,
must seek elsewhere in The Bible for Its foundation.
For, take the strongest view which the strongest in
depreciation give, of the authority of the 9th chap
ter of Genesis for the death penalty to be inflicted by
socety's law, and it is this-no more than this-a
debate, discussion a doubtful dsputation whether
or not, in the 9th and 9th verses, human law has the
sanction of the divine TO punish the killing of man,
| for cannibalism, with death. j. w. b.