Asheville daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1890-1900, 1891-07-11
INSPIRATION is DISCUSSED
AN ABLE EXPOSITION BY REV.
W. o. H. BRYAN.
Comments Upon Modern The0lO-
gians-The whole Bible IL the
work of Inspiration, ana All
Christians should No Hold.

WAS from <nd fcter 1, Il. fOr the
prophecy came not in the old time bv the
will of man; but holy men of God spakc
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" "
In his discourse Mr.. Bryan did not at
tempt to prove the inspiration of the
scriptures, to those who stand, or fall,
outside the walls of the churches, but to
confirm in their belief the followers OF
Christ whose faith may be troubled by
the heresies Of protesting Christians who.
holding high positions in Christ 9 church,
still dare to set aside the infallibility OF
His teachings. To those of us who ac-
cept the Bible as the way of life, mes
sages from its pages, unmistakable
in their meaning, are an unquestion-
ed authority and such messages
regarding inspiration, Mr.. Bryan
brought to the attention of his hearers,
with his own forcible comments. Accord.
ing to the preacher, inspiration is not in.
tended to make men holy-God does not
always give the inspired pen to the most
spotless hands-it is not omniscient, and
does not remove mystery.
Mr.. Bryan has little patience with
those who profess christianity but de-
clare that only part of the Bible is in.
spired. To these-perhaps we might call
them the mugwumps to religion-he
would deny the right to the name ol
christian. In conclusion he e1horted his
listeners to stronger love and reverence
for the sacred pages OF Gods holy word.
The Discourse.
Mr.. Bryan's discourse was, in part, as
follows: mo apology is needed for a
text like this. At time when the secu.
lar press and the debating club and the
circles of fashionable society are discuss.
ing the holy scriptures, it cannot he out
of place for humble believers in those
scriptures to review their knowledge and
to clear up their ideas on the subject.
As long as men debate with
each ether about the atonement of Jesus
or the resurrection of the body, or the
obligation of the fourth commandment
there is always left the appeal to Gods
Word, which to devout men is enough
but when in the cycle of religious discus.
sion that Word itself is challenged, there
is nothing left but its prompt and reso.
lutte defence. Many believers
are dismayed in mind by the present
attack upon the foundations OF faith
They are dismayed when they see
men holding high positions in the
church Of Christ betraying that trust and
denying the truth they were employed to
defend, they are still more dismayed when
they see the eagerness with which the
irrcligious mass LAYS hold of these faith.
less men and espouses their cause, and
their dismdy reaches its climax when they
find that here and there within the church
there are some of real earnestness and
activity led away by the fashionable
theories and adopting the pet phrases o
the leaders of this movement. That dis
may is needless. Generations long gone
and forgotten have passed thro' the same
turmoil and the Bible stands unshaker
today. Leaders as notorious as any
whose names are quoted today have had
their season and then have sunk intc
their deserved obscurity. The present
discussion will pass away as quickly a:
it arose and fresh assault on some Other
point will engage the attention Of men
Till Then.
$50 it has ever been, so it will be til
the great day when our Lord will appear
and the tongue OF religious controversy
be hushed forever in his majestic pres
ence. In Peters view tn,
scriptures occupy a position in human
literature which is unique. All othel
works of whatever age, of whatever
success are human products, they cam,
by the will OF man and they bear tn,
marks not only Of mans excellencies but
also of his frailtes. Not so tn,
scriptures, tor, as the revised version ha.
it, "men spake from God, being moveC
by the Holy Ghost" The men spak,
their writings are human and bear tn,
marks of their personal peculiarities SC
that you would never think that Pau
wrote Genesis or Peter wrote Isaiah, OF
James wrote the Gospel of John. Eacl
spoke in his own words and according
to his own style, but God prompted, ant
thus their words were Gods words.
Their writings were, as st. Paul says
GOd-breathed, or as we translate, per
haps less iorcibly, inspired. This il
about all that can be said as to the ma
ture of this divine influence
but in its practical relations however
there is no mystery and il one can grasI
clearly two or three leading truths, h,
can readily make his way through tn,
maze of the current discussion.
The Purpose of fInspiratiOn.
"Inspiration is not intended to max,
men holy, The men God makes holy
constitute multitude. while the men in
spired to write, are not a hundred, al
told. These were chosen as messenger,
to convey divine truth and this they die
infallibly, they spake from God evei
though they were not children Of God
Inspiration is not omnscence; the sacret
writer's were far from knowing all truth
but what they knew and wrote the,
wrote infallibly. Inspiration does no
remove mystery. Doubtless there wa
much in what they wrote they themselve
did not understand. If they could no
grasp the meaning of that which the,
wrote it is no wonder that we should fin,
mysteries and difficulties hard to ex
plain.
The Effects of Inspiration.
IAN of scripture is not new truth In
are facts and truths which man coul
have known without the scriptures alon,
with truths and facts revealed there an
there alone. A man that had never hear
of the Bible might still know that ther
is a God, that this God is one. that hi
own soul is immortal, that his will
free and that there is a Judgment for th
deeds done in the body. Plate
Socrates, Cicero were each familiar wit
these truths, so that as to them there
no discovery in the Bible. The effect {
inspiration on this class of truths is sim
ply to preserve the sacred writer from el
ror in statement and to present ther
with stronger evidence and greater cel
tainty. The facts Of history, of geogrs
ply, the passing events of daily life r,
quired no revelation of God. The effect {
inspiration in this class Of truths was t
protect the writer's from errors and t
guarantee the accuracy of the report the
gave concerning these facts. But beyon
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