Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1877-10-11
&eaaiua tur the Sabbath.
.... CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
TOrlginal.]
THE BIBLE.

Will ueuy. ~ WouIu wv oo oAuoNo6on' w
say that there are more copies of this book in
the world than there are copies Of any other
book. Much as it is neglected, it is read
more and by more people, than all other books
put together. 1t is true that some read it
very little, and few do not read it at all /;
but the multitude read it, and very consid-
erable number of people read nothing else.
These are the hest people in the world. They
are the wisest people on earth. They have
acquired a peculiar kind Of knowledge
knowledge that is obtained only from the b.
BILE, and acquired by none except those who
make the Bible lamp unto their feet and
light unto their path With propriety, this
book is called the Bible-THE book, by way
of emphasis or pre-eminence. .
The Bible claims, and its friends have ever
claimed for it., that it is Gods book. Every
book is written by some one-it has an au-
thor. God is claimed to be the author Of the
Bible. This is a high claim. If substantial.
ted, it should add to the estimate which we
place upon the book. ..." g.
The intrinsic worth of book does not de-
pend absolutely upon the fact that it was
written either by great or good man. Some
great men have written very worthless books,
and some bad men have written books in
which they have given expression to some
6ne moral sentiments. 1t will be admitted,
however, that the character of the author
has, as rule, much to do with both the in.
trinsic and relative worth of book. A
treatise on morals, written by man known
to be desperately immoral, would not be high
ly priced. IF the Bible is the book of God,
we are entirely justi6able in expecting it to
be of different character from other books,
aud to contain some things that are to be
found in no other book. "..
In one sense, the Bible was certainly writ
ten by men. 1t is generally stated, we be.
lieve, that John Milton was blind when the
paradise Lost" was written. The mechanic
al part of the work was performed by his two
daughters. THE being the case, we may say
that the book which is generally known as
millions Paradise Lost" was written by the
daughters of John Milton. They did the
writing made the letters. With the
pen they wrote down the words that make
those wonderful lines. Notwithstanding all
this, John Milton himself is, and always has
been. so far as we know, regarded as the au-
thor of Paradise Lost John Milton COM
posed it, and his daughters wrote down his
composition. In somewhat similar sense,
men wrote the Bible. Men wrote down the
words that God, by his holy spirit, directed
them to write. r... ....
1t has ever been claimed that the men who
did the mechanical part of the work in get
ting up the book we call the Bible, we're in
spired We may not be able to give an unob-
jectionable definition of the word inspiration.
This is the less to be regretted, since honest
minded people are not apt to mistake its i'm
port We may venture to say that by the
word inspiration, is meant that influence of the
holy spirit which is communicated to the hu-
man mind, which renders the individual, thus
under the influence of the spirit of God, Ca
pable of unerringly communicating knowl.
edge of the will of God to his fellow men.
That God is able thus to make known his will
to men by men, no one who will admit that
there is a God and that he is almighty, will
deny. Most men. perhaps, will admit that
God, in his providence, controls men. "There
is destiny which shapes our ends, rough
hew them as we will" By the providence of
God we may learn much of the will of God.
1t surely is neither moral nor physical i'm
possibility, for God to select men, and through
them, either by verbal or written communica-
tions, make known his will to the rest of the
human family.
The question into which it is our duty to
inquire is "Is the Bible inspired-was it
written by men moved by the Holy Ghost ?"
There are many reasons, which induce the
honest inquirer after truth to conclude that
the Bible is the work of inspired men in
other words, that God and not man is its real
author.
In the Bible, there are two kinds of truths
spiritual truths and moral truths. Spiritual
truth is the statement of facts. In them there
is an appeal to our intelects. They may be
verified. Of this kind of truths we might
mention the being and character of God. The
Bible declares, in plain and easy to be under
stood language, that there is one God-the
living and the true God. Here is fact stated
and an appeal made to our intellect. 1s it
contradicted, or is it corroborated by what
we discover by our intellects? We venture
to assert that all honest minded men will
admit, that the Bible doctriae with regard to
the being of God, is demonstrated :o be true
in creation and providence, viz. there is a
God and but one God. This is the teaching
of the Bible. So far as we know, every ma
ton destitute of the Bible, believes in the ex.
istence of multitude of Gods. In the Bi.
BILE, we have descriptions of God which are
in perfect harmony with what we discover Of
him in creation and providence. God is a
spirit-invisible. This is true No man
hath seen God at any time. The Bible des.
crbes God as being "a spirit, infinite, eternal
and Interchangeable, in bis being, in his wis.,
dom, in his power, in his holiness, in his JUS.
tice, in his goodness and in his truth" In
every aspect in which the human mind is ca.
pabe of contemplating him, he is the same
to-day, yesterday and forever. As God Of
providence, he rules the world in wisdom, iu
power, in holiness, in justice, and in goodness
The providence of God never presents him as
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