, 1874-02-09

tho light Of tic Holy Word God haa set In his
tcmplo nover llicllora, never goes out, Nit! lts
Hlining 10 ~ tho same yesterday, to-day, ma Tor
ovor." " Tho Word Of tho Lord ond,lretll for
ma perlaliablo wo may test asaafod TINT Home-
thing human, l,aB ctnpt In. And now the clint.
nation OF a'ioh palm aa have quoted docs not
cast tho sliBhtoHt shadow ovor tho Inspiration ol
te oo, ,nm @ re certainly '"Seas NJ tRam
swelling away into conceptions Of God, hla glory,
IN that ago couta havo reached. I allow no ono
to excel mo in admiration Of these psalms,
th,a aro hy%nIo9k r. no Of tue snoen ont Church. "ra
lsassre . nes5nF oaanF II 10 all sss tns Glss oass
thoso praiuo.sqngs gs Of tho tomplo, aud It iocsnot
III tllo least impair their bounty and clninl upo1,
iis as inHpirod oifuBions TINT wo find hore aht
moro than magnificent orcllestrn would bo
spoiled IT aomo playor In q subordinate plrt or
TUG piece tetto1 OH ono or two notes.
:, And now will add TINT absolute perfection in
tho lnnguago Of the Diblo, such as tho theory Of
talll mighty mah Of tho Church are anxious to
do battle for, waa impossible. Tho vehicle Of
sl1cll communication, In tho worry nature OF the
caao, must bo words; nrd words aro imperfect
synos of tof They may bn sneGhn.y
iatoly perfect they mover can bo, WordB aro over
changing. Tho river Of human speech grows
moro fnll and copio11B us tho consciousness
Of the people that flows into IL becomes moro
deep, rich. vnried, and roflnca, ana those tine
modes Of expression that QUO poople admire mud
doem quito perfect another people may regard
aH faulty and imperfect, or even tho same people
IN more advanced stage Of culture. 4 rovela-
Or sponsor would now bo quite unintolligible to
tho ordinary reader. 1t follows thur TINT IL tho
style, words, and phraseo1ogy Of tho Bacrctl
writings were aB perfect as these mon olnim,
L.. -
ono knows tliat such has been the change III
language, tho thick hazo Of obBcurity TINT las
gathered over vast number OF texts, that tho
commentator finds 1t very difficult to understand
them and tho moaning Of certain 1diomB, and
ses se$sS sS'sR Ba Z tnen 'y Why s'fqa afe m al e ss
great ado about verbal lnfalliblllty2 Whnt
good comes OF It 30 long as the translators arc
not inspirod7 Il my sual, communication has
been mado, it lies buried in the Hebrew al,d
these fountains and drink these waters pure and
fresh, and all others must tako their ehare on
trust. Drs. McClintock and Strong, In their
ablo work On " Encyclopaedia Of biblical and
Theological Literature" say that "Nothing fs
gained by aBsorting the vorbal theory that IL not
equally secured In point OF Divine sanction and
infa!liblo TRUTH by simply claiming for the holy
ScripturoB that their statements and sentiments
Substantially, and in their general import repre-
neut the mild and will Of God; that they con-
language, anch ii tho obvious fact, recognized
by ovofy deyout md tudicious interpreter"
Thus fnr I lave simply been making. Q few
random atriet,,ros upon that dry md bony literal
think 80 eBsential and who seem to foar the
Bible will dissolve into a falry-talo unless tho
coamogony Of Moses, general Delugo, tho
,nenagorte in Noahs Ark, and tho Pillar Of Salt,
all be taken down whole. Az tho doae has
proved . little too big for me, it is due you and
tho ,3Nh1{n that SaHntfh1v Rfnfn il1At
stand. have no hositancy in laying my hands
on this Book and saying bolovo That holy
men Of God Rpako as they wore moved by tho
! Holy Ghost" l belioyo that this Book contains
spiritual light ahone upon tlio minds
OF those anclent prophcts, psalmists, and
| apoatlos, aud, according to their several
ability. they hnye hero reported what thoy
saw ana heard. Tho communication camo from,
God, but tho record OF it ia of man. Tie object
OF this communication Is to give us faithful
report Of all thoao religious trutls sentiments,
and proyidontial workings that arc necessary to
klndlo faith aud hopo in God, cause mon to feel
their noed Of savior, and fill tho soul with
willie doing this, these writors were undor u,
!! influence that kept thom freo from orror. Be.
| you'd this limit they we're liable to biuptor and
fall into mistakes. That In many cases thoy
actually did err, but while great denl of bud
"Aoionce. chronoloeieei anach,ronlslns. incorrect
roasoninga, and mythical and Legendary stories
c1opt into their writings, yet their authority NJ
religious teachers is entirely unharuoa thoreby
I hope now that hayo mado myself under
stood. And now this Is 10 strange and move
idea that has lately como into literature on the
! warm, rolaxing breeze OF liberalism thnt 30
many good people fear Ia going to smito the fail
golden wheat-hold Of the church with rust an6
mlluew. This theory Of inspiration has boon
trous names in tho Church. Among those who
assert that tue religious element or tho Bible