Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-27
GIVING TO THE POOR.
The Best Way to Do It Is to Give to
the Association That
LOOKS AFTER SUCH WORK HERE.
Frauds Are So Numerous Now That Investi.
cation Is Necessary.
READING THE BIBLE LITERALLY
WRITTEN FOR rHr prsrArox.,

READING THE BIBLE LITERALL!
WRITTEN FOR THE DrsrATcx.t
There Is great difference between tn
four gospels and the four books that Euclit
wrote on Comic SectionA The Sermon OF
the Mount is not an instruction in mathe
matics One would think that q truth x
plain as this must be sufficiently evident K
all intelligent people. Nevertheless i
needs to be stated, aud explained, and EN-
phasized A great many good Christian
persist in reading the Bible ~ If it were {
religious arithmetic
There is Q difference between mathematics
and literature, between . problem and I
poem, between . numerical calculation and
. sermon, between . geometricsl propo
sition and prayer. And the chief differ
ence is that the one must be read literally,
while the other must be read spiritually.
One must be. taken precisely a. it stands
We are not To 60 around 1t, nor above it,
nor beneath It It means exactly what il
says upon the surface. The other may be
only a symbol or Q simile The real truth
lies behind it. and IL to be sought not in the
| grammatical construction of the words, but
in sympathy with the intention Of the
writer.
Truth Toe Great for Dennition-
Az truth broadens and deepens 1t gets too
great for the limits of mathematical e1-
preston. It even eludes the grasp Of
speech. It escapes definition. 1t can only
be suggested, limited at; words can be thrown
out after 1t, but the words miss the center.
| Think of the difference there must be in the
defination of Q piece of wood and Of q
piece Of music Tho whole of the piece Of
wood can be got into the description; but
the piece of music, what master Of language
can adequately describe it? Suppose that
the description of the piece Of music were
to be read literally, and taken to be COM
plete description, and We should persuade
urselves that there was nothing more in
the music than appeared in the words-what
mistakei
That is what is meant when It ID said that
the Bible ought not TO be read literally.
We ought not, that is, to think that the
whole meaning Of the words of Christ is on
the surface, and that We have learned ade-
quately what He meant when We have in
terpreted the sentence with q grammar and
dictionary. Jesus said, for example,
''This is my body" '"This is my blood. +"
The grammar and the dictionary leave us
no alternatives: The bread was his body
and the wine was his blood.
The Deeper Spiritual Meaning.
But at the same time He said: ''This cup
is q new covenant" The cup, then, was a
covenant; that is, testament, will 1t
was, therefore, not cup, but . piece OF
parchment, written over and signed, and
sealed with the blood Of Christ We know
better than that Here, it is evident, We
get the real meaning not by q literal, but
BY spiritual Interpretation. What We de-
sire to know is not alone what Christ said,
but what Christ meant. And five would
know the real meaning of His words at the
Last Supper We must not read them as IT
they were a statement in mathematics he
| spoke in symbol The great truth lies be-
meath the letters of the sentence.
st. Paul often contrasted these two ways
Of interpreting religious truth, the literal
and the spiritual; and always to the disad-
| vantage Of the literal I'VE serve" he
said, Tin tho newness of the spirit, and not
In the oldness of the letter." Another time
he spoke even more strongly. '@The letter
killeth, but the spirit giveth life" The
history Of Interpretation il long COM
mentary upon these texta People who
have declared that the Bible means exactly
what it says, meaning that these writings
gre to be read like . sum in arithmetic, have
fallen into absurdities and fanaticismS It
Is the people who have seen that the Bible
means great deal more than it says, who
have found the real will of God.
Tho Spirit For the Letter.
TT i. Al
but spiritually that great word of Jesus
where He said, ''Give to him that asketh
thee" This was spoken In the Sermon on
the Mount, and one Of tho great purposes of
that sermon was to substitute the new spirit
Of the gospel for the old letter Of the law.
Thus Christ said that He had come to fulfil
the law; that ID, to fill it full. to teach the
principles that lay beneath it, to get the
hearts of men so in sympathy with the great
ideas of the law that they would have no
more need for the petty and intricate regu-
lations, which at that time occupied the
lives Of religious people There was to be
the same differences between q new Chris
tian and an old Hebrew that there is be-
tween a master of music whose heart is
filed with the great thoughts of great
composer. and another who is able to think
only of half notes and quarter notes, and
sharps and fats, and the right position of
the fingers
Accordingly, Jesus laid all emphasis on
the spirit He regarded not SO much the
hands as the heart He taught that the
commandments could not be adequately un-
derstood by their grammatical construction
alone. They were not to be learned by any
process of spelling or parsing. They meant
more than they said.
Seem Like Marrow Regulations.
Presently, In the sermon, Jesus set forth
what at first sight seemed like rules For
moment be appeared to be teaching like the
scribeI Eye have heard that it was said
An eye for an eye, and q tooth for TOOTH
but say unto you, resist not him that IL
evil; but whosoever smitetb thee on tho
right cheek, turn to him the other also.
And If any man would 60 to law with thee,
and take away thy coat, let him have thy
cloak also. And whosoever shall compel
thee to 60 one mile 60 with him twain.
Give to him that asketh thee, and from him
that would borrow of thee turn not thou
away"
At first these read like absolute iniune-
tlons. These acts, 1t would seem, We are
hnd that Jesus himself protested against an
cheek. And we come by and by to see that
great principle is set forth here, and not
series of narrow regulations Indeed, 50
desirous is Jesus that it shall mot be
thought that he is following the example OF
the religious teachers Of Jerusalem and
binding his disciples with tho confning
cords Of unelastic rules that, as it seems, he
purposely puts these statements into the
form of parndoY and mnkes than IA A.