The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-11-12

.vnuld I,ay- mar~Iailei their armies an.
bathed tlle earth ia blood. the agents %
-h-se Christian iaIi1I.-. with au opei
bibe in their hands, sat down ia a { / as
aif room. anfT iu tli- integrity Of Chris
rian manhood, harmon lied difference.
that otherwi-r would have III iHaJej in
thc loss Of millions OF money and d r-ck
les Haste Of human life.
But let us consider the Bible in IT, r..
!ation TO the thought Of tie world Al
/ though nearly three fourths OF all that
has ever been written has been ia defense
! Of the Bible. or for its overthrow. noman
/ has ever yet written a critIque IF tine Bi-
| bic; for As the heavens are higher Than
I the earth. so are Gods thoughts higher
! than the thoughts Of men How futile
| have been the efforts OF skeDtics to
analyZe the contents of the Bible. and
\ show them To be false. 1t is true that
/ when Mr. Paine published his Age Of
| Reason. it effected d temporary pro
scription Of th. Bible But his essay j.
| only "A caricature of the Word. and an
| appeal to passion aud ignorance Mr.
Paine confessed his ignorance to a min
isterin New York in these words: '.When
| determined to compose the Age OF Rea-
son, great difficulty was interposed, ( r
a copy of the Bible could not be obtain
ed. and / had not seen or read it for Il
long time before" and his gross misrep-
resentatiOns show his confession to be
correct
The Bible has not only stimulated
thought on every field of investigation,
but has constantly resisted all encroach-
ments upon itself. God has hedged it
about with the strongest possible defense
its own divinity Claiming the highest
authenticity, it has not shrunk from the
most thorough investigation Of its Gains,
while the Talmud has been consumed in
the fires of criticism, and the Koran and
the Veda have failed, and the Book Of
the Mormons has proved tissue of lIu-
man lies, our Bible has increased in
brightness and power, and systems Of
error fade away before it, onward march
as the paling stars are obscured before
the rising sun.
But it is not alone in the compass and
grandeur of its thought that it eXcelS.
but in the adaptation of its precepts and
promises to the varied conditions of man.
1t has a word for all and exactly suited
to ALL To the child in its innocency it
says: ''Take heed that We despise not one
of these little ones; for say unto you
that IN heaven their angels do always
behold the face of my Father which j.
in heaven" TO The rebeliiOuS sinner,
stepped in crime and farthest from God,
it says: Come, now, and let US reason
together" " saith the Lord, Though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as
snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool" To the weak and
depressed children OF God, bufTeted by
the adversary and perpleXed with doubt.
It says: ''COme unto me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and will give you
rest" TO the discouraged and despond
ent child of God, it eNclaims: To him
that overcometh will give to eat Of the
hidden mamma, and he shall walk with
me in white" To the dying saint it say:
Yea, though walk through the valley
and shadow OF Death will fear no evil
And to the bereaved ones of earth Jesus
answers in accents of infinite love, II
am the resurrection and the life; whose
ever believeth in me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live again, and whose
ever liveth aud believeth i'll me shall
never die"
But it is objected that the Bible Is an
old book, and has Outliyed its days Of
usefulness; that, like II snperanuuated
man, it belongs to a past generation
Without doubt it is an old book-Old
but not efTete. Cid, like God, but hoary
with the wisdom of eternity. EIihu Bur
ritt, the learned blacksmith, says, AS
in the structure and productive capacity
of our globe and the constitution ofman
there was a cOnsentaneoGs provision for
the continual propagation and susie
nance of the human family; 50. al the
revela ions of Mature and the Bible are
made for man i'll Il progressive state
1t had Al lesson reduced to the cUmpre-
hension of the unweaHed intellect of
Adam; for the first man i'll the infancy
of thought and tor the last man on the
earth, i'll all the immense capacity of his
intellectualand moral nature. And when
the race shall cease to inhaEit this earth
the principles of the Bible will not have
been exhausted of their capacity to ad-
vance, to improve, to accelerate tie
moral progress of intellectual beings"
Old is itl 1t spans the whole compass
of eternity and comprehends the noces-
stiles of every child of man. Ii was with
surrounded him on all sides with the fiery
prohibition, In the day thou eate>t
thereof thou shalt surely die :" aud when
the pair had sinned, and tie trembling
culpri.s stood in ti.e presence Of their
offended God, it broke through the sur
rounding gloom liiye "a .;.y Of Hight stream
ing cut through the window of heaven
in that beautiful promise, The seed of
the woIman shall brriSc the serpeut's
head"
Ii ch. cred the heart of Abraham when
he trOd the mountain Of sacrifice alone;
when he gave his only son as a sacrifice,
and received him again as from tlie dead,
a glowing type of Il coming Christ. it
was with Moses OH Sinai, when God
clothed lie mountain with IL garment OF
cloud, and capped its fiery summit with
the ligiltning's glare. aud invested it
with IL voice OF thunder To proclaim his
authority 10 the children of men. 1t has
been increasing in power and beauty all
along the march OF the race, aud is as
radical in its antagonism with evi! row,
and as culI OF promise to tire obedieut as
ever i'll the past.
But there is one more phase of ills
question. We must consider the Bible
in its relation tu our personal salvation.
Whatever else il might coniuiL-wiItt-
ever of beauty, or eXeeiieucy, it might
possess-if il were silent Oh tins subject
it would be "a failure
What must | do to br saved Is lie
question that has vanquished all philoS
pliers, dumbioundad all scientists. This
is the question of ali ages; and to night,
like the ghostly raven Of Poe, sits stern
ly tapping at the window of every iIii
del's soul, and which *, outside Of the
Bible, vet unanswered. But the Scrip
ture supplements all philosophy and
says. "BeIiev" on tia Lord Jesus Christ
ami thou s alt hr saved" For there
is none other name under heaven. given
among men, whereby We may be saved.
And the Church responds in rapiurous
song:
Jesus, the name high over all
In earth, or hell, or sky;
Angels and men before it fall,
And devils fear and fly
The Sabbath School cliiid of tender
years and the old veteran whose form l.
bowed under the accumulation OF cares,
have attested the saving power OF tbs
precious name. The man of aiilueuce,
in his gorgeously furnished hall, Eas
turned from his luxurious surroundings