The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1874-11-12

means, "thst kind of inspiration which
is free from all errors" Thousands
have rejected the whole Bible in dis
gust, because they have been taught
that it is purely the word Of God, in
the highest sense, in all its parts, un-
contaminated by the human nature
of It's authors. But the day Of such
tea hing is rapidly passing and mul-
titudes are nov studying the Bible
with pleasure and profit, who once re-
jected it in consequence Of the false
claims set up for il.
The Bible Is collection of books,
VARYING in their general character.an
may be classed as historical, poetical.
prophetical, doctrinal, and those of
mixed character. The holy scriptures
were given by inspiration of God
What is inspiratlons Without the
constant immediate presence of God
we could not exist for one moment.
"For in him we live, and move, and
have our being" But we are com
plex beings, having an animal nature,
and moral and religious nature. We
are sustained, impelled, and guided
by our Creator in our animal nature
as animals We have our animal in
stncts, which would be unerring
guides to us MS animals, were we
merely animals. Wild animals have
inspirations, or as we call them in
s:incts, by which they attain to per-
fection as animals, each after his kind
| And each wild animal is in all re-
spects. essentially like every other
one OF his species. But MN has SUI
peradded to his animal nature, re
ligious or spiritual one, by which he
| is directly allied or bound to the Pa
rent or Author of his being. Thus
made, to a certain extent, in the i'm
age Of God, he is his child and capa-
BILE of spiritual communion with him
But mans sp ritual nature is not per-
fected in this life; it, like the animal
nature is progressive in its develop
ment, but unlike the animal nature,
is susceptible Of an indefinite or Him
table culture and growth, and its in
spiratioaS are in keeping with its de-
,elopment and activily,its aspirations.
Man is not totally depraved, but is
religious being all men have some
idea Of Supreme being, aud Of an
after life Of the spirit.ideas not leara-
ed from instruction alone, but inspir-
ed by their Creator; ideas which are
felt in the soul. however much some
may attempt to discard them AS val
uless, because their suggestions are
not demon.trahle by finite reason or
knowledge. But while all men are
inspired of God, all are not inspired
alike. Inspiration varies both in kind
and degree, and nowhere is this bet
ter illustrated than in the Bible.
The Jews, or rather individuals
among them, were more highly de-
veloped in their spiritual nature than
we're any persons among surrounding
nations. From The earliest d,wn Of
history we find them recognizing but
ono God, the Greater and ruler of the
universe. Msn is pre-eminently So
cial being. He alone has the power
of articulate speech; Of imparting 10
others his knowledge, his feelings.his
inspirations. We are not only taught
directly by inspiration, but indirectly
by the inspiration of Others The
Jews were selected, in the order of
Gods providence. from among whom
individuals should be developed.
through whom to transmit indirectly
to the world the fundamental traths
of religion, and not only their general
history, but their religious history has
been preserved fr,m early times, as
has that Of no other ia ion; and from
what We know of the religious culture
of other nations, we know that their
religious history was not as we'll
worth preserving The Bible is sp,-
ken Of as the word of God, but this
phrase is used by many in a vastly
different sense from what it was for
merly. The time has been when it was
tempted to check the progress Of
science, from the false idea that the
Bible is truthful record as to all
things. Calico was forbidden to
teach that the sun was stationary and
that the earth revolved on its axis
Geologists have been bitterly attack
ed for teaching scientific facts at war
with the letter of the Bible, and
Hugh Miller, called 1.-The granite boul-
der OF orthodox theology" became in
sane by too intense application of
mind in his s,udions attempt to show
harmony between the letter OF the
Bible and geological science. The
opinion seems to be gaining ground
that all men are no, DESCRIBED from
single pair, but that mn was ori
ginallv created in several races, and
it is objected that this is opposed to
the letter of the Bible. But the God
of nature, and the God + the Bible
are one, and his designs and plrpo.eo
in his general providence in pre>erv
ing the history of the Jew, VIII not
be thwartel: nor will the rev,.lati ipns
of scripture to the so"l, aud thosr of
nature to the intellect ne found dis
cordant. Theolngians have been
forced to revise their crude opinions
of the Bible, and it is no longer the
word of God in the old sense. Lead
ing theologians now deny tn all the
words of the Bible are inspired, or
that it is inspired i'll things pertain
ing to science. The words generally,
the grammatical co struction, the
.tyle is human, and each writer has
his peculiarities. aud his style is gov
erned by The modes OF speech Of the
age in which he lived. The book of
Genesis opens with an 'sOdc t, csea-
tio.,' "a grand symbo Hymn of
Creation" s.The rythmical character
of the passage,its sta ely 4r,ndenr,iis
paralleIisns, its unit, within itself,
all combine to show that i is poem
Says an orthodox writer, 81, is sim
pie absurdity to demand that there
shall be any chronology; nay, it spoils
the grand effect to think of any chro-
nology in reading the symbolic Hymn
Of Creation" The account Of the
temptation of Eve and Adam, is no
l 4