Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1893-09-18

separate.
But suppose, now, all the bestspirits OF
all ages were assembled to decide the
fate of the Bible, which is the last will and
testament of our Heavenly Father, and
these l.t;noirs of our Lord Jesus, what
would be the verdict? Shall they burn,
Or shall they live? The unanimous ver-
dict of all is, Let them live, though all
else burn" Then put together on the
iSsdlper hand all the debauchees and profit
unanimous asSSSaessins Saess of the ages, and their
would be, "Let it burriHf.e tne BLDG
Mind you. do not say that alIl..-,
are immoral, but l do say that all the
scrapegraces and scoundrels of the uni
verse agree with them about the Bible.
Let me vote with those who believe in
the holy Scriptures. Men believe other
things with half the evidence required tc
believe the Bible. The distinguished Alb
ner Kneeland rejected the Scriptures
and then put all his money into an en-
terprise for the recovery of that hocus
pocus Captain Kidd's treasures" Knee
lands faith for doing so being founded
on mans statement that he could tell
where those treasures were buried from
the looks of glass of water dipped from
the Hudson river.
The internal evidence of the authen-
ITCHY of the Scriptures is so exact and
so vivid that no man, honest and sane
can thoroughly and continuously and
prayerfully read them without entering
their discipleship. So / put that inter-
nal evidence paramount. How are you
led to believe in letter you received
from husband or wife or child or friendf
You know the handwriting. You know
the style. You recognize the sentiment.
When the letter comes, you do not sum-
mon the postmaster who stamped it, and
the postmaster who received it, and the
letter carrier who brought it to your
door to prove that it is gapuine letter.
The internal evidence settles it, and by
the same process you can forever settle
the fact that the Bible is the handwrit-
ing and communication of the infinite
God.
A SUBLIME PHILOSOPHY.
Furthermore, as l have already init
mated, we may increase our faith by the
testimony of others. Perhaps we Of less
er brain may have been overcome by
superstition or cajoled into an acceptance
of hollow pretension. So will this
morning turn this house into court
room and summon witnesses, and you
shall be the jury and l now impanel you
for that purpose, and will put upon the
oil he rAxlA
acknowledge to be strong intellectually
and whose evidence in any other court
room would be incontrovertible. / will
not call to the witness stand any min
lister of the gospel, for he might be pref
udiced.
There are two ways of taking an oath
IN courtroom. one Is by putting the
lips to the Bible and the other is by
holding up the right hand toward heay-
en-. Now, as in this case it is the Bible
that is on trial, we will not ask the wit
ness to put the book to his lips, for that
would imply that the sanctity and divin-
ity of the book is settled, and that would
be begging the question. So shall ask
each witness to lift his hand toward
heaven in affirmation.
Salmon P. Chase chief justice of the
supreme court of the United States, ap-
pointed by President Lincoln, will take
the witness stand. "Chief Justice
Chase, upon your oath, please state what
YOU have to say about the book common
iv called the Bible" The witness re-
plies: "There came time in my life
when | doubted the divinity Of the
Scriptures, and / resolved, as a lawyer
and Judge, would try the book as /
would try anything in the courtroom,
taking evidence for and against. 1t
was a long and serious and profound
study, and using the same principles OF
evidence in this religious matter as
always do in secular matters l have
come to the decision that the Bible Is a
supernatural book, that it has come
from God, and that the only safety for
the human race is to follow its teach
ings." Judge, that will do. Go hck
again to your pillow of dust on the
banks of the Ohio"
Next put upon the witness stand a
president of the United States-John
Quincy Adams President Adams, what
have YOU to say about the Bible and
Christianity" The president replies: II
have for many years made it practice
to read through the Bible once year.
NV custom is TO read four or five chap
ters every morning Immediately after
arising from my bed. 1t employs about
an hour of my time and seems to me the
most suitable manner of beginning the
day. In what light soever we regard
the Bible, whether with reference to rev
elation, to history or TO morality, IL Il
an invaluable and inexhaustible mine oil
knowledge and virtue.
Next put upon the witness stand SiI
Isaac Newton, the author OF the PPM
cipia" and the greatest natural philoso
pher the world has ever seen. "Sii
Isaac, what have you to say concernla;,
the BibleY' The philosopher Sod TO be
1--WE account the ScriRBphy."
the most subliPon the witness stand the
Nexthent Of letters, Sir Walter
scott, and when / ask him what he
thinks Of the place that our great book
ought TO take among other books he re-
plies. "There is but one book, and that
is the Bible"
Next put upon the stand the most