Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-06-28

1t could not mean the Bible, 70
that was not formed at that time
Even the Old Testament canon wa
not at that time complete, and so ia
as it was il contained books nov
contained in the Apocrypha, &C
cepted by jew and early Christian
but now rejected as uninspired b.
the protestant sects.
OF the New Testament canon
while IL is possible that the frs
three gospels were written, TN,
fourth, the Acts and mary of tn,
epistles were not. Aud there is NJ
evidence whatever that the autho
had any knowledge OF those writ
ten, save perhaps some Of Paul''
epistles.
The author of this letter to Tim
othy therefore was only admonish
ing him as might you, TO read on
ly good books, for they would b,
profitable to you.
We get an understanding of the
early ideas Of inspiration among
those eastern people, by comparing
the revised aHd ancient versions in
the Oft quoted passage in Job,
The ancient version reads: "The i'll.
spiration of the Almighty giveth
understanding" The revised yer
sion reads THE breath of the Al
mighty"
We have here the idea of iuspir,
alton as held not only by the Arabs
from whom the book Of Joo came,
but among Jew, Greek and Roman,
and as far as | know among all an
cient people. Words are the most
enduring Of all things man invents.
From root words found in all Euro
pean tongues the philolugists are
able to recover for Us the civilization
of our Aryau ancestors; so perman-
ent are the words and the ideas they
represent And the word "inspir-
alton and its relation to breathing
is rs old as the coming of the word
in any language. We keep its orig
inal meaning in the application Of
the word to the physical act of
breathing, when we say, the iuSpir-
alton aud expiration of air
We here find the wouirOus in
sight OF these old people, in waking
the inbreathing of the spirit of the
gods or Of God, analogous to the
physical inbreathing OF air. The
one gives physical aud the other
spiritual life.
Says Theodore Parker, las near As
is air 10 our bodies is God TO our
spirit" AS our bodies live by the
of air, so our spirits live
by the inspiration of the spirit "of
Him in whom We live and move"
Thus inspiration Is a natural, nor
NAL and necessary act.
How little we know of the proper
use OF our lungs. Any teacher Of
vocal music or elocution will tell
you that not one person in fifty
breathes properly; do not take in all
the air they could and should To be in
the best health. Much disease is
caused by the want Of proper use of
the lungs. The most noted teachers
Of Europe in vocal music devote a
large portion Of their teaching 10
proper methods of breathing The
failures Of public speakers and sing
ers arise from lack OF proper breath
ing. As far As the use OF our lungs
is concerned we can all sing, Lord,
how we live atthis poor dying rate
Ii therefore, we are 50 Ignorant
and neglected. on the physical plane
OF inspiration, how much more 50
are We on the spiritual plane? Ii is
only Just now that we have begun
an investigation, scientifically in
the physical realm. Ii is also the
realm Of law, aud Emerson tells Us,
''The laws below are sisters 10 the
laws above" and Mrs, Brow ming
SAYS:
There's nola h0wer on earth
But has flower upon she spiritual side "
Which is only saying that Spirit is
cAusAlion and that 1.-The breath or
Of the Almighty, 90 quiet
life 10 all things; that only As We
inspire God, We live; aud 10 the eN-
tent We shut out God from our life
We die. God Is spirit and only
taken into oar life by inspiration.
A. We may consciously, by a
knowledge Of physiology and hy-
giene, increase our amount Of physi.
cal inspiration, - is il possible for
Us Ia Increase our spiritual iuspi-
ration, aud become mone gOdlike in
thought and life,
This general fact of inspiration is
now almost universally admitted.
But il is claimed, that while iuspi-
ration is universal thene are special
inspirations, like that which fell
upon the people and authors N
the q. T. upon the disciples, the
authors of the y, T. the attendants
at the meeting St PentecOsi, aud
upon the martyrs aud reformers in
the Christian church.
Let Us examine honestly this
claim. Are there oa>es and these
persons excepting and II -, in wha,
ways
I viii not take youT time in uar-