The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1883-01-25
LITERARY ATTRACTIONS OF THE 81

LITERARY ATTRACTIONS OF THE BI-
ELE-LECTURE BY A. P. MILLER.
A large aud unusually appreciative
audi.nce assen bled at st. Panl's ii. Z.
Church last evening to listen to Dir.
Miller's lecture, and We are sure his
bearers deemed themselves richly paid
for their time. The production show
I'd much familiarity with the Scrip
lures and great labor, besides u high
degree of literary taste, nethed, and
originality of thought and expression.
1t il well calculated to awaken an in
terest in the Bible, for its historical
and literary, AS well az ito moral quail
It's.
Each of the Toledo papers followed
these Introductory captions with col
un,n synopsis Of the lecture. From
the Gem nercial's report We make the
following extracts:
The lecturer began by 4 brief state.
ment Of tho merits Of Homer. The
Had was admitted 10y critics and schol-
ars to be the greatest production of
the human mind. The Enead is an
imitation of the Iliad, and the Para
disc Lost is but a sublime elaboration
of Bible ideas. Homer had the
greatest invention Of any poet which
the race has produced, and WAS more
Milton WAS fer ''sustained effort. "
his wing meyer dropped until his sub
lime sweep through heaven and earth
and he'll Was accomplished. Hsmer
and 4.1n,An lara ~
the twenty four books of the Iliad.
like a great contlagratisn. Virgil
burns like we'll. ordered fire in some
palace crate; while Milton glews with
steady and intense heat, like fur.
mace. But Homer is universal fame.
and smoke, and roar. and anguish, like
Lsndon, Boston, or Chicago on fire.
But there WAS one great Epic Poem
which the critics had never thought OF
testing as such. and which was rs
much above Homer in loftiness ot
theme, action and idea, as the heavens
are above the earth. This was Gods
own epic, the Bible. All epic which full
filled all the requirements of = grea,
work of art.
In considering the Bible as q great
epic, and comparing it with the lliad
it would be necessary to consider, Il
the themes or subjects of the Bible and
tie lliad; (2) the heroes; ~ the ma-
chiRpry or the supernatural persenages
who take part in the action; aud a
some Of the incidents and separate pas
sages.
Aristotle has laid down three n.air
rules for judging the action Of an epic
The requirements are u that the &C
tion must be one; ~ that ii must b,
entire; and (3) that it must Ike great
The lecturer then tested the action o
the Bible by these rules, comparing
the action with that Of the lliad. Th'
subject Of the Iliad WAS the anger @
Achilles and the disasters which j
brought upon the Greeks during th'
siege of Troy. The unity, eatiTety ant
| greatness o1 the action were shown.
While the action of the lliad consist
ed Of series of battles growing cut .
the lust Of Princes; while the partie
involved were the Greeks and Trojans
with the Pagan gods, and while the &C
tion lasted but fifty days, the action Q
the B le consisted of series of nigh
ty and wonderful acts centvring il on
act Of love and sacrifice to save. instea'
Of to overthrow race; involved tn
whole human race, with all the inhab
itamts of heaven and hell. and covere'
the whole of time frsm the creation t.
to the destruction of the earth.
The lecturer then compared the her
of the iliad, Achilles, with the hero O
the Eible, Jesus Christ. showing tn
superiority in every respect of the her
of the Bible.
| In comparing the characters and act
of the heroes, the lecturer reviewed tn
mighty and miraculous acts of the her
of the Bible before, during and sine
His incarnation, and alluded to the dc
spair and admiration Of tho great Ma
poleon, who, in speaking If Jesu
Christ, said he himself could hold a
army loyal only by his actual presenc.
but Jesus Christ, 1900 years after Hi
death, had an army of millions of rue
doing battle in His name and ready
die in His cause.
H. then compared the ''machinery
Of the two epics. This was a teri
used by the critics, and included til
| suOorn2fura1 yaers0n GAG 1vhA %oEe Da,