, 1876-12-25

oonmnso o. uss to falk IT believing that, II you
ryft rafeet tho rcst,'' would say to him;
in dods pmr nc!!eye te a sermon on ie
ic1e Il weekdays as we'll "a sundays." Anu
.nrrly there would bernDugll evcn in that tO
ss1c fun md tnnke "a Christian Of him.,
And II IA not nnly electromagnetic TO tllote
vho are working their way toward religion.
10 not know Il there will not be an even worse
mischief In this idea to those who begin by nc
ctpiing It In tito fcTvor OF tho rcFLva! imprcs.
sjans, ai,tl then hnvo nfterwnrd to find out the
tbose bs who, moved by theec strong assertions,
sre bastng their new religious ilfo upon thu Bi.
Liz Is ali divine, or else Ill fraud It. wlllnot
stand looking Into. The very people they will
Churches eu viii hardly any. ot them maintain i.
out among, men generally they vii find such
many can stand such tcsta 1t will be with
10 many, rs It always 1,as been With people
brouvl,t un under that "al, Or none, J" tcarhng.
Tney will lind that 1t Is not al true, cannot be,
and then they Will lose Ill reverence for It,
md throw IT over altogether anly too readily.
I believe tint there las been moro utter utlbc-
III Ill., sest3 IL te y yS3e @ sne tan N by aeytS.s ess
Bpio; il is really utterly endangcr;;
iho Bible Is to stand NJ! ,,,, or or :. :,', iall
stand or fall. The strength Of . chain Is the
strenEth Ut It's weakest pnrt. For one rnan It,
whose mind you raise the .alleGorics Of Genesis
10 the level Of tho eospels, there will be ten
jc1cl Of Gcnesis; and you place tho whole sixty
,ix books Of tho Billie at the mercy Of the critic
Who tan provo mistakes In any one of them.
50, It ID most important, II the Bible is to re-
tain it's PLACE In the reverence Of 1nanslnd, that
brought out, It needs 10 DO seen that Its
dyiic spirit and the clear holy light that runs
through II come to us In ancient writings OF
history, poetry, proverbs, ETC., which, as tar %
iike other writings Of tho ancient world.
Tic Dib1e Is really not 4 book but literature,
Or rather what Is left of the whole ancient itera
iusp of the Hebrew people. II Is the produc-
ton of writer's WHO lived g. yattous times
Years. Thu authorship Of many Of tho books ls
Quite ,lnCcrtntn. TITO authorship OF many Of
these Is absolutely unknown: II wns not TIL
after most Of these writings had been existence
Il was after their long captivity tint the Jews
beenn to feel TINT thcru was something very
precious In all the books which rr1nainnd fron
illetr old literature, and 50 gathered then. into
one collection Ara I'll gaaqny the
as the Baered testimonies or their past And very
sacred testimonies nre,-but "in earthly vessels
.-eoinc Of them even very earthly, Let this true
account of them be clearly kept IN View, and
then men will not be troublcd by tho fmpcrfec-
iiops they Gnl. They will value the treasure
and not be tn danger OF casting It away because
of the iaws IN tho vessels. Their lmpericctlona
will scGnl trltles, my even additional tokens Of
genuine antiquity; while the beauty, Tic moral
fcllgiun, the unequalcd revealing. Of dfvfno
t,iugs which VIC lind MI throug gh them will
stand out all tho more consplcuously. Never,
III! you read the Billie Hike other books, do you
~ u la
will apcak ilrst OF tho hcavcnllness Of the
DIble. For + want II to be clear TINT I atn not
taking up this subject for the sake OF weaken
Ing the BiI1o's hold on our hearts,
but III order to make thnt hold more secure.
And, indccd IL is upon the fact Of suc!' liviuc.
1y precious element In 1t that The whole Interest
Of the subject depends. II It Is only M ord!nary
book, why spend so much trouble upon III It
might then take It's chances, as other books
have to do. But It Is not an ordinary book. II
world 0f mans clearer faitll III God, and of
Gods Ereatest work III man, There is nothing
in the religious history Of mankind to compare
With that religious life which e!'bed and flowed
through that old tabernacle, which Elfstehs In
their earliest traditions, which ltghts up with
CLEANS Of undylue light even their rudest ayes,
which towers aboye all Lho worlds OTHER anclent
Scriptures md, Psalms aud prophetic poems,
Jesus Christ. 1amg glad Of all thu sacred books oi
the worlds other Religions: ] think there ia
Hight aud truth In all Of tllc, that they arc all
Tile outcomo Of that 6atno divine spirit which
leayes no .raee without some light Of God. Mon
cure Conway has lately brought together iu bis
"Savred Anthology 6omG OF tho choicest
words from those vnrious sagred' books Of ma,'
kud, but there are none to compare with the
Bible. Thcrc are uonc to compare even with
the ON Testament; nnd In tho New, that light
10 brightness and intensity, and that not Of
words only, but Of the woril's dfvincst life
which, as lact, Initiated Il rev life among nar
kind, and stands for eycr ns tllc clearcst imngt
md expression OF the spirit md Will and ever
1aBting truth OF God.
"Nlt vi have this treasure In carthen yeshcls.'
Paul'a word ia. exactly applicable. Ho wa
epeak!ng Of the best naEt Of that tseasurc,-tht
upon them through Jesus Christ. 1fc tc,t how
dtvinc that light was, but ho felt how little ht
mud the others could reproduce It In its ful
beauty and power. And yet there was no ont
who DID roproduce 1t in such bcauty and powc
Is paul. Audit l'c could not do It perfectly, hoy
much more imperfect must h0yc been tho resul
when less clear light was reproduced In atil
moro imperfect nat,lres. That is the slnlpl,
fact which you lave NIL through the D!blc.. Met
The beat Of them IN that old Hebrew racc felt 1
With, often, III almost awful cicarHcs8 ant
power. But It left them still men. It dhln'
make their lives perfect; 1t did not make tlIeI
woris fnfalltble. You SEQ tho heavenly con
tinua!ly, but tho earthly element Is alway
there.
Let INC show you whnt mean o little NOR
particularly. Look into the carly chapters o
licness, Tor Instance. There you have the vcr,
Sarllest traditions Of Religious thought, whicl
had been handed down through countless gol,
somo think by Noses. others thIuk much lutc
than Muses.. You haye tho tradition Q
"creaton," Of "thc Fall,n Of "tlo Flood.
ai,Du. fht% nnr1tOhf f~o1r -