Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1883-02-22
TALMAGf
MENDfSG fHR BIBLE.
25 aH9
The Divine Book Assailed by
,sos Modern skeptics

The Divine Book Assailed by
@os Modern Skeptics,, ,,stH
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Opening hymn: olla usa
"saf.ly tAse.sA another week
.-..f 9, God hss broneht ~ on our way
iasUBJEcT; '4EEDNe THE BIBLE
Txxr- Revelation J.. 10: "If any
man shall take away from the words
of the book Of HIS prophecy God shall
take away His part out OF the Book OF
Life and out of the Holy City"
Inspiration therefore, saw that the
time would come when there would
be burglarious attempts TO purloin and
carry off part of the Bible. One man
would break in here and another
would break in there, but my text lets
them know in astounding emphasis
that the gates or heaven will clang
shut against the entrance Of all such
assailants. "God will take away His
part OF the book of life and out of the
holy city" You zee it isawfully risky
business, the tinkering of the word Of
God. a New York pulpit and others
in sympathy with it propose the expur.
cation of the Bible. The aforesaid
pulpit declares that the Book of Gene.
sis Is a tradition Of, creation a success
sive layer or traditions, which was
thought out centuries q before He
says Moses mistakes about creation
were the mistakes of his age; that
there are many systems of theology
IN the New Testament; that Paul had
all the notions of ftherabbinical schools
of his period; that Job winds up his
epilogue in genuine fairy tale style;
that Revelation is a long array of mis-
shapen progeny in the form of apoc-
alyptic writings; that Revelation
comes to a madman or leaves him mad !;
.that what he calls the "abomnible
llewdness1 of some parts of the Old
Testament are not fit to be read. He
saysft is an abomnible misuse Of the
Bible to suppose the prophecies the
foretelling Of the future, He. says that
the Book Of Daniel is not in the right
place, and Solomon's Songs not in the
right place, sandtthe whole Bible has
been improperly chopped up into
chapters ana verses. He intimates
that he does not believe that Samson
slew a. thousand men with the jaw
bone of an ass. In other words he re-
.jects the beginning Of the Bible and
the close Of the Bible, and all between,
as being uninspired by God, and to be
taken as the history Of thought of each
epoch, grad ddally evoluting toward our
present high moral and intellectual
condition, In other wordsit is Thom-
as Paine tand Robert Ingersoll ID
bands and surplice, but far less excus-
able; for the inGdels openly and above
BOARD declare what they are, but this
wholesale assault is made in the Chris
tian pulpit of an honored sect, of which
Bishop McIlvaine, and Archbishop
Leighton and the venerable Stephen
81. Tying were chief apostles Igo for
largest liberty of discussion, and there
are plenty of places where men can
assail Christianity without any inter-
ruption. But 1t seems to me that as
soon as man gives up the faith of
any sect, his first. plain, honest duty is
to get out of it. IL would not be con-
sidered honest for man to stay in
store or bank, at the same time de-
claring the account books were wrong
and denouncing the integrity of the
firm, and at the same time taking the
support of that firm. Surely minis
ter Of the gospel ought TO be as honest
with his denomination as dry goods
clerk with his employer.
Let us look at lbs Nervousness of
fault finding with the Bible on the
part of Christian pulpit at this time.
From all sides the Bible is being as
sailed by scurrility, by misrepresnta-
tion, by infdel scientists, by all the
vice of the world and all the venom of
perdition. And at this particular time
some of our pulpits come out with
their criticisms. Tt is as though o
steamer were in the September equi-
nox, the waves dashing to the top of
the smoke stacks and the matches fas-
tened down, and many we're prophe.
sying that she must founder in the
gale, and some of the crew should
come down with saws and axes to cut
out some of the planks and beams
which they think have been made out
of timber that never should have been
there. think the crew could be at
more commendable business than try
ing TO help the winds and waves out
side by their saws and axes inside. l
tell you this old Gospel ship, what
with earth and hell roaring around
stem and stern and muttering in the
cabin, is having rough voyage, but
the captain says he will see her
through, and / notice that not one
beam has started, and keelson and
counter-timber- knee are hewn of Leb.
anon cedar, and she will weather the
gale. But no credit to the mutinous
crew. Pulpit assault on the Bible at
this time makes me think Of q fortress