The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-04-19
THE HOLY BIBLE.

Minus OF the WOFA |
Henry M. Stanley tells us that when
he set out on q former trip into the
heart of the Dark Continent" he
carried with him nearly two hundred
pounds of books. But before he had
iourneyed three hundred miles from
the Atlantic coast. they were al! thrown
awav. save the Bible. Shakespeare
and two or three others. By the time
he reached Borneo the Bible was tho |
only book he possessed.
The Christian pilgrim in early lie |
gathers about him n large store OF
books, theological, religious. hlstorl-
cal, biographical, poetical. etc. DE
finds pleasure and profit in reading
them; but getting far along in lies
afternoon, most of them are allowed
to stand undisturbed upon the shelves
and the Bible is almost the only
book he reads. 1t can not be given
ND. What pleasant memory to multi
tudes is the sight of an aged parent or
other patriarch, sitting with the blessed
book open before him, day by day,
| feeding his soul on this Heavenly food
and enjoying precious communion with
his God! Said a dying Christian:
'Read to me from the book" Prom
what bookP" inquired his friend.
'There is" he responded, "but ono
book for dying man, the Bible"
The religious books of the Brahmins,
the Zoroastrians, the Moslems, and
others, have no value in any respect to
compare with the Bible. You might
DESTROY the Veda, the Zendavesta, the
Koran, and you deprive US of mo useful
knowledge; for not one of these books
gives any credible information con-
corning the Creator or creation.
They afford no light in regard to
mans apostasy, and the entrance
of sin into the world. They know
nothing of the mediation of the Lord
Jesus, nothing of the resurrection OF
the body, and the general Judgment
J But destroy the Bible and you leave us
: without any satisfactory knowledge OF
our Creator, or the origin of the race.
, Deprived of it, we know nothing Of re-
, demption and the blessedness OF inn
mortal life.
That the Bible has lived through all
the centuries Of the past. and has YET
? so strong a hold upon the mightest
5 minds in the world, and upon the great
= est nations of earth, is of itself strong
4 proof of its divine origin. 1t is related
8 that an Oriental friend, visiting Queer
4 Victoria, asked her TO tell him the SO
: cret of England's greatness. Producing
v a Bible, which she handed TO him. she
!. said: This is the secret of England
greatness" If it should be asked WIZ
is the American Republic so mucl
greater. more influential and prosper
it Gus than Mexico or the South Ameri
can States. we may answer: 1T IL ow
:. ing to the Bible" II the question
should be raised: Why are the Unite'
n States, England and Germany the mos
II enlightened, the most powerful, tn
most prosperous and happy among al
# the great powersG the answer woul
II be: These nations hold to the wor
IN of God; their governments and Law
are founded upon it." 1t is the Bibl
more than any thing else which make
- them to differ from France, Austri
II and Russia.
"a The three representative men OF th
m three great governments of the worl
20 to-day believe the Bible. These al
u Bismarck, Gladstone and PresideI
Harrison. Perhaps never before WI
the Bible received. honored and d
T. Tended by SO many leading statesmen
scholars and scientists as at the preset
time.
= There is no book that has been tran
- lated into so many languages as Il
- Bible; no book of which so many copi
10 have been printed; no book so wide
circulated throughout the world; l
- book that is read every day in i
= year in so many homes; no book whi'
3 contains so many wonderful and bless
truths. so many sweet promises.
many prayers and songs that voice Z
=. deepest experience Of the believer
a. soul. and bring it into the closest col
:, munion with its Coz
v It - only three hundred and al
years since the first complete Engli
Bible was printed. Tyndale. the I'll
to print the New Testament v
burned at the stake on the 9Th OF {
= tober. 1886. The British and Forei
- Bible Society. which was establish
in 1904. has printed more than IL
- 600. 600 copies OF the Scriptures 9th
"a Bible societies and publishers hs
IA probably issued ~ many more. T
en-, n"nuFoo anu '"en'y "i'i'ons u DID
. - sent forth over all the world In lit
e. more than four-score years, and ma