The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-05-31
THE HOLY BIBLE.
Literary Influence of the Good BOOK IN
the Development of Civilization.


the Development of Civilization.
Probably no single influence has
been greater in the development OF
civilization than that of the Bible.
While it did not wholly cause the great
awakening of the human mind which
took place in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, it is certain that that awak-
ening went forward at an accelerated
rate from the time that Luther and
Wickliffe translated the sacred books
into the German and English tongues.
The Bible did what the universities
could never have done: it awakened
the minds of the common people.
placed in the hands OF the
peasantry, venerated as the abso- |
Lutte word of God, speaking with
the highest authority upon the
profoundest themes, and appealing to
the most excitable part of mans nature.
there is no wonder that it took power.
full hold of the imagination OF the Ger
manic races. and gradually made them
the most thoughtful people in the
world. These people, once set think
ing about God and Immortality, re-
volving in their minds problems OF
right and wrong, and their imagination
kindled by the story of Gods interest
in mankind, and the later develop
ments of civilization we're only ques-
ton of time. It was certain that the
people whose minds were So stirred
would not only become highly moral
and religious. but would discover the
law of gravitation, invent the steam
engine and develop commercial rela-
tons that are only restricted by the
size of the globe. The Bible, read in
peasant households all over Protestant
Europe, was sure to result in an intel
lectual quickening which would,
sooner or later, give the world its
Shakespeares, Millions, Goethes and
the innumerable host of authors who
; have made the literature OF the
Teutonic races so superior in ver-
satility, if not also in quality, to the
literature of any other race. We are
, very far from claiming the Bible as the
only agency in creating the beauty
and strength of English and German
literature, but it is simply matter OF
, fact that no other causes have been so
I | powerful or so far-reaching. Without
: it there could have been no Milton,
. no Carlyle, Emerson or Ruskin, and
. probably if the secret influence could
be discovered which created ancestral
i habits of thoughtfulness no Shakes
e peare or Goethe or any of the great
+ writer's of peasant origin. We should
:. have had others undoubtedly, but o.
|. far inferior quality OF mind and heart
. When we examine the Bible witt
the sternest critical eyes we are com
;. peeled to admit that it is great enough
d to be the cause Of all which we hav,
ascribed to its influence. Withou
e speaking of its moral or religious
= qualities it is evident that it,
J. literary merits are supreme. lie
it any one go through it from Gene
'e sis to Revelation, and while b,
"a will find passages that are now I'm
a speakably uninteresting, yet on ever
n page will be found some pearl OF grea
~ price, which. even il it were not re
re garded as a sacred word, the huma
- race would never allow itself to for
:. get Whatever may be thought of tn
10 scientific accuracy of the first chapter
OF of Genesis, few would be willing I
re have that graphic and poetic accour
:. of the creation fade out of the mind
Sc The Bible contains every kind of Liter
no atIra and can furnish snecinens {
r. each which can hold their own wit
ct the best that the race has produced
Its historical portions, besides bein
the oldest attempts TO trace the histor
en- of mankind. and describing the Divin
method OF dealing with one of the mo-
g gifted races of the world, are relate
with a simplicity and directness while
no later historian has surpassed. /
biographies, chapters OF human liz
,er when the race was young and me
lat were vigorous in their virtues ar
lat great in their crimes, have q char
VI which can never lose its powe
eH No novelist has ever written
rk- sweeter story than the B ook OF Rut
les No dramatist has ever treated Il
universal problem of mans destiny al
70 Gods ways with him with such SEER
rth eye and understanding heart. "all
the such free flowing outlines, grand In
sincerity, in its simplicity. in its ep
ity. melody and repose of reconcilement
Ials 1t Ii not its devotional element alo
which has given the Book Of Psalms