, 1879-05-26

craaly apeaking. tlcycr saw o1iu another, NH who
Wers probably unaware tllat other prupIo Eott
weru aeparatc,l from each other By . tl!ousAmt
years of time. Nuw, low this took fns my
cohercuce. how 1t came 70 DO tli!is :, q,
unit, aiEl Jet TO correspond with Nature III t}s.
or'ior, unless over It's prcrara'inn one divine
mind presided, no D'lc can explain. Hero IA =
difficulty tnt the lnost vigorous infldel llhs tot
to get rid OF. nt, got II omt OF sight, II his inf
delity Ia to ba rorotved al all. Ths recalls a,,-
other thing hare notfcca,-fts literary, excel
Virgil, Milton, Or Addison. 1t s'1ls a plave I'll
ancient md modern literature tint no other
book can ail and iiaa lions fur the literature Of
all nattons what no Greek or Roman book uvor
tude Of Thought, power u Illustration, an III.
sight Into character, a familiarity with The l,sl-
seen, fund of Information, a consciousness ri
authority in all Of its ut.esaneca, which Eiycs
power Of tnontling He. Docs man seek Tor
Ercat,, thoughts; here arc riches as vast
us the upiversc Of nlnd mi, mat:
ter. Does he crave e'oquencs Of
meftatS Docs be love poetry; M here % aro = .loii-
ara pictures u exquisite philanthroplrs. 1'u,
the tl'cn who. i',n,anly tpcaktng. wcro the au
thura Of this production had l,ar.lly my school
lug or education. Fow had much, sotne had
less, aud moro tad noue. OF course ulhclicycrs
hure way out Of the difficulty. They coInparc
other books nnd tell ron that Moha,nMet}
claimed to prove tho text Of the Koran BY t.a
oulY aI augcl could have written Its words, But
liz lbc docs not say any s,lcl, thing Of itself.
The Bible never pra!scs itself; but it's enemies
frequently do. Rouesean believed Tint no man
could read the Scriptures without becoming
better; und fioctlu recognizes III them the
spclllor Of divine spirit. 1nauirer8 should not
allow to be mislel " tho efforts na,p
to put the Koran on a leyo with the Bible: Ally
fAtA
Is incon,pasnbly interior to thu Scriptures.
Therefore the answer Of our lntdel frcnl's does
not lesson tie difficulty suggested by the fact
that the finest literary composition on earth
came sntU existence through the fundamentally
OF comparatively uneducaled men,
In looking ovcr thls question determined to
SEQ what esttmntc Jesus Of NAZARETH placed upon
the Dook. ! sud Il Lie makes It out TO be In
sptred, { sfa1l continue ny faith IN i, II He is
Twill give It up. lc ut least is historic. The
great, tic noble, the pure, and peaceful always
spcaking the largo word. II TINT man APPROVES
the Bible may well rcst satisfied with Ills testi
mony. Certainly Ills opinion Is worth as much
81 tint u men who Hired nineteen centuries
since Ills day, destitute OF His dovout spirit md
Of His mental tuslghs. II must
decide between modern thcotfst who pro-
tests against the insutratio1 of thu Scriptures,
nnl Jesus OF Nazareth, who acknowledges II,
common eonso niil common prudence will cotn-
Dal ME to surrender my judgment to tho DE-
eslon Of tho latter. Jesus certainly conmonds
the Book as IN object Of stuly. lie docs not
us to pcrusa It throughout. He never apollo
gizes for anything In It. Tic never says, When
you como upon anything that tnxcs your reason,
just bo Kind enough to put. II iuto your waste
5ears old, call It Do0 moona oll1 mud say nothing
about It. No, uu stmply accepts It al,l conf.
'ncnls It, mid cannot believe. II shcru had been
anything monstrous'y wrong In the Old Tcsta-
tina hat n tktttt tshrn n trun
have failed to warn us against u. Now. what
shall do with tnIa testimony Of Christi Ills
character Is lila supreme lctenee; md lie With
out rcseryo has commended this book against
aro hurlus tl.e!r shafte Of crittcism.. Hero IL
certainly difficulty that in1dci!ty tns mover
disposed Of. an also surprised at the relation
of the Book to Christ. jesus constantly says
Old Testament w. tributary to iii. history al,l
glory. Ho attributes all names an1 sytnlN,ls of
beauty to Hlmsulf. liz 10 thu root anil aorIng of
Dayid; llle bright and nornlug star; the towor
AootncI Of all who nse In tho hands of The cna-
my. It Is also remarkable tlnt friends mud
enemies have really attributed to nm atl Tint IL
ID the Bible. They DO not deny FIJI. purity or Ills
wisdom, or Hs brotherly lovv, or His sclf-saeEs.
II the central agaFu OF history. Ills thoughts
and His spirit arc dlsccrnablo Ia modern cIyifza-
tion and In thu ruling idcas of our
daily lives. Now, how ,cau,e it that
character II tho character never existed; n,ll II
the clancterdid exist aud these wrftcra but bear
testimony 10 # as fact. how then cau We receive
lnftelttyt lnIelity must accept otller the TACT
aecepting eitllcr It condemns itself.
We should not overlook In this surycy the
wonderful effect Of The Book on humanity. It.
is nopeinl: It docs not 1lcrely tell you what 1t
could du tilut. But 1t tells you how to be heal
cd. 1t does 80 In sucli manner that pcoptu nru
drawn by IL to seek tho healing. Tic Bible docs
lGt sAy there Ia sin iu tho world, punish It. Any
jailer eau punish thief. But l,ow TO cure him
md nake him honest, tint Is tlc proplc,n. Thu
ltba teaches thAt punishment never rcveli-
erntes but that tho sacrifice of Christ clcanseth
from all stn VI courao Jou can Tuigarixo the al,-
swer. or Jou can make Il sublime. hut, howeycr
thu uleans of onr dc}!yeFanca from tntqulty.
Sin IS evidently thc auprcsno difficulty Ut Qod,-
hli!llcuttynot TO be NIT b. the miracle Of power,
but BY TIC greater miracle Of sacrifice. mn
not anxiuns, however, to recito the doctrine.
simply cnll attontIon 10 Tho fact that It docs So
euro hon,Age und 0nist confidence. Millions Of
men 'lnSo been satisfied with tho explanation
Which 1t In. afforded alf tho consolation It has
Impaired. Moreover those who have l,een in
sorrow anu distress, who could not understand
how tho world could bo SO bright uni theIr lot
50 dark, who fclt tllo foundation Of their housu
was rsellng, an1 thog could SEQ nothing
0As - GtEAh OANIAh1 uHA HcEV
but confused ecllocs, FUND TINT
this Book spukg such promises as chcered them
III their Kloo,l ana solitude They have laiu 1t
to their ach!n3 tllaukfu heart, and havo stsown,
us know, for hayu learned IL tn Borrow, BY
lhe power Of ITS healing, TINT I. Is u.u l}ook Of
God. This IL its iutiucnee. Explnin It. II you
say i IL lie Or dvuslon, and yet ltnparts such
eotntort 70 our poor souIs, you are nut explains
lug anything. You nre only losing yourself In
wild, neanlHgless CALCULATIONS. Tie thunder of
Jour speech uouA not reroyu lts difficulty.
Perruls tue 10 say, III conclusion, that, Instead
ot having owned tl,At there 4rs ut difficulties Ia
tllo I'tble, !et nu pray you rather tu ucccut the
few that arc In the wRy of ftx reception, and
lluYe a book 70 guido you through the thick
daEkucss to the bFual day Of light; then, II
thou suneresl, thou wilt know why thou suffer-
est, and wheu thou diest thou salt hays VIC
tory, for thou wilt know lllat death but leads to
Immortality.
MEMORIAL SERVICE.
TIE LATB Mis-, ADAMS
The Western Aycnuo md Ada Street afetho-
list Churches Joined last evening at tho lat1rr-
uaaeA church III memorial services ln respect to
thu deccasrd wife ot tho lsuv 8. II. Adstus, WHO
died Wednesday last. MIR. Adams was pastor