The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-09-08

place beside the Old Testament, and enumerases
the books which compose Ii.
Vow, what 40 these iacs suggest? This, that
the Bible is the natural outgrowth Of q peoples
religious life. The different portions bear marks
Of their nationality and time: they are the out
growth OF the experience and thought. the hopes
sad fears and aspirations Of the age from which
they spring.
Just as character is formed By the experiences
and choice of the individual, so relg-
ions rites and sacred books grow out
OF the experiences and aspirations
That they are uaturai does not take away from
their worth or significance. As Emerson sang:
"Out from the heart of nature rolled
The burdens on the Bible old:
The iitgDies Of nations came,
Like the volcanoes tongue OF fame,
Up from the burning core below,
The eanticles of love and woe
That is what makes the Bible such q real
book and snch helpful book, because Il has
the humane clement strong developed, be-
cause it springs oat OF tremendous spiritual ex-
perienees OF many kinda Hardly q situation
of our modern life that dos not find It's proto-
type there: hardly shade of character that is
not represent ID. from the meanest and most
sordid to the noble 4 and most generous. Even
the cultured pessimism that holds sway in
some quarters today is represented there IN
the book OF Ecclcsiastes. This means
that, looked upon as literature aud
not as dogma, the record and outcome OF
spiritual growth rather than the sole vehicle of
revelation the Bible gains in reality and worth.
The sgcreduess which demands infallibility is
artificial II builds a vast snperstrncture on
foundations which have not been tested aud
which will not stand The strain brought upon
them. With all their high assumptions, the
books OF the Bible. none OF them came to men
with such credentials of revelation as to make
them take their places, from the outset. as the
WORD of God" Tie sacredness with which
they regarded Is largely he halo of antiquity
The utterances Of Isaiah, Hosea, Amor AID the
rest didn't carry so much conviction or seem so
sacred TO their immediate hesrers as 10 the
Jews of later period. PsuPs wonderful letters
were regarded very human, and rejected by
many OF his fellow Christians Only
alter ages have passed away have
books taken on ,acredness. "As the earthly
authorship grows dim and distant, the beav
emily claim il brought forward ard emphasized.
II seems almost as IL the less people knew about
a religious claim, the more they are willing 70
accept IL.
The sacredness of other bibles than our own
has grown up in the same way. The further
in point of time men are from any reported oc-
currence the more ready they are to admit d.
vine instrumentalty We need to remember
that every race cultivated as TO have litera-
ture has also had its sacred literature or Bible,
the nsturai expression of its religious lie as the
literature is the natural expression of its intel
lecfual life. All other bibles than our own we
bring TO the test of reason. OF experience, OF
utility. What their writers said has for us no
fictitious value; their statements are of binding
force today only in so far as they are true.
Why should our Bible be an exception
20 the rule? Its mistakes and limitations
should not bind us simply because they occur
in ecumeutcal books. OF the specific miscon-
rrsfi and Sfnft of fha 10 NOT
necessary speak here-you have had experi-
ence OF them and II Is an ungraclous task TO
present them.
The truth is that the Bibles influence has
been greatly harmed by the unwise. unjustifa-
Bile claims made for it by its wonld-be defend
ers. They forget that truth is its own authority
and needs no bolsteriRg; that no claim of infal-
hbility can add one jot or title OF truth or make
noble that which Is not inirinscally so. The
| true value OF the Bible as human book is lost
| in claiming delicious value for il as divine
| book. This Gain has narrowed the spiritual
horizon of men and hiedered spiritual
| growth; out of it hiss grown the thought
that Gods revelation OF himself in the
/ world had been limited to one people
| and that 1t ceased when the canon COM
| pete. Another result is that men have been
led to east the Bible aside altogether. the re-
| yuision OF feeling on seeing how ground ess
| were the claims made for IL being great that
| portanee.
| That value and importance is great for the
| men and women OF tSday. 1t Is only high quail
| itits which can preserve book in lasting in
| terest "a book that passes through so many
| centuries Is in a manner certified by each that
| il 10 profitable. No book really lives that the
/ world, having had, can do without That il
1 gives life aud gives it reluctantly is its only
guarantee of immortality" This the bible has
| but even then its influence is limited and mar
rowed by the false claims mace for
| it which 1t neither makes itself nor justifies
others In making for it,
Yet this cannot excuse Indifference or antsg.
onism to the Bible itself. A criticism OF the
| Bible which finds only it's shortcomings and de-
fects, which seizes upon its weak points and
| msgnifes them to the overlooking and exclu-
sion OF the spiritual truths there laugh; deserves
/ all the bi ter exeeration il gets from those who
with mistaken ideas of the Bibles infalibility
| yet draw from it the inspiration to holy and
| helpful living. false theory has made criti.
eism necessary, but the criticism should point
| out weakness or mistake only that strength aud
truth may become more clear. Narrowness
and bigo'ry are quite unholy In radicals as in
conservatiyes,--in agnostics as in Christians
Take the Bible simply it is apart from the
claims men nave made for 1T, and 1t a.
| stands supreme among books Whatever is
! local and temporary still has its message
/ TO us, for it tells OF the soul growth of men OF
like passions aud natures with ourselves And
| in the main it deals with exalted themes the
/ great questions OF life, which do not grow old
| with the lapse of centuries. The outward con-
| ditions may be greatly changed, but the inner
| man has at heart the same great interests Az
| the Bible deals so largely with this inner life
/ there is much in il that belongs not TO one age
! but so all ages-it is u classic of the spiritual
| side of man, couehed in terms which do not
| lose their cogency through the lapse of ages.
| The beantitudes, the parallels of the Prodieal
/ son and the good Samaritan, the thirteenth
| chapter OF Corinthians can never be outgrown
| So long as man remains man these will speak 10
his better nature with commanding voice so
long viii the book which contains them be
\ profitable for doctr ne, for reproof for
| correction, for instruction in righteousness
| The inspiration of these is patent to all and is
| not thrown into doubt even though the book of
/ Jonah prove allegoYy and not history. even
! though the book of Chronicles be written In
| the interest of class, ard several of Paul's
| epistles prove 10 have been written by some one
| else. Lest be misunderstood let me explain
! just what this inspiration is TO me. Simply this
that every soul. being mace in the image of
! tod, is capable of communion with Him. is
| open TO tire inspirations of the Hoy Spirit does
| in some measure receive them just as every in.
| let and hay receives the inflow OF the
oceans tides But human capacity for
/ the reception OF this spirit is condi-
toned By character and attitude so
that inspiration ranges frcm the feeblest
promptings OF virtue TO the lofty spiritual in.
sight of Jesus. The hone is held out that by
faithisiness To what we have, by the receptive
attitude that this may grow from more to more
uatil a. last HIS law shall b. written perfectly
on our hearts. The mechanical theory of in.
| spiration-that God dictated certain things
which were written down yerbaum-has al