The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1878-11-21
Our Young People
81 REV. R. II. RIVERS. D. D.
The Claims of the Bible upon Our
Young People.

beauty that Is faultless and in sub
Unity that is unequalea. Its poetry
rises to the grandeur of the epic,
the majesty of the tragic and the
splendor OF the lyric. 1t charms
by its vivid descriptions. excites by
its deep-toned pathos, elevates by
Its ennobling sentiments, sooths by
its tenderness and melts by it's won
drous love. Sweeter than Virgil.
sublimer than Homer, more vivid
than Socrates, more powerful than
Aeschylus, tue poetry of the Bible
embodies all that is bold in concep-
ton, fascinating in sacred fiction,
artless in truth, glowing in imagina-
tion and vehement III passion. 1t
is the bright sun from which Mil
ton and Shakespeare borrow their
divine effulgence. Its visions of
beauty have inspired the genins of
our greatest painters, guided the
tchisels of our most gifted sculptors
and awakened the harps of our best
composers. But for it, the richest
gems of poetry would never have
sparkIed in the sunlight of heaven,
| the pencils of West and Raphael
had lain IDLE forever, and the melo
dies of Mozart and Beethoven had
been as silent as the grave. The
literature of the Bible is not only
beautiful in itself, but it is as pro-
life of beauty as its own Carmel
and Sharon. 1t not only sends out
the most beautiful and effulgent
light that ever beained from sun or
star, but has sent those rays in daz
zling splendor from thousand orbs
which shed their glories upon the
world of mind.
This grand old book abounds not
only in poetry and song, but claims
the admiration of our young people
because of its exhibiting The finest
specimens of eloquence. The sim
pie and earnest appeals OF Moses,
the touching pleaOf Judah, the di
rect and efectual rebuke of Nathan,
the severe irony of Solomon, the
magnificent figures of Ezekiel, lisa
iah and Hahakkuk, the powerful de
scriptions of Job, the fiery passion
of Peter, the sublime visions Of
John, the lucid logic OF Paul, the
wonderful parallels and bold and
bliehting reprOofs of the Great
Teacher present to us exhibitions of
oratory at once the most varied,
grand and profound.
The Bible is emphatically the
great reservoir of history and hiOg-
raphy, of parable and fable, of es-
say and cpistle, of poetry and elo-
quence, and by its beauties in them
all, appeals to the taste of all cult
waited young people. The varied
presentations which are given in its
pictured pages, of God and angels,
of the universe and man, of Heaven
and hell, are like so many dissolv-
ing scenes in n panorama. It's Va
rious groupings of facts, characters
and incidents remind one of the
countless images formed by the rev.
olutions of the kaleidoscope. A
consideration rising above all that
is refined and elegant in taste, and
which appeals still more strongly,
is that the Bible is the book of God.
1t is the bright candle of the Lord,
the Lamp of eternity. 1t shines
with brightness before which all
other lights grow pale. 1t Is Il
voice from the lips of eternal truth,
and it's echoes. like the peals OF an
organ, proclaim the glory of God
and the duty and destiny of man.
It's truth is above all cavil and be-
yona all controversy, and has been
established by every sort of testi
mony which could be accepted by
reason and embraced by faith As
the book of truth-grand, majestic,
eternal truth--It presses its claims
upon you with an eloquence which
no mortal can equal. no angel can
surpass.' Listen 70 these mute and
eloquent appeals as they come from
pages written by the pen of inspi
ration and glowing with the highest
evidences of the divinity of their
origin.
1t is emphatically the book of
life. 1t is vital in every part. 1t
breathes life on every page, and
quickens to action the livid corpse
of our humanity. 1t illumines what
is dark, corrects what is false, ele-
Yates what is low, ennobles what is
mean and eradicates what is cor
rupt. 1t imparts courage to the
timid, strength to the feeble, firm
ness to the wavering, hope to the
sorrowing, and enables all who nc
cept its truths and imbibe its sacred
principles to meet the stern de
mands of conscience and obey the
incorporating law of duty. 1t
enters the social circle and closes
the lips of falsehood and bushes
the tongue of SANDER. 1t promotes
domestic peace, unites the members
of the household, sanctities the mar
riaee relation and perfects the bliss
of welded love. 1t gives mildness
to the constitution, purity to the
government and justice to the laws.
1t evokes those sympathies which
seek satisfaction alone in doing
good. 1t has impaired strength
and courage to the character of man,
and purity and dignity to that of
woman. 1t builds its asylums for
the blind and the deaf, for the wild
ow and the orphan, and its houses
of reformation FOR the vicious. 1t
enters the camp and spreads its in
huence over the tented field. 1t
builds the hospital for the disabled
soldier, and stretches out its hands
Of benevolence TO the homeless and
the sorrowilg. 1t seeks to hush
the roar of cannon and to arrest the
march of contending armies by Civ
ing universal peace TO man. 1t has
impaired 20 America all she has of
glory, while all she has of shame
arises from a neglect of this grand
old book. 1t has made England
the foremost nation on the earth,
and recently when foreign princess